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I am making no money from this.

Chapter 119: Precipice

The artificial daylight of the Hive Towers filtering through a slight crack in the curtains was enough to drag Rhodium from his sleep despite his reluctance and he was immediately confronted by waves of dull throbbing and nauseating pain pounding against the inside of his skull from the various blows to the head and face he had received, not least of which was the punch thrown at the speed of sound which had knocked him unconscious in the first place; though it seemed his Aura had recovered enough to close the stab wounds he'd received in the altercation that had brought him here.

"Wake up ass-hole!" a familiar voice barked and the curtains were ripped open unceremoniously, the sudden influx of light being blinding and disorienting for the still groggy Rhodium who covered his eyes while grumbling incoherently and rolling over, only to fall to the ground and reveal to himself that he had in fact slept on a sofa.

"Where am I?" he eventually managed to slur out as he pulled himself into a sitting position on the floor; he appeared to be in the living room of a small house somewhere in the capital city which whilst furnished, was done so cheaply and the majority of the room seemed to be covered in a layer of dust which suggested that the place rarely occupied; there was also a distinct lack of any personal effects such as photographs on the walls or mantle to give him any clues. The only real source of information was his current companion, whose icy blue eyes were filled with disdain as he took in the sight of Torchwick

"My safe house" Rover answered "Did you think I'd bring you to my actual place?….Get your ass up, I only make breakfast in bed for my wife….which by the way I could be doing right now but instead I'm dealing with your shit"

"Go fuck-" whatever else Rhodium wished to say was cut off as Rover crossed the room, imperceptibly fast to deliver a backhanded slap to the mobsters' face whose impact rang out through the empty room.

"Let's make things very clear, just so we know where we stand with each other" the Husky Faunus's voice was calm which only added to the menace he managed to convey "We came to you and made you a reasonable deal, that deal did not include us breaking up your fights with Hunters when you decide to cause a scene in the middle of the-"

"Hey I was-" another slap

"I'm not done talking" Rover growled "We've been reasonable, but now it's time we start seeing some results. If you're actually willing to work with us then you better give us something to work with, or we can leave you to Officer Bordeaux. Crunch time Rhodey" the gangster gave serious consideration to simply throwing a punch in response to Rover's demands and attitude but he was forced to abandon the idea and accept that he was simply not the one in charge here. He remained silent for a while longer mentally weighing up and dismissing various potential courses of action, all whilst trying to ignore the ever more insistent pain in his head; it was a momentary pause in his scheming to curse Felix Xiao Long that inadvertently made Rhodium's eyes widen as a stroke of genius occurred to him and he quickly began forming the faint notion into a workable plan.

"Okay I'm thinking-"

"Perish the thought"

"Man fuck you!" Torchwick spat "Listen I need you to work with me here, I'm gonna need you to clear out everything in like a city block radius of what used to be phage pharmaceuticals, the old plant outside of the towers-"

"That's where Ozymandias has been working?" Rover asked only to be greeted with an irritable sneer from Torchwick

"You want my help or not? Don't interrupt me when I'm working" he sighed and took a moment to recapture his train of thought "So here's what I'm thinking, I've been having Oz keep on making Booster for me; don't worry I'm not even selling it any more….I've barely got enough people left but it keeps him busy, while he's working for me he's not doing anything else" Rover looked as though he might dispute that claim but ultimately remained silent

"So here's the plan, I've already got people listening into whatever he's doing and my guys pick up packs from there so it won't raise any questions if I have a guy sneak in and start rigging bombs to the crates full of Booster-"

"And where the hell are you gonna get bombs on short notice?" Rover demanded

"Already got 'em" Torchwick gave him a wicked grin that flashed the white gold teeth he wore to replace the ones that he'd lost. "I've been at war, had a few left over….So that's what I'm thinking; we clear out any factories and warehouses around there that are actually still in business, tell 'em it's an infrastructure thing or whatever and when it's clear I'm gonna blow up the booster with Oz and Nickel still inside. It's gotta take out at least one of 'em right?" Rover took a slow breath and gave him self a moment to acclimatise himself to the ideas that were being discussed; it seemed somehow worse than knowing that Gangrel had been a member of the White Fang when Team GRAP were students and that the Bear Faunus routinely left the dorm with his partner, the late Perdu 'Squish' Callows to commit crimes. Eventually he nodded in agreement

"It could work, from what I've been told Oz is dangerous but Nickel….she's good at taking out Hunters but she won't survive that blast. But are you really willing to do it though, blow up all your supplies?"

"Looks like I'm retiring anyway, call it my leaving party" Torchwick chuckled and shrugged before explaining further "You can thank your nephew and his fucking friends for this, I just remembered the first time I met 'em; they showed up and wrecked my shit, you turned up and then that fucking Narc Bordeaux…."

