Chapter 62
Merlot's island was far from defenseless.
Having security robots, the normal and mutant Grimm, and even the new converted Grimm and reprogrammed machines held all across the island. Professional Huntsmen would likely die in attempts to find Merlot. Heroic Spirits themselves would also be troubled by the amount of threats here.
"Go Hercules go!" None of that mattered to the greatest hero of the Greek who bashed the skull of a Grimmified Wyvern with his fist, kicked an Eli-Chan bot to pieces, and then grabbed some kind of rabbit Grimm and bit it's head right off. Jason cheering his buddy on at this one-sided slaughter.
"Gruaaaa!" One that a massive Grimmified Frost Giant didn't like. It ran at the two heroes, and lifted it's weapon. The enemy jumping and swinging it's staff down to crush the duo then and there.
Clang!
Only for it's jaw to widen into a gasp, as Hercules merely grabbed the end of the staff and ensuring no harm came onto the duo. Berserker's mad eye looking at the Frost Giant unimpressed and looking quite bored while Jason just looked smug despite having done nothing but watched. In an attempt to defy the hero's gaze, the Frost Giant let go of the weapon and landed on the ground.
Big mistake.
With his own roar that overshadows the Frost Giant, Berserker then used the weapon the Grimmified foe foolishly left him and sung it like a bat despite only having one arm. The Frost Giant unable to do anything as the end of it's own weapon smashed into the side of his head breaking a chunk of the jaw, skull, and crushing a part of it's left eye. Hercules didn't stop there and poured more of his strength into the attack, and kept going until with a sick crack, the Frost Giant's head snapped and the neck just flopped and skin tore up.
Blood bursting from the near decapitated head of the Frost Giant with the head now loosely hanging at the side looking rather gross. The body then naturally falling on the ground leaving behind the mangled remains of the Frost Giant. Hercules then running off to continue their journey while Jason began thinking a bit as he looked at the corpse.
"Hey Hercules," The Berserker grunted. "I just realized, normally when we kill these clown they disappear in golden light unless, I dunno, those like Medea (Lily) or Chaldea anchor them, correct?" Hercules nodded. "So then...why do the corpses of those Grimmified remain?"
Now that was certainly a good question.
The one thing the Grimm and the monsters had in common was that when killed off, their bodies vanished away. Yet it seems that those who were given Merlot's formula, continued to 'live' on with their corpses staying behind. It was...unusual.
'I wonder if it happens because of the Grimm parts added to them...or something about this world itself?' Thanks to Chaldea and the Holy Grail giving Servants the knowledge needed, Jason is aware that earth is protected and run by Gaia and Alaya. However, what about Remnant itself? Did it not have it's own will, and if so, what rules did it have? I mean, in this world humans were a hell lot tougher than modern day humans at home, could use little crystals to make a storm, and had decent enough technology that ranged from phones to floating warships.
So then, what were the hidden rules here like?
'I suppose it doesn't matter in the end.' Jason then decided. I mean, for now he and Hercules had a mission to do. Find Merlot, kill him, and stop his army from attacking Beacon. Shouldn't be too hard even with the fact that Jason couldn't use his legs and Hercules was missing an entire limb.
"I must say, you are getting rather tiresome." The two then paused, as a voice was then heard. Looking around the area they were in, which was full of rock, broken crates, and dead plants with pipes sucking the green goop, it was then a small but notable speaker was seen.
"Merlot." Jason growled with Hercules giving the danger look at the speaker. From it, Merlot laughed.
"Yes. It is I. And I must say, it is...amusing, to see such a strong warrior like that Servant you're commanding." Jason's eyes widened while Hercules showed teeth. "Surprised that I know about Servants? Thank Eve for that."
Dang it! So Merlot's new partner told him about Servants. That wasn't good, and even the maddened Berserker knew that with Jason realizing the trouble they were in. Merlot, like any mad man, all too happy to explain how smart he is.
"Ah, yes. Thanks to Eve, she taught me much of this 'other world' she and these fantastic new creatures had come from." Merlot explains himself in a gleeful tone. "How you Servants aren't even humans, wield powers beyond normal man, and face down beings stronger than you thanks to this Master."
"And let me guess, she also told you how dangerous we are?" Jason then tries to intimidate Merlot of how Servants are more powerful than humans like him. The mad man just chuckled as if he had been told a joke.
