Chapter 4: Out of the frying pan
Three years ago: Kingdom of Vale
"Run!" shouted Michelle
The twins scattered in an attempt to flank the colossal Grimm. The massive snake slithered forward as its White half lunged at the girls and the Black half struck at Kole and Katherine. Michelle and Stacey drew their pistols, switched them to fully automatic fire, and opened fire at the beast. The Grimm used its head and swung at the twins, smashing through several trees and sent Stacey flying through the air.
"Ah shit!" yelled Kole as he chased after her. "I got her, I got her." Before she hit the ground, Kole held out his arms and caught her mid-air.
"My hero!" she said kissing his cheek. Kole lowered her to the ground and helped her to her feet. "What the fuck do we do?"
"First off: don't swear. Kate hates swearing. Secondly: I got an idea. The three of us distract the Grimm while Kate goes in for the kill."
"Do you really expect that midget to kill a fucking Grimm that huge?"
"Hey! Watch the language and trust me my girlfriend can handle it."
Stacey grit her teeth and cringed at the mere mention of the word 'girlfriend'. She ran ahead to Michelle and concentrated fire at the White half while Kole focused on the Black half. Meanwhile Katherine unsheathed Mura and Masa, and leapt from branch to branch on a large towering oak tree. Once she was high enough in the air, she jumped down with her kukris in hand aiming for the red eye marking as if it were a bullseye. When the blades hit their mark, the colossal Grimm let out a thunderous roar as the faint smoke began to seep through the puncture holes.
Seeing the White half of the king Taijitu was dead, Stacey and Michelle rushed to Kole's aide, who was slashing at the Black head with the blade of his pistol. The beast raised and cocked its head back and starred at the Huntsman, observing the patterns of its attacks.
"We got your back Kole" yelled Michelle
The Huntsman turned back to reply to the teammates, when the Grimm lunged forward and snatched the Huntsman with its mighty jaws.
"Kole!" screamed Katherine
"I'm okay." He said lifting open the beast's jaws with his back and gripping the massive fangs. "I'm okay. Babe, just kill this bitch. Don't worry about m-" The beast clenched its jaws down and swallowed the Huntsman whole. It then swung its head at the women in an effort to devour a second Huntsman.
"No!" screamed the girls in unison
The twins reloaded their pistols and unloaded a hail of bullets at the Creature of Grimm. Katherine jumped atop the body of the snake and ran towards the Black half. A cloud of pale blue light formed around her as she spun at tornadic speeds and decapitated the Black head. With the Grimm dead, she dropped her kukris and fell to her knees crying for her loss.
She scooped up a handful of the Grimm's ashes as she wept. "Kole. I'm so sorry. Why did you have to fight that thing alone?"
"Probably cause I'm the badass Lone Wolf and nothing can kill me." came a voice from a pile of ash.
Stacey and Michelle rushed to the ash heap and found a buried Kole. "You're alive!" said Stacey as she hugged him tight and kissed him on the lips.
"Thank God you're okay. I guess the stories about your team are true." Said Michelle hugging the Huntsman and resting her head on his shoulder.
Seeing her teammates kiss Kole and openly display so much affection for him, a rush of fury flooded within Katherine. "Stay away from my man!" She yelled picking up her kukris and rushing towards the twins.
Kole pushed the women away and blocked his girlfriend's attacks with the blade of his pistol. He placed his right hand on the barrel to better hold off the attack "Kate, calm down! It's okay. They didn't mean anything by it. Right?" he said looking back at the girls cowering in fear of the small Huntress.
"Yes. We didn't mean anything by it" screamed Michelle in fear.
"I'm sorry I kissed him. Please don't kill us." Cried Stacey
"I don't care. I heard them make fun of me back at Beacon and she was trying to take you from me. She has to pay!" Katherine yelled pushing the blades of her kukris against Desperado.
"Kate they said they are sorry. Now please stop this." The huntress starred at the women with hate burning in her eyes. It was clear she wasn't going to let this go. In a last ditch effort Kole pushed back the attack. "Please forgive me for this." He said "Kate! You, crazy bitch. Stop it!"
The Huntress stood for a second in shock at what was just said and turned her attention from the twins, towards Kole. The Huntsman holstered his pistol and ran like hell.
"My God the rumors about these people are true."
"I know right? I feel bad for the people who are with the other two jackasses"
"Run!" screamed Marcus as Olivia covered their retreat with a blast of fire Dust. "I don't wanna die like this!"
"Where the hell did they come from?" shouted Olivia
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Hell itself."
Far off in the distance, a large pack of beowolves, were barreling towards the village down the dirt road to the township. The beast's hateful snarls and howls drew the villagers to panic.
"Seal the gates!" Shouted Violet "Shade, take up a defensive position on the left flank. Olivia you do the same on the right flank. Marcus you and I will hold the center position."
"That's not the only position I'd like to hold with ya." He said running to Violet's side
"Marcus! Now's not the time for your bullshit!" Shouted Shade as she opened fire at the horde of Grimm.
