Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

She was silent for a moment as if she didn't know how to rationalize it to another person, more a creature of instinct than words. "For when it comes back."​

"And if it doesn't?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"And if it doesn't?"

"It's going to come back. I don't know if it'll be tonight, but it will." She answered firmly, not taking her eyes off the brush. "I have all the time in the world."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"It's going to come back. I don't know if it'll be tonight, but it will." She answered firmly, not taking her eyes off the brush. "I have all the time in the world."​

"...Hahaha." She laughed hearing that, though it was not mean-spirited by any means. Deciding to spend however long just sitting in one spot buffeted by high winds, all to wait for something that might not reappear. "You really weren't kidding about that conviction. Can't say if it's more foolish or impressive but...still, I respect that." Vernal turned, striding over to the end of the car. "Suit yourself." was the last thing she said before she hopped down and slipped back into the train proper.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"So...want to explain what that was about now?" Raven questioned, still not having even moved an inch from where she sat this whole time.​

A slow draw of the breath as he swallowed the last of the sausagey affair that comprised his pizza, his words followed the tail end of Raven's in an imploring inquiry. "Talk to us, Arthur. What's happened?"

Arthur took a deep breath and pried his head off the desk to rest in a hand, though he didn't turn to face either of the people who asked.

"I suppose you could say I poked a bear. Then realized it wasn't a bear but an ursa major who was already halfway done chewing through my leg. Except the leg was this train, so I replaced it with another leg, and this is where this analogy starts to get away from me."

he sat up a bit more straight and held up a hand. "I've learned a few things; one-" he started as he put up a finger "-that its very likely Weiss Schnee is indeed in Ozpin's pocket."

"Told ya" Yang muttered from where she'd gone back to her shopping now that whatever danger they were in seemed to have passed.

"Yes, well, forgive me for wanting to confirm what amounted to nothing more than narrative conjecture in a real world situation" He snapped back before he held up another finger. "Two; that its very likely Ozpin's forces know exactly who Salem's selected as her group of personal helpers. At least the ones from this world" he added with a glance at Ruby.

"And finally-" he said with one more finger "-that another person who's in Ozpin's clutches is an old teacher of mine, from my Atlas days. Doddering old fool who couldn't fight off a single beowolf, but he's... competent with a keyboard" he admitted with a begrudging frown. "He took offense to my digging, and backloaded me with a whole bevy of viruses that could've... potentially given away our exact location to our enemies. I was admittedly concerned."

 

[Gus Gungus]

Arthur took a deep breath and pried his head off the desk to rest in a hand, though he didn't turn to face either of the people who asked.

"I suppose you could say I poked a bear. Then realized it wasn't a bear but an ursa major who was already halfway done chewing through my leg. Except the leg was this train, so I replaced it with another leg, and this is where this analogy starts to get away from me."

he sat up a bit more straight and held up a hand. "I've learned a few things; one-" he started as he put up a finger "-that its very likely Weiss Schnee is indeed in Ozpin's pocket."

"Told ya" Yang muttered from where she'd gone back to her shopping now that whatever danger they were in seemed to have passed.

"Yes, well, forgive me for wanting to confirm what amounted to nothing more than narrative conjecture in a real world situation" He snapped back before he held up another finger. "Two; that its very likely Ozpin's forces know exactly who Salem's selected as her group of personal helpers. At least the ones from this world" he added with a glance at Ruby.

"And finally-" he said with one more finger "-that another person who's in Ozpin's clutches is an old teacher of mine, from my Atlas days. Doddering old fool who couldn't fight off a single beowolf, but he's... competent with a keyboard" he admitted with a begrudging frown. "He took offense to my digging, and backloaded me with a whole bevy of viruses that could've... potentially given away our exact location to our enemies. I was admittedly concerned."

"...Wow. So you solved a problem you created and now there's another hacker to distract you?" Mercury summed up, genuinely trying to sound impressed.

 

[Indolent]

Arthur took a deep breath and pried his head off the desk to rest in a hand, though he didn't turn to face either of the people who asked.

"I suppose you could say I poked a bear. Then realized it wasn't a bear but an ursa major who was already halfway done chewing through my leg. Except the leg was this train, so I replaced it with another leg, and this is where this analogy starts to get away from me."

he sat up a bit more straight and held up a hand. "I've learned a few things; one-" he started as he put up a finger "-that its very likely Weiss Schnee is indeed in Ozpin's pocket."

"Told ya" Yang muttered from where she'd gone back to her shopping now that whatever danger they were in seemed to have passed.

"Yes, well, forgive me for wanting to confirm what amounted to nothing more than narrative conjecture in a real world situation" He snapped back before he held up another finger. "Two; that its very likely Ozpin's forces know exactly who Salem's selected as her group of personal helpers. At least the ones from this world" he added with a glance at Ruby.

"And finally-" he said with one more finger "-that another person who's in Ozpin's clutches is an old teacher of mine, from my Atlas days. Doddering old fool who couldn't fight off a single beowolf, but he's... competent with a keyboard" he admitted with a begrudging frown. "He took offense to my digging, and backloaded me with a whole bevy of viruses that could've... potentially given away our exact location to our enemies. I was admittedly concerned."

Were it any other situation, it might have been Hazel who nonchalantly commented without humor underpinning his tone something along the lines of "When aren't you ever poking a bear?" As it were, the severity was not lost on him, aside the severity of the horrible analogy, a concerned frown forming as he looked on.

"So at a great risk that sounds to have been mitigated, we've learned more since hours ago." Hazel summarized, eyes downward in contemplation before he turned his words towards his leader again. "What will we do about Merlot?" He asked, curious, realizing that as much as it was fact they were more than estranged, they still had a history with one another. It was no easy thing approaching that where another person was concerned, though maybe Hazel had an idea considering this was Arthur.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Arthur took a deep breath and pried his head off the desk to rest in a hand, though he didn't turn to face either of the people who asked.

"I suppose you could say I poked a bear. Then realized it wasn't a bear but an ursa major who was already halfway done chewing through my leg. Except the leg was this train, so I replaced it with another leg, and this is where this analogy starts to get away from me."

he sat up a bit more straight and held up a hand. "I've learned a few things; one-" he started as he put up a finger "-that its very likely Weiss Schnee is indeed in Ozpin's pocket."

"Told ya" Yang muttered from where she'd gone back to her shopping now that whatever danger they were in seemed to have passed.

"Yes, well, forgive me for wanting to confirm what amounted to nothing more than narrative conjecture in a real world situation" He snapped back before he held up another finger. "Two; that its very likely Ozpin's forces know exactly who Salem's selected as her group of personal helpers. At least the ones from this world" he added with a glance at Ruby.

"And finally-" he said with one more finger "-that another person who's in Ozpin's clutches is an old teacher of mine, from my Atlas days. Doddering old fool who couldn't fight off a single beowolf, but he's... competent with a keyboard" he admitted with a begrudging frown. "He took offense to my digging, and backloaded me with a whole bevy of viruses that could've... potentially given away our exact location to our enemies. I was admittedly concerned."

"...Wonderful." She growled, more frustrated than relieved to hear that. It was good to be more certain of that allegiance, to be sure, but the enemy having access to the world's premier dust company and all its assets to use against them...nevermind being privy to key knowledge of two kingdoms, with both Weiss and Leonardo sitting on their respective councils...it truly wasn't a good situation. And that wasn't even mentioning they could potentially know who Salem had chosen to go on this mission...or even worse, maybe their current location. "Good going, kid." Raven shook her head to emphasize she was being sarcastic there. She rubbed at her temples in frustration.

"Well, at least there's things they can't know. You three-" She looked to Yang, Ruby and Qrow. "-Eve and Spring. The more secret advantages we have going in, the better to fight off trouble. People they can't possibly be ready for, even if they're ready for our two student teams or me or our contact." Her eyes shifted over to the door as it started to swing open.​

"What will we do about Merlot?" He asked, curious, realizing that as much as it was fact they were more than estranged, they still had a history with one another. It was no easy thing approaching that where another person was concerned, though maybe Hazel had an idea considering this was Arthur.

"...do about who--" Cinder started, entering the cabin only in time to hear that.

Raven swiftly cut her off. "Us? Nothing. Not right now, and nothing officially. We have more pressing issues and no proof that would hold up. I already advised Salem that Weiss was a potential problem, I'm sure they'll do what they can. Right now we focus on retrieving the relic."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Wow. So you solved a problem you created and now there's another hacker to distract you?" Mercury summed up, genuinely trying to sound impressed.

Were it any other situation, it might have been Hazel who nonchalantly commented without humor underpinning his tone something along the lines of "When aren't you ever poking a bear?" As it were, the severity was not lost on him, aside the severity of the horrible analogy, a concerned frown forming as he looked on.

