Re: Megaman Z(x) RWBY

Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:53 am

Taking the folded up scythe and attaching it to his back via a magnetic clip, Grey nodded before rushing on ahead. Charging up his A-Buster in his right hand, the Mega Man was about to blast the barricade into dust and rubble, when Model A decided to interrupt his aggressive advancing. "Grey, would you stop and think for a minute?! Do you really wanna charge into a dark, scary tunnel that we can't see jack in, and also happens to be sealed off?!"

Coming to a screeching halt, Grey was about to make his counterpoint when Ashe caught up, not looking as winded as before. "I'm not about to yank you outta trouble again, Grey - we're taking the left path!" Holding ground for a moment as the remaining members of RWBY caught up, Ashe led the group further up, Grey by her side. The Mega Man was decidedly annoyed about taking the longer route around, but it wasn't as if the group was slow, especially himself and Ashe.

Further up, White Fang members had hastily erected another barrier, this one made of thick steel cables and piled debris behind them. "Pfft, like that'll stop us," Model A said with a snarky tone, already channeling his transformative powers as Grey called out the A-Trans into Atlas. In a flash of light, the Reploid was replaced with an entirely different person, decked out in flaming orange armor and holding two massive cannons in each arm. Dashing forward, Atlas/Grey performed a charged one-two punch, completely pulverizing the barrier into rubble. "Hah, you'll have to try harder than that...! Um... what do we call these guys?" inquired the Biometal, coming up short in the relevant-insult department.

"Losers!" Ashe shouted, rolling underneath an incoming volley of gun fire, blasting back with her own laser pistol. Transforming back to his base form, Grey dashed forward into the fray, the RWBY members already having engaged the White Fang members responsible for creating the obstacle.

Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:38 pm

With a quick burst of speed from Ember Celica, Yang shot ahead of her team, quickly catching up to Grey and Ashe. "I like you guys and all, but I'm not letting you save my baby sis alone." Punctuating that with another shot from each of her gauntlets, she went up, bouncing between the walls to draw the enemies' fire away before crashing into their cover, smashing it apart and leaving them wide open.

Further ahead of them, a few more grunts filed out, talking to each other as they watched the invaders' approach, quickly ducking back into side rooms. At the end of the corridor, it opened up to a larger room, massive shipping crates being the only things visible from back there.

Meanwhile, the remaining three- er, four, counting Zwei, were hampered by further reinforcements focusing on them. The space was wide enough to accommodate large numbers of civilians on the work commute, but being stuck in a mostly-open area with only a couple of support columns for cover in a straightforward firefight wasn't exactly ideal, especially when only one of them actually had a weapon that fired projectiles.

Blake peeked out from behind her cover, pulling back when automatic fire ripped a small chunk out of it.

"I guess we got some of the more competent ones." Weiss muttered.

The girl in black rolled her eyes. "Could you cut back on the anti-Faunus sentiment for a minute?"

"I wasn't talking about that! But these guys are mostly just recruits, like you saw a while back, right? It's weird that they're giving us this much trouble."

"Not for much longer if I have anything to say about it!" Chimed the professor, huddled behind Weiss, still clutching his thermos. "If we can disrupt their aim, we could take them down without risking serious injury."

"But they're all Faunus; they've got naturally good vision in the dark. You and I don't." Weiss pointed out.

"I'm not talking about darkening the room; Miss Schnee, do you know what happens when you apply intense heat to ice?"

The group nodding to each other, they executed their plan. Weiss rolled the revolver-barrel segment of her rapier before striking the ground with it, creating a wall of ice that blocked the tunnel. With this cover now established, Professor Oobleck stepped out, giving his thermos a swing. It extended out, revealing a telescoping handle, and a small tube near the top of the weapon. Flames burst forth, sublimating the ice and pushing scalding steam down the tunnel at the unsuspecting White Fang guards. As they could be heard recoiling and yelling at their sudden pain, Blake stepped out, opening fire. She swung the flat at the air, clearing the steam with a gust of air.

