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Chapter 102: White Spectre
The area of New Vale that Felix drove through was distinctly working class, the buildings within this level of the gargantuan Hive tower were small and empty space seemed to be non-existent; though whilst everything had a distinctly worn and ill-cared for look that made it clear that this particular district of the Kingdoms' capital was often dismissed and forgotten whenever urban development and regeneration was discussed Felix noted with some relief that things could be far worse as there were none of the tell tale signs of a truly deprived and impoverished area such as the open drug dealing and gang names emblazoned on shop shutters in graffiti that haunted the lowest levels of New Vale.
"Turn left" the stilted and clearly synthetic voice issuing from Felix's scroll instructed, not knowing this area well had prompted him to use the device for directions though as he complied he found himself reaching down to his passenger's seat where his Scroll lay and muting the device; his destination was in sight and he took care to slow down to a crawl as he drew close, the engine of the Killer-Bee a guttural growl as the muscle car came to a halt outside of a children's play area the deep reverberating sound turning heads and making Felix exceptionally happy that his car was in working order once more. Hopping out of the driver's seat Felix scanned the area, the play area was obviously more well maintained than many of the buildings around it which gave it the feeling of being an area that the locals took pride in; whilst actual grass and natural sunlight were something of an impossibility with the hive complexes synthetic turf had been laid over a softened surface for the children to play on and the lights overhead had been modified to give out as close to actual sunlight as possible, Felix saw well over a dozen children playing in various groups and their families sat at benches around the edge of the perimeter formed by a brightly coloured fence and after only a few seconds of looking he found who he was looking for
"Hey" he called out as he hopped over the fence with ease as made his way over to where Myrtle Marrs sat, smiling and waving at him whilst sat beside a man that could only have been her partner.
"It's great to see you" Myrtle exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Felix before confirming his suspicions as she introduced the man "This is Redwood, I told you about him" Felix held out a hand for his biological mothers' boyfriend to shake. Redwood was an auburn haired Deer Faunus with antlers sprouting from beneath his crew cut; physically the man was unremarkable and he wore a faded boiler-suit though what muscle he had was clearly the result of hard physical labour rather than hours in a gym and his face had the hollow-cheeked gauntness of someone who had grown up with never quite enough to eat, he took Felix's hand and shook it firmly enough for the Lion Faunus to feel the older mans' callouses
"It's good to meet you kid, can't tell you how happy it's made Myrtle" his hazel eyes widened a little as he looked over Felix's shoulder and got a proper look at the Killer-Bee "Is that a Carmine? They don't even make those any more, the plant got levelled by Grimm back when I was a kid-"
"Really redwood, cars already?" Myrtle laughed softly, Felix laughed as well, though having someone who appreciated vintage muscle cars as much as he did was certainly a nice change; Yang would never admit that anything could be superior to a superbike
"Sorry I always take so long to organise a meetup" Felix lamented with a sigh "Missions, training and assignments are killing me right now"
"It's fine, Astra was feeling a little off anyway but he can't wait to meet you" Myrtle assured him
"Hope you don't mind us meeting up out here" Redwood added, Myrtle looking a little uncomfortable as the Deer Faunus added "It's just that….look, I'm sure you're a really great guy but at the end of the day You're a Hunter"
"Excuse me?" Felix was utterly baffled by the statement
"It's a violent job, you're dealing with the worst things in the world all the time; you and the things you're up against can get shot a dozen times and not feel it….and there's plenty of Hunters who go a bit crazy; like I said I'm sure you're fine….I just want the first time you meet our son to be in a public place with witnesses" Felix took a deep breath and made a monumental effort to avoid clenching his fists or look visibly enraged, lest he inadvertently do anything that might prove the mans' point
"Oum damn it Red, why would you say that" Myrtle gasped "Now look you've upset him"
"Nah it's cool" Felix breathed out "I get it, I suppose if you live in the city and don't really see Grimm then you're only gonna hear stories about Hunters or see the washouts. But it's fair….the academies are trying to do better though, counselling for Hunters and things like that" Redwood gave him an apologetic smile and Felix returned it, deciding to simply keep the peace though he was certain that he would not forget the comment any time soon; even if he couldn't bring himself to outright deny the claims.
"Hey Astra!" Myrtle called over to one of the groups of children in a sing song voice "I've got someone who wants to meet you!" Felix turned and watched as one of a group of children playing by a set of swings broke away and rushed over to them; coming skidding to a halt in front of the Lion Faunus and staring at him in wide-eyed awe
"Hey, I'm Felix….your older brother" Felix crouched down to the child' eye level as he spoke and his heart hammered in his chest with every word
"Hi, um I'm Astra and I saw you in the Vytal Tournament even though it was actually passed my bedtime" Felix couldn't help but laugh at this. Astra was a Deer Faunus like his father though his antlers were far less developed, the boy was perhaps a little short for his age and bordering on chubby, much like Felix he had inherited their mothers' curly hair but in the same shade of Auburn as his father, his sea blue eyes were framed by a pair of thick rimmed glasses and when he smiled Felix could see gaps caused by teeth that had fallen out. The Lion Faunus could somehow already sense that Astra would be a potential target for bullies, not least because his name was one more commonly given to girls
"The tournament was fun, met some cool people who're gonna be great Hunters" Felix beamed, pushing his concerns aside and deliberately focusing on the positives of the tournament and not acknowledging the way it had ended "You like Hunters?"
"Yeah!" Astra replied happily and Felix fought the urge to shoot Redwood a cocky smirk before the child continued "You live on Patch right?"
