— Sean —
"For years, you've trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin said.
Beacon's incoming class was lined up at the top of a cliff overlooking said forest. Nearly a hundred young adults, all potential Huntsmen and Huntresses, were arranged and listening closely to every word out of Ozpin's lips. They'd learn better soon enough… Ozpin was a great Huntsman, a good man, and a half-decent reincarnator, but his words absolutely shouldn't be taken as gospel if one valued their sanity. Glynda knew that best, the poor, overworked woman that she was…
Out of the whole prospective class, I focused on Alice, the Bat kids, my nephew Jaune, and everyone else I remembered from my first time around here. Some were nervous. Some were excited. All of them (including Jaune this time around) knew roughly what they were getting into. It was still interesting to see them so early on. For my first life in Remnant, I'd arrived late at Beacon, only joining the teaching staff after the semester started.
Now, however, I was here from the beginning. Already, my presence had changed things. To say nothing of Didi, Alice, and our Bat kid guests. Jaune's Aura was unlocked beforehand, for one. And the Bat kids had been busy making friends (or causing their usual brand of chaos *cough* Cass *cough*), for another. I was interested in seeing how this Initiation turned out with a slightly altered starting line.
Ozpin, Glynda, Didi, and I stood before the incoming class for the briefing. Below the cliff-face, everything was prepared and suitably arranged. Ozpin's Initiation was set to begin. The setting usually remained the same, but ol' Oz liked to switch up the objectives each year. My Initiation, for example, had been all about attacking a fortified position in the Emerald Forest. How Ozpin wrangled Grimm onto the defense like that, I'd never know…
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today," Glynda picked up the speech after Ozpin trailed off.
"Ah, that's my cue…" I muttered before speaking up to address the class. "Right, teammates! Partners! The Hunter — that's Huntsman or Huntress — who will become your other half! Once you get into the forest, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner. If you have a preference already, make sure to stack the deck in your favor. The Grimm cheat by nature. So, as Hunters, it's our duty to cheat better and smarter. You'll only get one shot at this. Make it count."
"Gods, Sean…" Glynda muttered, giving me a side-eye. "Must you start your proposed lesson plan now? I didn't think you were serious about 'Cheating Death as a Hunter 101'…"
"Dead serious," I smirked back at her. "I called it 'Rainchecking Death' to avoid giving undue offense, though."
Glynda glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, confused. Didi giggled, but that did little to tip Glynda off to the joke at play.
Ignoring us, Ozpin continued the speech, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die."
"You'll all be monitored and graded throughout the Initiation," Didi spoke up. "But we won't interfere unless utterly necessary. Do try to avoid that necessity, yes?"
"Failing to do so won't reflect kindly on you," I added. "But you'll be alive, at least. Now, at the end of the forest, you'll find an abandoned temple with relics within. Pick one relic per partnered pair and bring it back to us to pass."
Ozpin sipped from his mug, visibly enjoying the fact that he only had to do a quarter of the work with me and Didi here, "… That is your mission. Should you choose to accept it, to see it through to the end…? Good luck."
The moment Ozpin finished our speech, the launchpads beneath the students began to abruptly activate. An unnamed student was the first to lift off, surprised but recovering quickly in mid-air. One by one, the process continued down the line.
As it grew closer to him, Jaune turned to me with a worried look, "Uh, Uncle Sean… I heard some people talking about this in the locker room, so, uh… what's a landing strategy?"
"Oh, my sweet, simple nephew," I chuckled. "It's falling. Falling with style. Be sure to stick the landing."
Jaune paled right as the launching process caught up to his spot in the line, "I can't do tha-AAAAAAAAHHHHH~!"
Aaaaannnd he was gone. I shook my head to myself. He'd be fine, I knew. This time around, at least. The first time around would've been actually dangerous for him, but now, Aura would cushion his fall, even if it might take him out for the rest of the Initiation. Then again… maybe not. Jaune took after his father when it came to Aura. That is to say, 'Chonky enough that he'd probably bounce rather than crater'.
"Good luck, New Nephew!" Didi called after Jaune's flailing flight.
"Sean…" Glynda glared sternly. "How does your nephew not knowwhat a landing strategy is?! Is he completely unqualified?! Are his transcripts faked?!"
"Yep," I nodded matter-of-factly, not bothered to cover for him. "He's got the spirit… and absolutely none of the experience."
Her glare turned into a fierce frown. "I should see him expelled for his own safety."
"It was rather obvious, Glynda," Ozpin casually said. "And I accepted him anyway. Give the boy a chance."
"He knows nothing!"
I raised an eyebrow, "That's what Beacon is for, isn't it? Learning? Or did this place stop being a school when I wasn't looking?"
That actually succeeded in bringing Glynda up short for a moment. She blinked before grumbling, "… Fine. You're right about that, at least. But if he makes it through Initiation, I'll be tasking you with getting him up to speed, Sean."
