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Chapter 157: Gestalt
Sunrise had come far too early for the Hunters who had slept far too little, each of them laying awake staring at their respective ceilings in nervous anticipation as they had each wondered what the day would bring yet conversely the sun could also not rise fast enough for them as each of them waited, their anticipation reaching a fever pitch as they realised that their first mission as qualified Hunters was about to truly begin and that the last four years of training at Halo Academy had led to this moment.
The damaged gate, attacked by Grimm the previous night seemed almost like an omen as they gathered in front of it.
"I kept an eye on the cameras all night" Blanca informed them, the wizened old Hunter rubbing his bleary eyes tiredly "We had a few more attacks but they were all smaller Grimm, Beowolves and things like that….nothing that needed your attention"
"That's something" Felix murmured has he stepped forwards and examined the re-enforced and armour plated gate that separated the resort from what lurked in the man-made but truly untamed jungle beyond it, his sensitive Faunus hearing picking up the dull buzzing thrum of electricity coming from within it, informing him that the defences that had held the Grimm they intended to hunt at bay only hours ago still functioned whilst at the same time the dull gunmetal surface of the gate bore fresh scratches that glinted in the morning sun that had only just begun to peek above the horizon, gradually brightening the sky. Behind him his team-mates, along with Team GORE and NEON shuffled, their nerves and eagerness managing to crack the stoic facade that they had kept in place despite being surrounded by each other and another Hunter who could likely fondly remember the rush of emotions that his own first mission had brought yet none of them spoke until Blanca once broke the silence.
"Okay, how do you kids want to do this?" he asked "I'm gonna let you run this how you want….but understand, I can't open the gate from the security office and that's where I'm gonna be. I need to watch the rest of the resort while you're hunting….whatever it is" the sudden wariness and hint of hesitation in the diminutive but grizzled mans' voice along with the knowledge that they would effectively be cut off from any immediate aid should things go poorly prompted Felix to voice an opinion that had been forming in the back of his mind as he examined the damage left by the still unidentified Grimm, which seemed far greater than he had expected now that he could see it with his own two eyes.
"Okay….I don't think we should all head into the jungle, not straight away at least-"
"My patience is wearing thin" Carcharodon snarled "Make your case a convincing one" ignoring the Shark Faunus's belligerent tone Felix did as he was asked and elaborated
"We don't know what we're up against….what we do know is that it's smart….possibly smart enough to outflank us; that combined with the fact that other Grimm attacked the same defences that it couldn't get through straight after?"
"Pack behaviour" Arctus muttered sensing where Felix's train of thought was headed "You think we're looking at some kind of Alpha?"
"I don't think we can rule it out" Felix answered honestly "That's why I think we should have someone here, guarding the gate in case we need to fall back or in case anything is smart enough to attack the defences when we're too far away to stop it"
"You make a convincing case" Carcharodon noted, though his voice still held a sightly more irritable edge than his usual rasp "Though Team GORE will not be playing a defensive role-"
"Really, your ego means that much?" Olivine questioned, receiving a glare in response that would have made lesser Hunters quail
"My team have the least ranged weapons and yet the most Faunus….it would be a waste to have us anywhere other than on the hunt" Felix was forced to conclude that Carcharodon made a convincing point of his own and was about to agree when Helios stepped in and beat him to it
"Team NEON will stay behind to defend the gate" he then turned to Ether and Olivine and added in a low whisper "You wanted to defend New Vale….we start by holding this gate, people with influence come to this resort; we'll show them exactly what you're capable of"
"Heely….you're the best y'know that right?" Olivine lowered her goggles and, covering much of her face to mask just how emotional she had suddenly become upon realising her team leader, on what might well be their last mission together for the foreseeable future had chosen to conduct himself in away that would highlight her own skills and make her and Ether more employable.
"Okay then" Felix breathed out before turning to Carcharodon "We've got maps of the jungle….at least where the paths are; we know that the Grimm does attack people on those routes but I doubt it hangs around there. I say we split up and work from the edges back to the centre"
"Agreed" Carcharodon nodded, suddenly sounding much more happy now that they were finally preparing to do the job that they had come here for "We'll take the east, have your team head west"
"Well if that's it settled?" Blanca chimed in, reminded them all of his presence, the three team leaders turned and silently nodded to him in confirmation which prompted him to open a hidden panel to the side of the gate itself and open it with both his fingerprints and a sixteen digit access code "Good hunting kids….I think you'll do great" with that teams FADE, NEON and GORE stepped through the defences that surrounded the resort and found themselves in a small clearing of what felt like no mans' land between the thick walls and the treeline of the jungle from which they each imagined countless eyes malevolently peering out at them.
The sound of the gates closing behind them had an unmistakeable feeling of finality about it.
The familiar sound of weapons unfurling and deploying caused Felix to turn around and see that Team NEON were already setting up for an indeterminate amount of time, Buster Bravo shifting into its' ranged mode and readying its' various weapon-systems being what had caught the blondes' attention yet his gaze soon drifted to Felix
"Stay safe for me" he breathed out, Helios merely grinned before pulling the shorter man close and leaning his forehead against Felix's as he murmured
"And you….come back to me victorious but unharmed" the tender moment was cut short by Carcharodon clearing his throat, which caused Felix to realise that Eagle and Hellion had been in the middle of a similar moment, the Dragonfly Faunus murmuring similar tribal maxims to the freckled blonde until the Shark Faunus spoke up
"It's time to move out" with that Team GORE's demeanour seemed to collectively shift, the trio taking up familiar positions as they departed to the east; Marauder letting out a piercing shriek as Hellion sent the bird of prey high into the air.
