"I dunno about this, man. You're talking about me and Saffron fighting together. I'm down, but she's… pretty pissed…" Midas scratched the back of his head. Both of his forearms were bandaged from escorting and defending civilians, but his injuries were minor and already healing quickly thanks to his aura.
"I know. I know… but I'm not thinking about personal feelings right now." Arty moved around some of his paintballs on the a dark oak table, each supposed to represent a person in their group. After going around the evacuation area and seeing who was both able and willing to fight, their options weren't very broad. "I'm trying to think about who'd be most effective depending on which group they're in."
Three pieces of paper torn from his sketchbook were lined up in a row on the table in front of him. The first had a drawing of the Forté yacht stuck in the ferris wheel. The second had a drawing of three figures fighting on the boardwalk. The third had a drawing of a few of the massive beast's tentacles rising out of the ocean. Each designated a job that had to be done for the plan Arty had in mind.
Saffron sat opposite to Midas in the circle of students. They occupied one of the conference rooms inside the Pillars of Vytal where security had been worn thin in the evacuation efforts, and she had plopped herself down in one of the rolling chairs around the dark oak table in the center.
"Imma have ta agree with little Arty on this one, hun. Lives are at risk 'round here," her eyes darted to Roland, who was hunched over the table beside Arty, "We've got much more important things to deal with."
"Well said," Dante paced along the back wall, "Arty, I should be on the team that faces the Maelstrom head on. I can't fight directly, but I would be helpful in keeping everyone alive. I'm a better support than anything else."
"Okay. If you're sure you're up for it." Arty rolled a red paintball over to the drawing of the tentacles to join orange and green paintballs. Everyone around him seemed a bit weary to have so much live Dust rolling around, but Arty knew that as long as he didn't channel too much aura into his ammunition or accidentally burst them, they'd be harmless. He just wanted a visual to help him explain the plan, and this was the easiest way he could find to do it. "So that puts me, Timbre, and Dante on the Maelstrom team. And as I said earlier," he rolled a purple and a yellow paintball over to the ferris wheel, "Roland and Sepia are going after the gun on the boat."
"Ahab, you're with me. Your weapon would come in handy with getting up to the boat, and securing it if need be. Though, I doubt that the ice holding up the ferris wheel has melted too much," Roland rolled a white paintball over to the purple and yellow ones. As much as he hated having Ahab along, it was necessary.
"No," Ahab crossed his arms, "I'm not going with y-"
"Yes you are. We need you," Roland looked up at his brother without even a hint of anger in his eyes.
Since Roland had already made up his mind, there probably wasn't any changing it, "Fine… whatever." Ahab leaned back in the corner of the room.
Lurida prodded at a holographic violet screen with a map of Vytal's coastline, "My Semblance is suited for getting up to the boat or fighting the Maelstrom, but Xannie's probably going to be better suited for the boat…" she looked to her left to her sister sitting beside her, "What has a better chance of success? Me on boat crew, or Maelstrom crew?"
Xannie drummed her fingers on the table as she struggled to see the outcomes. "Um… I'd say Maelstrom. With things still as fuzzy as they've been, it'd probably be better if we weren't together. That… and a Grimm is much more predictable than the Grimm Brotherhood. I'd be a much bigger help relaying probabilities involving the gun and the ferris wheel."
"That… makes me think of something…" Pepper piped up, "I'm not super great in a fight or anything, but it'll be hard for any attackers to get to the boat crew if… they're sick… or they start staring at Saffron…" she gingerly pointed at an orange paintball and a purple one, "We're good disablers, so… is that… a good idea…? I mean, I'm not the best strategist, but…"
"Atta gal," Saffron nodded, "I like it. Good by you, hun?" she lightly tapped the back of Arty's hand.
"Um… yeah… sure…" Arty felt flustered as he continued arranging his makeshift game pieces. "So… Xannie and Ahab with Roland and Sepia, Pepper with Midas and Saffron, and Lurida with Timbre, Dante, and I. Sounds pretty good so far…"
"I'm going to the boat." Curie suddenly spoke up. During the hour or so they had used to rally students to fight, go back to their hotels, grab weapons, and change clothes if needed, she had been conflicted about the whole situation and where, or even if, she needed to be a part of a mission that went against the direct orders of an Atlas official. As she returned to the Perch of Amity with Titian, however, she realized that she could be a much bigger help.
Arty was shocked. Did she really just say that? "Curie, but the height-"
"I know, Umber. But we've already established that Timbre and Roland don't know how to use that gun. If we're going to be lathering up the artillery shells with your unstable Dust paint, someone needs to know that thing inside and out in order to do it in such a way that it's least likely to backfire." She looked to Xannie, whom she'd been told plenty about, "with me and her Semblances together, it'd greatly reduce the possibility of anything going wrong." She pushed up her glasses, "It may be high up, and I may have… crippling acrophobia… but I'm fairly certain I'm the only one here who knows how to operate a gun just by touching it."
"Curie… are you sure?" Timbre spoke up. If anyone at the table knew what Curie was feeling, it was her.
Curie nodded. "If it helps get this plan to go forward, then yes."
Arty reached over and grabbed her hand, which she had clenched into a tight fist against the grain of the table. "Thank you, Curie." He pulled back and rolled a green paintball to the boat group. "Okay… so the boat group seems pretty fleshed out. It wasn't very stable when we were on it earlier, but five seems like a good limit. If worse comes to worst, there's enough on the group that could team up with those on the boardwalk if needed. We just need to make sure that Curie and Xannie stay on the boat until the gun's fired."
A chill curled through the room. An ice spike formed on the surface of the table just in front of Rime, who had been sitting in silent contemplation for a while. For once, a crisis had her a little unnerved, "I can freeze things, but salt water is going to be hard. I might have to take up a more supportive role like Dante to make some platforms to fight the Maelstrom."
Arty nodded, moving one of his aptly named Rime Dust paintballs to the boat group, "Right. We need as many people to help the Maelstrom group actually get to the thing." He sucked at his teeth for a moment, "If only this thing wasn't in the water… then we wouldn't be at such a disadvantage…"
"I've got ya! I've got the firepower to deal with that thing!" Opal shouted from the other side of the door. She pushed it open and held up her boomerang, "Trust me. Shorla always calls me the berserka of the team, so… ya."
