Chapter 6
Emerald Forest
"Jaune was walking along with Pyrrha ahead of him leading the way. The two were currently trying to find their way towards the temple, but they seemed a bit lost. That was when the two heard gunshots in the distance.
Jaune paused and asked, "Did you hear that?"
"Gunfire," Pyrrha replied, "it would seem that some of our comrades have encountered the enemy."
They walked a bit more. Pyrrha had to push aside a tree branch that stood in their way. She pushed it away with her shield, but she then let go of the branch and it proceeded to smacking Jaune in the face. The blonde knight fell backwards after the impact with a loud thud. He had a scratch on his right cheek.
"Sorry," Pyrrha said looking back at him with regret in her eyes.
"Eh, it's okay," he replied attempting to shrug it off. "It's just a scratch."
Pyrrha walked back to the blonde knight.
"Why didn't you active your aura?" she asked.
"Huh?" was his reply.
"Your aura," she repeated.
"Come again?" he asked lost.
"Jaune," she said. "Do you know what aura is?"
"Yeah, of course I do," he replied attempting to sound intelligent. "Do you know what aura is?"
"Aura is the manifestation of our soul," she began to explain. "It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt like you were being watched when no one was there?"
Elsewhere Ren was walking through some tall grass. He stopped after a while to listen to his surroundings. Just then a giant black snake of Grim appeared behind him hissing. It attempted to attack him with its fangs, but it missed as he jumped over the creature.
"Huh yeah," he replied still confused.
"With practice," she stated walking around him, "our aura can be our shields.
Everyone has it, even animals."
"What about monsters?" Jaune asked curiously.
"No," she replied, "the monsters we fight lack a soul. They are Creatures of Grim. They are manifestation of animosity. They are the darkness. We are the light."
"Right," Jaune replied understandingly, "that's why we fight them."
Ren was currently running about trying to dodge the attacks from the giant snake, also known as a King Taijitu. At one point, Ren jumped back and landed on the ground skidding a little bit. The King Taijitu attempted to coil around Ren and trap him, but Ren leapt out of the center of the giant snake and began shooting rounds out of his two submachine guns as he hurled over the giant serpent. The serpent grim attempted to bite him a couple of times, but Ren dodged all of those attempts and managed to land some strikes and hits from the blades attached to his submachine guns.
"It's not about why, it's about knowing," Pyrrha continued. "Understanding both the light and the dark helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both."
"By bearing our soul as an outside force, we can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You project yourself and your soul while fighting," she finished stating.
"It's like a force field!" Jaune exclaimed like a little kid.
"Yes," she said with a small smile, "if you wanna look at it that way."
At some point during his battle, Ren lost both of his weapons in the process and was now struggling to prevent the King Taijitu from biting him. He was using his aura as a defensive barrier at the moment. He then quickly grabbed the fangs of the black-headed Taijitu and broke its fangs by ripping them out forcefully using his aura to help him. The shadow serpent tried to strike at him once again, but Ren easily side stepped out of the way and lodged one of the fangs into its right eye. Then using his aura again, he used his palm to push the fang to go deeper inside the serpent's skull. This ended up with the black-headed Taijitu's head exploding into oblivion. He then rushed towards the white-headed King Taijitu
"Now," Pyrrha said calmly and soothingly, "close your eyes and concentrate."
As she said this, she placed her left hand on his right cheek. Jaune confused and nervous at the same time did what she told him to do. They both had their eyes closed. It was at this moment that the Spartan Idol was unlocking his power. Both teenagers began to glow brightly.
As she did this, Pyrrha recited the words, "For it is in the passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite, distant, and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
After that, Pyrrha became exhausted. Jaune became concerned for her, but she told him that she was all right. She explained to him that she used her aura to unlock his. She was impressed with the amount of aura that the young knight had. Jaune's cut then instantly vanished as if it was never there in the first place.