"So at a great risk that sounds to have been mitigated, we've learned more since hours ago." Hazel summarized, eyes downward in contemplation before he turned his words towards his leader again. "What will we do about Merlot?" He asked, curious, realizing that as much as it was fact they were more than estranged, they still had a history with one another. It was no easy thing approaching that where another person was concerned, though maybe Hazel had an idea considering this was Arthur.

"...Wonderful." She growled, more frustrated than relieved to hear that. It was good to be more certain of that allegiance, to be sure, but the enemy having access to the world's premier dust company and all its assets to use against them...nevermind being privy to key knowledge of two kingdoms, with both Weiss and Leonardo sitting on their respective councils...it truly wasn't a good situation. And that wasn't even mentioning they could potentially know who Salem had chosen to go on this mission...or even worse, maybe their current location. "Good going, kid." Raven shook her head to emphasize she was being sarcastic there. She rubbed at her temples in frustration.

"Well, at least there's things they can't know. You three-" She looked to Yang, Ruby and Qrow. "-Eve and Spring. The more secret advantages we have going in, the better to fight off trouble. People they can't possibly be ready for, even if they're ready for our two student teams or me or our contact." Her eyes shifted over to the door as it started to swing open.



"...do about who--" Cinder started, entering the cabin only in time to hear that.

Raven swiftly cut her off. "Us? Nothing. Not right now, and nothing officially. We have more pressing issues and no proof that would hold up. I already advised Salem that Weiss was a potential problem, I'm sure they'll do what they can. Right now we focus on retrieving the relic."​

He gave Hazel a smidge of a grateful smile before he gave the other two a curt nod.

"I apologize if anything dire comes of this, but at least now we know about Merlot as well. With that in mind.." He drummed his fingers against the desk a few times before frowned.

"I'm also to need to borrow everyone's scrolls, if that's alright. I don't trust a simple software encryption if my old teacher is involved; I'm going to need to do a bit of hardware tinkering."

 

[Gus Gungus]

He gave Hazel a smidge of a grateful smile before he gave the other two a curt nod.

"I apologize if anything dire comes of this, but at least now we know about Merlot as well. With that in mind.." He drummed his fingers against the desk a few times before frowned.

"I'm also to need to borrow everyone's scrolls, if that's alright. I don't trust a simple software encryption if my old teacher is involved; I'm going to need to do a bit of hardware tinkering."

Mercury finally actually looked over at Watts, the only MTEN OG still holding down their team couch. A stack of magazines read cover to cover were set to one side, the assassin's son very clearly in the climactic stages of some anime game or something. He sighed and stuck his scroll hand out dutifully, then rolled over to go to sleep. "Whaaaatever. I'm hibernating. Wake me when something's up."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I apologize if anything dire comes of this, but at least now we know about Merlot as well. With that in mind.." He drummed his fingers against the desk a few times before frowned.

"I'm also to need to borrow everyone's scrolls, if that's alright. I don't trust a simple software encryption if my old teacher is involved; I'm going to need to do a bit of hardware tinkering."

Mercury finally actually looked over at Watts, the only MTEN OG still holding down their team couch. A stack of magazines read cover to cover were set to one side, the assassin's son very clearly in the climactic stages of some anime game or something. He sighed and stuck his scroll hand out dutifully, then rolled over to go to sleep. "Whaaaatever. I'm hibernating. Wake me when something's up."

"I don't...what. I'm so lost." Cinder looked pleadingly towards literally anybody for any explanation as Raven tossed her scroll over.​

 

[Indolent]

"I don't...what. I'm so lost." Cinder looked pleadingly towards literally anybody for any explanation as Raven tossed her scroll over.​

"Arthur was keeping an eye out out for us through his usual means and found evidence as to Councilwoman Schnee colluding with Ozpin. His old mentor too. He's thrown them off our scent for now." His fingers were interleaved as he delivered the succinct answer, nodding towards Raven's missive.

"We can't do anything but stay on task for now. Well, besides Watts. He'll keep us keyed in on new developments, I trust." He managed to crack a grin, injecting a spot of geniality into the atmosphere in spite of the appropriately alarming discovery. Ah, right. He reached for the pouch on his left side, palming his scroll and handing it over, his hand turned flat for Watts to take. With that aside, he hoisted himself to standing and glanced toward the obvious absence of a select few others.

"Bit restless, gonna explore the train some and maybe check on the others."

He'd make his way out.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Arthur was keeping an eye out out for us through his usual means and found evidence as to Councilwoman Schnee colluding with Ozpin. His old mentor too. He's thrown them off our scent for now." His fingers were interleaved as he delivered the succinct answer, nodding towards Raven's missive.

"We can't do anything but stay on task for now. Well, besides Watts. He'll keep us keyed in on new developments, I trust." He managed to crack a grin, injecting a spot of geniality into the atmosphere in spite of the appropriately alarming discovery. Ah, right. He reached for the pouch on his left side, palming his scroll and handing it over, his hand turned flat for Watts to take. With that aside, he hoisted himself to standing and glanced toward the obvious absence of a select few others.

"Bit restless, gonna explore the train some and maybe check on the others."

He'd make his way out.

"Ohhhhhh. Thanks, big green." Cinder looked over towards Watts. So he had been truly busy doing something earlier, when he was being his usual surly self. Her mouth opened for a moment as if she were going to go on, but it slooooowly slid shut without her speaking further. She would have offered an apology or asked him how he was taking the news that his old mentor was working with...someone like that...but she felt he would have just brushed it off as a complete waste of time when there was work he deemed necessary to get through. That's just how he was. So instead she stepped over to hand him her scroll and gave a simple "good luck, partner" before she turned away and strode for one of the other rooms connected to this cabin to find a bed to drop into.

Maaaaaaan it felt like she could sleep for days.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"..." They had been here for more than a week now and it was still so strange and unreal to witness the truth of this world. To see Cinder, of all people, standing there looking like a confused deer in headlights. Nevermind how weird it was that she was much younger and shorter too. Reconciling the person she was looking at with the cruel megalomaniac murderer she knew back home was proving to be more and more daunting than she had initially imagined. Hazel too, for that matter. A far cry from the raging berserker she'd met, the guy so eager to make Ozpin pay that he would kill a fourteen year old kid. Same with Tyrian, and Mercury, and Emerald. Every one of them.

Ruby may have been standing in the same train car as all of them without fighting, even working together with them...but trust? Full trust? That was a step she wasn't sure she could or even if she should take. She was reluctant to hand over her scroll to them for that reason.

But even harder was the idea that they were right. That here, in this backwards world, the defiant Weiss Schnee she knew...ended up as some cold traitor, willingly allied with the lord of all grimm. The monster that symbolized the worst of humanity. When she had first met Weiss, yeah, there was no denying she had thought the heiress was cold. A true ice queen, pampered and privileged and pompous. But she had known Weiss for years now, and the truth was that...Weiss might be the warmest and kindest of them all.

Despite coming from a world dominated by cold, pragmatic and questionable business decisions and from a family that was in some ways even more broken than hers and Yang's, despite having every reason to not be so caring...Weiss defied it all and came out the other side as somebody Ruby was so ridiculously glad that she had met. The silver eyed huntress couldn't imagine anyone she'd rather have as a team partner.

But here....

If standing as allies with the enemies she'd faced time and time again was this difficult...she couldn't even fathom how it would feel when she saw a Weiss that had taken their place. To be standing across a battlefield and see that white hair, and those icy blue eyes...opposing her. Part of her wished she would never see that, that it could be easily avoided until they found a way home and she'd never have to worry about that again. But there was an even bigger part of her thinking that part of her was too naïve and optimistic. That sooner or later, she'd find herself staring down this world's Weiss, the Schnee's face twisted up with rage and hate and looking to kill her.

She wasn't sure if she'd be strong enough to handle that.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

However, as much as some may have wished to rest or take the time for more necessary work on the scrolls, it soon became apparent that the time to do so was not to be now. Cinder had barely been in the bed for a minute before the sound of a sudden heavy impact echoed throughout the length of the train and the sheer force of which had her tumbling down from the bunk bed and hitting the floor with a grunt. "Oh god, what is it now???" The fall maiden grumbled, scrambling to her feet...only for a repeat impact knocked her back off her feet. She wasn't able to regain her footing this time before the impact repeated again...and again. Whatever it was, it was repeating faster and more ferociously now. The whole of the train was beginning to rock and tip over from the blows.

