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Chapter 146: Fracture
The hidden and restricted medical facility was as sterile as ever, it's harsh and glaring lights somehow failing to reach the corners of the room which left dark shadows in the recesses and gave the place a sinister atmosphere that was entirely at odds with its' stated purpose; all whilst a distinctly medicinal scent hung in the air and stung Felix's sensitive nostrils though as he slipped his hand into Helios's and felt the redhead give it a reassuring squeeze he couldn't help but feel a little better.
It had been several days since the revelation that had come from Hellion that Eagle and almost certainly by extension Arctus were alive and well, though still stranded entirely beyond reach and in that time both Felix and Helios had found themselves visiting the still unconscious form of Nyanza Angora on a daily basis, their attention turning to the friend whose fate still seemed less certain; for Helios it was a matter of duty to his partner, the redhead would not allow himself to be distracted from his goal of seeing Team NEON's injured member well again for any amount of time even if their was nothing he could do to help.
For Felix it was a far more therapeutic thing, he and Nyanza had been friends since their pre-teens and it helped to have someone he could simply vent his frustrations and fears to; the Lion Faunus knew that neither Helios or any of his friends would judge him if he voiced those thoughts to them but there was something uniquely calming in the familiar action of grumbling to the bushy tailed feline as if they were still on Patch complaining about something as simple as their latest assignment.
"Soon Nyanza" Helios's murmured "You'll be back amongst us soon" the hand that wasn't currently holding onto Felix's patted the transparent lid of the stasis tube that he had been laid in uncertainly, the armoured warrior being far less confident with the idea of talking to Nyanza's unconscious body than Felix; who saw that it was now his turn to give his boyfriends' hand a reassuring squeeze before speaking up.
"Don't worry about Heely….he's doing his broody bad-ass thing right now" Felix flashed Helios a cocky smirk before reaching up to kiss his cheek "Let's hope they wake you up soon, 'cos if this pile of cards gets any bigger you're gonna be an insufferable little shit once you've seen 'em all" that comment was enough for Helios to crack a weak smile as his acid green eyes darted towards the cards in question; the bedside table that they had been placed on almost lost beneath a sea of tokens from well-wishers.
"Everyone misses you man" Felix's admission hung in the sterile air for several moments and the Lion Faunus took a few seconds to find his next words, deep blue eyes filled with a lost expression as his silence was underlined by the faint mechanical sounds of the automated armatures within the stasis tank performing their endless surgeries to excise the Grimm tissue from Nyanza's body; leaving him with an ever-growing litany of thin scars across his pale flesh.
"Ollie and Ether miss you, they'll probably be here later….they woke up when we did and showered together so me and Heely left" the Lion Faunus snorted and shook his head "Both of my mums send their best, so does Helios's mum….hell everyone's mum likes you; thank Oum you're not conscious 'cos I know you'd have something clever to say to that"
He found himself faltering, fingers drumming nervously against the surface of the stasis tube
"What's wrong?" Helios asked, sensing the sudden shift in his demeanour; the blonde remained silent for a while, taking several seconds to force the words out of himself
"What if he doesn't wake up?" he murmured reluctantly as he looked away "What if he's stuck like this and there's nothing anyone can do to help him?" as if to underline his fears the spindly mechanical limbs within the contraption chose that moment to remove a thin sliver of Grimm tissue from Nyanza's body, the blood being filtered out whilst the writhing mass of darkness which took the shape of the capillaries and veins it had been excised from was frozen solid and transported out of sight and away.
"They've already prepared a new leg for him, I have to believe that it's because they're confident in their abilities" Helios noted quietly, gesturing to the steel container which contained Nyanza's cybernetic leg "I hate not being able to help as much as you do….there's a Grimm right in front of me, hurting my friend and I can't kill it, I hate it. What I do know is that he's being treated by the most capable minds on Remnant and that….well it's Nyanza, this isn't the end for him it's not enough of a spectacle" that was enough for Felix to let out a soft chuckle, the idea that Nyanza would simply refuse to accept a fate that wasn't suitably dramatic was absurd and yet the Lion Faunus knew his friend well enough to be certain that were he conscious it would have been amongst his first complaints.
"Thanks Heely" the Faunus breathed out before all but melting into the taller mans' body and wrapping his arms around Helios's waist, Helios planting a gentle kiss on the top of his head. The two of them remained like that, peaceful and content as they silently reassured one another until Felix's Scroll began to vibrate, the buzzing sound echoing uncomfortably loudly in the sparsely decorated room until he opened the device.
"It's Uncle Qrow" he stated simply, unconsciously stiffening and becoming more alert as he answered the call
"What's happened?" thoughts flashed through Felix's mind and he found himself dreading Qrow's next words; fearing that Salem had launched some kind of offensive against New Vale, or that Blake and Yang or Aunt Weiss and Uncle Gangrel had been wounded beyond the spires or that Corvid or Aunt Ruby had attempted some kind of reckless solo mission. All of these ideas were halted however when Qrow spoke again and Felix couldn't help but notice a hint of something in voice, some savage mirth that left the Faunus certain that the older man was wearing a smirk
"Meet me in Bronzewing's classroom. The situation just changed"
Diamond made herself as comfortable as possible in Dove Bronzewing's lecture hall like domain as she and her fellow members of Qrow's unofficial black-ops team waited. Rather than Team FADE's usual place towards the rear of the class where they might talk amongst themselves or pass notes without their Professor seeing she was at the front of the room, sprawled and leaning across several seats as she took in the sight of the people around her. Professor Bronzewing sported dark rings around his eyes and his hair was unkept, the several empty mugs gathered on his desk completing the look of a man who had gone without sleep for far longer than was advisable whilst beside him Qrow seemed to be a coiled mass of tense and uncommonly nervous energy, the many-jointed limbs of his mechanical seat tapping at the ground agitatedly as if they were part of his own body. Ether and Olivine had been the most recent arrivals and were dressed in a way that suggested they had gotten dressed in a hurry, with Ether's usually tied back hair cascading over his shoulders whilst Olivine leaned into him and rubbed at her eyes blearily; those who had travelled to the Academy for this mysterious but clearly important meeting were faring little better, with Team CLIR and Ruby Rose all plainly tired and having a muttered conversation about braving cafeteria food for old times' sake for breakfast whilst Nickel simply fiddled with the friendship bracelet that Ruby and Penny's children had given her and attempted to seemly aloof and detached in her boredom. The surviving members of Team GORE by stark contrast looked completely unbothered by being awoken so early or the sudden urgency, which Diamond supposed were things that they were used to.
