AN: So, I've got my first troll in the comments. Some dude is going chapter-by-chapter explaining why each one sucks, and is using a guest account like a coward so I can't message him back to argue with him. Hey, dumbass, all you're doing is wasting your own time by continuing to read a fanfic you clearly hate. Yeah, real smart. And don't try to come at me with canon when you don't even understand KH canon yourself. And of course my backstory for Cinder is different from canon. Volume 7 hadn't even come out yet when I started writing this.
Sorry that you all had to see that, but I just needed to get that off my chest. To be honest, I kinda feel like having a troll is almost like a rite of passage. Like you know you're getting somewhere when someone's bothering to troll you.
A couple days ago I finally decided to upload another chapter of my Xenoblade 2 story, A Jewel Without a Crown, for those of you that still cared. I'll update that one very sporadically, since this is still my main priority.
Anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter 53
Ruby coughed as the dust around her finally settled. Of course they go back to Mountain Glenn and she falls down a stinkin' hole again! Come on! She looked around, and could only see Mynt with her, who was also getting up.
"Ruby!" she heard Mom's voice call out. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" she shouted back. "Where are you?"
"We're behind this rubble!" Yang's voice shouted, and Ruby could see that a pile of rubble was in her way, separating her and Mynt from the others.
"Is everyone else okay?" Ruby asked.
"We're all fine," Cinder said. "Is Mynt with you?"
"Yeah, she's here," Ruby said, looking to the black-haired girl who was still glaring daggers at her.
"That's good," Mom said. "Can you keep moving where you are?" Ruby looked around her and saw a path leading further into the underground city.
"Yeah," she said.
"Okay, we're going to keep moving on our side. We'll try and meet up somewhere up ahead!"
"Okay!" she shouted, turning around to look towards Mynt. "Let's go." The black-haired girl didn't move. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Mynt didn't answer, just turning on her heel and stomping away. Ruby sighed.
What did she do to make this girl so angry at her?
Neo cursed her rotten luck to be stuck by herself with Red. The girl who had been the single biggest thorn in her dad's side for months now, and was responsible for him winding up in prison. She kept marching away from Red, the red-cloaked girl doing her best to follow her.
Neo stopped when she noticed where they were. They had managed to circle back to the train depot, where her dad had been working with the White Fang just a few days ago. It was in ruins now, well more so than before, thanks to Team RWBY breaking stuff in their attempt to rescue their kidnapped leader. And then the bombs had caused most of the ceiling to collapse in this area.
"This place…" Red said, looking at the area ahead of them. She absentmindedly walked past Neo, turning her back on her. "This was where Torchwick was working."
Don't say his name! Neo thought, but of course couldn't vocalize her thoughts. She had no right to talk about him!
They were alone. No one would know. While everyone not on her team thought she was unarmed, she always carried Hush with her, cloaked with her Semblance. It would be easy to draw the knife and plunge it into this girl's back while she wasn't looking. All she would have to do afterwards is claim a Grimm got her.
"I know you probably think it's naïve of me," Red said. "But I honestly think I can help him."
…Wait, what? Neo stared at Red, completely wide-eyed at what the girl had just said.
What did she mean, help him?
"I just… I know he's a good person somewhere down there," Red continued. "Even if he thinks I'm wrong." The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear me trying to defend him. After all, Cinder said you lost someone in the Breach, and he's the one who started it. I just can't help it."
Red's words continued to confuse Neo. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to something like this, especially since Red didn't know who she really was.
So she did the only thing she could do.
She pressed on, not acknowledging what Red had told her.
The second time being in Mountain Glenn's underground was just as not fun as the first time. Only now they had to deal with even more ruined structures than last time. The girls were currently walking further into the ruined city when they found another section of tracks below them.
"Miss, Rose, do you read me?" Doctor Oobleck's voice suddenly said through her scroll.
"I read you, Doctor," she said.
"Finally!" he said. "I've been trying to re-establish communications with you for the last several minutes. Are you and Miss Noir alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine," she said.
