GRYD Season 02 Episode 13: Monster

In the office of the Headmaster, Night was in his favorite spot, he watched as his students wandered around the grounds. He wished so desperately to tell them all that was going on in the world, but he knew they were not ready. But a different secret was weighing on him, and he knew that there was one he had to tell regardless of whether he was ready for it.

A knock came at the door.

"Come in, Heathern," said Night.

The door opened, and indeed Heathern Squire opened the door, dressed in his usual dapper attire. As he approached his friend he couldn't help but smirk, "Did you use the cameras, or did you just feel it was me?"

"Oh my dear friend, you may not realize it, but every time I summon you to my office you endeavor to get here within 5 minutes of my call."

"I believe in being punctual."

"Ha, ha, ha, you believe in many great things, Heathern."

At this compliment, Night dipped his head and his face went said, Squire, noticed this and looked at him in worry, "What's wrong, Kendall?"

Night tried to muster up a smile, but failed, "A great many things. But the one I must tell you about is our old friend, Taupen."

"Wizzer? Why, has he appeared again?"

"No, just the opposite, I haven't seen him since that attack months ago by the Grimm."

"Then why bring him up?"

Night sighed and looked at Squire with as honest of eyes as he could manage, "Because if you recall that night, I went into town alone to check in on something, and I talked with Taupen."

"What, you talked with him?" asked Squire shocked. He quickly composed himself and stepped closer to Night. "What did you discuss?"

"The attack, mostly. He told me that he didn't cause it, which I figured. He was the one who warned me about it in fact. He didn't want the city to fall, that's why he came to help us."

"Wizzer... You could've told me that months ago, Kendall. What else aren't you telling me?"

"Wiz...is behind the modified Grimm."

At this revelation Squire stumbled backward, righting himself by putting his hand on the nearby wall. Squire's breathing grew haggard and intense, "He...did that? We always knew he was brilliant...that staff of his did things with Dust we could never imagine, but, modified Grimm? How is that even possible?"

"I truly don't know," Night admitted heavily. "That's but one of many things that worries me. Especially since he said that wasn't his end goal, just a "byproduct" of his experiments."

"My word, what are you up to...? You know how I hate to repeat myself, Kendall, but you could've told me that months ago. We could've gone and looked for him, try to get him to stop!"

At the suggestion Night laughed lightly, "You know as well as I that when Taupen Wizzer doesn't want to be found...he won't be found."

"Yeah, you're right. He was always good from hiding from us, or fleeing easily when you wanted to scold him."

"Much to my chagrin, of course."

"Why now though, Kendall? Why tell me all of this now?"

Night closed his eyes and hung his head in sadness and regret, Squire knew that look and nodded, "Something happened that made you change your perspective, didn't it?"

Night sighed and nodded, "Taupen told me he sent the modified Grimm my way because he knew I could handle it..."

"...but?"

"As GRYD reported in their latest mission, a modified Grimm attacked them, even went after Glyph specifically. They were many miles from the school, well outside my range! Why would he send it after them if I was supposed to handle them!"

Squire thought about this for a few moments, but then got a curious look in his eye, "That might be the wrong question to ask."

"How so?" asked Night, turning to his friend.

"You said that the Grimm went after Glyph specifically. So perhaps the question isn't why he sent that Grimm after the team, but why he wants that boy dead?"

"Or if not Taupen wanting him dead...then who in Taupen's circle does?"

Not too far away, in the lair of Taupen Wizzer, the man himself appeared in a dark room. There was no one with him, none that one could see, yet he had a look of satisfaction on his face.

"You have done well post-surgery," he said with a smile. "I appreciate your patience. Everything checks out. You are ready. My first true success. As promised, your reward awaits. You can kill Glyph now. If you are ready of course."

From within the darkness, footsteps emerged. But their sound didn't match. One was light, and one was heavy. Through the darkness, a half-face appeared, it was Primrose Madonna. There was a true coldness to her, but in a way that was hard to interpret lest you were in her mind. Though her eye was closed, you could see a harsh expression on her face.

"I'm ready."

As she opened her eyes, one was normal, but through the darkness, a bright red one also appeared, and soon the darkness consumed her once more.

At Beacon, none were wise to the darkness that loomed outside their walls. In the room of GRYD, Glyph and Yasmine were talking about various things, Reyson was polishing his swords and Diana was examining one of her outfits. A knock came at the door and got their attention.

"I'll get it," said Diana as she put down a dress.

"Thanks," said the other three in unison.

As she went to the door and opened, she was happy to see Macro before her.

"Diana," he said kindly.

"Macro," she replied just as kindly.

