Authors Note: This is a crossover between RWBY and Evolve. The setting takes place on Remnant, with a Goliath from Evolve acting as the antagonist. Evolve was an asymmetrical multiplayer game where four hunters must work together to bring down a big monster controlled by another player. I played it a lot, and thought a crossover between Evolve and RWBY could work. I was supposed to finish and upload this a lot sooner! Hope you'll like it.


Ruby hummed to herself as she walked together with her team through a lush forest. The warm summer weather, the birdsong, the breeze caressing her face and blowing through her dark-red hair, put her in a pleasant mood.

The peacefulness was disturbed by a loud sigh. "I hate these boring patrol missions," Yang complained and kicked away a pebble.

Ruby could not help but smile at her sister's frustration. "Don't be like that, Yang. Someone needs to make sure the roads between villages are safe," she said and looked up at the bright sun in the blue, cloudless sky. "The weather could be worse. Remember last month's mission, when we had to walk for hours in rain?"

Yang grimaced. "Don't remind me. We got completely soaked! Thought I was gonna drown. The weather forecast promised there would be no rain! Bah! Buncha liars."

Ruby grinned, trying to hold back a giggle. Her attention was suddenly drawn to a nearby road sign that read: Shear - 1 KM.

"We're almost done. The village is close by," Ruby stated.

"Next time, let me pick a mission. I want something with a bit more action in it," Yang said.

"We're only first-year students. We're not qualified for more challenging missions yet," Blake said.

"It's not patrolling that bores me, Blake. It's that we're doing it in an area where Grimm activity is almost zero." Yang gestured at the trees and bushes on either side of the road. "We're more likely to fight a rabid squirrel or raccoon out here."

Weiss groaned quietly. "Being a huntress is more than about fighting the Grimm, Yang. What did you think a patrol mission would entail?" she asked.

"Y'know, I thought it would mean travelling the world and having fun. This isn't the kind of fun I had in mind," Yang replied. "Boring patrol missions like these should be handled by soldiers, or even mercs, while us huntresses get sent to where the real action is."

"But the military can't be everywhere. They have their limits, too," Weiss retorted.

"Not to mention that mercenaries and other private military companies are expensive to hire. Many of them are only loyal as long as they are paid, preferably in advance," Blake interjected.

Weiss nodded at Blake's agreement. "Exactly. We're not driven by money. We're doing this for a good cause. Shear and other nearby villages will breathe a little easier knowing that we didn't encounter any Grimm." She looked at Yang again. "So, Yang, I suggest you try and have some fun with these patrol missions because you're going to do a lot of them in your huntress career."

Yang scoffed at both Weiss and Blake. "It's not fair with you two ganging up on me. Rubes, help your big sis out here. What do you think?" she asked, turning to her.

Ruby silently listened to the interesting debate between her friends and blinked as they all looked at her. "Oh, uh, well… "She rubbed her chin, pondering. "I think that…" She suddenly stopped as she smelled a vague, sulfuric stench. "Hey, do you smell that?" she asked, frowning.

Blake raised her head and sniffed. "Is that... smoke? But where's it coming from?"

Ruby gazed up at a small opening in the thick treetops. She gasped as she saw gray clouds blotten the blue sky.

I need to take a closer look! She dashed down the road, following the stench towards the edge of the forest, leaving rose petals behind.

"Ruby, wait! Where are you going?" Weiss protested behind her.

Seconds later, Ruby stopped as she reached the treeline. A vast meadow stretched before her, surrounded by grassy hills and wooden fences. The sun shined down upon crop fields, countless dandelions amidst thick grass.

"Oh no…" she whispered.

The scenery would have been a beautiful one, if it was not for the small village, or what remained of it, standing out at the centre of the meadow like a smouldering wreckage. Pillars of smoke rose from the ruins. A distress signal, or a sign of the horror that had unfolded, she could not discern. A simple, yet tall and sturdy wooden wall surrounded the village. Ruby saw a wide section of the wall had been toppled inward, as if something large from the outside had barged right through it.

Her team caught up with her. "Sis? What was that about? You… oh…" Yang's voice faded as she took in the sight.

Ruby turned to the others. "Shear's been attacked..." she said quietly.

"By the Grimm?" Blake wondered, her amber eyes warily searching for threats. "There haven't been any major Grimm attacks here for years. It could be a large group of raiding bandits."