Her musings came to a halt as the door to the classroom opened once again to reveal Felix and Helios and as the final two members of their group entered and made their way towards their friends and team-mates Qrow took a single lurching step forwards in his chair and allowed a smile that could only be described as feral to cross his face before beginning.
"I'm sorry for being cryptic in my messages earlier-"
"No you're not" Ruby interrupted with a snort
"You're right squirt I'm not" he chuckled "Because we just took a step forwards and made serious progress in the fight with Salem" his words sent an almost palpable ripple through the group, the atmosphere in the lecture hall markedly changed even as Bronzewing cleared his throat and interjected
"I'd like to remind you Branwen that we're moving into field testing; that's not the same as a complete working product"
"It's a step forwards either way" Qrow countered, somewhat irritably "But I'll let you be the one to explain, it's your project" thus prompted Dove nodded and stepped forwards and activated a projector whose location Diamond had never been able to pinpoint, an image of something she couldn't identify being shown across the screen.
"As you know I've been working alongside a team of Atlesian scientists in order to create a treatment and possible vaccine for the Botfly Grimm infection which spread through the city prior to emergence of the Grimm Spires; whilst a workable treatment hasn't yet been made we've made steps towards it and in the process made a discovery" he paused for just long enough to see that he had the students listening with rapt attention, Felix and Team NEON leaning forwards in their seats as he indicated to the image on the screen
"What you're looking at here is Grimm DNA….or the closest equivalent they have to it, taken from the stem cells, again the closest equivalence we can make within Nyanza Angora's body. This is what happens when we introduce our current test batches of a compound we're calling 'Fracture Forty-Four D'"
"Needs a better name" the mumbled comment came from one of Team CLIR but little attention was paid to it as the entire Black-Ops unit watched the display with wide eyes. Now that Diamond understood what it was she was looking it the Grimm cells made more sense to her, though they still looked nothing like any biological matter she had seen before; each cell a writhing mass of microscopic obsidian tendrils which merged with, split away from and consumed each other without end until Professor Bronzewing's compound was added to them.
The effect was immediate.
The tendrils stiffened for a fraction of a second before the entirety of each cell seemed to implode and be forced through the shuddering appendages as a jagged spear like protrusion, the cells tearing themselves and other another apart in a chain reaction of devastation.
"As you can see the compound, in it's current state is unsuitable as a treatment as the Grimm cells do not differentiate between other Grimm cells or those of their host" Dove noted dispassionately
"The organ damage would be catastrophic, he'd bleed out internally" Ruby noted grimly "The exact same as if I tried to use my Silver Eyes"
"Precisely" Dove nodded "We'll continue developing a treatment but in the meantime-"
"You want to weaponise it" Corvid's voice pierced the daze of stunned and frankly amazed silence that had permeated the small crowd, coalescing half-formed thoughts in each of their minds in a simple, clear truth.
"I do" Dove beamed, his own smile matching Qrow's in it's ferocity a moment before the grizzled veteran himself stepped forward to re-take control of the briefing, placing a single large calibre shell made of some transparent material and filled with what could only be the compound currently known as 'Fracture' on the arm of his chair; Diamond had expected to be white or clear for some reason, perhaps even the bright silver of Ruby's eyes but instead it glowed a faint golden yellow that was almost pastel.
"A field test means that some of you are going to have to go back below ground into the power grid and I hate the idea of risking-"
"Team GORE will go" Carcharodon rasped out, cutting across Qrow's apologies.
"No" Qrow shook his head and continued firmly before the Shark Faunus could object "You're emotionally compromised, more importantly your team don't have the weapons for the job….we can't fit this onto Hellion's knives and the only other ranged weapon you have is Onyx's cannon, that will use our supply of Fracture in one shot" Carcharodon, Hellion and Onyx visibly bristled at the denial but each found themselves unable to dispute the logic
"We'll-" Helios placed a hand on Olivine's shoulder and shook his head gently
"If Team GORE are comprised then we certainly are….I'm not risking either of you being hurt" the redhead murmured, his expression pained as it became clear to anyone watching that he would like nothing more than to venture into Salem's domain in search of retribution. Qrow nodded in understanding, silently praising the maturity of the decision before turning his attention to Ruby
"It's gonna be you leading this operation kid, how do you want to handle things" Ruby paused for a moment and considered briefly before answering
"Corey I want Team CLIR in the air above our position ready to reinforce us if needs be; Nickel, Fluffy and Diamond you're gonna be with me"
"You got it chief" Nickel gave a mockingly lazy salute, though the affected boredom failed to reach her eyes which seemed to shine with mischief at the idea of being turned loose. Diamond and Felix turned to one another and silently nodded in unspoken agreement; this wouldn't bring their missing friends back but it was certainly a step in the right direction.
"We deploy in a few hours" Qrow informed them bluntly, surprising them all with the suddenness "Preparations are already being made and there's no sense in waiting longer than we have to….get some rest, you're probably going to need it"
For Eagle and Arctus the days following Oscar's failed attempt to send them back to their own timeline had been taxing, if not physically then certainly mentally as the pair found their resolve waning despite the Wizard's promises that he would continue to search for a way to help them. Eagle had initially been dejected and bitterly morose once she had recovered from the physical strain of the failed attempt, which Arctus had sought to overcome by finding way to keep them both busy as much as possible; readily admitting to her that it was for his own benefit as much as hers and that he needed ways to keep himself active so that he wouldn't overthink a problem that they had no solution for.
