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Chapter 105: The Calm

Felix knew he was taking a risk and possibly making a grave mistake by pursuing his current course of action, yet he found that he couldn't quite force himself to stop as he brought the Killer-Bee to as halt, the deep guttural growl of the muscle cars' engine dying down and allowing the Lion Faunus a few moments of silence to contemplate his next move. He had parked outside of the 'New Sapling Elementary School' a cheaply built, yet well maintained single story building with brightly coloured and decorated walls within one the capital city's many Hive Towers whose upper floor had been removed and the roof surrounded by a low fence to allow for a small play area in which the children had their recess saving much needed space in the limited confines of the metropolis; the students however were currently inside the school itself, though as Felix checked the time he realised that he had only a few more minutes to wait until that changed. A cautious cursory sweep of his surroundings revealed that whilst many parents were already present outside of the school to collect their children there was no sign of either Redwood or Myrtle which caused him to let out a sigh of relief.

Felix had come alone, he had skipped his last three lessons of the day at Halo Academy to make his way to the school using the excuse of an upset stomach to explain his absence; as much as he would have liked Helios to join him for this endeavour the redhead had stayed behind, reasoning that if Felix's first attempt to provide a better role model for Astra were overseen by a human it would be far too easy for the boys' father to twist the facts to suit his own beliefs and narrative; there was also the observation that Diamond had jokingly made, that being that Felix's excuse for missing class would be far less believable if Helios were also absent, though their professors and classmates would most likely assume that the two of them were simply having sex.

The offensively shrill ringing of the bell that signalled the end of the school forced Felix to pay attention, dragging his mind away from the thought of sex with his boyfriend which it wandered to. He watched as the first students burst out of the school doors, clearly eager for the freedom to enjoy the rest of their day unhindered by the confines of classrooms and the rules imposed by their teachers; eventually Astra came into view, the Deer Faunus part of a group of boys who Felix noted were all Faunus and bitterly wondered if Redwood allowed his son to play with humans. When Astra and his friends were at the school gates, the group splitting as the boys went their separate ways Felix decided that it was either now or never and lowered the drivers' side window of his car and called out

"Hey Astra!" the boy turned around and caught sight of Felix leaning out the Killer-Bee's window, his friends following suit; a few frantic and energetic words were exchanged between the group with much enthusiastic gesturing towards the Lion Faunus and his car and though his hearing as a Faunus was exceptional, Felix couldn't discern what was being said over the multitude of other conversations taking place and vehicles as well as other ambient sounds. Eventually the boy ran over to the car, words pouring out of him as he did so

"My friends didn't believe I knew you! I mean the kids at the park saw you but everyone else thought we were just making it up, they said I was too much of a sissy to be related to a Hunter….But uh, I'm not supposed to talk to you; after you beat up my dad" the boy suddenly looked sheepish

"Sorry you had to see that" Felix winced guiltily "I'm sorry it happened, me and your dad disagreed about some pretty important stuff and it got out of hand….anyway, hop in I've got something for ya" the struggle taking place within Astra's mind was written plainly on his slightly chubby face as the boy tried to decide whether to obey his parents, or the older brother that his mother had been so eager for him to meet; Felix tried not to appear openly smug or proud when the younger Faunus walked around the car and climbed into the passengers' seat.

"So I told Nyanza that you're a fan….it honestly made his day" the Lion Faunus explained as he turned and reached behind him to take a small plastic bag from the back seat of the car and hand it to Astra "Not exactly sure if it's your size but it looks about right"

"Thank you" Astra beamed happily before opening the bag at which point a gasp escaped him as he pulled out the tracksuit and t-shirt made by the clothing brand that sponsored Nyanza; Felix's childhood friend had assured him that new clothes that weren't hand me downs are salvaged from a thrift shop were far more appreciated by kids from poor families, the Lion Faunus had admitted that Nyanza understood these things better than he did as Felix had never experienced poverty in the Xiao Long household

"Awesome" Astra mouthed out

"The t-shirt is signed as well" Felix chuckled, Nyanza had apparently been unable to resist the urge to act like the celebrity he had seemingly become "So it might be worth some money one day….as long as Nyanza doesn't do anything dumb….so nevermind"

"Can you tell him I said thank you, this is so cool!" Astra fidgeted excitedly in his seat

"Definitely" Felix laughed "So….you still wanna be a Hunter one day?"

"Uh yeah" Astra looked at him as if the question itself were ludicrous

"Well I know your Dad doesn't like Hunters" Felix noted "But I told a few of my friends that I've got a little brother who wants to learn and they all wanna help train you….nothing crazy or dangerous, just the basics"

"REALLY!" the awestruck smile on Astra's face was comically wide and Felix couldn't help but chuckle, fondly remembering the first time Yang had let him train with her

"Yeah" he confirmed "But the thing is some of my friends are humans….is that okay with you?"