"How is she doing by the way?" Timbre asked as Arty pushed a cyan blue paintball to the corresponding group. After seeing how much using her Semblance so much had taken out of her, she felt worried about the goth, even if she had been rude towards everyone on the boat before it got thrown halfway across the island.
"Migraine. Nothing big, yeah," Opal shrugged, "Had to drag Namib away. Trust me. The guy's gonna be good for the team. He jus' won't be happy bein' away from Shorla for so long."
Without saying a word, the darker-complected boy with the long brown hair and ragged scarf walked in. In each hand was a serrated chakram. Sepia, Roland, and Curie recognized them from the confrontation at the arcade. He sat down in the empty chair between Saffron and Timbre.
Sepia eyed the newcomer, 'So, is anyone gonna ask him where he stands, or…?'
"Wanna fix a gun, fight off some Grimm Brotherhood cultists, or fight that big Grimm?" Roland stood up straight. He and Sepia only knew Namib in passing, but he was on a team that seemed to excel overall. That alone was enough to garner a seal of approval.
Namib didn't acknowledge Roland, but instead looked down at the paintballs and paper on the table in front of him. Still, without speaking, he picked up a yellow paintball from in front of Arty and rolled it to the boat defense team's markers.
"Fair enough…" Roland nodded, "Look good to you, Arty?"
"I guess so… Opal?"
"Yeah. He's pretty darn pissed at the moment, so he needs an outlet."
"Fair enough…" Arty mumbled as he thought. He didn't know fully what Team STON could do, but from what he saw in their combat class, they could definitely hold their own. He just hoped that everyone's raw skill would make up for the lack of synergy.
Everyone sat in silence as they looked over the clusters of paintballs in front of them. There'd be occasional long glances at the one corresponding to themselves before darting back and forth to the rest.
For the time being, their named teams of four no longer existed.
"So, to make sure that we've got this straight…" Roland began pointing around the room, "Me, Sepia, Ahab, Curie, and Xannie are gonna load T's yacht's gun up with Dust and get it to fire. Arty, Timbre, Rime, Lurida, Opal, and Dante are going to handle getting the Maelstrom weakened and into position. Namib, Saffron, Pepper, Midas, and Titian are going to lend my team some back up… which means that you guys should probably designate a temporary lead."
"Saffron or Midas are most fit…" Namib's voice was barely above a whisper underneath his scarf.
Midas flashed his winning grin, surprised by the recommendation. He had only met Namib once, and in that time, not a word was exchanged. "Well, thanks! I'd be glad to-"
"I only said that because Shorla isn't here."
Midas immediately shut up. "Oh…"
"B'sides, doll." Saffron stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "He said both of our names."
"Saffron and I are the best disablers… and I'm not… fit to lead…" Pepper looked nearly on the verge of tears as she spoke to the group of students around her. Every new person that came into the room brought on a little more pressure, "Saffron would be able to… direct us on which target to take first…"
"Ya mean I could steer them in the right direction, hun? Like back in lil ol' Maple's combat class?" Saffron leaned forward and put her cheek right against Midas'. The drool dribbling down her wrist was enough to tell her that he was fully under her spell, "Mah people skills are jus' better than yer's, sugah. Lil ol' Titian… or at least Namib is with me… aren't you, babe?"
"I don't care. Just as long as the one giving orders knows what they're doing."
"Well…" she glared at him for a moment. Maybe he just don't roll that way… she turned her attention to Titian, "Ya fine with followin' my orders, sugah?"
Titian snickered, "Lead the way ma'am." She looked over to her leader. She noted the large puddle of drool forming on the table. "Sorry Goldilocks. But this is a bit more… serious than usual, hm?"
Midas chuckled, unable to get his mind off of doing whatever Saffron said. "Yeah… hah… sure."
Sepia wiped her lip and tapped the table in front of Arty, 'So, can we stop wasting time and get on with it now that we have our teams?'
"Yeah… sure." Arty also shook off the effects of Saffron's Semblance. "Right… so. I have… sort of a plan."
A few gasps and sounds of confusion fluttered around.
"You're not even sure what the plan is?..." Timbre spoke up. She looked panicked and confused. The stress of the situation was finally starting to bear down on her.
"No, I know what we need to do. It's the way we're going to… you know, do it that I haven't quite figured out yet."
"Then tell us the parts you do have figured out." Roland said flatly.
"Right… well, first thing's first, we need to lead the Maelstrom back to the boardwalk. I'm thinking my group will be able to do that while the other two take over the boat and defend it from any Grimm Brotherhood grunts still around."
"Reports are coming in saying that the Grimm Brotherhood is painting those symbols all over the island." Lurida stated as she looked at the map on her screen. Small dots appeared slowly across it.
"They're moving counterclockwise along the coast." Xannie began flipping through the same stories and maps as her sister. It was incredible how fast the news was blowing up. "They're about halfway through the Mistrali quadrant of the island."
"The scariest part is that its reach is going further inland. Whatever defenses this island had are weakening. For whatever reason, this thing's able to get close enough to not disintegrate like other Grimm."
"It's like… it's not even real." Xannie commented. She shook her head to collect her thoughts, "Back to the issue at hand. The main question here is how are we going to start leading the Maelstrom back here if they have those devices? If they're that strong, then there's no way it'll follow us just from poking it a few times."
"Well…" Dante halted. She bit her thumb before looking to the group, "What if we got our hands on those devices they have? Since Lurida has the most mobility on our team, she could essentially fly over to the boardwalk with one of those things. If we lure the Maelstrom far enough away from the shore, then maybe it'll only know to follow that one…"
Lurida looked at Dante as if she were insane, "One problem. I can't go that far with my Semblance."
"But if I used a Gravity Dust buff on you, Arty shot you up with a bunch of Air and Gravity Dust paintballs, and Rime gave you some platforms to jump across, then your Semblance would have a lower load to take on, and it would be amplified at the same time…" Dante looked to Arty, "It's dangerous, but it might be our best shot."
Arty nodded, "Right! And then we could use them just like Oro's guys did in the Emerald Forest last semester!"
"Okay… that sounds like at least part of a plan." Lurida continued scrolling, "But the reports say there's tons of these guys. How will we even get enough of their devices to lure something that… huge?"