As such the two of them had put themselves through a training regimen as close to what they were used to at the academy as possible, occasionally trying to outdo themselves and strive for the truly insane Felix pushed himself to when trying to impress Helios. When not training the two spent as much time trying to help those around them at the Resistance outpost in any way they could; though Eagle had admitted to Arctus that on some level she didn't want to become too familiar with those who called the base home, the Bear Faunus surprising her when he revealed that he not only understood her feelings but shared them; stating that becoming too comfortable here felt far too much like acceptance and resigning themselves to their fate, something which neither of them were willing to entertain. There were exceptions to this of course, a handful of people whom Arctus wanted to get to know better; one of whom he and Eagle were currently working alongside at that moment.
"Whoa" Eagle breathed out as deep forest green glow enveloped the ground in front of them before promptly erupting from hundreds upon hundreds of tiny fissures as the magic of the Spring Maiden took hold.
Whilst Oscar was a keen farmer and reputably had been his entire life as well as been gifted with abilities to warp time the Wizard did not have the luxury of devoting as much time to the agriculture of the outpost as he would have liked, as such Jade had enlisted the help of Arctus and Eagle and the three of them had made their way just beyond the limits of base, though well within the range of its' guns and the two Hunters had spent much of the day digging up asphalt and paving slabs in order to help the young Faunus create a more suitable area for her to work; filling it with soil and fertilizer that had been sourced from further away until now, is the sun was just beginning to set Jade sprung more crops for those who called this outpost home into existence, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower that Eagle could see, though at her surprised gasp the Jade gave a bright smile and focused, eyes screwing shut as she braced herself and stood with her feet shoulder-width apart until with a low rumbling a single huge apple tree burst from the ground fully formed and with ripe fruit already hanging from its' branches.
"Okay you were definitely showing off with that last touch" Arctus noted with an amused snort
"Yeah, duh" Jade snorted, swaggering across the newly made vegetable patch and making herself comfortable under the apple tree which she plucked several of fruits from, helping herself and throwing the rest to Arctus and Eagle as they joined her. Almost absent-mindedly Jade held a hand out and pushed her abilities a little further, eyes continuing to glow with contrails of light as she manifested a series of daisies which seemed to naturally form first a chain and then a small flower crown, though she found herself letting out an annoyed huff
"Still can't get the colour right" she grumbled
"Never seen daisies up close before?" Arctus guessed, knowing from experience how rare any kind of greenery or flora was in the barren and icy Kingdom he called home doubting that this iteration of Atlas was any more hospitable.
"Right and now you're gonna tell me that your Remnant has got parks and forests and stuff right at the top of the Atlas Mountains as well as the flying schools and synthetic Dust" Jade rolled her eyes and scowled, even as Arctus took the admittedly discoloured flower crown and balanced it on her head, positioning it gently between her antlers.
"No parks on the mountains sorry" Arctus chuckled "I just moved to New Vale when I was seventeen so I actually know what outside looks like under all the snow"
"And aerial platforms are real" Eagle added, mildly amused by Jade's apparent disbelief "Ask Squish and Neon, they were around before the war started just not as many"
"I guess" Jade shrugged, chomping a sizeable chunk out of her apple and wearing a somewhat morose expression, Arctus and Eagle sharing concerned looks before the Bear Faunus gently patted her shoulder
"Hey, you okay?"
"I guess" she repeated with a sigh "It's just….I know this gonna sound really selfish but….I haven't seen anything outside of Taurus Manor or White Fang bases where I was growing crops since I was a kid and even then it was just Lower Atlas; when Neon got me out I thought I could see more of Remnant and….well look at it, it's all rubble"
"Yeah, that sucks" Arctus nodded in agreement, pausing for a moment before adding "I mean I've got photos on my Scroll of the Remnant I'm from, not sure if it'd help or if I'm just rubbing it in at that point"
"Can I see?" Jade asked, a faint hint of longing in her voice "I just wanna see a world where Adam Taurus's way of doing things isn't the only option other than hiding in places that he already bombed years ago….I know the Resistance is vital and everything, but we're living like rats" Arctus felt certain that Jade had been holding onto these thoughts for a while and been steadily growing more bitter yet remaining silent for fear of being branded unappreciative or simply a moody or worse, sheltered teenager yer the Bear Faunus heard the truth of her words and quickly produced his Scroll, which he had mercifully managed to charge as the pictures of home and the people there were one of the few things keeping him sane. Both Eagle and Jade leaned in as Arctus opened one of many folders full of photographs he had taken of New Vale and the various views the city had to offer to send to Athena-Jade
"Cute" Jade grinned at the sight of the first photo, one of Arctus and Diamond together before letting out a stunned gasp at the next, one taken from the edge of Halo Academy back when it had still been airborne.
The three of them stayed like that quite some time, Arctus showing Jade pictures with both he and Eagle giving context and sharing stories of their own Remnant whilst the Reindeer Faunus listened, utterly enraptures until finally, as the sun began to slip below the horizon the peaceful moment was intruded upon, a streak of rainbow coloured movement announced Neon's presence whilst Squish seemed to materialise out of thin air a moment later.
"What's wrong?" Eagle asked sensing that something was amiss.
"Jade come on, we need to get you somewhere safe. We've got a situation" Neon urged gently, gesturing for the younger Faunus to stand; Arctus and Eagle followed suit and saw several snipers and gunners taking up position in windows and destroyed sections of walls of several nearby buildings which prompted them to turn their attention back towards Neon and Squish in a silent demand for answers.
"Scavenging team spotted Grimm heading our way….looks like they're gonna hit on the other side of the base but we're not taking chances" hearing this Arctus first turned to Jade and saw her give a dismayed look at all of her work, clearly fearful that it might be undone at any moment; then Arctus and Squish met each others' gaze and the diminutive reptile gave a wide, toothy leer of a smile before chuckling at both Arctus and Eagle
"Yeah I figured you two would want in….come on let's go"
"Keep your eyes open team" Ruby murmured as the four of them continued to make their way through the darkness of the various tunnels and corridors that lay beneath the Capital City.