By the time Cinder had steadied herself on her feet, the sounds of the impacts had been joined by the dreadful noise of several creatures roaring extremely loudly in unison, as well as the earsplitting screeching of the train's wheels as the locomotive started to come to a grinding halt in a panicked attempt to keep the vehicle from running off the tracks.

When she managed to hurriedly exit from the bedroom, she caught only the briefest glimpse of a grimm's face just beyond the window before the reinforced armor plating slid up and cut off the view for every single window on the train.

The sound of the train's speaker system crackled to life as a desperate voice called out: "Any huntsman on board, we have a SERIOUS problem! We have multiple beringels, repeat, multiple beringels threatening to knock the train right off the tracks! Please--" Another impact hit and the voice of the crewman was cut off as all heard the sound of him hitting the floor. Cinder didn't need to be told twice, rapidly scrambling to shove the exit door open and get out of the train car. Once out there she could confirm that a whole pack of beringel were throwing themselves at the train in repeated attempts to knock the thing off the tracks.

But the situation was far worse than that, with other grimm likewise scattered around in the wilderness. Beowolves and Ursa were also there in droves, alongside a handful of Death Stalkers rapidly approaching and the distinct sound of flapping wings and fierce howls that heralded the approach of Nevermores. There might have been even more Grimm beyond those too, if the more distant roars from deeper in the woods were any indication.

The next beringel that charged at the train was stopped in its tracks by a trio of arrows that struck its bony hide and burst in a fiery explosion on impact. The smoke hadn't even cleared before the monster poked its head through the haze, those burning red eyes glaring right at her. Cinder slightly lowered her bow...and the beast resumed its charge, showing no signs of injury as it lunged for the young huntress in training. "Oh...crap." A giant fist came swinging across to send her flying back, but she managed to avoid the blow by sliding deftly between the beast's legs with another arrow loosed into its knee as she did so. A quick kip-up brought her back to her feet, already nocking her next arrow--

And getting absolutely bowled by another of the monsters coming in from the side, sending Cinder crashing to the ground. She lifted her head to see the grimm roaring dangerously at her, fists smashing into the ground with tremendous force before it charged at her...only to falter in its path as a sudden burst of rose petals came into view, a red almost blur swinging away at the monster in a flurry of swift attacks that only let up when the grimm managed to grab hold of Ruby and threw her away with another animalistic howl.

Her scythe embedded into the ground slowed her momentum as she came to a grinding halt next to Cinder. Silver eyes met a single gold one and after a few seconds of almost painfully awkward silence with an uncomfortable Ruby finding it hard to say something, she finally managed a quick: "...You okay?"

Cinder nodded. "Yep."

"Good, because we got a lot of monsters to slay." Ruby commented, a remark that got the fall maiden to smile. That was part of the job she greatly enjoyed.

Though it was not without hesitation, Ruby did return the grin. The pair dashed forward as one, with Ruby swinging away with Crescent Rose with impeccable skill, chipping away at the beast and drawing its attention as Cinder pierced its hide with arrow after arrow courtesy of Midnight. Though the beringel was a tough bastard, it couldn't keep up against that for long.

It faded away into black smoke almost immediately after it collapsed to the ground, the two already having turned their attention back to the first beringel with one of Cinder's arrows sticking out of its knee.

They were not the only ones who had rushed out of the now stationary train in response to the threat. While not as fast as Ruby, there was another crimson-clad warrior moving at great speed, eschewing larger targets in favor of trimming the packs, her just as crimson blade making quick work of beowolf after beowolf and ursa after ursa with a series of single slices and stabs for each individual one. More than two dozen of them fell. Yet as quickly as she was thinning the horde, countless more still kept pouring out from the woods. A much larger one managed to strike her while her attention was split and Raven's blade shattered with the blow. The older huntress rolled back, narrowly avoiding a whirlwind of follow-up slices from its clawed hands with the casual ease of a professional.

As it lunged after her, all it earned for its trouble was a now green blade burying itself in its chest, up to the hilt. It barely registered the attack before the beast was gone in a hazy smoke. Raven's head lifted up to the sky, staring down one of the larger Nevermores...and with a running start, leaped high into the air and started slicing away at it with Omen.

Vernal too had disembarked the motionless train, but for her part, was largely just enjoying the show. It wasn't her job to protect anybody here, after all. The bandit might have been content to just stand there and watch it all without moving a muscle, but the grimm weren't so obliging. A trio of ursa rushed at her with ill intent. She briefly entertained just bringing down a triple strike of lightning bolts to easily pierce their mangy hides and burn them away...but decided that was far too much power for something so pathetic. The wretched beasts definitely weren't worthy of it.

She almost lazily drew her twin weapons and as the one in the lead closed in, a single slash severed its arm, the appendage flying into the air. Its head quickly followed suit. Before the ursa's body got the message that it was dead, Vernal used the corpse like a springboard, jumping off it and throwing herself at the other two.

She soared past right between both of them before they could do more than roar, two blasts of orange beams slicing each along their necks. Vernal landed on the ground several feet beyond them in a kneeling stance...and after a few moments, the sounds of two thuds behind her brought a bold grin to her face.

She straightened up, and one of the two cleanly severed heads rolled along until it was at her feet. Her right boot lifted up and crushed that bony white skull into dust with an absolutely amused laugh.

"Yeah. This is so much better." Vernal remarked, obviously relishing the thrill of combat. Another roar drew her attention, her head snapping up to a much larger and more armored ursa approaching in a wild rush. In contrast she began nonchalantly walked towards it as the beast ran towards its inevitable death, with yet more grimm behind it swarming out of the woods like ants drawn to food left out in the open.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

When she managed to hurriedly exit from the bedroom, she caught only the briefest glimpse of a grimm's face just beyond the window before the reinforced armor plating slid up and cut off the view for every single window on the train.

The hulking creature slammed its fists into the armored shielding, insatiable bloodlust whipped up into a frenzy at catching such a brief glimpse of viable prey. It checked its shoulder against the train again and again, carriage bucking more violently with each successive impact, until a snatch of movement on the periphery of its vision had it crane its head upward with a roar-

shnk

The beringel's fanged maw twitched a bit, impossible biology trying to process impossible new circumstances. The scarlet blade jutting from the feral abomination's mouth was sunk nearly all the way up to its hilt, vertical angle of entry forcing it all the way down the esophagus to embed itself near the lungs. Hidden eyes and a warped snarl lay just beyond the hands that gripped the weapon, blurred by darkness that only grew darker as the creature let out a spiteful gurgle, bursting into shadow long before accepting its death.

Eve drew back with a grim countenance as her eyes scanned the rest of the field, grimm swarming from every angle. A pair of ursas had their faceplates cracked by bullets as she pulled Wilt back with a click, handle converting to barrel and leveled in a casual one-handed grip that hit its mark nonetheless as she started sauntering up the length of the train, issuing a fierce command to whoever arrived up to face the threat first; be they huntsman, huntress, or the railway line's own security force.

"Form a line and pick off as many of the small ones as you can! If too many swarm the train we'll derail in seconds!"

Mercury and Qrow were already following similar trains of thought further up, Harbinger collapsed to expose the barrel and steadied by the veteran's hip as he fired off into the darkness with a frustrated grimace. "Too dark..."

He angled his gaze back towards the sky, eyes narrowing when he saw the flock of nevermores circling, black wings casting even more shadows as they blocked out the moon. He shifted his focus back to the ground, just in time to flash a rebellious, practically savage grin at the freakishly large beowolf making a brave pounce for him from the dusk.

Harbinger's gears spun, its blade separated into segments with a series of rapid hydraulic hisses, and Qrow was already mid-leap by the time its now-curved blade hooked the underside of the beowolf and slit it open from neck to belly. Qrow redirected his momentum rather than letting it take its course, swinging around to alight with his boots on the scythe's haft and finger already brushing its trigger.

BANG

The sudden propulsion tore the blade free of the grimm and sent Qrow hurling up into the night, the huntsman's lithe, scruffy figure vanishing mid-momentum to all but the most focused of eyes. They might've spotted the tiny, winged form flapping its way up against the broken moon's glow, not so dissimilar from the nevermores save for the issue of size as it neared its brethren. Its eye glinted as it picked out a pair appropriately spaced for what it had in mind, and it diverted its course to start flapping determinedly for the much larger avian in what definitely would've looked like some kind of bird suicide to an outsider's perspective. The second the nevermore's beak parted to receive him the crow was gone, and the huntsman loosed a fierce yell as Harbinger swung to embed itself in the corner of the grimm's beak, Qrow allowing velocity to take its natural course this time with a sharp yank for that extra pull. The nevermore's head snapped sharply to the right, and it gave a screech as it swerved abruptly into its kin and they both started spiralling in a tangle of limbs and feathers.