"I remember" Rover admitted "You blew your warehouse up to escape, it was the first time we met"

"Exactly" Torchwick grinned "May as well end how we started….Poetic irony or whatever" Rover was moderately surprised that the gangster had any grasp of such concepts but there were other matters of far more importance at stake

"So how fast can you have your side of this plan ready?"

"Give me a few days to get everything lined up" the answer stunned Rover, the Faunus had been expecting Torchwick to stall him for at least a matter of weeks; it seemed that he was serious about abandoning his life of crime in New Vale. Torchwick yawned, stretched and made to leave offering one last comment of his shoulder

"Now if you don't mind I'm gonna go home and get changed….I've got holes and bloodstains on these clothes from where that bitch with bug wings stabbed me. If I'm gonna be the hero for once I wanna look the part"

It had been several days since the altercation with Torchwick and life had returned to normal for Team FADE and their friends after the relatively minimal fallout from the event; the fact that Torchwick was not only a violent criminal wanted in connection with hundreds of crimes but had also escaped prison and had convinced at least one Hunter to betray their oaths to the Kingdom had greatly mitigated any potential punishment they might have faced; indeed Professor Goodwitch had quietly mentioned to Felix that the only flaw she could find in his actions was that he had reacted immediately rather than drawing Torchwick away from the train station before engaging him.

Felix had been forced to abandon his lessons for the day on short notice and had asked his team-mates to take notes for him whilst personally explaining the reason to his teachers before departing after lunch. He had received the message that had brought him to his current location, the New Vale branch of Poly-Tech standing alongside Doctor Acacia and staring at his new Cybernetic tail with a mesmerised gaze

"Once we had the materials finalised it was a relatively simple matter of finalising the product" the doctor noted "This is a one of a kind item specifically designed for your body and abilities which Doctor Antonia Arc has paid for entirely as well as contributed to the inner workings of"

"I'll have to get Eagle to pass a thank you along" Felix nodded absently, he had several issues with Antonia Arc which mostly pertained to the secrets she had kept and the harm it had done to Eagle but there was no sense in being rude, moreover the Lion Faunus was still too distracted by the sight of the cybernetic limb. It was long enough to bring the stump of Felix's tail back to its' original length and seemed to be a fraction wider although this was truthfully so that it didn't seem emaciated or overly skeletal when attached due to it lacking the golden fur that Felix's Faunus attribute sported. It's design appeared to have been based on an x-ray of the limb it was intended to replace, comprised of individual segments joined together by a series of conductive black spheres which would give the tail its' full range of movement; the upper surface of the tail was the typical pristine white whilst its' lower edges and much of the sides were a smokey and translucent black with a band of chrome detailing separating the two halves. The black sections of the tail could be removed to allow easy access to its' inner workings which Felix noticed included an Aura regulator at the base which appeared to be a compacted version of the one surgically grafted to Rover Tan's chest, whilst each individual section of the tail housed what appeared to be a small turbine with shards of Fire Dust crystals inserted into their workings; this being part of the special feature that had been discussed.

"If I paint it will the paint just burn off?" Felix asked with a serious tone "It just stands out a little too much"

"We can order some paints specifically for that purpose if you let us know what colour you want" Doctor Acacia assured him "Once the paints' dry it'll be no different to your clothes or weapons, your Aura will channel through your body and tail without damaging them"

"Great" the Lion Faunus grinned for a moment before the expression flickered "This is gonna hurt isn't it?"

"Unfortunately so I'm afraid" the doctor nodded with an apologetic expression "I notice that you've come alone today" whilst not phrased as a question Felix understood it as one

"Corey is probably busy and Helios has got class" he shrugged "It'll be fine, if I'm tough enough to get my tail cut off I'm tough enough to get it put back on….besides, I wanna surprise 'em with it"

"Well if you're certain, we can proceed whenever you're ready" Doctor Acacia said simply, whatever opinions he had being kept firmly to himself

"Yeah, let's do this and get it over with" Felix breathed out, his nerves suddenly becoming far more difficult to mask as he sat on operating table that took up much of the room they were in and faced away from the doctor to allow him better access to his tail. Within moments Felix felt the cybernetic limb being slipped over his stump, its' edge reaching a few inches past the nerve cap that was already fitted and the two components locking together with metallic clack and a hiss of air; Felix felt the dead weight of the still lifeless tail weighing him down a little uncomfortably as the doctor made a few final checks and adjustments before finally placing a hand on Felix's shoulder and warning him

"I'm going to activate the tail now, once again I'm sorry for your discomfort" Felix nodded silently and grit his teeth in preparation. It was nowhere near enough, waves of white hot burning agony cleaved a path from the tip of his tail, along his spine and to the base of his skull as new neural connections was forced to form and it felt as though some terrible burrowing insect were tunnelling through his nerves and leaving a trail of raw, smarting pain in their wake. His body convulsed and he collapsed from the table onto his hands and knees, taking deep breaths and willing himself not to vomit at the sensations before after mere moments that felt like an eternity they ceased as suddenly as they had begun and left Felix trembling on the floor with a sheen of sweat coating him.

