Last time on RWBY X Meta Runner: Worlds Collide…
After crashlanding in Menagerie, our heroes are, at this point, stranded on Menagerie, thanks to the mercenary sent by Vekk-Torr to kill them, Gill Grunt. But as things started calm and relaxed as the island breeze, things got dicey when a new foe appeared—Blake Belladonna! As our heroes managed to calm the crazy psychopathic faunus down, the forces of evil arrived on the scene. As they did so, Rock-Skar and his forces took Blake and Gill, who somehow turned on his master, hostage, and it was up to Ruby to rescue her teammate. Soon, Masa follows suit, but as things get hectic, Rock-Skar separates and flees the fight, taking Ruby and Blake with him. Now, with our heroes separated, one question remains for Tari and the rest of the Meta Hunters:
What now? Stay tuned to find out!
Menagerie, Beach by the White Fang Cell
16 days since The Onslaught
Feeling guilty for a rescue mission that went wrong, Tari cried as she tried to cope with the "losses" of Ruby and Masa. She sat alone on the beach, far away from everyone else. Suddenly, Yang approached her from behind and stood still as she saw her blue-haired ally weep near the ocean.
"Yo, Tari," Yang said.
Tari stopped and turned to see Yang.
"A word?" the blonde smiled, speaking in her usual tone before The Onslaught.
"What is it?" Tari sighed.
"I don't seem to understand why you and your friends are here in the first place, but you were here for a reason," the blonde said. "Maybe Pyrrha was all alone in believing in destiny. Before we awoke with our new superpowered bodies, you arrived. Call it fate, call it luck, hell, call it fortune. You came here for a reason."
"No." Tari snapped, "You'll never understand! Why did this fall upon me?!"
"Again, fate, luck, fortune, destiny works in mysterious ways." Yang soothed.
"Destiny? You think this is about destiny?!" Tari bellowed, "This is about me! I'm nothing more than-"
"What?" Yang interrupted, "Afraid? You started playing Ultra Jump Mania without giving it a second thought. That's how you met Theo in the first place. Selfish? When you crossed the line and joined TAS Corp, you told your friends you would be fine. And in that match of Hidden Heroes, they also had your back. Cowardly? That's not what Lamar told us. You supported your friends, and it's time to do the same again."
Tari sobbed and smiled over what Yang said.
"Be like my stepmom. Make us not worry about the dark. Light up the night with the love in your heart. Burn like the sun and keep us safe and warm. Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day, take all our fears away. With a touch of your hand, you will turn our lives into gold," the blonde finished.
"That," Tari gasped. "That was the most wholesome advice anyone told me."
She then hugged Yang, and the blonde hugged her back. Then, they heard the rumbling of an engine. Aware of the sound, Tari and Yang let go of each other and turned to wherever that sound came from. Just then, a hovercycle drove toward them to their left side. As it parked near them, the figure got off the bike and approached them.
"Who is he?" Tari asked.
"Scum," Yang responded.
"Allow me to introduce myself, ladies." the figure introduced, "The name's Ni-Treaux, and I am about to get my hands full when I crush you-"
Suddenly, a large war hammer struck the lizardlike foe, and as he got up, he saw the individual who had thrown the hammer.
"You chose the wrong time to pick a fight, jackass," he said.
"Erde-Vere!" Yang gasped.
The blonde then ran toward the testudinal Camylonian and came to his side.
"Erde-Vere, I'm glad you're here." Yang smiled. Do you know who this clown is?"
"Ni-Treaux," Erde-Vere replied, "He is a friend and fellow engineer of Rock-Skar. It turns out that he has recruited him to supervise you from leaving."
"Then let's send him packing back to Vekk-Torr," Yang smirked as she activated Ember Celica.
Erde-Vere raised his hand, stopping her from advancing the attack.
"What do you want, Ni-Treaux?" Erde-Vere demanded.
"To ensure Tari, her goons, and you Knights of the Snore never leave this island," Ni-Treaux responded.
"Boy, he is strict." Yang noted, "We need to do something. Maybe give us a chance to defend ourselves."