Mercury pulled back from the overhead axe kick he felt crush his latest kill's skull, the ursa collapsing with a tired growl before it started to dissipate. He mopped his brow just long enough to watch one guy take two nevermores out of the sky, and masked his jealousy with a dismissive "whatever" before he slid a hand in his back pocket for a recently-acquired trump card of his own. The vials he pulled out glowed red in the dark, and he held them up to one ear to give them a light shake for a moment in what ended up being a more tense assessment than it should've been.

Well, if nothing else it looked like those SDC tech upgrades weren't defective in any way, whatever else the latest of Ozpin's puppets to reveal themselves might've gleaned from it. He dropped the canisters, tilted his heels at an angle and gave a light stomp to load one into each greave, the chambering mechanism confirming its readiness with a gratifying click. He idly dinged a heel off the train while he picked out a target, nodded, and without further ado spun to lash out with it, leg fully extended towards an encroaching deathstalker as another gunshot joined the echoing fusillade. Accompanying this one, however, was a noise not unlike a firework in the moments before detonation, as a sizzling orb of volatile flame spun through the darkness in an unstable arc before splashing against the deathstalker's hide to explode, casting the surroundings in its glow as more than a few loose plants ignited from the blaze.

"Cool."

A rapidfire series of kicks followed the first, each blast emitting that same echoed gunshot and high-speed whistling pitch in tandem as Mercury rained hell, intent on creating a wall of fire at the edge of the thicket to ignite the grimm bursting through it and bathe the entire battlefield an illuminative orange.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The sudden propulsion tore the blade free of the grimm and sent Qrow hurling up into the night, the huntsman's lithe, scruffy figure vanishing mid-momentum to all but the most focused of eyes. They might've spotted the tiny, winged form flapping its way up against the broken moon's glow, not so dissimilar from the nevermores save for the issue of size as it neared its brethren. Its eye glinted as it picked out a pair appropriately spaced for what it had in mind, and it diverted its course to start flapping determinedly for the much larger avian in what definitely would've looked like some kind of bird suicide to an outsider's perspective. The second the nevermore's beak parted to receive him the crow was gone, and the huntsman loosed a fierce yell as Harbinger swung to embed itself in the corner of the grimm's beak, Qrow allowing velocity to take its natural course this time with a sharp yank for that extra pull. The nevermore's head snapped sharply to the right, and it gave a screech as it swerved abruptly into its kin and they both started spiralling in a tangle of limbs and feathers.

The violent thrashing that followed two gargantuan beasts crashing into each other was enough to jostle Harbinger loose, Qrow beginning to slip and fall from his perch on the nevermore. Its beak started to snap towards the huntsman, aiming to take a bite out of him. It didn't get close enough, as another sword sliced through the air in a blur of blue, knocking the beak off to the side as it bit at nothing but empty air. Before Qrow managed to fall too far, a pale hand reached out and grabbed his free hand. Not because he needed it, he had the same magical transformation she did after all. A fall like that was no problem. No, it was so she could fling him at another nevermore higher in the sky. Raven immediately followed after her twin, jumping off the rapidly descending grimm.

Catching up with him in mid-air, she shot him a quick glance before looking towards the grimm they were both swiftly approaching. Hoping he got the message, as soon as she was in range she swung Omen through this monstrous avian's neck from one side, trusting that Qrow would do the same with Harbinger from the opposite side to completely sever the beast's head in one well-timed move.

The two entangled nevermore, still thrashing and screaming as they plummeted into the ground, absolutely buried more than a few other grimm on impact...the bony protrusions of those grimm ended up inadvertently stabbing through both nevermore in several places. It was enough to keep both down for good, the two flying corpses already starting to hiss and fade away.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

He idly dinged a heel off the train while he picked out a target, nodded, and without further ado spun to lash out with it, leg fully extended towards an encroaching deathstalker as another gunshot joined the echoing fusillade. Accompanying this one, however, was a noise not unlike a firework in the moments before detonation, as a sizzling orb of volatile flame spun through the darkness in an unstable arc before splashing against the deathstalker's hide to explode, casting the surroundings in its glow as more than a few loose plants ignited from the blaze.

"Cool."

A rapidfire series of kicks followed the first, each blast emitting that same echoed gunshot and high-speed whistling pitch in tandem as Mercury rained hell, intent on creating a wall of fire at the edge of the thicket to ignite the grimm bursting through it and bathe the entire battlefield an illuminative orange.

Vernal, standing atop a pinned beowolf with her boot crushing the thing's throat against the ground...suddenly blinked as a burning orange light reflected on her forearm. Lifting her head, she caught sight of the blazing wall that had erupted into life. Her eyes narrowed in Mercury's direction, her gun lowering to casually put a blast right between the beowolf's eyes for the killshot. She couldn't say she much liked the kid. Not at all, really...but she could appreciate his cleverness. Slowing the horde's advance and letting everyone see better all in one, good call.

The spring maiden focused on the wall of fire...and in the blink of an eye the whole thing flared up higher and burning even stronger. The packs of grimm on the other side came to a momentary halt in the face of it. Those ominous red eyes glared through the wall, eyeing those scattered about...and seconds later, let out a collective roar before they all rushed through the fire with wild animalistic determination in to reach their prey. A few of the younger beasts died from the attempt, but most got through the wall with only relatively minor burns from the brief exposure.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang tried to suppress a yawn as she stumbled out of the train car’s exit a bit later than the rest, and took a moment to assess the situation from behind the impromptu battle line that had formed. That was a whole lotta grimm. More than the horde that had hit them on the argus limited line, and they’d been carrying a relic at the time. Was there something attracting them to the train in the same way, or was their impromptu squad just carrying that many negative emotions? She snorted at the idea, before her eyes locked onto her target; a Beringal that was lumbering forward at a slower, almost observant pace, its arms and sides gnarled with more bone armor than most as it loomed over the other grimm, its eyes seeming to do the exact same thing Yang was as opposed to giving into the wanton rage that its brethren did. It was old for a grimm, and that didn’t have the same connotations of decrepitness that it did for the humans. She gave a low whistle under her breath.

“That’s a big boy. Dibs!”

She’d never been a hold the line, sit and wait kinda gal. She grinned and flexed her fingers before she went to crack the knuckles on her real hand. Her prosthetic whirred as she let it give more force, and she winced slightly at the pain as her aura flickered across her arm, her semblance building into a low buzz in the back of her mind. She had a feeling she was gonna need the extra oomph. Her hands were flung behind her and a pair of shots rang out as she launched herself into the air with a whoop of exaltation to hype herself up, and she soared through the sky over a swarm of black flesh and teeth on an arc straight for the big bastard’s head.

He saw it coming a mile away. Huntress and beast made eye contact at the apex of her flight, and as she came rocketing in the beringal drew back its fist and launched a punch with enough force that the air rippled in a breeze around it. Another crack of gunfire rang out as Yang sent herself spinning to the side of the punch with a shot and hid the ground with a skidding halt, only to have to immediately swoop into a low duck as the grimm’s other hand flung out in a wicked backhand that sent her hair whipping in the wind that followed it. She rose with a punch of her own to let off a shot with her gauntlets

BANG

The beringal’s head jolted back, before it slowly looked down back at Yang with a rumbling growl. Its forehead smoked from where the shell had impacted it, but any damage it did was negligable-

A very confused looking beowolf who’d thought it’d caught the blonde brawler unaware impacted the gorilla-esque grimm square in the face, a half dozen faint glows alighting its underside the only herald of the oncoming explosion that lit up the night on the other side of Mercury’s wall of flames. The beowolf evaporated amidst the heat and force, and the beringel stumbled back and caught itself from falling as the other hand clutched at its face in surprise. When it recovered, it let out a unintelligable howl of rage past its now almost shattered bone mask, whatever machinations its ancient mind was considering lost in a storm of bloodlust before it launched itself towards Yang with a double fisted slam.



You could only get inside the head of a beast like grimm to a point; There wasn’t any ego or confidence to play off when you were against a monster, just pure, vicious survival instinct. So there was a lot less pageantry in Neo’s movements as she worked just ahead of where the line in the sand had been drawn, keeping herself near the rest of MTEN in case they needed an assist or she did. One beowolf leaped at her with a snarl only for her to duck well under it and twist in a corkscrew of fancy footwork that had Hush's extended blade rake straight across the beast’s belly, before she pushed forward from her low stance into a forward roll that ended with a backflip leap, cracking another beowolf in the bottom of the jaw with a kick as she rose up. An ursa major seemingly caught her by surprise as she was falling back down, but the Neo it hit shattered as the real one landed onto its back with hush spinning in her hands to grip from the other direction. It whipped out just in front of the beast’s head before she yanked it back, and the curved handle embedded itself into the monster’s eye socket. It howled in a mixture of rage and pain as it reared back and tried to shake the little huntress in training loose, but it did more damage to the smaller grimm around it than it ever had a chance to do to the huntress on the wrong side of its beefy shoulder blades before it eventually collapsed to the ground and started fading.