"Are you-"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good" the Faunus managed to gasp out as he dragged himself to his feet on shaky legs and took a moment to give the tail a few experimental swishes upon realising that he could actually feel it, both the mass and heft of the thing as well as its' exterior surface and oddly enough some of its' inner workings.

"How does it feel?" Doctor Acacia asked

"Like my old tail" Felix beamed whilst swallowing a sudden lump in his throat, overcome with emotion and utterly ecstatic at the realisation as he looked over his shoulder to admire the limb "I thought I'd have to compensate for the weight but….It's perfect, thank you so much"

"You're more than welcome" the doctor smiled "Now obviously this limb is expected to work without issue, but considering its' experimental nature would you be adverse to contacting us after you've put it through its' paces, after your next mission for example so that we can measure some results?"

"Not at all" Felix answered "It's the least I could do"

"Well then in that case thank you for your assistance Mister Xiao Long and I hope that your new tail is everything you need it to be" Felix nodded once again and turned to leave, making his way out of the building with a spring in his step that he realised upon experiencing it had been absent from him for almost a year.

"This bullshit is dead-ass cancelled" the declaration escaped Nickel's clenched teeth as she gave chase to her quarry through the lowest reaches of New Vale's capital.

Following her failure to apprehend or execute the Silver Eyed girl she had discovered Ozymandias had been furious, even more so upon realising that the teen was obviously connected to Ruby Rose in some way; most like that she was being trained by the legendary Huntress. Indeed Ozymandias's rage had caused the wizard to unwittingly tap into his unnatural powers as he ranted and had caused his body to begin to unmake itself under the forces it was being subjected to; the mad scientist had struggled to impress upon Nickel once again just how important completing their mission was and that their time was limited, his body was dying and the powers of the Wizard could only sustain it for so much longer.

Which was why Nickel had been sent out into the city, yet again in search of the remaining half of Flesh-Seeker, the remains of the living trident Pantheon had wielded presumably still lurking around the city somewhere. In a moment of inspiration the android reasoned that being a creature of Grimm, albeit an unconventional one Flesh-Seeker must sustain itself with residual negativity, pain and fear and since she had been unable to locate her target anywhere within the bleakest and most crime ridden parts of the city itself perhaps she would do well to search the place where the thing had forced its' way into the city. Not the rebuilt section of the perimeter wall where Pantheon's Grimm had breached New Vale's defences, Nickel had searched there weeks ago and achieved nothing, instead she had found out where the wreckage and debris from the breaches had been taken in the hopes that the creature was feeding on any lingering negative energy.

Which had brought her to her current location and predicament

Upon sneaking into a large scrapyard located on the outskirts of the city but still within its' walls she had skulked around the periphery, slipping between the piles of crushed vehicles and mountains of rubble, rebar and scrap metal whilst emptying a small cannister of the pheromone 'Tremor-Somnium' a few drops at a time in an attempt to lure Flesh-Seeker out of hiding.

Eventually she had succeeded, the thing bursting out of cover and using the three prongs of its' trident form to rip through the twisted mass of steel it was lurking beneath and sniffing the air before letting out a shrill and vibrating shriek at the sight of Nickel and scuttling away at great speed, leading Nickel on a grand chase through the scrapyard, cursing and swearing as she went whilst trying not to topple any of the mountains of scrap and expose herself to the few staff that were currently at work.

"Oh you son of a…." Nickel trailed off as Flesh-Seeker dove beneath a ruined bus that had been torn apart by Grimm in the breaches and was far too large and heavy to be placed on any of the neighbouring scrapheaps. Pausing the copper haired android folded her arms across her chest and considered her next move whilst muttering to herself about the wild goose chase she was being sent on.

"Got it" she grinned evilly to herself as she retraced her steps and made her way back to the nearest mass of pieces of ruined buildings, ripping a trio of rebar lengths of roughly equal size free of the pile and taking them back to bus that Flesh-Seeker was hiding beneath. Stalking around the edge of the vehicle she firmly kicked its' twisted chassis and watched as her quarry scuttled out from under it, Nickel quickly gave chase and used on of the lengths of rebar as a bat with which to knock the Grimm into a heap of wreckage with a dull thud.