Elsewhere
Ren had finished off the King Taijitu. He was busy dusting himself off when he heard someone attempting to make an animal noise. It was is best friend since childhood Nora hanging upside down in a tree. He looked up and smiled at her.
"I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like," he stated.
Nora simply tapped him on his nose and added a 'boop' sound. Ren gave another smile at his best friend's antics.
Beacon Cliff
Professor Ozpin was standing at the edge of the cliff looking down at his tablet observing the freshman students. Professor Goodwitch came up behind him with her own tablet.
"The last pair has been formed sir," she said simply while tapping on her screen. "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy, I can't possibly see those two getting along. Still, he's better off than Miss Nikos."
Ozpin simply gave her a "Uh huh" in a humming tune.
"I don't care what his transcripts say," she continued with her rant, "that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Ozpin said.
"Regardless, we have another serious issue" Switching the video feed to Scorpion and Sub Zero fighting Goodwitch added "At this rate, these two are going to kill each other or worse, the other students. We have to stop them before things get out of hand."
"That won't be necessary."
Turning around, Ozpin and Goodwitch are greeted with the site of Raiden.
"Lord Raiden, I was not expecting you." Ozpin said slightly shocked.
"Forgive me for coming unannounced old friend." Raiden said
"No it's fine, though I'm curious on why you don't want us to stop them?". Ozpin asked
"Call, it a gut feeling. I believe those two will one day help save not just this Kingdom but the others as well." Raiden answered.
"More visions? You seem to be getting more of them these period." Ozpin notes
"Let's hope you're right about this Raiden." Goodwitch said with a sign.
She turned around and began walking away while saying, "Well in any case, the rate their going at they should reach the temple within a few minutes."
She paused briefly before turning around and asking, "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?"
Ozpin didn't answer her.
"Professor Ozpin?" she attempted once more.
The said headmaster was currently looking down at his tablet observing two specific cameras. One was focused on Ruby, while the other one was focused on Scorpion and Sub Zero.
Abandoned Temple
"Think this is the place?" Yang asked her partner.
"Positive." Sonya answered.
The temple's walls were all but destroyed, leaving only a few stone constructions and pillars jutting from the overgrown floor. Both pairs descended to the temple, finding several chess pieces arranged on top of stone pillars. They eyed the figurines closely, and concluded that these must be the relics.
"Some are missing." Kitana mentioned, noting that some pillars didn't have chess pieces on them.
"Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Yang noted.
"So I guess we take one?" Blake asked Yang.
"How about a cute little pony?" Yang asked as she picked up a golden knight piece.
Blake smiled and rolled her eyes. "Sure, why not?"
MMM
Jaune and Pyrrha stood in front of a large cave on the side of the hill.
"You think this is it?" Jaune asked his partner as he entered.
Pyrrha was unsure, considering the sinister cave paintings on the wall depicting a giant scorpion Grimm fighting a group of hunters. However, she followed Jaune inside.
"I don't think this is the right place…" Pyrrha worriedly said to Jaune.
Jaune sighed. "Pyrrha, I already made the torch. Could you at least humor me for maybe five more feet?"
With that, Jaune tripped, dropping the torch and extinguishing the flame. "Do you feel that?" Pyrrha asked.
"What? Soul-crushing regret?" Jaune sarcastically answered.
"No, it's warm…" Pyrrha stated worriedly.
"Eh, probably nothing." Jaune said as he continued down the cave.
The two walked through the darkness, and spotted a light at the end of the path. They came closer and found a large object glowing in brilliant gold.
"That's the relic!" Jaune excitedly said.
He attempted to grab it, but the object constantly moved away from his grasp. "Hey, bad relic!" Jaune scolded it.
"Gotcha!" Jaune grabbed onto the "relic" with two hands and was lifted into the air.
"Jaune…" Pyrrha attempted to warn him, but Jaune looked down to see three sets of glowing red eyes staring back at him with a loud hiss.
