PSIness11

If you asked most people about the Emerald Forest, one of the first things they'd tell you is 'Never go there alone.' It saw most of its use as a training ground for the up-and-coming Huntsmen and Huntresses of Beacon Academy. It was a lair for Grimm of all stripes and not forgiving terrain to begin with; going in alone was foolhardy in the extreme. Most of the academy's teachers would have been horrified to discover someone trekking there alone - especially at night.

None of this had managed to stop one student in particular. Wandering through the Emerald Forest, seeing by moonlight as the clock had recently struck midnight, a figure in a black tracksuit and beanie faded from one shadow to another. Blond hair protruded from beneath the hat in some places and when he stepped into a moonbeam his blue eyes would flash as they swept back and forth in search of something.

The only part of him that remained obvious at all times was the weapon on his back. Foolhardy though they might have been, the student wasn't fool enough to go into the Emerald Forest unarmed at any hour of the day or night - and he could never have been mistaken for unarmed with the greatsword strapped to his back. Although 'greatsword' might not have been quite the right term.

It was, lacking any better adjectives, titanic. It was too big to be called a mere 'sword'. In reality, it was the illegitimate child of a mountain and a slag pile. Nearly two feet across and just as long as the student was tall before taking the hilt into account, it sliced what light fell on it into a scattered mess as if daring the light to illuminate it properly. It was functionally dysfunctional, an utterly impossible weapon that gave no regard to decoration or aesthetics beyond the simple imprint near its hilt which proclaimed the weapon's name. 'Iron Curtain'.

The student let out a whine, absent-mindedly kicking a stone out of his path. "Of course I'm stuck doing the grunt work. 'Oh, you should help Professor Port, Cole; it'll be fun! I'm sure he'll give you extra credit!'"

The falsetto trailed off as Cole growled, continuing to mutter under his breath as he stalked further into the forest. He left footprints almost an inch deep behind him - though how much of that was the weight of his weapon and how much was just his anger leaking through was up for debate. One resembled the other quite a bit - at least, as far as subtlety was concerned.

"Oh yeah, I'll just walk into the forest!" He proclaimed, throwing his hands up for a moment. "Risk my life so our team gets extra credit. Some friends I have." He sighed, hanging his a bit. "They can't send me on all the errands just 'cause I never watched RWBY…"

If there was one thing Cobalt Reynolds had come to regret not doing before he was thrown into Remnant, it was watching RWBY. He knew approximately jack shit about anything to do with the series in the beginning (and Jack had long ago skipped town). It had left him much less prepared than his friends for dealing with all the shit they had...though, how 'prepared' you could be for being thrown headlong into another world was debatable.

A low growl cut through the night and ended Cole's mutterings in an instant. His head immediately spun to the origin of the sound, locking with a pair of glowing red eyes in the undergrowth. As another growl sprung up, he carefully backed into the center of the trail he'd been following. Two pairs of eyes like the flames of hell became visible in front of him and closed in. The growling continued to grow louder, the very ground beneath Cole's feet beginning to shake with their combined rumble.

A single hand rose over Cole's shoulder and gripped the hilt of his weapon tightly. The rest of him tensed in anticipation.

Two massive shapes emerged from the forest's greenery as if birthed from the shadows of the leaves themselves. Each was a hulking, quadrupedal form that stood at least twice as tall at the shoulder as Cole himself. Their forms were covered in thick black fur, with the only exceptions being the white armor that was scattered over their forms. Bone-like white armor-plates were dotted liberally across the creatures' backs and limbs while claws of the same material protruded from their paws. A forest of sharp spines protruded from the creatures' backs and the tops of their skulls were covered in a red-marked helmet of the same white armor.

The two Ursa Major began to slowly circle Cole, each of them continuing to growl in the kind of registers reserved for boulders rubbing together. In response Cole's grip on his weapon tightened and he began to slowly draw it.

Iron Curtain buried its tip in the ground with an immense thud and a raised cloud of dust, dirt and stone giving way to its sheer weight. Taking that as a signal, the two Ursa let out massive roars and launched themselves forward at the Huntsman-in-training.

