I do not own anything.


Chapter 12: Hidden Hell Pt.1

"Just for the record I blame you for this Sun." Neptune groaned adjusting his bullet proof vest. Most of his wounds from Monday had healed over but his pride was a different story all together. On top of being manhandled by Yang he had to have Pyrrha carry him all across campus to the medical wing. That was not going to be done crawling through the sewers of Vale City, even if it was for the police.

Sun gave him a narrowed eye glare. "Hey I got us a mission, a pretty high-ranking one too. Where's my thanks?"

"You want me to thank you for getting us a mission that's going to involve tracking through dirty, shit-stained sewers at ten in the morning?"

"It was the highest ranking one I could get us!" The blond argued. "All the others were taken or reserved for third or fourth year students. Besides, we get to work with the police department! I don't know about you but I think that's a step in the right direction for us." Just to prove his point he pointed to the Vale City PD badge on their jackets. "Don't tell me you're not the least bit excited for this?"

"I'll tell you what," he wrapped his arm around him and shot him a private grin. "I am excited I get to kill that fourteen foot Lockjaw. That'll probably be enough to get all my credit back after Monday."

"You? Dude what about me?"

"Alright fine, I'll share some of the credit with you." The blue haired boy laughed.

A grunt broke the boys out of their moment. Detective Nu lightly grabbed both of them and spun them around so they were looking him eye to eye. "What makes you kids so sure we're even going to run into that thing? This is just a routine raid." He chuckled. "But you two acting like we're about to bust a major crime lord. Ah, the joys of being a rookie."

A circle of agreements rang out from the other officers beside them. Sun and Neptune sheepishly ducked their heads now suddenly more eager to than ever for the thick steel door to come down.

It wasn't hard to see both boys were close to living the dream since their mission was to assist the Vale PD in a raid. Criminal raids had been increasingly at an unsettling rate since the restoration had ended. They'd been over everything from money to items to Dust. Dust especially had been a high list target since the Schnee Office building was close to completion. In the past two weeks alone their trucks and trains had been hit by all manners of criminal raiders and the security that was hired to defend them wasn't always able to do so fight them off. It was a painful blow to the company and it only grew worse when it was decided the police department would be used to recover the stolen products.

Neptune for one wasn't complaining about it because it meant he had a chance to win Weiss's attention. As a bonus if his luck held out he'd kill a Grimm that had been terrorizing the city for weeks on and regain his reputation all in one day.

The Aegullo crime family was one of Beacon's most notorious crime families with a hand in a great deal of businesses from small time blackmail to extortion on the level of the city council. Five years ago there'd been a purge of the city's political make-up that left them weakened and hungry to reclaim the power they'd lost. Stealing four truckloads of high-end Dust coming straight from a Schnee Company mine was a good way to go about such a fit.

The warehouses on the edge of the Commercial district was a perfect place to move items underground thanks to the sewer introduce beneath many of the old buildings. They'd been used before for legal and illegal activities so the police had grown used exploring the underground network of tunnels.

Everyone had kept saying the whole affair was just going to be a routine skirmish on the road in up until the door to the warehouse came down.

The two boys were well aware police work didn't always involve shot-outs but it was an exciting part of the job.

As soon as the doors were blown open bullets went flying through the air in their direction only being stopped by the riot shields a set of guards had been assigned. Screams and orders soon began to fly on both sides of the battle; one ordering for the cops to be held off at all coasts and the other ordering said cops into flanking positions.

The two Haven students each took different positions of the left and right of the mobsters herding themselves towards the back of the warehouse. Neptune stayed above them on the catwalk with his gun firing bolt after bolt of electricity at the mobsters. Sun leaped off the catwalk with Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang in staff form. Startled half of them turned their guns on him only to find the blond haired teenager had already taken out half of them and was easily deflecting the bullets like it was child's play.

One of the mobsters took a moment to examine Sun's bojutsu and Neptune's aiming. His eyes widened moments before he was forced to duck behind cover. "They're Beacon brats! The monkey and kid with the stupid hair are from Beacon!"

Hearing those words the organization of the mobsters changed drastically. Those in the rear began moving the crates of stolen Dust faster and with more urgency while those in front split their focus between the police and the two teenage boys smashing their ranks to bits.

"Stupid hair?!" Neptune yelled over the roar of gunfire and explosions. "Why does everyone keep like they have to insult my hair? What the hell's wrong with it? It's stylish!"

A handful of officers were advancing on the enemy with at an alarming rate. Rather than just guns they wielded gunblades of various models but with a skill that boosted of training and mastery. Nu was among them, one of the best actually. His gunblade was a red and black heavy revolver with a four-foot long dark, steel gray blade running under the barrel. The green eyed detective's skills in wielding the weapon shown through when he smashed through the line of gunfire, firing off his gun while at the same time swinging his weapon like it was a one handed sword.

With three above average fighters tearing through them in no time the last of the mobsters had been either killed, incapacitated, or surrendered. Of course that were surrendering worse grins on their faces knowing they'd bought their compatriots enough time to get away with the goods.

"Everyone form up in teams of six or more, move out in squads and proceed into the tunnels with caution. Remember, we've still got a giant crocodile running around somewhere down there." One of the senior officers ordered as they moved to the back of the warehouse.