"When," I corrected. "He's a flailing, foolish mess. But I have the utmost confidence that Jaune will pull through anyway. Or have you forgotten who his parents and uncle are?"
"Great. Cool. That's nice and all, Dad, but, uh… Did you guys forget about me or something?"
I blinked at the unexpected voice, turning to see Alice was still standing on her launchpad. Her unactivated launchpad. "Huh. What gives, Oz?"
Ozpin casually sipped from his mug, "… She's hardly going to be a student, now, is she? I believe someone of young Alice's unique talents deserves a rather more individualized Initiation."
"Oh, it's 'cause I'm special," Alice nodded smugly. "Cool, cool, I can vibe with that."
"This is highly unorthodox," Glynda scoffed. "Some might even call it nepotism."
"Not nepotism. Just Magic," Ozpin answered simply.
Glynda's expression went blank at the mention of that word, "… Magic."
"Oh. Did I forget to mention that? No matter," Visibly and audibly amused, Ozpin shook his head. "Hold my mug and watch over the other students for a moment, if you would, Glynda. It's been much too long since I last stretched these muscles. But far be it from me to pass up the opportunity for an old-fashioned Wizard's Duel."
"I'm a witch, old man," Alice, cocky and teasing, sneered. "So bring it."
As the two of them squared up and Didi moved to officiate, I stayed with Glynda. She remained stunned, speechless (mostly), and slowly blinking, "Magic…?"
I chuckled, "Didi and I are very proud of our Alice. Now, I feel like we haven't had the chance to catch up yet. How have you been, Glynda? Other than busy, of course."
Glynda deflated suddenly and rather dramatically at that, whimpering, "So busy… Gods, Sean, the work… It never stops…!"
It was a side of Glynda she didn't show anyone but her close friends. Her students wouldn't believe their eyes if they ever saw the delicate cracks she hid. Glynda was stern by nature, that much was true, but… she was also a very overworked older woman without any time for fun, romance, or other relaxation in her life.
Reaching over, I patted her head soothingly, "There, there, Glynda. You sacrifice so much. I see you. You're worth so much more, and you can do anything you put your mind to."
She sniffled and leaned into my touch (though she would likely deny both later), "T-Thank you, Sean… It's… good to have you back, even with the chaos you brought."
Continuing to comfort my old friend, I took a moment to glance at the Wizard (and Witch) Duel. Alice was doing… well, good on her part, but not great on the whole. She hadn't flubbed a single spell. That was progress. Arcane energy crackled. Spell constructs snapped into place. She threw out an icy fog, a shattering stun bolt, and a blade of pure force.
But… she was up against an opponent with literal millennia under his belt. Ozpin was one of two Mages from a Remnant age long gone. And though he'd given away pieces of his Magic throughout the years, he never gave away his skill or experience. Alice was essentially facing a 'lite' version of me, her dear old dad. And I don't think she realized that just yet, considering she was still going for direct attacks as if Ozpin was a peer Mage who'd match her strength for strength.
That… That simply wasn't the case. Ozpin was a man with a lever. And he knew how to use it to its greatest effect. Oz dispelled Alice's icy fog with the lightest of conjured breezes. He absorbed the shattering stun bolt and integrated it into his dwindling Magic. And he perfect-parried her blade of pure force like he was in a video game.
When it was his turn, he wasted no time and spent not an ounce more effort than needed to make a statement that experienced control would typically triumph over youthful power. Ozpin raised his cane and pointed it at Alice. He took his lever and leveraged it just right. Minimum power, maximum effect.
Ozpin rocked Alice's world with just one word, "… Explosion."
IIIII
— Barbara —
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM~!*
Huh… That came from the top of the cliff, back at the starting line, Barbara estimated. And for some reason, she didn't suspect that Sean was to blame for once. Hell of a blast, though. A bit less than a ton of TNT or whatever the Remnant equivalent would be. She didn't envy the one who had to clean it up.
She cataloged the explosion for later reference, but primarily focused on more immediate concerns. Remnant didn't play around with their trials by fire. It was nostalgic, in a way, reminding her of her first nights patrolling Gotham. Sink or swim. More aptly, fly or fall. Like the others, Barbara was sent flying out over the forest by the launchpad.
The first few moments of Initiation were chaotic. Nearly a hundred kids were in the air over the Emerald Forest, each with their own unique landing strategy. Barbara watched as that Ruby girl Damian had been talking to shoot her way through some weird black bird and used her scythe to catch her fall on a branch. She watched the other new friend he'd made spring off a glyph in mid-air, redirecting and arresting the momentum of her fall. 'Not-Magic' Sean would undoubtedly call it.