Cole grit his teeth and twisted his upper body, heaving with his arms to bring Iron Curtain around in a block. The first Ursa's claws raked across the blade and created sparks but nothing else, the blade refusing to give in. The second Ursa's attack, though, came from behind him - there was no way to get his blade around in time.

Yet, before the claws could make mincemeat of his back, the skin of Cole's back beneath the tracksuit lit up. Glowing blue-green liens rapidly traced themselves over the entire surface of his back. Then, when the Ursa's claws made contact, there was the tearing sound of cloth ripping - and a shrieking not unlike metal-on-metal.

The whole top of the tracksuit was ripped apart - but Cole's back bore nothing more than some faint red lines where the claws had passed.

With a roar, Cole spun his whole body around, dragging Iron Curtain along for the ride. The flat of the massive blade came around with more than enough force to knock the massive Ursa on its side when it hit, sending it reeling.

The first Ursa raised its paw to try and take advantage of the opening, swinging it down towards Cole. As it came in, the same glowing tracery as had lit up his back flowed along Cole's arms and over his hands. Those same arms then heaved Iron Curtain once more - but this time, Cole's strength seemed to have increased tenfold, as the massive blade vanished from sight until it slammed home in the Grimm's torso, brought to a halt only because it had to pass through the armor plates first.

The Ursa Major was sent bouncing off to the side as the blade came to a halt, enough imparted momentum staying with it to move even a creature of its size. Right on its trail came Cole, his legs alight with tracery, his feet cracking the earth where they came down. A crater was blasted from the dirt as he leaped skywards, bringing Iron Curtain down in front of him hard enough that he somersaulted. The revolution continued, gaining speed as teen and blade vanished in a constant blur of black and silver that resembled a flying sawblade as it flew toward the massive Grimm.

The Ursa Major looked up from its resting place just in time to be met with Iron Curtain's blade. Its skull and armor plates didn't manage to stop it this time, and Iron Curtain cut into the earth once more as Cole's rotation stopped in a moment. In front of him the distinct halves of a once-massive Grimm fell apart, already beginning to blow away into smoke.

The trainee Huntsman let out a breath, shaking his head to clear the dizziness and admire his work. That moment of distraction proved a mistake though - a Beowolf abruptly launched itself over the undergrowth in front of him and clamped its jaw down on the arm holding Iron Curtain. His Aura flared up around where it was trying to gnaw his arm off and the tracery of his Semblance supplemented it.

It was only that passive defense that prevented him from losing the limb entirely.

Even uninjured though, Cole couldn't move his arm. The Beowolf had him in a death grip and refused to let go. That couldn't be borne of course. So Cole cocked his left fist, alight with tracery, then let it fly right into the eye-socket of the lupine monster's skull-helmet. His fist punched straight through the bone and into the shadow-flesh beneath, launching the dying monster away to dissolve into the air.

Cole rolled his arm in its socket, making sure it hadn't been wrenched too badly. As he did he grimaced; more and more growls were sounding from the forest around him. Soon a swarm of glowing red eyes became obvious in the shadows of the plants and a full pack of Beowolves melted out of the shadows. In their midst was the second Ursa Major...and all of them had their sights locked right on Cole.

"Just my fucking luck." He muttered to himself. One hand ripped Iron Curtain from the ground and levelled it at the Grimm horde. The other extended itself forwards, palm-up, and beckoned with the fingers.

With that gesture, the mass of Grimm exploded into a discordant symphony of roars and charged in one cohesive flow.

As they came, Cole's entire body came alight with tracery, Reinforcing him to the max. A trail of devastated earth was launched into the air behind him as he kicked off into a forward charge, the trailing edge of Iron Curtain screaming its bloodlust as it tore the air. The first wave of Grimm didn't even slow it; the metal cleaved Grimm-flesh like butter and barely noticed the difference between it and armor.