In the basement of the warehouse was a garage sized hole in the back lead directly into the city's sewer systems. No one was particularly happy that would be stepping into four feet of shit and trash but their job called for them to explore the underground network. Naturally there was cursing all around as twenty-four officers made their way into the darkness, shoulder mounted lights mounted on their shoulders and their guns at the ready.

Naturally the first thing that hit everyone was the disgusting smell that was powerful to the human noise but to Sun's animal noise it was almost nauseating.

"You gonna be okay kid?" One of the detectives asked him placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know Faunus have night vision but is that going to be enough for you down here?"

Sun gave the man his classic reassuring smile. "I've faced worse than some sewer crawling."

"I hear the jungle has all kinds of things you need to watch out for." One of the officers snorted.

A glare from said detective shut him and few others up. The detective Sun had been partnered with was one he'd heard about and was having an inner fangasm over. Daniel Alton was known as one of Vale City's best detective. At thirty-nine it really said something when his name was spoken off in the halls of the police departments in Mistral and Vacuo. He'd cracked more than a fair share of major cases. It also happened that unlike about half of the police department he wasn't racist. For that Sun was infinitely grateful.

Under him all the other officers kept their sly comments and glares off of Sun and on the mission at hand. Another reason why Sun was so happy to be working with him; he didn't take crap from anyone, not even his fellow officers.

At least a quarter mile into the sewers and they hadn't encountered anything expect a few fleeing gangsters who thought they could out gun a team of armed officers. For a short time Sun stared uncomfortable at the dead bodies lying in the sewage water. It took Alton softly nudging his shoulder to get him back on track. He kept asking him all kinds of small questions about police work that he was kind enough to answer. Really he was the only one he could talk to since almost every other officer had been giving Sun the evil eye or a sideways scowl. When they weren't looking at him they were glaring at the detective; silently asking him why he was being so nice to the Faunus. At least two of them leaned over to whisper something into his ear that obviously set him off judging by the snarl he shot their way that caused them to keep their distance. Sun didn't need his hearing to know it involved him in some way. It was a common belief that Faunus were thieves and murders so one asking about the law? Surely it's so they can go commit a crime then find a loophole in escape justice. Or at least the brand of justice some of the officers believed in, the kind that involved Faunus being either lynched, shot, or thrown in a cell, all without any sort of trial whatsoever.

A long time ago Sun had learned to block out what other people had to say about his heritage. Police were among the first he'd learned to block out. Now that skill was coming in handier than he ever thought.

As they continued their tenure down the tunnels and checked in with the other teams he noticed the navy-blue haired detective getting a tad bit more fidgety around him. He kept taking in short breaths like he was going to ask a question only to either shut his mouth or bark a command to one of the other officers. The blond haired Faunus was actually growing tired of people doing that. Blake did it, Sage sometimes did it, Izaak did, and now his idol was doing it.

Careful not to make it look out of the ordinary he edged just a little closer to Detective Alton. His words were extremely quiet so only he could hear them. "If something's on your mind sir then I'm all ears."

For the first time the ace detective looked uncomfortable. "Well yeah, there's…something I want to ask you." Alton was hoping this could wait for after the operation was complete but he knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Not at the snail's pace they were moving. "It's about…is it true that Neil Liath is going to Beacon?"

Mentally Sun slapped himself for letting such a detail slip his mind. "Yea…Yeah he is." Now he felt uncomfortable. More uncomfortable about where this conversations was heading then about God knows what was crawling around in his shoes.

"Ah." Alton's shoulders didn't relax. "Is he doing alright?"

If they ran into the Augello gangsters or even that stupid Lockjaw both the young Faunus and detective probably would have been grateful. Since neither happened Sun was forced to answer the question. "He's doing fine." Okay the guy probably deserves more than that, besides Neil is doing more than fine. "He's on a good team, good teammates."

"That's good news." Alton said with a relieved breath. That was another reason Sun idolized Daniel Alton; the guy was a human being with feelings and emotions. "Does anyone, ya know, talk about him?"

"All the girls do," He answered with a grin. "Trust me ladies can't stay off him. Graduated in the top ten at Sanctuary." As much as it made him happy the older man smiled at his humorous answer his orange eyes grew serious. "People do talk but he's good at ignoring it. Something you get used to when you're carrying a big neon sign over your head."

Alton didn't ask anymore after that. The dirty little secret Sun didn't tell anyone was he wanted this mission so team IONC couldn't have it. So Neil wouldn't have to go through what he was going through.

Another matter came up that caused the detective to put his professional face back on. Following his hand signals all the officers lined up in two by two formations. Chatter started coming through on the radios about how there wasn't a signal sign of the mobsters or the Dust crates they'd stolen. What they were finding were shell cartridges and casings. They puzzled every officer in the group.

Judging by the painted signs Sun guessed they were getting close to one of the homeless dug-outs. Another common but rarely discussed secret was how Vale homeless tended to find homes in the underground tunnels and sewers throughout the city. From a humanitarian stand point it sounded awful but some reports said the folks living underground had a knack for making home out of such nasty places. Police were well aware and used it to their advantage in tracking down criminals and rogues. Before Detectives Alton and Nu had told him and Neptune to start memorizing the signs, they could come in handy one day.

Turning the corners and finding nothing but darkness and emptiness began to unnerve everyone in Sun's party somewhat. A handful of them knew they were standing in the heart a camp out area and for those that didn't all they had to do was shine their lights on the empty makes-shift beds or stools scattering around more roomy parts of the area.

