Trix Up Their Sleeves

Trix Up Their Sleeves
Episode information
Release date	April 25, 2021
Number	1
Writer(s)	Blake
Timeline
Previous	N/A
Next	And Then There Were...
Other information
Character Debuts	Glynda Goodwitch Ben Tennyson Rook Blonko Gwen Tennyson Kevin Levin
Alien Debuts	Chromastone

Trix Up Their Sleeves is the first episode of RWBY: Grimm Force.

Plot

It had been two years since the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR enrolled in Beacon Academy and formed their teams. They had grown a lot since then. Jaune Arc unlocked his Semblance of Aura Amp and became a more competent leader. Weiss Schnee learned how to use her Summons from her Glyphs. Yang Xiao Long had lost an arm in a training mission, but was promptly given a new prosthetic arm by General James Ironwood, as a favor to Professor Ozpin. Lie Ren learned how to read spikes in people's emotions. Nora Valkyrie gained scars after over exerting her body with her Semblance. And most notably, Ruby Rose learned about her Silver Eye power, allowing her to destroy or petrify the creatures of Grimm.

The beginning of a new school year at Beacon Academy. Several new students enrolled to the Academy, and had since formed their teams. Teams RWBY and JNPR had gathered in the amphitheatre, with Ruby moving about in excitement. The new first year students passed through, clinging to their respective teams.

"Ohh, I can't wait to greet the new students!" Ruby exclaimed, excitedly looking at the new first-year students.

"Greet them, or their weapons?"

Nora and Blake giggled as Ruby shot Yang a mildly annoyed look. "You can't prove anything!"

"I, for one, agree with Ruby." Weiss interjected. "We should make the new generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses feel welcome."

Blake then spoke up. "But hopefully not overwhelmed."

"A group of eight third-year students may have that effect." Ren agreed while nodding.

"I concur. Jaune, would you- ...Jaune?" Pyrrha began to speak up.

It was at this point the group realized Ruby, Jaune, and Nora were missing. Looking up, the three were on the other side of the room, excitedly looking at a holographic display of the new teams. The others then begrudgingly walked over to join them.

"Teams STRA, TOPZ, and STRM..."

"...CCLA, EKKO, CRRY..."

"...SWKR, PLLM, TNDR... Ooh! Ooh! How about this one? Team TRTL?"

By now, the others had joined them, looking over the teams as well. Though their faces weren't shown on the display, Team TRTL's letters showed the colors of green, blue, pink, and black respectively for each letter. Ruby touched the team name on the display, causing it to display their profiles: Ben Tennyson, Rook Blonko, Gwen Tennyson, Kevin Levin.

"'Tennyson,' huh?" Yang cocked an eyebrow.

"What are the chances two teams would end up with relatives on them?" Nora joked.

"Three teams, actually."

The group was surprised as Professor Ozpin suddenly popped into the conversation, taking a sip of hot chocolate from his mug. "Counting Team STRQ, that is."

"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby waved as she greeted him.

"Hello, students. I see you've taken an interest in this semester's first-year students."

"Everyone's a first-year at some point. It'd be nice to show some of them the ropes." Jaune said.

"Hm. How fortuitous." Ozpin spoke while overlooking the two teams.

Weiss appeared curious. "What do you mean?"

"Professor Goodwitch. She was considering doing more rigorous combat courses this semester. I don't suppose you eight would be willing to help?"

Both teams immediately became excited at the idea, very clearly agreeing to it.

---

A large holographic screen scrolled through the first-year team names before finally landing on Team TRTL. Professor Glynda Goodwitch stepped forward. She was an adult woman with blonde hair and green eyes, the latter of which rested behind small rounded glasses. She wore a white dress top with a large opening on the chest area. For the lower clothing, she had a black skirt overtop dark purple leggings, and black boots. Alongside this was a black cape with a purple underside, and stylized to fray into arrow shapes, looking almost like demon tails.

"Team TRTL." Glynda spoke. "Your team will be practicing against Team RWBY. One member at a time, please."

Yang took the center stage before the bleachers of students. Kevin Levin approached. He wore a black shirt with grey shoulder markings overtop a striped darker grey undershirt. He had slightly ripped blue jeans and black combat boots. Overtop his shirt were silver holsters, and around his neck was a padlock necklace. On the necklace was the number eleven stylized to look like two lightning bolts.