"Beat the snot outta any Grimm Brotherhood we see!" Opal pumped her fist in the air, "I betcha they each have one. Be too dangerous to have more than one on ya, right? Give a dozen of 'em 'ell, and we've got plenty!"
"So then my group stays behind while y'all go beatin' down baddies?" Saffron crossed her arms, "Doesn't sound very fair leavin' us out of the fray…"
Roland sighed, "They'll focus their efforts on the Maelstrom crew for a little bit, which means that you and Pepper have time to get in the best positions that you can. Titian can-"
"I'm jokin', babe. I knows what to do. Lighten up," Saffron winked over at him, "I'll keep ya safe."
"Right…" he stepped towards the door, "Then we all have our assignments. Let's get this thing over with."
Everyone else began making their way towards the door. They were going to be moving from the still calm of the boardroom to the middle of a fight for not only their lives, but the lives of everyone on Vytal. It felt surreal. Some were itching to go while others were feeling the looming sense of fear inch into their minds.
Arty was one of those with doubts. "There's still… one issue."
"What is it, Umber?" Curie looked to him, her eyes piercing into him.
"What are we going to do about the military?"
.
Chugging assault rifles let out burst after burst of Dust-charged slugs into the tentacles of the giant white octopus Grimm. Its appendages alone were as wide as the airships firing rockets at it, but the bulbous mass of flesh standing in the center of the mass of tentacles stood high above even the highest pagoda on the Mistrali quadrant of Vytal. A rainbow of color burned along each bone plate that gave the monster some semblance of consistent form. Each passing hour seemed to give the monster more and more mass.
"Does that answer your question about the military, Arty?" Lurida stared up at the monster with hate burning in her eyes, "I think there's too busy to deal with us."
The Maelstrom attack group stood in the narrow cobblestone alleyways between the abandoned homes and businesses of the Mistrali quadrant. Being slightly up the slope, they could easily look out towards the sea and watch the fruitless battle.
"You know… I meant what are we going to do about the military in terms of them preventing us from doing anything. We already knew they weren't going to be able to do anything to it."
"I doubt that they think us crazy enough to do such a thing…" Dante flipped through the pages of her book of poems, "I have to say that it scares me that the Atlesian military isn't putting a scratch in that thing… Perhaps they aren't hitting it in the right spot…"
"They ain't going ta 'ave a Nova Dust charged artillery shell blowin' its brains out!" Opal giggled from her place in a nearby doorstep. "You'd think with a buncha Dust-happy army men woulda thought of that by now."
"So, back to the task at hand…" Rime pulled her gaze away from the Maelstrom. For once, she actually seemed to be taking things seriously, "We need to find some GB. They have to be close by if that thing is."
"It may be on its rampage, but it's still moving." Lurida pulled up a map with her glove, "If we go down this street, we may be able to cut them off here between the Atlas and Mistral sections." She pointed at the line between the two fourths of the island on her map. "When we get there, we look for those symbols and keep an eye out for any agents. The only ones crazy enough to still be out here are the other students, the military, and the Grimm Brotherhood freaks." The screen dissipated. "We find them, incapacitate them, take their toys-"
"And make a mad dash back to the boardwalk." Arty held up his gun, ready to fight as they began making their way down the street, "Let's just hope Roland and Saffron's groups are able to lock down the pier by the time we get there."
Timbre drew wires. The silver cords sent sparks as they briefly collided with the rough stone of the street rushing by beneath her feet. "How are we going to hold the thing off if they don't have the gun ready by the time we get it in its range?"
"I think that's pretty obvious," Dante drew her fire poker and flipped through pages in her book of poetry, "We just hit it with everything we've got until it is ready."
.
Chain whipped around Saffron in a flurry of steel and lilac. Thirteen rods of tempered steel connected by short lengths of chain flew around her body to create a sphere of destruction around her, "Midas! Get them supports on the ferris wheel unda control! Titian! Lay me out some weak spots in the wood 'round the board walk! Namib! Ya on support crew, so get ready to tussle when those psychos get here! Pepper! Be a sweetheart and stick to cover, if ya'd be so kind. I want those guys sicker than a dog in heat on a bright summer day!"
Pepper immediately ran off towards the entrance to the ruined boardwalk to do her job. Everyone else just stared at Saffron, partly from surprise that she actually had a plan as a leader, partly from the fact that they could barely understand what she was saying through her accent.
Saffron's chain whip slowed around her, "Midas on fixin' the ferris wheel, Namib on backup, and Titian on sabotage…" she eyed Roland's team as they began preparing to perform their task, "That clear as mud?"
"Don't think that's how the saying goes, babe." Midas jogged over to Roland's group at the base of the unstable ferris-wheel. The ice pillar had begun to melt, leaving the ride bending at a disconcerting angle above the ocean. The boards around it seemed to be sagging and breaking as well. Midas winced as he realized it was just one big death trap waiting to snap shut. He placed his palms against the warped metal of one of the primary supports, "You guys… you guys about ready?"
"Yeah," He looked to his half-brother, "Send them up where Xannie told you," Roland pointed up at the yacht buried in the center of the ferris wheel.
Five harpoons shot out of the box affixed to Ahab's left side. Ropes trailed behind them, whipping around and around as the metal rods spun through the air. They went slack when the points of the harpoons embedded themselves into the starboard side of Timbre's yacht. Five ropes hung from the vessel to Roland's team's feet.
"There," Ahab grunted.
"Xannie, Sepia, if you'd be so kind," Roland went on.
Xannie's rings slipped off her arms, legs, waist, and neck and looped themselves around each rope. Sepia came in behind and began tying the rings directly to the ropes with lengths of film and bullets from her guns.
Sepia gave the thumb's up.
"Wow… those knots reduced the probability of our makeshift climbing rigs failing by… about fifteen percent. Good job, Sepia!" Xannie clapped, her optimism having not been phased by the situation at hand.
Curie looked to her leader, "Okay, Goldilocks. You're up."
Gold spread from Midas's hands, travelling up the white metal of the support frame. For good measure, he allowed it to spread to the boards around their feet and down into the concrete pilings of the entire structure. He stepped back, out of breath. "There, that should hold you… for a bit. We're just gonna have to be quick about all this…" He bent over, hands on his knees and sweat pouring from his brow.