The battle seemed to commence for hours. The surrounding forest was so thick it forced the Grimm to continue down the road. This natural defense allowed Shade and Olivia to bottleneck the Grimm while Violet and Marcus could finish off any that managed to squeeze through the 'fatal funnel'.
"Keep it up people!" Shouted Shade
"Shit I'm running low on ammo." Hollered Olivia as she transformed her shotgun to Mace mode and ran headfirst into the pack.
"Olivia get back to your position. Let Marcus and I take care of them."
"Fuck that, I can take them."
"Shit. Looks like it's time for Plan-B." yelled Shade as she also transformed her shotgun to melee mode.
"We have a Plan-B?" said Marcus as he sent a wave of Dust energy at the Grimm with his sword.
"This is the first I'm hearing about it." admitted a concerned Violet.
Shade and Olivia advanced to the dirt path to slaughter the Grimm. Violet holstered her pistol and charged on to help her teammates. The Huntresses and Huntsman hacked and slashed at the beasts. With only a few Grimm left standing, Shade decided to challenge the pack' s alpha beowolf. She swung her axe at the beast but the Grimm caught it mid swing and slashed at the Huntress. She then began to encircle the beast, trying to spot a weakness. She lunged forward at the alpha and hooked the beast's head with the beard of her axe. The Huntress then pulled the trigger on the weapons grip, the force of the shotgun's recoil helped the Huntress decapitate the Grimm in one slick move. With her foe vanquished Shade unleashed a blood curdling howl and started to get an evil look in her eyes. All around her, the faunus' aura started to flare like green fire.
"Shade!" shouted Marcus "Calm down. It's over."
Realizing what was about to happen, the young faunus dropped Skeggart and took a step away from the smoldering Grimm. "I'm good. I'm good."
Wooohhhh!" yelled Marcus "Now that was something. Come on girls, we gotta get a selfie of this." He said holding his scroll high over his head to get himself, the girls, and the smoldering Grimm corpses in the background.
"I have to admit it was an honor fighting alongside you." Violet said patting Shade on the back
"I'm just glad that you didn't go rabid towards the end." Admitted Olivia
With their task complete Violet radioed a nearby airship to take them back to Beacon. It wasn't until a little after five o'clock that the rest of team SMKK had returned. Shade and Marcus were relaxing in their dorm room when someone began pounding on their door.
"For the love of God let me in!" shouted a voice.
"Kole? Is that you?" Asked Shade
"Shade open the fucking door now!"
The Huntress opened the door and a sweaty and exhausted Kole rushed inside and slammed the door behind him. Amongst his sweat drenched clothes he had a look of absolute fear.
"Kole what happened? Stacey and Michelle got back hours ago. Where's Kate"
The young man hunched over trying to catch his breath. "God I need to quit smoking." He said lighting a cigarette. "Guys… it's Kate. She's trying to kill me!"
"What did you do?" shouted Marcus with concern for his friend
Before he could answer they heard a loud shriek outside their window. "Kole Fridulf! Where are you?" Kole was so struck by fear he dropped his cigarette and ducked away from the window.
"Oh God, she's here. Guys you need to hide me."
"Quick, hide under the bed." Marcus said pointing at Kate's bed
"Seriously?"
"Dude everyone in horror movies hide under the bed. It's so obvious she'll never expect it."
"You have better be right about this." The scared Huntsman jumped under the bed and struggled to keep still as he heard more pounding at the door. His heart beat as loud as a drum. He pulled the edges of the bed sheets low as to better camouflage himself.
"Open this door now!"
"Kate? Is everything okay?" asked Marcus
"Shade let me in!"
The young Huntress barged inside with her kukris in hand and looked all around the room for her prey. She looked under the writing desk, in the closet, and in bathroom tub. She spun her head around trying to find any sign of him.
"Kate what's going on?" asked Shade as she tried not to look towards Kole's hiding spot
"Do you have any idea where he is?" she replied franticly
"Who?"
"Your brother! He needs to pay for what he did."
"What did the idiot do this time?" Shade said trying to act normal
"Those twins tried to take him from me. But then he called me crazy. So I chased him all the way back to Beacon."
"You ran after him for 20 miles? How are you not out of breath or even breaking a sweat?"
Again, Kate looked around the room and smelled the smoke from Kole's still burning cigarette laying at the foot of his bed. Katherine looked to her friends, pressed her index finger to her lips, and slowly crept towards Kole's bed. "Well it looks like he's not here. Im going to check with team AGAT. Auburn's probably hiding him in their dorm." In one swift and fluid motion she thrusted her kukris through his mattress and managed to strike the carpeted floor. beneath
"Kate! No!" screamed Shade seeing the fury in which Katherine lacerated the mattress.
In an instant Kole shot from under Katherine's bed and yelled in shock and fear. "What the hell woman! You were going to kill me?"
"There you are you little piece of…" she screamed kicking Kole across the room and pinned him against the wall.
"Babe I'm sorry. I had no choice. You would have done the same thing if you were me." She pressed her right handed kukri, Masa, against his neck, making him gasp for air.