"He's right" Felix noted, though he remained rooted to the spot for a moment longer and staring at Arctus, Diamond and Eagle as it dawned on him just how far the four of them had come and how much they had grown from Team FADE's initial formation after their initiation in the Exclusion Zone of Old Vale; almost seeing their younger selves stood before him for a moment. Finally however he snapped to his senses and realised that this was neither the time for nostalgia and he drew Hack and Slash in their chainsaw-bladed sword forms
"Let's do this" his faced morphed into his signature cocky grin that displayed his overlong canines, though now it had years of experience that seemed to shine through and make it clear to anyone who saw it that this was no arrogant bravado; without another word his team-mates readied their own weapons and slipped into their own familiar positions as the four of them set out into the jungle.
The hunt was on.
"Another Spawning Pit has been brought under our control" upon hearing the cacophony of screams and snarls that were forced into a unified voice whenever Pantheon spoke Salem glanced down from her throne of sculpted chitin atop its' dais of tendrils and faintly pulsating Grimm matter to regard her living weapon with mild contempt; the sentient Grimm had returned from an expedition out onto the open ocean in search of a nearby Spawning Pit that the Queen of Grimm had ordered be brought back under her sway and into the collective hive mind simply for the resources it could provide. Currently Pantheon knelt before her throne with the wings folded and laying flush along their back and their heads bowed, yet their clawed tail and scything talons remained tense as if they expected to be attacked at any moment, they had truly betrayed themselves with their words however, the Spawning Pits were under Salem's control and hers alone and the fact that her living weapon thought they played any part other than that which she ordained for them was laughable.
Salem chose to let them continue to leave only because their usefulness still outweighed their obvious ambitions and because she had larger problems to deal with at that moment.
"Leave me" she ordered, her voice its' usual cooing sneer and Pantheon gladly obeyed; turning as they reared up to their full height and kicked off of the ground to fly towards the exit of the vast throne room. The moment Pantheon was out of sight Salem rose from her throne and strode towards the globe of chitin with black mould-like Grimm that grew from its' surface representing the various landmasses of Remnant, pacing around the map in a display of restlessness and uncertainty she would never dream of displaying in front of any of her Generals as she turned her current conundrum over in her mind.
How best to destroy this Remnant.
The solution had continued to vex and elude her as her mind, still the manifestation of the higher consciousness of the Grimm species as a whole no matter how far she had evolved beyond it, continued to focus and fixate on methods that would bring that largest amount of despair or outright carnage despite the consistent failure those methods had resulted in.
Trapping another Kingdom within her Grimm spires and casting it into the darkness was unfeasible, owing both to the Kingdoms' new weapon that could simply unmake the towering monoliths she constructed and the countless Wizards from alternate timelines led by some iteration of Oscar Pine that were preventing her from accessing other Remnants and the spaces between realities.
Similarly she found herself unable to recruit new followers to the fullest extent, though truthfully she was less inclined to do so; it would take time to find new apostles even if she limited herself to this timeline alone and she found herself doubting that it would be worth the time or effort as humans, Faunus and now even Sentient Grimm had proved that they were unreliable and unsuited for anything other than utter destruction.
The idea of an outright assault was also quickly dismissed, even during her first reign had known that it would be a futile effort doomed to failure and even with the power of the Wizard bending time around her Spawning Pools to create new Grimm faster than should have been possible the prospect of a war of attrition did not appeal to her; a more tactical war wherein she destroyed the Kingdoms' resources until they were unable to fight back was no more practical as the she was almost certain that Qrow Branwen and his followers had at least one of the Maidens under their command even if they had not employed her in battle.
"How" she hissed out through clenched teeth, slender fingers resting against the surface of the globe "How do I end all of it" anger seeped into her tone and the chitin sphere cracked beneath her grip, liquid darkness seeping from within and leaving Salem stood in shell-shocked silence.
An idea had occurred to her and her mind raced as she considered how best to implement it; she slowly retreated towards her throne and sank into its' surface as what needed to be done began to solidify itself in her mind and finally she let out a piercing and demented cackle that distorted the air around her before focusing, her eyes glowing baleful light as she began to gather all of her power to herself until she was wreathed in a roiling nexus of dark clouds that crackled with crimson lightning; her demented laughter never ceasing as she did so.
She was unaware that Pantheon had not truly left and had watched the proceedings from beyond her throne room, growing steadily more disturbed with each passing moment.
Felix's concerns were quickly proven correct and it was made abundantly clear that Team NEON had made the right choice by staying behind to guard the gate from any potential attackers.
"On your left!" Olivine heard the warning call from one of her team-mates above the din of the ongoing battle and the various snarl and animal battle-cries of the Grimm they fought and promptly turned to face a Deathstalker that had scuttled out of the treeline, its' claws snapping and the tip of its' stinger glowing a pale gold in the morning sun though it lacked any of the moss-like substance growing between its' chitinous armour plates that marked out many of the older examples of its' breed. She aimed Buster Bravo at the monstrous arachnid and opened fire, a hailstorm of lasers, photon beams, machine gun-fire and jets of flame consuming the Grimm and reducing it to nothing more than wisps of jet black mist and smoke in an instant.
Olivine frowned however and quickly thought better of her current strategy; Team NEON had been attacked first by a pack of Beowolves which had in turn drawn a small heard of simple Boarbatusks and several larger varieties of monster to the them and whilst her weapon was spectacularly effective against the larger Grimm the small stretch of barren land between the treeline and the wall surrounding the resort was largely filled with smaller enemies and it would be wiser to conserve her ammunition, with that in mind she slipped the largest barrel of Buster Bravo over her free hand and felt an armoured face plate slide over her mouth from her goggles as her cannon shifted into its' more recently added melee mode, a pair of oversized and vaguely gorilla-like gauntlets.