The unease grew when many felt around the beds and searched the areas to find the same thing. The beds and mats weren't warm nor had any of the lamps and other items been in use for days. Not one sign that anyone had made a home in the subterranean veins.

"Shouldn't this have been on the news or something?" Sun asked scanning the area with his night vision. "Or at least have been a spot on the 'need to look into list' at headquarters or something?"

His question was met with various grunts and glares. Once again it fell to the famed detective to answer his question. "The department's been tied up fixing up the damage from the earthquake, robberies, murders, rapes, thefts, and all kinds of other things." Releasing an aggravated sigh he made no show to hide the anger he felt. "Basically people with lives are more important than the people living down here. As far as the brass upstairs are concerned, unless the under dwellers are mutating into rat people it's not an issue."

"Let me guess until they bite someone upstairs and there's mutants running around?" The monkey Faunus asked.

"That's police life kid." One of the officers grunted. "You don't get to decided what makes a case and what doesn't. You can't handle that then get into another line of work."

As peeved as Sun was he let the comment slide. The question was now where were their mobsters and under dwellers? Despite the rapid conclusions his mind jumped to he had the feeling the mobsters had come through here but the locals had already been cleared out. Going deeper into the tunnels provided them with no answers though Sun became increasingly aware of a chill running up his spine. He wasn't like Chicahua who had such high instincts that boarded on precognition but he'd been through enough scraps to know when something was about to head south. His animal instincts were screaming for him to bug out now or at least say something. Of course if he did any of those things the officers would no doubt accuse him of cowardice, and he'd been damned if he let them go that far.

Chatter on the radio soon was cut off by the sounds of gunfire and sporadic yelling. It was hard to tell what was going on but whatever it was obviously wasn't fun or pretty.

His animal senses picked up movement in the tunnel about ten yards down. Alerting the others they all flashed their lights to see nothing but complete darkness in front of them. Instead of seeing anything they could hear footsteps, multiple, heavy footsteps pounding through the sewage water. Countless gun barrels stayed locked on the darkness as the pounding grew louder and louder.

A familiar, terrible howl pierced the silence of the sewage curiosity of the screaming manic that came into their sights. The moment the lights fell on his eyes the order to fire was given. Bullets slammed into the man sending him face first into the water. A choir of snarls and roars broke out ahead of the darkness that grew louder in the short seconds that followed.

They came through the darkness like lightning from storm clouds, swift and violent. All their eyes were the same burning red and orange that screamed out their humanity was gone. Their clothes were torn and bloody in various places. If they weren't carrying weapons then their hands were stained red.

"Open fire!" Alton screamed bringing his gunblade up and slamming down on the trigger.

Lights lit up the sewage tunnel like fireworks going off in the darkness. Bodies thumped to the ground yet the horde didn't end, instead they just grew angrier. They jumped at the officers like wild cats even if they were bleeding from the arm, shoulder, or even missing a limb. With savage shrieks they began beating at the officers with anything available besides the guns. The screams of the officers were either silenced quickly or fizzled out as their faces were rearranged through a combination of hard-hitting blows to the face or having their cheeks torn apart. Bullet cases and bodies fell into the water in near perfect union yet the surge did not end. Unless the shot was fatal the attackers simply kept coming; moreover a fatal shot was the only thing that kept them down for good. Even if they lost their legs they roared in fury and crawled through the sewage water further terrifying the law enforcers.

Among the more skilled shooters they knew they were screwed. Orders for back-up and to pull out came in over everyone's radio. "There's too many of these things!"

"We need to pull out now!"

"Someone get us the hell out of here!"

"This Squad Four requesting immediate back-up now! Shit get the hell off of me!"

Sun was never more grateful for the fact Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang was part shotgun than he was at that moment. The crazies converged on him just as much as they did any downed officer. A single shot sent three of them falling backwards into each other or into the water. Blood exploded from their chest due to the close impact of the shotgun shells, spraying Sun's upper body and even face with the crimson liquid. If it weren't for the fact his life was in mortal danger he probably would have had a momentary breakdown. Every blood splatter, every explosion of flesh and bone was visibly thanks to his night vision.

The vile rising in his stomach was only held down by the adrenaline pumping through his body. Christ what the hell is going on here! His mind screamed for an answer as to why the homeless, the very same ones whose disappearance had concerned him moments earlier were now trying to rip his guts out. What had happened to these people down here? Hearing the click of his weapon made him step back to reload.

Alton, who was busy trying to organize his men spotted Sun and instantly screamed over the chaos. "SUN!"

The blond haired boy was surrounded. With widened eyes he stopped his reload of Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang and changed it into its nunchunk form. Shooting these people was already going to leave a mark on his conscious but this was going to stay with him for weeks on end.

BANG! CLING! CRICK! CRICK! CRACK!

Red metal collided against flesh making for a truly horrid sound that joined the chorus of battle. Teeth flew from the mouths of his attackers much to Sun's disgust though it didn't stop some of them. They continued surging towards him, pressing into a corner against the wall. With a quick motion his nunchunks combined into staff form. Twirling it once he slammed it into the water releasing a yellow colored shockwave that knocked all his attackers across the tunnel into the opposite wall.

"Everyone fall back to position D! Rolling retreat people! Rolling retreat!" Alton yelled.

More of the crazed people came through outer tunnels. Judging by their clothing they weren't homeless. A new wave of bullets slammed into the growing tide but it did little good. The wounded were toppled over by the others in a desperate grab for the flesh of the police officers and SWAT team members.

