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Chapter 158: Sea Change
Each of the seven Hunters preparing to face the Gestalt Grimm had made their own mental calculations of the things' abilities, gauging how difficult it would be to subdue based on the speed, durability and freakish abilities of the individual Jacana Bird Grimm that had formed its' body.
They had all vastly underestimated the thing.
"Why won't this son of a bitch go down?" Felix demanded furiously as he sprinted across the clearing, his words lost beneath the endless cacophony of Hack and Slash unloading as they were fired in their machine pistol forms, the Gestalt was now wreathed in obsidian smoke that spewed from the various holes that had been blown into its' body yet it seemed to be completely unaffected by the onslaught and as Felix finally drew close enough to shift his weapons into their chainsaw-bladed sword forms the flightless abomination proved beyond doubt that it was more than the sum of its' parts; its' speed and strength were far greater than the Lion Faunus had anticipated and before he could tear into the Grimms' leg to at the very least hobble it the thing lashed out and Felix let out a choked gasp as the air left his lungs and his momentum was robbed before the Gestalt curled the toes of the disproportionately large foot it had kicked him with and lifted the struggling Faunus off of the ground before slamming him down with enough force to leave a small indentation in the clearing that the battle was taking place in.
Felix was far from ready to admit defeat just yet however and he promptly dropped his weapons before activating his Semblance, not channelling enough power to enter his Balrog state but merely using the heat he had absorbed on this sweltering island to force the Grimms' claws off of him and lift its' limb overhead as if it were a barbell even as the Gestalt retaliated, letting out several enraged squawks as it loomed over him and brought the twisted and spindly limbs that dangled from its' midsection to bear.
Fortunately Felix was not alone.
Carcharodon's assault on the Gestalt was clearly entirely for the Shark Faunus's own pride and benefit, yet as he emerged from the ground and raked the blades of the Red Waves across the monsters' face even as his body still solidified from the use of his Semblance it became clear that both Felix and Carcharodon's team-mates had the quick thinking to take advantage of the opening.
"Get clear!" the yelled warning came from Eagle who had swooped close in her avian form and reappeared in a flash of Aura, quickly grabbing Felix's dropped weapons and dragging her partner away as fast as possible.
Not quite fast enough.
Felix distinctly heard Onyx's low rumbling chuckle before he was flung to the ground and could hear nothing at all over the ringing in his ears and the sensation of his head spinning; after a few attempts he managed to force air into lungs that burned and screamed in protest whilst forcing his mind to make some sense of the garbled information his senses were feeding it.
Eventually he realised that the Gestalt was no longer stood where it had been, instead there was a smoking crater in its' place courtesy of the highly explosive shell that the Puma Faunus had fired; the Grimm itself declared its' continued survival with a piercing shriek of utmost rage.
"If you've got a plan now would be the time Slate!" the pointed tone of Onyx's demand did something to force Felix's brain into gear and he quickly found himself snapping out of the daze the explosion had left him in, managing to sound at least somewhat coherent
"There's a plan now?"
"Rough outline" Arctus amended before unleashing a pair of summoned Beowolves onto the Gestalt which snapped at the arms it had formed from legs, several of which were already reduced to stumps "We've been treating like a Grimm, I'm thinking we treat it like a Spawning Pit instead….Shame none of us brought the Fracture Team GORE are keeping on the boat"
"So what then?" Felix asked "High explosive?"
"Exactly….Diamond now!" the moment the Bear Faunus called out to her the sniper revealed that she had taken position in the trees around the edge of the clearing and snapped a volley of shots in quick succession, each of them revealed to be Ice Dust rounds as they froze the Gestalt in place and held its' limbs fast, allowing Arctus to turn his attention elsewhere
"Hellion!" he called out and the Dragonfly Faunus sprinted close to the still thrashing and struggling Creature of Grimm and produced several handfuls of her seemingly limitless supply of knives, planting them into the ground around their target and revealing each of them to contain an explosive mixture of Dust crystals in their hilts; as she stepped away Arctus created a series of Glyphs around the Grimm that entirely enveloped it, forming a sealed area to contain the detonation.
The ground still shook with the force of multiple controlled explosions however.
"Well….that's one way of doing things" Felix noted as the two teams of Hunters regrouped, checking themselves for injuries and keeping an eye on the cloud of smoke that marked where the Grimm had been.
"Upset that we didn't throw you at this one?" Diamond grinned
"Not at all" Felix laughed "It makes a-HOLY SHIT!" he and each of his friends flung themselves to the ground as something large, serpentine and jet black lashed through the air at chest height.
"IT'S STILL ALIVE!" Carcharodon roared as he scrambled to his feet "HOW!"
"It can repair itself from that?" Arctus breathed out, eyes wide at the realisation "Unbelievable"
"So what you're saying is we've gotta get rid of every single one of the little Grimm that makes this thing all in one go?" Eagle asked, readying her sword and bracing herself.
However as the Gestalt stepped into view again it became clear that the task would be even harder than it seemed; the cloud of smoke retracted into the bulbous, avian monsters' body as its' ability to heal each of its' constituent parts was displayed once again; once recovered it proceeded to show a twisted variation on its' other remarkable feature. In its' combined form it seemed that the Gestalt was unable to produce any of the eggs that spawned other Creatures of Grimm.