"Uh" Redwood paused for a moment "Dad doesn't like humans, thinks they're all trying to steal from Faunus and stuff….but they're your friends so they're okay right?"

"Right" Felix nodded, pleased that his younger sibling was open to new ideas

"So can we hang out?" Astra asked, a hopeful expression forming on his face "You told me your cars' got a big laser in it, I wanna see"

"Well I can't exactly show that off here" Felix laughed "I'll end blowing a hole in-"

THUMP

"GET AWAY FROM MY BOY!" the sound of Redwood's fist colliding with the window of the Killer-Bee first made both Felix and Astra jump, then forced Felix to take several slow deep breaths to control his temper; whilst the windows of his car may be bulletproof and the chances of someone without an unlocked Aura being able to do any damage were slim, the fact remained that someone had still tried to damage his beloved car

"Take this" Felix murmured, passing Astra a scrap of paper which his contact details had been written on "Call me if you ever need anything, I'll always answer" he had no chance to add anything else as Redwood had stalked around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door

"Come on Astra, out!" he urgently pulled the boy out of the vehicle and Felix was ashamed to see first the extent of the bruising that covered the mans' face, a reminder of his own temper; and secondly the open fear in the mans' voice

"Hey man can we talk this out?"

"TALK IT OUT?" Redwood demanded incredulously "YOU SENT ME TO THE HOSPITAL AND NOW YOU'RE WAITING OUTSIDE MY KIDS' SCHOOL LIKE SOME KIND OF SICKO! DON'T COME AROUND HERE AGAIN, I'M GONNA TELL THE SCHOOL TO CALL THE POLICE IF YOU SHOW UP HERE AGAIN!" Felix's knuckles cracked and he forced himself to remain calm, as much as he disliked the situation and Redwood as a person there was no disputing that he was protecting his son from what he believed to be a threat and that if Felix attempted to push matters he would achieve nothing positive

"Alright man, your call" he sighed, before turning to Astra "Sorry we couldn't hang out kid" Astra had no chance to reply before Redwood frogmarched him away, clearly lecturing him as they went. Felix slumped back in the drivers' seat and closed his eyes; things had gone as well as could reasonably be expected and all that Felix needed to do now was work out how exactly he was going keep in touch with his little brother now.

Felix's absence from the academy for the afternoon and Eagle's decision to study with Hellion immediately after classes ended had given Arctus and Diamond some privacy and quiet in Team FADE's dormitory which they had naturally taken advantage of.

"Again already?" Diamond rolled her eyes, but her husky purr made it clear that she was far from opposed to the idea. Soon after returning to the dorm the couples' casual kissing had swiftly progressed first into Diamond straddling the Bear Faunus as his hands roamed across her body until she climaxed and then to her being bent over the bed with her back arched and her lover behind her; the shower they had shared had led to Diamond being held against the wall with her legs wrapped around Arctus's waist and her nails digging into his back. Currently they shared Arctus's bed, a half hearted attempt at working on an assignment lay forgotten and nothing on the television seemed to hold their attention, Diamond wore one of Arctus's shirts and the Bear Faunus himself lay behind her with one hand trailing along her thigh

"Honestly I just wanted to hold you" he murmured in her ear, leaning a little closer to do so "But if you want" his voice took on a teasing note as his hand travelled upwards and slipped beneath the shirt Diamond wore, the silver haired sniper turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders whilst draping one leg over him

"I'm good Big Guy" she admitted, kissing him gently "Kinda hungry, kinda tired….kinda just wanna stay here and fall asleep"

"Sounds great" the two nuzzled into each other, content to simply drift off only for their privacy to be almost predictably be interrupted by the sound of a Scroll vibrating

"Mine" Arctus grumbled, quickly putting on a shirt to hide the various marks Diamond had left on him when he saw that he was receiving a video call from his sister

"Hey pest" he greeted her as the grinning face of Athena-Jade Slate came into view, the nine year old having seemingly grown an absurd amount since the last time Arctus had seen her

"Hey guess what, guess what!" she insisted, smile widening

"Gimme a clue" Arctus sighed, moving the camera a little to allow Diamond into the frame

"Hey Diamond" Athena quickly turned her attention back to her brother "It's about me being a Hunter"

"No way, you killed an Ursa with a spoon?" Arctus gasped in mock amazement

"You suck" Athena sighed dramatically before giggling "Dad's been teaching me to fight when he's at home but that's not the cool part, Mum unlocked my Aura!"

