The Secret Horror of the Cannibal Grimm
And we are back at last! I know its only been a few weeks but it feels longer than that for some reason. Anyway, RWBY appears to be going again to one degree or another and so this story is now moving again too. Now to clarify, I'll be doing this story biweekly. I'll be swapping between this story and my Re:Zero story each week in order to keep from overwhelming myself as I don't really think I can tackle three stories at once in a single week. So, with that out of the way I'd like to give the usual shout out to all my fellow readers who've stuck with this story up to this point, it's been quite a ride, and thanks to my fellow reader, R.E.W. 4, who suggested the twist in this chapter. And since it appears we have no guest review questions to answer, let's get right on to the story!
Nighttime: Mantle
For a long while, the city of Mantle had seemed quiet. Yes, the city was surrounded with Salem on its doorstep, Grimm were still lurking around and people had been evacuating to the main crater at the back of the city for the last day or so. But otherwise, things had been what one might call, calm. Of course, for those seasoned by battle they recognized what it truly was, merely the eerie calm before the storm.
That calm was finally broken by the sound of a colossal geyser spewing forth from the tundra to batter Atlas's defenses, destroying its main hardlight shield before releasing multiple large Centinels onto the landmass where they were able to dislodge two of the large spires generating the second hardlight shield around the city. That's when the Grimm whale, Monstra, had finally advanced and landed on the floating kingdom, it's movement a signal to all the Grimm who'd been accompanying it. The battle began in earnest then as almost every type of Grimm imaginable descended upon both cities. In Mantle's case, a river of Grimm tore up much of the ground near the wall, allowing a mass of the monstrosities to pour out and into the now deserted city streets.
Every fighter was called to arms as bullets and blades flew into the oncoming hordes of Grimm, tearing them down one by one, only for the beasts to be replaced by even more. Windows shattered, cars were toppled over in one direction or another, limbs and bodies flew threw the air, and small buildings crumbled under the force of some of the fighting. And among all of this chaos and destruction, were two figures. One was a man wielding a pair of revolvers that he reverted back and forth between tomahawks while the other was a Bear Faunus woman whose hands were adorned with gauntlets containing dust crystals.
Both of their weapons spouted flame, and in the woman's case also wind, as they tore through Grimm after Grimm whether they came their way or not. "Honey, Azure Twister," called the man as he leapt backwards to avoid a swipe from an Ursa. His wife was quick to reach out and grab his arm while he was still in midair, swinging him around as he cut into the Grimm surrounding them with a blue-flaming blade.
"keep it going Tobias," said Jen as she continued her spin before throwing him like a javelin towards another mass of Sabyrs. The Huntsman quickly spun, leaving multiple flaming slashes on the beasts before landing and sliding a few feet, hearing the creature's death roars as they dissolved.
"That's another few down," said Tobias as he and his wife continued through the ruined streets, "now lets get to dealing with the remaining hundreds of them."
"I honestly can't believe there are this many in the first place," said Jen as she punched through Beowolves, Centinels and Sabyrs alike, "even Beacon and Vale weren't this bad. I shudder to think what might've happened if we hadn't picked up that transmission about the Grimm river."
"It's thanks to our boy and his friends that we weren't caught totally unprepared," remarked Tobias as he decapitated three Beringels in a row, "but prepared or not, we'll need to fall back soon. This line is already collapsing and we can't afford to let the Grimm get behind us." As if on cue for his concern, the ground burst open behind the huntsman with three Centinels striking at his back. But he hadn't lasted this long without a few tricks, one of which he used now as he fired underneath his arm without turning around, blasting all three Grimm in the head.
Jen was quick to slam her fist into a fourth Centinel, without looking back, before speaking. "I think you're right on the money about that," she said, "let's regroup with whoever's left in this section." A task that wouldn't prove to be all that easy as the two had to fight their way through another few streets of Grimm before managing to meet up with one of the leading Happy Huntress members and two Huntsmen who were accompanying her.
"Good to see you two," said Joanna as she knocked away a Beowulf before shooting a dart from one of the crossbows on her weapon into a Pteryx. It exploded a moment later, causing the Grimm to fly out of control into the street where two huntsmen, one with a kukri and another with a halberd, dealt the finishing blow. "How bad is it over there?"
"About as bad as everywhere else right now," replied Tobias while cutting and shooting through another couple of Grimm, "have you managed to erect any barriers between here and the crater?"
"A few," said Joanna as she cut through another Grimm, "but they only really work to keep out ground Grimm. Flying Grimm and burrowing Grimm are something of a different story."