"Oh she has...on earth." Crap, he knew. Something Merlot seemed to enjoy as he then began taunting them. "From what Eve has wonderfully told me, you Servants for some reason, are limited here in our world. Where you need Dust or certain humans to remain and use your powers. Otherwise, you are easily handable by certain standards."
The worst part is Merlot is right.
At their true strength, Hercules and even Jason might have been able to kill off the Grimm and Merlot's forces in a quicker pace aside from a certain few. Heck, if the Servants were at full power then the ones at Beacon could easily annihilate the army Merlot sent at them. Yet as Merlot stated, here on Remnant, that wasn't the case.
"Still," Jason then says. "Like hell we'll lose to some idiot who thinks monsters are superior to mankind. The second you thought that, was the second you signed your defeat."
Sure the Grimm and monsters alongside machines Jason battled can be considered 'superior' to mankind in certain ways. Heck, even smarter, stronger, and having certain abilities that humanity could never have. These other worldly beings having unique abilities that would naturally have mankind envy them, with those even trying to emulate them and gain what they have.
And yet by doing so those humans sacrificed something and became something else. Something inhumane that couldn't die a human death, and in some cases, dies miserable while turning to a life that usually ended with a lot of blood.
While being human can certainly suck, for no reason should humans seek to ascend into a different life form which will taint and ruin them. While Jason himself couldn't say he liked how his human life ended, by no means will he say he hated that human life and enjoyed the good parts that occured in it. Someone like Merlot, who saw humans as insignificant and only focused on monsters with no souls, would never see the potential humanity had.
"You little," Something that made Merlot clearly mad at, as this pathetic no-name Servant and his brute pal dared to call him a fool like Ozpin and those who mocked his work. "Well then," Merlot continues, as he then speaks more confidently with Jason growing suspicious. "I suppose we'll see who is correct in the long run, as I believe it is time to end you and your pal. After all, while we were having this chat, I've decided to send in a new playmate for you."
That can't be good, and it showed on Jason's face while Hercules got ready to fight. A loud rumbling is then heard. One that caused the ground to shake slightly.
Merlot being more than happy to brag. "Since you hopeless sacks of pathetic waste seem to believe you are above my creations, try saying that again to this one."
A shadow then fell over the two heroes as they looked up. Eyes widening as they saw this new threat. One like many others, had been not only Grimmified, but also mutated as well considering the glowing green parts bursting from it.
"Meet your old friend, the Kazakoemaru!" With those words said and a sinister laugh, the massive Oni roared so loudly the very air shaked. Whatever experiments Merlot did to it, definitely buffed it up.
The oni was originally a terrifying green monster with a massive weapon. The head of a bull, and had a rather round belly. Now, it had disgusting bulging black veins with a few spilling a murky black fluid. Green crystals poked out randomly all over it. The left forearm, it's lower back, right knee, half of it's face itself while the other half had twisted veins with one red eye. The raid monster Chaldea faced, having been brought back but twisted by Merlot into this pitiful thing.
"You really are mad." Jason says as he and Hercules look at the pathetic creature. While on the surface it looked mad and angry, in truth that was just superficial emotions while in reality, it was in immense pain and just lashing out. No way this thing could be okay, and was likely suffering from the experiments done on it. Hercules himself felt just as sick at seeing this abomination. At this point, killing it would be a mercy.
"Now then," Merlot continues to say as if he hadn't just released his pet onto them. "While all of you play with the Oni, I'll be dealing with the others. Okay." Merlot's voice then vanished, as clearly he no longer cared for them and believed the raid monster here could handle them.
"Just end it's misery Hercules." Jason told his friend, who nodded as the Oni screeched and ran at them. Lifting it's blade that has been modified with Dust, it swung it's weapon down and a mass amount of fire came out of it. Hercules ran at the side to avoid it and rushed at the Oni.
Kazakoemaru didn't seem to care, as it then swung it's blade again and this time horizontally. Instead of fire, it was wind that pushed Hercules back from continuing forward while Jason wrapped his arms on Hercules shoulders to hang on. The tainted Oni ran at them and began to swing it's weapon at them to cut them down.
Each swing was deadly, as even when Hercules avoided a blow the dirt was cut up and dirt was sent everywhere. This limited some of Hercules views, and the Oni used that to then cut the hero down. Though not as if a little dirt would stop the greek hero, as he avoided each of the blade swings. Hercules then moved back, and then jumped up.