"Seriously?" Arctus's eyebrows rose, his sister was younger by several years than he had been when his parents had unlocked his own Aura; though he supposed that it made sense all things considered, Arctus had seemed to naturally gravitate towards the lifestyle of a Hunter but Athena-Jade actively sought it out and wanted nothing more

"That's great" Diamond smiled "You're gonna be the coolest Huntress ever one day"

"I'm proud of you kid" Arctus added, a surge of homesickness hitting him as he felt the undeniable urge to give his sister a hug and ruffle her hair

"I can't wait until I can go on missions and stuff….hey we could go on missions and save the whole of Remnant together it'll be cool!"

"Yeah in fifteen years or so" Arctus chuckled, stopping when a horrible thought occurred to him "Oum I'll be old then" he was given a mild distraction in the form of Coral entering the room that Athena was calling from, the Crab Faunus skipping happily and wearing a bright smile of her own which Athena-Jade seemed to pick up on immediately

"Mum signed the paperwork?" she asked and Coral's face split into a wide smile as she nodded, pincers clacking rapidly as she did so

"Paperwork?" Arctus asked, hoping that Coral's apparent fear of him had lessened slightly while he had been away; his wish was seemingly granted as she came closer to the camera and explained

"My class is having a 'Take your children to work day'….I think it's so the teachers can have a break butWeiss signed the paperwork so that I can go to a Dust refinery or a mine with Uncle Whitley"

"Nice" Arctus grinned, whilst he was knowledgable about Dust and it's production he lacked the enthusiasm for the family business that Coral was seemingly developing, though one thing was undeniable "A trip with Uncle Whit is gonna be fun, trust me"

"I know" Coral beamed, happier than Arctus had seen her before until she remembered something "AJ, we've gotta go wash up for dinner"

"Okay fine" Athena-Jade nodded "I've gotta go"

"You suck" Arctus teased, turning his sisters' earlier declaration against her "Tell Mum I love her" his sister promised that she would do so before ending the call, leaving Arctus and Diamond in a quiet dormitory once again, the dull chatter of the television being utterly ignored as she leaned against him and made herself comfortable once again

"You really miss 'em don't ya?" Diamond guessed

"Yeah" Arctus sighed before chuckling "She's growing up to be a little bad-ass and I'm not there to see it….she's right I suck"

"Dude you're a great big brother and she adores you" Diamond kissed his cheek "I miss home too Big Guy"

"I promise I'll come to Mistral this summer" Arctus assured her "I still wish I could have met your parents but y'know…."

"It's fine, adopting Coral and everything that happened at the tournament; your family needed you in Atlas. I get it….but this summer though, I promise my Dad is just joking when he threatens to bury you somewhere, or throw you into the sea with concrete boots on, or feed your body to pigs, or dissolve it….you get the idea"

"Yeah, he still scares the crap out of me" Arctus admitted, Diamond merely laughed and swatted his chest playfully before pulling him down and kissing him slowly, only for the dormitory door to open and Eagle to enter

"So" Diamond teased as she caught sight of several hickies adorning the muscular blondes' neck "Studying huh?"

"Oh my Oum shush" her face flushed scarlet as she set her rucksack down and tried to hide the marks before continuing "Hey I'm going for a driving lesson with Felix….can you guys come with, he could probably use some friends around?"

"Talking to his brother didn't go well?" Diamond asked

"I'm not sure he just sounded kinda unhappy when I spoke to him"

"Let's go then" Arctus said simply, Eagle merely rolled her deep crimson eyes at both of them before making a suggestion

"You should both probably put pants on first"

Carcharodon's entire body felt light and his blood seemed to sing as the familiar rush overtook him, Team GORE had been afforded a rare opportunity to embrace their beginnings as the Shadow Cadre and their history of members of a tribe of pirates and raiders.

They were hunting someone down.

Upon learning that their current quarry had returned to Kingdom they had been eagerly seeking her out, trying to discern exactly what type of location she would use as her base of operations and then methodically prowled through all such places in and around the Capital City, the sun slowly setting as afternoon faded into evening

"We should brought have Hellion and Onyx for this" Raffia noted as they drew closer to their target

"If she shot at Marauder there would be no way to stop Hellion's wrath and Onyx….better that he not be involved in this for now" the Shark Faunus explained "We're here"

"She was a worthy opponent, I expected something grander"

"And the fact you expect it is exactly why she didn't choose somewhere else" Carcharodon countered as they neared the old and apparently disused watchtower, having made their way along the cities coastline from the commercial docks and walking for several miles. The tower was a small armoured cabin elevated several meters from the sand by four struts that had been sunk deep into the ground below and accessible only by a single rusted ladder which Carcharodon saw that there were footprints leading to; the watchtower had once sported weapons in addition to its' monitoring equipment to defend against any aquatic Grimm that drew close though they had been removed when the tower was decommissioned.