"Good! I'll patch your mother into the call." Mynt looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"My mom is the professor," Ruby explained, and Mynt nodded in understanding,
…Huh. She wasn't glaring at her anymore. Ruby wasn't sure how she fixed things, but she wasn't going to complain.
"Ruby, are you both still okay?" Mom asked.
"Yes, Mom, we're fine," Ruby said with a roll of her eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady," Mom said, prompting Mynt to silently laugh.
"Wh—but—How did you know I rolled my eyes? You can't even see me!" Ruby said.
"I can hear it in your tone of voice. Anyway, do you have any idea where you are?"
"I'm not sure," Ruby said. "We just found some train tracks, and we're going to follow them."
"Okay. Bart? Do you know of anywhere that we can meet up?"
"Yes," Doctor Oobleck said. "According to my map, the tracks that Miss Rose and Miss Noir are following should lead to a subway station. You can meet up there. I can navigate for you, Aqua. As for you, Miss Rose, keep following the tracks straight ahead until you find the station. Then wait for the others to rejoin you."
"Got it, Doctor," she said, putting her scroll away. She looked down at the tracks. "Come, on," she said to Mynt, jumping down. The diminutive girl followed after her, and the duo continued down the tracks. They continued on in silence, making Ruby a little uncomfortable.
She knew Mynt physically couldn't speak, but it just made this so awkward. It meant Ruby had to try to make small talk to break up the silence, and she was terrible at small talk!
"So, uh," she said, trying to lighten the oppressive silence. "It would really suck if a train showed up right now, huh?" she asked, laughing awkwardly. Mynt just raised a confused eyebrow at her.
What are you doing, Ruby?! She yelled at herself in her head, when a section of the wall next to them exploded and an Ursa stumbled out.
"Well, not quite what I meant, but whatever," Ruby said, summoning Crescent Rose. She ran forward, but Mynt jumped off her shoulders, sending a flying kick at the Grimm's jaw, staggering the beast.
"Hey!" Ruby yelled, but Mynt just playfully stuck her tongue out at her and gestured to the Grimm, almost like she was saying "be my guest". Ruby growled in frustration, and swung her Keyblade, slashing the Ursa across the chest and killing it. The beast fell forward and started to disappear, but then Mynt dove out of the way of a sudden attack from a Creep.
Except this didn't look like a normal Creep. It was large, covered in green stripes, and a noxious-looking green gas emanated from its body.
"What is that?" Ruby asked. Mynt just shrugged and rushed in, flipping over a swipe of the creature's tail to stomp its face into the ground. She stood triumphantly over the Grimm's body, and then Ruby realized…
…It wasn't disappearing. In fact, it actually looked like it was bloating.
"Look out!" she yelled, and used her Semblance to scoop up Mynt and pull her away from the Grimm just in time for it to EXPLODE! A small crater was left behind where the Creep once was, and green ooze had splattered along the ground.
"What was that thing?!" she asked. Mynt shook her head, just as shocked as Ruby was. Ruby picked up her scroll again. "Doctor Oobleck, we just ran into some weird Grimm. It was green and exploded when we killed it."
"Your mother reported running into something similar just moments ago," Doctor Oobleck said. "It seems like it was a creature of Grimm, but modified…mutated. This will require further study. It's fascinating, but very, very troubling. Keep an eye out for any more of them."
"Will do, Doctor," Rub said, putting her scroll away again. She looked over to Mynt. "That was weird. I wonder where that thing came from." The girl could only shrug her shoulders. "Well, let's head for the subway station. Just, uh, let's be more careful this time. I don't want one of those things taking us by surprise." Mynt nodded, and they continued on their way.
"I think I see the station ahead of us," Ruby said, as she and Mynt walked up to a large building. Next to it was a massive stone door that was closed up tight. "Whoa," Ruby said upon seeing the door. "I wonder what that's for." She walked up to take a closer look at it, when she heard a voice.
"Ruby!" She turned around just in time for Yang to tackle her in a hug. Ruby could feel the air leaving her lungs by the second in her sister's vice grip.
"Good to see you too, Sis," Ruby said through grit teeth.
"I'm glad to see you're both unharmed," Cinder said as the rest of the group caught up with them. "I trust Mynt didn't give you too much trouble," she said with a smirk. Mynt crossed her arms in indignation in response.