Again it was Sun's night vision that alerted him to the strange objects attached to the backs of some of the attackers. They had straps across their bodies that connected a blinking red box no bigger than a blitz ball. With wide eyes and a terrifying gasp Sun realized what they were. "EVERYONE GET BACK NOW! THESE THINGS HA-"

The Faunus's words were lost to the miniature inferno that lit up the whole tunnel in a blaze of fire and light. Sewage water exploded along with bodies while all eyes were blinded first by the intense light then the falling pieces of gray and black stone and metal. Screams were lost to the roaring flames and resounding cracks that followed. For Sun, Alton, and the few officers remaining the whole world vanished in a horrifying mixture of stone, water, and flames.


"Eyes open boys and girls." Detective Nu barked taking point with Neptune. "Ever been down here in the dumps kid?"

"Nah, I prefer the beaches. Ya' know, lots of chicks in swimsuits, surfing, and chances to impress them. I do that kind of stuff. Sewers," His face screwed. "After this I'm taking a nice long bath."

Chuckling the older man shot him a leery smile. "Got a girl waiting for you upstairs?"

Neptune's chuckle was nervous and pain-filled. Sure he wanted to say of course he had a girlfriend waiting for him. A cool guy like him should have had a long list of girls waiting for him. Sadly since this was a trained detective he knew his lie would be seen through in a second. That didn't mean he couldn't stretch the truth just a little bit. "No and kind of. I'm actually hoping to hook up with this one girl. She's…"

Green eyes cackled with amusement. "The youngest daughter of the Schnee family?" Seeing the goggle wearing teenager's mouth drop made him release a bombastic laugh. "Good luck with that one kid! Why you've pegged her for that spot I have no idea but, hey, go for it. The worse that can happen is she freezes your ass as she's walking away."

Before the operation Detective Nu had shared a little bit about himself with Neptune forming the basis for their "teacher and student" relationship. He'd pestered Neptune with questions as to why he was so psyched to join a police raid. The man may have been sarcastic and blunt but he was honest with Neptune. On top of that he was pretty skilled.

"That's kind of why I wanted to this mission. If we run into that Lockjaw and I kill it that's bonus credit and it puts me one step closer to getting her attention." He replied.

"Carefully with that mindset kid." Nu warned. "I know you guys hunt Grimm for a living but if you're not careful instead of her heart you're probably going to piss her off by dying on her. Here's a better question, does she even go for stuff like that?"

"Well it helps. I'm trying to impress an heir to the Schnee Dust Company, don't you think being a great fighter helps?"

"Yeah Goggles it does help. Then again, so does having better fashion sense." In the short time span they'd known each other Nu seemed to have made it a personal mission to make fun of Neptune's outfit every ten minutes or so. It was playful but Neptune didn't see the point in it, there was nothing wrong with his choice of fashion. "Listen kid, if it's a Schnee we're talking about here then you better bulk up for one hell of a ride. Especially since you're best friend is a Faunus."

There was no denying the sliver of truth in Nu's words. "You've got a point but she's different from others. She has a Faunus on her team." Sun was probably going to have his head for that one but he felt he could trust Detective Nu.

Obviously he was more surprised than angry by that secret. "A Faunus on her team? And they haven't torn each other's heads off by now?"

"Nope. Though it's for the best if you don't mention the White Fang." Checking his watch quickly Neptune let out a low sigh. Weiss and Ruby should be at the Schnee Company meeting by now. His crush was probably marching into a business room while he's roaming around in sewage water, not the best order of events he could have asked for. "She's working on getting Faunus better treatment in that new company building in town. She's probably there right now."

"So let me get this right; a Schnee that stands up for Faunus's rights?" Seeing Neptune's nod the detective released something that was a cross between a grunt and a chuckle. "Man what I wouldn't give to see that." Early on he made it clear he bared no ill feelings against Faunus as evident by his acceptance of Sun. "Well Goggles sounds like you've set your eyes on one hell of lady. As happy as I am for you I need those sights down here, wouldn't want you losing an eye or a leg."

As long as Neptune kept his goggles on he was sure that wasn't going to be a problem. Like the rest of his clothing his goggles served a function besides just being stylish. They had built in night vision, could adjust to see sights a maximum of twenty feet away, and see in UV lighting. Work on them had taken weeks thanks to his secretive nature but in the end they'd saved his, and his teammates', lives enough time to it worth it.

The squad of five officers and six SWAT members went silent as they got closer and closer to the Dust trails Neptune had picked up. If there were being guarded then they were about to get the drop on the criminals and the whole matter would hopefully end in a one minute fire fight. The sloshing of boots trudging through water and trash were greatly muffled as the group moved in unified order towards their goal. There wasn't a signal doubt they could all feel the tension that would more than likely explode in the next one minute.

SPLASH!

Neptune nearly squeezed the trigger of his weapon until he was able to take in the full form of the person running towards them. After taking in the figure his voice broke the tension of the group, "Hold fire!"

Stumbling into the light was a blonde in tattered rags and covered in dirt. Dropping his weapon immediately Neptune threw out his arms to catch her. As she fell into his arms he noticed the sickening smell of blood. She was bleeding from her left shoulder, right leg, and had countless cuts on her body. Not one part of her body wasn't stained in some form or manner. Even as Neptune held her she kept flailing her arms about and trying to tear herself away from the blue haired warrior.