"Yeah" Felix nodded "And yes I know Ruby Rose….she's actually my Aunty" the Lion Faunus's grin was quickly wiped off of his face by a reply that nothing could have prepared him for
"What about Nyanza Angora? From Team NEON…..He's the coolest ever! I even got an Adi-Dazzler hoodie for my birthday 'cos they sponsor him" Felix needed several seconds to process what he had just heard before he all but collapsed, laughing hysterically
"Kid I've gone to school with Nyanza since Signal Academy, he's one of my oldest friends…. You're actually a big fan of him? That's gonna make his day"
"Yeah, he's a Faunus like us!" Astra answered, still smiling excitedly whilst Felix made a slight double take at the wording of the answer before deciding to ignore it "I wanna be a Hunter one day but kids at school say I can't because I wear glasses and I'm fat"
"Those kids are dumb" Felix replied swiftly, annoyed that his guess about Astra being singled out by other children being correct "The head of Halo Academy wears glasses and Nyanza used to be kinda chubby. You wanna be a Hunter then there's nothing stopping you" Astra looked stunned by the realisation, his smile widening to an almost absurd degree before he delightedly called out to his parents over Felix's shoulder
"Hey Mum! Dad! Felix thinks I could be a Hunter one day!" Felix gave a broad smile that showed off his oversized canines; regardless of whatever perceived tension there may have been between himself and Redwood, the Lion Faunus could already tell that he and his half-brother were going to have a great relationship.
The mid morning air was cold, a fact amplified by the altitude at which Halo Academy's anti-gravity platform operated, making the winds that whipped around the exterior of the campus all the more icy and the hangar in which the academy kept the limited supply of Bull-Head aircraft with which students were taught to fly was without heating. Onyx Ursabane however had been born and raised in far harsher climates and found the chill comforting, happy at least to be out of the fine misty drizzle currently falling which soaked into the clothes of all who ventured outside. The Puma Faunus was spending his Saturday morning working, his large and powerful frame positioned beneath the chassis of the craft that Team GORE had come to think of as their own. His current tinkering and maintenance was not part of any assignments or scheduled checks, instead Onyx was simply indulging his own interest in mechanical engineering and enabling himself to learn in the way that suited him best; by actually taking something apart and being able to touch the subject until he understood it rather than being limited by a stifling classroom and textbooks written in a language that he still struggled to read fairly often. He had been peacefully working in privacy for the last two hours, the hangar being empty due to the other third and fourth year students who used the Bull-Heads clearly having decided they had other things to do on a Saturday morning though he found that solitude interrupted by the sound of someone moving around, clearly trying to be stealthy and largely failing.
"Who is it?" he growled, still beneath the craft "The only things to be stolen are the tools and I'll break your hands if you try" with that he slid himself out from under the hull and found himself beneath one of the Bull-Heads' wings just as the thud of someone leaping onto it rang out through the hangar; quickly followed by the sight of Amethyst Wukong dropping into view whilst suspended upside-down, her tail obviously having found some purchase on the wing
"Chill" she sighed
"You" Onyx grunted with feigned disinterest. Following Amethyst's aborted grief fuelled warpath, which the Puma Faunus had helped talk her out of, the Monkey Faunus had been far less antagonistic around him; if somewhat embarrassed. The two had sparred several times in the gym, with Amethyst maintaining that one day she was going to pay Onyx back for her scarred face.
"Yeah me" Amethyst pouted "I'm still confined to the campus….technically I'm still on it" with that she flipped down to the ground, tail wrapping around her waist as she sat beside Onyx and leaned against the Bull-Head.
"Either break the rules or don't, this is just childish" Onyx snorted
"Dick" Amethyst shot back, remaining silent for a moment before continuing "I'm just trying to see everything that's actually here, y'know a lot of students don't even really realise how big this platform is 'cos they just stay in the main campus….besides Team RAIN's dorm is kinda awkward to be in right now"
"Oh?" Onyx asked, raising an eyebrow and deciding that his work could wait for a moment
"Yeah, me and Redshank broke up….we've got a mission coming up soon as well, this sucks…." she trailed off and Onyx noticed that she had dark rings around her slightly red eyes; clearly she was not handling the situation as well as her feigned indifference would suggest.
"You outgrew the weakling, the only problem is that you're stuck with him"
"Thanks ass-hole, real helpful" she treated Onyx to a rude hand gesture, the Puma Faunus couldn't keep a satisfied smirk off of his face for some reason
"Just do me a favour?" Amethyst implored "Don't go after Torchwick while I'm away" the smirk instantly vanished
"There's been a change of plans" Onyx admitted, greenish yellow eyes turning away for a moment "You mother-fucker!" Amethyst snapped "All that talk and you were never-"
"Yes we were!" Onyx barked back "Look at Hellion's scars and tell me you honestly think my people would let that stand!"
"Then why the hell are you backing out now?" Amethyst demanded, still enraged
"Because his allies are Atlesian terrorists" Onyx stated bluntly, knowing that the term would mean more to her than it did to his people "The person who supplies him with the drugs that poisoned you is wanted by Atlas and they're sending their own Specialist to deal with him….we're allowing this to happen and if they fail to kill Torchwick then we'll do it" Amethyst's knuckles were clenched and her mint green eyes were narrowed and furious as she leapt to her feet
"Don't do anything stupid" Onyx said simply
"I'm going to pack for my mission" She answered as she stalked off, a muttered addition still being clearly heard "Can't stand to look at you right now" Onyx remained laid on his back for a while, debating going after Amethyst before finally deciding that it wasn't his place or his problem; they could hardly be considered friends. He made to slide under the Bull-Head and return to work, only for the sound of fresh footsteps entering the hangar to distract him
"Ammi told me you were in here….she looked pissed" the familiar and always welcome voice of Corvid Xiao Long announced; Onyx swiftly rose to his feet and his hands found their way to her hips as she drew close
"Hey I'm here to work too" she told him, though she made no effort to move him "Team CLIR's last mission as students is coming up soon, I wanna check everything…..Lux says I'm worrying over nothing but I'm still worrying"
"You're amazing at what you do" Onyx assured her, his deep voice unusually soft "You'll complete your mission and go on to become one the heroes that people tell stories about"
"Thanks-" Corvid found herself cut off as Onyx leaned down to kiss her, her hands cupping his cheeks as she moaned softly into his mouth; only for her to gently push him away as his hands came up to begin unfastening her jacket
"We can't" she looked away, chewing on her lip for a moment before forcing herself to continue "That's kinda what I came to say….we can't do this any more" Onyx's world seemed to freeze for a moment, his stomach plummeting before he forced himself to speak
"Why?"