Glynda glanced up at him over her glasses. "No weapon, Mr. Levin?"

"I don't need a weapon. With my Semblance...

Kevin squatted down, placing his hand to the concrete of the floor. Upon doing so, his body became coated in the same material, and he stood back up with a cocky smirk.

"I am the weapon."

Yang aimed her arms back, and fired both her Ember Celica gauntlet and the shotgun in her robotic prosthetic, using the recoil to launch herself at Kevin. Flying through the air, she attempted to land a punch on Kevin, who simply grabbed hold of her fist with one hand, and the other hand changed into a large sledgehammer head which he used to knock her back. Whilst being knocked away, Yang spun in the air and landed on her feet, returning Kevin's smirk to him.

"Nice hit. But you're not the only one with an absorbing Semblance."

Yang took a readying stance, and put out her hand, taunting Kevin with a "come here" motion. Kevin then promptly changed his arms into blades and charged towards Yang; Yang, meanwhile, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, which then abruptly opened to show them as red instead of lilac, and he hair lit on fire. Drawing her hand back, she plunged it right into Kevin's torso, cracking the concrete armor over his body, Ember Celica then fired, launching Kevin back at an incredible speed. As he neared the ground, Kevin jabbed both blade arms into the ground, slowing him to a halt as he took a few deep breaths, then smiled up at Yang.

Kevin: I always love a challenge.

Kevin pulled his hands from the ground then rushed at Yang. This attacked acted as a transition, as Blake used her Shadows Semblance to dodge pink blasts of energy. Using Gambol Shroud's grappling hook function, Blake swung herself around to try to kick Gwen Tennyson, but was blocked by her putting up a pink energy shield and shoving her away with it.

Gwen had vibrant orange hair done up in a short ponytail, and green eyes, though the latter flashed pink each time she used one of the pink blasts; overtop her eyes were a pair of blue glasses. Her top attire was a red dress shirt underneath a navy blue vest, while her bottom wear was comprised of a blue plaid skirt overtop black leggings, and black boots. Blake landed and steadied herself. Along her right arm were six round talismans, each with different markings. Around her waist, she wore a light blue sash, which bore a black cat mask attached to the side.

"And what would your Semblance be?" Blake caught her breath after examining the girl's attacks. "Magic?"

"If you want to call it that." Gwen explained. "I can extend my Aura into physical energy, and three of my Charms help with that."

Blake began rushing Gwen with another attck. "And the other three?"

"Dust." Gwen smirked.

Gwen used an Aura construct that was laced with Fire Dust from one of her Charms, creating a small explosion which acted as the next transition. Weiss' Myrtenaster came in contact with a blade made of Hard-Light Dust, coming from the weapon held by Rook Blonko.

Rook had short, periwinkle hair with black stripes. His outfit was an armor made of a light material colored blue and black, with several pouches on his belt and arms. Orange spikes decorated the outfit, and he had tan bandages wrapped around his left hand. His eyes were colored a gradient of orange and yellow, and a cat tail matching the color and patterns of his hair stuck out from his lower back. Rook switched his Proto-Tool into its tonfa form, using its odd shape to dislodge Myrtenaster from Weiss' grip and disarm her.

Weiss then put up Glyphs to block the melee attacks from Rook, the last of which summoned a Boarbatusk which caught Rook off guard while ramming him. An opening now available, Weiss scooped up Myrtenaster, held it in front of her face with her right hand's first two fingers held against the base, and used more Glyphs to fire crystals of Ice Dust towards Rook, who used his Acrobatics Semblance to dodge each with incredible ease.

"You don't do a lot of talking, huh?" Weiss commented.

"We are in combat. I do not understand the need for, or obsession with, banter during a fight." Rook flatly responded.

On the sidelines, Kevin rolled his eyes as the comment. The Boarbastusk summon spun around and ran for Rook from behind, though the latter jumped up and onto its back before leaping from it, the Proto-Tool changing into a bow and arrow form before firing at Weiss. One of the Hard-Light arrows passing by acted as a transition, as Ruby's Petal Burst form spun across the room before coming to a stop, Ruby seamlessly pulling out Crescent Rose and shifting it into the scythe form and slamming it into the ground, firing off different kinds of Dust bullet rounds at Ben Tennyson, who dodged each one.

