For about three minutes, Usopp legitimately believed that he had a chance to win. From atop his bamboo spike sticking out from the side of the skyscraper, he could fire perfectly at Grimm climbing upwards to attack. And with his back to a wall, a surprise attack from behind could not happen. The Nevermores were smaller and dumber than what he fought before and were easy targets. And while the Beowolves could climb fast, dozens of them could be killed by a single Platanus Shuriken. The stragglers could all be picked off with Dust rounds.
It was a plan with absolutely no flaws.
However, his soul practically left his body when the bamboo spike he was sitting on started falling, not being embedded deep enough into the wall to provide proper long term support.
Maybe there was one flaw.
"I'M SO DEAD! I REGRET EVERYTHING!" Usopp screamed with tears shooting out of his eyes.
His scream fell upon deaf ears.
The Grimm eagerly awaited Usopp's fall.
While several thousand Grimm sounds like a huge amount, when they're all clumped together to take Usopp's life, the area they took up was smaller than one would think. Dr. Oobleck and Team RWBY didn't have to fly long to get to a safe spot to be dropped off at.
Ruby set down her backpack, and Oobleck would have commented on bringing such a thing if the current circumstances didn't apply.
"They still seem to be distracted, even the ones that are looking at us. Let's not waste any time!" Dr. Oobleck said.
Ruby shot forward, spinning her scythe around and bisecting and shooting dozens of Beowolves. Nearby Grimm started to notice the threat and started running towards them.
The group tore through swarms of Beowolves with little opposition. A lot of members of Team RWBY would have loved to gawk at how their history teacher was kicking ass and effortlessly slaying swaths of Grimm, but the circumstances did not allow for that. If they diverted their attention too much, they would be overwhelmed.
However, even with all of their fighting, they hardly could advance at all. Grimm that were close to the commotion started swarming the group, and so instead of getting closer to Usopp, the massive swarm simply separated into two. Although admittedly the swarm attacking Oobleck and Team RWBY was only a few hundred in size compared to the thousands swarming Usopp.
"Don't let up! Take them down so we can reach Usopp!" Ruby yelled to her team.
"Of course!"
Wait, this fall is kind of like what happened during Initiation! So I can deal with this!
He readied a trampolia seed, but the density of Grimm was thick enough that there wasn't enough room for him to fire the seed into the ground.
I need to clear them out first… but if I clear them out too soon, then more Grimm will just take their place. And if I fire too late… well, I'll hit the concrete and die.
It took all of his nerves, but he waited to fire until he was close to the ground. "Green Star: Skull Bombgrass!"
A clearing of Beowolves were torn apart by the massive skull shaped explosion, and Usopp's own momentum was slowed somewhat from the shockwave. As soon as the shockwave dissipated, Usopp fired a trampolia seed into the smoke. What he wasn't expecting was to keep falling even after he passed where the ground was. He saw train tracks for a moment before he hit the trampolia bubble at an angle. While he did bounce, the angle he hit it at made him bounce into the ceiling of the tunnel, dispelling all of his Aura and breaking several bones.
After a few moments, he fell and hit his head on the metal train tracks.
Gah… what… what happened? I thought I accounted for my forward momentum when aiming, but how could I know that the ground would be further away than expected?
Usopp heard other things falling into the hole, probably Grimm, but it was hard for him to see straight. His head was spinning, and blood from his forehead was dripping into one of his eyes.
He could just barely make out the glowing eyes approaching his downed form.
Those… damn it… they're Grimm…
He got to a sitting position and looked around. From what he could see, the only Grimm were coming from the hole that he made, which made things easier.
Green Star: Skull Bombgrass!
Grimm that were entering the tunnel were blasted apart, and even Usopp was flown back a bit from his own attack, but that gave him more time to get up and reorient himself. Light shone from outside for a moment before even more Grimm started to swarm in and block it out.
"Uh, pardon me Grimm but can I take a little break? I'm not feeling gre-whoa!"
A Beowolf lunged forward, but Usopp slammed it with an extended Black Kabuto, killing it.