The sound of a Beowolf snarling to her right caught her attention and Olivine leapt into the fray once more, boosters that rested near her elbows sending her flying into a group of perhaps half a dozen of the lupine Grimm whilst Lightning Dust crackled around her heavily armoured knuckles as she ploughed through three of the beasts in a single blow; throwing her arms out to the sides and crushing the skulls of two more yet inadvertently leaving herself open for the pouncing attack of the final member of the pack.
Only for it to let out a pained yelp before vanishing mid-leap as one of her team-mates put a well-placed shot through its' neck.
"Be careful Ollie" Helios warned as smoke issued from the barrel of Milo in its' rifle form; he knew his diminutive team-mate to be a thoroughly capable fighter as well as an undisputed mechanical genius yet the fact remained that of Team NEON she had the least close combat experience and this added with the fact that she used the propulsion systems in her weapons gauntlet mode to add momentum to her attacks caused her to leave herself unguarded on occasion, the redhead decided that he'd be sure to spar with her before she and Ether departed before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.
When the Grimm had burst from the trees the herd of Boarbatusks had, for some unknown reason seemed to single Helios out and retract their bodies into spheres of solid muscle and armour before barrelling towards him at admittedly impressive speeds though their attacks were nothing that the Nikosi warrior couldn't handle; Helios had simply activated his Semblance and first magnified gravity around himself to utterly immobilise the tusked monsters and then reduced gravity to nothing so that they each levitated several feet in the air utterly defenceless as he drove Milo into each of their skulls in its' sword form.
Victory would not be so easy it seemed however, as a lumbering Ursa came thundering out of the trees with a low, rumbling roar and locked its' predatory gaze on Helios's gleaming golden armour and charged, Helios weaved around its' first attack yet the Grimm wheeled around and reared up to its' full height before crashing down upon him, Helios kept the things' claws and fangs at bay with Akuo before thrusting into it with Milo, striking the Ursa's shoulder and swiftly transforming the weapon into its' spear mode so that the blade burst from its' armoured back yet till the Grimm persisted and if anything was only enraged by the attack as it bore down on Helios and the two of them grappled in a battle of strength and willpower.
Until suddenly the Grimm no longer had a head.
"I've got it" Ether flashed him a cocky grin as his body finished solidifying from the mist-like state that his Semblance transformed it into; he had seen the Ursa as it had singled Helios out and swiftly dealt with the Beowolves that he had been engaging before using his Semblance to come to his team-leaders' aid and deliver a killing blow, swinging Ghost Reverie in its' axe from into the monstrous Grimms' neck and was now perched on on the tip of Helios's spear. The Grimm were being thinned down and only a few small groups stragglers remained to be dealt with, including the mass of snarling mass of Beowolves that he honed in on before leaping from Helios's weapon and activating his Semblance once again to bring himself almost instantly in their midst, the suddenness of his approach left them reeling and confused for only a fraction of a second yet that was all Ether needed to shift his weapon into its' guitar form and draw one of his many Dust crystal picks, this one a fiery red thing with swirling veins of glistening black shot through its' surface; the mix of Fire and Gravity Dust was highly volatile and explosive and the moment its' surface brushed against the chords of Ghost Reverie a reverberating boom filled the air as flames and a concussive blast rushed out to fill the air, decimating the Grimm entirely.
Victory would not be quite so easy however and Ether quickly used his Semblance to leap aside as something large burst from the trees.
"Heads up!" Nyanza called out in warning as the immense, serpentine form of a King-Taijitu ripped its' way into the clearing. The Feline Faunus never stopped firing the Pharaoh Mafdet as he spoke, his eyes glowing faintly with his Semblance and good fortune ensuring that each and every shot found its' way into body of a Creature of Grimm. The double-ended snake continued the thrash and hiss however, each of its' heads locking onto a member of Team NEON in turn before swinging its' opposite end at them like a flail until Nyanza braced himself and burst into motion, sprinting directly towards the monster and reloading his pistols as he went, the King-Taijitu opened one of its' vast maws wide and lunged at the feline who leapt without of its' hesitation into its' jaws and landed in a crouch in its' gullet before levelling his pistols at the innards of the beast and beginning to open fire as he ran deeper into its' seemingly endless form; he had spent a considerable amount of time with a Grimm tearing his body apart from the inside and still bore the scars from it after all and he decided that this was only fair. His plan to run through the length of the King-Taijitu and exit from its' other mouth was not as well reasoned as he had thought however and Nyanza soon found himself struggling to breathe within the confines of the Grimm's body.
Luckily for him his team-mates were people he could rely on.
Olivine seemed to have guessed perfectly where Nyanza was and unleashed the full destructive capabilities of Buster Bravo so that the King-Taijitu was ripped in half mere feet away from where he stood so that he could tumble out the belly of the serpentine horror as its' body began to disintegrate; flashing his friends a mischievous smile and making a show of twirling his weapons before he holstered them as he did so.