Like Midas, Curie held her hand against the frame and used her Semblance. She nodded to the rest of her group. "Okay. The form of the wheel itself is definitely more stable, but I can't say it'll stay that way once we start moving around on it."
"Like I said… have to be quick about it…" Midas stretched his back out, shaking himself back into shape. "Okay. If you guys are good, I'm gonna go back to join Cowgirl before the boys in black decide to crash our beach party."
Curie latched onto his arm, catching him off guard.
"Yo, Cure? What're you-"
"Just be careful, Midas." She let go of his suit sleeve. "And kick some ass for me. Okay?"
If there was one thing Midas knew, it was that Curie looked at everything like one of her games. Schoolwork, training, combat, even designing her weapon, but the way she had just spoke to him made it blatantly obvious that she wasn't in her normal mindset. She was always there trying to get him to be serious when she thought he should be, which usually went ignored. Standing on the pier ready to fight cultists and one of the largest Grimm ever seen, he realized that for once that he should follow her advice.
"Right. You got it, Curie. But don't worry your pretty neon head too much. I mean," he drew his weapons and gave her a thumbs up, "it is me we're talking about."
"That's why we're all worried, Midas…" Roland planted a boot down on one of Xannie's rings and grabbed another with his hand, "Good luck. Let Saffron know that we're counting on you guys… and that she's a better leader than I thought."
Midas re-aimed his thumbs up to Roland as he began to rise up the rope.
.
"...and combust!" Red flames whipped around Timbre's wires, Opals boomerang, Lurida's orbiters, and Arty's bat. The Fire Dust buffs wouldn't have done so well on Rime's ice axes, so Dante had to focus hard to not throw a buff on them as well. With the clashing of metal and gunshots ringing around them from the brawl that had broken out with a few Grimm Brotherhood grunts, it took every ounce of focus still in her pounding brain to keep the effects of her Semblance up.
"Noice!" Opal kicked one of the grunts in the stomach to send him sliding across the pavement. With the Atlesian military preoccupied, not a soul was interrupting the brawl happening in the middle of the street just a few blocks away from all the action.
"Right…" Dante faltered in her step. Her shoulder slammed against the window of one of the dozens of storefronts lining both sides of the road. Stars flashed in her vision. Buffing four people and debuffing about nine others was putting a load on her system, "I need cover to take a moment to catch my breath if we're going to hold an advantage!"
A hail of bullets slammed into Dante's side, sending her tumbling to the pavement. She struggled to raise her fire-poker-gone-flare-gun in time. The red flames around her teammate's weapons and the hazy blue glow around their enemies' feet began to dim. The black sole of a grunt's boot flickered with that same dull haze as it flew towards her face.
The sudden rise of a solid wall of ice launched the grunt onto his back.
"Sorry, bud." Arty held Palette out. Dark blue Ice Dust paint glowed in its hopper as the gun unfolded into a bat. "Batter up, freak!" he swung as if he were playing a regular game of baseball, only, instead of a ball, his bat connected with the Grimm Brotherhood grunt's black reflective mask. A burst of paint encased the upper half of his torso and his head in ice. He fell to the ground, unable to get up or keep fighting. His legs flailed around as he tried to push himself to his feet.
Arty tossed a couple of Fire Dust paintballs at the ice wall he had made to keep Dante out of the fight, melting it down the middle. "You okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah… Thanks…" Dante pushed herself back up slowly. The pounding in her head eased a bit with the absence of one more grunt. She held up her flare gun at Arty's head and fired. The Fire Dust charge whizzed by his face and struck the grunt that was trying to sneak up on them in the chest.
The load on her Semblance lessened a little more, "Get back in the fight," the red flames on her teammate's weapons flared back to life, "I can manage."
Nearby, Opal zigzagged across the street, her Semblance leaving a rainbow-colored trail of afterimages in her wake. Keeping her weapon in constant motion, she was able to dash up to a grunt and deliver a flurry of punches using her Semblance before running off to another. With her moving so fast, it was impossible to get a good shot on her.
That didn't mean that she couldn't be grabbed.
One grunt, much larger and burlier than the others, grabbed Opal by the collar of her jacket. He gave a sinister chuckle as he held her in front of him. "Little brats like you need to know when to stay out of other people's business."
Opal glared at him before looking to what was behind him. She watched as her teal "Boom-erang" arced in the air back towards her. She snickered. "Sorry, mate," Out of his sight, she pulled the fob to her weapon from her pocket, a simple silver box with a big red button in the center. As the boomerang got within feet of the grunt, she pushed the button. A loud bang rang out as the weapon fired, launching the grunt to the ground. At the last second, Opal flickered out of his grasp, leaving a couple of bright red and green afterimages in her place. She slammed her foot into his back, the afterimages strengthening the kick knocking the air out of the guy. Without even looking, her boomerang landed square in her open hand. "I neva know when to stay out of other's business. I'm a bit too nosy for that."
A fiery red and violet laser shot right by Opal's nose. The heat that radiated off the beam instantly tanned a line below her eyes and right across her nose.
"Woah! Watch it!" she waved her boomerang angrily at Beacon's resident gravity freak.
Lurida didn't so much as look back at Opal as she lined her orbiters up to fire on a pair of grunts. She stood upside down on a nearby streetlamp with four holographic panels up, "Rime! Collect the devices off of these guys and switch them off!" she shouted as her orbiters began firing a barrage of violet light and raging red flames on the pair of grunts.
"On it!" As grunts fell around her, there was the occasional clatter of something metal falling against the cobblestones. Rime ran, ducking and dodging attacks from both sides as she snatched up the devices.
"Great. That's five…" Lurida typed out a few short calculations while her orbiters kept firing on the two grunts until they crumpled to the ground, "I think I have a good read on the frequencies these things emit... so I think I can better pinpoint which ones have them…" she pointed out to the grunts that Arty, Dante, and Opal had taken out, "Three more between them." She kept calculating as they went over to grab the devices. "I'm also starting to get a reading from nearby…" She closed her screens as the sounds of gunfire and fighting were starting to die down. "I'm going to float up and see if there are any more of them nearby waiting to ambush us. The Maelstrom's on the move again, so they must have set up the next stop on their trail. We have to hurry if we're going to make it cut off and follow us instead."