MMM
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
A high-pitched scream echoed throughout the forest, reaching Yang's ears.
"Some girl's in trouble! Blake, did you hear that? What should we do?"
However, Blake was pointing up at a red figure falling down from the sky, with two other figures.
MMM
Pyrrha rushed out of the cave just as the entrance was burst open by a giant Deathstalker. Jaune was still hanging onto its stinger, screaming for his life.
"Ahhh! Why?! Ahhh! Pyrrha! Ahhhh! It's not the relic! It's not! Ahhh! Do something!" Jaune cried.
Pyrrha attempted to reassure him. "Jaune! Whatever you do, don't let-"
But then, the Grimm flicked its tail, flinging the poor boy into the air.
"-go…" Pyrrha finished.
She assumed a battle stance, but Pyrrha quickly realized she couldn't take on this thing alone. She smiled awkwardly at it and ran off in Jaune's direction.
Several minutes earlier
"Ruby! I told you this is a terrible idea!" Weiss yelled as her voice was drowned out by the wind.
"Hey! It was Kung Lao's idea! Stop worrying!" Ruby yelled back.
"I am so beyond worrying!" Weiss threw back.
"In a good way?!" Ruby asked loudly.
"In a bad way! In a really bad way!" Weiss screamed back at her.
"Well, why don't we just jump, then?!" Ruby yelled.
"What are you, insane?!" Weiss yelled, only to discover she was completely alone.
"OH, YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE-"
Current Time
"HEADS UUUUUPPPP!" Ruby yelled out as she was crashing down to Earth along with Smoke and Kung Lao. Smoke and Kung Lao were able to teleport safely towards the ground.
Suddenly, Jaune sped through the atmosphere, hitting Ruby knocking them into a nearby tree. Ruby rubbed her head in confusion. "What happened?"
"Uh… hey, Ruby." Jaune awkwardly greeted her, hanging upside-down from a tree branch.
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked Yang.
Before Yang could answer, the noise of wood cracking and leaves rustling caught their attention. An Ursa emerged from the woods, flailing its arms around aimlessly while screaming.
"WooHoo!" Nora cheered. As they reached the edge of the forest, she grabbed the Grimm's neck and pulled, hoping it would stop. It then fell dead from a broken neck.
"Awww, it broke." Nora whined.
Ren emerged from behind its body and was panting heavily. "Nora? Please. Don't ever do that again." He looked to the side only to see Nora gone. He then noticed her looking at a chess piece with curiosity.
"Ooooh…" Nora picked up the rook piece and danced around with childlike glee.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She sang.
"NORA!" Ren yelled at her.
Nora giggled and ran up to her partner. "Coming Ren!"
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.
Before Yang could answer, Pyrrha ran in from the forest with the Deathstalker still chasing her. The giant scorpion swiped a claw at her, but she dodged it and headed for the temple.
Ruby dropped down from the tree to help out, but heard Yang's voice beside her. "Ruby"
"Yang!" Ruby said happily.
"NORA!" Nora sang as she popped up randomly between the two.
"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked.
Yang however, was getting impatient and exploded. "Grrrr… I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!"
"Um…Yang?" Ruby pointed upwards at a Nevermore circling above them, with Weiss clutching onto one of its talons.
"How could you leave me?!" Weiss yelled out below.
"I said 'jump'!" Ruby threw back.
"She's gonna fall…" Blake said.
"Pfft! She'll be fine!" Ruby replied.
"And…she's falling." Smoke continued.
Jaune watched from the treetops and saw Weiss plummeting down to Earth. "This is my chance!" Jaune said to himself.
Jaune leapt from the branch and caught Weiss in mid-air. "Just dropping in?"
The two then looked down and remembered that they were still falling. "Oh, God… DAAAGH!" Jaune screamed as he fell to Earth.
Jaune crashed down with Weiss landing on his back.