It took Neptune a second to calm her down. Her dark green eyes were frantic and fearful. "Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get me the hell out of here!" She kept screaming over and over again with tears streaming down her face. He had place both hands on her cheeks to get her to stay still and calm down. "Down here! Everyone's who's been missing! They took us down here and they…did, they di-did something to us. T-T-They…they I-" Her eyes went wide as an eye-piercing howl caught everyone's attention.

What started as a lone howl soon turned into a chorus of animalistic screaming. Neptune and Nu felt their muscles tense instantly. They'd heard these sound before and last time it hadn't ended well. It still haunted their respective dreams.

Grabbing his radio he began shouting frantically into it. "This is Team Two we are falling back! I repent we are falling back along route D!"

No sooner was the order given that all hell broke loose and right on top of them. From the front, left, and right crazed attackers came out of the shadows screaming in rage and for blood.

"Oh hell not again!"

Neptune hadn't told anyone but he still had nightmares about Greensburg Intersection. Twice he'd woken in the middle of the night with the scenes of fire and death running in his mind and now he living the nightmare. Only it was worse.

The girl they'd rescued was clinging onto his waist like there was no tomorrow and it was throwing his aim off a little. With his goggles he could see the approaching hordes and he only kept snarling one word over and over again, "SHIT!" His rifle shot arcs of blue electricity everywhere, some of his shots coming close to hitting some of the officers huddled around him.

Nu's face was twisted in a snarl as he continued pouring lead into their attackers. "Damn it does anyone copy!?" Pressing into his radio all he heard was scattered screaming and, much to his horror, feral snarls. "Dan! Dan! Come on please tell me you're still alive!"

His partner's voice came in scattered pieces over the com-link. "Jo-Joe! Con-con-on-down! Ro-Rolling re-re….t! JOE! Get-ev-rally…Station!"

Roaring in fury Nu let his gunblade burn emerald green light as its payload went from simple bullets to now miniature fireballs. In the dark light of the sewers the bodies impacted immediately caught fire creating for an even more horrific sight. A few of the officers paused to look at the detective in horror before he snapped his head in their direction. "Do you want to see daylight or not!?" He barked.

The girl behind him was whimpered she wanted to oh so much and Neptune really wanted to as well. That was the reason he readjusted the power output of his fusion rifle. It wasn't stunning enemies; it was blasting holes in them or frying them on the spot.

"Get the hell off me! Get off!" One of the SWAT members cried after losing an eye to a claw swipe. "Guys! Help!"

Just as Neptune turned his gun to do so he saw it was already too late. The attacker had smashed his face into the officer's face with such force he could hear his skull crack from the moment of impact. The attacker didn't stop there and continued to rain blow after blow down on the downed officer, others joining in via tearing and biting at his downed body.

Screaming in horror and fury attention was turned to the downed officer instead of those advancing on their position. It was a fatal mistake. They swarmed on top of them like mouths to a flame.

"Hold positions damn it!" Nu screamed forced to turn his attention to the whole in their defense.

It was already too late for that.

Those that turned their backs on their attackers either had their throats slit or were having their eyes torn and scratched at. Their shots went astray as they were pulled into the ground or sewage water. Their screams were lost to the animalistic roars the attackers gave off.

"Goggles! The water!" Nu screeched switching his gunblade to its sword form. "Do it!"

They say you make decisions in the heat of battle you wouldn't normally make when you were calm. Neptune made one of those when he took aim at the water and squeezed the trigger. "Get away from the water!"

The four remaining officers besides Nu scrambled away from the water and hugged the walls. The blue bolt of lightning hit the water and the whole area was lit up like a Christmas tree. Neptune kept the trigger squeezed so the stream of energy was continuous. Howls of pain went up like the smoke rising from the black and green water. The girl behind him squeezed her eyes shot and hugged Neptune like he was her life line. She could look away from the horror unfolding before her; Neptune could not. If he did then he would miss something important and probably end up getting his face torn off. With his goggles still on he could see the crazed attackers twisting in the darkness as the electricity burned away their flesh.

The whole ordeal lasted less than three minutes but by the time it was over the whole tunnel smelled of burnt flesh. For the five remaining officers, frightened teenage girl, and shell-shocked in-training Hunter they knew what had just happened would haunt them for months, if not, years on end. Neptune was the worst of the lot; his weapon fell from his trembling hands and the vile building in his mouth was close to spilling out of his mouth.

"RRRROAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!"

The vile in the Mistral native's stomach was halted and pushed down. His hands shot to his weapon as he scrambled back into firing position. Further down the tunnels he could see more of their attackers charging through the darkness like a horde of crazed bulls.

Nu read the look on Neptune's face and cursed loudly. "Listen up people, we're getting the hell out of here! Price! Vickers! Cover the rear! Anders and Chang, the sides! Girl stay behind me and Goggles! Neptune! You're with me on point! Move it now!"

Just before bolting the blue haired boy reached into his pocket and produced a sizable container of fire-attribute Dust. Hurling it into the horde it almost disappeared into the darkness before he shot at it with his fusion rifle. A cloud of fire and lightning stopped the horde dead in the tracks for all of ten seconds before they pushed through it. Even as their limbs and faces were being burnt off by the flames and lightning they continued screaming for blood.

With panic and fear fueling their bodies the six now thoroughly terrified warriors and lost girl ran as fast as their legs could carry them through the darkness. Over each of their radio nothing but scattered pieces of gunfire and screaming came through until some of them threw their coms into the water out of sheer frustration. Those in the rear could just barely make out the crazed light from their attackers eyes, they were like miniature torches.