"How do we draw her out?" Raffia asked, Carcharodon gave a fang-filled smile as he lowered his hood and braced himself as well as the sand would allow

"We don't need to" he rasped "She already knows we're here"

BOOM

Raffia leapt aside as sand was hurled a dozen feet into the air in all directions whilst Carcharodon used his Semblance to simply melt into the ground before reforming as the forcefield that had collided with the ground dissipated. Stood between the two Faunus and clad in full Atlesian Specialist uniform, golden eyes furious, Aegis Thunder in hand and the ultrasonic blade mounted in her cybernetic left arm deployed was Kafsi Asteri.

"You" the tone the word was delivered would have been terrifying under any circumstances, the distortion that accompanied Kafsi's respirator however turned it into something monstrous and reverberating

"Us" Carcharodon stated simply undeterred "We came to propose an alliance, though I suspect you wish to satisfy your pride first?"

"You can call it that" Kafsi answered calmly before lunging forwards so fast that it seemed she simply vanished, appearing in front of Carcharodon and striking him in the chest with enough force to send him rolling to a stop with waves gently lapping his prone form. Raffia charged forwards but made no attempt to draw his weapons, simply leaping into the air and aiming a kick at Kafsi's skull; she in turn pivoted and drove his leg aside with her metallic arm before seizing him by the waist and collar, driving him down onto her knee with a wet snapping sound as his ribs broke within his chest, casting him aside she returned her attention to Carcharodon who had returned to his feet and attempted to attack her from behind, a single punch to the side of the head dropping the Shark Faunus to his hands and knees was followed by a booted foot between his shoulder blades

"Now" the Specialist said, unnervingly calmly as she straightened her jacket "Were you followed?"

"No" Carcharodon assured her "We knew who to look for, Torchwick's vermin don't" Kafsi needed only a moment for things to fall into place in her mind

"You want to kill Torchwick? The man certainly has a gift for making enemies"

"Slate would give us no information about his whereabouts because of your mission" Carcharodon rasped "My people are not passive, nor are we cowards; why not simply work together"

"Besides my arm and lung?" the Specialist snarled "You were on television all across Remnant, your faces are far too well known"

"Slate is yet to honour his end of our deal, he promised us a ship" Raffia spat as his ribs restored themselves "The silence makes us suspicious, perhaps a reminder that we can find his lackeys is in order" the Axolotl Faunus fell silent with a gesture from Carcharodon, though he still skulked around the periphery in anticipation of more violence

"Torchwick has more allies and resources than you can fight alone" Carcharodon stated bluntly

"I don't have to fight them all, I only have to worry about my target"

"The terrorist" Carcharodon nodded in understanding "And yet you haven't found them….it took you months to find my people, you need us" Kafsi seemed ready to protest, instead she finally nodded in acceptance before speaking

"I'll remind Slate that he owes you a ship. Beyond any orders I give you you're his problem and his alone" she waited for the two Faunus to nod in understanding before adding "When I move against my target I'll allow you to dispose of Torchwick and his people on the understanding that I never have to cross paths with you again"

"That is agreeable" Carcharodon answered, his own distaste for Kafsi apparent

"Good, now leave. I'll contact you" Carcharodon gestured for Raffia to follow him, the two Faunus feeling that they had achieved something with their uneasy alliance with the Specialist; a chance to right a wrong against their people and hopefully some incentive for Gangrel Slate to make good on his promises. Kafsi merely watched them leave with a cold calculating expression, it seemed that they knew about Ozymandias but not Project Legacy; in her mind she saw a way to perfectly tie up loose ends that would cause her no small amount of satisfaction.

"No" she stopped herself abruptly, whatever else these Faunus had done they had served the Kingdom of Atlas and contributed to the destruction of the White Fang. They would be treated as allies, they had earned that right regardless of her own feelings.

"You okay Dude? I know it's family stuff but you can always talk to us, it might help you think" Diamond offered as Team FADE shared a table at the fast food restaurant that was open at all hours which they had visited after Eagle's driving lesson; the Lion Faunus trusting his partner enough to allow her to drive them to their current destination, reasoning that with so little traffic so late in the evening there was little risk of an accident.

"I'm fine" Felix sighed "I wish things had gone better but I at least feel like I'm doing something now, I'm gonna stick at it and teach Astra the basics and hey maybe I can fix things with Myrtle as well"

"You will" Eagle assured him confidently "If I can make things up with my parents then you can make things up with her"

"Thanks….so are you guys gonna help me teach my baby brother to fight?"