"I heard that," smirked Ni-Treaux. "Anyways, can I help you with anything, Erde-Jeer?"
Yang and Erde-Vere gave Ni-Treaux mean looks after the mechanic mocked the latter. The blonde then stepped forward and approached the mechanic.
"I challenge you to a bike race." Yang proclaimed.
"HOVERBIKE race." Ni-Treaux corrected, "Bet your ass can't find a cycle like mine."
"And if I do, the race is on." Yang added, "If I win, you will tell us all you know. If we lose, you take us all prisoner."
"Sounds like a bargain." Ni-Treaux replied, "See you at the docks."
The two challengers then headed back to their respective groups.
The Crash Site of Winter's Ship
Back at Winter's ship, the Meta Hunters are busy removing their stuff and placing it on the ground outside the vessel. Winter exits the craft and surveys everything as the Manu Fe'ai lands near the wreck.
"So much for a happy landing." she sighed.
Weiss and Lamar walked toward the elder Schnee and approached her with news that was not good for either.
"Sister, what is the status of my ship?" Winter asked.
"The engines are kaput, thanks to that surprise attack led by the pathetic piece of aquatic shit." responded Weiss, "Now we are stuck here with no way to get out since we put the 'ship' in shipwreck."
"Duu-dee-doo-dee-duu-du-deep-dill-drun." Byt-Z chirped.
As she did that, the three turned around to hear what was making that sound, only to see Sage sitting with Itt-Z and Arma-Kade.
"What?" Sage asked.
The two looked down at Itt-Z, who was on Sage's shoulder, while Byt-Z leaped to join her brother.
"Her vocal processors were damaged in a scouting mission. She has been trying to fix them ever since." Itt-Z explained, "At this point, I translate everything she says."
"What did the poor thing say?" Weiss questioned.
"The one you speak of is Gill Grunt, Miss Schnee." Itt-Z answered, "A cold-blooded mercenary from the planet Barin. Your new ally, Belle, bested him in combat."
The Schnees and Lamar turned toward Belle as she walked toward the right wing of the Manu Fe'ai, then turned back to Sage and Itt-Z.
"Anything else we should know if he is on our side?" Winter added.
"Sure." the miniature Knight of the Core agreed, "He is actually-"
Suddenly, the group heard the scream of Belle as she was electrocuted from the shock, trying to slice off the wing to Gill's ship. As the group ran to her, the Schnee sisters helped their new ally on her feet, helping her recover.
"What were you thinking?" Winter demanded.
"I plan to scrap this ship for parts to fix yours," replied Belle. "I didn't expect a built-in security system."
"That is something I can help you with." A voice said.
Surprised by this, everyone near the ship turned around and looked around to find whoever said that. Then, a neon green liquid started to ooze out of the cockpit.
"Guys," Lamar quaked as he noticed what was happening, "You might want to see this."
Sage and Belle then ran to his location and prepared for battle. The substance began to seep through the chinks in the hull, and drops of it began to touch the ground. As they stood their ground, the liquid continued to poor until it became a puddle the diameter of a car tire. It then approached the trio like it was going downstream. As it stopped, it began to shape itself into a humanoid standing 5'10". Soon, its features began to reveal before the trio—a young man with long black hair that ends midway down his back. There is a magenta streak on the left side of his hair, and his eyes match the same color as the streak in his hair. He wore a black cowl with green stripes on his neck. On his chest, he wore a black overcoat, emerald green samurai sode, silver trim on the shoulders, and a short-sleeved black t-shirt layered underneath a green, white, and black chest guard. He dons a black hakama and white kyahan fastened with a utility belt, silver futuristic shoes, and neon green lights glowing through the welts on his feet. Saidbelt held a pair of concealable, green machine pistols equipped with collapsible blades and extended magazines, one on each hip, with extra magazines and USBs.
"Holy…" gasped Lamar.
"I knew that voice was familiar!" shouted Yang.
Yang then bolted to the trio in front of the Barinian jet.
"Glad to see a fellow Huntsman join us!" smiled the blonde.
"Good to see you too." Ren smiled, "And who are these guys?"