"Fine dammit! In that case… goodbye!"
Usopp started running along the tracks with the swarm of Grimm following behind.
Alright, my Aura is completely gone so one mistake fighting and I could die… just like normal. But this tunnel sure is convenient, I can line them up to get taken out in large numbers at once. But running with broken bones hurts so bad!
The pain was starting to annoy Usopp.
This… this has to be long enough, right? It's getting dark too… running to far into this tunnel might not have been the best idea, but there's only one place they can come from anyways so it will be fine.
Usopp fired several Platanus Shurikens into the swarm which each took out large columns of approaching Grimm. He then fired off several hundred Bamboo Javelin seeds that created a wall of hard bamboo in the relatively narrow tunnel.
Time for a breather… I'm not sure how long it will take for them to break through that, but I should at least figure out if I want to continue fighting here, or go back to the surface where Team RWBY and Dr. Coffee will know where to find and back me up. Well, if I stay here they won't be able to surround-
The hairs on his neck stood up, and he saw a large Beowolf jump at him from the ceiling. He fired a dust round at it with no effect, and the Beowolf clawed his chest.
"AGH!"
That's an Alpha… did it climb to the ceiling to avoid my shuriken?
Usopp was immediately on the move, and it turned out that there were five Alpha Beowolves that had survived, and they tried to surround Usopp with no avail. He sprinted out of their circle and fired Platanus Shuriken at all of them.
They all jumped out of the way.
If I can't hit them with the shuriken, then the Impact Wolf is out of the question. And besides, it takes a long time for those powerful seeds to grow anyways, so it's better to conserve them for times where they are guaranteed to hit. And a Skull Bombgrass explosion would create another hole to the surface, which would let even more Grimm in. In that case…
"I wonder if you can overpower these!"
Usopp fired five seeds into the ground in front of the Alphas, which grew into the large, carnivorous Devil plants. They managed to surprise and bite the Alphas. Now, that they were still, Usopp prepared to finish them off before he heard cracking from above. Quickly moving out of the way, he barely avoided getting crushed by a massive elephant-like Grimm that had seemingly forced its way to him. Said Grimm slammed Usopp with its trunk, sending him into his own bamboo wall.
Dammit, I didn't see any Goliaths in the swarm earlier, did it make its way here while I was under ground?
Although, what was more concerning was that a new hole was opened up, which let in more Grimm. Usopp even saw that the intruding Goliath was part of a herd that followed it.
The Alphas were still struggling to free themselves from the Devils, and Usopp could hear his bamboo wall start to break a little. Usopp cursed.
First of all, Usopp fired more Devil's to completely overwhelm and destroy the Alpha Beowolves, since their agility would made them troublesome for the sniper. After he did that, the horde of Grimm was practically next to him, and some Grimm were getting through the Bamboo wall making him have no place to run. He fired Bamboo seeds in a circle around him, which would only be a temporary measure of protection, but it might be enough.
Grimm might be dumb a lot of the time, but they can learn and recognize threats. Which means, if a super strong Grimm dies, the weaker ones might hesitate. But I will die if I can't actually kill a Goliath…
Grimm were trying to claw through the Bamboo bars protecting him, and the Goliath that sent him flying earlier was charging the makeshift barrier.
"Green Star: Impact Wolf!"
The seed slipped through the bars, growing into a large wolf-like plant right before delivering a devastating shockwave to the Goliath's head, which destroyed it completely. The headless Grimm limply collapsed, shaking the ground before dissolving into smoke. The other Grimm, and even the Goliaths that were about to follow their fellow Grimm into the hole, all stood back.
Pushing down a damaged bamboo spike, he exited his protective cage, and the smaller Grimm backed off. Deep breaths hurt too much, so he spent some time taking shallow breaths and trying to make the most of the small amount of time that he bought.
Now, I should move to the surface. It seems that being down here can just lead to all sorts of unexpected attacks. That new hole will let me get back up.