"Yeah of course" Arctus gave his cousin an amused smirk before adding "Just as long as we're not hanging around outside schools, because I don't need that kind of thing in an Atlesian gossip rag" Felix merely presented his middle finger in response to outburst of laughter that followed the comment before deciding to change the subject, despite his insistence the way things had ended with Redwood irked him and he wasn't in the mood to discuss it

"So Eagle, I think you've pretty much got the practical side of driving figured out. I'll keep letting you borrow the Killer-Bee to practice but honestly I think you're ready for a driving exam, just as long as you're confident you can pass the theory side of things"

"Come on, it's Eagle of course she can" Diamond laughed, having no doubt that the girl who'd built her own robotic companion as a teenager would struggle with something as simple as driving; Eagle herself didn't respond with words, merely a squeal of enthusiasm

"Got anything in mind for your first car?" Felix asked, his tone shifting from conversational to a joking attempt at sounding wise and mysterious as he added "It's the most important decision you will ever make" Eagle merely laughed before replying

"I think I'm probably just gonna get something small and cheap, a second hand rust bucket" Felix nearly choked on his drink in only slightly exaggerated disgust

"Why?" he demanded "You've got more money than Arctus for Oum's sake!"

"Didn't your mum give you ten thousand Lien for your eighteenth birthday?" the Bear Faunus added

"Yeah but I wanna save that and use it for a deposit on somewhere for us to live when we graduate" Eagle explained, her usual hyperactive enthusiasm showing as she added "Besides, I'm gonna do some work to whatever I buy; I can't let Felix have the only cool Grimm hunting car. Why buy something expensive just to saw it apart?"

"Makes sense" Diamond admitted

"I expected so much better" Felix sighed as he shook his head, clearly still joking until a more serious thought occurred to him "Wait, you're seriously thinking of buying us somewhere to live when we graduate?"

"Eagle no" Arctus almost winced "Don't spend all your money like that, we'll all contribute….hell if you'd said so I would've-"

"I want to do it" Eagle shrugged, voice wavering a little "I never had friends before I came to Halo Academy and now I've got so many….I just-I don't want it to end, I'm not ready for us all to split up and go do our own thing" seeing that Eagle was suddenly close to tears her team-mates collectively reached over the table, leaned closer or simply got up and walked around the table to envelop her in a group hug

"We're not going anywhere Dude" Diamond promised her

"Seriously what made you think that?" Felix asked, deeply concerned that he had somehow failed as a team leader and a friend

"I don't know" Eagle admitted "But it's just what happens right? I love Hellion and I wanna spend the rest of my life with her, Arctus and Diamond are probably gonna settle down, you're gonna be with Helios and-"

"Eagle, Eagle" Felix managed to get her attention "You're worrying about nothing….I'm sorry, I know I should have had more solid plans for the Team after graduation, I know Corvid had plans for Team CLIR since forever but trust me, we're not gonna split up after graduation. Team FADE are here to stay"

"And who says Team NEON and GORE can't live near or with us?" Diamond asked "I mean our first place after graduation is gonna be cheap anyway, may as well just rent out a few apartments next to each other"

"Or take one of those Atlesian Freelancer bases that they've got on Vytal, seeing as they're not legally supposed to be here; enough space for all of us" Arctus shrugged, becoming aware of the stares he was getting from his friends and suddenly feeling defensive "What?"

"Three teams of bad-ass Hunters operating out of a secret base and funded by the kids of two billionaires….you went full comic book Big Guy" Diamond laughed gently patting his shoulder

"And it was awesome" Felix and Eagle announced in unison, the idea suddenly taking root in their mind and the conversation soon being filled with talk of them and their friends adopting such a lifestyle and relishing in all of its' cartoonish glory.

It was late night, verging on the early hours of the morning when Specialist Kafsi Asteri arrived at Councilman Hei 'Junior' Xiong's manor; being driven to and welcomed inside the property by members of the Black Bear Syndicate that remained loyal to the crime family despite the recent blows that it had suffered.

"I see you were unable to contain yourself Xiong….you do understand that people Torchwick entrusts with important intelligence is an exceptionally finite resource yes?" Kafsi's words came in clipped and irate bursts as she took in the sight that greeted her in the room that Vert, Torchwick's lieutenant had been held.

"Don't take me for an amateur love, I've been cracking heads open since before you were born" Junior chuckled darkly "You don't think I'd have this kind of party until I'd got what we wanted surely? That's just premature" Junior splayed his arms wide and gestured to the sight around him 'This kind of party' apparently referred to the blood spattered across the plastic sheets that covered the walls and floor of the unfurnished room in thick crimson arcs, sheets that had been placed specifically in case such brutality took place; whilst a single gore stained sledgehammer, of the two-handed variety favoured for roadworks rested beside the chair which contained Vert's unrecognisable remains.

