Music Choices: Superbeast and Dragula by Rob Zombie, Night of the Werewolves by Powerwolf, Run by Zeal & Ardor
Author's Notes: :)
Eclipse
Chapter 61
The Hunter's Moon
Part IV
The orange haze coating the night sky had a sickly menace to it as the moon rose ever higher over the skyscrapers. Downtown Vale was still full of people, though there were more sirens than normal that night; and the Hunters beyond the wall were being kept busier than average, as Grimm were pushing closer to the Kingdom, drawn by the energy in the air.
In the district where the Emerald Shopping Center was located, things were considerably chaotic. Ambulances, fire trucks and a small handful of police units had shown up and blocked off one of the entrances as they tried to sort out whatever mess the Hunters had caused again; besides a few cases of depleted aura, two cases of what looked like serious Semblance tampering, and a few twisted ankles, there weren't any truly dire injuries. However, emergency services were worried about the Dust damages and the hazardous cleanup that would entail; and had cordoned off the arcade until the Dust Removal Squad got on scene.
The security detail for the arcade were also loudly insisting that the police investigate to find the person responsible for making them attack their compatriots and trash their place of work; the police on scene, however, were being extremely blasé about the entire affair, blaming it on Beacon kids acting up again. Their attitude was obviously pissing off the security detail.
In the end, though, there really wasn't too much they could do besides yell and make empty threats. The cops in Vale had a very particular attitude towards Beacon students and Hunters in general; namely, if they were involved in an incident or suspected to be involved in an incident? Then unless people were dead or dying, then the investigation would be lackluster to say the least. The Council would pay off any property damages, hem and haw about investing in the future and maybe a student or Hunter would get a slap on the wrist if people were really bent out of shape over it.
Some people thought it was because the police worked so closely with Hunters, that they saw it as protecting their own; and a select few believed that it was because they were actually scared of retribution, though retribution from who exactly was not something these people could agree on.
The media was on scene trying to interview eyewitnesses, and were largely getting a very garbled mess; and any questions they asked the officers on scene, who refused to let them near the cordoned off arcade due to Dust concerns, were obfuscating at best.
The best descriptions the media got were of a girl with bright pink hair, and her dance partner, a skinny guy with orange suspenders; both had disappeared without a trace, and were possibly wanted for questioning.
"Gogogogogogo-"
"Dude, we're going! Like, it's fucking dark, ok?!"
"All of you stop shoving, or you will be swimming in shitwater."
"Hey? Everyone chill. Stay focused."
Below the feet of the bewildered media circus and the angry security guards, in the echoing depths of Vale's sewer and drainage system, four teenagers were scrabbling frantically through the dark to make their getaway. Fortunately, the tunnels of Vale were well maintained, most possessing cat-walks for maintenance workers and several exits that led to the underground railway for easy access.
ARSN's trajectory was along the main vein that would eventually cross under the B-Line , and then they could exit into the train tunnel via one of the maintenance ladderwells; they catch the B-Line, and then the B-Line would take them to the sky ferry, which would in turn take them the hell home.
Argent was currently their navigator, having pulled up the schematics for the sewer and train tunnels, and mapped out their escape route before any of them had entered the sewer via a little known maintenance stairwell located in the ESC. Reinhardt was engaged with scrubbing as much video and photographic evidence as he could from any scrolls he could access, as well as keeping tabs on any chatter he could pick up online; however, he was running low on aura, and his scope limited by obvious environmental factors. Such as being nearly a hundred feet below the surface of the city.
Sigyn and Natalia had point, as best they could with their limited resources. Sigyn with her Dust knives, Nat with the stun rifle she'd acquired from the security detail; Sigyn and Argent were holding their scrolls up, trying to light the way as they half-jogged down the cat-walk, keeping clear of the sewage.
"Alright, we got two kilometers, and then we'll reach the ladder to the train tunnel," Argent informed the group, his footsteps falling heavily on the metal catwalk as he jogged. "Train comes by, we catch a ride, and then boom - easy sailing."
"We must get there first," Nat droned darkly, the rifle pressed to her shoulder as she scanned the darkness, eyes almost paranoid.
"We should hit my dad's weapons stash! It isn't far off!" Sigyn pressed, her eyes whirling with color. "And nobody can trace it to him, so it's safe."
"I don't think we have time," Argent replied, though he was clearly considering her advice. "The longer we're here, the more opportunity he and the Service have of throwing a net out and scooping us up."
"Yeaaaa, I really do not think we are getting out of here without bloodshed? And I don't want it to be ours!" Sigyn chirped, before shaking her head. "I'm just saying-"
"No."
