Chapter 19

Bullhead

Yang felt the cold wind flow through the deck and catch her hair, her golden locks dancing in the breeze like burning flames. She then turned to her teacher. "I have to say, I guess I never saw you as much of a fighter."

Oobleck then raised his finger to reply. "Well, I admit that I fancy myself as more of an intellectual, but as a huntsman, I can assure you I've had my fair share of tussles!"

"Like the mushroom?" Ruby asked.

"Those are truffles." Johnny answered her.

"Like the clam?" Ruby asked

"Those are mussels." Yang answered for Ruby.

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history, as well as my dabblings in the art of archeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular assignment!" Oobleck explained.

"What does history have to do with this?" Johnny asked in confusion, still not knowing why exactly one of their history teachers was coming with them.

"My, what a preposterous question, you silly Boy! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! And the kidneys too, if I were to wager." Oobleck replied with his trademark eccentricity.

"And that means?" Ruby asked.

"The southeast quadrant of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location of one of the kingdom's greatest losses and failures." Oobleck explained.

"Mountain Glenn." Sub Zero simple said.

"That's right, it was an expansion of Vale. But in the end, it got overrun by Grimm and was fenced off from the rest of the city." Yang continued

"Correct! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder." Oobleck replied to Yang.

"And a likely place for a hideout." Liu Kang added.

Oobleck adjusted his spectacles with a grin. "Precisely!"

The bullhead then began to descend and hover above ground, cueing all passengers to drop off in a battle stance, their weapons at the ready, while Oobleck simply took another sip from his thermos.

Team RWBY and JKHL took a good look around them at the ghost town that was Mountain Glenn. The area was a far cry from the urban jungle that it used to be, tall buildings stood over the wrecked architecture and the empty streets. Any areas that weren't covered in debris and piles of dust were overgrown and blown apart.

Bridges were destroyed, the roads were split open, and what would've made up the skyline stood unfinished, support beams jutting from the structures like bones. The place was completely quiet and eerie with the constant gloom from the clouds above, adding to the depressing state of the district.

Oobleck then spoke up to address his students. "Ladies, Gentlemen, you may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as a huntress has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?"

Oobleck then turned to notice Ruby with a backpack slung over her shoulders. "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags at school!"

Ruby's eyes widened and she stammered, "But, uh… you haven't told us to listen to you yet… so I didn't…"

Oobleck raised his eyebrow at her response. "Well, she isn't wrong. Very well Ruby. Leave your bag here, we can pick it back up on our return."

"B-but…" Ruby tried to stutter out, only for Oobleck to reply hastily, "Young lady, what could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important for you to bring it-"

But then, Zwei popped his head out of the bag, causing Ruby to stiffen and everyone else to eye the small dog curiously. "Get back in the bag…" Ruby whispered to Zwei, who obeyed with a bark.

Oobleck stared at Ruby in the eye with a serious expression. "We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought… a dog?!"

Afraid, Ruby could not answer. "I…"

"GENIUS!"

Oobleck then sped past Ruby, picking up Zwei from the bag, accidentally knocking Ruby down on her butt.

"Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for hunts such as ours!"

Everyone stood silently for a moment. "I'm a genius!" Ruby proudly said, quickly taking advantage of the situation, but resulting in facepalms from her teammates and Team JKHL.

"So, what are your orders, Doctor?" Liu Kang asked Oobleck.

"Ah, yes! Straight to the chase, I like it!" Oobleck said.

"As you all have been informed, the southeast has been marked a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible reasons for this behavior. One of which being… Grimm."

Team RWBY and Johnny stood confused. That didn't exactly sound right in their ears. "Uhh, what…?" Ruby asked.

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately 100 yards from us at this very moment." Oobleck said bluntly.

"What?" Yang exclaimed as she turned around to see a Beowolf emerging from an abandoned building.

Everybody readied their weapons for a fight, but their teacher stopped them. "Stop. There are several reasons as to why Grimm would congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which being their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, all qualities that are likely held by our targets harboring ill intent.

"So… what now?" Yang asked him.

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Oobleck devised.

"How long do we wait?" Ruby asked again.

"We don't, it's pack is here." Scorpion said, true to his words, an entire group of Beowolves started emerging onto the street.

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck said

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed in surprise.

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" Oobleck yelled in response.

Everyone looked ahead to see the large pack bounding towards them, blood red eyes glowing with bloodlust, with drool dripping from their bony fangs.

"I take it that tracking's out of the question?" Blake asked.

"An accurate assumption, yes." Oobleck agreed.

"So what now?" Yang asked him.

Oobleck smiled. "Show me what you're capable of."

Ruby brought out Crescent Rose and loaded in a lightning cartridge, the blade crackling with electrical sparks. "Cover your ears, Zwei!" She called out to her pet dog, who merely barked in response.

Later

Ruby tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, her muscles aching from an entire day spent fighting Grimm. Her eyes blinked open groggily, and she turned to see Zwei standing up beside her, his tail wagging with energy.

"Zwei... it's late. Go to bed..." Ruby managed to groan, fighting back a yawn, but her eyes widened when Zwei suddenly took off on his little legs.

"Zwei!" She exclaimed quietly, trying not to wake the others.

Getting up, Ruby looked around the small, abandoned part of building to see everybody was still asleep except Scorpion who is keeping watch. Sighing to herself, she picked up Crescent Rose and quietly dashed out.

Peeking around the entrance, she scanned the area for the dog, and found Zwei under an unfinished building, lifting his leg and heeding the call of nature.