She was on top of the thing in an instant, kicking it onto its' back so that it couldn't flee and grappling with it as it made to stab and tear at her face with its' jagged prongs; after several moments of struggling Nickel's unnatural strength won out and she managed to bend the first length of rebar around the Grimm's flailing and pincer-like prongs and hold them in place before dragging it towards where she had deposited the other two lengths and wrapping a second piece of metal around the prongs to ensure they remained trapped then finally wrapping the final length of rebar around Flesh-Seeker's segmented midsection in order to limit its' writing and flailing.

"Got ya" Nickel cooed with a smug grin as she took in the sight of the trapped monster, tearing a door from a nearby car and wrapping that around it as well before casting her eyes around in search of a duffel bag or rucksack large enough to throw her prize in; finding none she sank down onto the ground and took a moment to gather herself, fondly patting the cocoon like mass of twisted steel that Flesh-Seeker was now encased

"You're a piece of shit, y'know that buddy….and I'm gonna call you spot" she mused "All that time and effort and you're here in a scrapyard; hell the fuck-boy probably owns this place, since they're not selling Booster I should have just sent some of his goons to come and….wait" Nickel trailed off as something occurred to her, Torchwick's thugs were currently unable to sell drugs effectively or many cases at all due to the ongoing hostility of the police; which begged the question of why exactly Rhodium was urging Ozymandias to continue and over the last few days even accelerate his production, they already controlled the market and had no need to flood it. The android frowned and considered the information until she realised that Torchwick's orders served as both busywork to keep Ozymandias occupied and a justification for his thugs to be around the treasonous scientists' work on a regular basis.

She had to get to Ozymandias.

It was great to be able to fly again.

Corvid had spent the last few weeks on her island home of Patch after leaving Halo Academy, having been keeping herself busy and hadn't found time to visit the mainland, although she would have been unable to spend any time with the rest of Team CLIR regardless due to Iris having taken a trip to Menagerie to visit her father who lived on the island which would also allow her to meet with the company Team CLIR's first official mission after graduation was being funded by and Lux's considerably wealthy parents having paid for their son and his new fiancée whom they had already considered part of the family to take a short break out of the city. Instead Corvid had been keeping herself occupied by spending as much time with both of her mothers as possible, working cash in hand jobs that didn't require to have a valid Hunter's license which she had obtained through the various well connected people her parents knew on the island, including Sun Wukong, long time family friends of Yang and Tai's and many dock workers and small business owners whom Blake had helped in some form. The lien she made from these jobs had been promptly invested into the Bull-Head which all of Team CLIR had contributed to buying, it was a battered and ugly thing but to the soon to be graduates it was their pride and joy on the basis that it was theirs and Rusty's suggestion for a name had been the most popular, their new transport being dubbed 'Old Unreliable'

She had also managed to finalise the repairs on the Omega Wing which she had used to carry herself across the sea from Patch to the mainland with the wind whipping around her until finally the suburbs that her Aunt Ruby and Penny and Great Uncle Qrow called home came into view, looking small and insignificant below her. The latter was whom she had come to see and she swooped downwards and breakneck speeds and with a giggle of pure joy at the familiar sensation escaping her. As the ground rushed up to meet her Corvid disengaged the Omega Wing, her battle-suit unfurling itself as it peeled away from her body before collapsing back into its' aerial drone form whilst Corvid merely activated her Semblance and allowed herself to plummet several dozen feet to the ground where she landed in a crouch with the force of the impact being dispersed harmlessly outwards

"So cool!" the exclamation came from from a group of children who were seemingly making their way home from school and Corvid couldn't help but affect a cocky swagger as she made her way towards Qrow's door with the Omega Wing hovering behind her, knocking on its' surface and waiting for an answer until she heard her great uncle shuffling towards the other side of the door and opening it

"Hey"

"Hey" the grizzled Hunter replied with a quizzically raised eyebrow "What's up?"

"Nothing" Corvid shrugged "Just putting the Omega Wing through its' paces while I've got some free time and thought I'd drop in and see how my favourite Great Uncle is doing….besides Patch gets boring after being in the city for so long" Qrow's expression softened, he knew that Corvid had asked the other younger members of their extended family to visit him and ensure that he didn't relapse into any of his former vices and rather than be offended by the gesture as he might have once been he was touched by the sentiment

"Come on in Corey, it's great to see you" Corvid followed Qrow into the house, noting that seemed as empty and sterile as it always had; whilst in was furnished and carpeted it may as well have been a laboratory for the lack of personal touches it had, knowing the truth about his lifestyle Corvid realised that Qrow truthfully considered his basement lair his home and the rest of the house a mere display.

It was a depressing thought

"How've you been?" she asked, pausing for a moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind and adding "Has Aunt Ruby spoken to you since Syneffo went missing?"

"She hasn't visited but she doesn't ignore me in the street when she sees me any more" Qrow answered, hiding the pain behind his usual gruffness "She mentioned that she's going into city to deal with some paperwork before she moves to Menagerie"

"That's something right?"