"You all know by now how much I hate to say something like this," said Jen as she punched a hole through an Ursa's chest, "but we might just have to start toppling buildings in order to slow this mob down."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet," said Joanna as she downed another couple of Centinels, "do we have any other options just short of toppling buildings?"
"We might have one for right here," said Tobias, "but the rest of you are gonna have to fall back for it."
"Real huntsmen and huntresses don't desert their own," said the huntsman with the halberd, "we can't just leave you two here to fight them all off by yourselves!"
"Trust me," said Jen, "what he's about to do will draw every remaining Grimm in the area towards us. So leave now and come back in a minute for the following bloodbath."
"I think we should listen to 'em," said the Hunstman with a kukri, "they aren't talking like people about to make their last stand." The husband and wife looked to Joanna for her thoughts on the matter as the current de facto leader of the Happy Huntresses went over the options in her head.
"Are you two sure I'm not about to leave you to die?" She asked.
"It's just for a couple of minutes," said Jen as she kicked a Sabyr into a nearby car, "that's all we need. You'll know when to come back." The Happy Huntress still didn't look entirely convinced, but eventually she nodded in understanding before signaling the other two huntsman to follow her. As soon as they were out of sight, Jen turned to her husband. "Alright, do it." He nodded as the black mist of the Aura Shadow once again enveloped his body. And just like that, the Grimm descended upon their location as if someone had just rung the dinner bell.
Jen's eyes turned red as she entered her rage mode before adding more wind dust to her gauntlet and holding it out to her husband as the two of them backed up into a more narrow section of the street. Tobias then lit his weapon with his semblance before pressing the blue flaming blade to Jen's wind dust crystal. With a roar, the two extended their arms as a horizontal flaming cyclone was unleashed, blasting away the smaller Grimm while burning through several of the larger Grimm. The scene became chaotic for several moments then as the numerous abominations ran about with blue flames eating away at their bodies, running into walls, cars, trash and each other as they tried to dispel the Cerulean Fire on their beings.
It made for a much easier clean up as the two Ursarios ended their techniques and went to work carving up any Grimm who weren't already dissolving from the earlier combination attack. "Joanna, you're clear to head back," called Tobias over his earpiece before kicking away a Beowulf that had tried to attack his flank, "best hurry before we run out of 'em."
"Just try to stay alive for another minute," replied Joanna. Tobias was about to make a snarky remark about that, until the ground burst open in front of him and Jen. It was another Centinel, only this one was larger, had a head resembling that of a space alien's, and a chubby stomach containing an unknown green, glowing liquid. The substance didn't remain a mystery for long as the Centinel opened its mouth and sprayed acid at them like a hose, moving its head back and forth across the street and paying little heed to what else it hit along the way.
"Oh great," said Jen as she dodged and rolled out of the way of the acid spray, "an ugly Alpha Centinel. Why couldn't it have been that giant subspecies we kicked to the curb a few weeks ago with the boys?"
"It would've been a lot less disgusting," admitted Tobias as he rolled out of the way and fired a few shots at the insectoid Grimm, causing it to back up as the shots glanced off its tough head. Jen took the opening to leap up and off a nearby wall, aiming a flame and wind-powered punch at their foe's head. The Alpha Centinel reacted quickly, actually managing to raise its two large forelimbs up to block her attack. It worked to stop the punch, but the blastwave released from Jen's fist was enough to stagger it back even further as the Bear Faunus woman landed and retreated to avoid its counterswipe.
Tobias was about to follow up until a familiar dart came flying out from behind him, nailing the Grimm in the side and blasting off some of its bottom legs. It also elicited a shriek from the wounded monster as Joanna and the other huntsmen showed up. "What'd we miss?" She asked as the five of them stood in formation now.
"Oh, just the arrival of another ugly bastard," quipped Tobias, "but with luck, we should be able to-." His words were cut short as a shape suddenly dropped down from above, landing behind the Alpha Centinel before quickly seizing its head and wounded side. The Grimm thrashed as the creature, who they now saw had a head resembling the skull of a large deer, swiftly bit into the side of its neck. The Alpha Centinel cried in agony as it spat more acid out of its mouth, but was unable to adjust its aim thanks to the monster's grip on its head.