"My hero." Weiss said to Jaune
"My Back…" Jaune replied.
Pyrrha then landed right next to the group. "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang joked sarcastically.
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby said as she rushed toward the Deathstalker.
"Ruby, wait!" Yang yelled out, but she was too far ahead.
Ruby shot behind her with her weapon, shooting toward the giant scorpion attempting to strike it down. However, it blocked her attack and knocked her back. She got up and stammered, "D-d-don't worry! I'm fine!"
She quickly realized she couldn't win this fight alone, so she ran back to the temple, just dodging the Grimm's stinger. As she ran, she heard a loud shriek behind her. She looked back to see the Nevermore pursuing her. The giant bird flapped its wings at Ruby, unleashing a hail of razor-sharp feathers and pinning down Ruby's cape, effectively immobilizing her.
"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang yelled out.
Ruby struggled to free her cape from the feather, but to no avail. She looked up to see the Deathstalker had caught up to her, raising its tail for the killing blow.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed, but watched as a white figure darted towards Ruby at great speed.
The stinger came down, but as Ruby closed her eyes, she didn't feel the sharp impact.
"You are so childish…" Weiss coldy said to her.
Ruby opened her eyes to find the stinger inches from her face, but frozen in mid-air by a wall of ice.
"Weiss?"
Weiss wasn't done talking. "…and dimwitted, and hyperactive, and I won't even mention your fighting style!"
Weiss looked down at Ruby, whose face resembled the downtrodden girl yesterday at the courtyard. She sighed and opened up.
"Look, I guess I can be a bit difficult. But in order for this to work, we'll have to do it as a team. So if you quit showing off, I'll be… nicer." She said with contempt.
"I'm not trying to show off. I'm just trying to show you that I can do this." Ruby replied.
"Trust me, you're fine." Weiss said with a small smile.
Ruby raised an eyebrow at her, but smiled anyway at her kindness. She got up and gasped to see the Deathstalker struggling to free itself from the ice wall.
Yang ran up to her and gave her a warm hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
The nevermore screeched again, causing the others to snap back to reality.
"That thing's not going to leave us alone." Kung Lao noted, getting ready for a fight
"Well, we can't afford to waste more time out here in the open." Smoke said.
"We don't have to fight them. Our mission is to grab an artifact and return to base." Sonya added.
"Run and survive? That I can get behind." Jaune stated.
"Then let's go." Kitana finally said. With a bit of hesitation Kung Lao decided to follow the group.
Ruby picked up a golden knight piece, Kung Lao picked up a black king piece, Jaune picked a golden rook piece, and Sonya picked a black king piece.
However, the Deathstalker was beginning to shake itself free and the ice wall began to crack. Ren noticed this and said to the others, "Time we left."
"Right, let's go!" Ruby said, motioning the others to follow her.
The teens reached the clearing, where a large structure of ancient ruins stretched into the valley in front of them. The nevermore followed them, and soared overhead until it was in front of them. Each huntress and huntsman ducked for cover behind the ruins of the temple as the Grimm perched atop a pillar, blocking the path to the cliff.
"Well, that's just great!" Jaune noted.
Behind them, the Deathstalker burst through the trees, rushing to kill every last huntsman and huntress in its path.
"It seems running isn't an option anymore." Kung Lao told the group while smiling.
Elsewhere
Neither one of them knew how long they had been fighting, regardless they didn't care. The battle field that was once a beautiful forest was now filled with burning trees and giant chunks of ice.
Dodging out of the way of his opponent spear, Sub Zero slides towards Scorpion leaving a trail of ice, he sweeps his opponent off his feet freezing him in the process. Forming a war hammer, he smacks Scorpion through various trees shattering them. Ignoring the pain Scorpion gets up, both blades burning with hellfire he rushes towards Sub Zero. Rushing to meet his opponent having formed two ice blades, both fighters begin clashing in a flurry of steel and ice, each trying hard to overpower the other.