Every often an order to shot at the legs of their attackers would come from Nu. It was the best they could do since only a headshot or shot to the heart would slow them down. Besides that it served to slow down those lying in wait.

"ARGH!"

"Vickers!"

Neptune didn't dare look back to see what had happened. All he needed to hear was the sickening sound of leather and flesh being teared through to tell him what had happened. His grip on the girl tightened and his pace increased. "Sun!" he yelled over his com link. "SUN! SUN!"

"Forget it kid!" Nu shouted desperately trying to assure himself they were heading in the right direction. "Focus on staying alive!"

As much as it pained him Neptune knew the older man was right. He had to focus on staying alive so he could actually meet his best friend and partner again. And see Weiss again. And the light of day.

CRICK! CRACK!

Momentarily turning to his right Neptune saw a series of spider-web cracks forming in the wall. At first he didn't know what to make it until the cracks grew larger and a low growl unlike anything else hit his ears. It sounded…reptilian. Oh God not now! "NU! THE LOCKJAW!"

For over a month police had been tracking the elusive crocodilian Grimm through the sewers of Vale city to little avail. It had killed a reported sum of ten people though everyone suspected the number was far higher given the Grimm's tendency to eat its victims whole and the loss of remains in the sewage waters. The Lockjaw burst through the concrete walls to the group's left, roaring as loud as it could. Its amber colored eyes scanned the scene once before lunging at the humans.

What happened next was a mixture of shooting, more screaming, a four foot long set of snapping jaws. Neptune and the girl fell to the size while Nu was smacked against the wall, his gunblade still going off. The four remaining officers panicked and began shooting at the demonic crocodile, totally forgetting they had a horde of blood-crazed maniacs on their tail. Neptune could see one of them get his whole upper body ripped off by the Lockjaw then the rest in one swift motion. It roared again and swung its tail sending another section of the wall tumbling down. The horde returned now jumping at the Grimm. They scratched and pounded against its dirt stained white armor but for all their ferocity they might as well have been ants. Again the Lockjaw swung its tail now more annoyed then angry.

Neptune tried to get a good lock on the Grimm but when he squeezed the trigger he saw nothing but a blue fizzle come out of the barrel.

"Goggles!" Nu's voice came through over the chaos. "Take the girl and get the hell out of here! Follow the map on you-"

Snapping his head in Nu's direction he saw he was falling into the water with one of the crazes grabbing at his face. Neptune looked back at the girl's emerald green eyes then at the chaos around them. The Lockjaw was kicking and thrashing at everything that moved while the crazes were pouring in. He couldn't see the remaining officers but he knew even if he could spot them it wouldn't do any good. Grabbing the girl's hand he hosted her onto her feet and took off down the right side tunnel.

He kept running and running until he could no longer hear the roars of the Grimm or snarling of the crazes. Even as his legs felt like they were going to collapse on him he kept running and dragging the girl along with him until she finally fell to the floor a sobbing wreck. That was the que for Neptune to stop as well. As she lay on the ground with tears flowing down her cheeks he made his way to the edge of the water and leaned over. All the vile he'd been suppressing came gushing out for around five minutes. When he was done he stared at the crap sweeping through the sewage water in horrified awe.

Withdrawing from the edge he dragged himself over the wall and leaned back against it with a dazed look in his blue-gray eyes. Within arm's reach was his weapon but he was too shaken to pick it up and not five feet away was the blond, now on her knees and with her head in her hands. Neptune didn't blame her.

Neither teenager moved or made a sad except for their labored breathing or sobbing. Neptune simply stared at the faded graffiti on the wall while the girl continued sobbing her heart out. Not for the first time the blue haired youth felt like his entire body was weightless. It always was a strange and surreal feeling he got whenever he experienced something stressful or intense. Besides his fingers nothing else could be moved.

That didn't just happen. There's no way in hell that just happened. He kept repeating those words in his head however he knew in his heart there was no denying he just watched over eight people get slaughtered and there was nothing he could do about. The sheer magnitude of the past ten minutes replayed in his head until he noticed the girl he'd run into was looking at him.

If it weren't for her tears and dirty clothing Neptune would have found her pretty attractive. Odds are if they had met anywhere other than the sewers of the city he probably would have tried hitting on her. In all honesty he didn't really know what to say to her. "…" Her eyes were just as scared as his but the more Neptune looked the more he saw she was struggling to hold it together. "Um," He sat up a little more. "I know this is probably going to sound stupid but are you okay?"

Her lips trembled before her voice came out barely above a whisper. "Y-Yeah. I-I-I-I'm sorry. I'm just so…" The tears came back as she threw herself onto Neptune's shoulders. He didn't push her away instead wrapping her in his arms. Once her sobbing quieted down she wiped the tears and dirt from her cheeks. "I'm Trixie by the way."

"Neptune."

Her eyes took in his clothing then the gray weapon he'd reached over and grabbed. "So…are you a student at the academy?"

"Close. I'm from Haven. My partner and I are here for the Vytal Festival. We've been going to Beacon for the last few weeks since the festival keeps getting put on hold. I was assigned a mission to help out the police force." He chuckled without any humor. "As you can see this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. What about you?"