The other huntsmen and huntresses retreated from the sporadic blasts of acid, still confused at what they were seeing as the new beast chomped down even harder on its apparent prey. The resulting crunch of Grimm bone and flesh filled the alley then as the Alpha Centinel suddenly went limp, it's body slowly dissolving as its attacker tore off a chunk of flesh, gulping it down ravenously. "What, just happened," said Joanna as they now got a good look at the beast. It was definitely a Grimm, with a lanky body, a deer-skull-shaped head, hooves for feet and a lanky body with rib bones covering its chest.
"It, can't be," said the Huntsman with a halberd, "It was only supposed to be a legend."
"What is it?" Asked Jen as they all took fighting stances, which the new Grimm quickly noticed before stalking slowly towards them, putrid grey saliva dripping form its maw.
"The ravenous one, who eats even the flesh of its kin," said the Huntsman, "the Wendigo Grimm."
"And by ravenous, you mean we're it's next meal, don't you," said the Kukri-wielding huntsman. His question was answered in less than a second as the Wendigo Grimm gave out a horrific roar before charging straight at them. Joanna and Tobias were quick to fire their weapons at the rapidly approaching beast, only for it to leap up and grab onto one of the nearby walls, its claws easily allowing it to seemingly run along the vertical surface before pouncing right at the center of the group. The assembled huntsmen and huntresses scattered in all directions as the Wendigo landed on the ground, snarling as it reached for its nearest victim.
The halberd huntsman was quick to strike as he came in with a wide horizontal attack. But the creature caught the weapon with its right hand before turning and bearing its teeth at him. Joanna attempted to capitalize on this opening, only to be rebuffed as the Grimm threw the Huntsman into her before dodging out of the way of a few strikes from Jen and the Kukri huntsman. But it wasn't able to dodge Tobias as he slid in from underneath the Grimm's blindside on the bottom right, managing to get a cut on its knee before hopping away to avoid the Wendigo's retaliatory strike.
Jen struck again, jumping up slightly with another punch aimed for the Grimm's face, only for it to be blocked by the Wendigo's upraised arm. Even releasing the miniature explosion wasn't enough to stagger the beast despite its lanky stature. Instead, it roared in annoyance at the burn on its hand as Joanna and the halberd huntsman attacked again. The Grimm was ready, though, and leapt over both of them before planting its hand on the ground and then striking out with its left foot, pinning the Kukri-wielding huntsman to the ground which cracked under the blow.
Tobias leapt in and slashed the Grimm's hand while Jen used a twin tornado fist attack to push the monster back several feet. "Try this," said Tobias as he activated his semblance, igniting blue flames onto the parts of the Wendigo's body that he'd slashed. The Grimm howled in pain, attempting to brush off the flames but to no avail as Joanna scored a hit on its other side with one of her darts which exploded and caused the beast to stumble. This presented an opening as the Halberd huntsman charged in with his weapon held above his head.
But another surprise came then, as the Grimm roared, causing its body to suddenly sprout black mist as several small Nevermores flew out in all directions, including the parts of its body which had been on fire. While those bird Grimm did die from the flames, its sudden outburst succeeded in gettingthe flames off of its body while also disorienting the Halberd huntsman enough for the Wendigo to grab him and slam him against the nearby wall a couple of times before throwing him into a dumpster next to an alley. Jen came flying in after that, her fist narrowly missing as the agile Grimm moved its body side to side before leaping over the huntress and landing on all fours, countering her next attack with a powerful swing of its antlers which knocked the Bear Faunus away.
A few rounds ricocheted off its skull then as Tobias and the Kukri huntsman came in for a pincer attack, only for the Grimm to roll and hop behind said blade wielder and seize him by the leg. The surprised Huntsman was lifted into the air, prompting Tobias to switch his weapons to Tomahawk mode and attempting to slash at the Grimm, who turned his current captive into an improvised weapon by swinging him around towards the Cerulean Fire wielder as if he were a sack of potatoes. Eventually, after dodging around the human bludgeon for a moment, Tobias threw one of his weapons and managed to scratch the beast's shoulder. While it succeeded in wounding the monster, it was also enraged by the hit and violently threw the huntsman into Tobias, knocking them both further up the street.
Joanna fired another couple of darts at the Grimm, one of which landed and exploded against the bony plating on its chest. The monster responded by grabbing her swinging weapon in its jaws before grabbing her leg and yanking Joanna off her feet with its left arm, tossing her weapon away while seizing her right arm with its other hand. The struggling huntress was unable to break free as the beast opened its jaws to devour its latest meal. But as it was about to bite down on her, Jen came out of nowhere with a rage mode powered punch to the side of the Wendigo's head. The creature yelped as part of its antlers was broken off, dropping Joanna as it stumbled back.
