Chapter 3

Pyrrha dropped to her knees and fired at the nearest Grimm. The beast's skull exploded into a puddle of black sludge, and it crashed on its side where it twitched once, then died. The shock and kick of the shotgun surprised her, but Pyrrha had experience with far more powerful weapons. She adjusted quickly, pumped the shotgun, and ducked under the next Creep.

It crashed to the ground behind her, claws scraping against asphalt and beak snapping in a series of hollow clopping sounds. Pyrrha ignored it and looked up at the third Creep. This one had been smarter than the others, and let its more headstrong fellows charge her first. It shrieked a challenge at Pyrrha, and bolted across the ground. In three short strides, it launched itself at her.

Pyrrha calmly planted the butte of the shotgun in the ground, holding the weapon at an even angle, and pulled the trigger. The buckshot tore into the Grimm, rending shadowy flesh and bone. It flew back across the alley and fell into the hole it had emerged from.

Without even looking, Pyrrha stood up, grabbed the shotgun by the end of its barrel, and twisted on her heel. The weapon made a decent bludgeoning device, and effectively shattered the skull of the remaining Creep. Its limp body sailed through the air, and splattered against the wall. Its remains fell from the brick façade in a slurping sound, puddling into the ground.

Pyrrha paid the beast no mind, pumped the shotgun, and marched to the Creep Murphy had shot. It was a good shot, landing right behind the back of its skull. The creature lay on the ground thrashing and hissing in furious rage. Pyrrha planted her foot on its neck, pinning the creature to the ground.

Its beady red eye glared at Pyrrha with familiar malevolence. Even wounded and at her mercy, there was no disguising the sheer hatred that radiated from the Grimm. It struggled in vain to free itself from her foot, and snapped its oversized jaws uselessly in the air. Pyrrha jammed the shotgun against its skull, and fired once. The Grimm stopped struggling.

"Holy shit."

Pyrrha pumped the shotgun again and glanced over her shoulder at Murphy. The short woman was gaping, eyes wide in surprise at the now dead Grimm that littered the alleyway. Thick black smoke began oozing off their corpses, which had started to evaporate seconds after death.

Shouldering the shotgun, Pyrrha quickly rushed to Murphy's side. "Are you alright? Unharmed?"

Murphy's eyes were wide, "I…you…with the…how…"

Pyrrha scanned the alleyway. The hole the Grimm had emerged from was inactive at the moment, but she'd rather not take any chances. "Ms. Murphy, I will happily answer any questions you have, later. But right now, we need to get Harry and get out of here. Creeps never travel in small numbers."

"Wait, there are more of those things?"

"Yes, which is why we need to move sooner, rather than later."

Murphy swallowed once, and then the resolve hardened in her bright blue eyes. Without another word, both women moved over to Harry, and lifted him by his arms and legs. He was even heavier than he looked, which was quite the feat in Pyrrha's opinion. They marched for the exit, Harry swinging between him.

"What happened to him?" Pyrrha asked.

Murphy grunted, "That Sight thing he mentioned. He probably was still 'Seeing' things when those monsters showed up. I've heard he's seen some nasties before that were pretty bad. One of them basically put him in a coma until he managed to get used to the idea of what he was seeing."

Pyrrha glanced at the Grimm as the last of their remains evaporated. "That would certainly explain his reaction."

Grimm alone were bad enough to look at. Pyrrha didn't want to know what they're 'true form' looked like.

"Is he going to be alright?"

Murphy bit her lip, "I don't know. If he has enough time, maybe. We'll get him in the car and head back to the apartment, then-"

The ground shuddered beneath their feet once, twice, three times. The women stopped, and Pyrrha slowly set Dresden down. Murphy, who faced inside the alley, gulped. Pyrrha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ms. Murphy, please take Harry to the car. This should only take a few minutes." Another shudder, this time the asphalt pitched upward with the motion. Murphy didn't stumble, instead she tightened her grip under Harry's arms.