The swing turned into a full rotation to bring the blade around again - and again, and again and again. With every strike, the Grimm in Iron Curtain's path were reduced to chunks and scattered to the winds as they dissolved. Clouds of dust were raised in the swings' paths, trenches were carved in the earth when the weapon came near. Yet despite the devastation being wrought upon them, the Grimm continued their charge. If anything they became more energetic as their kin were slain.

The Ursa Major joined the next wave with a roar, charging through the Beowolves and knocking them aside as it thundered forward. Its paw came down as Iron Curtain came up, and where the two collided the ensuing shockwave scattered the surrounding Beowolves. A deadlock ensued - monstrous strength and weight against the fully-augmented student.

Cole broke the clash first, whipping Iron Curtain around his body into a wild slash. The sword carved a deep gash in an armor plate that then buckled but didn't get any further. Undeterred, it bounced right off and swung around again, this time from a new direction. The process kept repeating as Cole rained blows on the massive Grimm without any real success. It was forced backwards but didn't sustain any real harm.

'Damnit - I can't like it like before, I don't have the momentum!' He cursed to himself, barely giving a Beowolf a second thought when Iron Curtain sliced through it on its path to attack the Ursa Major once more. 'I'll have to-'

His thoughts were broken off when the Ursa Major suddenly broke through the flurry of slashes, slamming its clawed arm into Cole's torso. The Huntsman-in-training was thrown backwards even with the weight of Iron Curtain, skipping along the ground like a stone across water but with only half the grace.

Managing to turn his fifth bounce into a twist, he brought Iron Curtain down into the ground and let his momentum bleed out through the blade as it cut a trench in dirt, stone and roots. Climbing to his feet from the kneeling position he'd been left in, he wrenched his sword from the earth in a shower of dirt and took its weight on his shoulder. Then he pulled the trigger near the end of the hilt, there was a loud click, and the massive blade began to shift.

Seams that had been hidden before became suddenly visible as the weapon's components were rearranged. The blade itself split lengthwise down the center, the two large metal plates composing it rotating to face the earth and then digging themselves in as Cole took a knee in to form a crude bipod. A barrel just as long as the blade had been was revealed to have been hidden within the sword, connected to the hilt. The hilt itself also split in half - one half rested on and against Cole's shoulder while the other folded down into a grip where the trigger resided.

Cole aimed down the barrel of his Anti-Tank Rifle (classed as 'Anti-Whatever-The-Hell-It's-Pointed-At' on the firearms scale) and grinned as he locked eyes with the Ursa Major. "Ready for some education you ugly bitch?"

A split-second appearance of confusion on the Ursa's part only served to widen Cole's grin. "Oh? Haven't you heard the new sensation that's sweeping the nation?"

Blue-green lines traced themselves outward from Cole's torso. They flooded down his legs and congregated at the knees and shins; they formed a tight weave over his right shoulder where the stock was perched; they lit up his arms and hands where they held the weapon. Everywhere they touched became More, strengthened and enhanced in all the ways that defined them.

His finger curled around the trigger. "Bitches. LOVE. CANNONS."

Click.

In a very short period of time, everything between the muzzle of Iron Curtain's barrel and some undefined point in the middle distance underwent a violent disassembly via involuntarily combustion.

That is to say, it blew the fuck up.

Trees were blown apart and began to topple even as they caught fire. Beowolves were lit up from within and burst outwards like Grimm fireworks. Then the Ursa Major was hit, and it simultaneously exploded and caught fire before exploding again. At what point it actually died was debatable.

Cole let out the breath he had been holding as he stood up, hoisting Iron Curtain with him. Folding the grip component of the handle back up to form Iron Curtain's hilt triggered the re-assembly of the blade. A few seconds later the oversized sword was whole once more and Cole went to return it to the harness on his back. A second later he remembered that the Ursa Major had shredded it earlier. "Dammit."

With his sword resting on his shoulder the Huntsman-in-training looked around him. He saw the burning, shattered trees. He saw the wrecked undergrowth that was also on fire. He jumped a bit as a branch fell down from overhead and buried itself halfway in the earth.