Usopp charged forward to where the hole was, and the Grimm seemed to finally get out of their shock. The young and reckless charged forward, and Usopp fired off a barrage of fire, lighting, ice, and earth dust shots as he was running. The few that got close were rewarded with broken skulls and clobbered guts courtesy of Usopp's enlarged Black Kabuto.
Each claw or jaw that scratched, grazed, or barely missed made Usopp's heart leap out, but he pushed forward and made it to the massive opening caused by the Goliath.
"Green Star: Trampolia!"
The bubble-like plant grew just in time, as many Grimm tried to use that opportunity to claw Usopp's throat. They only managed to claw Usopp's feet and take a boot with them as Usopp used the plant to propel himself out of the hole, and he landed on the street.
"Ow ow ow, that was all way too close! I nearly died a few dozen times!"
Usopp felt the ground shaking behind him, so he preemptively leapt out of the way before a massive tusk almost gored him.
"Dammit, take this you slow behemoth! Green Star: Impact Wolf!"
Just like the previous one, this Goliath's head burst from the powerful shockwave. After seeing two of their herd get taken out so quickly, the remaining five started to run away, crushing smaller Grimm underneath their feet.
Even after all of this fighting, there are still so many! Like several thousand! This is impossible, I'll be overwhelmed! I'm already injured, everything hurts so much that I want to lie down and let someone else handle this. But there isn't someone else who can. Ruby would try, but she would definitely die. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm an injured wreck who's on death's door so I can't really say that I'm not going to die.
I want to close my eyes and wake up somewhere safe.
Usopp closed his eyes, and a lone Beowolf from the swarm charged forward.
"I want to wake up on the Sunny."
The monster was a few yards away from Usopp before it was impaled by a spike of bamboo. Usopp's eyes were open wide.
"So I'll have to fight and survive if I ever want to sail with my friends again!"
Time and time again Usopp rolled, dodged, shot, and bashed, escaping death and killing Grimm continuously.
At every step of the last stretch, Usopp felt he was going to die.
And at every step, he spat in the face of those thoughts and lived.
His life flashed before his eyes countless times, every small moment feeling like an eternity with the afterlife well in sight.
Usopp would never be able to tell how much time actually passed, but eventually the swarm dwindled in numbers and density before being completely annihilated. When there were no Grimm in sight, Usopp let himself fall to the ground. His legs felt like jelly, both from his injuries and the fear that was still coursing through his body. The rest of his body wasn't faring much better.
I… won? Barely didn't run out of Dust and Pop Greens, good thing I brought extra. I think I'm all out of Bamboo Javelin and Platanus Shuriken seeds, I'll have to restock when I get back to my dorm room. And, I think I'm missing a tooth. I'll have to drink some milk later. I should… I should get up and help Team RWBY now, but I can't. Sorry, I hope you all can handle the Grimm that went towards you.
"Come on everyone, we're in the last stretch!" Ruby yelled.
Their group has taken out 350 Grimm, composed of mostly Beowolves and Ursai and the occasional Deathstalker. Of the swarm of Grimm that branched off from the ones swarming Usopp, there were only 46 or so left. All of them were Beowolves, although a particularly large one towered over the others, simply observing.
All of them were breathing heavily from the extended fighting, and even though there was only a small number of Grimm left, they were also starting to tire.
Ruby heard soft footsteps and she glanced behind her to see Zwei trotting his way towards her.
"Zwei! No, stay in the backpack, now's not the time!"
Dr. Ooobleck turned towards the corgi, an idea forming in his head. After destroying a few more charging Grimm, he walked back to the dog. The two looked each other in the eyes, and Dr. Oobleck hit him like a baseball. The corgi, now one fire, took out a line of Beowolves before completely obliterating the Alpha in the back.
Ruby's eyes widened. "Whoa..."
With their Alpha eliminated, the remaining Grimm were relatively simple to take down. A few minutes later, the last Grimm dematerialized with its body torn in two.
"Alright, now to Usopp!" Ruby said.