Instead it could produce parts of them, sprouting them from its' own body.
The dangling pairs of legs that had been twisted into arms retracted into the Gestalt's body and in their place a two pairs of segmented limbs ending in crushing pincers, clearly those belonging to Deathstalkers emerged, followed by a pair of grasping paws ending in razor sharp claws whose origins the Hunters could not be entirely sure of and then a further two pairs of vast tentacles, each longer than the Gestalt was tall with undersides lined with fang-ridged suckers. Finally almost an entirely half of a King-Taijitu slithered out of the flightless horrors' body and took its' place behind the Gestalt's tail, arcing up over its' back like some obscene stinger.
"That….is disgusting" was all Diamond managed to say as she struggled to comprehend the things' grotesque new form.
"Okay we need a new plan" Felix barked out, readying his weapons "In the meantime keep it on the defensive!" even as he prepared to charge the Lion Faunus couldn't help but realise just how difficult that task might now prove to be.
Salem's plan was in motion and the Witch's unhinged cackling rent and distorted the air around her.
Her creation was complete, the entire lake of protean, unformed Grimm matter that had lain just beyond her throne had been converted into a singular organism that could in truth barely be considered to be a living entity in its' own right; a colossal mining drill made of bands of muscle larger than trees and countless claws, serrated teeth and other appendages that had been fashioned and repurposed to bore and tear through stone, all of the things might being directly controlled by Salem herself, the Queen of the Grimm refusing to allow her plans to be derailed or delayed by outside influences any further.
Salem herself stood upon the bridge made of chitin and bone that hung across the newly transformed lake of Grimm matter, wide enough for several people to stand abreast and suspended above the living darkness by ropes of thick sinew and as her insane laughter subsided so too did the roiling storm of malevolent energies that had scorched and split the air as they flashed and flared around her yet they never truly faded away; instead the Queen of the Grimm seemed to glow as bloody crimson light shone against her alabaster skin from seemingly everywhere at once and yet also from nowhere, her fiery red eyes shone and lightning of the same colour crackled around them whilst both her ghostly white hair and the folds of her inky black clothing, itself a part of her own form were blown dramatically around her by some unknown force.
"Now!" she called out, voice booming and echoing unnaturally "DIG!" at her command the unspeakable mass of Grimm tissue she had sculpted into a living weapon began to move, its' writhing and pulsating mass sickening to behold as it rippled and shifted with pained, groaning and unsettlingly wet squelching sound issuing from deep within it as its' enormous form began to move; slowly at first but gradually building up speed and a discernable rhythm and form as its' coiling, shifting form looped and coiled around itself and began to rip into the foundations of Salem's fortress and then the desolate rock of the island beneath it.
It wasn't enough.
"MORE!" Salem's voice continued to boom and distort unnaturally as the Powers of the Wizard were intertwined with her own abilities as the manifestation of the Grimm Hive-Mind; blood red lightning flashed around her and clouds of pure darkness began to coalesce around her form as she channelled more of her twisted and arcane power into the nameless creature she had spawned, warping the flow of time around it and forcing it dig ever faster. The sound of shattering stone and the hiss of rock being melted by some acid the Grimm Drill secreted filled the air, deafening in their volume as cloud of debris and steam were forced up through the monstrous things' bulk to rise up on either side of the bridge Salem stood upon.
It still wasn't enough.
"MORE!" this time her voice was a scream that cracked and shattered the air around her as though it were glass, rippling reality itself and causing the bridge to shake as the tendons of Grimm flesh that held it aloft shuddered and strained.
With an almighty effort and a scream that came not from her lips but from the air and reality itself the Queen of the Grimm focused all of her power into the lone, gigantic abomination beneath her; the maze of interconnected Spawning Pools located in the bowels of her fortress ceased creating new Grimm for her to command and the magic that hid her fortress from view was dissipated leaving her open to any attack that might come from the outside, all so that the writhing mass of Grimm matter below her would burrow its' way into the ground faster.
A trade that Salem was only too happy to make.
She no longer needed this fortress, she no longer needed legions of ravenous monsters or Generals to command them and sow discord amongst the Kingdoms; instead she planned to consign Remnant to oblivion in a single apocalyptic blow and it would be the Grimm Drill that made it possible. Her plan was almost laughable in its' simplicity and yet it would be all but impossible to halt once the Grimm Drill had completed its' task, Salem herself was the result of the Grimm Hive-Mind evolving due to psychic backlash of the Great War; the destruction of Menagerie and those who inhabited it had allowed the Grimm psyche to coalesce into a sentient individual and now the Queen of Grimm planned to use that same principle again, but on a much larger scale; her Grimm Drill would bore its' way down into Remnants' core, likely being destroyed in the completion of its' goal at which point Salem planned to use her powers to simply extinguish the molten heart of the planet and collapse Remnant in on itself in a cataclysmic implosion.