Pyrrha smiled, "Thank you." And turned around.

The crater the Creeps had emerged from bucked three times. The first sent a spiderweb of cracks rippling across the asphalt. The second shattered the edge of the crater, causing it to start collapsing in on itself. The third exploded into a fountain of stone with an ear splitting crack. Pyrrha covered her eyes with her arm until the rain of gravel ceased. Bits of the stone bit into her skin and parts of her outfit tore, but her Aura protected her from any real damage.

She lowered her arm and watched the Grimm emerge from its crater. One huge furry paw emerged from the hole and grabbed at the nearest wall. It was larger than her torso, and tipped with five bone white claws longer than a broadsword. Even beneath all that greasy matted fur, chords of muscle were painfully apparent.

Another paw, identical to the first, emerged and grabbed the opposite wall. They flexed together, and a colossal black bear pulled itself from the ground. Calling the Grimm a bear was a bit of a generalization though. This beast was twice as high as any bear, and far thicker. It's bleached white skull was also exposed, and large red eyes glared at Pyrrha. A small pyre of bone white spikes burst from its back, and pads of the that pebbly hide covered its shoulders and thighs.

This was what was called an Ursa, and they were far more powerful than a Creep or Beowolf. And it was standing over the shotgun that Pyrrha had abandoned when she started to move Harry. The Ursa seemed to know this, and snarled a challenge at the young woman.

Pyrrha's response was elegant in its simplicity.

She sprinted at it full speed, dropped into a baseball players slide, scooped the shotgun off the ground, passed under the Ursa's legs, and performed a rolling jump onto the other side of the crater.

The Ursa whirled around far faster than something its size should've been able to move, and brought one massive paw down on her. Pyrrha rolled to the side, feeling the breeze of the blow when it missed by inches. It came down on the asphalt and sent a rippling ravine shooting across the asphalt. Pyrrha fired the shotgun in response. A chunk of its mask below the left eye shattered under the impact, but an Ursa was far more durable than a Creep. The shot just made it angrier.

It swiped at Pyrrha again, but the girl effortlessly dodged the blow. The moment her feet hit the floor, she sprinted clockwise around the Grimm, leaping up onto the wall. The Ursa was fast, but Pyrrha was significantly faster. She pushed off the wall and crashed into the beasts shoulders. She grabbed one of its spikes to hold tight, pressed the barrel of the shotgun into the base of its skull, and jammed the trigger.

'Click!'

"What!?" She looked at the weapon in surprise, "Only five shots!?"

Her perch suddenly shifted under her feet, and Pyrrha almost slid off. The Ursa howled in rage and started tipping back. It was going to crush her under its considerable mass and weight, maybe impale her with its spines. Fat chance.

Pyrrha leaped off back towards the exit. She hit the floor in another roll, popped to her feet, and twisted to face the Grimm. It was rolling back and forth to get back onto its paws, but it was distracted from her for the moment. This would be the perfect point to attack, but Pyrrha only had the now empty shotgun, and it wouldn't be efficient or safe to try and bludgeon a sixteen foot tall demon-bear to death.

She needed something with range, something that she had more personal experience with. Pyrrha did a quick look around, and found no real weapons to speak of. She could go for the duffle bag, but the time it would take to pull ammo or another gun out would be time too long. Something makeshift would be far more useful.

Her eye fell on the dumpster for a moment. It had one of those heavy iron bars welded to its front so it could be towed. Six feet long, heavy iron, it'd have to do. Pyrrha tossed the shotgun aside, grabbed the bar, and heaved. Even with an aura enhanced sense of strength, very few people would be able to rip iron with anything resembling ease. Luckily, Pyrrha didn't need enhanced strength to pull that off.

A simple application of her Semblance caused the iron welds holding it in place to crack under the strain. The bar popped off with a sharp snap, and Pyrrha was suddenly wielding a six foot long iron pole. It was a poor replacement for her personal weapon, but beggars can't be choosers. A quick flick against the ground flattened one end, and her polarity warped it into a crude, but sharp, spearhead.