"It can't be bandits. It would take dozens of them to take on a fortified village like that," Weiss said.

"Grimm, bandits, their bones break just the same!" Yang said and slammed her fists together with a serious look upon her face.

"What do we do, Ruby?" Weiss asked. "This might be out of our league. We should inform Ozpin and tell him to send a team right away."

Ruby looked at her partner and then back at the village, where danger likely waited. "We are a team, Weiss," she replied, taking out and transforming Crescent Rose into its scythe mode. She could feel Weiss' cautious glare boring against her back.

"We're too few and inexperienced to take on a horde of Grimm, or even bandits numerous enough to attack a village of that size for that matter!" Weiss protested.

"It doesn't matter whether it's Grimm or bandits; people are in trouble. We need to do something, right now. By the time another team gets here it might be too late. We can do this," Ruby spoke determinedly, looking at the eyes of her teammates.

Blake and Yang nodded at her, readying their weapons. Weiss huffed.

"Weiss, we need to do this together. We need you," Ruby implored.

Weiss shifted, glancing at the others, noticing how they were looking at her. She let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine," she conceded and grabbed her rapier. "Let's do this carefully, then."

Ruby smiled proudly at her team. She wondered if all team leaders felt like that. "We'll approach carefully and investigate first. Stay alert, the attackers might still be around."

They ran across the grassy field towards the ruined section of the village wall. The heat grew stronger. The flowery scent from the daffodils was tainted by the traces of sulfur in the air. Ruby could taste the ash on her tongue. The silence was eerie. She did not hear any villagers fighting or fleeing for their lives, nor did she hear any Grimm roaring, shrieking, or snarling. No gunfire or clanging blades.

Everyone stopped as they passed through the hole in the wall and saw the dire state of the village up close. Houses in various kinds of ruin lined the streets, from collapsed rooftops, destroyed walls, shattered windows, to being on fire. Sharp farm tools, simple firearms, and spent cartridges laid scattered. It was as if the village had been struck by a hurricane, and the villagers had stood their ground and fought back.

Ruby grit her teeth, hands tightening on Crescent Rose as she saw fresh blood stains on the walls and the street. "Hello?! Anybody here?!" she shouted.

"Are you seriously trying to let whatever did this know we're right here, you dolt?!" Weiss criticized.

Ruby did not falter. "They might be gone, Weiss. If there are any survivors out there, I want them to hear me," she explained. She took a deep breath and yelled at the top of her lungs, "We're Huntresses from Beacon Academy! We're here to save you! Come out!" There was still no response, much to her fear.

Maybe we're too late… Wait, what's that?

Ruby's hope was rekindled as she suddenly saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind a tipped over wagon. She quickly rushed towards it. "Hey, are you okay? We..." She stopped as she rounded the wagon and found herself staring into a pair of lifeless eyes, the bloody remains of a human. She managed to pry her gaze away from it, only to see more bodies strewn across the street. It progressively got worse as she looked, finding some so horribly mangled that they hardly resembled people anymore.

Ruby felt her face grow cold. Her legs trembled. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her. She gasped and flinched as she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder from behind.

"Don't look," Yang said, turning her around to face her. "You okay?" she asked caringly.

Ruby nodded and took in a deep breath, feeling the blood returning to her sweaty face. Her sister's comfort helped calming her down. "I've... I've never seen a dead person before. It's not like in… the movies, you know?" she whispered, looking into Yang's concerned and comforting lilac eyes.

Yang shook her head slowly. "No, it's not..."

Weiss walked over to Ruby and Yang. Her blue eyes widened as she saw the bodies, the pale skin of her face taking on a sickly white color. "Oh, t-that's… oh-!" Weiss groaned sickly before she quickly stepped away and threw up close to a wall.

"So it was a Grimm attack, after all," Blake said in a calm, yet focused manner. She looked down at a strange, large mark on the ground. There were others, identical ones spread all over the street.

Wanting to distance herself from the nearby body, Ruby walked up to Blake and looked down at the mark. It resembled a clawed, four digit footprint, with the middle two being longer and thicker. "What kind of Grimm leaves footprints like that?" she wondered, trying to remember all the pictures of Grimm footprints she had seen at school.

Blake put her foot down at the center of the deep footprint. It was four times the size of her boot. "Whatever it is, it's big and heavy," she stated, looking around. "I don't see any tracks of any other types of Grimm. It looks like these were made by the same creature."