"Because I'm taking advantage of you" Corvid answered, eyes watery as she held a finger to Onyx's lips to cut off his objections "We both know that you want more than what we've had….You want us to be a couple and I can't give you that. I'm gonna leave this academy and Team CLIR are gonna be serving all over Remnant, I might not be back in Vale for years at a time. You're great Onyx and I didn't want the fun to stop but I shouldn't have led you on; I'm sorry" Onyx looked at her, his powerful frame seeming to sag under an unseen weight as he rubbed at eyes that suddenly stung
"I love you" he said simply planting his hands on her shoulders and gently pulling her close "I love you and if this is what you need to do then so be it, you will always have my support. In another lifetime we could have been amazing together"
"We really could" Corvid admitted, tears streaming down her cheeks "And thank you for being so understanding"
"Live free" Onyx gave a watery chuckle as he recited the motto of the Anima tribes "You know what you want and if you didn't try and grab it with both hands then you wouldn't be you Corey" Corvid leaned up to kiss him gently, once last time and the two of them remained there for an amount of time that meant nothing to them, crying as they held onto each other; both of them knowing it would be the last time they did so.
Pantheon's pack had been put to work and over the course of over a week many of their number had been lost and sacrificed in service of the intelligent monster's plans; now however that plan was on the cusp of coming to fruition.
The horde of Grimm that followed Pantheon had been dispersed and for days had been sent out in all directions to ravage and harass any nearby settlements and vehicles travelling to and from them along the roads, which considering their extreme distance from the Capital city of New Vale were poorly cared for and had little in the way of defences, leaving travellers open to attack in several places. The aim had not been simple bloodshed however, each pillaged hamlet or butchered supply caravan had been carefully orchestrated by Pantheon, the leader of the pack exerting their influence over the Beowolves to ensure that every available ounce of Dust had been looted and whilst many Grimm had perished in the attempt and much of the stolen Dust had been lost, the Grimm that carried it cut down or the volatile mineral being detonated by a stray shot from the humans and Faunus that fought for their lives against the Grimm, Pantheon had still acquired enough to proceed.
"Move" Pantheon's voice was a low sibilant hiss, distorted and sounding as though it came from multiple voices at once as they urged the Beowolves onwards. The pack still numbered in the hundreds, although roughly a third of those that remained had been held back and were currently waiting at the edge of Pantheon's area of influence so that they could be kept from giving in to their baser instincts and simply wandering off in search of fresh prey. Pantheon themselves had returned to the bleak swamplands where the Spawning Pit had formed within a floating and abandoned human settlement; bringing the majority of the pack with them for what the intelligent Grimm fully expected to be a gruesome conflict.
"Spread out" Pantheon ordered as they drew close, the nightmares made flesh behaved not as the primal forces of destruction that they were known to be, but as trained fighters; silently wading through the opaque water in near silence, what little noise they made as the advanced was muffled by the sound of the downpour that trickled through the canopy overhead as the rainwater rustled the trees. Eventually the Beowolves had positioned themselves to Pantheon's satisfaction; forming a ring around where they knew the Spawning Pit to be
"Come" with that they advanced, powerful wings flapping and carrying Pantheon forwards and upwards ahead of the Beowolves that followed and closed ranks as they did so, making the proverbial net formed by their bodies ever tighter. Pantheon took up a position in one of the dead trees whose trunk rose from the water dangerously close to the artificial island, scythe like upper limbs burying themselves in the rotting wood whilst their clawed tail wrapped around the trunk; their third pair of upper limbs, those which were disturbingly humanoid in appearance bore testament to how unlike the other Creatures of Grimm Pantheon truly was.
They were holding weapons.
The Dust Crystals that the pack had looted from the settlements and vehicles they had attacked had been crudely fastened to a pair of heavy iron bars in such away that at least one crystal would detonate upon impact and thus cause a chain reaction; which effectively gave Pantheon a pair of javelins with explosive payloads with which to target the Spawning Pit. A single piercing howl from one of the Beowolves served as warning and Pantheon's six eyes were immediately drawn to movement within the oozing and rippling mass of living darkness; the Pit had given birth to a Nevermore and the winged horror had already set its' sights upon Pantheon as a candidate for its' first meal
"Die" Pantheon snarled, the Nevermore returned with a primal shriek and unfurled its' ebony wings only to be painfully and ruthlessly despatched as the more intelligent Grimm hurled one of their weapons, the iron bar flying down the throat of the Nevermore and detonating within its' body to tear the beast apart from the inside. The explosion shook the artificial island and as flames washed over the surface of the Spawning Pit Pantheon realised that they had been too hasty; the damaged Pit rippled and visibly shuddered, crushing the buildings atop the island as it contracted before vomiting forth a deluge of Grimm; the bone coloured armour of the Creeps, Nevermore and King-Taijitu that were unleashed hadn't even had a chance to form and the monsters acted on nothing but raw, uncontrolled instinct which led them to consume and destroy anything that they came into contact with
"NOW!" Pantheon ordered and their Beowolves charged, closing the net around the escaping Grimm as many of them made to attack Pantheon. The momentary delay was all that was needed, the fledgeling Grimm had no connection to any of the Hive Minds' broken fragments and once corralled they soon fell upon each other with as much savagery as they did Pantheon's pack. The feminine voice within Pantheon's mind screamed in fury, pressure building in their skull and threatening to burst it as their Beowolves were torn apart by the cannibalistic frenzy until finally there was peace; a fine black mist hung over the surface of the water and Pantheon saw that there were only a few escaping Creeps left, the first traces of chitinous armour sprouting from their spines.
Then the water rippled.
All six of Pantheon's eyes narrowed as a hint of smooth and streamlined bone dipped below the surface of the filthy swamp water
"Die" they roared again, hurling their second javelin and sending murky waves crashing outwards in all directions; yet there were no screams of death throes or obsidian smoke and Pantheon was forced to conclude that whatever final monster the Spawning Pit had produced to dispose of them was still alive.