Arty nodded as she flipped herself to the top of the post and kicked off, launching through the air like a missile. He handed one of his confiscated devices to Rime.
Dante tossed her device to Rime as well, and then raised her flare gun to fire on another grunt with his back turned towards her in his scuffle with Opal, "Hold on, I'll have another one in just a…" she fired at the back of his head to send him down, "moment. Grab that one too, Opal."
"So…" Timbre observed the mound of black boxes in front of Rime. After taking out grunts at four different sites marked by, presumably, Captain Sanguwalker, they now had a sizable pile of the things, "Is… is this enough to lure…" she looked off to the ocean. The Maelstrom slammed one of the tall condominiums on the coast, sending the top half crumbling down, "that?..."
Lurida landed near the pile, her feet firmly back on the ground, "If we get far enough out, then I think so. It won't have anything else to go after if we lure it out beyond the shallows. I think that our main problem will be with the militar-" she cringed from the incessant sounds of Opal beating the last few Grimm Brotherhood grunts cut through the air, "the military. Our main issue will be with the military. They'll either cease fire when they see us, or…"
"Blow us to smithereens…" Dante holstered her weapon as she approached, "We should give some kind of signal to them to avoid that fate."
With the last of the grunts incapacitated, the group was left with the tools, but they were short on time and lacked a real plan.
"Isn't it obvious what we need ta do?"
The group all turned to Opal, who was nonchalantly smiling and swinging her boomerang around her extended index finger.
"We bring 'em some of these here Grimmies. If we can prove we're capable, maybe that'll distract 'em long enough for us ta get out there and finish this."
"So you're suggesting we take hostages?" Dante snapped, sounding not particularly fond of the idea of them stooping to the Grimm Brotherhood's level.
"Oi, take hostages is a bit strong. That's if it's the bad guys doin' it. I prefer 'turnin' ova a few dirty criminals to the proper authorities'."
"That… could work." Lurida mumbled as she mulled over the idea, "But a bunch of grunts is easy work. We'd need something bigger."
"I don't know..." Timbre looked over one of the Grimm attraction devices. "That might waste a bunch of time that we just don't have."
"Why are we even discussing this?" Arty spoke up, "The Grimm Brotherhood isn't our priority here. They could be dealt with easily if the military wasn't so distracted. We need to get back on track and lead that thing back to the pier. The other groups are sitting ducks and the longer we waste time out here, the more danger they're put in."
"I agree with Arty." Rime stepped forward, "We have plenty of these doohickies. The military's too distracted. If we can lead the Grimm back now, then they'll be able to focus on the GB. They don't have time to shoot at us either way."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Timbre pointed down the street running parallel to the coast. "Let's go cut that thing off and get its attention."
Opal humphed. "Darn. I was looking forward ta beatin' up one of the Grimm-masks."
The group took off, devices in hand.
.
"Titian, hun, how's them weak spots comin' along?" Saffron gathered up her chain whip rod by rod while surveying the already decimated remains of the boardwalk, "Ya lookin' great in that armor, by the way. Ya roots are showin'. Not bad, but I can touch ya up later if ya like."
Titian pulled her hands away from the floorboards of the boardwalk. She reasoned that a few spots off to the sides of the entrance would make for good traps in case opponents tried to sneak up from the sides. Coming in through the front gate was way too obvious and would lead to an easy counter-attack. These guys were smart. They wouldn't fall for that, and Titian knew it. "We got a few. Just keep your eyes peeled for rotting boards so you don't get caught up in our own booby traps. Also… thanks, but now's really not the time to talk about my hair. I get that enough from my own team..."
"You bet you do, Rusty." Midas laughed as he kept his eyes towards the shore.
"Again, not the time to talk about my hair… Try to be serious for once in your life, Midas."
"I don't think he can be!" Saffron laughed, "Even when I made sure to keep my Semblance under control on our dates, he still wouldn't stop oglin' my-"
"Wonderful personality!" Midas finished.
"Def'nitely not what I was about to say, dahlin'..." she began unbuttoning the first few buttons of her blouse to prepare for the coming battle. She held her Semblance back, ready to let it flare to its full effect if the situation required it, "Peppa, where eva might ya be, sugah?"
"Right over here…" Pepper's voice echoed from inside a trashcan beside a funnel cake stand. The smell of fried dough and powdered sugar wasn't going to be leaving her person for weeks to come, "Just… give me the cue as usual…"
"Mah oh mah! Well done, sweetheart!" Saffron grinned, "Namib! How ya doin' with ya bad self?"
Namib only grunted in response from his perch on top of one of the food stalls. He wanted to position himself in such a way where he wouldn't be noticed immediately, but also where he could jump down for a surprise attack in true Team STON fashion if needed. Being close enough to the entrance and, in turn, the beach was beneficial for him as well.
"Thank ya, babe," Saffron tipped her hat to the fourth weirdo of Team STON, "Midas, is our little break up gonna keep ya from doin' yer job?"
Midas snickered, "Please. I've rebounded from relationships faster before. Breakups are pretty low on the list of stuff that bothers me."
"Right…" she snickered, "So ya don't wanna take me out later when this rodeo is over? I'd be happy to not use mah Semblance on ya if ya use ya own money on me. I don't give boys second chances, mind ya. It'd be more of a… celebration than a date, but we can see how that goes."
"W-Wait, what?" Midas' neck nearly snapped when he whipped his head towards her, "Uhhh… I don't kno-"
"I'll take that as a yes for the time bein'," she looked up the ferris wheel. The team up top seemed to be doing their job well enough, but she couldn't shake the feeling that their apparent success was every bit bad as it was good. A voice was screaming in the back of her mind. Get out! Get out! it seemed to say. While Roland and Sofaira had the predator instincts of their animal counterparts ingrained in their minds, she had the instincts of an animal of prey.
Eyes drilled into her from somewhere, but she couldn't pinpoint where. Her fingers trembled around her chain whip. Something wanted her and everyone there dead. Somebody knew what they were up to already, and had to have long before they even got there.
"We're bein' watched, guys…" Saffron threw out her whip. Steel rods clattered across the ground, "Titian, Midas. Fall back and defend that ferris wheel with everythin' ya've got, ya hear? Namib, stay on offense with me, sugah. Peppa, hold ya position unless Namib and I get ova-whelmed. If that happens, attack them from behind and make em' sneeze like there's no tomorrow!"