Sigyn glanced over her shoulder in shock at her partner, who gave her an apologetic glance before continuing.
"Arming ourselves further could play into his favor," Natalia said grimly. "He takes control of one of us? Then he makes them kill or hurt the others with your dad's toys - no. Your father has a Witchfinger's arsenal. Aural piercing rounds, gravity grenades, Jorogumo webbing - We could not currently defend ourselves from those items."
"Well, if he thinks he can make us kill us? He has another fucking thing coming," Sigyn growled, pressing forwards in the dark. "I can't even control me half the time, so good fucking luck pal!"
"No," Natalia continued, shaking her head. "Sigyn, we have to stay out of his Semblance's range, or it's over. And now he knows all of our Semblances! That's why he 'fell' for our bait to begin with! He wanted to see our Semblances so he - shit!"
She spun around, her rifle pointing into the dark as she glared; suddenly, a raw, beastial howl echoed throughout the tunnels, the sound bouncing off the walls and water and filling the teammates with a sense of dread. Whatever was making that noise wasn't a person; and it definitely wasn't any Grimm or natural animal that they'd ever encountered.
"Uh, does he have magic too?" Reinhardt babbled nervously. "Can he turn into an animal too or whatever? Like I still don't really know how all this mystical mumbo-shit works-"
He choked off when he saw his friend's expression.
"Run," Natalia whispered, her eyes wide as she sensed the emotions of whatever monster was barreling towards them in the darkness, howling brutally. "Everybody run!"
They didn't need to be told a third time. They ran.
"We have to stay ahead of him!" Natalia shouted as they sprinted as fast as they could in the slimy dark. "I think he can still take control of us in that form-"
"What form?! What the fuck is chasing us, dude?!" Reinhardt panted, keeping pace with the others. He had a lot more stamina than he used to. The Reinhardt of first year would have fallen well behind already, especially after playing a session of DDI.
"He sounds like a Beowolf on steroids, but who cares about stinky Beowolves!? Let's just go back there and kick his fucking ass , Natty!" Sigyn begged. "We can take him! If STRQ can take him, so can we!"
"He didn't want to fucking HURT THEM!" Nat snarled at her partner, her frustration apparent. Sigyn pulled a face. "He wanted them alive! But he really only needs ONE OF US! PLEASE TRUST ME AND RUN!"
Sigyn, though her face was skeptical, accepted her partner's words and stayed the course. Argent was leading the way with the scroll light, keeping track of their position underground with the map. They didn't have far to go until they reached the ladderwell, just another kilometer. Normally they could chew that distance up and spit it out; but the thing on their heels was faster than they were.
Another howl, closer.
Significantly closer.
"We gotta slow him down," Argent puffed, glancing back. "There's an intersection ahead with a couple other tunnels - Sigyn, can you send some of your clones down them?"
"I sure can!" Sigyn smiled, instantly splitting into four of herself instead of just one.
"Oh! Take some of our clothes and stuff!" Reinhardt took his fingerless gloves and handed them to two clones. "That must be how he's tracking us, by scent! Everybody strip!"
"WOOOO SEWER STREAKING! GONNA NEED LOTS OF SHOTS AFTER THIS ONE, BOYS!" one of Sigyn's clones hooted manically. "Is this what college is like?!"
"We aren't getting naked, for fuck's sake!"
"Hurry it up!" Argent commanded, handing over a sleeve he'd torn off his right arm mid run. "It's just ahead!"
"He is right on our asses!" Natalia shouted, giving a clone her blazer. "GO!"
"BAAROOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Sigyn clones bolted ahead of them, bouncing off the tunnel walls to circumvent them, before bolting off down the different tunnels. Argent took the team left, following the map; they had a little over half a kilometer left until they hit the ladderwell.
The team ran in silence, sweating and panting as quietly as they could as they tried to put as much distance between themselves and the beast on their heels.
They had a quarter of a kilometer to go.
"Sigyn," Reinhardt panted quietly, running behind her. "Did he follow one of you?"
"I don't know," Sigyn hissed without looking back. "He's gone quiet."
The silence was actually worse than the awful howling.
A few more gasping minutes and they finally reached the ladderwell that led up to the train tunnel. There was no hesitation on their part as the team began to scramble up the iron handholds, straight up into the claustrophobic hole that cut through several dozen feet of rock and soil.
"Shitshitshit-"
"Dude, stop, you're giving me anxiety!"
"OH MY BAD !"
"Stop shoving!"