They both lock blades hoping to overpower the other. Scorpion then performs a back flip, coating his legs with fire, he kicks Sub Zero causing his head to snap back. Not letting up he attacks again this time shattering Sub Zero's sword. Giving himself some distance Sub Zero sees Scorpion teleport. Having gotten used to his opponent teleportion, like a Porcupine Sub Zero forms multiple ice spikes on his back which impale Scorpion's chest, arm and stomach once he appeared behind his opponent.
Grabbing onto his opponent Sub Zero slams Scorpion to the ground shattering his spikes. Attempting to stomp on his opponents head Scorpion roles out of the way despite his injury. With a single gesture Scorpion opens a portal right under Sub Zero's feet, causing multiple demons to grab onto his opponent holding him in place.
Stunned by this, Sub Zero tries to free himself from their grip but is met with two flaming swords to the chest courtesy of Scorpion. More pain shoots in as Scorpion head butts Sub Zero so hard skull can be head cracking, but this frees him of both the demons hold and Scorpion's sword.
Just as Scorpion was about rushing in as Sub Zero starts forming a spear despite his injury, a figure smached in between both fighters in the form of a fireball stopping their advance.
"Enough!" Liu Kang said between both fighters just as Johnny Cage starts running towards them.
Taking in his environment, Johnny noticed the forest was a reck along with Scorpion and Sub Zero bleeding out. Just then without warning he starts throwing up, while making a mental note to never mock Jaune again.
Ignoring his partners current predicament he starts addressing the duo "We are suppose to be killing Grimm and not each other."
"This Shirai Ryu dog is responsible for my brother's death." Sub Zero said coldly
"And your brother is responsible for the death of my family and clan!" Scorpion replied in anger.
"Lies!" Sub Zero said
"You dare accuse me of lying?!" Scorpion said, his hands catching fire "You said it yourself that my clan is dead. Now tell me Lin Kuei scum, who do you think is responsible for that?"
Taken aback by the question Sub Zero flinched. Right now he doubt if his brother was innocent as many Lin Kuei along with his brother had gone on a secret mission around the time the Shirai Ryu's death made it's way to the temple.
Having mixed feelings on the issue both Liu Kang and Johnny said nothing, but it was clear they felt sad for the two fighters, Scorpion being more for losing his entire family as well.
After a long silence Johnny spoke up "Look, I honestly can't relate to what you guys are going through, but I'm sure both your families wouldn't want you killing yourself because of them."
Scorpion looked like he was about to retort but Liu Kang beat him to it "Outside that, killing each other here would get you expelled and I'm sure none of you want that to happen."
Remembering the reason they enrolled at Beacon, both Scorpion and Sub Zero made a mental note to not kill each other until the mission is complete.
"Very well." Scorpion grudgingly answered
"But don't think you are forgiven." Sub Zero just stayed quiet.
"Man, I'm glad that's out of the way." Johnny said
"Indeed, we should hurry up and gather our relics." Liu Kang said as they all start walking towards the relic site.
MMM
A group comprising of Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Blake,Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were facing the Nevermore with coordinated attacks though it didn't seem their attacks were damaging it's skin.
Meanwhile, Sonya, Kung Lao, Smoke and Kitana were facing the Deathstalker. Dodging it's attempt at stinging them, Kung Lao and Kitana rushed in slicing off some of it's legs causing it to scream in pain but Smoke was already upon it tossing a smoke bomb into it's mouth causing the Grimm to start choking while also trashing aimlessly.
Sonya charging her gauntlet, blasted multiple energy rings at the stinger causing it to break off it's tail. Leaping onto it's back she aimed one final attack blasting a hole into the Deathstalker's head killing it.
"Well that was underwhelming, I was hoping it would have survived longer." Kung Lao said
Meanwhile with the Nevermore, Jaune and Pyrrha ran along a stone path over the deep valley, and noticed the Bird Grimm chasing Yang, Blake and Ren in their direction.
