Grimmfall: Ragnarok

by ArchPsion

Once there was a team of four Huntsmen considered to be among the most dangerous in the world. They are a team no longer, scattered on the winds like specs of ash by broken trust and bonds.

2. Chapter One: Homecoming

Grimmfall: Ragnarok

I do not own Grimmfall, Ben 10 or any other franchises or Fanfiction stories that are mentioned in this.

I do however own Carlos Hunter, who is a character of my own making. If anybody wishes to contest this by saying he is the property of Lord Maximus then I invite you to ask him yourself so he can set the record straight.

Once there was a team of four Huntsmen considered to be among the most dangerous in the world. They are a team no longer, scattered on the winds like specs of ash by broken trust and bonds.

Xxx

TOM walked through a length of corridor, addressing a camera drone matching his pace and hovering at waist height. "Have you ever tried to solve your problems by turning away from them? Pretend that they don't exist or don't concern you? Too many fail to learn that time doesn't always heal. Sometimes it just lets old wounds fester." He came to the bridge and assumed his regular seat. "And just as a festering wound can lead to infection, old grudges and resentment can take hold of you, blind you. The only cure at that point becomes closure, but few will ever seek it even if it's offered to them on a silver. platter. That's the sad truth of being blinded by hatred."

Xxx

Chapter One: Homecoming

Grimmfall, City Hall, three weeks later

"So let me see if I have this right." Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs peeked over the edge of the portfolio she was reading from. "We're bringing Carlos back here? Willingly?"

Phil Ken Sebben took a sip from his coffee. "I understand your confusion, Ms Briggs."

"Confusion? Sir, I think you have my present mood confused." Briggs slapped the folder down on the desk. "I'm half tempted to take my vacation early this year. Have you forgotten all the lawsuits? The days spent trying to undo the damage done by him and his team? I think I was starting to grow grey hairs by the time they finally graduated."

"No such thing, Callie. For the record, I don't need two eyes to see that you are still clearly as blonde and full of vitality as you were ten years ago." Phil waved one hand dismissively. "Besides, for all the antics that Team RGCK may have gotten into they also did a lot of good. How many trainee teams can you name that managed to prevent a full breach not once, but three times in four years?"

"Granted, they had their uses. Outside. Away from the office." Callie replied. "Where they couldn't cause millions of technoes in property damage. And if I recall Carlos nearly cost you your job during that one time-"

"The courts cleared him of that as I recall, and the situation was resolved amicably." Phil insisted.

"Thanks to Kurt, the least insane of them all." Callie pointed out. "And given the fact that he's apparently not available-"

"Yes…that's one way of putting it." Phil sighed. "Do you recall the day that Carlos started that food fight?"

"Which one?" Callie deadpanned.

"Right." Phil nodded. "During one of them..I spotted Kurt sneaking into the Restricted Archives. Carlos was his distraction, his red herring. Carlos may be viewed as a mad dog…but a lot of the time it was Kurt who directed him. On his own, Carlos can be…reasonable if you know how to deal with him. Besides, he'll only be here for briefing and then I'll have sent on his way."

"Oh, good." Callie sighed, adjusting her glasses as she stood up. "I don't want to think about how much damage he could do if he was here for longer than nece-"

The building rumbled beneath their feet.

"He's here." Phil stated calmly.

"I'll double check our insurance." Callie strode out as quickly as she could without appearing as if she was actually running. "But first, I think I'd like to do what I should have done when he graduated."

Moments later Phil heard muffled voices just outside.

"Oh hey Miss Briggs it's been a long-"

THWACK!

Phil actually cringed a little at the sound of a punch that he was sure would have left a shiner…on anyone else.

"Are you about to say you didn't deserve that?" Callie asked, cross.

"Urgh…naw, pretty sure I deserved that." Carlos groaned. "I'm guessing that was for the whole parade incident the week before grad."

Another blow landed.

"And for the picnic incident three days before grad." Callie added. "And the bar fight from the next day."

A third, this one actually causing Phil's mug to rattle against his desk.

"And this is for that mess you got young Gregor into-" This time there was no hit.

Phil could picture Callie's startled face as he fist was caught short of striking home.

"That." Carlos exhaled. "Is something that I'm not taking the hit for. Now if you'll pardon me, teach, I've got to talk with Sebben."