Impressively, Barbara saw the blonde babe who'd been flirting with Jason and Alice dance through the air, boosting off gauntlet weapon blasts to practically skate across the treetops. Blake, Barbara's new comrade in smut, caught herself on a ribbon and bladed anchor, twirling and flipping like an idealized ninja. Then, Barbara watched that Pyrrha girl (she was famous or something) bust straight through a trio of tree trunks wholesale as if the first one alone wouldn't have splattered her. As Sean had hinted, Aura did odd things with momentum…
Pyrrha landed easily and efficiently, instantly popping back up to look for something. She seemed to find it in Sean's nephew, Jaune, as he flailed through the air. She took aim and threw her weapon as a javelin. Barbara couldn't help but whistle to herself. It was a damn-near divine throw, made with utter confidence. A bit too much confidence… But it succeeded in its task, catching Jaune's hood and pinning him safely to a tree. Pyrrha had staked her claim rather dramatically, it seemed.
Chuckling to herself, Barbara refocused on her own landing strategy and those of her brothers and sister. The Bat kids all knew the mission at hand. They didn't ignore Sean's advice to stack the deck. Getting some random for a partner wouldn't be fun for any of them.
Jason just covered himself in Aura and came in like a cannonball. In the short practices with the new power they'd had before Beacon began, it was quickly discovered that he had quite a bit of the stuff. Enough to tank the landing outright, crashing through the trees and landing with a cratering roll. Sean said they were all above average in the Aura department, but that Jason's Soul was particularly robust… for some reason. Barbara supposed coming back to life would do that to a Soul.
Damian's landing strategy was just as eye-catching, but with more finesse. He drew his new sword, took a breath, and cut the air, cut the rest of his fall right out from under himself. The Perfect Cut… Damian's Semblance could be used for movement just as effectively as it could be used on the offensive.
Cass was, surprisingly enough, the most subtle of them, and Barbara was the most efficient. Cass used her Batarangs and Monowire to anchor and swing herself to the ground. Barbara opened her cape to glide (as they all could've, probably should've done, except Jason…). Once she was satisfied with her reduced speed, her grapple gun did the rest.
Barbara's own Semblance was… strange. But welcome and undeniably powerful. Perfect Prep… She hadn't known what was coming for their Initiation. But at the same time, she absolutely had known every possibility in store for her so she could prep her new mecha-shift utility belt for anything and everything. It was like limited future-sight, preparatory precognition. And by Didi's Grace, it was perfect for her.
… Bruce was going to be jealous, though he'd never admit it.
Jason landed first, and the rest of them followed his lead to the same landing zone. That way, their partners were essentially predetermined. Damian got Cass. Barbara got Jason. Any of her siblings would've worked for Barbara, though. Yes, even Cass. For as chaotic and gremlin-ish as she could be, Cass was still a Bat. She could still be professional and utterly effective when she put her mind to it.
"Right," Barbara took charge once they were all together. "We're moving north in parallel. Keep it tight and vigilant. These will be our first encounters with the Grimm. Until we get some confidence going, I want Bruce levels of paranoid, copy?"
"Confirmed," Damian nodded. Barbara got similar nods from Cass and Jason, too.
"Let's get moving, then," Barbara said. "Remember, no mercy here. These aren't people. Strike to kill. Put them down hard and fast. Don't give them a single chance to get up and put a claw in our backs."
"Finally…" Damian intoned softly and eagerly.
Jason pulled his helmet back to show a grin, "I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to kill some monsters!"
"╰(● ⋏ ●)╯" Cass exclaimed. 'Fuck 'em, we ball!'
"It probably says something about us that we're so eager to have an enemy we can kill for once…" Barbara muttered. "But I'm going to ignore that."
"Good call," Jason chuckled. "Just enjoy the 'not-bloodshed'."
Gathering themselves, they set out northward. The two new Bat teams kept some distance between themselves, but were still well within earshot. If Cass whistled or Jason shouted, the other side would come running. Barbara set a brisk, sustainable jog, and for the first minute or so, it was quiet.
Then, Cass let out her piercing whistle. Barbara and Jason burst into twin sprints. They weaved their ways through the trees until they found Cass perched on a branch and pointing at a shadow across from her.
"( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ" 'It thought it could out-stealth Remant's new stealth master! Baaaaa~kaaaaa~!'
Barbara looked, and for a tense moment, couldn't see anything. Then, the shadow (or something within) shifted. Barbara blinked. It looked just like any other shadow on a branch… But something was expertly hiding within. So expertly that Barbara doubted she would've caught it on her own. Not until it was too late.
Her mecha-belt shifted, and Barbara took her high-powered flashlight from it. The kind that was too bright even at noon. She flicked it at the shadow and flashed it once. The shadow was chased away, revealing the ambusher.
It looked like some kind of twisted big cat. An inky-black shadow-cat. The limbs were too short. Its whole body was too squat. But it was wide and powerful. Saber-toothed fangs protruded from its jaws, and its claws of bone looked like they could tear through steel armor.
Revealed, the Grimm Cat gave a cougar-like screech. That characteristically eerie call, like a woman's scream. But the imitation beast was clearly an ambush predator. Once caught in the open and focused on, it tried to flee.
Damian was the quickest on the draw. He stepped and slashed. The distance between him and the Grimm Cat seemed to disappear. In a blink, he was upon the thing. With the cleanest of cuts, he cleaved the creature in twain.