Neo leaped off it high into the air and landed on the other side of the battle line, taking a moment to catch her breath and let her aura rebuild as she surveyed how things were going. Hush’s blade retracted back into the parasol, and as she watched Mercury play with his new toys, she fished around in the small container now attached to the back of her pants just beneath her jacket to pull out a metallic ball the size of a large marble, just small enough to fit inside the top of her weapon. She frowned at it, still unimpressed and confused as to why the schnee corp tech she’d worked with had warned her not to carry more than four at a time, before she slotted it into the top of hush and twisted the handle to switch it to its new mode. A tiny hardlight reticle flickered into existence just above the tip of the weapon as a button clicked out atop where the handle started to curve, and she lined up the sight like a rifle for a target. She picked another deathstalker crashing through the trees almost on a whim, and clicked the button. There was no crack of gunfire or kickback as the magnets inside Hush activated, just the quiet thump of the round exiting the weapon and whizzing through the night.

It impacted the Deathstalker just above where the tail extended from the body, and exploded with the force of some incredibly concentrated lightning dust that vaporized the back half of the monster entirely with a sound entirely similar to a lightning strike.

Neo slowly lowered the weapon as she twisted the handle again to deactivate the rail-gun mode, looking almost more concerned than she was impressed.

‘If I fall on those the wrong way while I’m carrying them I’m just going to straight up fucking die :’D ’


Atop the train itself, Arthur craned his neck down towards Neo with his face scrunched up in a mixture of surprise and amusement as he called down. “A bit much isn’t it?”

She looked up and gave an almost embarrassed shrug before she leaped back into the fray, and Arthur rolled his eyes before returning to his own work. He was kneeling with his hardlight shield extended in front of him, his pistol resting atop his shield arm with its barrel poking through a tiny hole in the shield’s construction. He’d never been one to launch himself into the fray, but by no means did that make him useless. His eyes roved across the battlefield for opportunities or crises, and pinpoint targeting created openings or offered support to his teammates and allies in danger. A sabyr coming up Cinder’s flank suddenly found one of its legs exploding into flames underneath it. An ursa Tyrian was charging had its head encased in ice, blinding it. He kept active on the comms as well, keeping WTCH aware of where the others were and directing the others to help someone if gunfire from him wouldn’t be enough-

A pair of sabyr landed on the car with him after a flying leap, and he whirled just in time to catch the first one on his shield instead of with his fleshy bits, and his back slammed into the back of the train car as he fanned the trigger to unload half a dozen shots into the beast’s gut. He pushed the now corpse off of him as it started fading just in time to roll to the side from the next one’s pounce, and he came up on one knee to fire upon it. It was fast though, and the gunfire pinged harmlessly against the top of the train or disappeared into the night as the sabyr leaped and bound in an erratic arc to come at watts for another charge. He grit his teeth and held his ground, still trying to land a shot up until the moment it leaped for him. His shield turned off.

It came back on as he leaned to the side and stuck out his arm, and the sabyr’s paw was caught right in the middle of it with a hiss of burning flesh as Watts used his new leverage to lift the beast up, press the barrel of his gun against the underside of its neck, and shoot off a trio of shots. He turned off the shield to get the dead weight off his arm as he took a relieved breath, before he turned to make sure nothing had gone terribly wrong during his brief distraction.

 

[MidwayLives]

Tyrian didn't need to be told twice. There were Grimm and people were in potential danger.

But, more important than that: there was a fight brewing.

He hopped from one foot to the other and exhaled.

His blood was pumping and a wild grin spread across his features. His muscles rippling as he rushed out towards the nearest Grimm. His eyes ablaze with a fury that wouldn't have seemed out of place in a wild animal that'd gone berserk. This was his time to shine. Just like it'd been all those years ago. The stage lights glistening from above, the uproarious laughter and support of the crowd, and just the general thrill that coursed through every inch of his body as he hacked and slashed. "Hahahahaha!"

Even to this day, dark thoughts always tickled at the back of Tyrian's subconscious. He hated them, not because they didn't represent who he was, but rather someone he never hoped to become. For the longest time he'd believed the thoughts weren't his own, merely the chanting of the crowd, emboldened as they often were by his bloody victories in the squared circle. To kill his opponent.

But despite his willingness to love everything about the cruel situation he'd been put in, that was the one he couldn't abide by.

But with Grimm? It was different. He didn't have to supress those thoughts. Not anymore.

'Kill, kill, KILL!!!!!!'