"It's something" Qrow nodded with some genuine happiness in his voice "It's just a shame that Nickel, or whatever she's calling herself is still out there"

"Wish I'd the Omega Wing, I would've been able to cut her off and-"

"And you'd have gotten yourself hurt" Qrow countered "Even if you hadn't been drunk at the time, you're good Corey one of the best of your generation but Nickel….she's something else, she was made to be something else"

"Hey come on I wasn't that drunk, I mean-" Corvid's hasty defensive grumblings were interrupted by Qrow holding his hands out as if to say he meant nothing by the comment

"I'm not criticising, I was a student once I know what final exams are like….you'd just been put through a wringer and wanted to enjoy yourself and I can't thank you enough for helping"

"Anytime"

"Just don't repeat my mistakes….and I'm not just talking about the drink" Qrow offered the advice with a knowing glance before adding "Last time Eagle visited your name came up in passing, apparently one of her girlfriends'-"

"Oum damn it" Corvid hissed through clenched teeth.

"Got it that bad huh?" were the question coming from anyone else Corvid might have reacted with misdirections or hostility, however coming from Qrow the question was enough to make her visibly sag and silently nod her head before admitting

"Yeah, yeah I got it bad" she slouched down on the sofa and massaged her temples "I just don't know if I can commit to anything right now and I don't want to make promises and then hurt as both and….why is this so complicated"

"Because people make it complicated" Qrow chuckled as he took a seat "Corey, not to wallow in self pity but I have loved and lost my fair share and then some….you will almost always do more damage by trying not to hurt people when you know deep down that neither of you are happy. You'll always be thinking about what ifs and we both know that you're not the kind of person who deals in maybes and half assed jobs"

"Any other ancient wisdom you'd like to impart?" Corvid snorted, trying to mask the fact that Qrow's advice had touched a particularly raw nerve and shaken her already tenuous resolve

"Yeah, don't bother Eagle about slipping up and telling me your business" he laughed, remaining silent for a moment before changing the subject "You managed to get a job out in Menagerie right?"

"Providing Team CLIR passed the exams yeah"

"Oh please, I'm sure you've passed those exams with flying colours" Qrow laughed her concerns aside and the confidence he had in her boosted Corvid's own spirits "I already have a few people on the island and there are some cameras there….you wanna use the basement setup and get a look at the place? I know the mission isn't for over a month but it never hurts to be prepared"

"That sounds great" Corvid beamed as she rose to her feet, the idea of planning in advance for her first mission and the knowledge that her teams' transport was based in behind her home somehow made the future feel all the more real and it gave her a rush of adrenaline that made her feel as though she could do anything.

Once lessons had concluded for the day Felix had met with Arctus and Diamond, having to take a train through New Vale Central in order to do so although thankfully the journey went without incident and there seemed to have been no lasting damage caused by Team FADE's confrontation with Torchwick mere days previously. Arctus and Diamond had first mentioned that Eagle had her own business to attend to but that she would hopefully be able to join them soon; from there the conversation had naturally turned to the subject of Felix's cybernetic tail which Arctus noted looked to be of a comparable quality as his fathers' prosthetic arm. The two of them had also given Felix a rough overview and some key points of each of the lessons that he'd been absent for as the three of them made their way towards their current destination.

The usual park in which Felix trained, hung out with and generally got to know his little brother; who was currently being taught proper blocking technique by Arctus who whilst not quite as proficient as Felix was certainly a capable boxer and kick-boxer, having been taught by Gangrel Slate.

"You're doing great Astra!" Felix encouraged as the deer Faunus raised his hand to cover his ear and extended his elbow outwards so that Arctus's carefully measured punch collided against it in a way that would have been painful for a more serious attacker; Felix gave Diamond a knowing smirk and a wink "So, how much internal squealing is going on right now?"

"Fuck off dude" Diamond snorted before grinning and adding "Okay it's a lot of squealing" Astra had at first been a little wary of the idea of training with Arctus, the Bear Faunus being the member of Team FADE he had spent the least amount of time with and undeniably an imposing sight although fortunately Arctus's ability to win over children seemed to be universal and undeniable and after only a few minutes the two had fallen into an easy routine. After a few more well blocked blows Astra turned to Felix and asked

"How come you're not training with me today?" the bespectacled Deer Faunus's tone made it clear that he would much rather be training with his brother

"I'm kinda sore everywhere" Felix admitted as he gestured to his tail "School has been rough and getting this fitted hurt"

"It looks so cool though" Astra mouthed out, eyes wide with rapt enthusiasm

"Did you not notice it before?" Felix couldn't help but laugh at the boys' sudden change in tone

"Yeah….but Mum says I shouldn't point out people having robot parts and stuff, it's not polite"

"I mean she is right" Felix laughed "But it's fine with me" Diamond used this as an opening to chime in and give Felix a wicked grin

"I've got an idea though, me and my Mum always buy my Dad the most awful socks we can find for his cybernetic legs….so what should we put on Felix's tail, I'm thinking a fluffy bobble?"