"Explain" Kafsi demanded, her respirator giving the command a haunting edge "This was certainly not approved by Commander Slate"

"You're right" Junior shrugged, utterly careless "But to me he's always gonna be White Fang; he's always gonna be Big Gang, Adam Taurus's old buddy who ran the Kennel Mob back in the day….And well, I don't answer to people like that" Kafsi's cybernetic hand whirred as she clenched her knuckles; whilst she had severe disagreements with the way her commanding officer operated, particularly his apparent unwillingness to consider all options when Atlesian lives were at stake, Junior seemed to be playing a dangerous game that brought her close to direct insubordination and compromised her in ways she was deeply uncomfortable with

"Explain" she repeated, privately weighing up just how risky it would be to shoot Junior right there and then and let Torchwick take the blame.

"Gangrel doesn't know he's dead yet" the allegedly retired mobster laughed "Myself and old Gangrel had a little interrogation session and I explained all the scuffs and bruises….and the broken legs and crushed hands away; those Hunters did a real number on him, I had to point out that it was his boy and his nephew's team that did it and I'm pretty sure that son of his has a temper that got in him trouble before….you were involved if I remember rightly"

"And the cigar burn on his face?" Kafsi demanded, quietly impressed at such a simple solution; she highly doubted that Gangrel would expect his son or nephew to remember exactly what injuries they had inflicted on Vert, especially since they had been drunk at the time

"Oh that was even easier, this little bastard handed me an excuse himself" Junior gestured to Vert's body "There are certain words I will not have used in relation to my nieces….Especially Mel, especially now" Kafsi nodded in understanding, Vert had effectively dug his own grave and thrown away the slim chance that he may be allowed to go free after providing them with the information they wanted; she couldn't find it in herself to care about the gangster on a personal level and instead focused on the professional

"Did Vert at least divulge any useful information before you killed him?"

"He did indeed" Junior nodded "I know where some more of the drug dens are, more places where Torchwick is getting his money laundered, the safe-houses that they're keeping guns and their supply of Booster-"

"What about my target?" Kafsi demanded

"You'd be better off hoping to catch him on a drop off" Junior sighed shoulders sagging as he spoke "I've got an idea of where he's hiding and it's not gonna be easy….A lot of his people there and collateral damage is gonna be a given"

"Your former nightclub" Kafsi stated bluntly, realising what Junior was implying

"The Bunker under it" he corrected "It's withstood fire-bombings and the fall of Vale and if you think Torchwick and his new business partner have got a heavy hitter it's gonna be near impossible, especially if they're all on Booster"

"I see" Kafsi nodded, disappointed though frankly she had expected nothing less; Doctor Ozymandias Eldritch had hidden in plain sight for years with impunity and was continuing to do so

"I will consult my colleagues and discuss a strategy that is less likely to lead to civilian casualties. I've recently been brought into contact with some potential contacts who could be of some use"

"Please do, I want that club back and a bloodbath tends to be bad for business" Junior drawled before pointing at Vert's remains; the young man having been bludgeoned so thoroughly with the sledgehammer that the inside of his fragmented skull and several pieces of shattered ribs were visible in the fleshy mulch that his body had been reduced to "Don't suppose you've got any nifty Atlesian toys to help clear that up?"

"As it happens" Kafsi drew Aegis Thunder and fired, the forcefield expanding out of the compact generator that it fired as a shell and promptly reducing Vert's body to a fine pink mist before degrading it further into an incoherent collection of atoms. Junior whose face was now soaked in viscera stood in open mouthed shock before exclaiming with childlike wonder

"THAT WAS FUCKING DIABOLICAL!"

Qrow sat in front of the various screens of the Atlesian supercomputer which formed the centrepiece of his basement lair, his back stiff, dark rings under his eyes and a steaming cup of coffee gifted to him by Bartholomew Oobleck in his hand whilst he took in the information before him. Ever since Corvid's offhanded comment about the settlement of Arcadia being seemingly unable to attract Hunters to bolster their defences despite the considerable payment and impressive level of job security that would come with such an assignment, to say nothing of the advantages of living somewhere such as the prospering settlement Qrow had been searching for answers and attempting to form a coherent hypothesis from the information he had gleaned.

Something was amiss, that much was beyond question; several Hunters had died in car crashes on the route to Arcadia within the last few months in addition to several whose bodies had been found suffering injuries that were consistent with being overwhelmed by the creatures of Grimm, several more had simply vanished without a trace though many among that category could be considered either flighty thrill seekers or simply unreliable and feckless individuals who fell short of what a Hunter was intended to be. Qrow noted that in their own right neither of these occurrences were especially worthy of note or question; the roads between the capital and the outer settlement were downright treacherous in some places, Grimm activity had been increasing year after year with the Breach two years ago producing an even larger upswing in the monsters' activity and leading to the inevitable but tragic loss of Hunters and as much as Qrow was loathe to admit it there would always be imbeciles who simply failed to deliver on their promises amongst the Hunter community.