"One Grimm did all of this?" asked Yang in disbelief, gesturing at the death and destruction around them.

Weiss walked back to the group, wiping her lips with a handkerchief. "It must have left, then. Good riddance," she said, looking a bit relieved. "If a Grimm of that size was still here then we would've noticed by now. We shouldn't fight something that dangerous on our own."

"Something's strange..." Blake began. With a hand covering her mouth and nose, she carefully stepped closer to the bodies, examining them. "These people..." she said quietly, pausing, "they weren't simply killed."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"They have chew and bite marks all over them. Their flesh has been stripped away," Blake pointed out.

As much as she did not want to, Ruby glanced at two nearby bodies, seeing bare, bloody bones. Nausea quickly swelled up again. "Are you saying that they were… eaten?" Ruby asked hesitantly, not wanting to even consider the possibility.

"But why? The Grimm don't eat people. At least not for food," Yang said, looking both perplexed and disgusted.

Ruby put aside her growing curiosity for what Grimm had attacked. "We can worry about the Grimm later. We need to start searching for survivors." She stepped away from the footprint and looked at the houses on each side of the street. "We'll go through each house in pairs. Yang, Blake, you two take the houses on the left side. Weiss, we'll take the right."

Yang nodded. "Got it. Be careful, both of you," she said and left together with Blake.

Ruby and Weiss began searching the damaged buildings, the ones that had not utterly collapsed or been burnt down. The interiors were chaotic, as if wild beasts had destroyed and scattered the furniture and belongings. The girls checked beneath beds, inside closets, and behind every door for survivors who might be hiding. The buildings were small and simple, allowing them to quickly and thoroughly search them all. They repeatedly called out, only to hear nothing but silence.

Ruby's resolve dwindled as they searched through each house, finding nothing but more blood. Despite their efforts, all they found were ruins and more dead bodies. Ruby noticed how many houses had had their walls, and rooftops smashed in, all seemingly from the outside. Many walls bore huge claw marks.

Poor people, they never stood a chance...

After having searched the last house they met Yang and Blake outside. Both wore grim expressions on their faces.

"Did you find anyone? Anything at all?" Ruby asked, desperate for some good news.

Yang breathed in, pausing. "Let's… keep searching."

The grim news squeezed Ruby's heart.
They're all dead? No, someone must be alive!

"Perhaps some of the villagers managed to flee. They could've run to the woods and hills when the attack began," Weiss speculated.

Ruby had not thought of that. It was not much, but the possibility gave her a bit of hope of finding survivors.

She took out her Scroll. "I better call Ozpin first and tell him what happened here. Then we should-" She turned her head around as she heard loud squawking and flapping wings. A large flock of birds quickly flew away from the forest in the distance.

"Did something spook those birds?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It could be the Grimm," speculated Blake.

"Or it could be survivors! Let's go!" Ruby quickly ordered.

As they left the village Yang called out, "Look, the Grimm left this way." She gestured at the trail of bloodstains and monstrous footprints that lead toward the forest.

"Blood…" Weiss said quietly. "It might've followed the villagers."

Ruby hoped it was the Grimm's blood. "Hurry, then! Come on!" They increased their pace, following the trail into the forest.

Ruby was tempted to run ahead, but did not want to recklessly charge into danger. She needed to conserve her Aura and stick with her team. She held back from yelling for survivors, as the Grimm could still be nearby.

"I hear something," warned Blake with a hushed voice, her bow twitching.

Ruby signaled to stop. She listened to her surroundings, hearing distant growling and chomping.

"Something's close," she whispered, tightening the sweaty grip around Crescent Rose. She gestured for her team to continue moving. The ominous noises grew louder as they quietly followed the trail.

"This better not be just a rabid raccoon," Yang quipped with a strained grin.

The footprints led to a clearing in the forest, stopping right beneath their source. Ruby froze. "What… is that?" she whispered.

At the center of the clearing stood a massive, saurian creature covered in dark gray scales, crouching on four muscular limbs. Barbs protruded out from its back and wide shoulders, leading down to a thick tail tipped with a cluster of spikes.

It did not seem to notice the girls as it was frenziedly gnawing and tearing at chunks of meat in its large, clawed hands. "What's it doi…" Ruby's voice faded as she saw torn clothes and broken limbs hanging from the meat. Several mangled bodies lay strewn around the creature. She felt her heart thump, her face growing cold. "It's…" She took a quick, shallow breath not to faint. " It's… eating…"

The creature froze. It raised its round head up and sniffed loudly. It dropped the human remains and faced the huntresses, growling, and glaring at them with red, glowing eyes.