"Any last words?" she said with her pale blue eyes flashing with rage.
Instinctively Kole drew his pistol and pointed it at Katherine's stomach. "Just three: Mutually assured destruction. Kill me, I kill you."
"Enough!" Shade yelled aiming her shotgun at Katherine's head. "If anyone will kill him it will be me. The two of you drop your weapons now!"
Katherine then swung her left-handed kukri, Mura, around into a reverse grip and aligned it at Shade's throat; keeping her hold on Kole "You lied to me Shade! I thought we were friends."
"We are friends Kate. I just didn't want you to hurt my brother."
I'm not going to kill him. I'm just going to hurt him really, really, badly."
From nowhere Marcus emerged from his bed and aimed his sword at the small of Shade's back. "Stop it, all of you or I swear I'll impale the both of you. Damn it I had the perfect joke for something like this.
"Marcus! What the fuck are you doing?" Yelled Shade trying to look behind her and yet keep an eye on the unpredictable Katherine.
"You guys were doing stuff, so I didn't want to feel left out. It felt weird not being a part of this threesome. Oh! I got it. Hey, Kole. Talk about double penetration, right?" he said with a perverted laugh
"Seriously dude, you could have just died and your last words were going to be a fucking sex joke?"
"Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Excuse me but,.." Kole struggled to say with the sword to his neck "Um. My pistol is loaded with this experimental gravity and fire Dust I made for Professor Peach's class. If that thing goes off it will literally kill all of us and will most likely takeout this entire half of the dorms. So Kate would you be so kind as to not kill me just yet?"
"He's bluffing." growled Katherine.
"I may be a gambling man but even I don't want to take this risk. Do what he says Kate" said Marcus as he eased away from Shade.
Katherine slammed her Kukris into the floor and into the wall, pinning Kole's jacket collar in the process. She turned around and sat far away from Kole. As she walked away, she hit all three of her teammates for swearing: She punched Kole in the face, slugged Shade in the arm, and kneed Marcus in the groin. "All of you need to watch your language around me."
"Nice bluff dude. You even had me scared with the whole 'team SMKK going up in smoke' thing"
Kole flung his pistol forward and caught the science experiment in mid-air to show his friend. "Wasn't a bluff see." He said holstering his pistol and taking a seat at the foot of his lacerated bed.
"Crazy motherfucker!"
In an instant Katherine's head snapped her head to Marcus as she reached for her throwing knives "He wasn't talking to you Kate. Calm down!" Shade pulled up a chair and acted as a counselor for the couple. The young faunus sat with her shotgun on her lap "Now Katherine. Tell us calmly, what happened."
"We were attacked by a King Taijitu, Kole got eaten, and when he got out of the Grimm, those harlots kissed him and tried to take him from me. I only wanted to reason with them, but Kole thought I overreacted and –"
"Overreacted? You tried to kill the twins, so I tried to stop you. The only way I know best" He interrupted
"Wait. Kole, you get eaten?" Marcus said laughing, "Tell me. Did it spit or swallow you?"
"Marcus shut up! And Kole let Kate continue." She said gesturing towards the Huntress
Well like I said I wanted to confront the girls, but he stood in my way and called me crazy. Plus he swore at me."
Shade looked at her brother with disapproval. "Now Kole. Let's hear your side of the story."
"As I was saying she tried to kill the twins. So I did my job and protected them. Kate was out for blood and I didn't want her to get expelled for killing teammates, so I decided to take the heat. Calling her craz- I mean saying the c-word was the only way I knew."
"Kate. Tell me, when Kole uses 'that word'. How does it make you feel?"
"Angry. Because when we first meet I told him not to use that word. And at times I feel like he's just not listening."
"Okay. Kole, why is that?"
"I'm sorry, I got bored. What were you saying?" he said putting his Scroll back in his pocket.
"Damn it Kole!"
"You see! He never listens, he's immature, and hes the most insufferable jerk I had ever met."
"Yeah. And your point being?"
"I swear I'm going to-"
"I thought you never swear? Isn't that breaking one of your own rules?" Katherine jumped up from her chair about to slap Kole with the back of her hand. "Not the face!" he screamed trying to protect his head
"Kate can I talk to you out in the hallway!" Shade said aiming the shotgun at the huntress.
"Okie dokie." Said Katherine as she smiled at Shade and glared at Kole.
Time passed slowly as the Huntsmen sat in the deafening silence of their dorm room. Kole lit himself a cigarette and began to think what is about to unfold for him.
"Wow, you're really in the dog house now ain'tcha?" laughed Marcus
"Shut the fuck up dude!" he said wiping away his bloody nose.
The door slowly opened as Kate emerged with a bright and happy smile on her face as she retrieved her kukris. The little girl approached Kole, who's first reaction was to grab a hold of Desperado. "Kole I am sorry for what I did. Can you forgive me?" she pleaded, flashing her melancholy blue eyes.
"Uh…sure?" He said completely surprised and suspicious at the same time.
"Kole, it's your turn." Shade said leading him out to the empty hallway.