"(●´⌓`●)" Cass moaned. 'Aww… Disappointing…'
"Barbara…" Jason warned warily. "They have, like… ecological niches. Killing niches."
Barbara nodded, "I caught that as well. That thing was next to useless in a straight fight, but on the pounce? I'll bet it was lethal."
With new information in mind, they continued their trek north. At one point, Jason spotted a Grimm Crow the size of a large vulture. They barely slowed as he mecha-shifted his weapon to a long rifle and took the shot. Barbara only felt satisfaction at seeing the not-bird burst into shadowy feathers.
For the most part, the Emerald Forest was brightly lit and almost inviting. That made it even more dangerous in Barbara's mind. Because it was far from as tranquil as it looked. It was wild. Dangerous. A proving ground for these monstrous shadows of nature. There were wolfish howls and bearish roars aplenty. It was only a matter of time before the Bat kids ran into the sources of both.
The howls came first, over on Cass and Damian's side. A whole pack of them, announcing their hunt in unison. But Barbara and Jason didn't get the chance to rush to their aid. Because the roars came next, from a trio of towering, lumbering, bear-like Grimm beasts.
The trio of Grimm Bears rolled into their path like a storm. A storm of shadow and bone. Immediately, Jason set upon two with shots from his pistols. They took the small-caliber semi-auto fire almost without complaint. Oh, they bled, sure, bled ink and crimson. But if anything, the pistol fire only seemed to piss them off.
They moved to close the distance. Jason threw himself backward, firing the whole way to, again, little effect. One of the Grimm Bears swiped at him and tore through the ground where he just was. Torn, arm-long furrows in both soil and stone showed how devastating it would be to get caught by those powerful claws. Jason came up in a roll a ways away, already mecha-shifting his weapon to its double-barrel configuration. Then, the hard-headed fool charged straight into shotgun melee.
Rolling her eyes, Barbara called out, "Flasher! Look away!"
Dutifully, Jason dropped himself face-first and prone onto the ground as Barbara's flashbang flew into the fray from behind him. He watched the dirt to avoid the flash and let his helmet's systems muffle the bang. With a ringing *POP, CRACK, BANG!* the nonlethal explosive went off between Jason's foes. They reared back and roared, blinded and deafened temporarily.
But that was all the help Barbara could afford to give before her own Grimm Bear was upon her. She ducked a claw swipe and lashed out with an Aura-empowered fist. Didi's tits… It was satisfying to see such a monster stagger at her punch.
Barbara kicked away with Anything Goes, taking to the air for a paradoxically brief but lasting moment. It gave her the time she needed to fetch a more suitable weapon from her mecha-belt. Still 'hanging' in the air, the Bat-bowstaff sprang open and locked together. The Grimm Bear rushed her a moment later, and Barbara finally let herself fall, right on top of it.
With leverage against thin air that should've been impossible (Anything Goes was beautiful bullshit…), Barbara twisted — energy transfering and gathering from 'solid' footing to her core to her shoulders and arms — and struck hard enough to crack Grimm bone.
An armored plate on the Bear's shoulder spiderwebbed with evidence of the force Barbara could bring to bear. The Bear's roars turned to whimpers for a moment before surging back to roars with rage. It was cracked but far from toothless. A punch (why were bears throwing punches…?) was launched at her with shocking speed. As much as Barbara tried to twist out of the way, she was still caught on the side of her gut.
The punch smashed her. Barbara flew. But surprisingly, it didn't hurt nearly as much as she was expecting and bracing herself for. More 'push' than 'impact', but it was a hell of a lot of push. Barbara was thrown straight out and away from the fight. But she kept her bearings rather well. On her way out, she whipped a Batarang at the Grimm Bear, closing her eyes immediately as it began to burn white-hot with thermite. The shape of a bat was still imprinted behind her eyes for a moment…
Barbara kind of just… let herself fly after that. She knew her throw was accurate. The Batarang had lodged itself right in the Grimm's mask. Now, the Bear had 4500 degrees of 'fuck you' temp melting a bat-shaped path straight through its face. The beast was as good as dead. And Jason would be fine if the plethora of shotgun blasts and lack of roars were anything to go off. So Barbara just let her Aura take her, enjoying the impromptu flight.
With the most minor of subconscious adjustments, Barbara avoided every tree in her flight path. Perfect Prep was good for more than just gathering all the right tools for the job. So Barbara flew straight and true as if it were nothing. Then, she broke into a clearing and found herself looking up at the clear sky above. She landed a moment later, with a splash of sand, of all things.
The sand made her landing rather soft, all things considered. And Barbara took a few seconds to just lie there and think. Her first real fight against the Grimm… They were formidable foes. Tanky. Aggressive. And powerful enough to send her flying with a single punch. But… there wasn't much of a mind behind their actions. They were wild. Feral. Barbara found that fact reassuring. The Grimm could be as strong as a Kryptonian, but without intelligence, they were much less dangerous than she'd dreaded.