Trixie nudged herself beside him against the wall. She brought her knees up making her already fragile state look even worse. Her eyes were almost like fragile as was her voice, "I…I don't really remember all that well. I was…I was at my house, sleeping then I woke up thanks to the earthquake. M-My parents were trapped in the house so I-I went to go get help. T-There was this airship that I flagged down and then…" Her eyes grew widen. "It all just…goes black. I was out cold and when I woke up I was strapped to a table in some kind of operating room. There was a whole lot of other people with me." As she spoke her next words her voice broke causing Neptune to put his arm around her to steady her. "I remember they…they injected us with something." Their eyes locked, Neptune's shocked orbs with her terrified pupils. "Those people who attacked us, they were in the room with me! I kept blacking out, sometimes I was on an operating table and other times I was in some kind of cage. I saw them…they were locked in a room and they were killing each other! They threw people, animals. Faunus in with them and they tore them apart! Sometimes I…"

Neptune grew worried when Trixie's eyes widened to great proportions. Her whole body began to shack uncontrollable as new tears spring from her eyes. Once again he comforted her, quietly asking her what it was she remembered. "Trixie, what is it? What happened?"

Through her sobbing Neptune could detect the unimaginable horror in her voice as well as the self-hatred. "It was me Neptune! Sometimes I was in one of those rooms! My hands were covered in blood! I could taste the blood in my mouth! I…I…oh God Neptune what did they do to me!"

As the blond continued crying on his shoulder Neptune became very aware of the little light they had. The glow stick he'd used to light their way was only enough to illuminate about six feet around them, everything else was covered din a fog of darkness and silence. Trixie's sobbing coupled with the low leaking sound of the various pipes made him wish he could just pipe open a hatch and step right out into daylight; just leave this nightmare behind him. The blonde's pain-filled cries shattered that desire; reminding him of the reality of his situation. All he could do was whisper it was okay to Trixie over and over again even when she shook her head in protest.

Once she'd calmed down a little she continued her story. "Between my blackouts I heard them talking about what they injected us with. I think they called it IRA. There were so many of us packed in those cages…some of them were homeless and some of them were Faunus." Suddenly she turned to him. "Neptune what's today?"

When he told her she cursed loudly and slammed her hands into the floor. The earthquake was a little over a month ago and she'd been missing that whole time. She was one of the missing. Neptune realized sadly. Naturally in the aftermath of any natural disaster there were missing people, those unable to be confirmed either dead or alive leaving their loved ones in a constant state of limbo. "How did you end up down here?"

Trixie thought for a minute before answering back. "I remember we were in a truck, moving. When it stopped they lowered us down here then they made us breath in some kind of gas. Half of us went crazy in our cages while the rest just started coughing their guts out. I was one of them. It felt like my whole body was on fire. I couldn't see too far ahead but I saw the people who held us talking with some gangsters. They exchanged some crates then they…"

"They what?" Neptune had a feeling he wasn't going to like her answer. Hell, her whole story ahd already terrified him more than he thought possible.

"Those of us that went crazy," she shivered as her word did indeed horrify Neptune. "They let them out of the cages. Then they unlocked the rest of us and just took off. I saw them Neptune, I watched them rip those guys apart limb from limb like they were Grimm. After that they came after the rest of us. I…I made a break for it. I didn't know what to do so I just ran and ran until I saw some lights and then I…bumped into you."

Neptune remained silent as the girl's story slowly sank into his head. What the hell has been going on around in this city? If she hadn't mentioned Faunus being imprisoned with her he would have jumped directly to the White Fang being involved. The fact they weren't only made things worse. That meant there was some new evil organization in town. One with apparent access to a zombie-virus or something.

"Neptune," Trixie spoke. Her green eyes were wide and fearfully. "What's going to happen to me?"

For a while Neptune didn't say anything. The smart thing to do would have been to be honest with Trixie and tell her he didn't know. Of course that meant crushing the poor girl's hope and Neptune wasn't about to let that happen. Reaching for his Scroll he pulled up a map of the sewer system. "What's going to happen is I'm going to get you out of here and to a doctor. After that we're going to find your family and I'm going to have a chat with the guys who did this to you." Like he thought even though she was physically in a horrible state she looked quite stunning when she smiled. Throwing her arms around him in joy this time Neptune silently prayed he would be able to come through on his promise. Grabbing his weapon he jumped to his feet then helped Trixie to hers. "Just stay right behind me and do exactly as I saw. My partner's down here somewhere and I got to find him. After that I'll get you to the surface then I'm coming back for Nu and the others."

Trixie place both hands on his shoulders. "Okay just…Neptune please don't do anything stupid okay?"

Does causing random explosions count as stupid? He mentally chuckled.


Sun's vision shifted between murky green and depressing gray as he struggled to force his eyes to focus. His body ached like there was no tomorrow and there was a ringing in his head that sounded very much like bells going off. He could feel all his limbs were still attached though he lacked both the strength and will to use them. Yes, as gross as it was lying in the sewage water was much easier than attempting to stand on his own legs. Aura had protected him from the flames but his body was still bare to the blunt force trauma of getting thrown into a concrete wall.

Voices came in though they were blurry and scattered. "Where's Alton? I don't see him anywhere!"

"I-I think I got his signal!" Another answered. "It is! I got him!"

"Good! Let's find him and get the hell out of here!"

"What about that kid?"

"Screw that monkey! We'll just say he died in the explosion! Now quit wasting time and get moving!"