Tobias swooped in next, the Aura Shadow clinging to his body for a moment as he cut into the backside of the Grimm. He quickly ignited the wounds, making the monster howl in anguish at the large blue flames on its back. The Kukri and Halberd huntsmen, now back on their feet, proceeded to lead a charge towards the beast with their weapons at the ready. But the Wendigo had one more trick up its sleeve as it gave out an earsplitting roar, causing Jen to slow as she covered her more sensitive ears.
At about the same time, the Grimm released even more of the small Nevermores from its body to be rid of the flames before opening its mouth and unleashing a torrent of black feathers and putrid mist. The attack had enough force to knock everyone back, and in the case of the halberd huntsman breaking his aura. This moment of distraction was all the beast needed before pouncing on the man with the halberd, slamming him into the ground with its hand before yanking him up and biting into his skull. Even if they had been a few feet closer, they still couldn't have stopped what happened next.
The Halberd Huntsman's head was crushed within the jaws of the Wendigo Grimm as it tore it off his body. "NOOOO," yelled Joanna while firing more explosive bolts, causing the beast to drop its meal before Jen came in with a powerful punch to its head, a look of pure hatred on her face now as the impact sent the Grimm several feet down the street. Tobias and the Kukri huntsman were on it in an instant, slashing at it with their weapons in an attempt to hit whatever vulnerable spot they could. Wound after wound was inflicted upon the beast's thick hide as it continued to stumble back, covering its center and head with its arms which were now sporting numerous cuts.
But even this wasn't quite enough to take the creature down as it snarled once more and lashed out, landing a lucky hit on Tobias and sending him several feet away before lowering its head and charging at the Kukri Huntsman. He didn't have time to react as the Grimm's antlers jammed into his body, lifting him up and sending him into a nearby wall. The impact was enough to finally break his aura as the Wendigo backed up ever so slightly and rammed its head forward again. The Kukri huntsman cried out in pain as multiple pointed antlers pierced into his body, with at least one hitting something vital. Blood poured out of the huntsman's mouth as he realized his predicament and, in a last ditch effort to contribute to the monster's downfall, he swung his weapon with all of his might into the antler holding him.
The Wendigo howled as it backed away from the wall, feeling the pain of having almost its entire right antler cut off. Jen took the opening as she delivered a series of powerful, and enraged, punches to the murderous monster, each one letting off a small explosion that rocked it back further and further. Joanna attacked next, slashing the Grimm's left leg before firing another bolt into its other leg, the explosion causing it to collapse to its knees as Tobias, now managing to get back up, activated both the Aura Shadow and his semblance, causing blue and black flames to erupt from the wounds he'd inflicted on the beast as it shrieked in anguish.
The two huntresses and one huntsman all attacked at once then with Jen hitting the front, Joanna hitting the left side and Tobias hitting the right. As before, the Grimm attempted to release more Nevermores from its body to try and douse the flames and push back its opponents. But the three of them would not relent this time, the deaths of their two comrades spurring them on to fight even harder as they endured the scratches from the released Nevermores to deliver more wounds to their enemy. Tobias continuously cut and lit more places on the Wendigo each time it released Nevermores to quell his other flames while Jen kept up a strong attack, doing everything she could to keep the Grimm defending against her so that it could not counter.
All the while, Joanna aimed for its legs, hitting it in an attempt to unbalance the Grimm whenever it tried to jump over them or to make use of its agility. This strategy worked for a time until eventually, the enraged Wendigo snarled and released a blast of black featehrs and putrid mist from its mouth again, swinging its head around wildly in an attempt to ward off its foes. The trio all backed away, leaping over or dodging underneath the creature's corrosive breath attack. "Jen, use this!" Said Joanna as she tossed her weapon into the air.
The Bear Faunus woman caught on to her idea immediately as she jumped up, dodging the mist and Nevermores before hitting the weapon in midair with all of her dust-powered might. The Wendigo reacted by aiming its attack at the incoming projectile, but it was too slow to bring the full force of it against the weapon before it flew into its mouth and down its throat, leaving only a third of the weapon visibly protruding out of its jaws as the Grimm choked on the obstruction, attempting to remove it. "Now Tobias," yelled Jen.