"I see you've all met up," Doctor Oobleck said. "You should see a large door nearby."
"Yeah, we see it," Emerald said.
"Good. That was used to seal off that section of the subway in the days leading up to Mountain Glenn's fall. Ergo, it should lead to a way out of the underground city if you can get it open."
"Read you loud and clear," Mercury said, raising his foot to shoot it again.
"I'm afraid brute force won't work this time, Mister Black," Doctor Oobleck said before the teen could act. "It is not a matter of security, but of power. You have to restore power to the door to get it open."
"Ugh, fine," Mercury said, putting his foot down.
"You'll get 'em next time," Yang said, patting his shoulder.
"So, anyone got any ideas?" Mom asked.
"I think I can handle this," Weiss said, drawing her rapier and spinning the chamber. It landed on yellow, and she pointed the sword at the control box, electrifying it. The box sparked a few times, and lit up, allowing the large door to slowly open. They stepped through the door and discovered a minecart still sitting on a track.
"Hold on, is this a Dust mine?" Yang asked.
"Weird, I don't remember ever hearing about a Dust Mine underneath Mountain Glenn," Weiss said.
"The people of this city wanted to be more independent, so when they discovered a large deposit of Dust underneath the settlement, they elected not to make it public," Doctor Oobleck said. "They wanted to remain free of SDC influence. Unfortunately, they didn't get a chance to mine much of it before the settlement collapsed."
As the group walked closer to the cart, they noticed something sitting in it. It was a metal cylinder with clear glass tubes attached to it, filled with a bright blue substance.
"Wait, what's that?" Ruby asked. When she spoke, the device beeped, and a panel in front lit up.
"Oh dear," Doctor Oobleck said. "That is a bomb."
"WHAT?!" the group yelled, taking a step back.
"Okay, don't touch the bomb. Physically tampering with it might trigger an explosion. Luckily, these tracks lead to a deep chasm and underground river, but with the way this device is rigged, you're going to have to power the cart's engine. There should still be Dust crystals lying around from when the mine was abandoned. Use them to get the cart moving. Time is of the essence, but remember to remain calm…Right, forget that. Just hurry!"
"Oh, crap!" Yang yelled, frantically looking around for any Dust Crystals.
"Found one!" Mercury yelled.
"Hand it to me," Weiss said. "I know how these carts work." She opened up a hatch and inserted the crystal, allowing the cart to start moving. The cart moved along the track, passing through a gate…
…And then the group heard a lot of roaring. They drew their weapons.
"Keep them away from the bomb," Mom said.
"You're almost there!" Doctor Oobleck shouted. "Oh this is gonna be close!" The team allowed the cart to pass through a door into a large chamber that had tracks running through it. The track eventually ended at the edge of a cliff, the chasm that the doctor had mentioned earlier. Once the cart had moved past the entranceway, the supergroup formed a line in front of it, everyone with long-range weapons firing them at the incoming green Creeps. They found that they were able to use the mutants' ability to explode against them, as killing one in a group would cause it to explode, killing other members of the group and allowing them to thin their numbers faster.
"There it goes!" Mom yelled, as the cart finally tipped over the edge, falling into the chasm and exploding out of harm's way. The team gave a huge sigh of relief, as did Doctor Oobleck through the scroll.
"Well… I'm glad everyone was able to keep their cool… and not explode…That would've made for an uncomfortable parent/teacher conference. Still…we need to keep investigating. Someone rigged both the Merlot building and the underground to explode, clearly to try and keep us out. But who? And where in the world did those mutated Grimm come from? I have several theories, and none of them bode well. Anyway, good job everyone. If you follow what's left of the train tracks, you should be able to leave the underground and continue your search wherever they lead to. I have a feeling we'll find out more about this mystery there."
"Why can things never be simple?" Weiss complained.
AN: Like I said before, Grimm Eclipse is so hard to do because everything happened during gameplay, and certain scenes were a little too video game-y to translate to text like this. I'm honestly looking forward to finishing this arc.
So, next time the group will be continuing their investigation into Merlot Industries.
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!