The four of them had accessed the Power Grid at a different point to their previous excursion though were unsurprised to see that here to Salem's influence dominated their surroundings in the form of thick, sinewy tendrils that pulsated ominously and gave a faint crimson glow which Ruby had noted upon closely inspecting one appeared as though there Grimm eyes beneath the filmy skin of the appendage; with particularly unnerving assessment the four of them had made their way deeper into the underground, though Felix and Diamond supposed it could be worse, they hadn't had to venture towards the sewer system which was combined with the power grid in places to generate additional power through hydroelectricity.
Currently Ruby took the lead, her Silver Eyes covered by a mask she had worn whilst working for over a decade, styled to resemble a crimson skull, armoured and incorporating several tactical displays. To her sides were Felix and Diamond, the younger snipers' eyes having accustomed to the gloom at this point whilst the Lion Faunus was simply unhindered by it in the first place whilst Nickel guarded their rear, green eyes glowing faintly and managing to irk her allies somewhat as she hummed tunes or rapped lyrics to those same songs under her breath as they went. Eventually however the android fell silent and Felix turned to face her, seeing that she wore a pensive expression before finally speaking up.
"You'd think old 'Tall, dark and uncomfortably attractive' would have made some effort to step up security since you were last here"
"Okay there's a lot to unpack in that sentence" Diamond muttered under her breath, the words almost lost beneath the sound of snarls and shrieks close by
"You had to say something" Felix sighed as he braced himself, Hack and Slash at the ready in their machine-pistols forms.
"It's literally why we're here buddy" Nickel countered acidly; the conversation ending swiftly as a mass of Creeps came tearing into view as they rounded a corner some distance away, the ungainly beasts crashing into and scrambling over one another as they lurched forwards in their odd, bounding way. Ruby found herself with the odd thought that if the things weren't so murderous they might almost be cute, which she quickly pushed aside as she unfurled Crescent Rose in its' Sniper Rifle form and took aim; one of Dove Bronzewing's experimental 'Fracture' rounds in the chamber.
It did nothing.
The Grimm died sure enough, but Ruby suspected that was more to do the sizeable hole the gunshot had left in its' skull than anything else; there was none of the expected thrashing death throes and spasms or violent unmaking of the monster as its' cells exploded into one another.
"That one might have been a dud!" Ruby called out, just as Diamond snapped off a trio of shots which each tore a gaping and ragged wound into obsidian flesh and shattered bony carapace yet still failed to deliver on Professor Bronzewing's promises.
Then Felix opened fire.
The machine-pistols unleashed a salvo whose cacophony was simply deafening as it echoed off of the walls and shredded Creeps with a hail of bullets, until several stray shots ripped into the ropey tendrils stretched across the walls and ceiling.
The Fracture instantly took effect.
"Holy shit!" the blonde exclaimed as the tendrils ripped free of the walls in a concerted violent spasm before exploding from within and tearing themselves apart in the same chain reaction that had been seen under laboratory conditions. Nickel taking advantage of the momentary confusion to deploy one of the photon weapons integrated into her arms and destroy the remaining Grimm in a flash of green light just as one of the began sprinting towards Ruby.
"Okay" Ruby murmured "That was-" she came to a halt as the sound of shrieking, snarls and countless thundering and scuttling erupted in the distance and began drawing rapidly closer; accompanied by something far larger.
"Switch to Dust rounds!" Ruby barked, ejecting her supply of Bronzewing's experimental ammunition and replacing it with something far more time-honoured and reliable whilst at the same time using a comm in her mask to contact Corvid "Corey! Corey We're pulling back but we've got Grimm on our tails, they're gonna draw out into the open so that they breach in a street rather than inside of the towers" she silently gestured those under her command to move and they followed the order a tide of claws and fangs dotted with glowing red eyes came rolling into view, Felix pausing just along enough to unleash a storm of Fire Dust rounds and absorb the heat of the flames with his Semblance. Sprinting through the cities' underground they felt the Grimm growing closer with every passing moment until finally they reached their goal, a ladder leading up to a manhole cover.
"Go! Everyone out!" Ruby yelled, shifting her weapon into its' iconic scythe form Felix waiting just long enough to ensure that Diamond was out first.
Then something hit them.
The Grimm had come at them so fast there had been no way to prepare themselves; one moment Felix was preparing to climb the ladder out of the underground and the next he was flying through the air in a cloud of falling rubble and debris until he finally landed with a painful crash. He launched himself back to his feet and saw that a sizeable crater had been blasted into road he had landed on and whilst he could see Diamond, Nickel and his Aunt Ruby already recovering the Creatures of Grimm were rapidly beginning to claw their way out of the hole, the Grimm that had struck them being amongst them.
The thing was sleek, its' entire body almost appearing to be a single coiled and serpentine muscle over a dozen feet in length. Four small limbs ending in jagged claws protruded from it and sunk into the ground as it made its' way out of the breach, its' beady red eyes set in an arrowhead shaped and streamlined skull which seemed to be pulled into a permanent leering grin filled with sharp teeth whilst the bony armour adorning its' body was shaped into a series of froward facing chevrons. Felix stared at the thing for a moment and realised with a sinking feeling that this Grimm's arrival had been no accident and that Salem had likely chosen it specifically for its' speed to act as a counter to Ruby Rose.
"Is that a fucking ferret?" Nickel demanded incredulously, breaking Felix's focus for a moment.
"Slinker" Ruby noted dispassionately, naming the beast "You three handle that, I'll hold the line until Team CLIR get here!" with that ruby turned her attention towards the breach and Felix saw a pair of pure white contrails erupt from her eyes as she tapped into the powers of the Silver Eyed Warriors, destroying Creatures of Grimm by the hundred as they attempted to overwhelm her with sheer weight of numbers.