This was about the time the Ursa rolled onto its stomach, and stood on all fours. It loosed a terrible roar of challenge. Pyrrha casually twirled the spear in her hand, and charged the Ursa. It swiped at her, missing when she leaped over the beast. She swept her spear overhead, shattering its spines into shards of bone. She landed behind the beast and stabbed one of its hind legs at the knee.

The Ursa's leg went limp, and it whirled to face her. Pyrrha jumped back again, and quickly lunged forward. The spearhead hit it in its eye, sinking a foot into its skull. The Grimm screeched in agony, and lurched onto its hind legs. Pyrrha yelped, and went up with it. She did not let go of her spear though.

As the Grimm stumbled about in pain, she managed to push herself back down so her feet were pressed against its skull. She pulled hard, ripping the spear free with a disturbing squelch of flesh, and did a gymnasts backflip off the monster. Pyrrha landed, legs splayed, at the alley exit.

As she stood, the Ursa stumbled around until it was facing her, its remaining eye filled with renewed hatred. Pyrrha scowled and stood up. Without missing a beat, she struck a javelin throwers pose, and held up a single thumb to act as her sight. The muscles along her back and legs coiled tight, and her grip went tight.

She flung the javelin with enough force that it would've left burns in the hands of a normal person. In this case though, she was fine. The Grimm was not so lucky though. The spear flew with perfect precision, and sank half way up its hilt, right into the monsters other eye.

The roar of agony that followed was deafening. The Ursa flailed its arms around in a seizure of pain and fury, desperately trying to knock hit Pyrrha with one of those cinderblock paws. It was a useless gesture, as she was safely out of range for the moment. Pyrrha silently watched the monster flail, thinking on how she'd put it down, when Murphy's voice rang out.

"Pyrrha, get down!"

She dropped without a second thought. Something heavy whipped overhead, and there was a piercing snap, followed by a meaty smack. Pyrrha looked up and saw the Ursa was no longer flailing about in pain. The colossal two handed battle-axe buried in the center of its face likely had something to do with that.

The beast had been hit mid spasm, and the resulting blow had killed it instantly. The momentum of its thrashing had kept it going, and so it hit the side wall with far too much force, and lay half embedded in the wall, the other half loosely hanging from the edge.

"Wow," Pyrrha said. "That was an impressive throw, Ms. Murphy."

Pyrrha turned around and froze in surprise. Murphy still stood there her face twisted into a look of annoyance, Harry was laying at her feet unconscious, and half a dozen men in business suits and armed stood behind both of them. Pyrrha noted that all of them looked rather nervous to be facing her, which meant they had just seen her bout with the Grimm and had an idea of what she was capable of. One small advantage in her favor, if things went south.

The leader of the men stepped past Murphy and Pyrrha blinked in surprise. He was a she, actually, and she was rather large. The woman stood a hairsbreadth taller than Pyrrha, with blonde hair tied into a neat bun. She had a strong face and hard blue eyes. Like her men, she was dressed in a business, though hers was a shade of silver. Unlike her men, Pyrrha could see that this woman was incredibly fit. She had the posture and proportions of a veteran Huntress. It was the only sign that she wasn't quite what she appeared. That, and the large, now empty, duffel bag she carried.

The woman skimmed over Pyrrha and the decaying Grimm, and gestured at the men. They cautiously moved to surround Pyrrha, but were smart enough to not point their weapons at her. Murphy sighed in annoyance, and pinched her nose. "Gard, is any of this necessary?"

Gard frowned, "I see a mortal warrior capable of physical feats not seen in a long time, Ms. Murphy. To be less than cautious would be the equivalent of signing our own death warrants."

The men glanced at each other nervously. If Gard noticed, she didn't show it. She merely continued, observing Murphy and Harry with a single arched brow. "Unless, of course, you vouch for this young woman?"