"Well done! Now, let's hurry on and catch up." Oobleck said, as emphatically as anything, just before running ahead.

Coming to the destroyed barricade, they weren't really sure what to make of it. "...Er, was one of them really, really strong or something?" Weiss offered. "Because if so, they probably went this way."

Blake shook her head. "It was probably a Grimm. It doesn't look like it was hit with that laser cannon Ashe had; they probably went left. Let's hurry, they must be really deep in the tunnels by now."

With that, they took off down the left tunnel at a breakneck pace.

Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:33 pm

Meanwhile, the battle had been met with the fleeing members of the White Fang. Grey had managed to cut them off from their primary escape route, both A-Busters raised. "Giga Crush active! Rerouting all spare power to the Busters!" Model A announced as Grey leaped into the air. Locking onto all of them at once, the Reploid unleashed a hailstorm of withering Buster fire, shredding through their Auras and easily dispatching the lot within range. Landing on the ground as the same time as his last target, the Mega Man dashed back towards Ashe, who was working alongside Yang to pummel several other goons.

One of them made a dash for the female Mega Man, claws extended. Using her Cannon like a pole, Ashe swung around and landed a solid kick upside her assailant's head. At the same time, she used her momentum to flip forward, bringing the Buster Cannon's barrel to bear with an arcing maneuver and blasting away three more White Fang members who had been approaching. "Hah, these thugs sure are insistent! Haven't had this many admirers since that time I kicked Master Albert's butt!" Jabbing the back of her Cannon in reverse, she caught another goon square in the face, causing him to reel back in pain from the Ceratanium-plated blow. "How you hangin' in there, Yang? I'm up to twenty-six!"

Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:45 pm

Delivering a solid punch to the gut of one more grunt, Yang casually flicked the guy in the head, letting him fall over. She smirked at Ashe. "...Twenty-seven."

As they both looked at the few grunts remaining, the lights above them abruptly shut off. Grey and Ashe heard Yang grunt in pain, but they couldn't see exactly what was going on. Lighting the space up for an instant with a gunshot, Yang smacked down the one who'd hit her, but that clearly wasn't going to do much good. "Guh, this isn't good..."

Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:01 am

"What the-?!" Grey's attempt to verbally question the situation was prematurely silenced, specifically by a fist to the face. Ashe lashed out with her Cannon's beam, which only succeeded in illuminating the narrow space around it, as well as spooking off a few more White Fang goons that had attempted to get the drop on her. "Dang, no kidding there!" Catching a kick in the back, Ashe shouted in pain, and her cry was answered by a hail of Buster Fire from Grey, showering her unseen attacker in burning hot plasma. "Ashe, we gotta do something! We're fighting blind here!" Model A shouted, voice strained from trying to balance power flow to his Chosen One's weapons and systems.

Frantically looking around in hopes that something would stick out in the darkness, an idea struck Ashe like a bolt from the blue. Disabling her Cannon's safety restraints on energy usage, the hefted the device and fired a searing blast skyward. The overcharged beam caused her Cannon's ports to burst open, venting out scalding hot steam and vapor. As she dropped the now-untouchable weapon with a yelp of pained surprise, the cave's ceiling above was blasted asunder. Light from the now-rising sun shot inside, blinding the cave's occupants momentarily. Taking advantage of his robotic nature, Grey recovered from the brightness increase very rapidly. Lining up Homing Shots on all the present White Fang members, the Mega Man let fly, catching all of them with their guard down.

Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:08 am

When the smoke cleared, Yang rubbed her eyes, looking at the hall full of downed White Fang lackeys. She blinked at how quickly Ashe turned that one around with her reckless solution. "...So, how many was that?"

Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:14 am

"Easily forty for us by now!" Model A said, beaming with pride. Not missing a beat, Ashe hiked a thumb over at Grey. "They're up to forty now, I'm still at twenty six, but not for long!" she added, shooting a cocksure wink at Yang before turning to face towards Grey. "How you holding up there? That was a lot of energy you used. Eight Homing Shots following a Giga Crush?"