"Wait," Dr. Oobleck ordered, hearing stomping sounds from the distance. Moments later, a line of Goliaths turned the corner in a full sprint. "Move to the side! You four will only be able to do little more than anger a Grimm of that size!"
The five and Zwei all hid in nearby buildings and the Goliaths simply charged past, ignoring their presences.
"It almost seemed like they were running away from something," Weiss said.
"Of course," Yang said, "I'm sure Usopp kicked butt and made them freak out."
"It's not out of the question," Dr. Oobleck said, "Grimm of that size have often learned that killing humans only invites more to hunt them down. Their survival instincts are stronger than most Grimm. The fact that they even came here in the first place is surprising. Usopp's negativity must have been quite an lure, but enough with that. We must find Usopp immediately. If strong Grimm like those Goliaths showed up, then he might not have gotten out of this unscathed."
"Right," Ruby said, "Let's go!"
Usopp was nowhere to be found at the building where he was dropped off at, but the Grimm seemed to be gone too. They could see burns and ice spikes that showed that Usopp did fight in this area, and plants that could be identified as Pop Greens were also scattered about. From stray plantlike shurikens to random bamboo spikes, it was clear that many Grimm had met their end at this very place.
In the street next to the building, they noticed the massive hole that led to the underground train tracks. Dr. Oobleck had an internal revelation, but he would wait to say anything until after they could confirm Usopp's safety… or death.
They all jumped down to the tracks. They noticed Usopp's Trampolia plant, but they also saw blood on the tracks.
"He might have fallen down here," Dr. Oobleck said, "Let's go."
They split up, with Yang and Blake going one direction while the rest ran the opposite direction. Although, once Ruby, Weiss, and Dr. Oobleck encountered the broken wall of bamboo, they called the others with a scroll and waited for them to catch up.
Beyond the splintered bamboo was another hole, and another trampolia plant. They also found Usopp's boot, which was bloddy. Ruby picked it up, but they all used Usopp's trampolia to return to the surface.
It was there that they saw Usopp's battered form lying on the street. It's not like he was lying in a pool of his own blood or anything, but his body was stained red in many places. Grimm don't bleed, so it had to be his. His nose was surprisingly intact though.
"Usopp!" Ruby called out.
"R-Ruby..." Usopp said weakly.
"That was quite reckless, Usopp!" Weiss yelled.
Usopp sat up, looking down at the street. "Yeah, but the mission would have been cancelled if I didn't do that though, right? And the whole reason there were so many Grimm here was because of me."
"So you felt responsible," Blake said solemnly.
"Yeah, but I regret ever feeling that way now! Do you know how scary fighting all of those Grimm was?! I lost count of how many times my life flashed before my eyes! I'm surprised I'm even talking to you all now!"
"Did you really almost die that many times, or were you just underestimating yourself? As you are alive now and the Grimm are not," Yang pointed out.
"Well… I felt like I was going to die, but it might not have been justified every time."
Weiss huffed. "What were you even thinking, just jumping out like that?! And trying to act as bait?! Who gave you permission to-"
Ruby elbowed her. When Weiss met her eyes, Ruby whispered something.
"Fine," she whispered back.
"Anyways," Ruby said, "Usopp?"
"Yeah?"
Ruby's expression was soft as she gave Usopp a smile. "Thank you for doing what you did."
"Wha-"
"I'm sure it was painful and scary and there were at least a few moments where you actually could have died, but you persevered and didn't run away. I'm just sorry that we couldn't help you out more than what we did. Now that it's over, all I can do is thank you and promise that this mission will be worth it."
"It's… well..." Usopp looked to the side, "Just don't get your hopes up and expect me to do something like that again."
You were so determined to reunite with your friends, but you still risked your life like this. Not to mention that this Torchwick problem isn't even your world's issue. Give yourself some more credit, Usopp.
"I hate to interrupt, but can you stand, Usopp?" Dr. Oobleck asked.
"Yup, I was laying down because I wanted some rest."
"Good. After seeing the underground train tracks, I think I have a good idea of where the enemy hideout might be. And I'd like you to use your ability to confirm it."