The psychic backlash of the entire planet dying by her hand in a single blow would push her powers to unfathomable new heights and the barrier that the Wizards of other Remnants had put in place to contain her would be shattered, she would drag their entire timelines into the dead Remnant she presided over and send them each into the darkness in turn until there was no multiverse and no more struggle between life and death; only an endless void of nothingness and silence that she would preside over, safe in the knowledge that her purpose and the purpose of the Grimm had been fulfilled.
Salem let out another bout of demented laughter as she realised that she couldn't be stopped now, it was only a matter of time and time was hers to command.
Blanca had, as he had told Teams FADE, GORE and NEON he would do returned to his office within the resort complex; a reasonably spacious and comfortable room befitting his position as head of security and experience as a veteran, if at least semi-retired Hunter. Currently the lights were dimmed as Blanca had allowed himself to get comfortable in preparation for a long and uneventful shift; it had been a long and uneventful night monitoring the damaged security gate and perimeter wall after the Grimm had paid an unwelcome visit and his old, weary bones weren't quite up going days without rest like he had done working with Team STRQ a lifetime ago. The three teams of Hunters had departed hours ago and he was yet to hear anything from them though he was far from worried by the silence, each of them was highly recommended and exceptionally capable after all and Hunting Grimm could often times take days on end before the mark was found; the resort itself was running smoothly in their absence with the guests, happy and assured of their safety doing nothing that might draw amphibious monstrosities onto the beach or swooping down from above and seeing nothing that warranted his direct intervention Blanca had allowed himself to relax; his weapon lay collapsed across his lap where he had been cleaning it and the old man had reclined in his comfortable leather seat with his safari hat low over his face and his feet on the table, a valiant struggle to remain awake and alert long since given up on.
A loud and shrill alert from the computer at his desk soon roused him.
"Ah, huh? Who-the? Oum damn it!" the confused and beleaguered sputtering soon trailed off as Blanca managed to get his bearing and remember exactly where he was and what he was doing, stopping himself moments before his chair tipped out from under him and robbed him of his dignity. In a matter of mere seconds his instincts and senses returned to him and he had gathered his thoughts enough to first turn the lights on and secondly release that the sound that awoken him was an incoming video call, the continuing shrillness making it clear that whoever was attempting to contact him was unrelenting. Rubbing his bleary eyes and setting his weapon off to one side Blanca peered at the screen, a sense of inexplicable unease settling into his gut as he saw the identity of the caller.
"Oum damn it" he muttered under his breath before taking the mouse and continuing to mutter as he grappled with controls that remained unfamiliar to him even after decades of technological progress "Okay, press that, click that, that doohickey there….is this thing on?"
"It's on" the gruff, smoky drawl of Qrow Branwen answered as the call began, the grizzled old Hunter turned teacher flickering into view in the form of a grainy image whose quality could be blamed solely on Blanca's own computer.
"Sleeping on the job again Blanca?" Qrow couldn't help but chuckle, clearly glad to speak with an old friend under any circumstances "I suppose it won't cost you a weapon this time"
"And I can't even call you an ass-hole for fixing up this damned walking stick as a replacement any more" Blanca snorted, remembering one of the missions that the two of them had undertaken together "Although I suppose since you're a teacher now there's a chance you might part with that scythe you spent a decade using as a walking stick….but you didn't call to be social did you?" the fact that Qrow sell silent and wore a frown that deepened the lines of his face rather than jokingly tell Blanca exactly what the odds of him parting with Harbinger were was all the confirmation that was needed.
"I didn't" Qrow admitted "Where are the kids?"
"Out in the jungle looking for the Grimm, it made an appearance last night" Blanca answered, believing that he understood the reason for the call and allowing himself to relax a little "If you want a progress report….don't worry yourself, I reckon they'll handle things without too much trouble; you've got yourself a decent little batch of recruits here and I'm sure your daughter will tell you how her first mission out in the real world went when they get back"
"That's not why I'm calling" Qrow murmured "I need them to contact me as soon as they get back, I might have something that needs to be looked at and with their ship they'd be in an ideal position to investigate it"
"What're we looking at?" Blanca asked, leaning forward as he suddenly became far more businesslike
"We?" Qrow arched an eyebrow before his expression went through several changes and Blanca could practically see the gears turning in his head; years of deeply ingrained secrecy that had become second nature rebelling against the notion of bringing someone into the fold before he conceded that with all the secrets that had been revealed to all of Remnant there was no reason to continue reflexively hoarding information.
"I have ears in a lot of places….strategically important places and key infrastructure"
"Y'know if I didn't trust you so much I'd have to accuse you of something when you start like that" Blanca's attempt at levity went unanswered and Qrow pushed on
"There's a Dust mining rig off the coast of Mistral, SDC owned….I picked up some chatter coming out of there about unusual seismic activity, like a steadily increasing pulse; nothing massive yet but it's showing up on readings and it doesn't look right. I did a little investigating, cross-referencing it against coastal villages and ships sending out warnings; as far as I can tell the pulse is coming from one of the islands on the same chain as the resort.