Eventually, Barbara brought herself up into a sitting position and looked around. With the splash of sand on her landing, she expected a shoreline, or maybe a dry riverbed. Unfortunately, her new surroundings didn't seem to be either.
It was a significant section cut out of the forest. But rooted and fertile soil had given way to fine sand and a few dried-up dead husks of trees. It was as if all of the life had been sucked out of this specific spot in the forest. Instantly, the sight set her on edge.
"A dead sandpit…" Barbara muttered flatly to herself. "In the middle of a flourishing forest. Yeah. Sure. That's natural and not menacing at all."
Sighing to herself, Barbara clicked the mic in her suit twice to let the others know she was still alive and unharmed. The wolven howls had died down. Damian and Cass had undoubtedly taken them out just as easily as she and Jason had taken out the Grimm Bears. Soon enough, the others joined her at the edge of the sandpit.
"Hold," Barbara cautioned them from coming any closer. "I don't trust this shit."
"Oh, same!" Jason called back, looking no worse the wear from his fight against the other two Grimm Bears. "That's a trap if I've ever seen one! Are Grimm Antlions a thing?"
Barbara shuddered, "Don't bring that evil onto me, Jason. I don't need to think about some fuck-off big bug Grimm lying in ambush beneath me!"
"It is a valid concern," Damian said.
"=＾● ⋏ ●＾=" Cass 'advised'. 'No sudden movements. They would hunt by vibration. So don't die, yeah?'
"Wonderfully reassuring," Barbara groaned.
Still, she was quick to come up with a workable extraction plan, "Guess this is what the noisemaker was for…"
Her mecha-belt shifted the disposable tool into her reach. Fetching it from her waist, Barbara chucked it as far away from herself as she could. The unassuming thing hit the sand with an unfitting *THUMP*. Then another *THUMP*. It began to resound like a giant's footsteps. And immediately, the sand began to shift as something very much did come to life below.
Barbara was kicking off into the air with the first of the noisemaker's thumps. Anything Goes carried her up and away with each kick. Just in time, too. Around the noisemaker, the sand vibrated and split. A massive maw appeared beneath, circular and lined with quad-mandibles. Quick as a blink, the maw surged upward, and the rest of the Grimm was revealed.
"A fucking Sandworm?!" Barbara swore.
"Oh, that's just not right…" Jason muttered.
"彡໒(⊙ᴗ⊙)७彡" Cass just stared. '… Is that better or worse than a Grimm Antlion? I honestly can't tell. Terrifying ambush bug or worm that can swallow a van whole…?"
"… I could cut it," Damian said.
"Fuck that, let's not," Barbara denied him that challenge. "In all likelihood, the thing is confined to the sandpit. So we just back away… Slowly… and continue on our way…"
It seemed so simple as she landed next to her siblings. Barbara should've known not to expect things to go to plan when a Sandworm was in play… They still had to circumnavigate the whole sandpit, after all. And while the Grimm Worm was almost definitely blind, its other senses were more than sensitive to make up for that.
Slowly and steadily, they tried to creep around the pit. But by then, the Sandworm had long since lost interest in the now-eaten noisemaker. Now, it was just roused, unsatisfied, and looking for real prey.
Strangely enough, the Grimm Worm proved itself smarter than the Grimm Bears or Grimm Wolves by lulling them into a false sense of security. Reared up like a queer snake, it remained utterly still. Up until it didn't. The team reached the other side of the pit and moved to leave. Then, the Worm reacted.
It withdrew itself back under the sand. The earth shook as it surged forward, directly at them. Past the sand, it carved through the denser soil and stone just as easily. A wake of raised earth was left in its wake as it rushed toward them like a speeding truck.
"Scatter! Keep it moving!" Barbara called out. "We're going loud and fast!"
Thankfully, her siblings were as quick on the draw as ever. Jason broke into a sprint, parkouring through the forest over logs, boulders, and rough terrain. Cass disappeared with her Semblance, but Barbara was certain she would keep pace with the rest of them. Damian launched himself with a Perfect Cut and kept doing so. Barbara made sure to drop a grenade where they were before using Anything Goes to bounce off everything but the ground.
The Worm surfaced right into Barbara's grenade. But the blast of shrapnel barely fazed the massive, writhing thing. Worst of all, it didn't make a sound as it gave chase once more. No roar, no growl, and now, barely a rumble beneath the earth. Barbara could still track its trail, though, as a familiar *THUMP* began to echo behind and beneath them.
"Listen for the noisemaker!" Barbara shouted in realization. "It's still on in there! So-! Run-! The fuck-! Away-! From the thumps!"
They did just that, not stopping for anything. They ran and ran until the forest blurred around them. But the Grimm Worm was relentless. It burrowed through everything in its path with only the noisemaker's ominous *THUMPS* and the shaking earth to announce it.
"We need better terrain to turn and fight!" Jason shouted.
"I do not think this Worm cares much for any terrain," Damian deadpanned.