A few foot steps later and the door opened without so much as a knock. Carlos stepped through, looking…a lot better than how he usually did whenever he was called in, though Phil attributed this to the few weeks spent with his wife and kids.

"Ah, Carlos!" Phil met him with a smile. "Come in, have a seat. I have some healing formula if you need it."

"No need." Carlos pulled up a chair and sat down. "Your deputy still hits like a girl, and I don't mean a girl like my wife or Leslie."

"Careful." Phil warned with a chuckle. "She might conjure something bigger than her to do the job next time."

"I'd welcome the exercise." Carlos reclined in his seat. "So, what's the big op this time?"

"Kurt and Roberto are missing."

The silence that followed lasted almost half a minute. Carlos slowly sat up straight in his chair, his attention now piqued. "Got anymore coffee to go around?" He asked. "I suddenly think I'll need it."

"Plenty." Phil walked over to one side f his office where he began to fix a cup. "I heard that Kurt was responsible for arranging the final sting in your long term mission among Enoch's faction."

"Only he'd be able to make something like that work flawlessly." Carlos nodded. "Guy never seems to get the point of 'stay out of my life' anymore."

Phil returned and set a steaming cup down. "Something tells me he had justifiable reason this time." He said. "Do you remember when he used you as a distraction to sneak down into-"

"The Restricted Archives, yeah." Carlos nodded.

"Did he ever tell you what he found down there?"

"Sebben, I learned long before Kurt and I ever got put on the same team that if he's got something going on in the background then I definitely don't want to know or be involved." Carlos poured some cream in and stirred. "That being said…what did the Master of Conspiracies take? Let me guess: proof that celebrities elected to public office are the puppets of shadow cabinets. Or boy bands use subliminal messages to alter the behaviour of their fans to fit some agenda. Case in point: Justin Beaver."

"I'm afraid it's nothing so…amusing." Phil sat across from him. "Kurt accessed files regarding a group of particular interest to the United States Government…and every other government on this planet."

"The hell kind of blackmail did he have on you to not get expelled for that?" Carlos asked, one brow raised.

"No blackmail, he was simply entitled to the information…because its contents were related to the deaths of his parents." Phil answered. "You see, Carlos, Kurt has been most proactive in trying to divulge some proof that their deaths were the result of deliberate action. It is the very reason behind him applying to Nevernest Academy in the first place. When he was not on missions with the team or busy with school work or…your sister Sarah…he would devote his time and resources to this obsession."

…

"Why am I even surprised?" Carlos rubbed his eyes and took a deep sip from his cup. "Okay, so this all relates to him vanishing with Roberto?"

"Unfortunately." Phil affirmed. "Kurt recently took his investigations to a region of the central United States that is…Grimm Territory."

"Please don't say the Darklands." Carlos shut his eyes.

"…I won't, but that won't change the reality of what I'm about to say next." Phil said, leaning forward with an intense look. "Located in the Darklands is a secret R&D facility devoted to the creation of countermeasures against the Grimm and the Fallen. General Specific was heading the project at the time. I believe you may remember one of the test subjects from there, a member of the Injustice Friends."

"You mean the Juice Guy with the stupid name?" Carlos rolled his eyes. "Grappulator?"

"Indeed. Kurt found a lead that this facility had ties to certain individuals of particular interest, ties which I'm ashamed to admit had been hidden under my nose for a long time." Phil explained. "He broke into General Specific's office and downloaded everything he could before the General commenced a total lockdown. He's issued a nation-wide alert and, quite simply, wants Kurt's head and the information he stole."

"And Roberto?"

"He was Kurt's getaway driver."

"What exactly would make Roberto want to break into a military base, even with Kurt in the lead?" Carlos demanded. "The guy was all for retiring after-" He choked on his next word, but Phil knew what he was talking about.

"I suppose your old team mate is as persuasive as ever." Phil shrugged. "They escaped the base on an air craft and managed to breach the border of the Darklands before ground batteries shot them down. The crash site was found, but they were long gone without any trace of leaving…"

"I'm sensing an 'except for'." Carlos motioned for him to continued.

"Except for indications of some form of matter translocation technology which left a unique radiation." Phil continued. "The aircraft was left on autopilot, making it a decoy that covered for their real escape. They're mobile and being hunted, but Specific is keeping this deliberately quiet, only involving law enforcement agencies and Hunters who he can trust to be discreet. It's only a matter of time until he finds them."