"Time to head to class, everyone ready?"

"I'm always ready, can't always say the same for them though."

Diana looked at them all teasingly after saying this, Yasmine was the first to react with a scoff and a roll of the eyes, "With respect to Glyph, I'm the most put-together person in this group, and I'm ready before you even think of the thought of being ready."

"That was both a putdown and an arrogant boast, I approve!" mocked Reyson as he put his swords away.

"Shut up, Reyson."

"Let me think about that...no."

The two started to glare at one another but Glyph broke it up with a glare of his own, "Enough. We're ready Macro, let's go."

One by one they left the room with Glyph bringing up the rear. Macro waited for at the doorway for him, but Glyph stopped short of following the others in the hallway.

"Anything?"

Macro shook his head, "No. I honestly don't get it. The Heralds should've attacked by now. Why haven't they?"

"Pressure from new foes?"

"Possibly, but something still feels off. My dad is worried, he doesn't get that way unless he feels we're in real trouble."

Glyph put a hand on Macro's shoulder, "We'll figure out their next move, and stop it. You'll lead us to victory."

"Only if you're at my side," Macro joked with a playful punch to his friend, "you're my heavy hitter."

"We all have a role to play."

"Speaking of which, we have the role of student to play, let's go."

With a nod to the other they went down the hall. While the others had gone ahead, Glyph smiled smally when he saw Leilani waiting for him at a nearby section of the hallway.

Macro tried to contain a smirk as he departed, "I'll just go on ahead, don't be late you two..."

Both Leilani and Glyph waited for Macro to be a good distance away before following so they wouldn't be overheard. Leilani gave Glyph fleeting looks before asking, "Are you doing ok?"

"It's been a few days since the mission, and the Grimm didn't hurt me that much, I'm fine," noted Glyph.

"I'm glad! It's just, that was so weird, they've never done that before, why did it pick you?"

"Maybe it sensed strength? Or it...felt I would be a challenge? Maybe it just picked me at random? I don't know, and it doesn't matter."

"How can you say that?" cried out Leilani as she stopped in place, forcing Glyph to stop as well. "We got lucky with that massive Nevermore! It could've hurt you, badly, I don't want that, and neither do the others!"

Glyph sighed and cupped Leilani's shoulders in a showing of support, "I know, and I'm glad it went as well as it did. But the reason I said it didn't matter...was because I knew if something went wrong, you all would help me."

"But Glyph-"

"No, no buts! When I came here, I had one person I could trust, and that was Macro. Now I got two teams of people who have my back and don't judge me. That means the world. And I have you, someone who sees me in a way that I'll never get tired of."

"Glyph..." said Leilani with tears filling her eyes.

"No matter what happens, whether it's Grimm, Heralds, people like Primrose, we're going to get through it, because we're together. We'll save each other, we always do. You can worry about me if you want, but don't let it cloud you. We find a way forward, that's what we do. Ok?"

"Ok."

With a smile, he leaned down and kissed her before grabbing her hand, "Now come on, we have to get to class."

"Wouldn't want to miss that."

The two laughed and went back down the hallway.

The day went on, and for the members of GRYD and MEAL, it was nothing but smooth sailing and fun times. The classes were easy, they had time to relax and enjoy each other's company, it was a nice time. During lunch, Macro and The Lovers were discussing a recent assignment from Professor Tod.

Aaron was of course doing so in his most boisterous way possible, "A dance! Yes! That is how we shall show our appreciation for the culture of the world!"

"A dance does sound nice," acknowledged Erin as she thought about it. "But how does that show appreciation?"

"Because, my darling, each culture has its own twist on the dance. From more formal kinds to more upbeat movements, and more! We could do various dances to show how we're all unique in our moves but united in a love of dance."

Macro couldn't help but chuckle, "That was so long-winded...and yet...you have a point."

"Of course I do!" lauded Aaron with a pose, before relaxing it and smiling at his leader, "But your approval does mean much, dear leader."

"Yeah, yeah, don't sugarcoat it."

Erin touched his arm to get his attention, "No, really. We know how you and Glyph looked at us before we were teammates, we appreciate how you accepted who we are and helped us through everything. Your friendship means a lot to us, Macro."

"You two aren't so bad," he replied with a shrug. "Though if I could find a mute button for your boyfriend I'd be set."

As if to challenge him, Aaron grew even bigger in his pose and got even louder in his voice, "Ha! Greater men than you have tried to silence me, and failed!"

"Maybe, but I know how to kill you with leaving a trace."