He was having so much fun...

~~~

"...."

Roman had just attempted to sleep after trying to find Neo had proved less than fruitful. He knew Neo and she'd turn up when she wanted to continue their conversation.

Whenever that was, he'd be there waiting and willing.

But it seemed as though fate had other plans in store for those aboard the train. Grimm had attacked and from the sounds of it: a LOT of them.

As he saw his teammates fighting alongside WTCH, Roman's grip around Melodic Cudgel tightened and he moved to join them. Blasting at whichever Grimm was unfortunate enough to enter his crosshairs.

All by his partner's side.~​

 

[MyrtenRose]

It came back on as he leaned to the side and stuck out his arm, and the sabyr’s paw was caught right in the middle of it with a hiss of burning flesh as Watts used his new leverage to lift the beast up, press the barrel of his gun against the underside of its neck, and shoot off a trio of shots. He turned off the shield to get the dead weight off his arm as he took a relieved breath, before he turned to make sure nothing had gone terribly wrong during his brief distraction.

It was rather difficult to make out anything beyond the snarling face of a large beowulf thrown his way by an even bigger beringel, more akin to a man throwing a baseball than one monster throwing another. That beast was quickly getting closer and closer, so much so that soon its face filling the whole of Watts' vision. But no attack came. A glowing purple arrow shot right past the few inches left between the snarling grimm's face and Watts' own. The grimm wasn't able to even turn before a pair of boots slammed into its' skull, Cinder having been pulled along after the arrow's path and the young huntress in training sent the beast flying out of Arthur's field of view. She landed solidly on her feet, her semblance already at work condensing dust powder into another arrow and loosing it right into one of the beast's eyes, piercing deep into the skull...and then exploding in a fiery burst, incinerating the grimm from the inside out.

Cinder glanced at Watts. "...You're welcome." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“That’s a big boy. Dibs!”

She’d never been a hold the line, sit and wait kinda gal. She grinned and flexed her fingers before she went to crack the knuckles on her real hand. Her prosthetic whirred as she let it give more force, and she winced slightly at the pain as her aura flickered across her arm, her semblance building into a low buzz in the back of her mind. She had a feeling she was gonna need the extra oomph. Her hands were flung behind her and a pair of shots rang out as she launched herself into the air with a whoop of exaltation to hype herself up, and she soared through the sky over a swarm of black flesh and teeth on an arc straight for the big bastard’s head.

Eve saw the streak of gold fire paint itself across the sky out of the corner of her vision, a low growl of dissatisfaction given as two charging ursas lost their heads to the same sweeping slice. She turned her gaze up as she rose from the stance, slow and deliberate as her weapon slotted neatly back into its sheath, the faunus having busied herself dispatching grimm of a particularly threatening caliber whenever they came too close to the train amidst the swarm.

"I hate her."

She externalized the deadpan thought mostly in an effort to banish the blonde's existence from them, slicing a sabyr that pounced from behind cleanly down the middle so fast only the resheath was visible. Already working out her next move, she glanced over her shoulder to check how the firing line was holding up.

The spring maiden focused on the wall of fire...and in the blink of an eye the whole thing flared up higher and burning even stronger. The packs of grimm on the other side came to a momentary halt in the face of it. Those ominous red eyes glared through the wall, eyeing those scattered about...and seconds later, let out a collective roar before they all rushed through the fire with wild animalistic determination in to reach their prey. A few of the younger beasts died from the attempt, but most got through the wall with only relatively minor burns from the brief exposure.

It impacted the Deathstalker just above where the tail extended from the body, and exploded with the force of some incredibly concentrated lightning dust that vaporized the back half of the monster entirely with a sound entirely similar to a lightning strike.

His eyes roved across the battlefield for opportunities or crises, and pinpoint targeting created openings or offered support to his teammates and allies in danger. A sabyr coming up Cinder’s flank suddenly found one of its legs exploding into flames underneath it. An ursa Tyrian was charging had its head encased in ice, blinding it. He kept active on the comms as well, keeping WTCH aware of where the others were and directing the others to help someone if gunfire from him wouldn’t be enough-

It was rather difficult to make out anything beyond the snarling face of a large beowulf thrown his way by an even bigger beringel, more akin to a man throwing a baseball than one monster throwing another. That beast was quickly getting closer and closer, so much so that soon its face filling the whole of Watts' vision. But no attack came. A glowing purple arrow shot right past the few inches left between the snarling grimm's face and Watts' own. The grimm wasn't able to even turn before a pair of boots slammed into its' skull, Cinder having been pulled along after the arrow's path and the young huntress in training sent the beast flying out of Arthur's field of view. She landed solidly on her feet, her semblance already at work condensing dust powder into another arrow and loosing it right into one of the beast's eyes, piercing deep into the skull...and then exploding in a fiery burst, incinerating the grimm from the inside out.

Cinder glanced at Watts. "...You're welcome."

His blood was pumping and a wild grin spread across his features. His muscles rippling as he rushed out towards the nearest Grimm. His eyes ablaze with a fury that wouldn't have seemed out of place in a wild animal that'd gone berserk. This was his time to shine. Just like it'd been all those years ago. The stage lights glistening from above, the uproarious laughter and support of the crowd, and just the general thrill that coursed through every inch of his body as he hacked and slashed. "Hahahahaha!"

They seemed good for now. As if to cement that point, the lightshow originating from one of the train cars was getting bigger, giving Eve a convenient distraction to slip further out into the chaos.

"You get a fireball! And you get a fireball! And even YOU get some fireball! Hahahahaha!"

Mercury was assessing his new firepower with all the manic glee of a delinquent discovering what happened when you sprayed aerosol on a match. Some of the projectiles washed over grimm while others spun off in wild, spiraling arcs, but the latter were actually the ones worth paying attention to; rather than streaking off on some wild trajectory into the night, the path of the fireballs was looking somehow controlled, as if the air currents themselves were swirling them into a tornado. Mercury left his feet sometime in the middle of it, swinging around using his back and hands with a form that looked more like breakdancing than a fighting style, prosthetics occasionally spitting out another projectile to join the mounting storm before he angled his heels downward and used the last of the chambers to fire himself off into the night in a similar fashion Yang had. While in midair he pivoted, raised one boot high over his head, and brought the dense metal heel down on the cranium of an ursa major before pushing off to land from a flip.

The elder ursa was dazed, if not overtly deterred, and both it and the legions of weaker grimm crowding it circled a Mercury who looked far too self-satisfied for someone closed off on all sides by a pack of frenzied grimm. He helpfully pointed upward to give them a heads-up as to why, and dozens of monstrous eyes leered up in time for the maelstrom of fireballs to start raining down on them right as a sickle attached to a chain wrapped around the MTEN leader's wrist; who flashed a smug grin and touched two fingers to his temple in farewell before a sharp yank launched him back towards the train.

A very confused looking beowolf who’d thought it’d caught the blonde brawler unaware impacted the gorilla-esque grimm square in the face, a half dozen faint glows alighting its underside the only herald of the oncoming explosion that lit up the night on the other side of Mercury’s wall of flames. The beowolf evaporated amidst the heat and force, and the beringel stumbled back and caught itself from falling as the other hand clutched at its face in surprise. When it recovered, it let out a unintelligable howl of rage past its now almost shattered bone mask, whatever machinations its ancient mind was considering lost in a storm of bloodlust before it launched itself towards Yang with a double fisted slam.

BANG

A single gunshot interrupted that clash before it could be decided, but it wasn't a bullet that embedded itself in the auraless, now-unarmored skull of the mature grimm; it was Wilt, achieving bullet-like speeds via Blush's firing mechanism and striking the beringel dead between the eyes from Eve's hip. It wasn't a move she used as often as Raven, likely owing to the relative replaceability of their blades, but it had its uses as a surprise maneuver for tight spots. Or showing off.

The way she dashed forward, immediately yanked the blade free, and continued to her next fight all while totally ignoring Yang definitely made the killsteal seem accidental, though. And it wasn't like Yang had any reason to suspect an Adam Taurus parallel of being petty.

Her chosen path was a solo one, the faunus trying to avoid heavy engagements with grimm where she could and cut a quick, efficient swathe through where she could not as she struck out further and further into the forest, eventually relying on her natural proclivity for stealth to conceal herself from the grimm. The intent was simple battlefield reconnaissance, trying to determine whether the horde showed any signs of thinning, where they were coming from, and if there were any clear alphas responsible for spawning more than the others as she searched for a monster worthy of the energy she was storing.

The violent thrashing that followed two gargantuan beasts crashing into each other was enough to jostle Harbinger loose, Qrow beginning to slip and fall from his perch on the nevermore. Its beak started to snap towards the huntsman, aiming to take a bite out of him. It didn't get close enough, as another sword sliced through the air in a blur of blue, knocking the beak off to the side as it bit at nothing but empty air. Before Qrow managed to fall too far, a pale hand reached out and grabbed his free hand. Not because he needed it, he had the same magical transformation she did after all. A fall like that was no problem. No, it was so she could fling him at another nevermore higher in the sky. Raven immediately followed after her twin, jumping off the rapidly descending grimm.

Catching up with him in mid-air, she shot him a quick glance before looking towards the grimm they were both swiftly approaching. Hoping he got the message, as soon as she was in range she swung Omen through this monstrous avian's neck from one side, trusting that Qrow would do the same with Harbinger from the opposite side to completely sever the beast's head in one well-timed move.

The two entangled nevermore, still thrashing and screaming as they plummeted into the ground, absolutely buried more than a few other grimm on impact...the bony protrusions of those grimm ended up inadvertently stabbing through both nevermore in several places. It was enough to keep both down for good, the two flying corpses already starting to hiss and fade away.

The skies above the battlefield, meanwhile, made for a stark departure from the disordered chaos reigning below. Qrow and Raven were a well-oiled machine, a duo sporting a level of synchronicity arguably beyond what even the most compatible of Beacon partners were capable of achieving. The two were a pair not only in combat and academics, but in blood, in spirit, even in time spent alive on this earth, and when Qrow initially made a beeline for the nevermores it was because he knew the most efficient place he could be was wherever Raven was.