However when viewed together this apparent accidents and anomalies pointed to a clear conspiracy and whilst the veteran Hunter was almost certain that it was the treasonous scientist who had bastardised the powers of the Wizard in a display that Qrow saw as a desecration of the memory of both Ozpin and Oscar Pine who was behind it all, just as he was certain that Ozymandias Eldritch was using Project Legacy to eliminate Hunters to weaken Arcadia specifically he still felt as though he was missing something.

"Gang's right" he grumbled before taking a sip of the obscenely strong coffee "We're being played and we can't even see it" Arcadia was notable for its' Dust reserves but the answer seemed far too obvious, nor did it fit; neither Ozymandias not the criminals he had allied himself with were in such desperate need of resources, indeed with Melanie Malachite removed from the picture such a brazen series of attacks would be counterproductive. Qrow closed the autopsy and crime scene reports he was analysing and leaned back in chair, attempting to give himself mental distance from which he could look at his problems with a fresh perspective.

Then he saw the map of the continent of Vytal on his Screen.

The Jagged Mountains were to the far North of the continent, with nothing but wasteland and the sea beyond them; Arcadia was north of New Vale's capital and as he recalled fondly bragging about Corvid's brilliance to Oobleck during their last conversation several quotes from his great-nieces' thesis on Grimm mass migration surfaced in his mind and Qrow realised things suddenly made a terrifying amount of sense. His fingers frantically danced across the keyboard as he first plotted a route from the location where Artemis Tan had reported facing the Grimm that called itself Pantheon to the location that Glynda had mentioned had required local defence forces to implement an air-strike; several curses escaped the old man as he then entered the locations of all recent Grimm attacks in the area between the swamplands and Arcadia. The locations were spread over a large area, the thin scattering of markers adorning Qrow's map forming an almost elliptical shape as they fanned out from the vicinity of the swamps only to begin to reconvene in what anyone looking at the information would consider as concerted effort to attack a single target.

Arcadia; the fastest route into the Capital of New Vale itself.

Qrow leapt from his seat and hurriedly searched for his Scroll, heart hammering in his chest to an extent that would have made him concerned for his health were it not for his more pressing concerns, within moment he was dialling and preying to any force that would listen that Glynda answered

"Qrow" her sleepy, yet still stern voice grumbled "It's-"

"We have a code red...Oum's sake no, this is code black!" Qrow barked, the sheer terror in his voice enough to render Goodwitch awake and alert; during his service to Ozpin and time as a member of Team STRQ Qrow Branwen had seen and done things that were best left unsaid; fear did not come cheaply to the man and when he was afraid he was to be heeded

"What's going on?"

"Get the Council together, declare a state of emergency and force the issue. Glynda I need you to pull every string you can and get airships to Arcadia now! They need Hunters on the ground, as many as we can spare; graduates only, combat experience-"

"Qrow what on Remnant is-"

"ARCADIA GLYNDA!" Qrow roared "That's Ozymandias's play. Arcadia's defences have been weakened and there is a sentient Grimm leading a horde to its' gates right now. We need to evacuate Arcadia!"

"Oh my Oum" Goodwitch breathed as the severity of the situation washed over her in a wave of dread "All those people, it's going to be like Mountain Glenn….it's going to be a massacre"

The night air was freezing, but more so it was still; as if the very wind itself was waiting with bated breath for what was to come. Only a scant few miles from the perimeter or Arcadia and just beyond the range of their early warning systems countless streams of living darkness had converged; pouring forth from a dozen directions and swooping down from the night sky in droves until an obsidian mass blanketed the land, the light from the eyes of the creatures of Grimm casting everything in a fiery yet faint crimson glow which only served to highlight the claws, fangs and jagged armour of the monstrous beasts; creating a harrowing picture what would haunt the nightmares of any who saw it.

To Pantheon the assembled ranks of Grimm were a thing of beauty.

"It's time" the sentient abomination growled, rising from their perched position atop the back of the largest of the Goliaths whose spawning they had overseen; a gargantuan creature that would easily be capable of rampaging through a home or fortification without breaking stride. As Pantheon rose and unfurled their wings they felt, through the connections formed within the Hive Mind the collective bloodlust and hunger of tens of thousands of monsters as they all turned their attention towards their leader with a singular purpose; the living trident named Flesh-seeker physically trembled and shuddered within Pantheon's grasp as the muscles contained within its' bony form coiled in anticipation of a killing blow.