The grim statement got The Lovers to both go quiet and look at Macro with expressions of pure shock. This is turn got Macro to snicker, "Kidding...kind of. I do know how to do it, but I wouldn't do it on you. If I wanted to shut you up Aaron, I could do it very easily."

"Oh? And how is that?"

"It's called Duct Tape."

With a final snicker, Macro went back to his meal. The Lovers got their own laugh out of this before going and eating their own food.

After having a combat practice with Professor Target, the teams had the rest of the day to themselves. Glyph and Leilani walked the grounds and talked about whatever came to their minds. Unbeknownst to them, from their room, Diana was in the window and watched them, a slight longing look her face.

However, unbeknownst to her, someone else was in the room.

"What would Glyph say if he saw you spying?" came a voice.

Acting on instinct, Diana pulled out her whip and thrust it at the voice. Reyson didn't move from his spot, but just let the whip wrap around his arm so he could pull it taught.

"Ow," he said with fake hurt.

Diana was not amused and retracted her whip before putting it back on her own wrist, "Very amusing, Reyson. Nice stealth act."

"It wasn't that stealthy, Red. You weren't paying attention, lost in your little world of dreaming about being with Glyph?"

"Shut up."

"Let me think about it...no."

Reyson laughed at his own jest and joined her at the window, Leilani and Glyph were still walking the grounds, but both him and Diana saw Glyph grabbing Leilani's hand and leading her away, and out of their sight range.

With them gone, Diana walked away, leading Reyson to laugh again, "My gosh, you really do have it bad for him."

"Not in the mood, Reyson," answered Diana briskly.

"Well, it's that attitude that'll keep Glyph away from you forever."

For the second time, Diana reared around and launched her whip at Reyson, who this time just side-stepped the whip without much effort.

"Calm down, Red."

"That's hilarious coming from you."

"Heh, I guess you're right. But seriously, you need to let this go. I thought the whole "team bonding" thing made you cool with Leilani?"

Again Diana wound up her whip and looked away, "I have nothing against Leilani anymore, and I treat her with true intent and honesty."

"And yet...you pine for Glyph, you just do it more stealthily, apparently," mocked Reyson as sat on the edge of the nearby bed with a Cheshire grin.

"I don't expect someone like you to understand how love feels. You're kind of incapable of it."

"Huh, Erin, female Erin, said something similar in our team bonding exercise. Guess you ladies share a sense for that kind of thing."

"It's been known to happen."

"Indeed, but while I may not understand love, I know the longing for something more than anyone on this team."

This statement got Diana's attention, she turned and looked at him with a curious expression, "Go on."

"Oh come on, Red! Between my bloodlust, my terrible family, and the fact that my father is Minstrel somewhere, I've got a lot to long for! Every day I wake up I wonder if I'm one step closer to finally getting everything I want. And I bet you have a similar feeling. The desire to have it...the peace that you dream about when you get it..."

"You make it sound creepy, Reyson. I'm in love with Glyph, I'm not a stalker."

"Says the girl who was watching her potential boy toy from a faraway window."

"...fair enough. But that was honestly just because I noticed they were there and..."

"You couldn't resist?" finished Reyson with a smile.

"Yeah," Diana replied with a sigh as she sat on her own bed. "I seriously hold nothing against Leilani anymore, I meant that. But like you said, the longing is still there. I've never met anyone like Glyph before and it's...hard to let go of how I feel about him. Especially when I see how happy he makes Leilani. I ask...how he would make me feel if we were together..."

She sighed heavily and hung her head. Reyson opened his mouth to say a joke but decided against it after seeing her defeated pose. He strummed his arm for a bit before asking, "I've told you about my cousin Arianna, right?"

Diana looked up slightly confused but thought about it, "Yeah, that's your cousin, right? She's Swann's daughter?"

"Right. A real piece of work, a very "perfect Heron"."

"So everything you're not?"

"See? Now you're getting it."

They shared a laugh, and Reyson looked up at the ceiling as he recalled some memories of his upbringing, "Even with my...condition, Arianna and I got along great. When my bloodlust fully emerged though, my relationship with my mother and stepdad got heavily strained I understand why now, but then? Not so much. Yet as I walked around the mansion, I would see Arianna and Aunt Swann and my Uncle Lehran and they would be so...happy. So...in love with their family members. For a long time, all I felt was anger when I saw that. But then one time...the longing came."

"What did long for?" Diana asked.

"To be like that. To have a happy family again. One that accepted me and wasn't under Heron influence or trying to control me. I longed for that...because I knew I couldn't have it because I learned the truth about Ashen, and that my mother wouldn't help me in the ways I truly needed. But now? My REAL father is alive. My mother is alone. I want them back, and I'll get them back, Red. But until I am able to reach both...I have to wait. The longing is still there...but I can't do anything about it without risking a lot. You understand?"