"Ruby? What do we do?" Weiss asked.

As Ruby looked at the dead villagers again, her fear was replaced by a will for justice. "We kill it," she replied before she ran forward. Her team followed close behind. The creature let out a loud roar and began running towards them. The ground trembled with each step from its powerful legs, moving at a speed that belied its size.

"Scatter and surround it!" Ruby ordered as they got closer. Her teammates split off and ran around the creature. It swiped at Ruby, trying to shred her with its massive claws. The claws hit nothing but air and rose petals as she dashed forward and slashed the creature's thigh. It grunted in pain, and thrust its open hand towards her. She gracefully jumped sideways and swung upward, cutting its arm.

Despite having landed two hits already, barely any blood leaked out.
That's some tough skin. This is gonna take a while, but we can do this!

Weiss created several, white, hovering glyphs around the creature. She jumped to one glyph and used it as a platform to launch herself towards another, slashing the creature as she passed by. Elegantly and swiftly, she darted from glyph to glyph, harassing and attacking the creature from multiple directions. The creature swung its arms at her like she was an annoying insect, narrowingly missing her. In its rampage it smashed several glyphs, forcing Weiss to back off.

Yang and Blake went for a leg each. Blake's blade cut into the creature's calf, but was unable to sever any muscles or tendons. Yang's powerful punches into the back of the creature's knee caused it to buckle and stumble forward.

Seeing the creature hunched over gave Ruby an idea. "Blake! Go rodeo!"

Blake threw her long and elastic ribbon around the monster's neck and jumped up, landing on top of its wide shoulders. With a firm grip around the ribbon, Blake repeatedly hacked at the head with her bladed sheath, but the plate-like armor and the creature's violent thrashing proved difficult to sustain any substantial damage.

The creature reached up for Blake, but its hand was intercepted and punched away by Yang. Snarling, the creature turned its attention at Yang instead and wildly swung both its arms at her. She was put on the defensive as she narrowly ducked and jumped away from the claws. Suddenly, a glowing, gold colored clock glyph manifested on the ground around her. Yang grinned. She dodged another claw swipe and charged straight at the monster, her movements being significantly faster than before. She rapidly punched the creature's stomach in such quick succession her fists turned into a blazing blur. The air was knocked out of the creature, stunning it.

"Still hungry? Eat this!" Yang brought her fist up toward the creature's chin. As her uppercut knocked the creature backwards a couple of steps, it twisted its body around and whipped Yang with its spiked tail, sending her flying through the air. She grunted as she collided against a nearby tree trunk. "My bad! I forgot about its tail!" she said with a playful grin while getting back up.

The creature reached up and pulled at the ribbon, yanking Blake away from its shoulders and slamming her down on the ground. As it stomped on her, her body faded into nothingness, her shadow clone taking the hit while she re-appeared nearby. Frustrated, the creature roared and set its glowing eyes on the nearest person, Ruby.

Ruby swung her scythe horizontally and left a wide but shallow cut across its chest. She was so focused on keeping track of its long arms swiping at her that she did not notice its leg coming straight at her. She yelped as she was kicked away, bouncing across the ground.

Ow! This thing is strong! Even though her Aura had taken the blow, the impact was still quite uncomfortable.

As it charged towards her, she heard Weiss call out, "Ruby!" Weiss pointed at a faintly glowing, light blue glyph on the ground.

Ruby began running as fast as she could toward the glyph. She felt the ground tremble, hearing the creature huffing as it chased after her. It was like she was running from a living, angry boulder intending to crush and eat her.

As she lured it over the glyph, ice erupted outward that encased the creature's legs, tail, and one of its arms in a thick layer of ice, immobilizing it. Cracking noises came from the ice as the creature struggled to break free. The ice was holding, but it would not do so for long.

"Unload on it!" Ruby yelled and slammed the scythe blade into the ground. She fired round after round at a fast and steady rate, aiming at the creature's head. Blake's pistol, while lacking firepower, made up for it with a high rate of fire. Loud blasts resonated from Yang's shotgun gauntlets. Weiss formed and launched a dozen of sharp icicles. The creature shielded its head with its free arm from the projectiles riddling it from multiple directions. Some bullets glanced off where its skin was the thickest while others sank in, but not much blood seeped out.