"Go, go, go!" Pyrrha said to them, pulling out her own gun and firing at the Grimm, with Blake and Ren firing their own weapons at it, letting them run ahead a little further.
But then, the Nevermore returned and swooped down, diving at full speed at the bridge they were on, nearly demolishing the structure.
Jaune recovered from the attack, and noticed Ren and Pyrrha on the far end of the gap, fighting against the Nevermore with Blake and Yang.
"We gotta get over there! They need help!" Jaune said to Nora beside him.
"Let's do this!" Nora said.
"Yeah, but, um… I can't make that jump." Jaune noted.
Nora perked up at this and gave Jaune a mischievous grin. She knocked Jaune down on his butt and transformed her weapon, Magnhild into a massive war hammer.
She ran and jumped up, raising her weapon above her head. Jaune could only look with fear as to what would happen next.
"N-n-no! Wait!" Jaune quickly exclaimed before the hammer slammed down onto what remained of the bridge, catapulting Jaune into the air. Nora then stood up on top of the head of the weapon and fired a grenade, shooting her in the same direction.
Jaune landed unharmed, and Nora ran straight toward the Nevermore, raising Magnhild high. "NORAAAAA SMASH!" The hammer slammed down onto the Bird's head with destructive force, but it was unharmed due to the rigid face plate. The Grimm thrusted its wings straight at Nora, but she fired her weapon, pushing her back, but bumping into Blake, who fell over the edge and down the valley.
With quick thinking, she threw her pistol end of Gambol Shroud into the stone structure, the ribbon holding her weapon together supporting her weight like a grappling hook. She swung in the Nevermore's path and jumped up in mid-air with the aid of a shadow clone.
Slicing at the Grimm's face, she then ran down the Nevermore's back, swiping left and right with her sword. She jumped off and landed on top of the tower ruins, with Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha.
"It's tougher than it looks!" Blake reported to them.
"Then let's make it hurt!" Yang said punching her first together.
Each teen readied their respective weapons in gun mode, and opened fire on the giant bird.
The bird did slow down its dive from the assault, but didn't stop and nearly destroyed the castle with its collision.
Each of them managed to make it back up by jumping off of falling debris. Yang then ran forward to attack.
Ruby studied the battlefield. Blake landed atop a bridge with Gambol Shroud, with Pyrrha, Ren and Yang unloading their weapons onto the Nevermore, with Nora riding on the Grimm's back, blasting it with her Hammer. Ruby lit up with an idea. "I've got a plan. Cover me!"
Yang and Blake stood atop a tall pillar, continuously firing at the bird. Reeling from the pain, the Nevermore changed its flight path and charged at the two blondes. Yang leaped in between its open jaws, while Blake stabbed his swords into its eyes.
"I! Hope! You're! Hung-ry!" Yang screamed as she fired a shell into the beast's open mouth with each syllable.
Now blinded and stunned, the Grimm slowed down, allowing Jaune and Pyrrha to attack the wings, slicing at them with their blades and attacking the joints. The four then dropped down at a stone structure before the Nevermore crashed violently into the cliff.
The giant bird screeched and attempted to lift off, but its wings were weakened and it could no longer see, so it could not move as quick before Weiss froze its tail, preventing its escape. Using a glyph, Weiss returned to her group.
Blake threw her pistol grip at Yang, who nodded and the two girls pulled, stretching out the ribbon. Ruby jumped up in the middle, using her scythe to land onto the ribbon and Weiss used a glyph to pull her back like a slingshot.
"Weiss, you think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked Weiss.
"Hmph. Can I?" Weiss answered.
Ruby raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course I can!" Weiss explained bluntly.
Readying a sniper round, Ruby narrowed her eyes and shot as Weiss launched her toward the Nevermore. Using gunshots to boost her speed, she hooked the blade onto the Nevermore's neck. Weiss then summoned a line of glyphs up the cliff, and Ruby ran, unloading her weapon and summoning every last bit of energy she had into her semblance to boost her even greater.