The first crack of Lex Talionis forced Felix's attention towards the matter at hand, it also caught the attention of the Slinker however as Diamond's armour piercing round drew a high-pitched hissing shriek from it which was followed by a swift retaliation; Diamond made to leap towards a building and use her Semblance to scale the wall of the nearest Hive Tower only to be plucked out of the air as the Grimm lunged forwards and tackled her, sending her skidding across the ground and rolling to a stop.
A burst of light from Nickel tore a gouge into the street and halted the Grimm before it could pounce and press its' advantage and instead the Slinker turned to face the new threat, its' attention torn between Nickel and Felix.
"Tell your buddy to take a firing position, I've got a plan" the android ordered, flashing Felix a confident smirk which he simply nodded in response to
"Dee! Get up top and-" he was cut off by the Slinker colliding with his chest and striking with what felt like all the force of a moving train. He sailed through the air once again only to be snatched up before he could hit the ground and carried upwards, after taking a moment to reorient himself he realised that Nickel had deployed her wings and caught him whilst Diamond had seemingly understood what was required of her, taking up a firing position and drawing the monsters' ire.
"Okay what's the plan?" Felix asked, wincing in pain and noting that his ribs were likely bruised.
Nickel gave him a truly evil smile.
"So remember when I yeeted you though a couple buildings?" no sooner had Felix's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him than Nickel hurled him towards the Slinker with all of her considerable might; Felix engaged his Semblance as he hurtled forwards and downwards, entering his Balrog state just as he struck the Grimm.
It was over in an instant, he was an unstoppable force and the monsters' entire body seemed to warp and bend backwards on itself around him before simply being torn in half by the impact and a moment later Felix came skidding to a halt with asphalt burning and melting at his feet until he disengaged his Semblance.
The sound of jet engines overhead caught the attention of all present and Felix turned just in time to see Team CLIR's Bull-head with its' distinctively ludicrous paint-job flying dangerously low and with rocket launchers that had not been present when the team had left for Menagerie primed and ready. Ruby leapt aside just in time to avoid a barrage of Ice Dust missiles being fired into the breach, sealing it shut with a solid wall several meters thick.
"Now if only the Council could do potholes that fast" Ruby snorted as she collapsed Crescent Rose and removed her mask, running her hand through her hair in a way that Felix noted was very reminiscent of Qrow Branwen.
"So what now?" he asked, eyeing the ice covering the breach suspiciously and wondering how long it would be until Salem simply sent a Grimm that could breath fire to unseal it. Ruby gestured to Team CLIR's Bull-head, dubbed 'Old Unreliable' which hung in the air waiting for them.
"Debriefing" Ruby sighed "Professor Goodwitch is on the Council, she'll make sure this gets handled properly….we've gotta let Dove know that his new weapon only works on Grimm matter that isn't fully formed"
The Grimm had reached the Allied Remnant Resistance outpost just as the sun dipped completely below the horizon, the last traces of the red and gold that it had painted across the sky being swallowed by the encroaching darkness. The beasts had attacked with all of their usual bloodthirsty and primal ferocity and the Hunters had rushed out to meet them whilst fighters who lacked the benefit of an unlocked Aura opened fire upon the Grimm from a safe distance, cutting them down before the could reach the maze of barricades and bottle necks set up around the town sized base.
To the untrained eye the battlefield was utterly chaotic with explosions, the roars and howling of the Grimm and orders being yelled shaking the very air whilst as far as the eye could see the darkness was set alight by bursts of flame and arcs of crackling lightning as Dust and Semblances were put to devastating effect alongside the glow of Auras.
Eagle was far from untrained however.
She and Arctus fought in perfect unison and Sentinel was simply an extension of her own body as she waded into the Grimm; the automaton ripping into a pack of Beowolves with its' compact mini-gun a moment before Arctus and Eagle reached their ranks, both of their weapons in their sword forms with black-blades ripping through flesh and armour with ease.
"Heads up!" She called out as she watched the Bear Faunus deliver a perfectly executed slash to the neck of one Creature of Grimm and decapitate it only to leave his right shoulder exposed to another that leapt at him. Sentinel acted with precision and fired his claws forwards on their retractable cables; grasping the lupine beast mid-leap and dragging it downwards just as Arctus conjured a Glyph that rotated like a saw-blade and neatly bisected the Grimm as the two collided.
"Heads up" Arctus shot back with a grin as he shifted Grimmiger-Henker into its' twin laser-cannon form and fired; Eagle used her Semblance and shifted into her avian form simply to make herself smaller and felt the bolt of light as seared the air around her before boring into the skull of another Grimm. The last of the pack attempted to rush at Arctus only for her to swoop down and return to true body, driving her knee into its' spine and burying her sword in its' neck.
"Little more warning next time, maybe" Eagle noted with a grin before she and Arctus both turned their attention to the rest of the ongoing battle now that the immediate threat was attended to.
The most eye-catching display of power came from Neon Katt, who appeared to be everywhere at once; a comet of rainbow light crashing into the monsters with earth shattering force and unleashing blasts of that same light at any that fled all whilst being protected by Squish; the smaller Faunus slipping in and out of view with his own Semblance and using the distraction created by Neon's attack to tear through several monsters of his own.
Then something else came lumbering into view and let out a piercing scream of rage that shook the air and ground around it.
The Grimm was low and squat, roughly the size of a small truck and sporting a solid and sturdy build to match supported by four thick legs ending in wide paws from which several hooked claws protruded and splayed wide. Whilst its' entire underside was a mass of bulging muscle hidden beneath leathery black flesh with only minimal bone armour in the form of spiked bony protrusions around its' joints, the things entire back was covered in what appeared to be a single sheet on chitinous armour with countless jagged, almost bristly spikes growing from it leading to a broad and almost flat tail. The monsters' blunt and ugly skull tapered down to a surprisingly narrow point, it's snout tipped with a ring of horns and spikes whilst countless rows of oversized fangs protruded from a mouth almost too small to hold them; saliva dripping to the ground as it regarded the Hunters with hateful and furious eyes that glowed fiery red.