The ladderwell was absolute tar black; Argent hand shoved his scroll into his pocket, and the team was climbing in total darkness, trying to stay quiet despite their frightened bickering. Finally, Argent reached the top of the ladderwell, and started moving the heavy manhole cover; and then stopped.
"Uh, Argent? Buddy? Ya good?" Reinhardt asked from below his partner.
No response.
"...Is it too heavy?"
"I can't move."
A tense pause in the dark as the team processed what that meant.
"Fuck," Natalia cursed grimly.
She was bringing up the rear, and couldn't feel anything below; no emotions, none of the horrible, bloodthirsty rage that had been echoing in her head. There was nothing there, just a black void-
"Oh," she muttered, realizing all too late what that meant. "You bastard-"
Then a huge hand wrapped around her ankle and pulled with awful strength; even with aura, Natalia couldn't maintain her grip on the sweaty, iron bar, and was pulled free into the pitch with a warning shout. She fell.
"NATTY!" Sigyn screamed, pulling out her scroll to shine a light below. "NAT!"
The weak light showed the cat-walk below, but no Natalia and no sign of Verdant.
"Argent! MOVE! Man, fight it, come on!" Reinhardt shouted desperately. "WE HAVE TO GET HER!"
"I'M TRYING!" Argent roared, infuriated. "RRRR YOU FUCKER ! LET! GO!"
Suddenly, the force that had clamped down over his body relented and Argent nearly fell himself.
"NAT!" Sigyn called again, panic coating her voice. "Oh Fuck THIS -"
"Sigyn wait for us!" Reinhardt shouted as his teammate dropped, chasing after her partner and the beast that had snared her. "It's a fucking trap!"
"LIKE I GIVE A SHIT - COME HERE, FLUFFY! GIVE ME BACK MY PARTNER, YOU GREASY BITCH!" "We're ride or die in this household, fucknuts!" "And Momma needs a new rug!"
Reinhardt panted in fear and anger, before finally nodding his head in acceptance and calling up to his partner.
"Eyyy boss! Ready to ride and die?" he asked, trying to find his sense of humor.
"Oh we're ridin, but no one's fucking dying tonight!" Argent shouted. His voice was rough, clearly pissed off. "Let's go!"
"Yeeeehaaaw!" Reinhardt hooted and dropped, giving chase. "LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!"
Reinhardt engaged his aura and hit the catwalk in a crouch, protecting his joints as he rolled out of the way of Argent, who was plummeting right behind him.
The technopath couldn't see much of anything in nasty pitch of the sewer tunnels, but Sigyn had a scroll out as her clones bounced off the tunnel walls, pursuing a twisted, dark shape that was dragging something down the cat-walk. Reinhardt felt a stab of fear in his guts at that - not for himself, no, but for the gun-woman whose form that likely was; but he was already moving, running towards the monster with no weapons, and no means of fighting it save his scrawny little fists.
Whether he lived or died, this was going to be the last fucking time he went anywhere without a weapon.
Sigyn's clones, each with a Dust knife of their own, finally caught up to the hulking, hairy shadow and launched rabidly at it, screaming in concert with hot-pink beserker wrath; two clones latched onto the form, knives striking aura furiously as the beast growled.
Growled not like a Grimm, no, like something far more alive and terrible.
Reinhardt watched in shock as huge - living - teeth coated in ropes of saliva whipped around and caught one of the clone's legs and whipped furiously, like a dog that'd snatched a rabbit; the clone lasted a moment before poofing out of existence.
Grimm are supposedly manifestations of hatred mimicking life; no one really knows what the fuck that means, to be honest, but that's been the working theory for at least a century. At least, that was the working theory until STRQ had told him what Grimm really were; allegedly, they were warped spirits of the dead. Which made as much sense to him as anything else people had come up with to explain them, to be honest.
But what he was looking at currently?
Was alive.
Horribly, fully, alive. Sentient. And totally fucking impossible.
It was like a Beowolf, but without the bone-plating, spikes or empty red eyes. It's eyes were red, but a living, natural color; Verdant's eyes, bestial but full of cunning, awareness and maliciousness, and it was crouched over the bloodied form of his teammate.
Reinhardt stared the monster in the eyes, his shock apparent; and it smiled at him .
"Holy shit," he muttered, his stomach like ice water.
The reality of this entire situation, of what STRQ had tried to warn him and the others of, was much, much worse in the flesh.
Magic was real.
Grimm were the vengeful dead.
And the world was full of monsters far more weird and terrible than he had ever imagined.