It was, of course, on fire.

As the howls of burning Grimm began to fill the air, Cobalt Reynolds looked upon what he had wrought - and he saw that it was good. He whistled. "Note to self; Armor-Piercing rounds plus Burn Dust equals big fucking explosion."

The branch that had buried itself upright in the earth reached the point where its sap boiled. It exploded.

As splinters bounced off his Aura, Cole winced. "Aaaand fire. Lots of fire."

It looked like a good swathe of the Emerald Forest was burning at this point and more was catching with every passing second. The burning Grimm were probably helping spread the flames as they ran around in a panic…and the sheer distance the AP round had travelled, burning all the way, probably hadn't helped.

Cole shrugged. "Well, I guess I'd better get out of here before any more Grimm show up…" He muttered, turning to the one direction that wasn't totally on fire yet - namely directly behind him - and started to walk off. He stumbled only a few steps in and took a moment to catch his breath. "Shit…" He gasped. "I've gotta stop relying on Reinforcing everything...it's taking way too much of a toll on my body."

He started off again but was quickly interrupted by the ringing of his Scroll. He let out a weary sigh; he already knew who was calling. With some hesitation he retrieved it from a zip-up pocket on his tracksuit trousers, extended it one-handed, brought the device up to his ear and tapped the screen with his thumb to answer the call. "Heelllo~?"

The response from the caller was a sigh which managed to communicate simultaneously: a complete lack of surprise for the call's necessity; a deep disappointment in the previous fact; an acknowledgement that somehow, someway, there was going to be no more sleep that night; and a deep-rooted desire to reach through the Scroll and beat the shit out of Cole. "Cole." Was the first word the caller uttered. "Why is the Emerald Forest on fire?"

Cole considered his answer with all the tact born of months he'd spent with his friend and team leader. "...I'll tell you - but you can't be mad at me."

Anyone listening closely enough would be able to hear the Scroll on the other end of the call groaning in protest as the person holding it tightened their grip. "I swear to Oum, Sheogorath and any other deity you care to name, if you tell me that you were 'taking an enthusiastic walk through the woods, I will tell Ozpin that you were behind The De-Caf Incident."

Cole sighed and mourned the loss of one of his favourite jokes. "Well if you really want to know, I just did what you told me to. I went to get extra credit from Professor Port."

"...Somehow, I doubt that whatever Grimm you managed to kill will make up for the fact that half of Beacon's backyard is AFLAME!" The caller's voice rose into a shout. That was fairly rare; Cole's team leader tended to be very level-spoken and quite mellow. Apparently 1AM firestorms weren't good for his composure.

For a moment, there was only the sound of deep breaths being taken over the scroll. The next words spoken were with the carefully calm tones of someone who is trying to remember all the reasons they shouldn't try and garrotte their teammate the next time they're in the same room. "Anyhow, what's done is done. I will inform Professor Port of your efforts and Professor Goodwitch of the...results of your efforts. Hopefully, your honorable intentions will be a mitigating factor in whatever punishment she doles out."

"Thank you very much." Cole replied cheerfully. "I'll cook for a week if you get me off scot-free."

A tired chuckle emanated from the Scroll's speaker. "Cobalt, I'm a member of the Survey Corps. Not a miracle worker." There was a pause. "For your cooking, however...I'll see what I can do."

"Being able to talk the talk doesn't mean you can walk the walk, Johan."

"BITCH I SPIN LIKE LEVI!"

Cole, who had almost flung the Scroll away from his ear, brought it back up and heard the dial tone. "Huh. He hung up on me." He chuckled, closing the Scroll awkwardly with one hand and tucking it away in the same pocket he'd taken it from.

Blue-green lines traced their way down his legs as he launched himself into a sprint back towards Beacon, quickly working out the way he'd need to take to get around all the fire. Even as he ran through the smoke, he couldn't help but smile.

Even if he didn't have any idea what was going on in this world, at least he had his friends. He couldn't have asked for anything better.

. * . * . * C