Eagle had never seen a Honey Badger Grimm before but instinctively knew that it was a threat that would need to be destroyed immediately
"Sentinel! Fire on that thing!" she yelled before shifting into her avian form once again, an eagle with pristine white and golden brown feathers soaring through the air as the Badger Grimm screamed and spat in defiance as Sentinel unleashed a storm of bullets upon it. Dropping into a dive Eagle shifted back and readied her sword as she fell whilst the Grimm reared up on its' hind-legs and snarled; the two surged towards one another and she slashed, her sword biting through the armour of the things skull and tearing a deep gouge into its' snout only for the Grimms' hooked claws to find purchase in her armour.
Eagle was brought crashing to the ground with an almighty crash and her sword slipped from her grasp; the Badger Grimm baring down on her forcing her to abandon the weapon for a moment as she struggled to hold its' snapping jaws and crushing weight at bay with nothing but her own Aura-fuelled strength.
She realised that it was not a battle of wills she could win.
Her muscles burned and sweated trickled down her face as the Grimm's jaws sunk towards to her face inch by hard-fought and painful inch until something glinting close at hand caught her eye and Eagle realised that it was the ring Hellion had made for her, a gift for their two year anniversary and the dance for students competing in the Vytal Tournament. Her cheeks coloured and a smile whose softness seemed out of place in her current circumstances crossed her face as she recalled the event and the words Hellion had said to her at the time.
'If anything tries to keep us apart, that ring should be heavy enough to crack its' skull and I think it's the sentiment that counts'
Letting out a fierce war cry and mustering all of her strength Eagle pulled back her right fist and punched the Grimm clean in the face, the blow sent cracks and fractures down the length of its' armoured skull and flung the beast backwards with a pained and startled yelp escaping it as it scrabbled to right itself.
"OKAY SHE'S CLEAR TAKE IT OUT!" the moment Neon's booming order was given Eagle felt herself be jerked backwards, Sentinel's claws grabbing her and pulling her away from the Badger Grimm as it prepared to pounce again. A moment later the beast was brought to a halt as Arctus towering Minotaur Grimm construct collided with it before shattering into a sea of incandescent fragments which promptly reformed themselves into a series of Glyphs positioned around the Grimm like a cage. Neon streaked into view, rainbow light trailing behind her as she bounced and ricocheted from one Glyph to the next, shattering the Badger Grimms' armour and ripping chunks from it until it reared onto its' back legs in attempts to swat her away.
Only for Squish to appear directly in front of it and fire Breaker at point blank range into its' unprotected underside. The Grimm perished and its' body began to dissolve into mist and smoke whilst Eagle was helped to her feet by Arctus and the two of them regrouped with Neon and Squish, who gave her an approving nod and a toothy grin.
"You just ran face first at an Aggro-Badger" he noted in disbelief "You're either brave, cocky or dumb and I'm gonna be honest I don't really care which" Eagle found herself smiling at what she assumed was praise and the four of them shared a peaceful moment now that the last of the Grimm had been defeated, though shortly after Eagle had collapsed Sentinel and stored the droid in shield form across her back they were judged by another Huntress who appeared in a blur of motion and streak of golden lightning; a dark sinned woman with pink eyes, hair that was cropped close at the sides with a dark Mohawk complemented by two small tufts of blonde. She wore that tattered remains of an Atlesian uniform and through the tears it was clear to see that she was toned and muscular.
"Callow, Katt; we cleared out the packs on the east" the newcomer informed them by way of greeting, accompanying the report with a small gesture that seemed almost habitual wherein she brushed her nose with her thumb.
"Good work Bree" Squish nodded before his large, yellow eyes narrowed as he sensed that there was more to be said "What is it?"
"We might have a situation" Harriet Bree, former Atlesian Specialist admitted "One of the Grimm I took out had this in its' mouth and these packs weren't coming from Mountain Glenn" she held out a ragged, tattered and bloodstained mess of fabric that Arctus and Eagle needed a moment to identify, though once they did they found themselves sharing concerned expressions.
It was a White Fang vest.
Whilst the assault on Mountain Glenn had been an undeniable failure it had also come with several boons to the White Fang cause, with enough food and supplied for them to weather a protracted siege if needs be or more importantly mount a sizeable offensive. Such were Caliginous Null's thoughts as he sat in a comfortable leather chair in an office that he had claimed as his own and stared intently at a map of the continent of Vytal that took up a vast majority of the opposite wall and pondered and single question.
Where had that insufferable, but infinitely useful little girl gotten to?
The Jagged Mountains to the North of what had once been Vale, further still than even Mountain Glenn could safely be disregarded; even if the rumours of groups of rebels setting up camps their were true there was no chance that they would risk someone so important in such a hostile environment. To the extreme south were Vaccuo and the badlands between the Kingdoms and whilst the badlands could be disregarded almost as easily the Jagged Mountains and for much the same reasons the idea of Jade and the band of humans and Faunus traitors she had run away with journeying to Vaccuo was a truly terrifying prospect. The desert Kingdom was now the domain of the Winter Maiden, another White Fang General who had taken Adam's disappearance as an opportunity to expand her own control of the region to absolution and even putting their previous enmity aside Caliginous had no way of knowing how she would react to an offer of a truce or non-aggression pact with the Allied Remnant Resistance Movement.
The Locust Faunus made an annoyed sound somewhere in the back of his throat and turned his attention to, thankfully more likely options; a series of thin daggers embedded in various regions of what had once been the Kingdom of Vale and its' outer territories, each dagger representing somewhere that Caliginous had deemed to be a likely base of operations for his enemies to be hiding. His vivid purple eyes narrowed as he glanced at the Island of Patch and the dagger buried in it, another annoyed sound escaping him as he realised that Oscar Pine had absconded to Patch with his prize then it would almost certainly be a struggle to reclaim it from the Xiao Long families' clutches.
The situation was growing far more dire than he was willing to admit out loud.