We're not doing much damage. Wait… what's it doing now? Frowning, Ruby noticed a red glow at the creature's chest and neck, seemingly coming from inside of it. It took a deep breath, the glow becoming stronger.

Oh no!

A long, continuous cone of fire was exhaled from the creature's mouth. It turned its head, aiming the streaming inferno towards the girls.

Ruby dashed away, leaving behind rose petals that were incinerated into nothingness. She saw Yang and Blake taking cover behind a large boulder. Weiss, however, stood the closest to the creature.

"Weiss!" Ruby shrieked, seeing her friend being enveloped by the fires. "Weiss!" There was no answer. Her face grew cold, terror gripping her heart.

As the flames faded, it revealed a crude ice sphere where Weiss had stood, dripping and evaporating. The sphere cracked and fell apart. A wave of relief washed over Ruby as she saw Weiss jump out.

"You had me worried," Ruby said, smiling.

"I had it under control," replied Weiss as she ran over to her, her pale face plastered with beads of water.

"So we got ourselves a hungry, big ass monster that can breathe fire? This is getting pretty interesting!" Yang said while reloading her gauntlets behind the rock.

Ruby looked back at the creature. The ice immobilizing it began to give away. It tore its arm free, followed by its tail.

"We need to hit it with something harder. Let's blind it first," Ruby said.

As the ice around the creature's legs cracked apart, it leaped through the air towards Ruby and Weiss, lifting its fists up.

Ruby and Weiss scattered into different directions just as the creature landed, slamming its fists down. The tremor caused Ruby to stumble, almost losing her balance. "Freezerburn!" she shouted at her teammates.

Weiss immediately stopped and stabbed her rapier into the ground, while Yang jumped far up into the air. A layer of ice quickly flowed out from the blade across the ground in all directions. Yang came down and thrust her fist into the ice, firing her gauntlet. The blast evaporated the ice and spread a thick mist throughout the forest clearing. The creature stopped and turned its head from side to side, searching for the girls.

"Ladybug!" Ruby yelled and moved towards the creature together with Blake. The creature sniffed the air and turned its head to where Blake was coming from. Ruby blinked in realization. "Blake, stop!" she warned.

Blake dug her feet into the ground, but was hit by the back of the creature's fist, sending her flying. It then turned and looked straight at Ruby, its red eyes piercing the mist. It let out a roar and advanced, wildly swinging both its arms at her. The attacks came with such speed and ferocity that she found no room to strike back. The creature whipped its tail at her legs, forcing her to jump upwards. The creature grabbed her in mid-air, thick fingers trapping her against its palm.

"It's… got me!" Ruby grunted as the hand tightened against her. Her Aura protected her bones from breaking like dry twigs. She was brought closer to the creature's maw, its hot breath reeking of gore and sulfur. "No! Noo!" she yelled in panic as the mouth opened wider, futilely struggling to break free.

As the massive, bloodstained teeth were just an arm's reach away, a shotgun blast to the side of the creature's neck stopped it. Growling in annoyance, it turned to look, only to get hit by another blast closer to its face.

"Let! Her! Go!" shouted Yang, glaring at it with red eyes. She charged forward. As the creature swung its free arm horizontally at her, Yang threw herself down on her knees and slid under it. She propelled herself forward with a dual blast of her gauntlets and leapt up, clinging to the arm holding Ruby. Multiple shots against the arm blasted apart its thick skin, splattering Yang with blood. The creature roared in pain and let go off Ruby.

Ruby collapsed onto the ground, groaning. Her body felt sore after almost having been crushed. Weiss appeared and grabbed her hand, quickly pulling her up. "Come on, get up!" she urged. Once she was up on her feet, Weiss helped her jog away to a safer distance.

"Are you alright? Can you still fight?" Weiss asked, her voice laced with concern.

Ruby nodded, panting. "Y-yeah." While catching her breath, Ruby watched Yang and Blake fighting the creature together. They avoided being hit while punching, slashing and shooting whenever they saw an opening. They were doing well, but Ruby knew it was not enough. They all needed to attack it together as a team.

Ruby readied herself to fight again, her body feeling comfortable enough to go on. "We gotta stop it from moving. Weiss, create another trap! Yang, Blake, bait it!"