"That….was hardly your most intelligent decision" Helios noted before his split into a wide grin "But it was certainly entertaining to watch"
"That was a lot of Grimm" Ether panted out as he rested his weapon against his chest, securing it in place with its' shoulder strap "Seriously where did they all come from?" Something about the comment struck a chord with Nyanza and he glanced at the treeline, gears turning in his mind until the colour drained from his face and his pale minty green eyes widened in shock at the realisation that came to him
"No seriously….where did they come from?" he turned to his team and quickly waved aside any joking comments about the obvious answer that they intended to make "Seriously, this jungle is man-made; the island was as barren as all the other ones on this island chain until they built the resort. None of the Grimm we've fought are amphibious, they didn't swim here from somewhere else….so where are they coming from?"
"Oh shit" Olivine breathed
"Indeed" Helios nodded "We need to alert the others….they need to know that there might be a Spawning Pit somewhere on this island"
Felix felt his Scroll buzzing with an incoming call yet he was currently in no position to answer it.
Team FADE had begun by following one of the many designated trails and paths that ran through the jungle that had, prior to recent events been deemed safe for the guests to visit and if Arctus's insider knowledge of high society was to be believed, been the location of more than one celebrity scandal; from there the four of them had reached the westernmost edge of the jungle and begun conducting a thorough sweep of their surroundings, venturing into uncharted areas of the man-made jungle that had never been properly explored since their creation where the trees and undergrowth had become so dense that the morning sunlight barely reached them although the sweltering and oppressive heat most certainly did and their progress was slowed by the sheer mass of greenery that they needed to wade through; with Felix eventually giving in to temptation and using the chainsaw blades of Hack and Slash to cut through everything in their path.
It had taken only a few hours for the inevitable to happen and Team FADE be set upon by the Creatures of Grimm.
"Oum damn it, we need room to move!" he snapped as he weaved around the savagely swiping claws of a Beowolf only to collide back-first with the trunk of a tree, with a grimace he braced his foot against the bark and dropped into a crouch as he kicked forwards and stabbed with both of his swords, the Beowolves' agonised death throes being lost beneath the sounds of saw-blades shredding obsidian flesh and chitin. Swinging his blades out to the sides in an effort to create some space around himself Felix saw that his team-mates were similarly constrained;
Diamond had taken to the treetops and was using her Semblance to take up new vantage points as she picked off monsters with ruthless precision yet despite this the thickness of the canopy was still making it difficult for her to effectively reposition herself, Arctus and Eagle were on the ground however and fighting back to back with the Bear Faunus rapidly shifting Grimmiger-Henker between its' sword and double-barrelled laser cannon mode to both defend himself and pick off fresh monsters as the emerged from the trees; Eagle was simply a maelstrom of destruction, cutting through Grimm with practised ease and displaying a dozen or more distinct styles of swordplay.
"Arctus!" Felix called out "Can you clear some space for us!" Arctus himself lunged and span, his sword flying out in a wide arc and cleanly bisecting a leaping Grimm in a single fluid motion before the Bear Faunus took a moment to consider the request before nodding
"Dee, you're gonna need to jump!" he called out "Eagle, Felix get off the ground!" with that he conjured one of his signature Glyphs in the palm of his hand, its' glowing surface rotating rapidly so the edge of it could be used as a saw blade and then crouched, holding his hand less than an inch above the ground. Felix's eyes widened as he realised what his cousin was about to do and as Eagle quickly took to her avian form and Diamond prepared to leap from the trees the Lion Faunus quickly leapt off of the ground an instant before Arctus pushed a considerable amount of his Aura and willpower into the Glyph, causing it to expand to well over a dozen meters in diameter and cleave though the trunks of several trees along with the limbs of the Grimm that continued to harass them, their mangled forms collapsing onto the still spinning Glyph and being destroyed entirely. The air was filled with the howl and roars of expiring monsters, the sound of wood splintering and the booming thuds of collapsing trees as the severed trunks fell to the ground until finally there was silence.
"So that was a thing that happened" Felix noted as he leapt down from the ruined remains of a tree that he had been using to keep himself off of Arctus's Glyph and shook his swords to loosen some of the debris that had accumulated in the teeth of the blades.
"Dude" Diamond said slowly as she wandered closer where the team were regrouping "Do you think the resort is gonna have a problem with us ripping these trees down? I mean it is their jungle"
"I don't think so" Arctus shrugged, though he was unable to shake some slight uncertainty as he added "I mean we're far enough from the paths that it doesn't make a difference, and there must have a collateral damage agreement in the contract we signed so-" the Bear Faunus came to an abrupt halt as he caught a flicker of movement in the trees an instant before a Beowolf leapt at Diamond only to be be ripped from the air by a larger, glowing Beowolf hastily summoned and unleashed by Arctus, the Creature of Grimm perished but not before each of Team FADE realised, with open surprise that the thing was so newly formed that it was entirely black save for its' glowing red eyes, its' bony carapace armour not yet formed.
"Where the hell did that thing come from?" Felix demanded
"Movement behind you!" Diamond warned, prompting him to shift his swords into their machine pistol forms and open fire on everything in the general direction of where the sniper had indicated being rewarded with a lone Grimm waddling frantically away from the destruction
"What on Remnant is that thing?" Eagle demanded, more perplexed than frightened by the appearance of the unfamiliar Grimm.
The thing was avian in appearance but with the bulbous and ungainly appearance of something akin to a duck or kiwi rather than the fearsome raptor one might expect, It stood at roughly the height of a child, reaching no higher than Felix's waist and its' body was entirely midnight black without any armour at all with atrophied wings that were clearly unable to support it in flight tucked against its' side whilst its' head was covered with a rounded and bulbous bone mask which led to a narrow and tapering needle-like beak and the thing supported itself on legs that were entirely bone white and each featured three toes that were splayed wide and seemed far too large for the Grimm's body and only added to its' unwieldy appearance
"I honestly don't know" Felix chuckled, faintly amused at the hapless monster "It's dead now though" with that he aimed one of his pistols only to pause as the Grimm paused and squatted, beginning to vibrate rapidly
"What the fuck?" Diamond mouthed out in open disgust as the thing laid an egg, though it truth it was closer to an instance of some grotesque mitosis as the shell oozed from the very fabric of the Grimm itself and hardened into chalky white armour as it came into contact with the air.