She dragged the massive beast up the slope, running as fast as she could and yelling out in determination as her comrades watched in pure awe.
And as she reached the top of the cliff, she felt the cold metal puncture flesh, and suddenly break loose of the massive weight she had carried up, as she gracefully landed with the severed head of the Nevermore landing in front of her in a flurry of rose petals. The bird's decapitated body went limp and lifelessly fell into the depths of the valley.
"Wow…" That was all Jaune could say at the impressive spectacle in front of him.
"Well, that was something." Yang remarked.
Just then the group turned to the sound of another Nevermore rushing towards them.
"Oh come on, we just finished killing one of these!" Jaune complained
The Nevermore, was about to attack the group, when a ball of Ice from the forest froze it completely. Unable to move the Nevermore began to crash before a figure with a flaming chain sliced it shattered the frozen Grimm.
Stunned by this, the group were able to get a good view of the new arrivals.
Noticing his friend, Smoke rushed to meet Sub Zero.
"What the hell happened to you." Smoke said noticing Sub Zero's and Scorpion's injured form, though Scorpion's injuries had already started healing they were still visible.
"Grimm attack." Sub Zero said simply.
"Can't believe you guys started a party without me." Johnny said, but just then he noticed Sonya "Hello beautiful." This just caused her to role her eyes.
Just as everyone was being reunited Blake noticed Scorpion standing away from the group and quickly recognized him as the one who saved her. She then made a mental note to thank him later when no one was around
Assembly Hall
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. You four retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal). Led by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin announced. A group of four boys in armor stepped down from the stage.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper). " Ozpin declared. Nora giggled and gave Ren a strong hug.
"Led by Jaune Arc!" Pyrrha instantly smiled at Jaune, but he was in shock.
"L-led by?" Jaune awkwardly asked.
"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin merely said with a smile.
Pyrrha then gave Jaune a friendly slug on the shoulder, but the boy fell over from her act. She gasped, but smiled as she saw him doing so.
"Sonya Blade, Kung Lao, Tomas Vrbada and Kitana. You four retrieved the black king pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team TSKK(Task)."
"Led by Sonya Blade!"
Despite her shock Sonya didn't show it, but merely threw a salute. This earned smiles from her teammates.
"Liu Kang, Hanzo Hasashi, Kuai Liang and Johnny Cage. The four of you retrieved the white King pieces. From this day forward you will be known as Team JKHL(Jackal)."
"Led by Liu Kang"
Johnny placed his hand on Liu Kang shoulder congratulating him, while Scorpion and Sub Zero merely nod accepting him as their leader.
Ozpin continued on, "And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as… Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by Ruby Rose."
Weiss flinched at the last part and looked beside her. Ruby was in absolute awe and wonder at her new role. "I'm so proud of you!" Yang joyfully exclaimed as she hugged her sister.
"Looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin said with contentment.
Unknown Area
Roman listened with his ear against the radio, listening over the chatter, and in his frustration, slammed his gloved fist onto the table. To calm himself down, he lit a cigar in his mouth, puffing smoke.
Turning to the masked faunus behind him, he took out some lien in his pocket and handed it to the grunt. "Open it." He ordered.
The White Fang member opened the crate he was hauling with a crowbar, revealing many different dust crystals of all variants and colors, radiating with ethereal energy.
Roman picked up one crystal to observe and study its shiny exterior and beauty, then he turned to the henchman and said, "We're gonna need more men."
"Well then, that's why you have me" A voice called out from the shadows.
Roman tensed at the noise and looked toward the source. His eyes fell upon the figure of Kano (MK 11 With hair).
"Kano" Roman stuttered, trying to keep his composure.
Kano watched him with his cybernetic eye, all the while smiling. "No need to be scared mate, we're partners now."