Holding his stomach, Grey winced. "Yeah, I'm... I think I might've pushed myself a bit there. I hate to ask this, but... do either of you happen to have anything I could eat right quick?"

Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:17 am

Yang shook her head. "We can look for a break room, see if anyone left something lying around! I definitely saw some doors up that way." She pointed up ahead.

There were a few doors lining the walls, but no real indication of what would be behind them.

Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:31 pm

As if on cue, Ashe's big sister instinct kicked in. Soon several of those doors followed suit, being swiftly blasted off their hinges by either her heeled boot or her cannon. It took some searching, as well as decking a few more White Fang goons in the gut, but soon enough the Bounty Hunter had located some rather basic-looking provisions. "Well, better than nothing," she remarked, taking a bite out of one of the apples present before heading back to collect Grey and Yang.

The Mega Man de-merged, Model A floating alongside his exhausted Reploid partner, and found a seat in the lounge that Ashe had located. Gratefully, he tore into the sandwich she passed him, swallowing with a sigh of relief. "Thanks Ashe, I owe you," he stated with a very gracious tone to his voice, which sounded miles less tired than he had before that singular bite. Ashe shrugged and leaned onto her upright cannon. Upon noticing Yang's somewhat perplexed face, the girl explained. "Reploids process food a lot faster than us humans. Doesn't take much to get them up and runnin' again."

Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:48 pm

"That's convenient." Yang said, sitting down and crossing her legs. "'Cuz I don't wanna rush you or anything, but..."

She drummed her fingers on her other arm, trying to keep her impatience from becoming abrasive. "...Between that cannon of yours, his Biometal powers, and my Semblance, I think we've pretty much got this whole thing on lock, huh? I hope the others aren't having too much trouble. I never got to see how well our teacher actually fights."

Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:09 pm

Whether Ashe knowingly ignored Yang's impatience, or was simply oblivious to it, was a fact that would remain unclear. Instead, her eyes were back on Grey for the moment, watching him recuperate with the concern due to one's all-but-adopted little brother. She knew the Reploid had a tendency to overstretch himself when fighting, and since they weren't home in Innerpeace - where energy was almost as abundant in the air as water is - he needed to learn to restrain himself and conserve energy.

"Well, we haven't had anyone try and attack us from behind so far," she stated, leaning back in her occupied chair and pulling her cannon onto her lap, inspecting it to ensure it wasn't damaged in any capacity. "I'd say we hold up here and wait for them to catch up. Don't wanna get too far ahead, y'know?"

Tue Aug 21, 2018 12:03 am

"We shouldn't wait too long. I don't want to leave Ruby alone down here any longer than I have to." Yang shifted uncomfortably. "...My sister isn't any good at fighting unarmed, and this place is crawling with people and things that want to kill her. I just hope she landed okay, at least... maybe she can use her speed to keep out of trouble."

She just kept fidgeting, shifting positions, generally looking anxious. Playing it cool didn't seem like an option with family in danger. "...So, is that laser cannon of yours alright? it got so hot you had to drop it earlier. It'd be pretty bad if the parts warped from the heat."

Sun Sep 30, 2018 11:59 pm

"Yeah, but rushing in without backup might just get us surrounded," Ashe said, holding up a finger for emphasis before resuming maintenance on her cannon. "And yeah, it should be. Just had to inspect the focusing lenses - can't always discharge a blast like that whenever I want, otherwise they'd warp or crack something nasty. And they don't come cheap, I can tell you that!" The girl shook her head at the mere thought of having to replace the all-important devices inside her weapon. "This thing is already a small fortune in and of itself..."

At this point, Grey had finished wolfing down the remainder of the small meal before bolting upright to his feet, stretching his arms over his head and giving his hands a few revitalizing shakes. He gave Ashe a nod as she looked up, before snagging Model A from nearby and Mega Merging once more. "Okay, I think I'm ready to go. Model A, keep an eye on the energy meter for me, will you?" he asked as the helmet formed over his head, re-materializing from its nano-sized form.

You got it, Grey! Just don't go tossing out Giga Crushes left and right, and we should be good!