The Huntsman wasted no time in dashing forward, holstering his right weapon as he leapt up, black mist trailing his body as he grabbed onto the weapon in the Grimm's mouth and activated his semblance at full power. The Wendigo let out a gargled howl as the entire weapon was engulfed in blue and black flames, several of which were also now flowing down into the monster's body. The Grimm grabbed a hold of the huntsman, attempting to remove both him and the weapon as its body seemed to be boiling on the inside. Soon enough, the beast let out one final blast of its Nevermoe breath, shooting the weapon out of its mouth and sending Tobias landing several feet away.
The Wendigo Grimm continued to roar as the flames tore up the inside of its body, thrashing about as it slowly collapsed to the ground. It went about banging its head against the pavement, no longer able to think coherently due to the pain, its mask and antlers breaking apart along with the ground as its movements became slower and slower. Then, at long last, the beast lay still as its heart, or what passed for one in a Grimm, finished turning to ashes. In short order, its body began to do the same, but with one minor difference. "What, in the world," said Joanna between breaths as they looked upon what was left over from the dissolving corpse, a skeleton. But not just any skeleton, it was the skeleton of a person.
"That's, the bones of a Faunus," said Jen, recognizing both the scent and signature indentations marking the skeleton as one despite her currently exhausted state. Though the moment she touched them, they too dissolved into dust.
"Salem," said Tobias, wincing from some of the now bruised places on his body, "this thing was probably one of her experiments. No telling how many hundreds she's probably made over the centuries."
"Whatever it is, we need to send word out now," said Joanna, grief clear in her voice as she went over and knelt by the Kukri huntsman. She didn't need to remove the antlers from his wounds since they'd also dissolved, so she closed his eyes the rest of the way before picking up his deceased form. She hadn't known either of the huntsmen all that well, and even now she couldn't really recall their names. But whether she knew them or not, seeing a comrade fall always hurt. "Grab the other one. We might not have time to bury them properly, but we can at least take them somewhere better than these streets and back alleys." Jen and Tobias nodded wordlessly before doing what was asked of them.
Not much else was said after that, at least for a little while. Losses, were something all huntsmen and huntresses learned to endure to one degree or another over the course of their careers. But even the most hardened of them would have to admit, that this day was exacting an especially heavy toll on both the kingdom and the world.
About the Same Time: Monstra
'This latest wave should be able to last for a while,' thought Salem as her Grimm whale opened its mouth and spouted out another mass of Grimm. The Immortal Witch breathed a contented sigh as she turned away from the view of Atlas and began walking back towards the halls within. 'I almost fell into a memory again,' she mused, 'my how time can get away from one when they don't have to worry about it.' In this case, though, she smiled at the arbitrary memory that had surfaced in her mind: one of the first times she ever experimented with a Grimm/human hybrid.
Indeed the Hound was a success on many levels, though even it had had a few predecessors before she started using silver-eyed warriors. She'd found the process exceedingly difficult over the years as bonding Grimm flesh to a normal person's body, be they human or Faunus, was typically too painful for them to bear. So in order to keep from wasting time and resources, she only ever performed her hybrid experiments when she found strong, and promising test subjects. Although, one other issue had put her off such experiments for a time. One of her most successful failures that the people of Remnant came to call, the Wendigo Grimm.
For its creation, she'd fused Grimm flesh with a Faunus capable of using the rage mode. Had she known what a thorn in her side the Ursario clan would become, she would've used one of them. But she hadn't, so she wound up using a mountain lion Faunus who happened to possess the rage mode instead. She'd enjoyed the irony of his form becoming something similar to a demonic deer, but that turned out to be the most enjoyment that came out of said project.
As it turned out, while the rage mode did grant the Grimm additional strength and the little abilities she added helped make it unpredictable in a battle, that was also the problem. She couldn't control the Grimm like she could the others, making it a wildcard whenever she sent it out. Moreover, she typically had to chase it down to get it to return to her lair, something she quickly grew irritated with. She even came close to destroying it due to its uncontrollable nature and tendency to eat not only people but other Grimm as well.
In the end, she decided it was best to simply let the beast loose on the world to cause havoc. Fortunately for her, she learned a great deal from her failure with the Wendigo Grimm and applied it to her other projects. Now, she had the Hound and its abilities. So with that thought in mind, she turned her attention to other more pressing matters. Namely, how should she torment dear Ozpin and his friends next?
And so, the Wendigo Grimm has fallen, but not without cost. Despite that, there is still much to be done as Mantle and Atlas continue to struggle against the seemingly endless onslaught of Grimm. But enough gloom and doom, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter after having to wait for a bit and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes finally come face to ghastly pale face with Salem herself. 'Til then.