"Um….guys the egg's cracking" Eagle noted, suddenly deeply unsettled as the egg pulsated and began to crack as it expanded at an impossible rate before bursting in an explosion of liquid darkness which rapidly congealed and shaped itself into the form of a Beowolf
"GET AFTER THAT BIRD!" Felix yelled as he gunned down the freshly made Grimm, Arctus frantically trying to trap the small bird with his Glyphs but to no avail as it vanished into the undergrowth
"There's more of 'em!" Diamond yelled, snapping off a quick shot from Lex Talionis into the trees as several pairs of glowing red eyes revealed themselves before swiftly retreating; with fresh drive and urgency Team FADE sprinted into the foliage after the unknown and incomprehensible Grimm, Felix pulling out his Scroll as he did so and seeing a message from Helios
'We think there might be a Spawning Pit on the island' Felix's eyes narrowed and his stomach clench as total clarity came to him, Grimm that held small Spawning Pits within their own body were not common but not unheard of; the Dragon that Cinder Fall had unleashed upon Vale in the war being the most famous example though Felix couldn't think of any examples as odd as the creatures that they were currently chasing.
'Not a pit' he typed out 'It's so much worse'
Team GORE had also encountered their own Grimm infestation and had learned the terrifying secret of the small bird-like monsters and how they repopulated the islands' Grimm.
They had first made their way to the easternmost edge of the jungle and then like Team FADE had begun venturing into the deepest, darkest depths of what was essentially untamed wilderness; the three of them expecting to have early successes owing in no small part to an entirely justifiable level of confidence in their own abilities along with their naturally enhanced senses as Faunus allowing them to navigate the undergrowth more easily and the fact that the could depend on Hellion's Semblance as the Dragonfly Faunus periodically looked through the eyes of Marauder to see more of their surroundings and find pathways and trails of displaced foliage where Grimm had tore their way through.
They had encountered the consequences of their own success soon enough.
The first Grimm to assault them had been a troupe of Beringrel that had fell upon them from the trees only to be utterly devastated by Team GORE who had been pre-warned and were ready and waiting for them, knives, axe and blades leaving nothing but smoke in their wake. It was at this point the small, bulbous-bodied and flightless bird Grimm had appeared, laying eggs that had burst to reveal impossibly long strands of still forming Grimm tissue that shaped themselves into a trio of King-Taijitu that promptly attacked the Hunters in a ravenous frenzy.
Carcharodon was more than manoeuvrable enough to evade the onslaught of the serpentine monster that had singled him out and used his Semblance to devastating effect, the King-Taijitu lunged and dove at him with each of its' heads in turn whilst the Shark Faunus simply used his protean and liquid form to sink into the ground and reappear close by and whilst it might seem to an in experienced onlooker that he was simply evading Carcharodon had a plan.
Reappearing behind a tree he positioned himself so that the obsidian coloured head at the front of the serpentine Grimm could see him and leapt backwards and to the left as it darted around the tree and struck from his right, an instant later the bone white coloured head to its' head whipped around and attacked from the left which Carcharodon responded to by sinking into the ground at the last minute and reappearing some distance away and off to the side, once again in full view of the King-Taijitu which lashed out with its' black head. The Shark Faunus narrowly avoided another earth-shaking impact and positioned himself perfectly between the Grimms' two heads and waited for them to attack, making no effort to move aside and being rewarded with a dull creaking and sound of splintering wood as the things' body coiled tighter around the trunk of the tree Carcharodon had hidden behind and then the futile hissing and snapping of the Grimm's jaws as it failed to reach him; the newly formed Grimm was unintelligent to say the least and Carcharodon had used that fact to his advantage as he caused the King-Taijitu to effectively tie itself in a knot. Now that his target was immobilised he used his Semblance again, first sinking into the ground and then erupting upwards with the Red Waves at the ready, their twin blades tearing through the points where the monsters' skulls met its' spine.
Onyx was far more direct in his approach to disposing of his own King-Taijitu, though no less of a showman is he weaved around and leapt between snapping pairs of jaws and kept the two-headed beast at bay with wide, arcing swings of Jotun Fang, the double-bladed battleaxe having already torn large gashes into the flanks of the monster. The Grimm seemed to devise a new strategy and simply slithered around Onyx, its' vast form encircling the Puma Faunus entirely yet this was nothing that the hulking raider was not prepared for; shifting his weapon into its' ranged form Onyx chambered a round into the under-slung artillery piece that was nothing more than a roughly hewn Gravity Dust crystal and waited for the precise moment to strike.
The King-Taijitu sprung forwards, its' twin heads lashing out in unison and Onyx aimed his weapon directly at the ground and fired, the blast flinging him into the air and sending him crashing through several tree branches, which whilst admittedly painful was not enough to halt him as he shifted Jotun Fang back into its' axe form and prepared another crystal, this one a sizeable chunk of Ice Dust which he clenched between his teeth. The King-Taijitu surged up to meet him, fangs on display as its' two heads rushed to be the first to take a bite of their prey yet before they reached him Onyx activated his Semblance, the booming sonic roar that shattered the Grimms' bony carapace and cracked the ground beneath it being enhanced into a freezing gale by the Ice Dust. The King-Taijitu was frozen solid and as Onyx fell is hefted his axe over head and let out a savage battle-cry before cutting the Grimm in half with a single mighty blow.