The Oni then with it's single Grimm eye, could only watch as Hercules then punched it in the face despite the fact Kazakoemaru was three times bigger than it. The force of the blow made the Oni stumble back, yet such a hit wouldn't end it either. The experiments had enhanced it greatly, and the Oni screeched as from its mouth, a bile of black liquid burst from it.
"Watch out!" Jason shouted and as soon as Hercules landed on the ground, he ran at the side to avoid the vomit attack. Good , because when the bile makes contact with the ground, a hissing sound is heard. That liquid was acidic!
The Oni wasn't done yet though, as it then turned around where one can see the unnatural green crystals that were growing out of it's back. It bent over and then, those very crystals shot out of it. Jason screamed while Hercules did his best to dodge each of those crystals. The raid Oni could never do this before. A testament to the cruel experiments done to it.
Once the Oni finished shooting it's crystals, it turned around and swung the massive blade it owned down which glowed brightly. Making contact with the dirt, the blade had used a mixture of wind and fire Dust, sending a wall of fire at the two Servants. Hercules braced himself while Jason hid himself fully behind Hercules. The fire made contact and Hercules felt the heat burn a part of it's skin while Jason felt all the air around him dry and couldn't breathe properly.
Kazakoemaru then ran at them while they were burning up and swung the side of it's weapon at them like a golf player. The metal of the blade slammed into Hercules, and while he wouldn't scream he felt agony as the super-heated metal started turning his right side's skin black as skin cells were carbonized. Then, the weapon kept moving and Hercules alongside Jason were sent flying and slammed into the side of the canyon they were in. Thankfully, Hercules positioned himself so only his front half hit the canyon, as such Jason was safe.
"GRUA!" Though not for long, suddenly a meaty hand grabbed the two heroes and soon enough, both were looking at the Oni's ugly face. One that opened its mouth wide to devour them whole. While Hercules attempted to escape, the missing right arm and scorched body didn't help and Jason realized they were going to be eaten whole. Unless…
"Oh man. And it was so shiny!" Jason grabbed his Atlas sword which was so neat, and then flipped a switch. The blade started glowing bright thanks to the Dust, and with reluctance, Jason threw the blade into the Oni's mouth.
A certain banana Oni once told him Oni can eat anything.
"Gahhhh!" Obviously not something that cut up a tongue, and was super hot. The blade scorched the Oni's mouth badly and in a horrible attempt to spit it out, it let Hercules go. the Greek hero landed and got ready to fight when Jason stopped him.
"Hold on Hercules!" Jason shouts. "First, we need a power-up!"
Hercules sees his friend pointing at the Oni's blade. the Dust-infused blade. With a grin, Hercules touched the blade and from it, began absorbing all the Dust infused into the weapon. The Oni, after finally having spat out the accursed blade, then saw the Greek hero doing something to it's weapon. To it's surprise, it then saw all the scorch marks vanish away, and the missing arm it had regrown like nothing.
"Haha!" Jason laughed as he absorbed some of that Dust and finally felt his legs were normal again. Jumping off Hercules while grabbing his spat out weapon. "Now then monster," He swung the blade forward. "Prepare to-oh gross!" Jason then dropped his weapon which had Oni spit in it. Disgusting.
As for Hercules, he just gave a mighty howl and jumped up.
The Oni realized it was trying to punch him again. So it attempted to grab the hero and succeeded. Unlike last time though, Hercules had more power and broke the Oni's fingers with brute force causing the creature to shriek as it looked upon it's twisted fingers. Hercules then jumped up onto the Onis left shoulder, where it grabbed a protruding crystal and pulled it out.
Kazakoemaru shrieked in agony at the attack as black fluid and red blood burst from the wound. Hercules didn't stop there though, as he continued to grab more crystals from the Oni's back and ripped them out forcibly. While more regenerated out of it, it didn't make the pain any less with the raid monster shaking its body to get Hercules off of it. Then it felt another pain at it's toes, eyes glancing downward to see Jason having plunged his heated blade into the big right toe with Jason grinning.
Roaring in pain and anger, Kazakoemaru jumped up and down to do anything to get rid of these pests. Hercules forced off the body and Jason running away. While it still felt that horrible pain, at least it got those two pests off of it. The Oni then picking up it's weapon and attempting to use it on Jason who screamed.
Hercules came in and this time, caught the blade with both hands. Then, with a squeeze, the weapon itself shattered into numerous pieces. The Oni shocked by this and took a few steps back, feeling a great pressure exerting from the Berserker.