She gave a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, it's funny. You said I quoted Erin, and you basically quoted my mother. She told me to be patient and see if Glyph and I would be together."

"To be honest, your mom is pretty awesome, you know, outside of putting me in that net. I'd love to battle her 1-on-1."

"You'd lose."

"I wouldn't mind," he said with a shrug.

Diana laughed at the honesty of Reyson, "I don't think we've ever talked like this before, Reyson."

"Never had to before, Red. What's next, spilling dark secrets?"

"I will if you will."

"You first, Red."

"I fear what will happen to me, emotionally, if Glyph and I don't get together."

"Wow...I honestly wasn't expecting you to do a dark secret..." admitted Reyson.

This time Diana shrugged, "Eh, it felt appropriate."

"Why is that your fear though? You can't seriously think there isn't another guy out there like Glyph. Or that you'll never find someone else you'll dig."

"it's not that. I just...when you're in love, REALLY in love...you feel something that just tells you, "they're the one" and I feel it with him. I don't want to lose that feeling, and if I do...I'm not sure it'll come back, even if I do find another great guy."

"Man...love is depressing, maybe it's best I can't feel it."

"Ha, ha, ha."

"Who's joking?"

"Oh shut up and tell me a dark secret so I don't feel like a fool for exposing myself like this."

"Fine...I've told you about what the bloodlust feels like, right?" he asked after thinking for a few moments.

"Yeah, a great fire within you."

"The fire talks to me at times."

This shocked Diana, "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I know. It's crazy but...it happens. Not all the time for the record. But like when I figured out the truth about Ashen? The fire spoke. Sometimes in battle? It speaks. That time with Aunt Swann's speech? It wouldn't shut up. It just kept talking and getting louder and louder and that's why I was twitching, it was hurting to hear it non-stop."

"Wow...I had no idea."

"Neither do the others. So I'll keep your secret if you keep mine."

"Deal," proclaimed Diana happily.

The two looked at one another with new appreciation, Reyson was the first to break the look and headed back to the window, "They're back, want to gaze?"

Diana rose and thought about it before shaking her head, "Nah, I'm good. I'm going to head to the library to check out something. Want to...come with? We can talk about less depressing things."

"Not a bad idea, Red."

"Why do you keep calling me that? I always meant to ask. You never call anyone else by their hair color."

"My favorite color is red," Reyson answered simply.

"That's it?" she asked back, not buying the answer.

"I'm not that complicated. If it helps, I didn't mean to keep calling you that, it just came out once and it stuck. I'll stop if you want. Now that we're 'connected'."

"Har, har. But nah, you don't have to. It's nice to have a simple nickname."

"It is indeed. So, to the library?"

"To the library."

With a smile to the other they left the room.

An hour later, Night entered his office, muttering to himself about plans and teachers and students. As he sat down at his desk to write something a beep came alive on his computer.

"Hmm? What's this?" he asked himself as he made his computer active.

Camera footage appeared on the screen, and when it did, Night got even more confused. Because at first, the screens showed the Emerald Forest in perfectly fine condition, then, Grimm started to appear on the feeds, but just as quickly, they were killed by an unseen force.

"Is someone in the forest? Who?"

He quickly brought up camera footage of the school and focused on members of GRYD, MEAL and certain other groups, but none were missing. Not sure what he was missing, he went back to the forest feeds and cycled between cameras to try and find out what was causing the Grimm deaths.

"Who's out there if not the students?"

He cycled through the feeds faster and faster to try and get an answer. Suddenly he stopped on one feed and his eyes went wide with fear.

"Taupen, what did you do?" he asked fearfully.

The camera feed was destroyed before he could focus more on the source, and he quickly ran out of the office.

Not so far away, Yasmine and Leilani were walking down the hallway talking to one another.

"You seem really happy today," noted Yasmine as she noticed her sisters radiant energy.

"Oh, you know...just things going well..." answered Leilani as she tried to play it off.

"Ah, I see. Glyph said something touching, didn't he?"

"How do you do that?"

"Because just like you know me, I know you, dear sister. Few things make you beam like that than your boyfriend when he makes you feel special."

"...yeah, I guess so."

As she thought about it her ears fell in front of her face to hide her blushing and embarrassment, but Yasmine knocked them back into their upright position, "No, none of that! There's nothing wrong with being happy and in love. Just look at mom and dad."

"Or the Lovers."

"If you two acted like them I would honestly stage an intervention."