Ben had brown hair, and eyes matching Gwen's. Ben's outfit was uniquely... him. He had a biker jacket on, the sleeves of which were black, as well as the shoulders of the torso, while the rest was green. He had green elbow pads, and brown gloves. His cargo pants were stark white, and he had black and green combat boots. On the left pectoral of his jacket as a slight extension of the black pattern, and a green hourglass emblem rested there.

"Missed." Ben dodged. "Missed." Ben dodged again, then just barely didn't dodge again. "Heh."

Ben rushed directly towards Ruby, dodging any bullets that came his way again. He jumped right as an Earth Dust bullet shot near his feet, and used the resulting rock construct to leap up and towards Ruby, surprising her when he landed atop her weapon. He bore a cocky smirk which quickly faded as he fell to the ground, Ruby having used Petal Burst to move, then spin around to fire off three bullets at him. Much to her surprise, the bullets had not made contact with Ben. Rather, they made contact with a Hard-Light Dust shield, which deactivated and caused the bullets to fall to the ground. The shield had been put up by an odd watch on Ben's wrist that had been obscured prior; it was much bulkier than any practical watch, and the faceplate had a green hourglass.

"That will do for today." Glynda called the match. "Tomorrow, we'll have a different group train with Team JNPR. Mr. Tennyson." She turned her attention towards Ben.

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch?"

"While your reliance on your more physical attributes is definitely helpful, I would recommend a more proper use of your weapon and Semblance next time. A Huntsman needs to be prepared to use any and all resources at their disposal. That will be all."

Glynda took her leave, and the other students began getting ready to leave. Ben's demeanor changed from a confident smile to one of a disgruntled nature, looking down at the watch on his wrist with a sigh.

"...Yeah. My Semblance. ...Right."

---

Teams RWBY and TRTL sat together in the cafeteria, across from one another at a table. Though the others talked in an upbeat fashion, Ben remained quiet, looking down at the watch worn on his left wrist.

"You guys were so good!" Ruby yelped excitedly.

"For first-years." Yang snickered.

"Where did you guys learn to fight before coming here?" Blake inquired.

Kevin was the first to speak up. "I grew up in Vacuo. It's just a thing that comes with being there. If you can survive, you're welcome to live there."

"I trained with my former master Kundo in the village of Revonnah, in the middle of Anima. However, I eventually had formal training in Atlas before deciding to attend Beacon." Rook elaborated.

"Ben and I trained with our Grandpa Max since we were ten." Gwen said. "He used to be a Huntsmen, but retired after an accident took his arm. He helped us get weapons that aid us with our Semblances."

Yang glanced down at her own robotic prosthetic in response to this. Ben had a mimicked posture, glaring down at the watch which had a slight glow in its hourglass.

"Speaking of which..." Ruby spoke. "Ben. What's your Semblance?"

Kevin rolled his eyes at the comment, while Gwen's face grew concerned. Rook, however, remained stoic, and Ben lost his composure as he looked up at Ruby.

"...I... I um... I-I..."

Despite Team RWBY waiting for a response, Ben anxiously stood himself up, facing away from the group. "...I-I'm gonna get some air."

Ben straightened his jacket and headed for the exit, prompting Team RWBY to look confused and concerned, while Gwen lamented silently. She would have explained it to them, but it wasn't her place.

---

Ben sat alone at a table in the courtyard; his head rested in his right hand, and he looked down at his watch still. Its glow almost taunted him.

"Trouble fitting in?"

Ben jumped and looked up, startled, as he saw Professor Ozpin had come in to the scene.

"Heh. No need to be frightened, I'm just here to talk."

"P-Professor Ozpin." Ben calmed down some from the slight scare.

Ozpin sat down across from Ben. "Having some trouble with your Semblance, I hear?"

"...Not exactly. Can't really have trouble with something you don't use."

"Hm. True. Though, conversely, you also cannot make strides to better said something if you refuse to use it."

"Believe it or not, you're not the first person that's told me that."

"Maxwell, I presume?" Ozpin inquired, then chuckled a bit when he noticed Ben's surprised face. "You'd be surprised who I know, Benjamin. Tell me. Why do you have such trepidation regarding your Semblance?"

Ben shifted awkwardly in his seat upon hearing the question, but sighed, figuring there was no way out of the conversation this time.