Hellion had taken to the trees and fought a war of attrition against her own King-Taijitu, Marauder having flown far enough from the immediate danger that she could do battle without risking her pet. The two heads of the Serpentine Grimm lunged towards her from opposite sides as the monster slithered and coiled its' way up the tree she was currently perched in and in response the nimble Dragonfly Faunus simply launched herself up onto a higher branch as she unleashed a flurry of throwing knives, their blades sinking into the softer than average armour of the freshly formed Grimm and the Lightning Dust crystals crafted into their handles promptly detonating, leaving the beast thrashing and shrieking in pain as lightning crackled over its' surface yet still it remained alive and if anything was only enraged further by the attack. Hellion leapt from the trees down onto the ground as realised she had mere seconds to decide her next move as the King-Taijitu uncoiled itself from around the tree and its' ebony coloured head surged down towards her; in her arsenal of throwing knives she had blades fitted with Ice and Gravity Dust crystals which seemed to lack the power to bring down something with such a large surface area and Fire Dust crystals which she was unwilling to use in her current surroundings. She also had a small collection of knives whose hilts glowed a pale blue and those were what she reached for, throwing them directly into the mouth of the King-Taijitu before rolling aside and watching as the Hard-light Dust took effect, planes of solid light expanding out like sheets of glass or miniature forcefields and simply eviscerating the Grimm from within.
"Those won't be easy to replace" Hellion muttered under her breath, pleased that the experimental knives worked but more than a little annoyed that they'd been wasted on such an insignificant target.
"Hellion!" Carcharodon called out to her "The small ones, kill them before they can lay more eggs!" she followed her team-leaders' gaze and saw the trio of child-sized and frankly absurd looking flightless bird Grimm waddling away through the trees as fast as their gangly and ungainly limbs could carry them and without hesitation she withdrew another of her throwing knives and hurled it, the blade finding its' place in the back of one of the Grimm's head and reducing it a cloud of mist.
And then something entirely unexpected happened.
"What?" Onyx demanded in utter disbelief as the shattered remains of the Grimm refused to dissipate and instead the two remaining monsters came to a halt and began pecking and clawing at the cloud of obsidian smoke until it became clear that they were in fact knitting it back together; the destroyed Grimm staggered and squawked in confusion before taking off again, fleeing deeper into the jungle. Team GORE were collectively horrified, Grimm that could regenerate were not unheard of, Pantheon being an example that they were intimately acquainted with but the idea of a Grimm being able to reanimate its' deceased brethren was something new entirely and served as proof that Team FADE's theories that the Grimm had been evolving prior to Salem's return were true. After a moment of stunned silence Carcharodon gave the only order that still made sense in his mind
"After them! Don't let them escape!"
It was time.
Salem had spent hours gathering and focusing the arcane and mystical power of the Wizard until she was certain that she would be capable of what was required and that nothing could stand in her way and now the air itself screeched and rippled around her, time and the fabric of reality itself cracking and tearing in her presence, she was certain that the Wizards of every other Remnant must be able to feel this surge of power across the multiverse and she relished in the knowledge that they would tremble in fear at her presence; none of them would dare venture into her domain lest they risk their own power and she contented herself with the knowledge that would come for each of them in turn and that every Wizard would experience the horror of watching their Remnant be cast into the darkness and consigned to oblivion before she killed them.
The first steps of her plan were ready to be put into motion.
She rose from her throne and took a single step forwards, almost sinking to her knees as the unspeakable power she wielded threatened to annihilate even her inhuman form as harnessing it took every ounce of the mastery and control she had learned during the infinite eternities she had spent in the space between realities where her mind had been shattered and reformed countless times; a roiling nexus of darkness gathered around her and seemed to constantly shift in consistency and its' overall make up, one moment it was a whirlwind made of the smoke of dying Grimm and jagged fragments of obsidian crystal, the next it was a storm of viscous liquid that swirled and shaped itself with a mind of its' own and the next it was a veil of storm-clouds that engulfed Salem and hid her from view entirely; all the while bolts of crimson lightning crackled and coruscated around her, occasionally lashing out to scorch and blast the walls of her throne room and cast the expansive chamber in a frightening, bloody glow.
"I will not be denied" the words left Salem in an agonised and tortured rattle as it took every ounce of her control and rise to her feet and continue onwards, where her plan to ensnare New Vale had been meticulously planned and calculated this new plan, far larger in its' scope was not afforded the luxury of time to gestate; the Queen of the Grimm knew that a decisive blow had to be landed if she wanted to avoid being trapped in another century long conflict in the shadows and she intended this to be it. Finally, with each step forward taking a herculean effort she reached the centre of the bridge that spanned much of the vast chamber that her throne room was located in, the lake of protean and unformed primordial Grimm tissue swirling and reacting to her presence below her.
With a single thought she put her plans into motion, the power of the Wizard making processes that should have taken months or longer occur in a matter of seconds.
She took the almost bottomless lake of Grimm matter, a resource that might have spawned hundreds of thousands of monsters that would lay waste to the Kingdoms and their Hunters and in an instant she unmade it, reaching out into the Grimm Hive-mind and taking the Spawning Pit in its' entirety and slaving it to her willpower directly until it was nothing more than an extension of herself that she could manipulate as she saw fit.