That conclusion was proven correct when a moment later they had only the briefest glimpse of a bone white claw bursting from the depths and cleaving through the base of the tree that Pantheon had been perched in. They leapt to another and simply waited; eventually being rewarded with the appearance of the Grimm to which said claw belonged. The thing was perhaps eight feet in height, shorter that Pantheon yet far larger in overall mass by virtue of being broader and longer; its' body was skeletal in appearance with almost none of its' inky black flesh visible beneath the extensive bony armour it sported. The thing was crustacean in build, its' thorax was entirely smooth, like a gigantic boulder that had been eroded for centuries though its' segmented tail was adorned with rows of swept back spines akin to fins and ended in a mass of blades that had fanned into an arc. It supported itself on six many joined legs which angled themselves to give it a squat posture and keep it low to the ground, whilst its' most prominent feature was its' forelimbs; a pair of bulky pincers which were each almost the size of its' torso and whose claws sported dozens of jagged protrusions intended to tear anything caught within them asunder. The Grimm's head was small in relation to its' body and tapered down to a point, several pairs of glowing red eyes regarded Pantheon with hunger whilst a pair of feelers several feet long thrashed about incessantly; the Grimm made no noise save for the clacking and scarping of its' armoured carapace as it shifted its' weight.
'White Spectre' the voice within Pantheon's psyche named the Crayfish Grimm, which proceeded to earn the moniker by seeming to fade into translucence for a fraction of a second before vanishing entirely, as the colours of its' surroundings seemed to wash over it. Pantheon, seeing this promptly leapt from the their latest perch and soared directly upwards and out of reach a moment before the tree was torn down; the White Spectre reappearing, breaking the felled tree apart with its' claws
"Such a shame" Pantheon snarled, a mental command to those of their pack that remained directing them to act. The White Spectre was truly an impressive beast and were it brought under Pantheon's control they would be able to use it to great effect; however it was clear from the things' intelligence that whatever awareness had once been stored within the Spawning Pit now resided within the Crayfish Grimm and if Pantheon wished to take control of the fragment of the Hive Mind controlled by the Spawning Pit, the White Spectre had to be consumed.
With that in mind Pantheon splayed their claws wide and dived low.
After spending his morning and a portion of the afternoon with Myrtle and her family Felix had decided that he wasn't quite ready to return to the drudgery of countless assignments just yet and had contacted his friends, stating that they never seemed to spend time together as a whole group any more and he found that to be more than a little disappointing. After a few Scroll calls and text messages Felix had managed to convince Teams FADE and NEON to join him in the city, whilst Corvid had replied that she simply wasn't feeling up to joining them at the moment. The eight of them had first found somewhere where they could eat and discussed their plans for the afternoon and evening over incredibly unhealthy food and after several rounds of suggestions being dismissed Eagle had mentioned that she didn't think she'd ever actually been to a bowling alley; a sentiment which Helios had echoed. That had all but sealed the decision and they had departed, Nyanza been pre-emptively warned not to use his Semblance and on the way Helios had confided in Felix that he was worried about his sister; Syneffo was clearly growing aggravated by both her lack of progress and the relative solitude of her new living arrangements, the Lion Faunus had promptly offered Helios to invite his sister to join them, jokingly stating that she could replace Nyanza if the bushy tailed feline attempted to hustle them with his abilities.
Currently the nine of them were at the first bowling alley that they had been able to find, playing in teams of four; Team FADE against Team NEON with the exception of Nyanza who had graciously bowed out and allowed Syneffo to play; with no small amount of showmanship and teasing between the students
"Oh come on Dude" Diamond laughed as Helios managed to score yet another strike "At least hide the fact you're actually a pro and you set us all up"
"It's just skill" Helios assured her, acid green eyes mischievous "Perhaps you're not the marksman you thought you were?"
"Okay Heely we'll see" she shot back, blowing strands of silvery hair away from her eyes as she selected a ball, judging its' weight and predicting where it would travel. One powerful underhanded throw later nine pins had fallen
"Damn, they don't even need my Semblance" Nyanza laughed "You guys suck….Neffy, you're up"
"Don't call me that" Syneffo sighed, finding the nickname that had been bestowed upon her a little annoying
"Be careful Nyanza, she's got her axes" Ether laughed in mock fear; Syneffo had caused something of a stir when she had arrived, as this bowling alley had a notice outside which politely refused entry to any armed Hunters primarily due to the fact that the establishment had a liquor license. Mercifully Arctus and Felix had managed to explain the situation to the managers' satisfaction and point out the Syneffo was too young to drink anyway which had led to her being allowed inside.
"Seriously" Felix chuckled, adding to the gentle ribbing the younger teen was receiving "Did Aunt Ruby or Penny not mention it to you?"
"I was supposed to tell them I was leaving?"
"Uh...yeah?" Arctus looked at the redhead in utter disbelief
"Dude really?" Diamond sighed, Helios merely gave his sister a stern look and a disapproving shake of the head
"Whatever" Felix sighed "It's my round anyway, same again? I'll call Aunt Ruby and let her know where Syneffo is"
"Thank you" Helios grinned, the expression fading as the ruckus being caused by a new group of patrons who were loudly and openly insulting one of the staff for some perceived failure
"Some people just weren't raised right" Diamond scowled; Felix however had the most visible reaction as he stared at the ringleader of the group, a man barely older than the students themselves with dyed green dreadlocks and ostentatious jewellery
"Guys, look at that guy!" Felix demanded "I recognise him"
"Oh my Oum" Eagle gasped "He's one of Torchwick's guys" Felix nodded, as he made a single step towards Vert and his gang of thugs only for Arctus to quickly clamps a hand down on his shoulder
"Fluffy don't you know what my Dad-"
"We didn't look for 'em, they came to us" Felix replied with a smirk before raising his voice and calling over to the group "HEY ASS-HOLES!"