"Never mind that shit, we got a race to win." Tari interrupted.
"Huh?" Belle asked.
"We challenged Ni-Treaux to a hoverbike race, but Bumblebee can't hover across the water," explained Yang.
"Perhaps I can help," Ren added, "I am part techno-organic slime."
"Hmm," Yang pondered, "That's intriguing. Come with me."
Yang and Ren then headed to Bumblebee, Yang's motorcycle. As they did so, the trio turned to Tari, confused and misguided.
"Tari," Belle said, "About this race, this Lie Ren guy, and how he's a techno-organic slime. What is going on?"
"Well, let's talk about the latter first." Tari sighed, "You see, me, Lamar, Theo, Weiss, Yang, you, and now Ren. We are something called Distortions."
"Distortions?" asked Belle.
"Rouge entities that either protect or endanger a reality. Luckily, you are protecting Remnant. You are a Positive Distortion." Roa-Nyn noted.
"Fyuz-Elot," Belle whispered.
"His works did wonders again." the Knight of the Core smiled.
Elsewhere, Yang and Ren were busy getting Bumblebee away from the wreckage of Winter's ship. Ren analyzes the blonde's vehicle for damages as they successfully push it toward the Manu Fe'ai.
"So, how does it look?" Yang asked.
"Looks good, minus the PSI of the back tire not matching the front, shrapnel in the gas tank, and a chip on the windshield," Ren responded.
"Any way to fix it?" the blonde questioned.
"Stand aside, Yang. Let a pro do this." Ren declared.
Ren then transformed into his slime form and leaped onto the blonde's ride, combining with the bike. As he did so, he fixed the three things and gave the bike a few new upgrades, including a V6 engine for more horsepower, an extra front wheel for precise turns, yellow neon lighting for flare, thin exhaust pipes, and the ability to transform into a hoverbike. Once finished, he leaped off the bike and reverted to his humanoid state. As Tari, Lamar, and Weiss ran to see Ren's handiwork, they marveled at the new and improved Bumblebee.
"Wow," gasped Tari, "Who made this?"
"I did," revealed Ren.
"Wait," Weiss bespoke, "You can't be serious."
"Yep, Ren here got reincarnated as a techno-organic slime. It makes Hollywood look like a puppet show." Lamar acknowledged.
"Now it's time to see Ni-Treaux and spill his beans. Meta Hunters, let's find this mad machinist!" Tari said.
Kuo Kuana Docks
At the docks at Kuo Kuana, Ni-Treaux was sitting on his hoverbike, sleeping until his challenger arrived. Then, as he heard the sound of an engine rumbling, Yang arrived at the scene, accompanied by Weiss, Tari, Lamar, and Theo.
"Let's race, asshole," smirked Yang.
"Hmph, so it seems you're up to the occasion. The first person to pass that buoy a quarter mile from here wins." Ni-Treaux explained the rules to Yang.
"Deal." smirked Yang, "Prepare to eat my dust."
As the race was about to start, Yang and Ni-Treaux lined up at the starting line and prepared to race each other to the buoy, a quarter-mile from their starting point. As Hector prepared to start the race between the two, he pulled out a flare gun and pointed it upward. As he fired it, the race commenced, and both racers rocketed toward the buoy. At the start of the race, Ni-Treaux was pulling ahead by a few inches. Yang followed suit as he increased his bike's speed and managed to keep pace.
"Damn." she thought, "This nutsack has some tricks up his sleeves."
Yang revved the engine to improve Bumblebee's speed and tied the race.
"Luckily, I have tricks up my sleeve. If I had sleeves still attached to my jacket, that is." Yang thought.
Seeing this, Ni-Treaux shifted into the next gear on his bike and went slightly faster. Seeing this, Yang then used her obtained half of the Fall Maiden's power to enhance her bike and rocket past her opposition. Seeing this, Ni-Treaux shifted his bike into third gear, increasing its speed. Seeing the buoy dead ahead, the engineer thought of a nefarious plan—to ram his bike into Yang's. As he revved his bike to increase speed, both racers noticed the buoy was dead ahead.