"That can't be right" Blanca shook his head, trying to make the pieces of this particular puzzle fit together in his mind "There aren't any fault-lines anywhere near these islands the resort was built here because it's safe from any geological or environmental issues; there can't be any earthquakes here"
"Only if we assume that this is natural" the words, delivered with terrifyingly matter-of-fact bluntness hung in the air and Blanca was left staring at the screen in utter shock as he processed what had been said
"You think this is being caused?" he demanded, brow furrowing "You think this is….her? Salem?"
"I think we'd be dangerously stupid to rule it out" Qrow answered simply "These readings aren't dangerous now, but if these tremors continue at the rate they have been we're going to have something serious on our hands….like I said, nothing about this looks natural and I think it'd be smart to get more information"
"Agreed" Blanca nodded "They're on their mission now….I'll bring them in, keep monitoring things so you can give them a proper briefing"
"Thanks Blanca" Qrow nodded and promptly ended the call; Blanca rose from his seat and hastily readjusted his hat and double checked his weapon, cursing under his breath as he prepared to head out into the jungle and find Team FADE.
Hoping that the slight rumble that he felt as much as heard was thunder somewhere in the distance, despite the utter lack of clouds in the sky.
Team NEON had been far too distracted to notice any minor rumblings of the ground.
The sounds of a battle in the distance had reached them even through the dense foliage, a series of dull booms and muffled impacts undercut by a constant stream of gunfire causing the four of them to share concerned glances and silently debate leaving their post to aid Team FADE and GORE until it became clear that their presence was still needed at the gate; they had not been the only ones to hear the battle in the jungle and more of the seemingly endless tide of Creatures of Grimm had been spurred into action by the commotion; pouring out of the treeline with murderous intent.
"Oum damn it, how did it take this long for the infestation to become a problem? There's clearly been Grimm here for years!" Nyanza noted, making the astute observation as he threaded bullets through the bodies of several Creeps; his Semblance and skill allowing him to fell multiple monsters with each shot.
"Less whining, more ass-kicking!" Olivine called back as she and Ether worked in tandem to rip through a troupe of Beringrels with frightening speed and efficiency; the diminutive woman once again wielding Buster Bravo in its' close combat form and leaping from the blade of Ghost Reverie to deliver crushing blows to the simian Grimm as they leapt from the trees before Ether used his Semblance to appear behind the more cautious of the monsters and cut them down with a series of lightning fast slashes.
"I agree with Ollie" Helios chimed in, punctuating his words with the dull metallic clang of Akuo being used as a blunt object to bludgeon the snout of a Grimm followed by the monsters' final yelp of pain as it was impaled with Milo.
"I'm just saying" Nyanza sighed "Whoever was acting as security before we got here was slacking, they-"
The ground shook, a lone tremor silencing the bushy tailed feline Faunus before it was quickly followed by more impacts that shook the ground and the sight of trees being forced aside in the distance as a trumpeting war-cry rang out
"CASE IN POINT!" Nyanza cried "How the hell do you miss a Goliath?"
"A Goliath?" Helios chuckled darkly as he braced himself "It's never just one….On my mark!" it was only seconds after he had spoken that the first of the enormous and elephantine beats stormed into the desolate no-man's land between the jungle and the perimeter wall of the resort.
Helios had prepared himself and was wreathed in the darkness of his Semblance and had braced himself for a display of unspeakable force to stop the Goliaths, unsure of whether the defences could withstand their thunderous charge and entirely unwilling to find out he let out a roar of exertion and unleashed his Semblance in a wave that rippled through the air.
The ground shattered and trees splintered as they collapsed.
"Holy shit" Olivine gasped as she watched the entire herd of Goliaths struggle yet ultimately remain immobile under the crushing pressure of the warped and amplified gravity her team leader was unleashing upon them; Team NEON had all seen Helios do impressive things with his Semblance yet it never failed to stun them
"Ollie now!" he called through clenched and gritted teeth, prompting Olivine to shift Buster Bravo into its' ranged form and open fire with everything that the portable weapon system had, filling the air with acrid black smog as she cut down the Goliaths with a serious of explosions and flashes of coloured light and a cacophony that made the air tremble.
Followed by the ground which shook once again.
"What the hell, more of 'em?" Ether demanded
"No, that isn't Grimm….at least not here" Team NEON collectively turned to face the speaker and saw Blanca strolling out into the clearing which was now far more ruined and battle-scarred than it had been mere hours ago, face more serious than the younger Hunters had seen it and clutching the trigger of whatever weapon his walking stick concealed as he drew closer.
"We have a situation" he said simply and without preamble "The island is being evacuated effective immediately, I need the four of you to head back to resort and make sure that the guests get on the damn airship-"
"We need to find the others" Helios interjected "They're fighting something, we heard it and I think they might need help"
"Give me your Scroll so I can track them" Blanca nodded, taking the device before he continued "I'll find the others and we'll regroup at my office, just make sure there aren't any stragglers….we might me looking at tidal waves" the old man allowed no further debate as he took off into the trees, showing just how much of a ruse his frail and feeble appearance had been as he somersaulted and activated his Semblance, revealing that he was capable of manipulating the air pressure and air currents around him and using those manipulations to launch himself forwards like a rocket; vanishing deeper into the jungle almost faster than the eye could see.