Cass made herself visible again as she swung through the treetops with her Monowire. One swing took her high over the canopy, and she came down to announce what she saw.
"(*′☉.̫☉)" 'Clearing up ahead. Initiation objective, I think. Some groups are already there.'
"Tch," Barbara clicked her tongue. "We're going to have to turn and fight anyway, then. Go. I'll try to make us a bit of space."
The other three surged forward. Barbara stopped on a branch and reached into her mecha-belt. She retrieved another fruit of her Perfect Prep as something in her mind prompted her to use it now. Just off the Grimm Worm's path, she threw a self-laying mine. As it buried itself in the ground, it must've made a ruckus to the Worm's senses. It veered off toward the new vibrations. Barbara continued after her siblings. A moment later, the mine exploded spectacularly in the Worm's maw.
It wasn't much of a distraction. But it was time. Space. A chance they desperately needed. Barbara burst into the clearing up ahead only a second after her siblings. She threw another self-laying mine into the Worm's inevitable path as she did and took stock of the new situation in an instant.
That… was a big fucking scorpion… and an equally big fucking bird overhead. Wonderful, they were just adding to the party. Right as the Bat kids burst onto the scene, Ruby had managed to get herself pinned by a feather, shot by the Grimm Raven, while the Grimm Scorpion bore down on her. Her sister tried and failed to reach her. It was the Weiss girl who saved her hide, trapping the Scorpion's tail in ice.
Then, the green fools wasted their opportunity by… talking, "-So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer…"
"DO NOT have a heart-to-heart beneath a Scorpion stinger!" Barbara immediately barked. "Jason, Cass! Fetch our teams' relics! The rest of you, get your heads in the fight! We've got one more incoming!"
"Woah! Huh?! Wha-?! There's another one?!" Jaune sputtered.
"Big ol' Worm," Jason casually informed them as he and Cass ran past them to obey Barbara's command. "Digs underground. Keep moving and listen for the thumps. Also, hey, Yang."
"Uh… Hey, Mr. Hard Knock Hunk…" Yang blinked.
"Ruby. Weiss," Damian greeted.
"Damian!" Ruby grinned.
"It is… good to see you again, Damian," Weiss nodded slowly.
"Likewise. However. Please focus."
The surprise at their appearance and slow uptake by most spoke to an unfortunate lack of experience. But not all of them were left blinking. The femboy and orange-haired shortstack — Ren and Nora, if Barbara recalled correctly — were ready to fight for their lives in an instant. Barbara judged them to have the most life-or-death experience after the Bat kids. The champion, Pyrrha, and Barbara's comrade in smut, Blake, were a bit slower, but they adjusted quickly enough to work with.
For Jaune, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, however, it took the Worm running into Barbara's second Perfectly Prepped mine to shake them back into action. Explosions did have a way of doing that…
The Worm reared its head, now scarred, and Yang just stared, "… Oh, fuck all of that."
Jason chuckled, "Trust me, we feel the same way. I'd like to kill it dead and not think about it for a long, long time, if that's agreeable with you all."
"Yes," Ren nodded matter-of-factly. "Kill it very, very dead."
"Oh~! With fire! And electricity! And explosions! And HAMMER TIME~!" Nora helpfully added.
"There's, uh, also the bird…" Jaune pointed out. "The very big, very angry bird… that's circling back around…"
"And the Deathstalker," Pyrrha added.
"Is that what it's called?" Damian considered. "Fascinating. I was simply calling them as they were."
"No, Damian," Weiss shook her head. "The 'bird' is a Nevermore. The 'scorpion' is a Deathstalker. And I believe the 'worm' is a Blind Worm."
"Yes, and the academic names are nice and all," Barbara said flatly. "Now, focus on killing them. We're not in a great situation, but it's far from hopeless. There's an enemy for air, land, and underground. We'll have to deal with each accordingly. We're going to want to ground the bird-…"
"Nevermore," Weiss corrected, seemingly unable to help herself, before blushing.
Barbara continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Flip or lead the scorpion off that cliff over there-…"
"Deathstalker," Unfortunately, Damian (the little shit) joined in on the correction.
Barbara glared at him, finishing her list of objectives, "… And lure out the worm."
"(つ▀¯▀ )つ" And of course, Cass couldn't let that fun slide without joining in. 'BLIND Worm, Babs.'
"Thank you. You were all very helpful," Barbara rolled her eyes. "Any complaints with the bare bones of that plan, though? Any ideas or suggestions?"
"No time!" Jason suddenly said in a hurry. "Just try to keep those win conditions in mind! They'll make this fight much, much easier!"
As he said it, he dropped to one knee and shifted his weapon into its long rifle form. Above, the Nevermore had fully circled back. The massive Grimm Raven dove. Jason held his ground and began firing as quickly and accurately as he could. And for someone like Jason, that was rather effective.