"Ah, crud." griped Ni-Treaux.
"We got him where we want him." Yang smirked, "His secrets are ours for the taking!"
As soon as she said that, she passed the buoy and won the race. A second later, Ni-Treaux crashed into the buoy. The result was his hoverbike stuck into the rigging. As Yang turned around to the buoy, or what remained of it, she parked her bike next to the twisted metal wreck.
"You lost. Now you explain everything to us." Yang said.
Ni-Treaux groaned as he hung his head in shame. Yang and Ni-Treaux worked on the buoy's rigging on the island to ensure the latter's bike got unstuck. Once freed, the engineer was ready to part ways with his opposition.
"You stooges will never make me talk." Ni-Treaux denied.
"Oh," replied Weiss, "We will."
"By what, force?" mocked the villainous engineer.
Yang then grabbed it and threw it on the beach, throwing him onto the ground. Yang picked him up as the engineer tried to get up and held him in an inverted facelock.
"Me and my big mouth," Ni-Treaux said.
Yang spun under him while holding the facelock, twisting him into the cutter position.
"Ow!" he bellowed, "Still not telling you."
"You asked for it," responded Yang as she stood up, still holding Ni-Treaux in the facelock.
She then performed the same maneuver again.
"Gah!" screamed Ni-Treaux, "That hurt! But I am not telling you anything!"
"Keep doing what you're doing, Yang!" cheered Theo, "Make him talk."
Yang smirked, and she got up and performed the maneuver once more.
"Gah!" Ni-Treaux screamed. "This ain't getting you nowhere!"
"I know," Yang replied, "But it is fun."
Yang got up and performed the maneuver twice in a row without stopping.
"Okay, I give." sighed Ni-Treaux.
Silence fell throughout the area, and he was ready to talk.
"NOT!" he smirked.
Yang then growled and performed the maneuver repeatedly until the mechanic pleaded to stop and tell the Meta Hunters what was happening.
Two minutes later
Recovering from the onslaught of cutters by Yang, Ni-Treaux was ready to talk.
"My head…" he groaned.
Weiss then approached the engineer. Soon, she pointed Myrtemaster at the engineer's neck, hoping a word would slip out of his vocal processors.
"What is Vekk-Torr planning?" Weiss demanded.
"Okay… okay… I'll tell you all I know." whimpered the engineer, "He's building a Doomlazer. It's spelled D-O-O-M-L-A-Z-E-R."
"What is a Doomlazer?" the Schnee questioned.
"It's a device that Vekk-Torr uses to destroy worlds. When his army is in battle with the heroes of one universe, one of these machines gets built in an undisclosed area on one of the habituated planets." the engineer answered. "Thanks to that backstabbing barracuda, Gill Grunt, your ship has its wings clipped, so you'll stuck here. And soon, it will be complete."
Tari stood aside the Schnee.
"Well, we have a surprise for you," Tari smirked.
Back at the crash site, Ren, Itt-Z, and Byt-Z were repairing and upgrading Winter's ship. As Yang's group returned, the individuals at the site stopped and reunited to hopefully hear something good.
"Tari, Yang, glad to see you back after that race!" Itt-Z cheered. "Any intel?"
"Vekk-Torr's building a Doomlazer." Tari replied, "At this point, it is almost complete."
"Dfft-dwee-twon-dfft-duval!" Byt-Z interrupted.
"Agreed." said her brother, "However, Ren, Winter, and I have been arguing about the ship's wings. I wish a mechanic could meet all three of our needs."
"Perhaps I can help." a calm voice said.
Everyone turned to whoever said that. Suddenly, a woman with a dark complexion wearing burnt orange, goldenrod yellow, and silver Camylonian robe approached them.
"And you are…?" Lamar questioned.
"Gretchen Rainart." the woman responded, "It's a pleasure to meet with you all, especially you, Ozpin."
Ozpin gasped to see the woman who was once a student of Beacon, who he believed died in a training mission, somehow, someway, still alive.