The sisters looked at one another and then burst out laughing. Leilani was the first to recover and wiped some happy tears from her eyes, "They are a little...much at times in their love."

"They're a LOT much ALL the time...but they're still good people. But seriously, if you or Glyph start acting like them I will smack you both back to your senses."

"Thank you, sis."

With a smile to the other, they continued to walk, but a curious look got on Leilani's face as she looked back to her sister.

Yasmine noticed this, "What?"

"Oh! It's...nothing," she exclaimed as she looked away from Yasmine's gaze.

"Don't lie to me, I know every time you do."

"Yeah...you do. I was just...I never really thought about it before but...do you want to want to get into a relationship with someone?"

Yasmine was taken aback by the question, "Like right now? Like with Reyson?"

"What? No! You two would break up within hours!"

"More like minutes."

"Hehe, exactly. I mean in general, sis. You're always so focused on your work and skills I never thought of asking if you wanted to be with someone one day."

This got Yasmine to stop and sigh, a rare look of vulnerability on her face, "Thought about it? Sure. Think it'll happen? Not so sure."

Leilani grew sad at the response, "Because you're a Faunus?"

"That's part of it. But I'm not exactly...typical girlfriend material."

"That just makes you better, sis. Who wants to be typical? I'm certainly not."

"Thank you, Leilani. But I mean that I have a very forward personality. I take charge, I expect the best of myself and those I'm with, including you..."

"Which I appreciate...at times..." noted Leilani with a smile.

Yasmine smiled back, "Indeed. It's just, I don't know how many out there would be willing to be with someone like me. Especially since I'm basically a lie detector with my natural skills and Semblance."

"I found someone, someone who loves me despite how timid I can be. I'm sure someone is out there that'll love every aspect of you, Yasmine."

Yasmine fought the tears that were coming to her eyes as she looked upon her sister, "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. I wouldn't be here without you."

"And I wouldn't be here without you. You're my rock, always have been."

"You're a good foundation as well, Glyph's lucky to have you, and I'm pretty sure he knows that."

The two again smiled to one another, but before they could speak again, the intercom came on and Night's voice rang through, "Attention all students, report to your rooms immediately, this is not a drill. There are Grimm approaching the school. The faculty will handle it, so please, return to your rooms."

Fear now on both of their faces, Yasmine and Leilani rushed down the hallway amongst the other students that were heading to their rooms.

Minutes later, they reunited with the other members of their teams right outside their rooms.

"Good, you're here," said Glyph relieved.

"Took a while because everyone is panicked," noted Yasmine.

"Do we honestly know what's going on?" asked Reyson with an odd look.

"Did you not hear the headmaster?" wondered Aaron in an over-the-top way, "There are Grimm coming!"

"Not the point, he said Grimm are coming...but WHY are they coming? Also, if it's just basic Grimm, why send us away when we could easily overwhelm them in numbers?"

Macro made a sound of surprise, "He's got a point. Night sounded scared when he made that announcement. He tried to hide it for some reason."

"Why would regular Grimm scare Night? He handled hordes of them in Vale that one time with his team no problem," stated Erin with concern.

"Unless it's not like last time..." posed Leilani.

"So what's scarier than Grimm to Night?" Diana asked.

Before they could answer that query, a loud screech caught their ear. Glyph tensed up at it, "Nevermore."

"Think it's modified?" asked Reyson.

"One way to find out."

He opened the door to GRYDs room and headed for the window, the others followed and joined him in looking outside. A battle was already starting out on the grounds. Barker Chestnut, Vixi Tod, Lochen Target and Heathern Squire were already on the grounds and battling scores of Grimm of various types.

But as both GRYD and MEAL looked at the Grimm, they were confused. Though they had good numbers, they were just basic Grimm, none were modified.

"They're just...basic Grimm..." said Diana with a confused look.

Macro's eyes narrowed as he watched the battle, "We're missing something, something important."

Reyson pulled out his swords and smiled, "Well, we could ponder it here, or, we could outside, kill the Grimm and find out the truth ourselves!"

The others all looked at him in various ways from disbelief to annoyance, as well as a small smile from Diana.

He didn't let it deter him though, "Come on! You know you want to."

Glyph returned to looking outside. An odd feeling came over him, one that he had felt not so long ago. Putting it out of his mind he turned to the others, "We could help end this quicker. Any objections?"

He looked at them all in turn and they each shook their head, he ended with Macro who just shrugged and said, "The best defense is a good offense, or at least...in this case it is."

They quickly went and grabbed their weapons from their various spots and rooms if they didn't have them on them already. They returned armed for battle and gave Glyph a confident look. He returned that look in kind.