"What are you going on about?" Titian sneered, "There's nothing here!"
"I'm yer leader for the time bein'. Yer from Atlas, dahlin', so I'd expect ya ta be good at followin' orders," Saffron whipped her weapon against the boardwalk, "Trust a Faunus' senses, dahlin."
"I'd consider it if you told us exactly what you were sensing."
"This ain't tha time, gosh durnit!" Saffron snapped. Her eyes fluttered wide with fear. Her heart beat in her ears. Sweat made her weapon slide around in her closed fist. They're coming for you! They're going to kill you! Run! Run like hell! that primal voice screamed in the back of her mind, "I don't have none of them details ya think ya need. I just know, so shut yer trap and do yer job!"
Gunfire and the pounding of heavy boots on ruined boards echoed across the beach as cloaked figures in reflective black masks began to flood onto the boardwalk.
"Whatever you say, Dairy Queen." Titian watched as some of the grunts passed over a few of the traps she had laid earlier. A wicked smile passed over her lips as she reached out her arm. There was an odd clink as she snapped her fingers, the metal tip at the end of her index finger slamming against the palm of her armored glove.
At that very moment, the boards under two grunts crumbled away. Screaming was shortly followed by loud splashes.
"I'm gonna ignore yer last comment for the time bein'. I'm actually more curious as to whether or not that's actually how yer Semblance works, hun."
"It's not. It just looks a bit more badass to add the finger snapping." Titian shrugged. "But enough games," The outer edge of the oval blade in her hand began to glow a fierce red and buzz with energy. "Let's have some real fun, shall we?"
"Nah, sugah, I gave you a job. Get to it. Now." Saffron began turning her whip in circles in front of her, "I can handle these boys. I need the two o' y'all as defense, undastand?"
Titian was about to retort. She wasn't particularly fond of people being this bossy, especially someone like Saffron.
Midas grabbed her shoulder, "Come on, Rusty. Let her enjoy her power. It's only for a little while. Besides, we work better together. We'll protect the hell out of that ferris wheel!"
Titian glared back at Saffron, "Right… whatever. But let me just say I really prefer your more lax way of just… suggesting we do things rather than being like… that."
"Demanding?" Midas scoffed, "Try dating her for a couple of months, then get back to me on that. This is a cakewalk compared to what she's usually like."
Saffron wanted to scream back at Titian and Midas about how the time for arguing was not during the middle of an interkingdom crisis, but that wasn't going to do anything useful for them. Instead, she whipped her weapon around in front of her. Bullets rang and rattled against the chain like bells. The six grunts were beginning to close in on her.
They're not it! They're not the predator! that primal voice screamed once more.
"Namib! Take 'em quick!" she kept using her whip as a shield to give her enough time to analyze the area around her. Six wasn't enough if they were sending just grunts. Six was a distraction. It had to be. Cannon fodder wasn't coming. A storm was.
Namib pulled the goggles hanging around his neck up and over his eyes. He was going to need them.
The grunts began to shout out in confusion as sand from the beach began battering against them, making a thick brown cloud across the entrance. The focused sandstorm disoriented them, removing their vision and beat them from all directions.
The rest of the group watched as quick plumes of fire flashed into existence within the storm. They blinked and flashed as the weapons they came from sliced against the inexperienced grunts as they fired their guns blindly.
As quickly as it began, the sandstorm died down. Piles of sand littered the entrance of the boardwalk along with the unconscious Grimm Brotherhood grunts that had been taken out by an unseen foe. Namib moved silently through the sand as he faced his team.
"A bit overboard for the first fodder, isn't it?..." Pepper whispered meekly from her smelly hiding spot.
"Have to let these monsters know what they're up again-"
Namib felt something slam into the center of his back, forcing his spine to arch forward. The force was strong, and he was sent flying across the boardwalk before he could realize he was in the air. He crashed into a damaged hot-dog cart, caving it in completely and sending condiment bottles and broken glass flying.
Molten eyes set into the sockets of a Kokonatsu's bone mask took a moment to examine the torn nylon on its gloves. Metallic black sheen glinted off of bits of exposed metal. No cloak. Nothing but a glowing red and white mask could be considered flashy or mysterious about the newcomer. This Grimm Brotherhood agent was one of the few that they had seen that looked fully ready for combat being decked out in leather, nylon, and all black.
Saffron tried her best to stand deadly still, but her chain whip rattled in her trembling hands.
"Oh, now who's the fox creep?" Titian muttered as she helped Namib to his feet.
"I think he might be one of those higher-up Captains Burnie told about." Midas gave his best guess.
A gunshot and a whip crack slammed against the eardrums of everyone on the boardwalk. The masked man stumbled back, a divot still smoking right over where his heart would be. The end of Saffron's weapon laid smoking on the boardwalk. The scent of burning gunpowder tinged the air.
She steeled herself for the coming fight, "I knew that someone like ya would come 'round… and I know I'm not gonna be able to beat ya," she cracked her whip again to send another bullet slamming into the agent's chest, "but ya best believe Imma give ya a damn difficult time while I'm still kickin'."
Agent Kokonatsu began striding towards Saffron, his mask bent down to keep the glowing soulless Grimm eyes focused on her. Bullet after bullet bounced against his aura, but he kept advancing. He strode right up to her, getting close enough to stand next to her. He leaned in close, not even bothered by the futile attacks from the rest of the pesky team of meddlers.
The echoing of his calm distorted voice inside his skull mask sent shivers down Saffron's spine.
"Not like it matters. You're not even my targets." A backhanded slam with his forearm sent Saffron skidding across the uneven boards. "You're more of an annoying obstacle, if anything." He gazed up to the boat hanging on the damaged ride. A couple of the others on board had taken notice to the conflict down below. He went to continue his short walk and finish his assignment as quickly and efficiently as possible, but as the others in the group began to attack he realized he would have to go against the plan and waste time with those that stood in his way.
Chain tightened around Agent Kokonatsu's ankle. His foot flew back out from under him. He slammed onto the boardwalk and felt himself being dragged back inch by inch. Saffron was already back up on her feet and back to fighting.