The skies above the Kingdom of Mistral
Above the skies of Mistral, Ruby, and Blake were held as Vekk-Torr's prisoners in the Mistral Airship they were in. Inside, the two Huntresses tried to free themselves from their energy handcuffs. While Blake tried to gnaw her free from the cuffs, Ruby attempted to detach her prosthetic arm. Both of them were unsuccessful at what they were doing. As they were doing that, Tri-El and Err-Yr walked toward the prisoners.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Err-Yr taunted the prisoners.
Ruby and Blake headed toward the front of the cage and approached the Camylonian henchmen with aggressive body language. Blake even managed to hiss at the duo.
"Hey! HEY! Back off, you damn dirty apes!" Tri-El ordered.
"Make us." retorted Ruby.
"Gladly!" Err-Yr yelled.
"Fragdammit, Err!" Tri-El snapped.
As Err-Yr swung his scorpion tail at Ruby's right leg, attempting to paralyze her, Blake then leaped in the way and pushed Ruby aside, making her leader evade the attack while making it strike her handcuffs, freeing herself from her restraints while shocking the assailant. As Err-Yr fell to the floor unconscious, Blake snarled at Tri-El and started bending the cell bars holding the two Distortion Huntresses.
"We gotta go!" he exclaimed as he grabbed his partner's tail and dragged his body away from the scene.
As he dragged Err-Yr's unconscious body, the defibrillators in his palms charged up, and he electrocuted his partner back to life. As Err-Yr got up, he saw Blake approaching the two robot henchmen and the bars holding the two Huntresses prisoner bent.
"Right behind you." he gasped, "EVERY BOT FOR HIMSELF!"
Blake calmed down as the duo of robots ran away, and Ruby walked out of the cell that once held them prisoner.
"Great work, Blake." praised Ruby, "Now, to pry me free of my restraints."
"Why?" Blake questioned.
"At this point, you and I are the only thing standing between that robot tyrant and the city of Haven! Now, we have a choice here: We either sit on our asses and wait or take what we learned from Beacon and do something really stupid." Ruby ranted.
Blake then gave a confident smile to her team leader. Back on the deck of the ship, Vekk-Torr and Rock-Skar were in the middle of a conversation.
"The construction of the Doomlazer has accelerated by 17% since the Beacon Eight's descent and reawakening." noted Rock-Skar, "But now, we are short-handed despite the weapon being almost complete."
"And why is that Rock-Skar?" questioned Vekk-Torr.
"The search for a rare type of Dust, sir." the general responded.
"Dust?" the warlord said, "We are beyond those pathetic crystals because we have found something greater."
He then proceeded to reveal a Solinium crystal to the general.
"Solinium?!" exclaimed Rock-Skar, "How the hell did you get that?"
"What? You think I destroy every world I come across?" Vekk-Torr retorted, "No, I am not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. I spare some worlds that prove useful for my conquests."
"Yeah, how many Earths did you spare?" the general asked.
"Well…" the warlord continued.
Just as he was about to answer the question, Tri-El, and Err-Yr ran toward the two in conversation with each other.
"Boss! Bad news!" Err-Yr interrupted.
"Not now," replied the warlord, "I am in a con-"
"The prisoners!" Rock-Skar exclaimed, "Everyone, we have prisoners loose! Find them, catch them, kill them!"
The VekkTroopers on board then ran across the ship searching for the prisoners. As everyone hurried to find the duo, Ruby and Blake approached the four Camylonian villains with their hands behind their backs, holding their respective weapons.
"You were looking for us?" Ruby questioned.
"Ah, shit." Err-Yr groaned.
Vekk-Torr, surprised by this, approached the duo while Tri-El and Err-Yr prepared the plank for the Huntresses to walk on.
"Well, I am impressed." Vekk-Torr praised, "Either you two are the smartest prisoners I have imprisoned, the most reckless, or crazy."
"Sir..." Tri-El said.
"WHAT?!" the warlord hissed.
"We need everyone to see her fall to her doom for propaganda purposes," Tri-El replied.
Ninety seconds later
Every VekkTrooper regrouped to the ship's deck to witness the duo of Ruby and Blake plummet to their doom.
"Now, Ruby Rose," Vekk-Torr smiled, "Any last words?"