"That sounded serious" Nyanza muttered, more than a little taken aback by just how quickly the situation had changed and changed from something almost routine to whatever it was now.
"It does" Helios agreed "And we have our-" before he could finish the ground shook again, the trees visibly shaking and each of Team NEON realised that whatever the tremors were, they were getting worse.
The tremors had shaken the entirety of the island Jinxing Resort was built upon, including the clearing in which teams FADE & GORE were locked in battle against the Gestalt.
"What the hell was that?" Felix demanded as he steadied himself after being forced to a staggering and unstable halt by the ground shaking beneath uncontrollably beneath him; before any of his friends could offer a reply the Lion Faunus was forced to leap aside as pair thick, powerful tentacles lined with fanged suckers tore through the space he had occupied an instant before and left a cloud of dust and shallow trenches gouged into the ground as they collided with the floor, the Gestalt with its' absurdly oversized and splayed wide talons had managed to remain upright and stable and was now pressing its' sudden advantage by letting out a piercing shriek as it charged and brought the freakish and twisted mass of limbs it had grafted onto itself to bear.
Luckily Felix was not alone.
"I've got it!" Arctus called out as he hurled a Glyph that rotated like a circular saw blade into one of the Gestalt's tentacles, whilst Eagle, Onyx and Hellion had been thrown to the ground by the steadily building tremors the Bear Faunus had used his Glyphs to stay off of the ground and whilst his attack did no lasting damage to the Grimm it did at least get the monsters' attention and the moment the gestalt had regenerated its' severed appendage it launched a barrage of wild and thrashing attacks only for Diamond to leap into the fray; the silver haired sniper had used her Semblance to remain completely stable as she ground shook and as she leapt from her vantage point in the trees Arctus created a series of Glyphs for her to leap between, she shifted Lex Talionis into its' glaive form as she went and kept the flightless avian beasts' deluge of attacks at bay for long enough for another attack to come.
Carcharodon caught the Grimm completely unaware.
Felix watched, begrudgingly impressed as always as the Shark Faunus burst upwards from the ground and began his onslaught even as his body was still reforming, the Red Waves slashing through the monsters' legs and up into its' gut yet the Lion Faunus slowly realised that it was a futile effort, unless they found a way to destroy the horrific thing entirely in a single blow it would continue to regenerate and as the King-Taijitu head that served as a tail whipped around to attack Carcharodon, seemingly controlling the Deathstalker pincers and other clawed limbs at the things' disposal Felix knew that his fellow team leader was fighting a losing battle and quickly sprung into action once again.
"CAR MOVE BACK!" he yelled as he sprinted towards the Gestalt, his Aura flaring around him like golden flames and the Aura regulator in his cybernetic tail whirring faintly as he carefully measured his Semblance, knowing that this was a battle where neither his Balrog form or its' advanced state would be of much use and instead simply become an unstoppable force as he crashed into the Gestalt; Carcharodon sank into the ground and reappeared elsewhere in the clearing and Felix heard the Grimm's bones crack under the force of the collision, sheathing his weapons the blazing Faunus batted the crushing pincers of the monster aside and as its' serpentine tail lunged at him with its' fangs bared he grabbed it by the neck, using his power and momentum to lift the Gestalt off of the ground and swing it by the tail, throwing it with as much force as he could muster to land in a crumpled heap of tangled and mismatched limbs which quickly began unfurling themselves.
"Any ideas?" Felix panted out, wiping sweat from his brow as he used the brief opening he had created to catch his breath; Teams FADE and GORE rallied around him only to be left staggering by another tremor rippling through the ground though before any of them could comment or offer their theories as to what was happening the Gestalt let out a shrill battle-cry, righting itself and preparing to unleash its' many limbs in another barrage of attacks.
Then something unexpected happened.
"STAND CLEAR!" Blanca's voice boomed out, rising up the whooshing rush of air that filled the clearing as the retired Hunter approached at impossible speeds, leaping from tree to tree with a series of blasts as he used his Semblance to manipulate the air around him. His countermeasure to the Gestalt's onslaught was perfectly delivered, as if he'd gauged the things' speed, strength and abilities before he had even arrived; he entered the clearing still in mid-air and with a splintering of wood as he broke the trunk of a tee apart in single blow and with a first blast of air kicked the severed trunk upwards and with a second blast he streaked upwards after it, somersaulting in the air several times before landing on the tree-trunk and kicking it directly towards the Gestalt with incomprehensible force; the ground cratered beneath the monster as its' tentacles wrapped around the projectile and strained to keep it from crushing its' body. Blanca allowed himself to fall, once again landing on the tree-trunk that was still in the grasp of the Grimm and as he reared up to his full, unimpressive height he held his cane out, pressing it against the tip of the monsters' beak as it transformed to become a shotgun.