As for Jason, he began looking around and saw one pipe connected to that weird green goop thing. Jason recalled how Hercules own toes melted, and shouted at Hercules saying, "Over there!"
Hercules turned and saw the green goop and nodded. While Jason ran off Hercules bent down and shoved his hands in the ground and picked up a large piece of it. The hero then threw it at the Oni who moved to avoid it. While doing so, Hercules jumped, not to the Oni though, but at the pipe and landed on it. Roaring, he then challenged the Oni who growled and came at him. Just as planned, as once the Oni got close enough, Hercules grabbed the pipe with one hand and pulled.
The metal tried to resist, yet couldn't and the pipe then burst where from it, the very liquid it tried to collect sprayed all over. Particularly, on Kazakoemaru who began wailing as the acidic material for creating mutants began to melt it when it his it's chest, stomach, and a bit of it's limbs.
Jason, having gotten a good distance to avoid the splash damage, watched alongside Hercules as the Oni thrashed and moved to escape, yet already it's belly was melting and exposed organs and bones. Losing balance, the Oni fell flat on it's back as it continued to screech as it was being melted away. Deciding to end it's suffering, Hercules jumped and with his two feet, landed on the Oni's head splattering it all over but making it quick. The Grimm substance vanished yet like all the others, the Oni corpse itself remained while the parts hit by the green substance continued to be melted away.
As the two heroes watched, they then moved on.
The same being said for EMIYA and Medea (Lily), who kept going onward to find Merlot himself. Along the way though, they found another radio tower and fixed it, meaning only one was left to fix.
"Almost there." EMIYA says as he looks prideful at fixing the tower. "We just need one more and a scroll, and we're finished." Medea (Lily) nodded, as she began floating a bit to find any hints of Merlot's base. Though like with her husband, she found nothing which she reported to the Archer. Something he found suspicious.
'Merlot is here, yet how have we not discovered his base at all. The island is big, but not that big.' They must be missing something, but what? "Damn. Not enough time. Caster," Medea (Lily) looked at him. "Can you track Merlot?"
"I can try, I suppose." Medea (Lily) answers him as she floats down. "But I have none of his personal belongings or anything to lead back to him. Plus, I'm running low on mana as well."
That wasn't good. Then again, they haven't had time to recharge and had been fighting the island's monsters for quite a bit and yet found no Dust here. Sure they can conserve, but all Servants had a limit.
"Well, we have no choice here." EMIYA tells his ally while crossing his arm. "We can't waste time fighting his pets forever, and need to locate him sooner than later."
"I suppose." Medea (Lily) sighed and concentrated. "Give me a bit. I'll use a spell to see if I can locate him on the island's surface."
"Good, you do that and I-" EMIYA then paused. "Wait...what did you say?"
"...I said I'll use a spell to locate him." Medea (Lily) answered him. "Why?"
"No. After that?" EMIYA tells her.
"Um…" Medea (Lily) thought back a little. "A spell on the surface?"
"Yes. Of course!" While it's still possible Merlot is here on the surface, EMIYA begins realizing maybe there's a reason why they haven't spotted him yet. "What if he's not on the island's surface, but below us!" Medea (Lily) gasped.
Now it was making sense. I mean, only a fool would stay in the surface where a whole bunch of beasts and monsters attacked and could kill them. proven by the fact the few buildings the two saw were broken into or smashed. As such, a hidden underground lab or bunker sounded like the next best thing.
"Still," EMIYA rubbed his chin. "How would we even find it?" Even if Merlot is underground, the two had no way to actually find the base. It could be anywhere. EMIYA's eyes then looked at the pipes. Those...those pipes had to lead to somewhere, correct?
Walking up towards the pipe, EMIYA grabbed it and began to read the history of the pipe. Seeing how it was built, made out of a special alloy to resist the acidic effects of the unknown material found, where it led to, "Merlot's lab."
"Eh? So if we follow the pipe-" Before Medea (Lily) could finish, EMIYA finished for her.
"Yes. We'll find Merlot."
"Unless of course you meet your doom." Both heroes turned, where at a distance EMIYA saw a speaker and clicked his tongue. So the mad man was watching after all.
"Merlot. Here to stop us?"
"More like capture you." The man mad was certainly grinning behind those speakers. Loud noises could be heard, and then the sound of metal gears entered their ears. EMIYA and Medea (Lily) looked around and saw numerous machines all around them. Most native of Remnant, others being the automatons they knew and even a few of the Atlas Academy's defense mechs.