Ruby chuckled and prepared to let the words come out of her mouth.
"We'll you may have me cornered," she smirked. "But my plans to take my home back are more than meets the eye."
Ruby then leaped off the edge of the plank and out of the crowd. Blake threw Crescent Rose off the ship's deck, and once she did that, Ruby grabbed it and lodged it into the vessel's hull.
"It's a trick, we just got suckered in!" Rock-Skar informed, "Battle stations!"
As Rock-Skar gave the order, Ruby began to tear a hole in the ship's hull. Blake fought off the VekkTroopers with her skills and newfound powers, making her angry and dealing powerful blows at the cost of her speed and sanity. As the former returned to the deck, she approached Rock-Skar, and the two engaged in a fierce battle. As Rock-Skar's guitar axe and Crescent Rose clashed, Blake used her semblance to damage the left turbine using a stone clone. As the statue hit the left engine fan, it exploded, causing the ship to tilt to the left and knocking everyone on board to lose footing. As Ruby ran toward the edge of the deck, Blake followed, and Rock-Skar and Vekk-Torr pursued the duo.
"Surely, we are not jumping from this crashlanding airship!" complained Blake.
"One: We are jumping from this rig, and two: Don't call me Shirley!" retorted Ruby.
As the Huntress duo jumped, Rock-Skar and Vekk-Torr followed suit. The two groups faced each other, and the former group fired at their foes, with Vekk-Torr blocking their shots and Rock-Skar getting hit by their fire. As Vekk-Torr tried to snatch Ruby midair, the red-clad huntress used her cybernetic arm's electromagnet and attracted Rock-Skar's guitar axe, prying it from the wielder's hands. She then chucked the weapon into the head of the warlord like a hatchet. This attack caused the warlord to tumble down from the sky and crash into his general and, soon, the crashlanding ship. The two huntresses then skydived toward a city while the wreck plummeted until it crashed into a grassy plain. As the general emerged from the wreckage, he saw the two huntresses fall towards their location.
"One second, we have victory in our grasp; the next, the deck's stacked against us." he sighed.
Suddenly, he felt a rumbling. And soon, Vekk-Torr emerged from the wreckage.
"GAAAAAAAAARG! THOSE ACCURSED HUNTRESSES WILL PAY FOR THEIR INTERFERENCE!" the warlord bellowed.
"They will." pleaded Rock-Skar, "Your time will come."
Wind Path
Meanwhile, the two huntresses continued to plummet in the city of Wind Path. Soon, Ruby fell into a wheelbarrow filled with hay, and Blake fell into a steel tub full of water. As the latter landed in the tub, she leaped out of it and was soaking wet and antsy about the fall's aftermath.
"Sweet Christmas, Ruby!" Blake exclaimed while Ruby popped her head out of the hay, "What were you thinking?!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know landing on your feet was your strong suit," Ruby countered.
"If you and I swapped places in our first days in Beacon, you would be crash landing into a tree!" Blake bellowed.
"A tree I would easily make into firewood with Crescent Rose." Ruby corrected as she exited the wheelbarrow, "Your legs would be broken if you used it, you scaredy cat."
Blake, offended by this, angrily pushed her leader in the face. In retaliation, Ruby shoved her teammate, escalating the argument. The two huntresses then got into each other's faces and gave mean looks to each other.
"I will break you first, you arrogant gardener." snarled Blake.
"Do your worst." retorted Ruby.
As the two Huntresses were arguing, another duo lurked in the shadows.
"Hey, Lord Vekk-Torr." Komodo Joe informed Vekk-Torr.
"What is it, Joe?" the warlord asked.
"We found them." the mercenary answered as Komodo Moe stood beside his brother, scimitars at the ready.
Will Ruby and Blake find common ground before it is too late?
If so, what is the plan for the two Huntresses?
And if not, who will fall to the Komodo Brothers?
Be here when all those questions get answered in Chapter 16: Don't Be a Menace to Wind Path While Drinking Your Juice in the Ghetto!
Achievement Unlocked: RenSec
Have Ren join your Party