Mon Oct 01, 2018 12:26 am

Springing up from where she sat, Yang gave her arms a quick stretch. "Okay, let's get moving! I think I've got an idea of where she landed by now."

Reaching the door first, she opened it a crack to look outside. Nodding to the others, she slipped out, continuing along the hall they'd been going through before. The corridor opened up into a warehouse, big enough to fit four or five of Bifrost in it. Filled with rows and stacks of shipping crates - along with a few conspicuously-large ones in the center - the space was illuminated by a few lamps, leaving plenty of dark spaces to slip through.

Gesturing to the right, Yang slipped between two such containers, looking at the nearby wall. It was difficult to make out in the darkness, but there were some signs painted onto the concrete. Arrows pointed to the far end, the word STATION in big, bold letters.

Mon Oct 01, 2018 1:05 am

"Alright Grey, I think splitting up here would be a good idea. You and Model A should try using something stealthy - no getting in over your head, you hear me?" Shrinking her cannon down to a more manageable size, Ashe then holstered the weapon on her back, favoring her Plasma Pistol for this scenario. Slipping along behind their blonde haired guide with her natural grace, the Bounty Hunter made certain to watch her footing, lest they end up tripping some barely visible sensor or trip wire.

No need to shout it, Model A chastised his Chosen One, cutting him off before he called out the order to transform. Forcing himself not to roll his eyes at both of his friends ordering him about, Grey was enveloped in a black void, before emerging in an entirely different form, reminiscent of Sianarq, the Model P Mega Man. Silently scaling one of the unlit crates with swiftness, he took a leap up to the ceiling above. Claws from both his gloves and boots latched onto the surface, hoisting the Mega Man above the lamps and their revealing glow. Now secure and out of sight, it was time for Grey to begin his work. "Model A," he whispered, "turn on the radar scope."

The glowing red dots representing his eyes sparked to life, and soon enough everything was as glass to the Reploid. While the range was limited, and data provided equally so, the Model P special allowed him to peer through all solid matter, enabling him to seek out hidden threats. Now, it was just a matter of locating them...

Mon Oct 01, 2018 1:41 am

No enemies detected within range of the girls. If there were any guards patrolling this area, they would be far enough away that there was no chance of them bumping into Ashe and Yang. But further away, a couple of White Fang grunts jogged out of a service door, making their way to the hall that the trio had just come from. There weren't many of them patrolling this area.

Furthermore, inside of the shipping crates were many, many smaller containers of an unidentified substance. Mineral, but full of potential energy. That'd likely be the Dust they'd spoken about before, but every container within range? And the bigger ones were on the other end of the room, out of range.

In the direction the other two were heading was a pair of out-of-sight doors that were unmarked. The scope gave a negative reading past those, too. No life forms or weapons hiding just inside. It was so quiet in the warehouse that they could hear the sound of machines moving down below, along with some of the grunts' chatter.

"...I mean, how can we lose with those Paladin things? I was on the fence about this movement and all, but the White Fang definitely has the power to stir things up."

"They're cool and all, but trust me, I've seen some of the higher-ups in action. Our old leader was a total badass, but now we've got people like commander Taurus leading the charge."

"Yeah, but try saying that after talking to our boss. I mean, he talked a good game, but he's just a stinking human. I doubt he'd last a minute in a real fight. But give any of us one of those machines..."

"How did they even get those, anyway? I don't think they've even been publicly announced..."

"There's some event coming up, a big festival. Atlas is probably just waiting until that draws a bigger crowd to Vale before their big publicity stunt. As for how we got 'em... ask the human. Probably black market; I doubt a guy like him could've snuck them out himself."

"Wow, you do not like our boss."

"I just get the feeling he'd stab us all in the back if it helped him get a leg up somehow. I mean, we're a brotherhood! Comrades in arms! Do you really trust some outsider just because he brought us a few toys?"