"Be ready" Pantheon ordered, the command being given in conjunction with a wave of intent washing over the Grimm and boring their masters' intentions into their collective psyche. The Grimm gathered themselves into formations as their entire being was reduced to fulfilling the purpose that had been given to them.

The Goliaths would form the spearhead of the attack, their massive forms drawing fire from Arcadia's defences in a desperate attempt to prevent their walls from being breached; in truth the mammoth Grimm were nothing but a distraction and any Grimm capable of climbing or scuttling along the surface of the walls would seek to decimate the defenders and their weapons whilst the airborne Grimm provided the true threat. The smaller Grimm that made up the bulk of Pantheon's forced were gifted a simple role, that of flooding into any cracks in their preys' defences and devouring anything that attempted to halt them.

Pantheon leapt from the back of the Goliath, a powerful flap of their vast wings carrying them overhead as they surveyed everything beneath them in some horrific parody of the divine before pointing their living trident in the direction of Arcadia

"Attack!"

Authors Notes:

Okay, so it's another short one, I honestly wasn't gonna upload this week because work is draining my willpower but here we are.
I've got the next few chapters planned out and trust me when I say….Oh dear.
Seriously, you are gonna hate me so much with how I end the next one.

But anyway, let's summarise:
Pulling up outside schools, really Fluffy….why not just get a van with "Free puppies and sweets" painted on the side.
Trying to figure out how things work inside the confines of a Hive city is always interesting.
Felix you need to stop cutting class kid.
Redwood definitely doesn't let Astra go to humans houses.
Nyanza has merch now, signed merch.
And things were going so well until Redwood punched the car.
As much as it sucks to admit it, Redwood is not really the bad guy in this situation.
Ah that totally spaced out, post-fuck cuddling….I miss that.
Athena-Jade is nine years old and wants to be a Hunter. Astra is nine years old and wants to be a Hunter….Epilogue anyone?
I had to give people some more AJ and Coral, you all seem to love them so much.
Merc is a chill parent but can be terrifying when he wants to be.
"You should both probably put pants on first" - Play the Seinfeld theme.
So we've found where Kafsi is hiding, she has a little base of operations set up in an old watch tower along the coastline, which is still pretty close to the main city.
Kafsi is a professional...but she still hasn't forgotten the Shadow Cadre and considering that it was Onyx specifically who took her arm and ruined her lung, it's probably for the best that he wasn't there.
So, Kafsi just recruited Team GORE into her little operation; which means they'll meet Artemis again….Also, I wrote the ending to that scene a few times I was honestly unsure of whether or not I'd have Kafsi plan to back stab them, overall I think her loyalty to Atlas is what drives her more than revenge.
Sometimes all you need for thing to look better is your friends to take the piss out of you for a while.
How does everyone feel about Eagle having a Beetle in Fourth Year?
Eagle loves them all so much.
Okay so who likes the idea of FADE, NEON and GORE having the Remnant equivalent of the Avengers tower?….It's not exactly what I've got in mind but still.
Okay, so a lot of Junior in this scene was inspired by Karl Urban's performance as Butcher in 'The Boys'; I would love to see him play Junior in a live action adaption (Also, hence the "That was fucking Diabolical line"….from the scene with the baby)
Come on, did you really think Junior was gonna let Vert live or answer to Gangrel
Also, Torchwick's lieutenants have a nasty habit of dying off-screen.
Junior played that pretty damn well, basically telling Gangrel "Pull me up on this and I'll have your son arrested"
Everyone, Team GORE included knew that Rhodey made the club his base of operations, they didn't know that Oz was manufacturing drugs there and sending them out to safe-houses as opposed to continuing to work out of warehouses.
Seriously, the extent of the beating that Vert got wasn't even that far out of what happens in gangs….I've heard of people being held down and killed in a bath by half a dozen guys with machetes, just because it was easy to wash away the blood.
Boom, Qrow has figured it out.
And of course we're leaving it on a cliffhanger like that

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander, DizzyDwarf and Ferrous for their reviews on the last chapter.
The words "I'm not racist but" have never been followed by anything other than racism.
No, no, no, no a house points system does nothing but add an extra layer to social food chains and high-school lever fuckery.
Well, I suppose it's a good thing that they got the clubbing in when they did; they're not gonna get another chance now.
Well it took….this long.
What if I told you Nickel isn't going to directly engage Team CLIR?
I love making Pantheon unsettling.
Well Qrow already knows that Nickel exists; Nickel is Project Legacy, Qrow and his cabal just don't call her Nickel because a) They've never met her and b) they probably don't want to consider her as a person.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.