"Trying to use us for your experiments?" Medea (Lily) scowled.
"You Servants are unique, I'll admit that." Merlot chuckled as he watched through the eyes of his machines. "While the other specimens I found are wonderful, perhaps you Servants can improve my research."
EMIYA growled. This man...he knew about Servants!
"And once I capture you, maybe I can test my Grimm converting formula among you lot. Hehehehe-" Instead of hearing that stupid laughter, EMIYA shot an arrow at the speaker. "My, how rude." Now Merlot was speaking through his machines.
"As if I'll play you're idiotic game." EMIYA states while he summons his blades out with Medea (Lily) readying her magic.
"It matters not. After all, sooner or later you Servants will run out of mana, and from there, It'll be easy to capture you all." All the machines readied their weapons and eyes glowing red. "So be a dear and get tired, would you. I have other fish to fry."
Once Merlot's voice vanished, all the machines then struck all at once. Now, it was a race against time.
Explosions were heard all over outside of Beacon. Those indoors and hidden away from the battlefield heard it from the howls, the roars, and the battlecries their defenders gave to defend them all.
In the east where ravenous Grimm attacked, it was held back by mainly students in the higher years or those who excelled in taking the Grimm down. While they were dangerous, the students were trained adequately and had some fully trained Huntsmen with them. Though a few students actually did very well in outperforming them.
Such as the Hakuno siblings, who while lacking any actual combat power, seemed to give perfect command. Not to mention their semblances that seemed to give a variety of 'support effects' like healing or evading helped those they affected.
Nearby was a young boy called Shiki with a female bat faunus some called a vampire who also fought perfectly. The boy somehow killed the Grimm with one hit while his partner actually beat down twice as many Grimm with pure strength alone.
Those like Port and Oobleck also did fantastic. The former cut off heads while the latter burned others alive. From above came an Eli-Chan bot that shot missiles at them, only for Glynda to redirect them back at it and cause it to explode.
"Thank you Glynda." Port gives gratitude as he then raises his weapon and shoots the head of a mutant Grimm Creep causing it to explode. "I say. This battle will surely put us down in history!"
"Assuming we survive." Oobleck tells him. "Still, I do believe we are making good progress."
"Perhaps," Glynda responds while lifting the Grimm around her and then throwing them at the continuously and seemingly never ending army they faced. "Yet I fear we won't last like this forever. Merlot has more forces than we thought."
"Nonsense!" Port gives his thoughts while jumping over an Ancient Gear and then blasting the back of it's head, spraying gears all over. "We're making great progress in holding the line."
"That's not even mentioning other magnificent forces we have." Oobleck says thinking of those like Blackbeard, Atalanta, Ozpin, and teams such as R_Y and J_R_. All of whom are doing devastating damage. Why, Blackbeard's own ship kept on doing great damage to the back row.
"Maybe." Glynda mutters as she side-steps a strange beast with a giant stinger for a tail before using her weapon to slash out it's eye, making it wail. "And yet...what is this bad chill I'm getting?"
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Ozpin was giving it his all.
Elemental weapons.
Miniature storms.
Blasts of green energy.
Anything that stood in his path was quite frankly dealt with at ease. If he had fought normally, he'd have done a good job. With magic, he's going above that.
"High-level target detected. Must be removed." Something the machines of Merlot's army noticed as they began focusing their fire at him. Missiles, bullets, laser beams, and whatever unique weapon they had all going toward him. If it wasn't blocked by his barrier, he flew out of the directed path then counter attacked. Still, it was becoming troublesome at dodging all of these.
'Not that it matters.' Ozpin thought as he created a mini tornado that had razor sharp ice frosted leaves in the mixture to tear apart these demonic creatures as Ana told him. 'Most of these things aren't even capable of harming me. So what is Merlot planning?'
A Nevermore came down at him and flapped its wings and sent countless feathers at him. With his green barrier, it blocked the entire barrage of feathers and once the Nevermore stopped firing, Ozpin sent his own laser that created a hole in the Nevermore, making it vanish away.
"..." Then Ozpin saw something, a dot. The headmaster's eyes widened as it was none other than Eve, who looked upset and raised her hammer which began glowing a bright green energy. With a howl, she was intending to slam it onto him. Ozpin got ready to counter against her, when suddenly he heard a screech and turned his head around.