If she was successful here she would have no need for new Creatures of Grimm.
The lake of living darkness began to ripple and shift as though it were about to birth and unleash some truly gargantuan beast yet that was not what happened, instead the entirety of the enormous Spawning Pit began to swirl, increasing in speed and force until a whirlpool formed in its' centre and only then did the darkness begin to take shape; the entirety of its' mass forming impossibly thick ropes of muscle and tendon that were lined with equally monstrous protrusions of bone, teeth, claws and other jagged implements that ripped away at their surroundings as the entire thing began to rippled and burrow; Salem's control of the flow of time evident here as the unspeakable mass began to bore down into the foundations that her fortress was built upon with far greater rapidity than should have been possible.
Salem had no need for a monster, all she needed the Grimm to be was a tool to accomplish her ends and in this case the tool in question was a drill.
"How are these little bastards so hard to hit?" Felix demanded as he and Team FADE continued to chase after the small birdlike Grimm, his furious exclamation almost lost beneath the sound of gunfire as he unleash another volley from Hack and Slash that shredded and tore into seemingly everything except their intended target.
"Oum damn it!" Diamond's irate voice snapped from the branches above them "They're too fast and too erratic, I can't hit 'em!" to punctuate her statement she snapped off another shot from Lex Talionis in its' sniper rifle form, the explosive round finding the ground at the feet of one of the bulbous monsters and blasting it into their yet somehow it remained unharmed; instead it was merely flung directly upwards with its' ill-proportioned legs flailing wildly in a truly comedic fashion before it landed on the ground with an oddly wet thud and simply continued running completely unhindered.
"I don't even get why they're running" Arctus panted as he created a Glyph directly in front of another of the Grimm to act as a barrier, the ungainly thing colliding with the glowing surface and letting out a pitiable squawk as it span and skidded out of control before righting itself and scurrying away, seemingly losing none of its' momentum in the process.
"I don't get it" he added "Why don't they just make more Grimm"
"With our luck it might be best not to ask" Eagle noted, without Sentinel she no longer had a ranged weapon and had been reduced to simply chasing after the strange Grimm and stabbing at them with her sword on the rare occasions she drew close enough to do so, which only served to make them leap into the air with their legs flailing uncontrollably..
The chase continued like this for a while longer Team FADE tearing their way through the dense jungle, ripping through trees, vines and undergrowth with reckless abandon, sweating, cursing and gasping for breath until their quarry led them into an open clearing that was clearly not one of the man-made ones put in place by the owners of the island resort, this open space was several dozen meters across and was clearly the result of trees being violently uprooted.
"Where did they go?" Felix demanded, casting his eyes around and realising that the Grimm had vanished entirely and were likely hiding at the edges of the clearing, giving the Lion Faunus the distinct feeling of being laughed at.
"I don't like this" Eagle murmured, though before she could expand on her thoughts a fresh sound captured their attention, the dull booming report of a large weapon followed by curses, squawks and the rustling of trees until Team FADE caught sight of the faint movement of dark shapes around the edge of the treeline followed by Carcharodon, Hellion ad Onyx bursting into view with their weapons at the ready
"What are you doing here?" Carcharodon demanded as he caught sight of Team FADE, clutching at his side as he caught his breath.
"Looks like the same as you" Felix answered "Chasing Grimm….about waist height, looked like a duck or something and had really weirdly big feet"
"And they laid eggs with other Grimm inside….like portable Spawning Pools" Diamond added
"And they can bring each other back from the dead" Hellion added
"I'm sorry they do what now?" Felix demanded
"I cut one of them down, the others took the mist that was left and reformed it" this was news to Team FADE, the four of them had been unable to successfully kill one of the small Grimm as they chased them and learning of this ability left them each looking to one another in shock, certain that if the circumstances were different they might accuse Team GORE of exaggerating.
Then something squawked in the trees.
"There you are, you son of a bitch" Felix growled levelling one of his weapons at the source of the noise only for several potential targets to appear as first one of the small Grimm that the two teams had chased emerged, quickly followed by more; far more in fact than the small groups that they had been led here by, the entire clearing had been surrounded by the things and they emerged forming a ring of jet-black; a sight that would have been concerning were it formed of a more intimidating beast.
"Um guys" Eagle warned "They're dripping" she was correct, though this was not the same disturbing sight that both Team and FADE had witnessed wherein one of the Grimm laid one their eggs; rather each of the small avian monsters were simply dripping and the clearing was filled with the steady pattering of liquidised Grimm tissue hitting the ground as the things seem to slowly melt.
Until their bodies collapsed entirely without warning.
"What new evil is this?" Carcharodon snarled as the now liquid forms of the Grimm rushed in a thick torrent, pooling and concentrating
"Oh" Arctus mouthed as comprehension dawned on him, colour draining from his face "The smaller Grimm….didn't heal each other, it healed itself….it can split itself apart to spread more eggs but it's all one Grimm"
The terrible truth of the Bear Faunus's words was confirmed as moments later the pool of liquid darkness began to shape itself into a new form that was soon revealed to be far more than the sum of its' parts.
The new Grimm was still avian, though now it stood at over twelve feet tall and whilst its' body still resembled that of a flightless bird it was far more heavily armoured with thick, angular slabs of bony white carapace laid over its' back in interlocking layers that extended down into a bladed fan of tail feathers. Its' wings were as malformed as those of the Grimm that had formed it, yet now they formed triangular armour plates beneath which skeletal ribs and jagged spears of bone could be seen. Its' skull was a sleek and tapered thing with at least a dozen eyes of different sizes, the head was rounded until it reached the long and sharpened beak which was completely encased in armour and sported rows of teeth splayed along the outside of its' jaws to give it the appearance of a saw blade, as it opened its' mouth to let out a warning hiss the Hunters saw that its' tongue too featured rows of serrated implements.