"I think I'm gonna hide your guitar" Felix retorted much to Astra's amusement and Diamond's faux horror although whatever witty reply or promise of endless retribution she intended to give was lost beneath the sound of an engine, a throaty roar that made each of the look towards the sound in surprise

"No way" Arctus muttered "What did she do to it?"

"What didn't she do to it" Felix countered as Eagle clambered out of the Lightning Bug, positively glowing with excitement as she deployed Sentinel and bounded over to her friends exclaiming

"It's finished! It's actually finished and it's so cool!"

"Congrats" Diamond beamed before noting with a sly grin "I thought you would have shown Hellion first"

"She's with Team GORE working on the Nemesis Kharybdis, Carcharodon thinks they can have it ready to dock in a matter of days and their flying instructor let 'em borrow one of the academies' Bull-Heads" Eagle answered in her rapid-fire animated chattering way, the connotations of Diamond's comment going over her head completely in her excited state much to the amusement of her friends, though none of them would comment any further with a child present

"So has it got weapons?" Felix asked curiously, as the leader of Team FADE he needed to know what his team had at their disposal in terms of firepower

"Uh huh" Eagle nodded "Nothing like the Stinger….But I think the Lightning Bug can give the Killer-Bee a run for its' money in terms of coolness" the freckled blonde delivered the assessment with such brazen confidence in her crimson eyes that the air seemed to vanish around them, Eagle and Felix merely staring at one another in silence for a moment whilst Diamond and Arctus waited with baited breath to see if some unspoken line had been crossed

"I'll let you think that if you want" Felix chuckled, patting Eagle's armoured shoulder gently "But no seriously I can't wait to see what you've done with it"

"Then why wait?" Astra chimed in, almost matching Eagle's enthusiasm as he added "Let's go test it!"

"I like the way you think" Felix ruffled his brothers' hair before turning to Eagle "Usual place?"

"Sounds like a plan to me" she beamed "We've gotta go through the city though, you wanna get something to eat on the way?" Felix nodded at the offer, Team FADE had in a sense inherited their usual weapons testing ground outside of Halo Academy from Team CLIR as Corvid had been the one to show them it, the sizeable and empty parking lot of a closed down and derelict retail park that had been a hub of activity before the fall of Vale but had not survived the process of remaking the city, leaving it free for students and on occasion an illegal rave held within one of the many empty buildings.

"There's a Mistrali place on the way" Diamond noted, almost predictably

"I don't wanna be that guy" Arctus began, staring at the Lightning Bugs' compact form with some obvious misgivings "But are we all gonna fit?"

"Of course we are" Eagle pouted "Sentinel's got roof storage, me and Felix in the front and you, Diamond and Astra in the back….Okay yeah you are probably gonna be a little cramped"

"It'll be fine" Felix assured his cousin as he led the way towards the car whose creamy white paint-job had been recently cleaned and shone beneath the lights of the Hive City. Quickly the Lion Faunus withdrew his Scroll and sent a text message to Myrtle to inform her of what was happening, he had managed to restore his relationship with his birth mother and had no intention of damaging it again through sheer carelessness.

The scrawny and acne ridden boy, barely in his teens and amongst the youngest of the street gang that he belonged to had been considered something of a weakling and a runt of the litter by many of his peers and was largely only tolerated by the older, larger and meaner young men because of his ability to sell drugs with seeming impunity, his still childish face having an innocent look to it that deflected the attention of even the most suspicious police officers away. So it had naturally come as a monumental surprise when the teen had been summoned by Rhodium Torchwick himself, the gangster to whom all gangsters' within New Vale answered to and a figure who was rapidly ascending to the level of an urban legend in the wake of his takeover of the city; the boy had followed Torchwick's orders without question and paid no mind to their seemingly unusual nature, reasoning that this must simply be how things were done in the upper echelons of organised crime. First he had spied on the clearly unwell scientist who produced the Booster that the gangs sold and reported his findings to Torchwick directly, telling no one else of his actions. His new orders were something altogether more involved, he had been given a rucksack filled with explosives and shown how to prime them, Torchwick had told him to fit one bomb to each crate of Booster and the raw Eco-Dust that it was made from and then, in the mobsters' own words 'Run like hell' all without being detected by Ozymandias Eldritch or his assistant, the utterly terrifying Nickel Polendina whom even the most hardened of gangsters were unsettled by

"Hey kid, that a science project you're working on?" the boy felt his blood run cold and was sure that his heart had stopped beating there and then

"H-Hey" his voice cracked as he turned and came face to face with Nickel Polendina herself, standing mere inches away from him with her mismatched green eyes boring into his

"What're you doing?" Nickel looked at the crate which an explosive had just been fitted to and a cruel smile formed on her face "Oh that's a self drag buddy" the boy realised that there was no explanation he could possibly give which would save him and instead he simply ran and screamed as loud as he could in the desperate hope that someone would hear him.