Ruby sighed with a smile. "Zwei, this is a wasteland! You literally could've done that anywhere!"

Picking Zwei up, she was about to get back inside until she heard a stray voice in the distance.

"Wait, what was that?"

Hiding behind a corner, Ruby caught glimpse of two White Fang soldiers walking down the road, armed with dust rifles.

"What was what?" A tusked man asked his accomplice.

"I dunno, I thought I heard a Beowolf or… something.", replied the other faunus, who had a reptilian tail swishing behind him.

"Ugh, let's just finish our patrol and get back. This place freaks me out." The first soldier said, walking the other way, his fellow faunus following suit.

Narrowing her gaze, Ruby tailed the pair, sneaking behind destroyed buildings and using her semblance to dash in between cover spots.

Ruby soon followed them to an abandoned building, and saw them fiddling with a door. Hiding behind a corner, she stuck Zwei around the corner and whispered to him, "Are they gone? One bark means yes."

After hearing the sound of a latch closing, Zwei let out a single bark. Smiling, Ruby reached for her scroll. "Oh, this is it! This is it!" Dialing her team, she waited for a reply, only to hear silence due to poor service.

With a groan, she picked up her scythe and stood up. "C'mon, we gotta get to the others!" She said to Zwei, who barked in response, following his master.

However, the ground suddenly began to shake under Ruby's feet. Then she saw cracks forming along the road, then breaking apart to reveal a massive hole. Eyes wide in fear, Ruby scrambled for stable ground. However, the asphalt beneath her collapsed and she reached out a hand to grab the road, her other hand clinging to Zwei.

Flinging Zwei to the road, Ruby felt her grip weakening.

"Go!" She cried out before falling down the dark abyss.

Soon, Ruby felt her body slam down onto solid ground. Rubbing her forehead with a groan, she came to her senses and observed the area around her. She was in a expansive cavern, the main source of light shining from the hole above her, illuminating what happened to be a city skyline.

Blocks of abandoned buildings decorated the cave, in ruins like the city above. But then, Ruby heard a door open behind her, and guns cocking.

"Freeze!" A White Fang soldier yelled.

"Where'd she come from?" Another asked.

Ruby backed away, but regained balance once she realized she was on the edge of a building.

"You're a long way from home, aren't you, kid?" One of the soldiers said.

Seeing no other option, Ruby reached behind her to grab Crescent Rose, only to remember she had dropped it on the road above. Nonetheless, she balled her fist together and ran up to punch a soldier.

However, the faunus was able to catch it with little effort, and then kneed the huntress-in-training in the gut, causing her to writhe in pain on the floor.

"The boss'll wanna see this one." The Fang member said before kicking Ruby in the face, knocking her out.

MMM

Roman laughed as he beat Ruby with his cane, each blow filling him with a satisfying tingle. Kabal, who was watching from a train car merely grunted at this.

"I gotta say, Red. You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours!"

Ruby growled and ran up to Roman to punch him, but he merely stepped to the side and smacked her away with his cane, causing her face to slide across the dirt.

Roman laughed in enjoyment, but then stared into Ruby's eyes with an evil glint in his own. "But seriously though, how'd ya find us, Red?"

Ruby snarled, then burst out of sight in a flurry of rose petals.

"Whoa!"

Roman then looked behind him to see Ruby getting away. Ruby ran as fast as she could, only to yell out in pain and fall to the ground as she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

"Sorry kid, but I can't let you escape." Kabal said to Ruby, yanking his Hookblade from her leg, only to feel the entire cavern shake with the dulled sound of an explosion.

Roman groaned in frustration, annoyed by the interruption. "Hey, could you guys check that out? Kinda in the middle of something here."

The faunus nodded and picked up their guns to investigate, until another explosion sounded, blowing smoke out from a nearby wall.

From the smoke, Ruby caught glimpse of Doctor Oobleck, her teammates and Team JKHL chasing away White Fang soldiers. Smiling at the sight, before using her semblance to run towards them.

Kabal was about to give chase but elected against it, merely ordering the White Fang members to shoot Ruby.

Dodging the bullets, Ruby managed to escape. Bending his cane in anger, Roman turned to one of the Fang soldiers. "Attach this car and spread the word. We're starting the train."

"B-but we aren't finished-" The faunus tried to say, only to be pinned against the wall with Roman aiming his cane up his chin.

"Do it, or you're finished!"

Ruby kept on running, but skidded to a stop as White Fang soldiers cut her off. But before they could fire their weapons, they all were blown away by a fiery blast from Yang's gauntlets.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed in joy as she hugged Ruby, happy to see her safe in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! But listen... Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down here!" Ruby explained to her team.

"What?" Blake gasped as she handed Crescent Rose back to Ruby.

"Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars."

"But... that's ridiculous! The tunnels are sealed. The tracks lead to a dead end!" Oobleck replied.

At that moment, a voice over a loudspeaker spoke out loudly, "Get to your places, ladies and gentlemen, we are leaving now!" Roman announced as the train's wheels began to move.

Every White Fang member raced to reach the train.

"Well, sounds like they're going somewhere!" Yang argued.

"We need backup! Let me call Jaune!" Ruby fumbled in her pocket and pulled out her scroll. She dialed in Jaune's number, only to groan in frustration when she couldn't get a call from low signal.

"I can't get through!" Ruby said.

"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked.

"I believe we have only one option." Oobleck answered.

Everybody looked forward at the train, nearing the tunnel entrance. Ruby unfolded her scythe, loading a cartridge and everybody followed, readying their weapons.

"We're stopping that train."