The things legs were, as before the main focus of its' body; it supported itself on a pair of limbs thicker than a persons' torso which ended in three toed claws that each boasted a raised, sickle-shaped talon roughly them length of a mans' arm yet these were not the only legs at the creatures disposal, hanging from its' underside were at least six more pairs of legs boasting equally sharp claws as they emerged from the darkness of the Grimm's body and, with the sickening sound of cracking bones reoriented themselves and developed new joints and opposable thumbs so that they would be more suitable for the upcoming battle.
Overall the new Grimm which could only be described as a Gestalt had the appearance of some gigantic and monstrous jacana bird carrying its' young and was, to say the least simply uncomfortable to look at.
"Okay….that was unexpected" Felix admitted, shifting his weapons into their sword forms "But it's nothing we can't deal with right?" beside him Carcharodon threw off his cloak and gave a smile that was filled with fangs
"Let's find out"
Authors' Notes:
Ah it's been a while since I gave you a proper cliffhanger like that….Haven't you missed these?
Oh and we're six chapters in….so we're actually around the halfway point of the FINAL volume, so what I'm saying is that things are gonna really start picking up from next chapter.
Brace yourselves.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Those pre first day on the new job are real.
Anyone else read about the scratches on the gate and think of the Indominus Rex in Jurassic World?
Felix is smart, they should hold someone back until they know what they're up against.
Look at Helios being a peacekeeper and putting his peoples' needs first.
Well they're in now….Welcome to the jungle.
Seriously though, look at how far Team FADE have come from those early chapters.
And thus the deception continues, Pantheon is playing loyal and Salem is playing dumb by pretending to believe them.
Had to give Salem a true evil genius moment with the Grimm globe.
New plan by process of elimination, let's see what she comes up with.
So Salem's got a plan and Pantheon knows she's up to something….Should be fun.
I actually forgot that Deathstalkers had glowing stingers until I saw a clip of Vol.2 again.
Olivine is a bad-ass but let's be real, up until third year she wasn't fighting at close range.
Also, yeah we're doing that thing I like doing again, where the fight scene jumps from person to person as they get involved in each others' fights.
Boarbatusks….they shit tier Grimm.
Getting the full benefit of Milo having the extra range of a spear mode.
Nyanza decided to jump into a Grimm's mouth and kill it from the inside for the sake of payback...get that man some therapy.
All these Grimm on the island when I said that the jungle was man made….they must have come from somewhere, and no this wasn't a plot-hole I paved over, I planned this.
Celebrity scandal in the jungle indeed.
Yeah the thing about fighting somewhere like that is that there's generally not enough room for superhero type fighting, so either get commando or get creative.
And Arctus chose to get creative.
Ta-da freshly spawned Grimm, where there's no spawning pit in sight.
I just love the idea that the smaller forms of the Gestalt are the most ridiculously dopey looking things you've ever seen….yet they still do terrifying shit, like lay eggs
by mitosis.
The Dragon dropped pits of Grimm in canon, in Downward Spiral I have a Coral Reef Grimm and a Whale Grimm that was basically a troop carrier the Botfly Grimm planted the maggot Grimm in its' victims; this is just the first time that the mobile spawning point has been something small.
Beringrel against Team GORE does not end well for Team GORE….Also, yeah they were only really in the Vol.4 trailer but I still think of them as one of the classic Grimm.
King-Taijitu are getting some love this chapter though, since we're probably not gonna see them do anything cool in canon….ever.
Someone had to tie the two headed snake in a knot, I'd be remiss if it didn't happen.
Onyx just took the Onyx approach.
Hard-light throwing knives….Hellion basically made an impromptu version of Aegis Thunder, the forcefield gun that Kafsi had.
Anyone surprised when the Grimm recovered like that?
Oh Salem is going all the way mad with power.
Salem will have no need for the Grimm…..let that sink in, this is literally endgame shit right now.
And yeah she turned it into a giant, living drill. I haven't stated it directly but I'm sure you can all figure out what she's going to do.
In my head the mini-Gestalt chase scene was filled with Looney Tunes and Tom, Hana Barbara & Jerry sound effects.
"With our luck it might be best not to ask"….I mean, she wasn't wrong.
Both teams meet up in a clearing that shouldn't be there….why do I hear boss music.
"I'm sorry they do what now?"
And there's the Grimm in its' final form; I'm calling it the Gestalt because it's a cool name….this is one of the last boss fight Grimm we're gonna have in this story and I wanted to make it a memorable one so I made a Jacana Bird Grimm, because look at the fucking things, google how they carry their young.
Also….trust me when I tell you, it's got another cool trick up its' sleeve as well as recovering and splitting itself to spread its' eggs out. You'll see.
Thank you to SumoSnipe for their review on the last chapter.
Ah Top Gun, an anime famous for its' beach episode.
Good old percussive maintenance, I know it well; it's got a few apprentices and office vermin to switch on in the workshop.
Diamond and Hellion saw their chances and took them.
I mean Atlas's military bases are literally right there on the outside of the mountains, you see 'em on the flight in….also Scroll's act as an Aura tracker for team-mates so I assume there'd be some leeway, but also it's rule of convenience because I need Corvid to have a scroll on her…..also yeah, we can all believe what Corey used it for.
And don't worry, I promised you tentacles….I haven't forgotten.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review