"Hold on."

He blinked in and out of the room, taking each of them with him one at a time until the room was empty.

On the grounds, the staff was still fighting the Grimm, who were still coming in strong numbers. Lochen was doing his best from a singular position to ward them off, reloading his mega-crossbow as best he could to keep up with the swarm, "This is getting old fast!"

A Grimm nearly blindsided him, but Vixi killed it before it could reach him, she turned and looked at him playfully, "What's wrong, Lochen? Not enough stamina?"

"I can do this all day! Watch."

The two continued to fight, meanwhile Hearthern and Squire used their own weapons to take down some of the larger Grimm, including teaming up on a DeathStalker that Barker happily destroyed with his massive hammer.

"I don't understand!" he shouted during a lull, "Why are they coming here in such numbers now?"

"Night is looking into it," answered Squire, "but for now, we make sure they don't reach the school!"

"With pleasure!"

They continue on, but just as they were clearing the battlefield another scream filled the battlefield and more Grimm appeared. As the staff prepared for another battle, a sonic boom blasted from above.

"Incoming!" shouted a voice.

The horde of Grimm approached but was soon hit upon by the impact of a massive ball of energy. Many Grimm were destroyed, and others were sent flying back. In the crater that remained was Reyson, who was a bit wobbly as he got back to his feet.

"Yep...glad I did that again," he said with a smirk.

"Reyson?" called out Vixi, "What are you-"

"On your left!" cried out another voice.

Sure enough, more Grimm were coming from their left flank, but as they approached they were beaten back by attacks from Macro, Yasmine, and Aaron. Their bolts held them in place while Erin, Glyph, Leilani, and Diana went in for kill shots.

As they cleared that wave the met up with their teachers.

"I believe you were told to stay in your rooms," said Lochen, who wasn't mad, but rather smiling at their arrival.

"You need help," replied Macro reloading his machine gun, "we're here to give it."

Barker laughed loudly, "A battle fighting alongside students, glorious!"

"It will be one for the history books!" boasted Aaron.

"Let's talk about history when it IS history," chastised Squire.

"Let's move!" ordered Glyph.

With that, they rushed towards Reyson who was fighting the horde of Grimm he stunned earlier. With the others at his back, they started to take them out quickly. Much to his chagrin.

"Oh, come on!" he whined, "I totally had it!"

Yasmine scoffed, "Oh shut up and let's just get rid of them!"

Now, all focused, they worked in various pods in order to take out the Grimm big and small. Slowly but surely they took them out. When various Nevermores came to join the fight Glyph teleported himself and others who were free to take them out before they could cause a lot of damage.

Minutes passed and the Grimm horde was whittled down to nothing. Glyph, Vixi and Reyson got some of the last kills, leaving the field of battle clear.

Macro stayed in attack mode and scanned the immediate area, "Anyone see any others?"

They all looked around, but no one could see any others. For a moment, they all started to relax, but a laugh soon filled the air. It started low but grew ever louder. At first, they all looked to Reyson, who was just as surprised as them at this.

They looked around for the source and eventually saw someone behind a nearby tree.

"Who's there?" called out Glyph, readying his escrima.

"What's wrong Glyph," said the person, "don't you recognize me?"

The person stepped slightly out of the shadow of the tree, revealing herself in part to him.

"Primrose?"

This name got all the others to react in various ways. But Glyph kept his focus on her.

She smiled smally, "It's been a while, I wondered if those Grimm would lure you out here. You always had to be the hero..."

"It's called being a good person, something you never understood."

"Indeed, I was never a good human, and I was never enough to beat you. So I decided...I needed to be more than human..."

A cracking sound filled the air, and suddenly the tree next to Primrose got lifted up and thrown at them all.

They all dodged and weren't hurt by it, but their comfort was short-lived as they eventually saw Primrose in full.

She wasn't human anymore, or at least, not in full, her body was partly human, but also was fused together with a shadowy form that could only be described as Grimm in nature. Her body had traces of her old outfit but woven into it was the signature black of the Grimm, her whole right arm was Grimm-like and nature, as was her leg and even her face had traces of Grimm via a red-eye and razor-sharp teeth.

Primrose laughed at the shock and horror on their faces, "What's wrong? Don't like my new look?

"What did you do to yourself?" Macro asked, still in shock.

"I didn't do anything, I met a wizard, and he offered to make me stronger, so I took that offer."

"A wizard?" muttered Squire, "Does she mean Taupen...?"

"And the results speak for themselves, I'm stronger, faster, and I can even influence Grimm to an extent, if they don't fear me that is. Hehe."