Nickel had caught up with him within a dozen steps and kicked the boys' legs out from beneath him only to haul him into the air upside down and held by a single ankle before hurling him through the air, the teens' screams came to an abrupt halt as he struck one of the buildings' support pillars and left a spiderweb of cracks at the point of impact, coated by a deep crimson stain which trickled slowly down to the ground.

"He needs some milk!" Nickel exclaimed to nobody in particular for giving into a fit of unhinged cackling which ended only when she heard shuffling footsteps drawing close which preceded Ozymandias's grandfatherly voice raised in anger

"What on Remnant are you doing?"

"Pest control" Nickel answered simply "The boy's a rat" to illustrate her point she made her way back to where she had found the teen and picked up his rucksack, her own luggage wriggling near by and emptied the remaining explosives out onto the lid of one of the many crates whose contents gave off an ethereal green glow.

"I see" Ozymandias sighed, removing his sinister and avian mask to survey the situation "Then it would seem that Mister Torchwick has decided to conclude our business arrangement….Nickel, it is imperative that-"

"I got ya something!" the android interrupted, her tone that of a child seeking approval and she reached into the duffel bag she'd managed to procure and began peeling the mass of steel away from the restrained but still struggling form of Flesh-Seeker

"Oh you've done well Nickel, you've very well indeed" the old man was beside her in an instant and using the strength granted to him by the powers of the Wizard to rip the lengths of rebar away from the Grimm's body

"Chief, you might wanna be careful with-" Nickel felt silent and was forced to watch on in impotent and motionless terror as Ozymandias simply took Flesh-Seeker by the head and promptly drove the three prongs of the living trident into his own chest. The poisonous green light of his unnatural powers began to manifest itself and drops of blood levitated in the air, the viscous black ichor which intermingled with it and coursed through the treasonous scientists' veins separating from the crimson liquid and rushing towards Flesh-Seeker seemingly of its' own accord and slowly rebuilding the living weapons' broken form, the chitinous and bone coloured shaft of the weapon returning to its' full length whilst the scuttling limbs retracted into its' body and its' segmented form seemed to condense into a solid shape once more. All the while Ozymandias's own body tore itself apart and rebuilt itself as it was ravaged by the corrupted power of the Wizard; flesh tearing at random as it ripped by invisible claws and joints being shattered and twisted in impossible directions whilst all the while his skin blackened and decayed until finally it ended

"I know where they are!" Ozymandias declared, speaking in plethora of distorted voices with a single feminine tone rising above the others; his body began to knit itself together once again although Nickel noted that this time the process seemed incomplete, the mans' flesh was grey with an unsettling blue tinge in places as though he'd been dead for some time. When he spoke again it was in his own voice

"Nickel, is the project you've been working on ready?" Nickel's eyes widened and a smile of pure joy formed on her face as she realised what was happening.

"My new weapon?" she asked "Yeah it's ready, I haven't tested it yet but does that mean-"

"It does" Ozymandias answered tonelessly as he slid his mask back in to place and held the reformed Flesh-Seeker

"Torchwick has forced our hands, we must act now" he said simply "Fortunately he has also left us a gift in the form of these explosives, the Hunters are holding Pantheon within Halo Academy. I can put my own plans into actions but now Nickel, now it's time for you to do what you were always meant for….go to Ruby Rose's home and slaughter every Silver Eyed warrior you encounter"

"Thank you" Nickel sighed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in an excitable jig whilst adding "And I can finally retire that obsolete model while I'm at it"

Within the hidden laboratory and holding unit deep in the bowels of Halo Academies' gravity defying campus the lights flickered and static played across the screens of the countless displays and terminals; immediately an auxiliary power supply brought light to the room and cast a deep blood red glow over everything, working in harmony with the fearful faces of each of the researchers present to give the place a truly frightening atmosphere whilst each of the automated weapons systems trained themselves directly on the tube which held Pantheon

"What the hell is going on?" Donner demanded impatiently, her cybernetic eye whirring as it adjusted to the altered lighting and began to filter out and balance the excess of red, allowing her to see her surroundings as if the room was lit normally. Ever since the attempt to remove a miniscule fraction of the ancient and condensed Grimm tissue had gone so drastically wrong the Atlesian Specialist had become even more hyper-vigilant than she had already become, demanding absolute perfection that bordered on paranoia and fanaticism yet none of the scientists answering to her could truthfully dispute the necessity of such measures.