The footsteps grew lighter and lighter until Sun could no longer hear them. Wow guys. Should I thank you for not even looking for me and trying to kill me? Or maybe for not even putting much thought into what to do with me? This wasn't anything new. This wasn't anything special. The fact he'd just been left for dead by the cops was entirely natural. For a Faunus. If you were a human they might have actually tried but if you had animal ears, fangs, or something even resembling animal traits you were out of luck. I was an idiot for thinking something different. Grunting Sun began to push himself upward, barfing out the questionable contents he'd been letting into his mouth. He made a mental note to stop by the store and find the best mouth wash available.

Once he got to his feet he saw there was no going back as the tunnel had collapsed into a thick wall of rubble he'd need a rocket to break through. Blood trailed down the slabs courtesy of the mangled bodies buried within them. Sun looked away not wanting to see any more. The image on his Scroll was fuzzy but he could make out the blue dots that represented the remaining officers. There were seven of them. Neptune was represented by his trident emblem and Sun let out a breath that his partner was alive.

He walked with a certain stiffness and alertness that resembled an animal on high alert. It wouldn't have been wrong to say at that point Sun was an animal, one that was greatly out of its natural environment and now being stalked by an unknown predator. Said predator were lurking around every corner and below the depths of the sewage water. The cold truth was Sun was scared. Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang was held tightly in his hand and was nearly raised at every shadow that jumped at him. Aw man it's a damn good thing Neptune, Blake, and the others aren't here to see me. I just look flat out pitiful.

As he continued walked the sewage tunnel began to change in shape; it was becoming more rectangular and with more pipes running along the sides. Sun didn't bother to check to see what he was under. He had enough to worry about without causing some kind of property damage.

BANG! BANG!

Snapping Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang into a guarding position he advanced slowly to where he heard the officers scream. The closer he got the more he could see. It didn't feel like they'd been attacked by infected, if they had there would have been more noise.

The two officers were lying in the water. One of them had burn hole in the middle of his stomach and the other was missing his left arm and had a burn hole in his right side. Both of them had looks of sheer horror on their faces. Their attacker stood with his back to Sun with two dark blue and gray rifles in his hands. His night vision was enough for him make out the waist length leather jacket and imposing figure that now stood before Sun. When he turned around Sun was able to get a much better look at the man, and Sun promptly felt like turning his tail and running. The man was six foot three with a fairly muscular build. Like Sun his pants and boots were stained all kinds of colors. Sun could just barely tell that his hair was dark blue with a set of bangs framing his face. There was a jagged scar running from the bottom of his left side cheek to his neck. His eyes were piecing silver and his grin was positively homicidal.

In one look Sun knew beyond the shadow of a doubt this man was dangerous. Too dangerous for him to take on without any back up and with the possible threat that Lockjaw and deranged lunatics running around.

Run! Now!

The strange man broke out into a chuckle as Sun started back tracking. "Hehehe, sure sucks to be a Faunus huh? These guys left you for dead right?" He broke out into laughter when Sun's expression grew grave. "I'm right aren't I? Man cops sure haven't changed much since I was your age. Granted you're probably lucky they didn't put a bullet in your skull and made a break for it. Guess that's what good thing the FRR got right."

Sun wasted no time in throwing the veil of concentrated fire Dust after infusing it with Aura. He got no more than three stops before he was staring into the scar faced man. Wearing the same grin he had before.

"Sorry kid but I'm not that easy to shake off."

Sun broke Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang into nunchunk form and lashed out. Both weapons bounced off the man like they just hit some invisible force field. Sun continued trying to hit him only to for the man to casually fall back and dodge each of his attacks. Reforming the two into staff form he tried an overhead swing the man easily parried with one of his rifles. Spinning Ruyi Bang Jingu Bang he almost hit him in the head until the same force repelled his attack. Breaking his weapon back into nunchunk form he swung at the man's face while mixing in a series of kicks and leg sweeps he hoped would be enough.

Throughout the whole assault the man kept that same grin on his face. "You got some skill kid. Sad though you're stuck wasting it down here." His eyes caught Sun's right fist flying towards his left cheek moments after he dodged a shotgun blast. "Now I think it's my turn."

The blond saw the man's grin grow even more malicious but it was too late to act. His fist didn't make contact with his face.

Instead Sun watched in silent horror as his right arm twisted clockwise until he could hear the loud snapping of his bones.

For a second his mind was so numb with pain he couldn't scream. He wanted the numbness back when it left him. "AAAARRGGGH!" Stopping his attack he stumbled back struggling to hold off the supernova of pain tearing through his body. He screamed profanities into the darkness. His pain and rage filled eyes shot to the man only to find he wasn't there. Shock shined through pain until his combat senses sounded the alarm.

CRACK!

This time Sun could loudly hear the sound of his left side ribs breaking under what felt like a charge from a rhino. His back slammed into the wall sending him over the edge into a world of pain he never knew existed. Black spots began to consume his vision. His fingers twitched uncontrollable.

"See ya later monkey boy." The man cackled.

Sun couldn't tell where his voice was coming from; he wasn't aware of anything expect the pain in his arm and left side. Just as the footsteps vanished he heard the faintest growling and snarling. His heart rate practically sky rocketed to the mind. As the growling grew louder Sun was only able to mutter one word through the pain, "Shit."


Hm, Sun and Neptune sure are in a tight spot huh? How will they get out of this one? Will they live to see daylight again? Is Sun's time up? Until next chapter!