King Kong: A RWBY Story

Chapter XXII

Kong reached the top of Beacon Tower.

He held onto the tip of the cone-shaped rooftop with one hand, and, in the other, he held Yang.

They were finally alone together, high above the campus. This place brought back horrible memories for Yang. She remembered that moment at the precipice of Skull Mountain. The most violating moment of her life. She knew what was coming, and she felt dread.

Kong stared at Yang, his blood-red eyes filled with affection. He was finally free, and he had reclaimed his beloved prize. He finally had her to himself. It was just the two of them on the top of the world, and he didn't want it any other way.

Then, Kong heard a noise. He turned his head, and saw four mantas flying in.

The four airships resembled manta rays, with a protruding cockpit and a broad pair of wings that blended into the tail. They were high wing vessels, with the wings above the fuselage, which was itself round and in an oval shape aside from the tail. The propellers were located at the tips of the wings. On both sides of the fuselage there were sliding doors with retracting ramps at the bottom. Four legs served as their landing gear. The manta were equipped with six missile batteries located in two triangular housings surrounding the plane's nose. Each battery was filled with fourteen missile pods for a grand total of eighty-four missiles per craft. The wingtips had their own mounted machine guns as well.

Inside the lead manta, a pilot named Cooper kept a close eye on Kong. He could see blonde hair in his hand. His orders was to wait until Kong set the girl down, and then they could attack. Manning the weapons was a gunner named Shoedsack.

Kong watched the mantas. He was uneasy. He had a really bad feeling about them. He looked down to Yang. She was relieved at the rescue, and hoped that this would end well.

Kong roared at the mantas. He carefully put Yang down on the roof. He stood tall, roared a challenge, and beat his breast.

With Yang safe on the roof, the mantas swooped into an attacking dive. They closed in one at a time, firing at Kong. The beast raised his arm to swing at each of the four passing mantas, but he missed each and every one of them.

As soon as the mantas had passed Kong, they broke out of their tight formation, and spun back around to dive back in and fire more rounds. But still, Kong didn't react. He continued swatting at the attacking airships, but they swerved away before he could catch them.

Kong growled in frustration. This was going to be difficult.

Two more mantas swooped in, and this time, when their bullets hit, Kong could feel a sting. He ignored the weird feeling, and swing his arm at them in an attempt to catch one. Both past him without a scratch.

Another was flying in, and Kong watched it carefully. It passed him, and Kong reached for it. But it flew away from him. It circled around, and Kong continued to watch it as it started to come in close. As soon as it flew towards him, Kong reached out for it. He grabbed the manta's wing, and crumpled it in his hand. He tossed it downward, and watched as it fell to the campus, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

One had been destroyed, but there was still three more left. Another manta flew in close, and sprayed Kong with bullets.

Suddenly, the stinging became more intense, and Kong clutched his chest. When he removed his hand, he saw blood on his fingers.

Kong stared at the blood in confusion. He had never seen his own blood before. He touched his breast, to make sure the blood was truly his own. When he looked at his hand, there was even more of that red liquid.

Kong was suddenly faced with his own mortality, for the first time in his life. He was confused, and the stinging was starting to become painful. Kong now knew that he could bleed, and if he could bleed, that meant he could die.

But the mantas weren't finished with him. They closed in once more, and continued spraying bullets into Kong. He swung at each of the three airships, but after he had grabbed the other one, they now knew to keep a distance.

Kong watched them circle around, and he knew there was no winning this battle. He was in immense pain, and he couldn't catch any more of the mantas. His death was inevitable, and he chose to accept it.

But he wanted one more moment with his prize before he passed. Kong reached down for Yang, and picked her up in his hand.

Yang stared into Kong's eyes. They were filled with sadness. As terrified as she was of the beast who had held her captive for so long, she couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Death was a terrible fate, that she had to admit she was afraid of. She didn't want to spend another moment with Kong, but she couldn't stop the empathy she felt for his inescapable fate.

Kong put Yang back down. He took this final moment to look down at her, and run his fingers along her body. As uncomfortable as she was, Yang let Kong have this last moment with her. He at least deserved one last moment with her before he died.

The mantas finally closed in one last time, and fired at Kong. He roared in pain for the final time. He leaned back, holding the tip of the roof with one hand. He took one last look at Yang.

His final goodbye.

Kong let go of the building, and fell from Beacon Tower to his death.

Yang watched him hit the ground far below. It was over. The beast was dead, and she would never be trapped in his hands again.

Ruby suddenly appeared from the room below, where the green lights of Beacon Tower rested. She looked up to see Yang on the roof.

"Yang!!!" she shouted.

Yang said nothing. Ruby used her semblance to zip up to the roof, and she knelt down next to her sister. They embraced one another, and took in this moment of happiness with one another.

But the happiness was short-lived. They looked back down the building, where the beast had fallen to his demise. The horror was over, but the trauma was not going to go away so easily. Their lives had changed forever.

There was no way to change it back . . .

A crowd gathered around the body.

Students were taking pictures, and Huntsmen were keeping them back.

Oobleck stared at the body. Everything that had happened could have been so easily avoided. But he had let his pride get the better of him, and people had died as a result.

Ozpin looked from the body to Oobleck.

"Well, Bartholomew," he said, "the mantas got him."

Oobleck shook his head.

"Oh, no," he said. "It wasn't the mantas."

He looked up to the top of Beacon Tower, where the beast's final stand had taken place.

"It was beauty killed the beast . . ."