Adam's disappearance and the destruction of much of New Menagerie by a fleet of airships that the White Fang had been entirely unaware that their enemies still possessed had only been the first blow; once Neon's treachery had been revealed as she fled with a small band of her accomplices and the Spring Maiden the true extent of her treachery had been revealed. From her position within the inner circle the feline Faunus had sown rivalries and discontent within the ranks, actively promoting officers who were, if not loyal to her at least treacherous to the White Fang as a whole and often openly hostile to one another. With Taurus gone New Menagerie, bombed to utter ruin by the enemy was fractured into a dozen or more fiefdoms ruled by petty tyrants and despots squabbling over what scraps they could find all whilst the Grimm closed in around them.
Null knew better.
He had gathered what forces he could, slaughtering the heads of other factions who opposed him before finally deciding against reunifying the White Fang by force and deciding instead that he would hunt down the erstwhile Maiden and see her powers transferred to someone more trustworthy. Remnant lay in ruins and those with the resources reigned supreme, whilst the Winter Maiden could only destroy and in Null's mind not even as well as he could himself, the Spring Maiden could create endlessly and having her as a loyal subject would make him the most powerful man on this new, more unstable Remnant and those who failed to bend the knee and supplicate before him would simply starve.
He was roused from his thoughts by the door to his office being thrown open and a lone, bloodied Faunus staggering in; a Horseshoe Crab Faunus whose reinforced hide may have been the only thing that had kept them alive if the deep gouges in its' surface were any indication.
"I do hope there's a good reason for the intrusion, you're bleeding on my carpet" Caliginous spoke in a tone that was conversational and bemused, if faintly aloof; all of it coloured by an unsettlingly choked and rattling quality as if he were trying to inhale something more than air with each breath. Rising from his seat he crossed his office in long strides and cupped the bloody Faunus's chin with a single long-fingered hand and stared down at them intently, recognising them as one of the scouts he had sent into the ruins of Vale
"Well?" he demanded.
"We did it like you said, find the Grimm and stir 'em up; use 'em to try and flush out anyone hiding….'cept we saw a scouting party so we set the Grimm on them to see where they ran to, lost four of my people to an Aggro-Badger and-"
"And where did the scouts run to?" Caliginous's words gentle but forceful as he kept his own scout on track, focused on what was really important.
"They've got an outpost, barricaded off and gun emplacements all around it" the scout swallowed thickly and Caliginous noted that they were rather seriously injured, with blood leaking through their uniform "I'm pretty sure the target's there"
"You saw her?" his antennae twitched animatedly at the news
"No" the scout shook their head before producing several photographs which whilst blurry and dimly lit showed enough to be of interest "But we saw someone using the Schnee Semblance and Neon Katt; if her bodyguards are there then Jade probably is as well"
"Point it out to me on a map" Caliginous ordered silkily "And then get your wounds seen to….we have a mission coming soon after all" his eyes darkened and specks of dust and plaster were stripped from the walls as the Locust Faunus let their control over their Semblance slip by even the slightest fraction, the urge to consume and destroy becoming overwhelming for a moment before he forcefully reeled it back under his control.
Soon he would reunite the White Fang and from there he could wage war and destroy to his hearts' content.
Salem was not angry.
She had become aware of the incursion into her domain, her presence extending outwards throughout the network of roots and tendrils that spread out through the labyrinth beneath the city and in doing so she had seen that Ruby Rose was amongst those who had ventured into the depths, accompanied by the remaining half of Team FADE and the intolerable machine Ozymandias had recruited. Whilst she was still not back to her full strength and unable to face the Silver Eyed Warrior directly she had spawned a Grimm at least capable of keeping pace with the legendary Huntress and unleashed it amidst a swarm of other monsters. Her first inkling that something had truly been amiss came in the form of a stabbing pain in her mind as swathe of the massive network of tendrils that served as proto-Spawning Pits began to, as far as she could tell, consume itself in a tidal wave of destruction that she had needed to rally her powers against and accelerate the regrowth of the sinewy tissue until the force of the attack was spent.
After assuring herself that the intruders had at least been forced back and that no second wave was coming Salem had reached out with her mind once again, and torn what knowledge she could from what limited and almost entirely dormant mind existed within the Grimm matting; only to learn that the Hunters had developed a new weapon.
Salem was not angry, for it was far too small of a word; she was the Queen of the Grimm and her powers were unto a God.
She was fury incarnate.
"YOU WERE TO BE MY EYES AND ENSURE THAT MY PLANS PROCEEDED!" Salem's voice boomed as it was magnified to such a degree that the ground trembled beneath her rage, both Yang Branwen and Pantheon knelt before her with neither daring to speak up. The walls of her chamber exploded outwards, the thick masses of Grimm tissue coating the concrete of the tunnels growing hundreds of jagged fangs and scything talons on twisted skeletal limbs which reached out to grasp at her remaining generals as he ire manifested itself.
"THEY HAVE A WEAPON THAT THREATENS TO UNDO EVERYTHING!" she continued "IF THEY PRODUCE ENOUGH OF IT THEY CAN DESTROY SPAWNING PITS AT WILL, MY SPIRES INCLUDED!"
"My Queen, I could infiltrate-"
"BE SILENT!" the Chimera visibly flinched at the rebuke as Salem cut across her offer and rose from her throne and paced for several moments, chest heaving and she stalked like a caged animal and reached across her back to where the growths of bone and chitin, resembling a broken crescent moon protruded from her shoulder blades; as she tore them free and the bony surface reshaped itself into the crescent-blade of her monstrous war-scythe both Yang and Pantheon feared that they may be executed for their failures; the Chimera in her own awed shock failing to notice the way the monster beside her bristled.
"No" Salem hissed, her voice dropping to something low and threatening "Now is not the time for daring and heroic raids, those are my enemies ways….Now the plans moves forwards" with that Salem took her seat in her clawed and chitinous throne once more and drove the base of her scythe into the ground as veins of pulsing obsidian rose up from the arms of her seat to fuse with her body.
