9 Storm 3

[You've really done it this time, Drew. Oh, man. I wanted to live a little bit longer.]

CAWWW!!

The giant Nevermore dove straight for him, seeing as how everything else was ineffective. Standing in place, Drew shifted his form. If any earthlings were here, they would immediately know it was a baseball hitting pose. With a mighty swing with the flat part of Dragonslayer, the side of the Grimm's face along with its beak was...deformed.

"Shut it."

[Who? The bird or me?]

"Both-" He grabbed a feather with Hyperspeed. "-of you." Discarding it, he turned to the Grimm that shot at him. "Wanna avenge your family! Come down here then, you cowardly mask-wearing rat! Too ashamed of your looks or something!"

[You have that stupid smile on your face.]

"I know," he remarked, keeping an eye on the other Nevermore as he swatted the large pincers of the Death Stalker. "I'm letting loose as you've always wanted. Why does it feel as if you want me to revert?"

[YES SO THAT WE DON'T DIE DUMBASS! ANOTHER BIG ONE IS COMING!]

CAWWW!!!

[SHUT UP!]

"SHUT UP!"

Half an hour ago, before madness and chaos befall Drew and Onyx. The partnerless participant was experimenting and in his opinion, the best way to improve is to be in a life and death situation. This is coming from experience.

[Ah yes. Perfect logic. It's not like there are training institutions or training grounds or anything for that exact purpose.]

'Sarcasm suits you.'

[Uh-huh. So does your divine acting skills.]

[Maybe you can improve under those conditions, but others don't have me. They can't magically grow strong like you. Nearly everything you do is contributing to your growth. Heck, you've used battle breathing so much that it might hit level six by the end of the day.]

'Thanks, Onyx,' Drew stated sincerely. Truthfully, Onyx was shaken up a little bit from the tone of the sentence.

[What...what's wrong?]

'Too tired to keep up the edge lord attitude. Concentration is fully on survival and erasing these pests.'

At first, the attacks were wild, random even. Most of the Grimm targeting him were Beowolves along with a few Ursa. And as time dribbled away, Drew discerned coordination. Beowolves were cooperating and had formations to trap and restrict him. Being surrounded, he saw the nuisance who was leading them and grabbed the air, resulting in a distortion that allowed him to pull out Severance.

"You want to play unfair? I'll play unfair. Mini Getsuga Tenshou!"

The size of the shape can be manipulated. Larger meant slower and weaker as smaller meant faster and stronger. While his condensing augmentation is not quite refined, he produced a Getsuga Tenshou at the size of a cannonball and brought judgment upon the leader.

[Must you voice it? Just do the damn skill!]

'But I gotta respect the show.'

[Ugh. You're impossible.]

Four Ursas, one teenage huntress-in-training. On Earth, this title would be under the category of Monster, Beastiality, Gangbang, and getting the FBI at your front door on a website that is similar to cornhub. However, how that video plays out and what happens, in reality, are separated by their endings. Hint. Teen with a hammer, grenade launcher hybrid demolished three of the Ursas and sent the last one to Heaven, quite literally. Heck, even Drew saw it soar to the sky and then disappear from view. Onyx howled in laughter.

Somewhere in the forest, not too far away, a stoic individual with green clothing and weapons was shooting and dodging a part of yin yang themed monster-sized snakes. Perhaps only the Titanoboa could match it in length, height, width, and weight. Once he finished them off, his eyes met with his partner who was hanging upside down from a tree, happily being herself and a sloth.

"Crrrrraw! Crrrrraw!"

"Heh. I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like."

Her smile widened as she booped his nose with a "Boop."

Close to the area of their destination, Blake and Yang spotted ruins from a distance. With it seeming to be the goal, they charged to the location.

"Chess pieces?"

"You know." Yang started, gaining Blake's attention. "A pony will suit us perfectly." Earning an eye-roll, her attitude shifted. "Should we wait here or should we go help Mask?"

Blake shook her head. "Twenty minutes. Any longer, we go back and track him down."

Yang grinned as she smacked her shoulder. "I think we're going to be great partners Blake."

As the bumblebee pair finished collecting their relic, a high-pitched scream resounded through the forest, momentarily distracting Drew.

"Who was that?"

[Judging by the voice, it's Jaune. Man, that boy can give girls a run for their money.]

"We're a few yards away. I'll go check what caused him to scream like that. Also, not nice Onyx," he chastised.

[Look here, nice guy. Just because you awakened your inner saint today does not mean you exercise it against me. Find someone else to preach your bullshit.]

"Vulgarity is the gateway to depravity."

[Justice can be manipulated.]

"Kindness leads to salvation."

[Truth is the path to virtue.]

"Caring is to be human."

[To be human is to be selfish.]

'...'

[I can do this all day.]

'You can't stop quoting for one day can you?'

[*Shrugs* It's too easy.]