Mon Oct 01, 2018 1:57 am

I... have no idea what they're talking about, Model A mused, his voice startlingly loud in Grey's mind. While the Biometal could only be heard by Mega Men, it was nevertheless loud enough to give the Reploid a start. Biting down on his tongue in the shadow of his helmet, Grey winced from the pain. "Model A!" he hissed as quietly as possible, trying his best not to lose focus on his grip. "Can't you keep it down?! I just about lost my footing up here!"

Sorry, sorry, the Biometal mumbled, knowing full well that now wasn't the time to shift guilt. But even if we don't have any context for all this goon jabber, we should make note of it. I mean, if they're keeping Rubes locked up somewhere in here, one of them is bound to know exactly where she's all tied up, right?

"Good thinking," the Mega Man whispered back. Locating a thickly woven rope, Grey crawled his way over to it, silently sliding down and landing atop one of the large shipment containers, underneath a lamp which had a dead bulb inside. Crouching down and minimizing all movement, he focused as much of his processing power into his audio reception, listening in on all the different chatter for any mention of a prisoner or captive.

Mon Oct 01, 2018 2:32 am

The two on their way out continued to talk about other stuff, throwing around too many names to keep track of. By the time they got out of range, it turned into an argument about driving. Most other chatter was oddly indistinct. It seemed like there were a lot of people talking, far below them. There was gunfire and the sound of things breaking somewhere; it didn't seem like it was getting closer to them, though.

On the ground, Yang was looking through one of the doors with Ashe on guard. Beyond it was a rooftop, and past that, a sharp drop, and a massive cavern filled with ruined buildings. And more importantly, light beaming in from a hole above. Running in, Yang anxiously traced where the hole came out; it looked like it was another rooftop with a door. Breathing a sigh of relief that Ruby (probably) hadn't fallen ten stories right off the bat, she came back into the warehouse, shaking her head. "I don't think we can get to where she fell down."

Back at Grey's vantage point, while there wasn't much to get from the chatter, it became pretty clear from the sound that there was a massive elevator in use. It was on its way back up, lighter than when it was going down. There were more people talking in this one.

"...Yeah, he wasn't too happy about it. Told us to move even faster. What a prick; it's not like moving this stuff is easy."

"Dude, c'mon, we've got confirmed intruders tearing through the place. At least we had a little advance warning. I mean, they might make their way here any minute! I dunno about you, but I don't want to tangle with Huntresses."

"Stupid kids should mind their own business. I dunno what the girl's deal is, but I think Torchwick had a bone to pick. Guess she was the real meddling type, stopped a heist or something."

The lift came to a halt, the massive door sliding open as a pair of workers came out, one of them operating a forklift.

"Look, I don't want to think about our boss picking on a kid. Makes us feel like the bad guys."

"Fine, whatever. At least while he's busy dealing with her, he's not yelling for us to bring these down and load them faster."

They got to work moving more of the crates, complaining about their boss's slave-driving attitude and bowler hat.

Mon Oct 01, 2018 2:46 am

Ashe grimaced at the news. At least it didn't mean she had fallen to no-doubt certain doom, but this certainly was making things more complicated than your usual rescue mission. ...not that she had much experience with those, mind you. "Great, and Grey's got Model A, so I can't try A-Transing into something that could get me down there. Sure hope he discovers something useful while we're doing this..."

I'd hate to be the one to break it to them, but they kinda are the baddies, Model A observed, something which Grey was doing his best to ignore. Instead, he focused on the important details of the henchmens' chattering. Granted, there weren't any locations or area names divulged, but there were one or two key points he felt worthwhile in memorizing. "...okay, we need to find Ashe and Yang, they need to hear this. How's the path looking up ahead, Model A?"

Taking a moment to do a quick scan with the Radar Scope, the Biometal's voice went from snarky to smug. We've got a clear shot towards the northern side - I think they're waiting for us up there. Immediately Grey made a leap up to the ceiling once more, concealing himself from the lights as he crawled his way over to the far end of the warehouse. Sure enough, the other two were waiting down below. Dropping down as quietly as he could, he landed smack dab in front of Ashe on all fours before standing upright and de-merging. "I think we've got a bit of a lead. Model A and I overheard them talking about Ruby being held hostage. Apparently some goon named Torchwick has beef with Ruby-"

Yeah, she foiled one of his heists but good! Getting stopped by a tiny girl, hah! What a loser!