"Do you feel lucky?….Well, do ya punk?" with that he fired and teams FADE and GORE were left in shock, explosive rounds seemed to be an entirely inadequate name for whatever Blanca had shot the Gestalt with, the Grimm's entire skull was consumed in fire and smoke trailed from the stump of its' neck
"Blanca it can regenerate!" Felix called out in warning, only for the older man to chuckle in response and offer him a smile
"I'm sure it can….but right now it's thinking with the wrong head; the head that isn't too smart" Felix was left cocking his head in confusion for a moment before realising what Blanca was referring to, the King-Taijitu head had taken control of the Gestalt's body which was in the process of reorienting itself with a series of unsettling snaps; the smaller head and serpentine neck giving the Grimm the appearance of some monstrous emu or ostrich.
"You can take it out from here" Blanca intoned calmly before flipping away and gesturing for Felix to complete the mission; without hesitation the Lion Faunus unsheathed Hack and Slash and sprinted towards the Gestalt only to come staggering to a halt once again moments later as Carcharodon erupted from the ground mere inches in front of him to decapitate the monster with a single swipe of his blades. The Shark Faunus rose to his full height and turned to face Felix, looming over the shorter Faunus and with the smoke of the Grimm, which had finally died as Blanca's assertions were proven correct trailing behind him yet despite his fearsome appearance Carcharodon was smiling
"I did not come all this way and chase those Grimm through a jungle just to be upstaged"
"Fair" Felix laughed, adrenaline leaving his body like a receding wave and leaving him suddenly exhausted "Fuck it, we still get paid either way" the thrill of victory and brief sense of respite was stolen from the Hunters as a moment later another tremor, greater than those before it shook the ground and prompted Blanca to stride forwards, his weapon transforming back into a cane to support him and his expression grave and sombre as he let out a sigh and met the eyes of the two team leaders.
"Kids….we've got a situation"
There were no words to describe the rage that coursed through every fibre of Pantheon's being at that moment.
The sentient Grimm had never truly left Salem's domain upon being dismissed hours ago, instead they had waited beyond the massive double doors that led to her throne room and simply observed the unfolding situation as much as possible, realising that the Queen that they wished to depose was almost certainly concocting a new plan and that if they wished to have a future for themselves of the Creatures of Grimm as a species then they needed to learn what it was before it was too late.
Pantheon had first simply listened from beyond the sealed doors and been silently concerned by the unhinged laughter that issued from Salem in a strangely distorted voice and moreover by the indescribably rush of power that they could feel from Salem's throne room, indicating that whatever was taking place within was almost certainly monumental. Eventually, sensing that it was a risk that must be taken Pantheon had gently prised the massive double doors open a fraction and peered through the opening to see that Salem was stood on the bridge of Grimm flesh and bone that stretched over the lake of liquid, protean darkness that was dedicated solely to her own experimentations rather than sat upon her throne and that a storm of terrifying dark magic had engulfed her as she twisted the Powers of the Wizard to her own ends.
Upon seeing her creation Pantheon had been confused, entirely unsure of what to make of colossal mass of muscle lined with teeth and claws that the Queen of Grimm had fashioned for herself yet the sentient monster continued to watch; confusion only deepening as they realised that this vast Grimm was a tool created for the single purpose of digging until eventually comprehension dawned on them and their all-consuming hatred and fury reached its' current fever pitch as they realised that Salem intended to destroy Remnant in its' entirety along with everything that lived on it.
Including the Creatures of Grimm.
"This is the moment then" Salem rumbled to themselves, their voice a multitude of voices as always yet each constituent part of the cacophony had changed from the usual guttural snarls and screams that Pantheon usually spoke in, instead they sounded afraid. Pantheon realised, in a moment of self reflection that no other Creature of Grimm would have been capable of that they were the sole hope for the Grimm, they had been prepared to wage war against Hunters and the humans and Faunus as a whole for as long as they were capable of doing so but unless Salem were stopped here and now they would never get the chance, they would be betrayed and cast aside by the Queen whom they had loyally served and followed.
That could not be allowed.
Taking a single step back and rearing up to their full, imposing height with their wings and scythe-clawed upper limbs splayed wide behind them and their clawed tail held at the ready Pantheon prepared to kick the massive double doors open and storm Salem's throne room alone, it was poor plan, Pantheon new this and knew that they would likely perish but there was no time for anything else and in the face of certain extinction any chance, no matter how slim was preferable. They were halted however by the sound of beating wings and heavy, lumbering footsteps drawing close and a low, menacing growl escaped them as the first of the interlopers came into view; Salem's Gargoyles, hulking and cumbersome gorilla-like things with membranous wings and ugly contorted skulls that evoked some fearsome masks, Pantheon knew that they could tear the things apart with ease and had done so on more than once occasion already however there were five of them here now, likely patrolling the hallways and drawn by the light cast by the scuttling insectoid Grimm that remained above Pantheon as they clung to the ceiling; the sentient Grimm also knew that there was no hope of swaying these beasts to their cause, they had been made personally by Salem's own hand for the purpose of protecting their Queen.
They would die in her service, the way Pantheon had once been willing to.
"Leave or perish" Pantheon snarled, the head of the five Gargoyles reared up from its' hunched, knuckle-dragging walking posture and let out an earth-shaking roar that was followed by a thunderclap of force a moment later as the two Grimm charged at each other.