He hit the big bird's soft spots — the eyes, a few joints, and the wings. Ruby and Pyrrha were quick to join him, slightly less accurate, but still effective. The Nevermore flinched, looking to reconsider its dive. Then, Nora joined the volley with a grenade launcher… Her explosions were the final straw that succeeded in driving the Nevermore off again.
But that was a small victory. The Deathstalker broke free of Weiss' ice. And the Blind Worm buried itself again, unseen but never unheard with its ominous *THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…*.
The Deathstalker charged straight. Surprisingly, Sean's nephew charged to meet it. Damn-near suicidal, but Barbara would never call him a coward after that. She gave a pointed look at Cass to mind him.
"┐('～`;)┌" She shrugged. 'Choom's got the spirit, but not much else, yeah. I've got him.'
"M-Me, too!" Pyrrha was suspiciously quick to declare, glaring slightly at Cass.
Barbara just rolled her eyes. She didn't need drama, romance, and jealousy when she was trying to manage a battlefield. Jaune met the Deathstalker in its charge. But in another surprise, he held strong and fast. The scorpion's claws crashed against his shield. Jaune didn't even take a single step back. Then, Pyrrha and Cass were there to help him.
Pyrrha brought her spear to meet the Deathstalker's armored face, seeking the gaps. Cass went invisible and around, coming back into sight as she threw her Batarang and Monowire to choke the Deathstalker's stinger. Impressively, they pinned the massive beast like that — against Jaune's shield, in front of Pyrrha's spear, and under Cass' tangling, cutting wire.
"Worm. Incoming," Damian said bluntly.
Barbara nodded. She could hear the *THUMPS*. Thank Didi for Perfect Prep. Otherwise, that Worm would be way too stealthy for its own good-… Well, not its own good, but certainly everyone else's.
"Dropping a 'nade! Scatter!" Barbara ordered.
She waited until the last moment before taking her own advice. She was the last out of the danger zone. A mere moment after she kicked off, the Blind Worm surfaced again. It swallowed her 'nade without complaint. Until a burst of fragmentation tore at its insides, of course. Even then, bleeding and torn, the Worm was eerily silent.
"Keep it above ground!" Yang called out, setting upon the beast with a flurry of fists and shotgun blasts.
An ambush predator like the Blind Worm shouldn't have been so well-armored. But it was already clear to Barbara that Grimm didn't like playing by the rules. Yang's exploding fists left craters on its bone-plated segments.
Ren danced and flipped over the Worm, digging his gun blades into the black flesh that peeked through its armor. Blake joined him with more of the same. Both of them were agile fighters. And against an immobile target like the Worm when it was above ground, they were doing good damage.
However, they were also glass cannons. The Blind Worm writhed and flailed with the whole of its visible body. Blake and Ren were struck and sent flying. Yang toughed it out, seeming to absorb the damage and hit back even harder. The Worm focused on her in turn, dipping down with its mandibled maw to scoop her up in one bite. With an enraged roar, Yang grabbed two of the mandibles and held the Grimm there, her blonde hair billowing in Aura-empowered anger.
"Damian," Barbara said calmly. "Armor. Let's cut it away."
Damian nodded once, "Let's."
"Keep it there, Yang!" Barbara called.
"Easier said than done!" Yang snapped back. "This bronco's buckin'!"
Still, she did her best to give them the opening, her rage giving way to supernatural strength. Damian dashed forward. Barbara wasn't far behind him as her mecha-belt shifted to her whim. A device and its powerline were detached from the whole, a high-speed laser cutter. Taking it in hand, Barbara leaped onto the writhing Worm and began cut, cut, cutting away at its armor.
Damian did the same with Perfect Cuts. Each was a breath, simple and easy for him. Bone plating parted like butter. Barbara burned her way through, and Damian sliced true. Parts and pieces of the Worm's natural armor sloughed away. But before they could get at the flesh beneath, the Worm rebelled.
It threw Yang. She tumbled ass over Aura. The Blind Worm was quick to turn its attention to Barbara and Damian, but not quick enough. They leaped clear. At the peak of their flight, the Worm reacted. Quick as a whip, it lashed out with its whole body. A dreadful realization came as it rushed at Barbara. She kicked away with Anything Goes. It wasn't enough.
With its whole body as the weapon, Barbara was smashed into the ground. Aura didn't stop the breath from being knocked out of her. She didn't let herself fall stunned, rolling away as soon as she made impact. The Worm gave chase, dripping a trail of acid from its maw. Because why not? The massive, armored, burrowing, vibration-sensing ambush Grimm didn't have enough advantages as is…
The fighting rotated then, and Barbara's siblings came to her aid. Damian parried perfectly, backed by Aura and Semblance as he slid his blade off one dripping mandible. Jason swooped in with double-barreled fury on full automatic. His specialty shells wreaked havoc within the beast's maw. Cass appeared before Barbara and disappeared just as quickly with her in tow.
"Cass," Barbara groaned, shaking her head back into the fight after her close call with acid. "Be a dear and drop these off around the Worm, will you?"