"Well obviously," Murphy said.

"Ah, I see," said Gard, "Then we shall bring her as well."

Murphy scowled, "Wait, bring us where? And how did you even know we were here?"

Gards face remained expressionless, "There were reports of screaming and fire during the thunderstorm last night. It was only a matter of waiting for Dresden to return. Mr. Marcone wishes to speak with him on a matter most important."

Who was Marcone? That was what Pyrrha wanted to ask, but she wasn't ready to start a fight yet, not until she knew more. Until she had a firm grasp on the situation, she wouldn't act quite yet.

Murphy's scowl didn't fade, and she seemed ready to jump over and shield Harry with her body if she had to. Or start strangling Gard. Either option was perfectly feasible.

"He's not in any shape to meet with your boss, Gard." Murphy growled through clenched teeth. "Give us a few hours, we'll see if we can work you into our schedule."

Gard shook her head, "I fear that is not an option. Time is of the essence, and a delay of hours will make or break the possibility of tragedy."

"Oh no," Murphy remained completely deadpan, "Marcone's business operations are suffering a hit. How will I ever live with myself knowing that I let Marcone lose a profit on very illegal business operations?"

A frown crossed Gards face, and she gestured her head at one of her men. The man didn't quite raise his gun at Murphy, but the message was rather clear. Gard clarified anyway.

"It's not a request Ms. Murphy. You'll be coming with us now, whether you want to or not."

There was her cue. Forming a fist with her hand, Pyrrha used her Semblance to grab hold of every weapon these obvious crooks had, and ripped them free with a flick of her wrist. Knives, guns, and belt buckles flew from their respective persons and into a large ball of metal that crumpled metal and steel. Pyrrha dropped it with a large thud, and used the same technique to pull Gard's battle axe from the near gone Grimm into her free hand.

The men around her jumped back in surprise, followed by more jumping when their pants began falling around their ankles. They yelped in surprise at that, but Pyrrha ignored them and pointed the battle axe at Gard. The woman was smart enough not to say anything, and took a single step back.

"We'll be going now, if that's okay with you," Murphy said. Her eyes twinkled with appraisal, and she had a smug grin on her face. Pyrrha slowly circled Gard and started back-stepping towards Murphy, never letting the woman, or her guards, out of her sight.

Gard flipped what appeared to be a silver coin between the fingers on her right hand, completely at ease despite Pyrrha's demonstration of power. "I feel I have no choice in the matter as of this moment, I am unarmed and faced with a teenage girl, and a near crippled ex-cop. Whatever am I supposed to do?"

Murphy's smile didn't fade, but her eyes flashed with anger. "Pyrrha, can you knock her out with that axe of yours?"

Pyrrha blinked, "I…um…"

"No," Gard said, "I'm afraid you can't, Miss Pyrrha."

Gard twitched her fingers, and the coin in her hand snapped in two. There was a crackle of thunder, a flash of white hot agony, and everything went dark.

Pyrrha woke up with another piercing headache, in another unfamiliar location. That would make it, what, the third time this had happened? Or was it the fourth? At this rate, she was going to need to start keeping score.

A quick look around, she was getting way too good at that, showed that she was in a limousine of some kind. It wasn't incredibly large, but it was large enough to let Pyrrha comfortably sleep on one of its chairs. It had soft white leather seats, a furnished interior, and what looked like a cooler. It was also filled with armed men.

They all occupied the front of the cabin, where Gard sat between them all, no weapon to be seen. Across from her, Murphy sat with several more armed men around her. And across from Pyrrha, Dresden sat, one hand covering his eyes while he rocked back and forth softly muttering to himself.

"What happened?"

That was what Pyrrha tried to ask. It came out as more of a pained grunt. Murphy glanced at her first and looked relieved, "Oh thank god you're still alive."

Pyrrha swallowed to wet her throat, "What…happened?"

"I activated the enchantment on my axe to disable you." Gard said simply.

"Bullshit, you practically fried her!" Murphy accused.