The first Gargoyle met its' end swiftly and without mercy as Pantheon caught it mid-lunge with their lower, more humanoid arms before their tail arced overhead and the three-pronged claw of the serpentine appendage closed around the Gargoyle's skull and crushed it with a sound like steel scraping against rock and shattering stone.
The remaining four over-muscled juggernauts barrelled into Pantheon's more lithe, yet no less powerful form as one and smashed the Grimm general back several feet, Pantheon's talons raking into the ground as a single flap of their powerful wings brought them to a halt before returning the blow with gusto; the second of the five Gargoyles to fall did so as they leapt into the air, bat-like wings propelling them forwards only for Pantheon to drive one of their scythe-like upper limbs into the things torso, splaying the digits wide whilst still impaling the thing and tearing their adversary apart. It became clear to Pantheon however as the remaining Trio of Gargoyles pressed into them once again that fighting them on their own terms was foolish and instead the sentient Grimm lashed out with their tail again, seizing a Gargoyle by the chest with the clawed appendage and hurling at the massive double doors of Salem's throne room, smashing the entrance open wide with their body before decapitating the thing with a single slash and taking to the air to soar inside.
Salem remained entirely passive and statuesque, a thunderstorm like nexus of energy roiling around her laced with crimson lighting as she focused the entirety of her being on her apocalyptic plans; the final two Gargoyles however were eager to act in their Queens' stead and leapt into the air after Pantheon to give chase. The sentient monster let out a snarl and dove down to meet them, intent on ending this battle so that they could focus on their true goal of preventing Salem's victory; their taloned legs lashed out as they swooped low and ripped into the wings of one Gargoyle whilst their bladed upper limbs shredded the other in a cloud of rapidly dispersing darkness, without hesitation Pantheon then buried their tail into gut of the Gargoyle still in their grasp and threw it down into Salem's monstrous Grimm Drill where it was eviscerated the moment its' body came into contact with the behemoth mass of darkness.
The Drill stopped.
Pantheon felt a change in the air pressure as whatever arcane power Salem was channelling into her creation at the exact same moment the thunderous roar of its' burrowing ceased, being reduced to a steadily fading echo bouncing from the walls of the throne room; a moment later they felt a wave of incomprehensible dread wash over them and glanced down to find the Queen of the Grimm directly staring directly up at them, the surging energy that had enveloped her vanishing though her eyes continued to glow with blood red light and were made all the more fearsome by the sheer malevolence behind them. Pantheon mastered themselves and let out a roar of challenge before calling out to their former Queen
"SALEM! THIS ENDS NOW!"
Teams FADE, NEON and GORE had reconvened at Blanca's office and been joined by the veteran Hunter himself after ensuring that the island had indeed been emptied of guests and that the defences were primed and capable of dealing with any Grimm that might become excitable during whatever storm, natural or otherwise that approached whilst the Hunters were preoccupied; these tasks had been completed without incident though none present managed to take any comfort from this fact as they gathered around Blanca's old computer and listened to Qrow's briefing.
"So let's just get this straight, so we all understand each other" Felix breathed out, clenching his fists simply to keep his hands from shaking "You think Salem holed up on an island near us after she left New Vale and that she was the one causing those quakes?"
"I think it's a distinct possibility and one we have to investigate" Qrow's voice answered, the computers' speakers giving his words a distinctly tinny edge to them "There was nothing natural about those tremors, especially the way they built up power….I've met Hunters with Geomancy Semblances before, that's what it looked like only magnified. We've had no leads on Salem or her activities since New Vale so it's obvious she went to ground somewhere….an uninhabited island seems like a good place to fall back to"
"Like Menagerie" Eagle noted from beside Felix
"Exactly" Qrow murmured "I was there….I saw her fortress on Menagerie, it was a literal mountain of animated fossilised Grimm matter and that was before she had Oz's power on her side; I don't want to imagine what she might be capable of now-"
"And how desperate she might be" Diamond added thoughtfully "If all of the people she brought from other Remnants are gone and she must know about Fracture after New Vale….whatever she's planning, if it is her causing these quakes is gonna be huge" that proclamation hung in the air for a few moments, the atmosphere in the office gradually growing more tense and oppressive until Carcharodon spoke up, his rasping voice barely above a whisper.
"The Nemesis Kharybdis can reach the island in a matter of hours, we have Fracture at our disposal and the tremors have stopped for now….If we intend to do this then now is the time"
"Agreed" Felix nodded "But I can't speak for everyone….we'll investigate the island, but we've fought Salem before and there's a very real chance that….look all I'm saying is that if anybody wants to stay here I won't hold it against you"
"We're partners" Eagle said simply, resting a hand on his shoulder "If you're going I'm going"
"I'm in" Arctus breathed, squaring his shoulders and bracing himself.
"Me too" Diamond nodded; it was clear that whatever they might encounter when they reached the source of the tremors that had shaken coastal villages across Mistral and Vaccuo Team FADE would face it together.
"As are we" Carcharodon added, Onyx and Hellion beside him having reaching a silent consensus amongst themselves and the Dragonfly Faunus locking eyes with Eagle, assuring her without words that they would not be parted again.