"...Semblances are unique. Manifestations of our souls, and according to some... even related to our personalities. Even genetic ones like the Schnee Glyphs have some personal uniqueness to them. But mine... Is ten times as unique. And with that comes fear. When I use my Semblance, I feel fear and pain. And what it does to me... Can scare others. Unless there's no other option, I prefer to not use it."

Ozpin pondered Ben's statement in silence for a moment, then spoke up.

"The fear of what one can do is not misplaced. Some people don't always know their own strength, and some are all too aware of it, and both can result in fear of using what is at their disposal. Still. That fear can be used to moderate you, but you should not let it control you. If you can't put proper trust in your own abilities, after all, then what reason does the rest of your team have to put their trust in you?"

Ben was a bit caught off guard, but looked away as he silently reflected on what was said. Sipping from his mug again, Ozpin got up, and placed a hand on Ben's shoulder as he walked by.

"Just some food for thought, Mr. Tennyson. What you do with this knowledge is your choice."

Ozpin proceeded to leave the courtyard, leaving Ben to further reflect on the conversation.

---

Ruby stood in one of Beacon's training halls, pacing back and forth as if waiting on something or someone. She turned upon hearing the door to the room open and close, and smiled when she saw Ben entering.

"Hey."

"Hi. Thanks for coming."

"Of course." Ruby watched as Ben approached. "You said you wanted another training exercise?"

"Yeah, yeah. But..." Ben once again looked down at his arm, near where the watch rested on his wrist.

Ruby looked concern. "What is it?"

"...I'm going to be using my Semblance this time." Ruby's face lit up with excitement when Ben said this, but then turned to confusion after his next statement. "...But I need you to promise not to freak out."

"Why would I freak out?"

Ben hesitated, then sighed. He was in too deep to back out now. "Just... Just promise."

Ruby paused. She was a bit confused, but she was determined to get to know these new students. "Okay. I promise not to freak out."

Ben nodded in acknowledgement, then took a deep breath as he lifted up his arm, pulling the sleeve back to expose his watch.

"This is my weapon. Azmuth, the man who created it for me, named it the Omnitrix. It holds ten different types of Dust cartridges, one of which you saw earlier: Hard-Light."

Ben activated the Omnitrix, causing the hourglass core to pop up. The hourglass formed into a rhombus. He spun the core, selecting the Hard-Light icon.

"And for an example of something else..." Ben then selected the Rock Dust cartridge alongside the Hard-Light one. "When I activate the Omnitrix... I get to use my Semblance."

"Which is?"

"It's... Hero Time."

Ben pressed down on the core of the Omnitrix. His green Aura flashed over his body as the energy from the device powered the two cartridges simultaneously. He cried out in pain during this, with rocks forming over his body, which flashed multiple colors due to the Hard-Light Dust. Ruby averted her eyes, as the entire ordeal had created a blinding green light in the area. Along with the rocks, crystals jutted out from Ben's back and chest, with his face and hands becoming crystalline in nature. The green light died down and "Ben's" heavy breathing could be heard. Ruby slowly looked back at him, gasping and going wide eyed, as he had taken on an entirely new form: Chromastone. The scene then went black.

Major Events

• Team TRTL, comprised of Ben Tennyson, Rook Blonko, Gwen Tennyson, and Kevin Levin, debuts; this happen not long after their initiation.
  • Each of their weapons (albeit Kevin not having one) and Semblances are used for the first time as well.
• Chromastone debuts, and is the first transformation of the series.

Omnitrix Debuts

• Chromastone

Characters

• Ruby Rose
• Weiss Schnee
• Blake Belladonna
• Yang Xiao Long
• Jaune Arc
• Nora Valkyrie
• Pyrrha Nikos
• Lie Ren
• Professor Ozpin
• Glynda Goodwitch (debut)
• Ben Tennyson (debut)
• Rook Blonko (debut)
• Gwen Tennyson (debut)
• Kevin Levin (debut)

Aliens Used

• Chromastone (debut, cameo)

Trivia

• The names for Teams STRA (Straw), TOPZ (Topaz), STRM (Storm), CCLA (Clay), EKKO (Echo), CRRY (Curry), SWKR (Soccer), PLLM (Plum), and TNDR (Thunder) were made using the Bencaua RWBY Team Name generator.
• Depending on how things went, Fasttrack and Brainstorm were also considered to be used as the first alien, or at least be used in the episode.