It was a Grimmified Wyvern with its claws out and trying to drive them at his exposed back. Ozpin created his barrier again and made it strong enough so that when those claws collided with his barrier, they actually shattered. Ozpin then sent an attack from his defense, one that blew a chunk of the head off.
"Die!" While Eve used that time he used to say that one word and slam at his barrier so hard, Ozpin was sent down toward the ground. With a great slam, Ozpin found himself on the ground as his defense still held. Though as strong as it was, it wouldn't be as great with all the enemies that now surrounded him.
With a gasp Ozpin saw all the Grimm, demonic beasts, and even these Lahmus as Ana told him screeched and attacked at his defense. While his barrier can handle many good hits, against this many foes, not as much. In seconds the barrier failed and Ozpin attempted to fly away.
A spiked tentacle then grabbed him, and it was revealed to be one of the rampaging starfish creatures Gilles had been releasing across the world. One that seemed to smile as it kept Ozpin from flying as a Lahmu used that time to jump up and grab at Ozpin.
"Shit!" A sight that Yang saw as she saw the headmaster be brought down. And while she could see giant energy blasts coming out, the young brawler knew that the headmaster can't handle all those foes at once. "I think we need to do something!"
"Like what?" Jaune says as he dodges some feral unicorn thing that tried to use it's horn to stab his face. "We're all busy here!"
"Indeed." Ren is with Jaune as he does a backflip against a mutant Creep as it explodes and then lands safely. Instantly then punching a Beowolf so hard that it's left arm was blasted off before Ren then utilized his moves to beat it down until it died. "We have too many enemies surrounding us."
"He's right." Ruby laments as she cuts down an automaton before spinning and swung her scythe to vertically cut a ursa in half. Once the sharp edge was stuck on the ground, she used it to shoot down whatever enemy in her sights. "We just have to hope Ozpin has it handled."
"Yeah...but-oh dang." Yang then says as she watches from the sky, something big coming from the sky. Those who weren't so busy gazed up and also gasped. Atalanta herself, who continuously sniped the army and constantly getting a killing blow stopped as she looked up and groaned.
"That's...a big one."
Only Merlot could explain how he did it. Heck, only he could explain how he found and somehow managed to capture the damn thing. All he would comment was that it costed a lot of his Grimm to bring it down, knock it out, and then convert it like the others into a Grimm hybrid.
While no Fanfir, nobody was eager to see a massive Grimmified dragon that was even bigger than the Wyvern. It's very roar seemed to rejuvenate the enemy forces as they charged on while demoralizing the defending army. Ozpin, who blasted as many foes off him stood with horrified eyes.
"Hahahahahahaaa!" With Merlot laughing madly as he watched the wonderful view. "It costed quite a bit to get this one, and even destroyed countless of my original forces, but it was worth it."
A powerful dragon he found sleeping soundly far from Vale. With perfect planning, dozens upon dozens of tranquilizers that would kill a man several times over, and even Eve to help, Merlot ambushed the dragon when it was sleeping. Sure it woke up and practically destroyed his machines by the dozens until less than ten were left, but the tranquilizers did their job and from there Merlot had his machines inject the formula where the dragon was at, being too heavy to take to the island.
It took a long while for the dragon to convert, not to mention holding it down when it was in pain from the transformation. The dragon even destroyed the first mind modulator his machines had attempted to put on it's head. In time though, it obeyed him and only him. Now used as a weapon of destruction against Beacon.
"And with it," Merlot trembled with joy. "I'll annihilate Beacon Academy, and any survivors will be used in the Grimm conversion program." An army of Grimm hybrids for his own use. Now that is something Merlot is looking forward to. Soon after, the rest of the world was next and he'll turn Remnant into one where he ruled with the Grimm.
Yes! Nothing can stop him now!
A loud noise then echoed across the room he was in. Being startled, Merlot began checking what had just happened. On one screen, he saw more of his captured subjects being turned to Grimm. On another, the unique substance he found on this island used to mutate Grimm being processed. A third showing those damn Servants still fighting his machines. The next revealing the monitors that allowed him to see the battle of Beacon. One of the last ones then showing the blonde man and his big friend inside his underground base.
…
"What!?" Merlot cries out as he sees the blonde known as Jason cheekily waving his hand at the camera then breaking it with his sword. Oh boy. This...this wasn't good.