Weiss made a new white glyph on the ground. Yang and Blake turned and ran towards it, the creature following close behind. It did not run over the glyph. Instead, it jumped over it.

Ruby gasped. It avoided it?!

As it slammed into the ground, Yang was knocked down. Before she could get up, the creature was already upon her, pinning her down while punching her repeatedly.

"Get it off!" yelled Yang while trying to break free.

Ruby dashed and jumped forward. Rearing her scythe back, she swung down and embedded it deeply into the creature's shoulder, halting its pummeling on Yang. As it swiped at Ruby, she shot and propelled herself away. Yang freed one of her arms and fired at the creature's face. It let go of her and stumbled back. It was not stunned for long as it lunged towards Yang again as she was getting back up.

"Yang! Catch!" Blake shouted as she threw her ribbon. Yang caught it and blasted herself away, narrowly avoiding the creature's claws.

Ruby saw an opportunity as she looked at Yang and Blake. "Bumblebee!"

Holding onto one end of the ribbon, Yang ran in circles around Blake while shooting with her gauntlet behind her. Each shot made her run faster, building up additional momentum. While they did so, Ruby attacked the creature together with Weiss.

The creature ignored them as it looked at Yang and Blake and then at a large boulder next to it. It grabbed hold of it with both hands and lifted it over its head.

Ruby gasped. "It's got a rock!" she warned.

With a grunt, the creature threw the boulder towards Blake and Yang. It hit them both, knocking them away. While they were down, it advanced upon them. It was suddenly pushed down on all four limbs, its movements turning into a crawl as a black glyph appeared right below it. Blake and Yang got up as the creature strained against the force.

"I can't hold it… much longer!" Weiss said while pointing her rapier at the glyph. Sweat covered her pale face.

Ruby heard a warning signal coming from her Scroll. As she looked at it, she saw hers and Yang's Aura levels were dangerously low. Blake and Weiss had only a bit more.

If we keep fighting like this, we will… A cold shiver ran down her spine.

"Everyone, retreat! Run!" Ruby ordered. "It's too strong!"

Blake and Yang looked at each before they ran away together into the woods. The black glyph faded, setting the creature free.

"Come on, Weiss!" Ruby and Weiss turned and ran into a different direction, moving in-between the many trees. The creature dropped down on all four and gave chase, moving with a greater speed than before.

Ruby heard it barging through the trees as it relentlessly pursued them. She dared not to look back. She focused on moving her legs as fast as possible, while ensuring Weiss was not falling behind. As she heard creature's footsteps slowing down and becoming fainter, she stopped and looked back.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, panting.

"I think… I think it's giving up."

Weiss took a deep breath, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "That's… great."

They silently remained still for a short moment until they could no longer hear the creature anymore. "Come on, we gotta find Yang and Blake," Ruby said.

By the time they made it back to the clearing the mist had faded. They saw no signs of their friends or the creature.

"Yang? Blake?" Ruby called out. She held her breath, hearing nothing but silence.

What if they're… No…

Ruby flinched and raised her weapon as she heard rustling. She smiled as Yang and Blake stepped out from a thick bush. "You're safe!" She ran over and hugged her sister. "I got so worried after we had to split up. Are you alright?"

Yang chuckled lightly and returned the hug. "The only thing that's hurt is my ego," she jested. She let go of Ruby, her smile fading. "Okay, seriously now, what the hell was that thing?" she asked, looking at everyone.

"Maybe it's a new kind of Grimm?" Blake speculated.

Yang shrugged. "It didn't look like one, except being ugly and smelly."

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous. Intelligent, too. It avoided my trap. I've never seen any Grimm move and fight like that," said Weiss.

"Did you see where it went?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, we saw it go down the road that we came from earlier," Blake answered, gesturing behind her.

It's heading to another village?

Images of the dead villagers flashed in Ruby's mind. She did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate.

"Then we're gonna go after it," she stated.

A short, yet noticeable silence passed as her teammates looked at each other and then at her. "To… keep track of its movements while we wait for a team of professional hunters to come and kill it?" Weiss assumed with a raised eyebrow.

Ruby shook her head. "No, Weiss, we are gonna kill it," she answered while inserting a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose.

Weiss scowled at her. "First you tell us to retreat and now you want us to go fight it again? Why don't we call for backup and let them handle it instead? This is clearly out of our league!"