"Who the fuck-" Vert came to a halt, evidently recognising the Hunters and immediately reaching into a hidden pocket to produce his signature spiral bladed knife
"Woah, woah let's not do this here" Diamond offered, realising that while the student Hunters may have been unarmed the gang members had all begun reaching for knives and handguns and more importantly that there were lots of civilians present who would be at risk of getting caught in the crossfire
"Fuck that, we can light you bitches up right here" Vert gestured to Felix with the tip of his blade "And you big man, yeah you're coming with us; Torchwick has been hoping to catch you slipping"
"Then get him here, we can have a one on one bare-knuckle if he's got the guts for it" the Lion Faunus shot back, rolling his shoulders back and mustering all of the cockiness that had caused more fistfights than he could count at Signal and given him a reputation on Patch
"You're a funny guy" Vert chuckled before nodding to one of his associates who carried a large pistol "Cap his legs, we'll drag him to the-OH SHIT" both Vert and the thug hurled themselves to the ground as a short handled axed ripped through the space between 'em
"KILL THE LITTLE BITCH!" Vert bellowed and a moment later the bowling alley was filled with the sound of gunfire and screaming civilians; lights were blown out by ricocheting bullets as Arctus instinctively leapt in front of Syneffo and made to conjure a Glyph and Syneffo activated her own Semblance at the same moment, accidentally forcing the Bear Faunus off balance
"GO, GO!" Vert barked, scrabbling to his feet and dragging his fallen friend up after him as he bolted towards the exit; fully aware that simple pistols would not be enough to win against a group of trained fighters with unlocked Semblances. One of the group made to fire blindly over their shoulder; Nyanza sprung into action at blinding speed, picking up a bowling ball and hurling it at the would be gunman with the aid of his Semblance, the thug screamed in agony as the bones in his arm shattered.
"COME ON LET'S-"
"I'm hit!" Felix's face paled at the sound of his cousins' pained voice, words being forced through clenched teeth. When Syneffo had activated her Semblance Arctus had been pushed aside and his own protective Glyph had been angled just enough for a bullet to slip through his defences; leaving him clutching at his arm just below the shoulder where his black turtle-neck sweater could be seen gradually darkening as the blood soaked through the fabric
"Oh shit, call him an ambulance!" Diamond demanded
"No time" Syneffo interjected "They're-"
"Heely" Felix's voice trembled with rage "Get your sister out of my sight before I do something I'll regret later" Syneffo made to protest until she felt her brothers' hand firmly on her shoulder leading her away, the older Nikosi giving apologetic looks to everyone that they passed
"I expect better from you Syneffo" he stated bluntly once he had led her outside, where the was no trace of Vert and his gang
"We were already preparing to engage them-"
"And do you even know why?" Helios demanded; Syneffo scowled and eventually shook her head
"Then you had no right to start the conflict" he sighed "This was not a rival tribe, they are swine and bastards with no notion of honour and you just forced their hand in a building full of unarmed bystanders when everyone else was trying to move the conflict outside"
"I was trying to end the problem before it could begin" Syneffo admitted, seeing now that she had only exacerbated the problem
"By killing one of them; our laws are not the Kingdoms' laws and you know that. If you want to lead then you need to ensure that you and your allies are following the same plan" her brother chided her as gently as he could, he was far more angry than he let on but knew that arguing with his sister would solve nothing; she needed to be taught rather than merely have orders given to her.
"We can still go after them!" Syneffo existed
"Arctus needs medical treatment, besides they know this city better than any of us" Helios exhaled slowly and treated her to a truly disappointed stare whilst the sound of sirens drew closer, indicating that the authorities had been called "I'll have Ruby and Penny come and collect you Syneffo….you've done more than enough for one day"
Pantheon let out a primal shriek of rage and pain as the blunt edge of the White Spectre's pincer pulverised on their upper limbs with a wild swing; the retaliatory attack coming in the form of Pantheon's clawed tail shooting forwards at blinding speed and leaving fresh gouges in the larger Grimm's chitinous armour before the more intelligent of the two monsters used their vast wings to launch themselves backwards. The White Spectre clacked its' mandibles and cocked its' head, as if struggling to understand why its' fellow creature of Grimm would retreat; then its' body faded into translucence and the colours of its' surroundings washed over its' armoured exterior leaving it invisible and forcing Pantheon to track the destruction that their adversary left in their wake.
The battle between the two nightmares made flesh had been fought with ferocity and cruelty that only such creatures could fathom; Pantheon had been forced to rely on their unnaturally accelerated healing to repair the membrane of their wings, regrow a severed tail, twist crushed limbs back into place and on one occasion restore a partially collapsed ribcage. Yet they had fought on, the White Spectre bearing several wounds in testament to Pantheon's ferocity in the form of countless deep gouges in its' exoskeleton and several missing eyes which had been ruptured when the smaller monster ripped away a spindly limb and forced it into the Crayfish Grimm's skull before it faded into nothing.
"COME AND DIE!" Pantheon roared, leaping backwards once again as a pair of trees were felled by the camouflaged Grimm; whilst they had been on the receiving end of several crushing blows Pantheon had still been the one controlling the pace and direction of the fight and the White Spectre, being a mindless animal with no goals beyond the destruction of its' prey, was blissfully unaware of this fact. The Crayfish Grimm had allowed itself to be drawn away from the remains of the Spawning Pit itself and the deepest parts of the murky swamp, out towards areas where far more trees grew from far shallower water; the close confines allowing Pantheon a much better idea of where the White Spectre was as each of its' movements struck some part of the dense and claustrophobic foliage.
"Where-" A moment of distraction cost Pantheon dearly, they had no warning save for the faintest rippling of the air before the entire upper half of the tree in which they were currently perched was reduced to splinters as the White Spectre leapt and hurled itself forwards; whilst they may have avoided the pincers that would have torn them in half Pantheon still found themselves trapped beneath the weight of the far larger Grimm and desperately struggling for an opening, their plan was in motion after all and time was of the essence.
"Come to me" Pantheon ordered, their consciousness slipping into the darkness of the fragmented Hive Mind for a moment and urging the remains of their pack to hurry, before they returned to reality and began tackling the task at hand; their inhuman maw filling with filthy water as it was forced below the surface and a strangled scream of pain escaping them only to be drowned by the festering liquid and a jagged limb crushed one of their wings underfoot. Eventually however Pantheon managed to focus, their six eyes gazing upwards at the exposed ribcage of the larger Grimm whose underside was far less protected that its' back. Spotting a weak point where black flesh was visible between two ribs Pantheon lashed out and burying their tail in the White Spectre's thorax, the clawed appendage ripping and tearing at innards until the thrashing of the monstrous crustacean sent them hurtling into the base of another tree, one of very few that hadn't been broken in the frenzy
"You're mine" Pantheon taunted, knowing that their prey was most likely not aware enough to understand yet being utterly unconcerned with such details. The White Spectre itself seemed to flicker in and out of existence as its' injuries disrupted its' camouflaging abilities. The crustacean snapped its' claws and mandibles threateningly as it skulked forwards, advancing slowly on Pantheon.