Time for the war on Merlot to end. He was an interesting write, but ultimately just a mini-boss that was made to lose. Granted, Merlot will leave his mark, but he's just a stepping stone even with all his big bad creations. So yeah, time for this war and Act to end.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Robin Hood says as he couldn't believe what he's seeing. The other Servants with him like Billy and Helena also shocked at what they were seeing. Mainly, the fact that Ishtar is floating outside now with a big smile on her face...as her leashed pet the Diving Bull which is now the size of a big van is walking outside. The people are relatively in awe at the sight of it.
"Is this legal?" Billy had to ask Robin Hood as he saw Gungalla eating a stall's food.
"No. But I don't think the people mind." Robin Hood says as the man running the stall, instead of being angry, is praying in happiness that a divine beast likes his food."
"I'm just amazed Ishtar is somehow empowering her bull...and is blonde." Helena adds as they look at Ishtar's new look and her pet which, while not at full power, has already faced their resident amazon queen and saw how it could actually fight her to a standstill. And it could still get stronger!
Of course Ishtar and Ereshkigal had already told the Servants what was really going on with them. How thanks to their showboating, the people believe them to be the Brother Gods, or Sisters as many are calling them. In contrast to them who needed Dust to fuel them, it was the people of Vacuo and beyond beliefs and worship of them that gave them strength. The two mentioned that while they did gain slight superficial changes and different powers, overall they were the same with bonuses.
"Wish I had people believe in me." Billy the Kid says with a bit of envy. "Because being treated like a God sounds neat."
"I'm just more interested in how stronger they'll get in the meantime." Helena giggles while watching the children play and pat the divine bull who allowed them to. Ishtar not minding and accepting their praise and flower necklaces.
Two children then walked up to them, with one adult.
Billy the Kid blinked as he saw the adult, who was a silver wolf-type faunus with a...familiar gun...and gave a demeanor that just reminded him of someone he felt he knew. The man then getting something from the satchel he owns and tossing them an apple.
"?" Robin Hood accepted the apple as did the other two, but was confused. "Um...this is…"
"A thanks." The faunus says in a voice that Billy swore he heard before. "I know you guys have helped out a bit with those Goddesses. Figured you at least deserve some good fruit."
"We hope you like it." A dark skinned girl with a red dress and two small braids coming down her hair. Next to her is a light-skinned girl with blonde hair, who looked a bit tired. "We helped grow the trees ourselves."
"Thank you very much." Helena smiles as she pats the two girls on the head, then looks at the small blonde with slight worry. "Are you okay? you look a little hot?"
"S-sorry." The girl says as she bows. "It's just...Um, I'm from Solias normally, but came here to with my parents who are on a business trip. Not used to such hot weather." The dog that the other child owned then started barking and nudging it's head on the girl as if to comfort her.
"Ah." The girl in red says as she pats her dog on the head. "Vihan hopes you get better."
"T-thanks…" The small blonde girl then grabs a water bottle. Then she starts to walk away but waves good-bye to the girl. "I'm going back to the apartment my parents have rented. But we can play tomorrow Asha!"
"Okay. Bye Gerda!" Asha says before smiling at the three Servants. "Oh. Hope you like the apples. I have to go or my dad will worry. Bye!"
"Sure."
"Have fun."
"Stay healthy."
The three Servants watched the two kids go off, the faunus chuckling as he saw them vanish. "Good kids." He then yawns. "And yeah, guess it's time for me to go. I got hunting to do."
"Then we won't stop you." Billy says as he holds his hand and the faunus grabs it to shake it. "Go on your way sir."
"Sir huh." The faunus chuckles as he moves away. As he turns his back on them and walks off, he waves them off and says, "Not sir. It's Paxti."
"What a ni-...eh?" Patxi...Patxi! As in-! Billy the Kid quickly looked up to find him, but the man was gone.
"Something up?" Robin Hood asks Billy, who noticed his frantic movement.
"Er, no...I...It's nothing." Billy says as he turns around and starts moving. Wondering if he'd ever see that faunus again, yet firmly reminding himself it couldn't be that man and tried to shake it off. 'And yet…' Billy knew this was a different world, more so when the two Goddesses told them. That it wasn't even part of Proper Human History, and as they described it, another tree. Even then, Billy thought, 'Isn't it possible for some trees...to have similar things within it?'
A question Billy didn't know if he could answer.
I got sad when the innocents we knew from the Lostbelts ended up...deleted. Thankfully, while not the actual versions the heroes would know, alternative dimensional counterparts exist for a good damn reason! Yeah!