Having heard enough, Glyph readied himself for battle, the others shook off their emotions and prepared themselves as well. The staff stepped in front of them though to be the first line of defense.

"You were always headstrong, Primrose," stated Vixi as she stood ready to fight, "but this is too much."

Primrose snickered, "But it was you, Professor, who told us how many cultures evolved to overcome obstacles. That's all I did. And quite frankly, my battle is not with you, it's with them. So if you don't mind..."

"We mind," interjected Lochen, raising his crossbow to fire, "you're not touching them."

"Oh, but I am, I'm so much stronger than you realize. For example..."

She took a slight inhale of air and then thrust her arms forward, a wave of darkness shot out in force. The staff took the brunt of the hit while GRYD and MEAL dodged out of the way. When they looked up at their teachers they saw they were frozen in place, each covered with a greyish tint. While they looked on in horror, Primrose just smirked.

"See? Stronger. Don't worry though, they're not dead, just frozen in darkness. I'll free them after you're dead. So, shall we begin?"

The others looked at their teachers horrified, but Glyph recovered first, got to his feet and blinked away weapons in hand. Primrose smirked when he did. In a flurry of motion he blinked around her, not unlike a previous confrontation in Lochen's class. He hit her high and low before appearing in front of her and jabbing his escrima at her face. But just before it reached her she grabbed it with her Grimm hand without much effort.

Glyph was stunned at the quick reaction, but she just turned her warped head to him and smiled, "Stronger."

With her human hand she hit him square in the chest and sent him flying backward. So much so that he actually crashed into the ground with serious force.

"Glyph!" cried out Macro when he saw his friend go down and not get up.

"Oh, don't worry, Macro, he's not dead either. I'm going to savor killing him, and you. The rest of you? Eh, I'll probably kill you quickly just to see your leaders suffer."

"The only one who causes people to suffer around here is me!" shouted Reyson as he reared his cannons and fired them at Primrose.

With a roll of the eyes and the raising of her Grimm hand, she blocked the blasts, though it did push her back a few inches. Reyson couldn't believe they did that little. Primrose meanwhile just looked at them all with contempt.

"What point of 'stronger' did none of you understand? Did you really think I would just come here not knowing my power? I risked everything for this, and whether you all want to admit it or not, I'm not going anywhere until I kill every single one of you!"

"Try it!" came a voice

She looked to her right and Glyph was back up and pointing his shotgun right at her head. He fired and the close-range blast did knock her off her feet and shot her back a few feet. Seething, she quickly got to her feet, her head showing no visible damage.

"That's more like it!" she exclaimed with a wicked smile, "Bring everything you have! It won't be enough."

"We'll see about that," came the voice of Macro.

Primrose turned and saw all of GRYD and MEAL facing her, weapons raised and ready for war. This amused her greatly.

"Glyph had the last move, so now it's my turn!"

She reached behind her back and pulled out a small item, with a button press it transformed into a poleax, but one that was much bigger and more menacing than her original. With a roar, she lunged at the group and swung her ax.

Not so far away, in the room of PRME, the three other members of the group did various things to keep themselves busy. Rita was reading a book, Maggie sat on her bed and blankly looked at her phone, but Elenor was pacing frantically. Especially as the sound of weaponry came from their nearby window.

"What is going on out there?" she asked worriedly.

"It's Grimm," said Rita calmingly to her partner, "we saw them ourselves, remember?"

"That was a while ago though, and this...doesn't sound like that."

"We were told to stay inside, Elenor, that's what we need to do. Right, Maggie?"

She turned to their other member, but Maggie didn't reply, instead all she did was look at her phone, the same blank expression on her face.

Elenor though couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong and got more and more anxious, "I wish we had a window that could view the battle!"

"If I hacked a camera to show you it's just Grimm would that calm you down?" posed Rita.

"You can do that?"

"I may have picked up a few things here and there. I can't hack everything, but Night's cameras? No sweat. Give me a sec."

Rita got up and went to a nearby laptop, she quickly brought the computer up and started to type in some could. Elenor watched her as she did, literally hovering over her should. Which slightly annoyed Rita.

"Elenor? Please take a step back."

"Oh, sorry."

Now with room to breathe, she went and finished the hack and got the camera footage. When Elenor saw the battle outside she pointed to the screen, "There, that one!"

She opened up the window and sure enough saw the fight between MEAL, GRYD, and their enemy, which wasn't clear to them via the angle.

Rita looked at it curiously, "Why are GRYD and MEAL out there? Where are the teachers?"

"Maybe something happened? What are they fighting?"