"Because by the time they get here, that thing will be feasting on another village," Ruby retorted, looking into Weiss' eyes. Her partner's expression faltered in uncertainty.

"How are we supposed to kill it? Its skin was tough," Yang said. "It was like punching a giant sandbag, the type that tries to eat you."

Ruby took out her Scroll. "We'll rest for a few minutes while I call Ozpin and tell him what's going on. Then, you'll hear about how we're gonna kill it..."


A moment later, Ruby and the others were jogging through the forest, following the footprints of the creature.

"...and that's how we're gonna kill it," Ruby concluded. She looked at her teammates, waiting for their response.

"A bold and equally crazy plan. Why am I not surprised? Then again, your crazy plans have worked before," Weiss begrudgingly admitted.

"Like the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest," Yang reminded, grinning.

"You're gonna get the killing blow, Weiss. Make sure you don't miss. We'll only get one shot," Ruby said.

"I won't."

"Our Auras are still low," mentioned Blake, looking at her Scroll. "Whether we win or lose, it's going to be a short fight…"

Ruby nodded at her. "If the plan fails, we'll retreat again and wait for the hunters that Ozpin said he would send. Hopefully, they'll intercept it before it reaches another village."

While they continued following the creature's tracks, Ruby still worked on absorbing everything that had happened. Many questions regarding the creature buzzed around like Rapier Wasps in her head, but no answers came forth.

Remorse, doubt, and fear gnawed at her. She had foolishly assumed that they could take the creature on like it was just another Grimm. They had fought numerous and big Grimm before and always emerged unscathed and victorious. Her underestimation of the creature's intelligence, adaptation, and fighting prowess had nearly cost her and her friends' lives. Had she not called for retreat, they could have been four more hunters who had fallen in the line of duty.

She looked at each of her friends. I don't fear dying, but… the thought of losing them.. What if my drive to mete out justice is clouding my judgement?

"Look." Blake pointed at blood soaked grass on the side of the path. Ruby reluctantly stopped to inspect the remains of an animal. A moose, she believed, but it was difficult to tell with most of its flesh and bones missing.

While it was not a human, Ruby could not look at the remains without feeling nauseous. It was an unpleasant reminder of all the people the creature had killed and the ones it would kill if they did not stop it from reaching the next village.

"It was killed just recently. No wolves or bears could've done this. The creature must be nearby," said Blake while turning her head around, her bow twitching.

"Let's continue. We must-" Ruby was interrupted by a distant, familiar roar. She leapt up toward a tall tree branch. Looking through her scope, she saw the creature far up ahead, fighting several Grimm. The Grimm bit and clawed at the creature's limbs and back, but only caused minor damage.

"I see it. It's pretty far away," Ruby called out.

"What's it doing?" Weiss asked.

"Fighting the Grimm. Or, more like, slaughtering them," Ruby replied as she watched the creature brutally kill one Grimm after another. It then moved on, leaving the disintegrating Grimm bodies behind.

Ruby frowned. "Hmm…"

It didn't take a single bite out of them.. Maybe it knows their bodies go away after dying? Or eating Grimm makes it sick?

"At least it's doing something useful, then. We don't need to deal with two different types of monsters at the same time," Weiss said.

"It's fighting the Grimm?" Yang echoed. "Doesn't that rule out the possibility that that thing is a Grimm? I mean, why would the Grimm attack one of their own?"

"It must be so aggressive that it turns on its own kin," Weiss assumed.

Ruby jumped down from the tree. "When we kill it, we'll see whether its body turns to ashes or not. Come on, we've got to catch up with it. Don't get too close or it might sniff us out."

"There's no wind to carry our scents, luckily." Blake paused. "Although, we don't know how well it can hear us coming."

While the group moved closer to the creature, Ruby repeated the plan in her head, searching for details she might have missed. If it failed, she knew their only option was to run.

As they got close enough, Ruby took out Crescent Rose. "Let's do this. Blake, Yang, get behind it when it comes. I'll distract it. Weiss, be ready," she instructed, looking at each of her friends. She took aim at the creature's back and fired. As the bullet bounced off, the creature snarled and turned around, glaring at them.

"Hey, ugly! Ready for round two?" Yang taunted.

It's now or never... Ruby thought, as the creature roared and ran towards them.

"If you lose your Aura, you run. Got it?" she said before she ran towards the creature. Weiss remained behind. The creature looked at Yang and Blake who went around it, but Ruby got its attention back by shooting it again.