"You don't have to ask" Helios assured the Lion Faunus resting a hand on Felix's other shoulder "I'll be there beside you"
"You're gonna need me" Nyanza managed a cocky grin "I'm in"
"Let's do this" Olivine added, clearly nervous but with Ether squeezing her hand beside her and nodding in agreement.
"Okay then….eleven Hunters" Felix noted "We can do this"
"Remember Felix" Qrow warned "This is a scouting mission, reach the island, learn what you can and pull back"
"That's the plan Uncle Qrow" Felix shrugged "Let's just hope we can stick to it….if whatever those tremors were starts up again we might have to act" the reality of the situation seemed to set in with those words and it became clear to each member of Teams FADE, NEON and GORE that in mere hours they could be fighting a battle of equal importance to the final battle on Menagerie where Salem had been sealed away for twenty years.
Except they would be doing it alone.
Author's notes:
Boom….Next chapter the teams are gonna make their way to Salem's lair and then the finale really begins.
Over three years of work is gonna come to an end in less than two months.
I've already got ideas for the next story in this universe; but seriously give me a sign if you want to read it because at this point I'm concerned that I'd be diverging too far away from RWBY itself….I made a joke to a friend that the next story in my universe compared to canon would be like comparing Transformers Zone to the G1 cartoon.
Writing schedule has been fucked for the last week or so and this chapter feels a little rushed and short but I can't figure out exactly where the problem was, so fuck it this is what you're getting.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Remember the early "Boss Fight" Grimm like the Rat King, the Dungeon-Master and the Brachiodonis…..look at how far Team FADE have come, First Year Team FADE would have gotten themselves killed against the Gestalt.
No Balrog state at any point in the fight with the Gestalt, that was a conscious choice….because now he's still got it on hand for later.
Y'know in games like Last of Us or Gears of War when you're like one shot away from dead and the screen starts to go tunnel vision….that was Fluffy after Onyx opened fire.
Nice plan from Arctus, including using Glyphs to seal the explosion in…..Because only you can prevent forest fires.
I PROMISED YOU TENTACLES TO GO WITH YOUR BEACH EPISODE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?
Salem out here flexing that big dick energy and reminding us all why she's the big bad.
Also yes, I'm playing up the body horror a little bit with the Grimm Drill because it's a giant fucking tumour with teeth.
I had Salem pour all of her magic into the Grimm Drill specifically to drop some of the defences around her castle so that the Teams approaching by sea can actually see it.
Okay so the evolution of the Hive Mind creating Salem was the backstory I gave her in Downward Spiral and the idea of her using the destruction of Remnant as a whole to accelerate her own growth again just fits.
But now we know exactly what her plan is, she's not dicking around killing Hunters or infiltrating Kingdoms and taking them down piece by piece any more; she's going to implode Remnant and destroy everything in one go.
Blanca thought he was gonna get some sleep today….Nah fam.
No I don't feel sorry about the stereotype of being abysmal with computers.
Gotta give Qrow and Blanca some history together…..Also the idea of Qrow parting with Harbinger is laughable.
I mean from the outside the amount of spying Qrow does is definitely illegal. But yeah, Qrow's intel was a necessary piece of plot convenience and it's not exactly out of character so we'll allow it.
Nyanza casually being smarter and more observant than people give him credit for, yet again.
Okay so who has the most "Dues Ex Machina" Semblance, Felix or Helios?
Finally getting that island evacuated.
The Gestalt is a Jacana bird Grimm, look at its' feet and tell that it's gonna be easy to knock over.
Diamond Dust tag team moves are always fun….And the hopping from Glyph to Glyph in melee is something I' gonna have to get used to writing if I do make another spin off.
Carcharodon just pulling out Noob Saibot and Smoke from Mortal Kombat special moves.
I told you when I first introduced him that Blanca was based on Gran Torino from MHA, so that's what his Semblance was always gonna be; he's just a human bottle rocket.
And since the name Gran Torino is obviously a nod to the Clint Eastwood film I had to throw in the line….and no I'm not sorry.
Make all the jokes about thinking with the wrong head you want.
If Pantheon had this scene maybe a year ago it might have been the start of a redemption arc or as close to one as a Creature of Grimm can have.
Just giving the Gargoyles an actual showing so we've all got an idea of how capable they are….because trust me, there's a lot more of them coming.
You've heard of throwing a spanner in the works….well.
And now we get Pantheon Vs Salem.
So nobody knows for certain that Salem is on the island, they've just made a correct assumption and want to test it out.
A fair chunk of the dialogue was basically the Lord Of The Rings "And my Axe" scene but fuck it, canon Vol.4 gave us a finale that was half monologue.
Also yeah, this finale is gonna be different in its' vibes to Downward Spiral….Downward Spiral ended with a massive battle where every Kingdom threw everything they had at Salem and the main characters happened to be part of that assault; this time it's just the main characters launching a raid.
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
I know about Top Gun I was just making a joke.
Nobody expected a Jacana Bird Grimm.
Good to know that they could have torched the jungle if needs be.
They left the Fracture on the boat….that'll come in a lot more useful later on.
It's funny you make jokes about the Goose Game….there is fanfiction about Team FADE fighting a Goose Grimm.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review