"If I'm an obstacle, then Imma be sure Imma gosh durn hard one ta get past!" she yanked her chain whip to drag Kokonatsu even closer, "Midas, Titian, stay on standby until he takes me out. Peppa, Namib, I need ya both."
The top of the trashcan that Pepper was hiding in flew up into the air. Pepper darted out with a deep red and burnt orange lance at the ready. Her usually worry-filled eyes were brimming with determination, "I… I will be an obstacle too…!" her trembling voice barely made it beyond her lips, "Please don't make this harder than it has to be…!"
Kokonatsu snarled beneath his mask at the new girl and the boy he thought he had already taken out of the fight. "They didn't tell me you'd be this much trouble," he turned, running towards Saffron, throwing her off her guard, "especially with the likes of you being put in charge of this little operation."
Saffron was ill-prepared for the rush of punches and kicks. She tried to block them with her chain whip, but every time an attack was prevented, another one came in from another angle.
As Namib rushed towards the brawl, he considered starting another sandstorm, but they were too far away from the beach now for it to be effective, and he couldn't count on Saffron and Pepper being able to push through the lack of vision to fight. He let out a shout of frustration as he hurled his twin wind-and-fire wheels at Kokonatsu. The serrated blades of the circular weapons glowed white and red with Dust.
The blades cut through a red cloud of pepper spray.
.
"What do you mean that it won't fire?" Ahab grumbled, seeming eerily calm with the fight going on below them.
"Obviously I mean it got damaged when the giant octopus threw the boat halfway across the island." Curie shot back as she moved wires and metal parts around inside of the maintenance panel of the artillery gun. "A gun can't exactly fire if it's broken, and we need this gun to fire. So stop pestering me! I'm stressed out enough as it is."
Sepia peered over the insides of the machine. The basic mechanical parts of the gun were much like her own weapon, which made one thing catch her eye. She pointed to what seemed to be a massive rod that had a crack running through it. To her, it looked just like a firing pin.
"Yes… Sepia. The firing mechanism is busted. I already saw it." Curie snapped. The fact that she was once again fifty feet above the ground on a massive tangle of metal that could fall at any moment was putting her on edge.
But you haven't tried fixing it yet… Sepia rolled her eyes. She pinched a red paintball out of one of the vials that she had lifted off of Arty while he wasn't looking and smeared the paint across the metal crack. A good slap was all it took for the Fire Dust to ignite and produce a quick weld between the sections of metal. She held up her scroll to Curie, 'Is it strong enough to fire once before failing now?'
Green light pulsed through the machine as Curie reexamined it with her Semblance, "It's… possible. The shot probably won't be very straight, and there's no guarantee the shell won't just explode when it fires. But the odds are definitely better than before.
"I can attest to that…" Xannie commented as she watched the fight down below. "Guys… that fight's looking very nasty. He's giving those girls from Mistral and that Vacuan boy a lot of trouble." She shook her head, "The odds aren't looking too good for them and, if my calculations and common sense are right, we're that guy's real targets… the Grimm Brotherhood obviously doesn't want that monster's rampage cut short, and, at this point, we're sort of the only ones capable of ending it… In other words, we're pretty high on their hit list…"
"How much do you know about Saffron?" Roland asked flatly while he joined her at the window.
"Honestly not much…" Xannie winced as she watched Saffron receive a sharp right hook from Kokonatsu. "Not much except for the fact that she's… not doing so good right now…"
"What if I told you that she's far more tenacious than I am?" he turned back to help examine the gun, "And what if I could put a number to that? Because, if I did, I would say that she has least ten times more tenacious than me."
"Oh… then… I guess that improves her odds, but I'm not seeing that tenaciousness being put into play so much right now, Roland…"
"Yeah you are. She set her goal as being an obstacle because she knows that he can't take her out," he tried to suppress his growing smile, "I have no doubt that she'll be the hardest stumbling block that guy has ever come across. She's as stubborn as a bull, you could say."
"No kidding…" Ahab grumbled before returning to the bow, "Hey! We almost ready? They'll be coming around soon."
.
"Think the Atlesian military is gonna be pissed when they find out that we stole one of their boats?" Rime asked while freezing the rope binding a little scouting boat to the Mistral quadrant's main dock. She threw her heel down to bust the ice and the rope inside, "Or will they be more pissed that we're getting in the way of an actual military operation?"
Lurida spliced the two last wires of the boat's dismantled control panel, "I think they'll be more pissed that we stole a boat while their backs were turned and that one of us took apart the security system on the thing to keep them from detecting us," she slammed her fist down on the control panel's cover to knock it back into place, "Can I have that Air and Gravity Dust paint now, Arty?"
"Um… yeah, sure." Arty pulled the requested tubes from his belt and handed them to Lurida.
"Guys! We have company!" Timbre yelled as she watched cloaked figures running down the downhill avenue towards the dock.
Opal began firing on the approaching grunts, "Don't 'ave tha time for this sh-" her voice was cut out by the sound of a Magma Dust charge exploding within the mob of targets, "This ain't good! Can we get on with tha objective?! Please?!"
"Dante, get this thing out to open water!" Lurida shouted while rubbing white and purple paint along her legs and arms like stripes of sunscreen.
Dante followed the order without so much as a peep. She started the engine and hit the acceleration in one fluid motion. Salty ocean water sprayed across the deck, showering the coming Grimm Brotherhood grunts. The boat left the dock in an instant, but one of the figures managed to jump onto the bow at the last moment.
Hydraulic pistons hissed from the newcomer's arm. She stood proudly, her familiar kangaroo skull mask gleaming in the sunlight, "Hey, guys! What's going on?!"
Had it been the semester before, Arty would have been terrified of Oro. As the boat sped away from the dock, all Arty felt was rage. "Why is it always you?!" He swung Palette at her, hoping to launch her from the boat in a spray of sparks, but she ducked out of the way.
"Because I just love you kids so much! Gotta say, I'm kinda bummed that I've only got three of you guys to deal with now. Oh well!" Oro raised her hydraulic battering ram to strike.
The list that Khimera mentioned after the Grimm Brotherhood's attack on Vale flashed in Dante's mind. Half of the boat's occupants were on that list. Her, Arty, and Timbre.
"Rime, take the wheel." Dante demanded.
Rime sat back in fear as Arty and Oro continued their back and forth. "What?! I grew up in the mountains… with no lakes! Much less the open freaking ocean! I can't drive a boat!"