Three nevermores, followed by one severed nevermore head, impacted the ground below in rapid succession, and as the two responsible went into freefall Qrow got alongside Raven, grinned, and jerked his head in the direction of the next grouping of nevermores circling. In the next second that grin was replaced by a beak, and Qrow swooped into an incline in bird form to start building up altitude, meaning to dive for the airborne grimm from above this time.

The skies were a tricky angle to get attacked from when you were focused on the ground, but he was pretty sure the two of them had it covered.​

 

[Indolent]

One hand clasped the jamb of the train-car's egress, its owner pulling himself through with an inconsolable sigh exiting frowned lips. He had just wanted to explore and mingle with the other denizens amid their journey, a breath of fresh air away from his team and allies. But naturally, this came to pass instead and with a weighty drop he disembarked, his eyes scrutinizing the unfolding havoc that comprised the night's scene. There were so many Grimm it almost gave the big man pause, his mind boggled by the implications of their presence. Were they sent by Ozpin in anticipation, were they attracted by negativity unbeknownst to the teams, or did they just happen to cluster together under the heading of an elder Grimm for the celebration of surviving yet another revolution around their star and the train just so rudely barged in? These questions were for later, Hazel's inborn sense of duty and compassion urging him to action before he even thought it. "I'll draw their attention away." He said to nobody in particular, knowing his team would at least hear it anyhow.

He lurched forward, dragging both hands across the ground as he grasped deep and in the next instant, pressed both to one another to sift out unwanted detritus. A jostle of the wrists and a crack of the neck, Hazel readied himself as he stepped farther from the train. He raised his right, the broad digits deftly manipulated with the thumb shooting out, and a shrill whistle sounded that terminated with the head of an Ursa mid posturing snapping back as its body collapsed halfway and teetered over. Another whistle, a Beowolf's flank contorted, seeing it downed mid loping, a third with a Beringel's shin where it met its ankle met punched clean through inches off center. His aim was for a cluster of the Grimm off to the side from the others, the idea being that to elicit their undivided attention with his harrying.

Cinder had always said something to the effect of Hazel being akin to a tank that provoked aggression and kept their focus off the dps and healers, a term he was positive was from one of her video-games. It was a suitable analogy, one he liked well enough and applied to his own stylized mode of combat. Watts was far more succinct in labeling him a hefty meat-shield, his own way of saying the same thing really.

A few more whistles sounded before Hazel finally saw the result of his efforts, an irate Beowolf Alpha emerging from the orange backlight with a heavy downswing for the face. Taken by surprise with the flare of his aura, the huntsman-in-training took a staggered step backward with a grunt, a guttural growl emanating from the Grimm that spoke to some semblance of twisted satisfaction. Hazel turned his gaze onto the Beowulf, his brows furrowing with a dark smile as it loomed over with another strike set to fall. It fell only to never to reach its intended target of the neck with Rainart's left arm squarely interposed between. A growl erupted and abruptly terminated, as the Grimm was swept out from under with a low kick and in the next instant hammered midair downward with the selfsame left arm of Hazel's. A mix of cracking followed, both natural and grotesque, as the Beowulf embedded into the earth. Hazel hardly deigned to linger on it, electing to step forth into the fray, his right crushing its neck underfoot as he stared upon a roving, if small, band intermixed of a variety of Grimm that followed the Alpha's lead.

A grunt of recognition was all he proffered as both hands snaked down the side of his pants for their neighboring pouches. Against this many, yeah, he was going to need this. A pair of ruby red dust crystals emerged, shimmering in the light of the blaze, before they crossed and lodged themselves within the biceps of his arms. The scars that rung both forearms and upper arms illuminated, akin to an excessive current running through a copper wire, and before long the incandescence snaked outward like capillaries. There was no pain, not that he ever sensed pain. His semblance made this a reality, a boon for a would-be huntsman like him, but failed in one thing. It did nothing to avert the intense discomfort that pervaded his body whenever he injected dust into his systems, it was the complete and total antithesis to a sugar rush. Beside the immediate effect of projecting the typed dust he injected, his body responded to the foreign presence by seemingly prompting the intense swelling of the musculature of his torso. In other words, his jacket and the sleeves of his tee absolutely exploded and now he looked ready for an off season calendar fireman shot.

Hazel gauged his transformation, closing and opening his hands with the wisps of flames escaping the grips. A satisfied grunt at the outcome, he charged headlong into the horde.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

It was rather difficult to make out anything beyond the snarling face of a large beowulf thrown his way by an even bigger beringel, more akin to a man throwing a baseball than one monster throwing another. That beast was quickly getting closer and closer, so much so that soon its face filling the whole of Watts' vision. But no attack came. A glowing purple arrow shot right past the few inches left between the snarling grimm's face and Watts' own. The grimm wasn't able to even turn before a pair of boots slammed into its' skull, Cinder having been pulled along after the arrow's path and the young huntress in training sent the beast flying out of Arthur's field of view. She landed solidly on her feet, her semblance already at work condensing dust powder into another arrow and loosing it right into one of the beast's eyes, piercing deep into the skull...and then exploding in a fiery burst, incinerating the grimm from the inside out.

Cinder glanced at Watts. "...You're welcome." ​

BANG

A single gunshot interrupted that clash before it could be decided, but it wasn't a bullet that embedded itself in the auraless, now-unarmored skull of the mature grimm; it was Wilt, achieving bullet-like speeds via Blush's firing mechanism and striking the beringel dead between the eyes from Eve's hip. It wasn't a move she used as often as Raven, likely owing to the relative replaceability of their blades, but it had its uses as a surprise maneuver for tight spots. Or showing off.

The way she dashed forward, immediately yanked the blade free, and continued to her next fight all while totally ignoring Yang definitely made the killsteal seem accidental, though. And it wasn't like Yang had any reason to suspect an Adam Taurus parallel of being petty.

Watts sniffed and readjusted his sleeves while across the wall of flames in the midst of the horde Yang put her hands up in askance.

"I HaD tHaT!"

"-but thank you" Watts added with a begrudging smirk before he turned back towards the beringal with MLB dreams "He's nex-"

He frowned and turned his aim downward and to the right a bit, and two beowolf's snaking through the chaos straight for Hazel exploded in gouts of flame. "-Now he's next. Shatterpoint, the joints."

He knelt back down and leveled his aim as he spun the dial on the top of his pistol to switch the dust rounds it was set to, and the beringel's elbows were both struck with icy rounds that locked them up. Temporarily at best when working against the strength of such a beast, but the brittle cold weakened the flesh and bony armor underneath where the beast was already softer than elsewhere. If his partner followed up, more shots struck at the knees and finally at the neck


Yang had far less time for banter, as she had to whirl almost as soon as the words left her mouth when the sound of paws thudding against the grass warned her just in time to catch the sabyr trying to charge her from behind by its massive front fangs as it tried to bite down. The beast roared and continue to try and push forward and made Yang slide against the grass in an attempt to put her off balance, but the brawler kept her stance strong and with a valiant cry picked the sabyr up to whip over her shoulder and slam back down into the ground next to her, two quick shots from ember celica putting the beast to bed for good.

She immediately spun to put a bullet in the first of a pack of beowolves that had marked her as their prey that had closed with her, and she weaved to the side of the next as a claw came raking down only for its owner to get fist to the gut that ended with a gunshot. Yang scowled with a grunt of pain as one finally got the jump on her, its teeth digging into the aura around her shoulder. she leaped off her feet, wrapped the arm of the bitten side around the monster's neck, and came back down flat on her back as the vicious sound of a cracking neck came from her attacker. another tried to pounce on her while she was down, but she rolled her feet back and planted her hands behind her head before firing a pair of shots to launch her feet square into the beowolf's head, both coasting into the air before another gun shot and twist sent Yang rocketing back towards the earth with her fist buried into the monsters neck, where it stayed as they both slammed into the ground.

While it was barely noticeable with all the fire that was now consuming the night sky, Yang's hair was shimmering with its own licks of flame as she stood back up and rolled her shoulder, a smirk on her face as she saw who'd decided they were next up. Three ursa were circling her. one full sized, one ursa minor, and one ursa regular. Her fists swung out in two quick swings as she hopped out of the divot she and the beowolf that was now fading had left and the sounds of new rounds chambering joined the cacophany of violence from near the train.

"Dunno why, but you guys are always my favorite grimm to crush. Lets go."

 

[MyrtenRose]

The skies above the battlefield, meanwhile, made for a stark departure from the disordered chaos reigning below. Qrow and Raven were a well-oiled machine, a duo sporting a level of synchronicity arguably beyond what even the most compatible of Beacon partners were capable of achieving. The two were a pair not only in combat and academics, but in blood, in spirit, even in time spent alive on this earth, and when Qrow initially made a beeline for the nevermores it was because he knew the most efficient place he could be was wherever Raven was.

Three nevermores, followed by one severed nevermore head, impacted the ground below in rapid succession, and as the two responsible went into freefall Qrow got alongside Raven, grinned, and jerked his head in the direction of the next grouping of nevermores circling. In the next second that grin was replaced by a beak, and Qrow swooped into an incline in bird form to start building up altitude, meaning to dive for the airborne grimm from above this time.

The skies were a tricky angle to get attacked from when you were focused on the ground, but he was pretty sure the two of them had it covered.

Raven returned the grin, complete with a nod before she was gone just as swiftly as Qrow, another bird keeping pace with the other as she followed his lead. This was...it actually brought back good memories of a time that...felt like it was several lifetimes ago. When their team was whole, unbroken...when her brother had been someone she could fully trust. It...was a nice feeling to experience again. One that, if you had asked her two weeks ago, she would have vehemently swore that she would never feel again. She couldn't be more glad to be wrong.
​

Watts sniffed and readjusted his sleeves while across the wall of flames in the midst of the horde Yang put her hands up in askance.

"I HaD tHaT!"