Pantheon gave the closest thing to a smile that their inhuman face would allow; they could already hear the panting and snarling of their remaining Beowolves drawing closer, this conflict was already over and it was only a matter of taking what they wanted.
The White Spectre seemed to sense something was amiss and turned its' remaining eyes skyward a split second before the first missile struck its' lower back and ripped the larger Grimm in half; its' tail fading away as it landed several dozen feet from the upper half of its' owner.
The Beowolves that had been sent away from the majority of the now decimated Pack had been bait, their sole purpose being to attack a nearby settlement that had already fallen victim to their attention in the last few days and allow themselves to be followed by whatever machines of war the defenders had at their disposal; lacking any available Hunters the settlement had simply armed one of the Bull-Heads stationed with it and began culling the Grimm from the air, only to find the White Spectre levelling a portion of the swamplands as the Beowolves drew close to it.
"Mine" Pantheon repeated as another explosion relieved their prey of its' right claw; sensing that the White Spectre was only moments away from expiring they lunged forwards and sent their clawed tail crashing through the already fractured segment of skull where the beast had lost some of its' eyes. A final clacking sound escaped the larger Grimm before Pantheon began tearing out chunks of brain matter the size of a mans' chest and gorging themselves; the inky black substance which had been dissolving into wisps of acrid smog regaining its' cohesion as it was cannibalised and as the Crayfish Grimm finally died Pantheon dropped to their knees shrieking as pressure built within their skull to such an extent that it seemed certain to shatter, spikes seemed to be driven into the monsters' psyche as new aspects of the Hive Mind were anchored to those than Pantheon already controlled and eventually, their broken body healing as they did so, they rose and reached out into the now much more vast psychic plane to find that not only had they been successful in taking control of the Grimm produced by the Spawning Pit, the Pit itself was still somewhat functional and would almost certainly recover; giving them all the bodies that they would need for what was to come.
A single mental order was given, its' psychic echo reverberating to every recess of the hive mind that the intelligent monster could reach as Pantheon watched the Bull-Heads' depart, their target destroyed and within moments the sound of rustling trees and rippling water alerted them to the approach of the first of thousands.
The demented cackle that escaped Pantheon was oddly human, a single feminine voice seemingly drowning out the multitude of snarls which the Grimm normally spoke with for a brief moment.
The Huntress whose name Nickel Polendina had never bothered to learn, instead recognising her only as a designated target to remove, launched a flurry of powerful yet plainly desperate attacks with her quarterstaff. Not a single blow was landed as Nickel expertly blocked and parried her enemies' attacks with both her own elbows and forearms as well as the weapon she had made for herself with whatever scrap metal could be obtained at short notice; her sword was an ugly and crude thing, a blade almost as wide as her own torso and only a head shorter than its' wielder that bore several weld-lines where various pieces of different metals had been added together; the overall shape of the thing as well as its' circular hand guard gave away its' origins and made it clear that Nickel had essentially created an oversized and bastardised replica of one of Penny Polendina's iconic swords.
"This is high-key depressing" Nickel taunted with a cruel laugh as she decided that she had grown bored of this particular victim; simply side-stepping a frantic swing of the Huntresses' blunt weapons that was accompanied by a scream of rage and desperation, she then countered with a punishing kick that broke the woman's leg with a sickening crack and as she toppled to the ground Nickel seized the opportunity to land a fatal blow; cutting her opponents' pained scream short as she swung her sword into the woman's midsection, crimson blood flowing from the horrific wound the sword inflicted whilst a sky blue Aura flickered and failed.
"The floor is loving Grimm" Nickel stated with a flat tone, only to give in to a fit of giggles a moment later "Thought for sure that'd get her to move….Oh well" the rogue android took stock of her surroundings, her latest mark had been apprehended much like all of those that had preceded it, caught travelling between settlements away from New Vale's capital in the dead of night; compelled to stop their vehicle on an empty and unmonitored stretch of road whose ill-maintained surface could lead to an accident if a driver were tired; such would be the reason given when yet another burned and crushed car was found at the bottom of a valley after seemingly having crashed through a barrier.
It had grown pitifully boring and Nickel tapped her foot in irritation as she waited for a reply from Ozymandias Eldritch with her Scroll in one hand, bloodstained sword in the other.
"Ah Nickel, I presume you rendezvoused with Miss Cirrus as planned?"
"Bruh" Nickel sighed, the syllable dripping with a monumental amount of contempt for the victim whose name she had finally been told "That was so basic….about thirty seconds of actually fun fighting and then she got all cringey, just swinging at anything-"
"Is the target-"
"Yes the bitch is dead" Nickel sighed, tone becoming harsh in response to the interruption "And another thing, this whole plan is dumb chief….why am I dealing with one Hunter at a time? We know where they're going, so you must know that the target is heading that way. Why don't I just take Miss Cirrus's basic ass car out there and-"
"Because the plan isn't a straightforward as you seem to think it is Nickel" Ozymandias responded somewhat testily
"It's a glorified smash and grab-"
"Your hastiness will see us all killed and our plans in ruins" the mad scientist barked, their voice sounding as though several people had spoken at once only to be followed by pained and disturbingly wet, hacking coughs before the man continued "We already lost our chance to discreetly capture the target with Project Snare; we have no such device at our disposal now….instead we must bring the target to us; which means clearing a path"
"Fine" Nickel dragged the word out as much as possible, visibly sagging as she relented and accepted that she would be consigned to drudge work until Ozymandias's grand schemes were brought into fruition
"Now if you would be so kind as to return to the city once you're finished sanitising the area, I believe Mister Torchwick said something about some of his employees needing your assistance with a customer who has yet to pay"
"Bet" Nickel answered bluntly before hanging up, she was about to sling her oversized and roughly made sword over her back where it would sit at angle that allowed it to narrowly miss her wings when they were deployed, but before she could do so a gurgling groan alerted her to the fact that the Huntress she had been sent to dispose of still clung to life and was attempting to force herself into a sitting position despite her injuries
"Really?" Nickel demanded, gesturing to the critically injured woman for the benefit of an audience that wasn't there before she simply clutched the hilt of her weapon in both hands and swinging with as much force as she could muster.