The Powers of the Wizard and Salem's own abilities were once again used in tandem with terrifying results that could be plainly seen all across the city of New Vale as the bony, armoured surface of each of her Grimm Spires began to crack and splinter before finally thick, serpentine tendrils burst forth; each of them grasping and reaching for the nearest Spire to them growing and mutating as they went until of them resembled some monstrous leech before clamping onto the next spire and burrowing into it; creating a solid ring of Grimm matter that entirely encircled New Vale, each muscular tentacle growing grotesque buds which burst into a series of smaller, more animated tendrils which flailed and lashing as they grew and weaving and intertwining with one another as they formed a solid mass of Grimm flesh that within a matter of days would completely envelop the city.
The Hive Towers were her next target and Salem focused her attention on those she knew to be vacant and evacuated, the tendrils she had spread throughout the cities power grid began to venture upwards, worming and writhing their way into every nook and cranny they could find whilst still remaining hidden within the walls, floors and ceilings of the thousands of buildings that were now unknowingly in her grasp.
"What….what did you do?" the Chimera dared to ask, voice reverent at the display of power. Salem merely gave her a thin and sinister smile before responding cryptically with a single word.
"I created an anchor"
Authors Notes:
Ominous? Me? I've got no idea what you're talking about.
But yeah, we're now in the second half of the volume and things are gonna speed up….I mean get ready for things to get very crazy very fast.\
I feel like I might have given too much away with that last line but then again people have missed my foreshadowing before so let's just see how this goes.
But anyway, let's summarise:
For some reason it really took me a while to get the ball rolling on this first scene…..Might have something to do with writing the first half of it at 5am when I couldn't sleep
Felix and Nyanza definitely talked the most shit about every teacher that wasn't Yang at the back of the class.
"Let's hope they wake you up soon, 'cos if this pile of cards gets any bigger you're gonna be an insufferable little shit once you've seen 'em all" Am I wrong though?
Nyanza out here getting more Mums than Jaune.
"This isn't the end for him it's not enough of a spectacle" and again I ask, am I wrong?
As soon as Qrow called a meeting in Bronzewing's classroom you should've known this was gonna be fun.
I wanted to write this scene from Diamond's perspective just because it feels like we haven't gotten enough of her this volume.
And the award for 'Most shower sex on campus' goes to Ether and Ollie….whose ship name is still "Gunmetal".
I honestly forgot about the twins giving Nickel a friendship bracelet….I promise I'll break your hearts with it later.
Team GORE can definitely go for days on little to no sleep and be ready to go faster than other Hunters.
Qrow was definitely not sorry.
I like "Fracture Rounds" as a name for the anti-Grimm weapons.
Yeah it needs work before they can use it on Nyanza….Also that's why Ruby doesn't just Silver Eyes it, if you read Downward Spiral you remember how Raven died.
Is anyone surprised Car was the first to offer? But props to Helios for being self aware to know that he'd probably do something stupid.
Nickel, stop being a cliché teenager; you're not too cool for this.
Sometimes you gotta just keep busy and not overthink your problems.
Arctus and Eagle treating the mirror universe how I used to treat the job centre "I'm not trying to have conversations and make friends here 'cos I never want to be comfortable here".
One way to keep your mind off shit, yard work.
Yep, she'd never seen daisies before….in Downward Spiral there was a moment where Weiss realised that Jade had never seen the sky before because she'd spent her entire life in the poorest part of a Hive city and living underground.
Jade wants to see the world and you can't blame her.
Of course something was gonna come and ruin the moment….and yep, Grimm are still a threat here as well, why wouldn't they be.
Nickel is just a little shit….Also I make no apologies for 'Tall, dark and uncomfortably attractive'" not after the way you beats were thirsting over her new outfit.
Of course it didn't work on the Grimm; otherwise there'd be no stakes from here on out.
So the tendrils get scrapped but Creeps don't, I'm sure some of you figured out how this was gonna play out.
Yep, a fucking Ferret Grimm…..called a Slinker.
You knew that Nickel was gonna get her payback and throw Felix at something eventually.
Ice-Dust….because anything else would have just made a bigger hole.
Arctus and Eagle's little tag-team was fun.
Yes, a Honey Badger Grimm….Enjoy.
'If anything tries to keep us apart, that ring should be heavy enough to crack its' skull and I think it's the sentiment that counts' YES. YES I JUST FUCKING DID THAT.
Neon and Arctus's tag-team move is called the 'Pinball Wizard'.
Yes that was an alternate universe Harriet Bree, for no reason other than I like her design and also her VA is cool; Anairis Quinones, she also voices Nessa in Pokemon Twilight Wings.
White Fang vest means White Fang.
I'm gonna be honest I know we haven't gotten much of Caliginous Null but to be frank with you it really doesn't matter, he's a one volume only tertiary villain in a separate universe to the main plot; he's more of a plot device with a cool design and Semblance than a character.
So the White Fang aren't all powerful or even particularly well organised at this point; Neon spent years in deep cover so that she could make sure that her parting shot was a killer.
Horseshoe Crab footsoldier….why yes I have been watching Kamen Rider Zero: One why do you ask?
I did manage to give Caliginous a little more character this scene and I was hoping the refined yet sinister vibe that doesn't mesh with his appearance at all I was going for carried over.
Use the Grimm to flush out the people you're looking for and see where they run to, he's not stupid either.
Salem's not angry. Salem is PISSED.
So now she knows about Fracture and is acting accordingly….Also note that Pantheon is a lot less willing to offer their life up than they used to be.
So the Spires are now being fused together into a solid ring of Grimm matter and the tendrils are worming their way up into the city.
Salem calls it an "Anchor" where else have you heard that word recently….Remember that Salem has described her plan as "Casting the Kingdom into the Darkness"….You get it now?
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
I know the Six Fingered Man I just didn't remember that his name was Count Ruban; I actually only saw the Princess Bride for the first time last year.
Yep it always comes down to maths….although rarely the stuff that they taught me at school.
Okay to be fair I torture everyone pretty evenly.
I may indeed, you'll just have to wait and see what happens with Raffia's Semblance and Yang's continued struggles with it.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review