Sigyn, unimpressed by this impossible entity - or at least so fucking pissed off that she refused to falter - threw another Dust knife, bouncing it off the monster's aura. She whistled, trying to keep his attention.
"Whatcha lookin at ugly?! Come on, come get some! I swear I taste just like chicken!"
One of her clones bounced around so she was coming up behind the Not-Beowolf, knife raised; and suddenly that knife was flinging right at Reinhardt's face. Reinhardt flared his aura in surprise, and the Dust blade bounced off to his right, imbedding into the tunnel wall above the catwalk.
"Shit!" he yelped, hands up in half formed fists.
Sigyn prime, and her remaining clone were moving towards him, twitching and spasming; Sigyn's teeth were bared in wild fury as she tried to fight off Verdant's Semblance.
"Guys? Uh - shit!" Sigyn cursed, as her hand raised again, visibly twitching as she dug deep, her aura flaring wildly in an attempt to fight his Semblance off. Reinhardt and Argent exchanged quick glances, trying to decide how to proceed. "SHIT! Uh- I can't-"
"Heeeey batter, batter, batter! Right here!" Argent yelled suddenly, moving left, his hand raised. "Put her right here!"
Sigyn stopped fighting Verdant's Semblance and flung the Dust knife towards her team leader's skull, trusting him. Argent caught the knife out of the air with an aura coated grip; and immediately sent it towards Verdant, bouncing it off the monster man's aura once again. Reinhardt, catching on, grinned at Sigyn's clone.
"Rule number one!" Reinhard quoted loudly. "If you can dodge a knife? Then you-"
"Can dodge a Dust-ball!" Sigyn prime hooted as her clone flung the Dust knife at Reinhardt's face. Reinhardt snatched the knife out of the air, his aura stinging. However, now he had a knife, and the Sigyns' did not.
He could either throw it at Verdant, trying to chip the monster's aura down so it could no longer use it's Semblance? Or he could hang on to it.
However, Natalia had been right earlier. The longer any of them hung on to their weapons, the more likely it was that Verdant would turn those weapons on their friends. They needed to play keep away with the knives, until they had worn the monster's aura down.
Argent had come to the same conclusion as he had, apparently, as he tore one of the knives out the wall and tossed it towards him. Reinhardt tossed his own towards Argent. Sigyn blurred towards him, trying to snatch one of the knives out of the air; but missed as both partner's snagged the Dust knives and threw them simultaneously at Verdant.
They both hit aura, and Verdant snarled in disdain, before his eyes locked on Argent. Argent stutter-stopped, his now empty palm raising, and slapping down on Sigyn prime - and draining her of aura. Sigyn yelped, dropping weakly to her knee.
"FUCK!" Argent shouted furiously, trying desperately to let his teammate go, a vein pulsing in his head as he tried to pull away. "YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME YOUR FUCKING SELF!"
Verdant growled suddenly, his ears pinning flat as his hackles raised furiously. Argent latched onto that immediately, as Reinhardt tried to physically pull Sigyn out of his partner's grasp.
"What's the matter!? Don't like being called a coward !? Well then you shouldn't fucking act like one, you punk bitch!" Argent taunted.
Sigyn was nearly unconscious at this point, her clone having dissipated. She looked Reinhardt in the eyes, and pressed something shiny into his hands as she whispered something in his ears; Reinhardt shook his head desperately, still trying to get her free of Argent's hold.
"Come on you fucking pussy ! You gonna get a bunch of kids to do all your fighting for you?! That's god damn pathetic - no wonder the twin's can't stand your bitch ass !"
That was it, apparently. Verdant was stock still one moment; and the next he was on top of them, his jaws trying to lock onto Argent. Reinhardt took a clawed paw to the face, getting a nasty gouge across his eye and cheek before his aura could engage, and was nearly knocked off the cat-walk and into the shit-water.
Both Argent and Verdant were slugging it out above him, Verdant showering his partner's aura with furious, claw strikes before his jaws snapped down towards his head; they stopped inches away from his face, Argent's hands glowing as he held snapping jaws apart. Before Verdant could reingage his Semblance and take control of Argent again, a stun bolt bounced off his thick hide, getting past the aura reflex. Verdant roared angrily, slamming the back of Argent's head brutally into the cat-walk, breaking his aura and knocking him unconscious, before whipping around and charging Natalia on all fours.
Natalia had regained consciousness, perhaps after being freed from Verdant's Semblance grip, and despite her injuries - namely the fact that she was missing most of her right hand and trigger finger - had drug herself to the pulse rifle, lifted it and taken a shot, using her left hand to pull and her right forearm to stabilize.