"-but thank you" Watts added with a begrudging smirk before he turned back towards the beringal with MLB dreams "He's nex-"

He frowned and turned his aim downward and to the right a bit, and two beowolf's snaking through the chaos straight for Hazel exploded in gouts of flame. "-Now he's next. Shatterpoint, the joints."

He knelt back down and leveled his aim as he spun the dial on the top of his pistol to switch the dust rounds it was set to, and the beringel's elbows were both struck with icy rounds that locked them up. Temporarily at best when working against the strength of such a beast, but the brittle cold weakened the flesh and bony armor underneath where the beast was already softer than elsewhere. If his partner followed up, more shots struck at the knees and finally at the neck

"I think you mean: thank you, best partner I ever could have gotten." Cinder corrected, though her tone and grin indicated she was at most only half serious. She took a kneeling stance atop the train, her bow already aimed and loosing multiple arrows in quick succession. The combined onslaught brought down the beast in next to no time. Were it literally anyone else she was standing with, she would have held one hand out for a high five after that successful maneuver. But it wasn't anyone else, it was her partner, and she was certain that he would have rather had his head dunked in a toilet than engage in such frivolous things as a high five in the middle of a serious battle. So she refrained, keeping up a steady barrage of arrows on the scattered creatures of grimm.​

As he saw his teammates fighting alongside WTCH, Roman's grip around Melodic Cudgel tightened and he moved to join them. Blasting at whichever Grimm was unfortunate enough to enter his crosshairs.

All by his partner's side.~

The elder ursa was dazed, if not overtly deterred, and both it and the legions of weaker grimm crowding it circled a Mercury who looked far too self-satisfied for someone closed off on all sides by a pack of frenzied grimm. He helpfully pointed upward to give them a heads-up as to why, and dozens of monstrous eyes leered up in time for the maelstrom of fireballs to start raining down on them right as a sickle attached to a chain wrapped around the MTEN leader's wrist; who flashed a smug grin and touched two fingers to his temple in farewell before a sharp yank launched him back towards the train.

In the wake of such fierce defenders, the hordes of Grimm were certainly dwindling. Many of the more mindless beasts were simply no match for this many warriors of such caliber, and plenty of those that were a better challenge for the fourteen fighters that stood in their way? Those too were slowly but surely getting overwhelmed. Another beringel hit the ground, hard. Its severed head was kicked like a soccer ball by Vernal, the improvised projectile moving with such great force that it pierced right through the torso of one unfortunate beowolf, another few just beyond getting barreled over by the shockwave of it passing by.

But this battle was far from over, with still more coming. Eve's recon was the right idea. Her approach went unnoticed by most of the grimm that swarmed through the woods. As the bull faunus stalked further into the forest, she spotted a glimpse of something much more massive than most of its kind making its way through the trees. Yet before she could do something about it, a chain of fireballs hit so suddenly and with such great force that not only was she unable to block any of them, the assault sent her flying out of the forest entirely, landing back in the thick of it with the rest.

There was no heavy stomping or thudding that heralded the arrival of this one, unlike so many of its brethren. It glided with an almost ghostly eerie silence as it neared the edge of the treeline. The thing was huge, it had to be pushing almost forty feet. 3 sets of wings decorated its back side, its lower half lacked anything that even remotely resembled limbs, instead a swirling mass of rock and heat rested there. And its unnaturally long arms ended with even more creepily elongated fingers that...weren't truly fingers at all. Each digit snaked out, culminating in the spiky head of a dragon. Every inch of it black and red and a bony white like every creature of grimm, but it was clear this abomination was no common grimm.

The wall of fire unexpectedly began to coalesce together all in one spot, the wall near instantaneously becoming less of a wall and more of a single large fire that hung in one spot. That too quickly vanished, every bit of it sucked into the creature's many mouths, spiky teeth illuminated by the burning orange until it was all gone. Darkness lit only by the light of the moon descended on the field once again.

The sight of it, framed in the darkness with mouths and intimidating eyes glowing so intensely...it was honestly a level of terrifying that more mundane grimm could never hope to reach. One that might have killed lesser men with fright alone.

And as Ruby sliced through another ursa, one of those nightmarish fingers wrapped around her leg, the beast throwing the silver eyed huntress at the train before she could react, the blow enough to knock her into unconsciousness.

"..." "..."

Cinder's eye widened in absolute horror at the sight of that monstrosity, the fall maiden temporarily paralyzed by disbelief that something like that actually existed, as well as by uncertainty on how to deal with it. She was still a first year and she had never seen a guidebook on that creature! Vernal wasn't faring any better, in fact she might have been taking it worse, the grotesque inhumanity of it all had her mind flashing back to what Emerald had made her see.

"Ummm...plan, boss?" Cinder managed to squeak when she found her voice, looking over to Watts out of the corner of her eye.
​

Hazel gauged his transformation, closing and opening his hands with the wisps of flames escaping the grips. A satisfied grunt at the outcome, he charged headlong into the horde.

Every small dragon head focused on the largest of the prey before them, glowing orange swelling in each of their throats before they violently exploded out in a stream of burning heat, every one combining into a much bigger jet of flame, intent to burn the prey away until nothing was left.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

But this battle was far from over, with still more coming. Eve's recon was the right idea. Her approach went unnoticed by most of the grimm that swarmed through the woods. As the bull faunus stalked further into the forest, she spotted a glimpse of something much more massive than most of its kind making its way through the trees. Yet before she could do something about it, a chain of fireballs hit so suddenly and with such great force that not only was she unable to block any of them, the assault sent her flying out of the forest entirely, landing back in the thick of it with the rest.

Eve hadn't moved much since she burst from the treeline at high velocity, skipped across the dirt like an especially flat stone across calm waters, and eventually landed in a crumpled heap. If anyone wanted to speculate that she was playing dead, lying in wait, or whatever other ninja crap they associated her with, she wasn't gonna deny it.

To her undying ire, the reality was far more human. She was doubled over, arms on her ribs and eyes wide with pain as she struggled to catch her breath. From the sound of her heaving lungs, she was still a ways off, and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping her brain process how something could ever hit her that hard without her being able to block it. Her aura was exceptionally strong, true, but there were a few factors in play contributing to her present weakness; firstly, and most simply, she wasn't a huntress. She had trained to kill humans, and while she was more than capable of dispatching primitive grimm (and some of the bigger ones) she had never encountered a member of the species that truly tested her, never having had much cause to go looking for one. Second, the ensouled's natural ward against grimm didn't come with padding, not quite so comprehensive at neutralizing blunt trauma as it was slashes and bites. Thirdly and most prominently, for as much as courage and foolhardy tenacity were ingrained into her being, she just wasn't someone who dealt with pain particularly well—much of her fighting style revolved around absorbing and countering it, and she was more accustomed to finishing fights without a scratch than some of the others here might've been.

For entirely different reasons, her capacity to deal with fire wasn't much better, and up until a few seconds ago there had been quite an impressive amount of it. Only after the orange glow and uncomfortable warmth finally faded did her breathing even out enough for her to push herself into a sitting position, doing so on shaky hands that made her grit her teeth and tighten their grip on the grass roots. A beat later, she punched the dirt with palpable disgust at her own weakness and shuffled over for where katana and sheath had both landed, just out of reach-

"NO!" She screeched as a wave of black and white crashed into her, something massive and snarling taking the opportunity to pounce what it saw as a wounded victim in the dark. What ensued made it difficult to argue. The faunus was bowled over, body twisting and tumbling a few times involuntarily under the ursa's charge, ending with her on her back and its massive paws pinning her shoulders as it roared and snapped, bite barely held away by Eve's grip on its jaws. She tried furiously to muster some form of offense, jamming her elbow in its maw and letting it chew on the aura there while she landed a bevy of aggressive punches around its snout and eyes, but each of them seemed to have less effect than the last as the creature's rage built and built. Her elbow's aura was starting to flare and spark red, and her hand made a few desperate grabs in the direction she knew Wilt had to be, returning only fistfuls of grass and dirt before she finally shifted both hands back to holding the bite at bay. As frustration and panic mounted, the faunus's legs started kicking more wildly, her body thrashing and struggling more and more as the beast's weight grew heavier and heavier, her still-recovering stamina near full depletion.

In the final moments before her guard crumbled, all training and engagement strategies gave way to pure, primal instinct. Fear—not of death, but of failure, of helplessness, of looking weak—could invoke something far more savage in a person than rage, it seemed, and Eve unleashed a feral scream as she grabbed the ursa's canines, bowed her head, and rammed it straight up into its maw. A distant spectator could've been forgiven for thinking that head would more than likely lack a body in the next second or so, but it was the ursa who tried to rear back with a yelp of pain, one that sounded in equal parts gurgled and confused. This time it was Eve who didn't let go, letting the grip on its teeth pull her upright as she wrenched her horns free, each dripping with the black, smoky ichor the grimm's wounds were known to ooze. A sickening snap followed, intensifying the bear's roars of pain, and the last thing it came to understand during its time on Remnant was the sheer depth of a faunus's defiance as Eve stabbed it as many times in the eyes with its own fang as it took until it was dead.

Done. Now it was back trying to fight for her breath again-

Every small dragon head focused on the largest of the prey before them, glowing orange swelling in each of their throats before they violently exploded out in a stream of burning heat, every one combining into a much bigger jet of flame, intent to burn the prey away until nothing was left.

-but she didn't plan on sitting around long enough to become a target this time, and had no intention of letting that fire blast go unanswered. She gathered up as much air as her lungs could store, and released it in the same instant a zigzag dash carried her at breakneck pace towards the source of her fiery trauma, sticking on the fringes of darkness for as long as she could until she could spring for where the heads were conveniently grouped up and attempt to neatly sever all of them with a clean, red-imbued slice, pouring her entire focus into offence.​