Grey paused, mouth pinched up tight in minor frustration as Model A interrupted. "...for stopping one of his plots. They didn't say where she was being held, though."

"Well, better than nothing, right Yang?" Ashe said, her face not one of optimism.

Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:03 am

"I AM GOING TO PUNCH THAT MAN INTO NEXT WEEK." Yang grunted through clenched teeth, her eyes turning red for a moment. Taking a deep breath, though, she went back to her previous level of tension. At least they knew something. "...Torchwick is this criminal we've run into a few times. We... happened to catch up to him a while back. Blake and Sun snuck into a recruitment center and found out about this hideout, and he was apparently making some kind of sales pitch there? He's working with the White Fang right now."

She tapped her foot, now more overtly angry than worried. "But if they've got Ruby somewhere, where would it be? I guess it'd be where Torchwick is, so where would he be hiding? Auughh, Oobleck's the one who knows all this stuff about Mountain Glenn! There's no way we can search an entire underground city fast enough!"

Tue Oct 02, 2018 12:53 am

While Grey's face mostly held his normal, slightly intimidating expression, Ashe's face was one of mild disgust. She had plenty of run-ins with criminals in the past, and they had always been unsavory. "Yeck, he sounds like your everyday, slimy mob boss. Makes me wanna put him on ice all the more, though!" Her enthusiasm for delivering high energy justice was curbed, however, as Yang brought up a valid point. "...and we did kinda get ahead of the group, didn't we? Think we should fall back?"

Yeah, a liiiitle late for that, sister, Model A interjected. There's no way we'd be able to catch up to them now - they probably went a different route, since they haven't blasted their way into the warehouse behind us. There was a momentary pause, before the Biometal spoke again, rather disappointed in tone. Aww, c'mon! I was sure that would work! It did back on Ouroboros, why not here?

"Well, if regrouping isn't an option, maybe I could listen in some more?" Grey offered, trying to skirt around the unspoken fact that he was the reason they had gotten separated from the others. "I mean, one of them is bound to know where this Torchwick is. They sounded pretty on edge, so I think they might be keeping track of his position."

Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:04 am

Cracking her knuckles, Yang nodded. "Good plan. We need to find out where either Torchwick, Ruby, or the rest of the team are. I think I'll ask around. Forcefully. Ashe?"

Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:23 am

"If it gets it outta them faster, we're on the same page, sister," Ashe replied, a knowing grin on her face.

...gonna be honest, not sure I like this side of you, Ashe, Model A observed as Grey once more A-Transed into Siarnaq. "Guess I'm off to grab one of those White Fang members, then," he said, voice a raspy whisper from the transformation's effects, before jumping up onto one of the containers nearby. It didn't take long to locate a solitary guard, standing watch at one of the smaller, less important-seeming doors. Clambering onto the ceiling above his target, Grey dropped down from above, landing a kick with his heel at the back of the man's head. Before he tumbled forward, the Mega Man caught him and - with some effort - dragged the grunt to their impromptu hideout of sorts.

"Just don't make him yell too loudly," Grey pleaded, transforming back and giving the barely unconscious White Fang member a pitying glance.

Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:31 am

"I'm not making promises." Yang said, hunching over their captive. "So... I'm gonna ask you this once. Where. Is. Ruby?"

...

The guy just stared blankly at the Huntress, turning a little to face somebody else, but not daring to break eye contact with her. "Um, can I talk to good cop now? Bad cop isn't making sense."

Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:57 am

"Awful bold to just assume I'm in a better mood," Ashe said, crouching down next to him, slowly cracking knuckles on one hand. "Now listen buddy, you are in for a world of hurt unless we get some answers about my friend's sister and this Torchwick jackass, so if I were you," she paused, grabbing the guy's wrist and bending it backwards just enough to cause pain. "I'd start talking."