"Move over!" Lurida forced Dante out of the driver's seat. "I don't know what you're planning to do, but at this point, I'm open to options!" Normally, she would've thrown Oro out of the boat with her Semblance, but she didn't want to risk catching anyone else or even the boat in her field.
Dante flipped through the pages of her book, "I hate to use the works of other poets, but… Willis Speare will do fine here…" pure white pages burst with light, "Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Thou art not so unkind. As man's ingratitude; thy tooth is not so keen, because thou art not seen, although thy breath be rude!"
White light enveloped Oro. The light turned and curled around her like gusts of visible wind.
Oro dug her heels into the boat to hold her ground, "You think that a little Air Dust is going to-" her feet shot out from under her. She scrambled to grab the side of the boat, but couldn't manage to get a firm enough hold. Gale force winds sent her skipping across the water like a stone, and finally slammed her down into the sand of the passing coastline.
Dante held her head. Her teeth grinded together from the wave of pain passing through her. Her Semblance had gone beyond the point of being overused for one day, "She's gone, right…?"
"What the hell was that!?..." Lurida spat as Dante shakily took the wheel back.
"My Semblance works best with older poetry… but it puts a strain on me. The older the poetry is, the more collective meaning it has behind it," Dante wiped the drops of draining blood from her nose, "I'm going to need some food when this is over…" she groaned.
"We'll buy out an entire bakery when we're done, Dante." Arty promised, "And a candy store, too."
"If you don't add a coffee shop to that list, I'll have no choice but to throw you into the ocean." Lurida growled.
"Okay, I'm glad we're all in a joking mood right now… but," Timbre grabbed one of the devices from the crate they had loaded up upon 'commandeering' the boat, "We need to start switching these things on."
"About that…" Lurida quickly turned on the devices, then shoved each one into the tube that she usually stored her orbiters in. Any that didn't fit were already floating around her like the six orb-shaped weapons. White and purple Dust paint glowed across every inch of her black and purple bodysuit. Even her face had lines of white and purple across it, "I'm ready to go."
Everyone on the boat stared at Lurida.
She held her arms out, "What? Umber covers himself with it all the time."
"Not… this much." Arty responded.
"Yeah, we didn't think you were serious about doing this..." Timbre added, "I mean, it's definitely a look you pull off well it's just… weird."
"What were you saying about being in a joking mood?" Lurida growled.
"Sorry. Sorry, couldn't help myself."
The Maelstrom ceased its attack on the Mistral quadrant and turned towards the boat. Its eyes glowed every color of the rainbow, then stayed red when it settled on its new target.
"Opal, cover me," Lurida readied herself to jump off the boat, "We can't waste anymore time."
Opal saluted back, "On it," Opal ran to the other side of the boat, ready to jump too.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Lurida spat. "I said cover me!"
"I am. I'm doing the same as you, doi." Opal crammed her pockets full of active devices. "You wanted me ta cover ya. I'll go to tha beach while you stay on the wata. That way the big calamari doesn't focus on completely destroying just you, or just me, or just the boat. If we're both out there, it'll have to divide its attention, but it'll still be swimmin' where we want it to." She smiled wide as she perched herself on one of the boat's seats. "See? I am coverin' ya."
"We're hundreds of feet from the shore!" Lurida shot back, despite thinking Opal's plan was actually somewhat decent.
"You honestly have no clue what went on in the first-year tournament sparring class… do you?" Arty laughed nervously. "'Hundreds of feet' isn't exactly a problem for Opal."
"Okay, fine, whatever. Do what you need," Lurida kicked off the side of the boat. The Air and Gravity Dust clinging to her skin helped propel her like a rocket across the water. She'd never piloted a fighter jet or a race car, but she imagined that both of those felt similar to this.
The Maelstrom gave chase to Lurida as she shot across the surface of the water. Its tentacles slammed into the water only a few feet from her, but she managed to dodge each strike with a burst of Air Dust to send her veering off to the left, right, or even over one of the massive tendrils.
A loud whistling echoed from the boat. One of the Maelstrom's eyes swivelled to eye the source.
"Oi! Ugly! Ova heeeea!" Opal taunted before launching herself from the boat. A large arc of rainbow-colored after images appeared, reaching from the boat to the beach. In a matter of seconds, she had reappeared back on shore. "Leave Gravity Gal alone, will ya?! At least for a moment?!"
Sand exploded out behind Opal. Oro stood with her weapon out to the side before bringing it up in a quick right hook, but the piston only bounced off of an after image of Opal.
A trail of sand exploded across the beach running parallel to Lurida's trail in the water. Opal zipped across the sand without even paying Oro any mind.
Somehow, Oro had no problem keeping up with Opal's Semblance-enhanced pace. Pistons and cranks still hissed like Venice's boots had.
Back on the boat, Arty, Timbre, Rime, and Dante watched in wonder as Opal and Lurida kept up their blinding paces towards their destination.
"Great, now we have both the Maelstrom and Oro to worry about…" Timbre grimaced. "This is already much worse than we thought."
Arty shook his head, "We knew that we'd have to deal with her and her people once we started interfering with their scheme to destroy the island and, probably, get ahold of everyone on their list again." He looked to his teammate, "Once we get the Maelstrom back to the Vale quadrant, we're going to have to wail away at it in order to keep it in place. You sure you can handle that?"
Timbre rubbed at her arm as she examined one of the devices left in the boat, "A bit too late to reconsider isn't it?..."
Rime nudged Timbre, "C'mon, T. I've seen you in forests and stuff. If you have something to latch your wires onto, you're virtually unstoppable!" She gave a weak smile, obviously not convinced of her own enthusiasm, "It'll be the same… only you're out in open water… and it'll be Grimm tentacles instead of tree branches… but if worse comes to worst, we'll all be watching out for each other, right?"
"Right…" Timbre gazed up at their target.
The Maelstrom didn't show any signs of exhaustion even after its scuffle with the Atlas military. How could they take something like that down themselves? After all, they were just students… but that didn't matter so much at this point. All that mattered was keeping the innocent people of Vytal safe. Right now, none of them were students or even Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. They were Huntsmen and Huntresses. They had to be Huntsmen and Huntresses if they wanted to have any hope of getting through this day.