"Specific? Find them? Really?" Carlos stared at him dully. "That guy couldn't find a sheep if you left in a line of twine to follow to it."

"True, however Private Public has proven to be up to the task." Phil had a screen extend up out of his desk and display a map of the continental USA. "For someone who excels at following, his Semblance proved to be quite a hint of irony."

"Don't tell me: his semblance makes him a natural tracker." Carlos guessed.

"It does."

"Asked you not to tell me, Sebben."

"And I asked you to please refrain from crashing my favourite car into the middle of that parade."

"Hey, if I hadn't that Satyra cell would've let out all that nerve gas!" Carlos protested. "C'mon, one car vs thousands of lives?"

"…granted, but I stand by my view that you could have found a means of stopping them that didn't involve my car. Truth be told: I think you just chose my car to tool me."

Carlos smiled innocently. "Uh…what were we saying about that Private guy?"

"He's tracked Kurt and Roberto to a desert region: Nowhere." Phil indicated the marked position on the map. "Before that he went to Paris, Gravity Falls and a few other places of note. The trail ends in Nowhere, and Private Public is closing in on them with some hired help. I gave you the time off because at the time the situation was still developing and it appeared that Kurt and Roberto would remain one step ahead, but…needless to say, it's a good thing you declined the full month's leave."

Carlos gave the Headmaster/Mayor a knowing smile and tapped one finger just below his own right eye. "It sure was lucky." He drawled sarcastically.

"Can I assume this means that you will take the job?"

Carlos stood up, crushed the now empty cup and tossed it into a waste bin off to the side. "Who's he packing?" He asked, evading the question.

"The good General has enlisted number of outlaws who have been known to moonlight as mercenaries for missions which the American government prefers to have plausible deniability for." Phil pulled several files out and slid them across his desk. "Rattlesnake Jake, illusionist and gunslinger. Ezekiel, aka: Zuke, and his ex-wife and on-off partner Josephine…who is ordered by court not to come within a hundred meters of her former spouse."

"She signed on just to tool him." Carlos guessed. "Can't report the violation without reporting what he was doing at the time and the government won't lift a finger to help him in court. Sink or swim, they'd say."

"Accurate. Next would be Robert Pataki, aka: Big Bob, ex-military and former owner of the business Big Bob's Beepers until the rise in technology left his goods outdated without any way to catch up. Now he works as a private contractor…and will be bringing his daughters along if my sources are accurate."

"He's bringing the kids to work?" Carlos asked. "Seriously?"

"My thoughts exactly." Phil agreed. "That brings me to Olga and Helga Pataki. And finally…Rouge the Bat."

Carlos shut his eyes and slowly inhaled. "…oh not her again."

"I seem to recall that stunt she pulled on you and your team in the amazon rain forest." Phil recalled with an amused smile. "Expert treasure hunter, recently recruited by Global Justice. She makes most of her money playing both sides against the middle and keeping herself too useful to our side to simply lock away."

"So that makes it…seven mercenaries, all ranging from class 3 to 5…with Rouge being a real hard class five." Carlos rubbed his jawline. "And Rattlesnake Jake's a genuine hunter, especially in somewhere like Nowhere."

"He's also occasionally been hired on by the Satyra." Phil added. "He may not share their cause but he takes their money all the same. Big Bob's military training on top of his top tier athleticism makes him a foe to be reckoned with, and his daughters are seeking to take after him. Josephine and Zeke may be the weak link in the chain if you can play them against each other, but I wouldn't rely on it. Zeke's a walking arsenal with his prosthetic arm and Josephine is said to be a walking hurricane in any close quarters fight."

"So I have my work cut out for me." Carlos nodded, pacing slowly. "You got a ride I can take to Nowhere?"

"I have a drop ship waiting on the roof as we speak, fully fuelled with the autopilot set." Sebben smirked. "Of course, you still haven't said whether or not you're taking this job."

"Drop the payment with Mel and the kids." Carlos walked towards the door.

"Carlos." Phil's voice made him stop short. "You know Kurt won't be dissuaded from this, right?"