Ruby dodged several swings from its arms. She did not attack back and instead focused only on evading. She jumped far up. In mid-air, she fired shot after shot down on the creature, using the powerful recoil to keep herself up longer.

As it jumped up toward her, she shouted, "Now, Weiss!"

Weiss quickly pointed her rapier at the ground beneath the creature and created a large, white glyph.

Ruby fired straight up into the air, propelling herself back down to the ground. "Yang, Blake!" she shouted while running away from the glyph. As the falling creature landed on it, its legs were encased in thick ice.

The creature growled as it struggled to break free. It punched the ice, cracking it. Behind the creature, Yang was running circles around Blake, both of them holding Blake's ribbon. Yang fired her gauntlet behind her repeatedly to build up momentum.

Ruby's nervous gaze jumped back and forth between Yang and the creature, listening to the cracking ice and Yang's shots.

Yang needs more time! she realized.

She turned to Weiss. "Iceflower!" She set Crescent Rose's blade into the ground and took aim, while Weiss created a white glyph in front of the weapon's barrel. Ruby shot several times through the glyph. The enhanced bullets impacted upon the creature's limbs. The ice on its legs were reinforced, while one arm got frozen. The creature took a breath, its chest glowing red.

"Ruby!" Weiss warned. Ruby quickly adjusted and fired one more time, shutting the creature's maw with ice. She smiled inwardly.

"Now, Yang!" Ruby yelled.

With one last shot, Yang let go off the ribbon and flew towards the creature, leaving a trail of blazing light behind her. With a roar, Yang slammed her fist into the creature's face. The impact was so loud and powerful that Ruby felt her hair flutter. The punch shattered bones and ice alike. Teeth and blood flew out from the creature's dislodged jaw.

As the creature toppled forward, Weiss thrust her rapier down, forming a large ice spike pointing up from the ground. The creature fell onto the spike, the tip going into its mouth and exiting from the back of its head. The creature groaned loudly, its body twitching before becoming still.

Ruby slowly approached the still creature. Standing in front of its face, she looked into its eyes, whose glow had diminished. She flinched as she saw one of the creature's hands twitch a single time.

Even in death it's still trying to kill… Ruby realized how silent everything had become.

She swallowed. "Is… is it finally dead?" she asked, ready to attack or dodge at the slightest sound or movement.

Yang walked close it and gave it a firm kick. There was no response. "Yep, seems that way. Team RWBY one, freaky monster zero," she said with a victorious grin.

Ruby relaxed the grip around her weapon, the tension in her body fading. Another worry appeared in her gut. "Then why isn't it disintegrating?" she asked.

Yang's grin faded. "It's not a Grimm…" she said in realization.

"Then what is it?" Ruby asked, her silver eyes set on the creature. "How could something this big and dangerous exist without anyone knowing about it? It's like it popped up from nowhere. It's not an animal or a Grimm, it's a monster."

"Perhaps we can get some answers after experts examine it, run some tests to see if they can determine its origin," Weiss speculated.

"Man, I pity the guys who will need to haul this smelly thing onto a dissection table," Yang said. She paused, smiling. "Hey, Blake, get your Scroll."

Frowning, Blake did so. "Okay, why?"

Yang posed next to the creature's head. "Take some good shots of me, will you?"

Blake sighed quietly and took a few shots.

Weiss turned to Ruby. "You should call Ozpin again and tell him that we've killed it. Let the backup that he sent come here and pick us up."

Ruby nodded while taking out her Scroll. "Yeah, I think we've earned a ride home."

"When backup gets here, let's take a group photo," suggested Yang.

While dialing Ozpin, Ruby felt their victory was bittersweet.

We stopped a rampaging, gluttonous monster… but we were too late to save Shear. If only we had gotten there just a moment sooner...

Just as she was about to press the dial button, a thought suddenly struck her, What if there's more monsters like that?

The End


Authors Note: For now, this is the only chapter, and it will probably stay that way. I've thought about continuing it and have other monsters from Evolve appear. One of them would be fought by JNPR. The story would also explain the origin of the monsters. But, I'm not sure if I have the muse for it. If I change my mind, I'll be sure to tell you all.

If you want to see what a Goliath, the creature that RWBY fought looks like in action, search for Evolve - Intro Cinematic on Youtube. Also, Shear, the name of the village, is the same name of the planet where Evolve takes place on.