Gard shrugged, "If she were a normal mortal, it would likely have removed her arm from its socket. As it is, she is exceptionally more durable than most mortals, so I found it safe to use the rune."

Harry groaned and rubbed at his temples. His eyes were stained with tears and he had several tissues shoved up his nose, all of them stained with blood. "Can you guys…keep it down? Or… at the very least… dump some bleach down my skull."

Murphy smiled a little, "Hey, he speaks. How're you feeling Dresden?"

A slight bump in the road shook the limo. Harry groaned and let his head drop. "You know the feeling you get after a long night at Mac's?"

"Yeah?"

"I wish I felt like that right now."

A wry smile touched Gard's lips. "As always, your tenacity in the face of overwhelming opposition is admirable Dresden."

"Save it Gard," Harry grumbled. He sat up and ran a hand over his face, finally blinking his eyes open.

When he saw Pyrrha, he frowned a little. He didn't say anything, but his eyes, tired as they were, spoke a very clear message.

'We need to talk. Soon.'

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, but nodded faintly in confirmation. Obviously Harry knew something that was fairly important. Unfortunately, it'd have to wait until their appointment with this 'Mr. Marcone' was over.

Which brought up another question, actually.

Pyrrha pulled herself up, ignoring the jackhammer in at her temples, and asked, "Where… are you taking us?"

"My employer has many safe houses. We'll be heading to one Mr. Dresden already knows quite well." Gard said smoothly.

Harry covered his face, "Oh god. Can we leave the kid here then at least? I don't think minors are even allowed in places like that."

Gard just looked amused, while Pyrrha cocked her head to one side, "I'm sorry, but that doesn't really answer my question Ms. Gard."

Murphy grinned in a very cheeky manner, "We're going to Harry's personal 'gym'. Full platinum membership, right Dresden?"

"Murphy, please," Harry grumbled, and slumped into his seat.

Pyrrha felt her eyebrow twitch, "Please, can you clarify that?"

More grumbling from Harry, before he finally seemed to suck it up and tell her, "A brothel. We're going to meet Marcone at a brothel

A/N: Fellow readers of the Dresden Files, you know exactly where we're going to wind up in the next chapter. To my other fans, well, we're in for a treat. I apologize this chapter took so long to post today, but I had a bug over the weekend that made it difficult to sit up, let alone write. I'm feeling much better now, and hopefully I'll be able to return to my noon schedule I'm trying to adhere to.

Now, onto other news. First and foremost, we hit over a thousand views guys! One chapter post, and the number of views, reviews, and followers/favorites doubled! That is incredible, and I thank you all so much for your reading and support, really, it means so much. Which brings us to the other part of the day, question time from the previous chapter.

Lotheon asks: How creatures of the white court or others would react to Pyrrha since she wears her soul on the outside.

Well to that Lotheon, I always saw the Aura as more of a situational shield. Its only on in combat, and even in combat, its not exactly incredible noticeable. Otherwise, injuries and the like wouldn't affect the characters of RWBY, and we'd see more signs of them. Maybe I'm wrong with this, but for the sake of plot, I'm going to limit how much creatures of the Dresdenverse can sense her aura. To most, they'll just assume she's a particularly energetic wizard.

The only other question is from a Mr. Xbox432. He asks: I wonder if Harry will tell his Queen that he's come across a breach in the outer gates? Or at least I'm pretty sure that an interdimensional gateway through which monsters are arriving would somewhat fall under Mab's jurisdiction.

Well you're certainly right on that latter part, but as you'll see later on, Harry is more than a little reluctant to get Mab involved in anything right now, given what unfolded in Cold Days and Skin Game. I can promise you this though, before the end of this story, we will get an appearance by the Queen of Air and Darkness herself.

Thats all the questions we have for the last chapter though, I hope you guys enjoyed this short, but action packed chapter. Lemme know in your reviews, and don't forget to leave any questions or comments!

Ta-ta for now!