"Don't need to remind me." Carlos frowned and looked over his shoulder. "If that spikey haired know-it-all wants to waste the rest of his life chasing shadows all over the world while my baby sis raises his kids ninete-nine percent of the time then far be it from me to stop him." He gave an exaggerated shrug. "At least then my niece and nephew won't turn into conspiracy nuts when they grow up and drag someone down with them like he did."

"…I understand that you're still…mad about what happened." Phil said carefully. "But you're being rather unfair towards him. There were a number of factors that led to what happened."

"And where Rob and I took responsibility, Kurt did what he does and just…flew away and left us to deal with the fallout." Carlos said derisively, making a fluttering motion with one hand before he swung the door open. "I'll pull him out of the fire one more time, then you'd better not call me up to help him out again. Ever. Understood?"

Sebben closed his one visible eye. "Absolutely."

"Good." Carlos stepped out and slammed the door behind him.

Phil Ken Sebben slowly reached over and opened a secondary screen on his desk, perusing the old yearbook photos before he came to one labelled R.G.C.K. He opened it to the image of graduation day at Nevernest Academy ten years ago. The photo was centred on four newly graduated Huntsmen who, in spite of all the trouble they'd gotten into over the years, had emerged at the top of Nevernest's graduating class that year.

On the far left was the official team leader, Roberto Lupine, large for his age and with a thick mane of dark hair that barely concealed his wolf ears. Next was an even larger young man, standing at just over eight feet and rippling with muscles, a boyish grin on his face as he held up the last two members of the team, one under each arm.

Kurt and Carlos had their tongues stuck out at the camera and were making peace signs. Kurt was still wearing his sun glasses, Carlos's lower face was covered in flakes of chocolate and drops of vanilla ice cream.

Team Ragnarok, named on account of a joke that one day they'd burn the world down with their antics, had left with so much promise. For a glorious two years it actually looked like they would make a real change on the world, and then…

And then Northguard happened, and Phil had to watch helplessly as they drifted apart or fell.

To this day he still wished he'd taken more stringent steps, thoughts of 'could have' or 'should have' invading his mind at quiet moments like this.

"Be careful." He said to the empty seat. "I've already had too many old students buried."

Xxx

Accessing Nevernest Archives…

Retrieving Personnel Files…

File retrieval completed.

Team RGCK (Ragnarok)

Status: Dissolved

Members: Roberto Lupine (Leader), Gregor Brobdith (Heavy Weapons Expert), Carlos Hunter (Speed Fighter) and Kurt Malcolm (Tactician).

Graduated from Nevernest Academy, rewarded Graduates of the Year.

Involved in over three hundred individual instances of property damage, violence, fraud and theft. In the majority of these cases they were reacting to criminal elements, Satyra cells and other groups or individuals in the process of breaking the law.

Team Ragnarok took a proactive approach to combatting threats even before graduation, sometimes becoming at risk of expulsion or prosecution.

This fact led a great outcry of surprise, outrage and accusations of deception on their graduating night, given their track record compared to more conventional or ideal Huntsmen teams who had gone their entire term without breaking any rules or laws. Despite being condemned as reckless and destructive, there are no confirmed fatalities resulting from their activities and most cases of collateral damage were not on the same level as that caused by conflicts between more powerful Huntsmen or Heroes (i.e: Major Glory v Comrade Red).

The reason behind their official recognition is alleged to be a direct result of their proactive (but usually destructive) pattern of behaviour, as the Headmaster has on more than one occasion stated that in spite of their antics and the legal consequences that they would bring to Nevernest over the course of their time there, Team RGCK had proven that they 'possessed the drive that every huntsman should have'. Despite this he still administered disciplinary actions to the team for most of these incidents, resulting in this team having one of the highest volumes of detentions.

Approximately two years post-graduation the team was officially dissolved after a violent encounter between Carlos Hunter and Gregor Brobdith at the village of (REDACTED) that ended with (REDACTED) (REDACTED) (REDACTED (REDACTED (REDACTED) (REDACTED) (REDACTED) (REDACTED) following a mission spearheaded by Kurt Malcolm in the local area with the primary objective being (REDACTED).

Present Status of Team Members

Roberto Lupine: Alive, mobile, wanted for espionage in the USA.

Gregor Brobdith: KIA…?

Carlos Hunter: Alive, mobile, on assignment.

Kurt Malcolm: Alive, mobile, wanted for espionage in the USA.

Xxx

End of Chapter