"Power surge ma'am" one of their number explained, as if to corroborate their story the power came back to life and Donner's eye reverted back to its' original settings as the lighting returned to normal and a collective sigh of relief passed through the scientists

"I want those logs double checked, no discrepancies" the Specialist ordered

"Aye ma'am" one of the scientists replied "We may have lost a second or two during the transition between power supplies"

"Find a way to recover it" Donner ordered before turning to another researcher "And find out what caused that power surge" as the humans scurried around the room, each devoted entirely to their tasks and with the various machines' monitoring Pantheon each in the process of rebooting nobody noticed that despite their comatose state and the length of metal jammed through their skull a shudder trailed down the sentient Grimm's spine and the three pronged claw at the end of their tail twitched.

No body saw the air bubbles rising within the liquid that filled the containment unit, spilling from Pantheon's mouth as they exhaled.

Authors Notes:

Precipice….because that's what we're stood on right now.
Feels like a short chapter but what's coming next makes up for it in spades and you can quote me on that sunshine.
The end of Vol.9, the end of third year and the point I've building towards for two and a half years is upon us and as of Chapter 120 things are gonna get real.
And then Fourth Year and the beginning of the end.
RWBY Vol.7 is here, the hype is real on all counts.

Anyway, let's summarise shall we:
So yeah, Rover didn't take Torchwick to prison because A) he needs him and B) He'd only get out again wouldn't he.
Why do Rover and Artemis have a safe house you ask, in this universe why would they not have a safe house?
"Perish the though" admit it, you chuckled.
If we're being honest Torchwick's plan wasn't a bad one and would even deal with most Hunters, I mean Felix or Arctus might survive that blast but anyone else would get cooked or crushed by rubble….It's just that Rhodey doesn't truly understand the scope of what he's playing with, he only knows Oz is a terrorist and trying to bring New Vale down.
Also yes, Torchwick's plan was actually a callback to Vol.02 in what was supposed to be Rhodium's only appearance; he was never going to be a major or even recurring character but you all seemed to like him and he fit the niche I knew that I needed someone to fill so I made some changes and kept him around/
Yes there's a time skip of several days from one scene to the next, I don't like doing it like that but it was kinda the only way that the last chapter and this one would flow properly.
Come on Torchwick has recruited down and out Hunters and had a guy selling drugs inside her academy which put at least one of her students in hospital and had an entire team expelled; she wants Torchwick's head.
So yeah Felix has his new tail which features an Aura Regulator as part of its' special feature….that totally won't play into the grand finale battle.
Also Felix is a happy boy, maybe his Fourth Year outfit will have some of the colour that was missing from his Third Year one.
Remember, Nickel did have Tremor-Somnium in the Vol.7 finale when she used it to lure out Pantheon.
If you imagined the Benny Hill theme playing when Nickel chased after Flesh-Seeker then good, me too.
Oh she she's a clever little murder-bot.
Okay so the whole Qrow and Corvid scene exists to set up that Corvid is on the mainland, close to Ruby and Penny's house and that the Omega Wing is up and running again.
'Old Unreliable' what else could it be called?
Let's be honest, Qrow's life is depressing as fuck.
Air-Raid shippers, come get your juice.
You can't be Gangrel's kid and not learn to scrap, Arctus just takes more after Weiss and fits into the support role.
Diamond's reaction every time she sees how great Arctus is with kids is great.
And honestly I enjoy writing every scene with Astra.
So the Lightning Bug is finished…..and just in time.
Team GORE are on the periphery but don't worry they missed the last end of Volume showdown, they won't miss this one; they have that Bull-Head for a reason.
Yes Nickel just killed a kid by smashing their head against a concrete pillar….and then quoted a meme straight after.
So….Oz is looking a bit like a zombie at this point, Flesh-Seeker is back to full size, Oz now knows where Pantheon is and just to put the icing on the cake Nickel has been given permission to go and look for Penny, and the weapon she's been working on all volume is ready for a test drive; which is one of the things I've been waiting to show you for literally years (I mean I've had this weapon in my head ever since I first came up with the idea for Nickel as a character).
If you think that power surge was a coincidence I've got some magic beans to sell you.
Oh that big many armed boi is waking up.

Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter:
Oof, Felix and Nyanza would put a couch in Team NEON's dorm just Helios to sleep on after that one.
Yeah they would need more people…..But sci-fi logic, the ship was originally self piloting and mostly robotic that's been converted to manual.
I'm assuming you meant that Arctus could have used (Don't worry, everyone in Atlas has mixed them up at some point as well)
You'll see how right you are next chapter.

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