"Rein! RUN!" Natalia shouted, shooting Verdant twice before he got to her. Reinhardt had pulled himself up on the catwalk again and was already moving towards his teammate, fear and anger shutting down any higher thought.
"No, fool! Run! Go get help!"
Nat was striking the monster's throat, eyes and other vulnerable places with a black, furious precision, getting a few angry, pained yelps out of Verdant before he clamped down on her with his Semblance again; Reinhardt didn't have to time to respond before Natalia had whipped the rifle up and pointed it directly at his face.
At the last second, she managed to pull her shot as she fought Verdant's Semblance, and instead of a head shot, Reinhardt took a stun bolt to the leg. It felt like getting kicked by a horse, and his already low aura finally broke completely. His pained shout was drowned out by Natalia screaming at him.
"FUCKING RUN , REINHARDT!"
Cursing desperately, Reinhardt turned on the cat-walk and started running for the ladderwell again; he made himself not look back, and focused solely on getting to where he needed to go. He scrabbled painfully up the handholds towards the manhole cover that would lead to the train tracks, trying not to hyperventilate; he didn't have a scroll signal yet, but once he did, then maybe he could reach the others.
He nearly ran his head into the manhole cover, and with all his physical strength, he managed to shove the fucking thing off. The technopath pulled himself up, assessing where he was; next to the tracks for B-Line. He needed to get to the train. The train would have signal.
A whistling noise came up from below and his blood ran cold.
"Heeey, kid? Don't make me chase you, man. Sides, you really gonna leave your friends down here like this?"
Reinhardt had to physically stop himself from replying and started to run, shoving the fear and upset down; in his head he could hear Professor Arc, yelling at him to 'get there'. He frowned in determination, his limp fading somewhat as he jogged through the darkness.
"Ha. Alright then!"
This run was significantly harder than the previous; mostly because he was alone, though his injuries and lack of aura definitely didn't help. The entire time, his lungs were burning, and he felt like he might vomit. If he didn't die tonight, he was going to lay off the energy drinks and booze, no doubt.
The train tunnel had sporadic illumination, unlike the sewers. Occasionally, red, dull orbs would come into view, lighting up the track and walls without totally wrecking his nightvision. He didn't look back during these moments of light to see if he was being followed. It wouldn't help him go any faster.
Finally, he saw lights ahead; not the red glow of the tunnel lamps, but the bright white of the B-Line's headlights heading towards him. Reinhardt slowed, but didn't fully stop; the B-Line wasn't that fast. Even without aura, he could hop on the back car and catch a ride out.
The train was only a few meters away when teeth locked around his ankle and a huge shape lifted him up and ragdolled him into the wall opposite. He felt his ankle crunch in a very bone breaking way with that bite, and when he hit the wall, the wind was knocked out of him as some ribs possibly cracked.
Reinhardt wheezed painfully as he hit the ground, struggling to push up on his palms on the rocks lining the sides of track; on the other side, a black shape growled menacingly, before standing up on two legs. Then the train came between them, blocking his line of sight.
The technopath grimaced, lifting his scroll and finding the screen shattered. He grit his teeth in desperate agony. He had no aura, so he couldn't use his Semblance; he couldn't outrun him, and if he didn't get a message out-
Then we will disappear, and no one will know what happened or where we went.
Wincing, Reinhardt dug into his pocket and scooped out the piece of mirror that Sigyn had shoved into his palm earlier, with the instruction to call Summer with it. But he had no fucking clue how that worked, or what to do. He didn't even think Sigyn knew, either, yet; just that Summer had told her that if she needed to reach her in an emergency? She could reach her with the mirror.
Reinhardt stared at his faint, bloody reflection in the tiny mirror piece; and started to talk.
"Summer? I dunno how this shit works, or if I'm doing this right, or if I'm just talking to myself but - we really, really fucked up," he tried to speak clearly over the sound of the train, his training kicking in as he tried to provide details. "We tailed Verdant to 809 N Haywood, and are currently at the intersection of B-Line train tunnel and manhole A-15 for deep tunnel alpha. We have sustained casualties, and need extraction. Summer, he's been spying on you guys - and on us - on campus! He knew we were gonna follow him, and he knows what Raven's trying to do! Tell the Professor's, tell your dad, tell everybody what this fucker is doing-"
Something crashed into the side of his head, and consciousness was quickly torn beyond his grasp. He was briefly aware of someone else talking, but the words had no meaning and he would not remember them.
"Told ya not to make me fuckin chase you."