"(`·ω·´)ゞ" Cass saluted with a smirk. 'Aye, aye, Captain Babs~!'
She took the sonic disruptors Barbara gave her without complaint and flickered back to invisibility in the wind. Perfect Prep told Barbara that they'd be exceedingly effective. The resonating vibrations from the sonic disruptors would fuck up the Worm's senses something fierce. Sure enough, as Cass dropped them off and they activated, the Worm made its first noise of the fight.
It was an unholy sound, a cry from the deepest hells. Shrill and wavering and so much like nails on a chalkboard. The Worm tried to flee. But instead of going back underground, it surged upward in its confusion.
Its full length was soon revealed. Two, three, four buses end to end. Nigh on a hundred meters and all writhing horribly. Above ground and plagued by sonic resonance, however, it was stranded. Easy pickings. Damian got the final honor.
He took a steadying breath, holding his sword vertically between himself and his target. The world seemed to hold its breath, anticipating the cut to come. And Barbara could swear she heard music. A soundtrack to Damian's Perfect Cut.
*~Viooo~lence breeds viooo~lence, but in the end, it has to be THIS WAAAAAAY~*
"Reach Heaven… By Violence… Cut by cut… It has to be this way…" Damian intoned stoically as if saying a prayer.
He stepped. He swung. His blade descended upon the writhing Worm. The first cut cleaved clean through the body, twice as wide as Damian was tall. The second sliced another section. The third slashed. The fourth carved flesh from flesh, and the fifth separated shadow from shadow. Sixth, seventh, and so many more sundered, severed, and shredded. Damian cut, his Soul enforced his blade's intent, and the world fell in line with that will.
The Blind Worm fell into so many pieces. Its acidic blood scarred the ground. And Damian simply stepped back, satisfied.
"It is done," Damian said.
Unfortunately, Barbara had to rain on his parade, "Yeah, no shot. We're not leaving it at just that. Some worms multiply when cut cleanly like that. I'm not taking chances. Get your thermite, boys. And Cass. We're burning this fucker until not even ashes remain."
"(((o(*°▽°*)o)))" Cass happily exclaimed. 'Beautiful, beautiful thermite~! I'll look straight into it! Who needs the sun when we can make our own~?'
"Idiot," Barbara snorted, but Cass's joke did manage to kill some of her lingering tension.
Quickly and efficiently, the Bat kids set about burning the pieces of Worm carcass before they could multiply. Judging by the way the pieces were still twitching, Barbara would put money on it doing just that. She shuddered. Fuck that.
Once the job was thoroughly done, Barbara turned to check up on their allies, ready to jump back into the fray. It didn't seem necessary, though.
Barbara checked back just in time to see Pyrrha launch Nora off her shield. The shortstack flew impossibly high, even striking a pose in the process. At the peak of her flight, she turned, fired her hammer-launcher for extra momentum, and SLAMMED onto the stinger that was now stuck in the Deathstalker's carapace. To add injury to injury, the exchange took place at the edge of the cliff, and with another trigger pull, another blast, Nora sent the overgrown scorpion falling to certain doom.
Then, there were the others. Their fight against the big-ass bird had taken them to the other side of the now-broken bridge attached to the ruined temple. There, hanging over a foggy canyon, Barbara witnessed something utterly ridiculous.
Yang lured the Nevermore into crashing into the taller cliff on the other side of the canyon. Weiss froze it there with Dust and Glyphs. Blake, Yang, and Weiss worked together to set up a makeshift slingshot with Blake's ribbon weapon. And all together, they launched Ruby at the stuck bird.
Firing her rifle the whole way, Ruby flew. She caught her scythe blade on the Nevermore's neck, stuck to the cliff-face (somehow…), and ran up it, dragging the bird painfully along for the ride. At the very top of the cliff, the bird hit a stone lip and stuck there. Ruby and her sharp scythe kept going. In a burst of rose petals, Ruby decapitated the Grimm like a reverse guillotine.
"What…" Barbara began.
"The…" Jason nodded along with her.
"w(°ｏ°)w" Cass finished. 'Fuck! That was badass! Fuckin' NOVA! That-! I-!"
Only for Damian to interrupt her with something rather… worrisome… "… I have never been more taken, thrilled, or turned on in my life. An awakening…? Is this what sex is like?"
Immediately, Barbara paled, "Oh, Bruce is going to kill me."
Jason just laughed in agreement, "Talia, too, for an entirely different reason. She's going to be furious that she missed this. Her little boy's first murder-crush…"
He paused. Considered his own words. And then, paled just like Barbara, "Oh. Oh, fuck… It's Damian's first murder-crush."
"▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓" Cass's eerie smile summed the feelings from that realization up best. 'Fine… This is fine. Everything's fine. No need to worry or stress. None at all. I'm sure 'Little Mr. Overkill in All He Does' will be perfectly reasonable about this…'
Damian, ignoring them, nodded to himself, "… I should secure that head and present it as a trophy of my newfound affection."