The headless corpse collapsed backwards, staining the road with fresh blood as it did so.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me?" that Artemis Tan's words and tone failed to convey her displeasure spoke only to the sheer depth and breadth of her distaste for what her current situation seemed to be.
Atlesian Specialist Kafsi Asteri had contacted the key members of the group acting against Rhodium Torchwick earlier that day, despite none of the group having given her the information to do so, and simply informed Rover and Artemis Tan, Scarlet David-Vasilias and Fawn Bordeaux that they should cancel whatever previous arrangements they had; Kafsi had managed to arrange a meeting with someone willing to bring down Torchwick and his accomplices late that night. Upon arriving at the meeting point, having left their daughter Tuscan with Artemis's sister for the night and wearing business clothes for the meeting as instructed the Tans had not had to wait long before Kafsi made an appearance; arriving in the back of a tinted limousine that was plainly out of place in even the middle class part of the Capital that the married Faunus called home. Artemis's suspicions had only intensified as the driver remained hidden behind a partition and after Scarlet and Fawn were collected they were taken higher into the Hive Complexes than Hunters ever normally had reason to venture; Artemis knew that there were few people who called these particular communities of Upper New Vale home who had any reason to even concern themselves with criminals such as Rhodium Torchwick, much less be so invested in his downfall.
Artemis's exclamation had come upon realising that her suspicions had been justified once they had reached their destination and exited the limousine; mismatched eyes narrowing at the sight of a small mansion or manor built into the confines of the Hive City, the lone residence taking up a vast percentage of the levels that it occupied. The walls to the sides and rear of the property had been replaced entirely with windows which gave the grounds an almost panoramic view of the world outside and an amount of natural light that very few citizens of New Vale enjoyed whilst the front of the manor was surrounded by a large wall topped with a spiked fence; the gates slid aside allowing the group of five to walk towards the manor whose entrance was flanked by half a dozen heavily armed guards wearing a familiar black tuxedo paired with a red tie and red tinted sunglasses; on the way they passed several marble statues of towering and powerful Bears.
"This is your contact?" Rover growled, canine tail standing erect behind him as he regarded Kafsi with clear irritation "You're bringing us to Junior?"
"Indeed" Kafsi gave her allies a look that made it clear that she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes and her bored tone made her lack of interest in their moral conundrums plain, despite the limitations of her respirator
"We're going to the dirtiest son of a bitch in town for help?" Scarlet noted, mechanical hand flexing beneath the glove he had covered it with "This won't come cheap"
"Maybe it will" Fawn noted "If Torchwick killed Malachite…." she trailed off, thoughts of her own promised revenge clearly occupying her mind
"We're here to get this turf war bullshit off of our streets" Artemis snapped "Not enable it!"
"I'm here to stop a terrorist" Kafsi corrected "Our aims just so happen to be in line with one another to a point, between his political and criminal connections Hei Xiong is a valuable asset and to pretend otherwise would be a mistake" the heated debate was brought to a premature close as the group reached the guards and were forced to allow themselves to be searched before being allowed into the property, at which point they led through lavishly decorated hallways towards an office by one of the few remaining members of the Black Bear Syndicate, the lackey knocked on the door and waited a moment for a reply
"WELL LET 'EM IN THEN, I'M OBVIOUSLY EXPECTING PEOPLE!" the voice of Councilman Hei Xiong, the politician and former mob boss known as Junior barked out. The door was opened and the group filed inside
"I suppose I shouldn't complain, there was a time I used to have Hunters just kicking my door off whenever they thought I might know something" Junior chuckled to himself, eyes focusing on Rover and Artemis "How is Blondie by the way, you were part of her group of friends back in the day right?"
"Doing good last I heard" Artemis assured him; Kafsi however had no such tact or patience for small talk
"We're here to discuss-"
"Lady you're in my house, learn some Oum damned manners before have one of my people teach 'em to you" Junior drawled out before reaching under his desk for a bottle of brandy "Drinks anyone? Never premeditate murders with a clear head, you'll be up all night thinking about otherwise" none of the Hunters accepted the offer, though Fawn did take a glass before Junior continued speaking
"We all know what we're here for; Torchwick and his people need to go….that ginger little shit especially, I'm gonna make him wish I cut his dads balls off before he was even conceived before I done with him"
"We don't want a bloodbath" Artemis stated firmly
"We were around for your turf war with the White Fang….arson, kidnappings, drive-by shootings; we won't be part of any of that" Rover added, Junior scoffed before leaning forward
"Yeah you're Gang's friends, you were here for the business with Adam's little crew….you weren't here for the war before that though, the one that put the Syndicate on top. Mil and Mel lost their parents before the end of it and by the time it was over it didn't feel like we'd won….I raised those two like they were my own children" Junior downed his glass in a single gulp, letting out a single shuddering sob as he did so "He murdered one of my little girls….I can't look Mil and her family in the face any more, not while the bastards' still out there. The only reason I'm even entertaining working with cops and Hunters is because the Syndicate is dead, there aren't enough of us left to fight Torchwick's people any more. He's killed half and the rest changed sides-"
"I was told you'd still be of some use to our efforts" Kafsi stated flatly, earning herself a round of disgusted glares from her companions
"What she means-" Fawn was silenced by Junior raising a meaty hand whilst pouring himself another drink with the other
"She said what she means" he then turned to Kafsi "You're a bitch but at least you're an honest one. I haven't got the people, but what I have got is money and assets; guns, intel, fake documents, an absolute fortress of a house where anything can be hidden from the cops that Torchwick is gonna start paying off if he hasn't already
"Oh he doesn't pay, he has their families threatened" Fawn's tone was murderous at the mere mention of Rhodium Torchwick influencing police officers, her late brothers' death and its' circumstances as close to the surface as ever.