Approaching the area of the scream, Drew had to almost hold back a groan but settled with a tired sigh.

[Oh, it's your BFF and her flying partner. That boy can't catch a break can he?]

'Is the Luck attribute broken?'

[Nope. Everything is excellent.]

'Having a real hard time believing that. Why am I constantly encountering her?'

Jumping down, Drew held Dragonslayer in front of him to cover his...acquaintance's left side from the other pincer.

"Pyrrha. I senzu need some help?"

[Oh. My. Gods. Kill me. Just kill me. End me now. You simultaneously gave me ear cancer and brain diarrhea.]

'At least the mission is done.'

Even in the dangerous situation, she couldn't hold back the laughter that served to irritate the screeching beast that focused its offense on Drew.

'Was it that funny?'

[No. She's just as insane as you.]

'Well, maybe you don't have a sense of humor.'

[ME?!! HUH?! You did not just say that to me. I'm freaking hilarious! Ask the readers!]

'Again with the-'

[Bet you two escaped a mental asylum together in your past lives.]

'Yeah and then we ran to the sunset from the beach as we lived happily ever after.' He finished with sarcasm lacing his voice. 'It's getting really frustrating to be the target of every Grimm ever.'

[Don't worry about it. This is the easy stuff. Wait till you visit an ocean. Then you're screwed. No one is helping you there.]

"That was a clever one Mask."

"Yeah. Almost as clever as what I'm about to do in the next second."

Depositing his weapons, Drew grabbed her from the stomach, lifted her to his shoulder, and scrammed. He didn't have to check to grasp that the Death Stalker as he has been informed by Onyx, was chasing him like a starving fat dude on a sugar rush and he just happened to buy the last pizza in the world.

During their escape, Pyrrha was arguing her case.

"We must be friends now!" she complained indignantly. "We have an inside joke!"

[She got you there.]

"No."

"Oh, oh. How about a friendship forged from the struggle of keeping our lives on a battlefield?"

[Gotta say. The girl has got both determination and imagination. You sure you don't want to make her a candidate?]

"No. Heads up. People in front."

Pyrrha hummed in response as she mocked the large Grimm with her face. She blew a raspberry when it sped up slightly and screeched.

[Jesus H. Christ. The girl has got...ovaries? Tits? Ovaries of steel!]

"I can't take it anymore! Can everybody chill out before something crazy happens again!" Yang shouted from the distance.

Speeding up, he did a Superman leap, to Pyrrha's inner childish delight, and landed in the center of the ruins.

"Mask." Yang fought back a migraine. "Of course you're here. With a girl on your shoulder...? Why do you have a girl on your shoulder?"

The answer made itself known as it stepped on the trees and broken them like glass. Judging by the wrathful roar, Drew regretted not stopping Pyrrha from taunting it.

"That." Putting Pyrrha down, he wielded both Severance and Dragonslayer. 'Did Blake's bow just twitch? Did nobody notice her bow twitching?'

[Probably trying to stay alive so paying attention to unimportant details that have little to do with their survival chances is subconsciously discarded.]

"How could you leave me!" accused the angry girl hanging on to the talon of a Nevermore.

"I said jump," Ruby responded sincerely.

"She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling."

Seeing the opportunity, Jaune rushed to her rescue and caught her in midair.

"Just, dropping in?" He said in a flirty tone, as gravity became active.

[Ugh. He's as bad as you.]

'Hm.'

[Save the fool boss. He's had enough punishment today.]

Rolling his eyes, he hopped into the air and grabbed them both by the collar of their clothes. In Jaune's case, his hoodie.

Weiss glared at the blond boy. "My hero."

Walking back, he dropped them in front of the ruins where they reunited with their respective partners.

As the Grimm was incoming, Ruby sent it a challenging grin. "I got this."

"Wait!"

Fortunately for her, she was stopped when a hand forced her still. Pincers were above him as he deflected them and push the entire Grimm back with a dropkick.

Drew opened his mouth. "I am the target. Stall them for a little bit and then we can go. Otherwise, none of us will survive. Are we clear?" They nodded. "Good."

[What's the plan boss?]

'Use what Pyrrha taught me about concealing to make the skill and then practice it enough to match my peer's Aura levels. The aggro will hopefully balance and then I'll create two four-people teams to deal with each monster. I'll join the struggling one.'

[This does depend on other people. Can you trust?]

'I have no choice.'

"Another thing." Drew tilted his head in Ruby's direction as she shrunk in her spot. "If anyone is getting ahead of themselves to show off, I will slap you until you memorize the sensation of being uniquely slapped by me and what my hand and all its details feel like. Both from top and bottom. Understood?"

They winced at the harsh tone and threat but they nodded once again. The group knew how powerful he was and a slap from him would be...goosebumps formed at the thought.

"Go."

"To not getting slapped!"

"YEAH!!"