"You have information?" Artemis dared to ask, Junior gave her an oddly apologetic look as he answered
"I've got something that I confiscated earlier this evening….I'm gonna say sorry to you and your husband in advance, this might be hard for you to watch" with that he produced a Scroll, an older model that was clearly not his own personal device and bid the group to come closer so that he could show the group the surveillance camera footage that he'd acquired, footage showing events that had unfolded at a bowling alley
"Oh my Oum!" Artemis gasped as she watched her nephew clutching as his wounded arm after the brief gunfight "Is he okay?"
"Pretty sure he stopped off at a hospital, got some Aura stim and bandages and left" Junior noted "Tough old beast, like his old man was"
"If I believed in karma" Kafsi noted with faint amusement, the memory of Arctus Slate aiming a plasma weapon at her coming to mind
"Listen Asteri I don't care if Gang hired you I will break your nose right now" Artemis's tone was savage
"I know that little fucker" Rover snarled, icy blue eyes furious as he pointed to the young man with dreadlocks who had been the ringleader of the gang; turning to Scarlet he added "Corona's-"
"Don't call it that" Junior grumbled "That's my fucking bar and I want it back"
"This guy was there" Rover continued "He's one of Torchwick's lieutenants"
"Really?" Junior asked in disbelief "Little street trash punk is just letting anyone run his businesses then, that kid just ran off the second he met any resistance"
"Then our plan is obvious?" Kafsi observed, Junior nodded and addressed the group as a whole
"We find a way to draw this one out, if we can get to him then we can get to Torchwick; he knows things"
"If he talks" Artemis noted, Scarlet chuckled darkly
"Oh he will….I can already tell he's way out of his depth"
Authors Notes:
Okay, so that's another chapter down and things are moving forwards; even if not everything can be seen yet.
The Vol.7 outfits were dropped after I wrote the authors' notes last week so let me just say this here...I love them, so much.
A little annoyed that Gen:LOCK season two is being put on hold but it is what it is and the RWBY Hype Train has now left the station.
Not too much to say here so let's summarise shall we:
If a lot of my stories seem to be set in working class parts of town, it's because that's where I'm from and where I will always naturally default back to.
I like the idea that the main difference between Atlas Hive cities and New Vale is that New Vale at least some kind of a soul to it, like the people running the place at least care a little bit about the population….also in my mind, the kids' parks around the city are something Junior paid for.
I know people are gonna think he's a dick but honestly Redwood kinda has a point….for years Hunters haven't any sort of support for their mental health and if a Hunter goes postal then they could potentially kill hundreds of civilians before another Hunter can arrive and stop them.
I know you guys love it when I write kids so here, have Felix's baby bro.
I love giving Nyanza fans, the idea of him going from 'the kid who just scraped by because of his Semblance' to being an amazing Hunter with an actual fan-base is great.
"A Faunus like us" there's a little red flag for you, take note of things like that.
Onyx is a pretty smart guy and wants to learn, he just doesn't do well in classrooms, mainly due to never being raised in that kind of environment.
Onyx and Ammi slowly becoming friends; Sun is gonna have a heart attack.
R.I.P Air-Raid; it sucks but it's probably for the best….if they'd met in Team CLIR's first year or if they meet again in five years or so who knows; but for now it is what it is.
Just imagine Grimm moving like commandos through the water and tell me it's not terrifying.
Yes, Pantheon has gone beyond just talking and having a plan, they're making tools as well now.
I know having the wave of Grimm cut down seems counter-productive but considering that Pantheon would have had to fight those Grimm as well, it's a sacrifice that had to be made.
I had to google what actually lives in a swamp, I've done alligator Grimm before so they were out; then I saw that "White Spectres" are an actual kind of crayfish and it was pretty much a done deal….as far as I know they don't actually have camouflage but come on, with a name like that they should.
You do not cast aspersions about Diamond's marksmanship….ever.
I imagine that's a thing that a lot of places in Remnant has "Deals for Hunters, but please leave the Katana/Grenade launcher/Pogo-stick combo at home" because let's be honest, drunk people with superpowers is enough to deal with.
Syneffo is really not good at this living with a nuclear family in the suburbs thing.
So, Team FADE were given the same orders and information as Team GORE….Naturally Felix is attempting to rules lawyer his way into still being allowed to fight Vert.
Thank you Diamond, for having common sense.
Arctus will be fine.
I think Helios was as gentle with that as he could be; Syneffo much like Team FADE in first year has her heart in the right place but her head unscrewed.
Pantheon ripped the White Spectre's leg off and stabbed it in the face with its' own leg….admit, you're rooting for Pantheon.
Pantheon used themselves as bait to draw the Grimm away from the Spawning Pit, then used their pack to draw in unwitting air support to kill the Grimm and save them the trouble.
Also yes….they ate it's brain; and now they have a spawning pit.
Nickel's made her first weapon….won't be her last.
"The floor is loving Grimm" okay admit it, you hate Nickel so much it hurts….but you also kinda love her.
Oz low-key suffering when he turns his powers up, just to remind people that he is actually slowly dying.
Casual decapitation.
Of course, who else would Kafsi have as a contact; besides a lot of you wanted Junior.
"I suppose I shouldn't complain, there was a time I used to have Hunters just kicking my door off whenever they thought I might know something" now there's a callback for ya.
"I'm gonna make him wish I cut his dads balls off before he was even conceived before I done with him" and that ladies, gents and others, is a masterclass in threats.
"If I believed in karma" admit it, you laughed.
So Vert is on pretty much everyone's shit-list right now.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, DizzyDwarf, Funlander and Ferrous for their reviews on the last chapter.
Remnant would most likely have a lot of that tech (Although maybe not the solar powers, based on just how reliant everyone is on Dust) but Team FADE were stopped from taking it with them, due to the nature of the assignment.
How is Forever Fall getting crowded?
Oh Weiss will break Car's jaw, she will meet him at the Atlesian border just to do it since Team GORE technically can't enter the Kingdom again.
More surprised by the fact that Oz knows about the bomb and would use it as a threat.
We will get Qrow next chapter.
Pantheon just got scarier.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.