"Hard to tell from this angle, let me zoom in via another camera."

Rita typed up a storm as another camera was shown, and both her and Elenor's eyes went wide when they saw the truth.

"Oh my God," blurted Rita.

"That's Primrose!" exclaimed Elenor in disbelief.

Maggie heard this name and snapped to, "Wait, what?!"

Outside, GRYD and MEAL were waging a fierce battle with Primrose, but to their dismay, a lot of their attacks weren't doing much damage. At best they would distract or stun her, but doing damage was much harder, not unlike a true modified Grimm.

While they themselves were breathing heavily, Primrose looked no worse for wear.

"Is that it?" she asked mockingly.

"Give me a moment and I'll show you what I can do," Reyson bit back.

Leilani nudged Yasmine, "Sis? Are you seeing anything we can exploit?"

Yasmine shook her head as her Semblance was going full blast trying to scan Primrose, "No, this is unlike anything we've seen before, I can't see a single flaw or weak point!"

"Because I have none, you stupid Faunus," noted Primrose with contempt and a look at the sisters.

Just then a bolt hit Primrose in the head, she turned to see Aaron holding up his crossbow and returning the look of contempt, "Not one more word from you."

This took Primrose by surprise as she could tell something was different with him, "What's wrong with your voice?"

Aaron fired again, this time with both crossbows, this angered Primrose but she didn't speak. Aaron however happily did, and with no bravado, "You're hearing me for the first time, that's what. I was sick of you at Signal, but I kept my distance because I cared more about being with Erin than criticizing you. But you have done nothing but try and make our lives miserable since we got here. And worst of all, you tried to kill the love of my life. With respect to Glyph and Macro, they want you beaten, I'm more than happy to kill you for all that you've done."

"You think-" Primrose started but was cut off when more bolts from his crossbows hit her.

"Did you not hear me? I said..."

He quickly reloaded and fired more bolts at her, forcing her to recoil and step back from the impact.

"Not. One. More. WORD!"

With fury on his face Aaron let loose with the rounds that he had, Erin quickly joined in with her naginata and fired at her. Primrose took the hits and gave them a look of fury as well, "The Lovers, always together, let's see you die together then too!"

For the second time, she flung her hands forward and sent darkness shooting out. Aaron quickly got in front of Erin and put us his shield to protect them. The darkness slammed against it but didn't penetrate. Aaron's face grew tense as he could feel the shield weakening, and cracks began to form.

"A little help here!" he cried out with a look to his teammates.

"On it!" answered Diana, "Reyson, give me a hand."

"Just tell me what to do, Red!" he replied.

Diana ran behind Primrose and sent her whip flying around Primrose's leg, she pulled it taught and looked to Reyson, "Pull!"

"Oh yeah!"

With an effort, the two didn't just pull Primrose down, they lifted her up, over their heads and then slammed her to the ground, causing her to stop her darkness attack, and allowing Aaron to drop his shield.

He fell to one knee and tried to catch his breath, Erin was right there beside him, "Are you ok?"

"I have you, don't I?" he said with a weak smile.

"And I have you."

"Focus, you two!" called out Macro as he went alongside the others to surround Primrose, who was still on the ground. "Enough, Primrose! Stop this before it gets any worse!"

At this suggestion, Primrose started to laugh, it started softly, but grew louder with every second she kept doing it, she rose back up, poleaxe now in her Grimm hand and she said, "Gets any worse? I've barely begun, soldier boy! I told you, I'm not leaving until you're all dead! And if you think I'm just going to stop and-"

"Primrose!" cried out a voice from beyond the circle.

They all turned, even Primrose, to see where the voice was coming from, and entering the grounds was the rest of team PRME, Maggie at the lead.

"Maggie..." Primrose said softly.

Maggie approached, and the others stepped back just a bit to let Maggie the truth, that Primrose was no longer the person she knew. The sight of her caused Maggie great confusion, she mouthed wordlessly for sometime before putting together, "What...did you do to yourself...?"

"What I needed to Maggie, what I needed to."

"To what? What could be worth this? Look at you!"

"I have, so many times," Primrose said while looking at her Grimm side, "and yeah, I'm not as pretty as I used to be...but now I'm beautifully dressed in power. Power that I'm going to use to get back at them, all of them!"

She pointed menacingly at every member of GRYD and MEAL, before realizing that Rita and Elenor were behind Maggie, each with their own look of shock and fear.

"And maybe I'll get back at you two as well! The traitor and the whelp."

"The only traitor here is you, Primrose," said Rita defiantly.

"You dare say that to me!" Primrose roared back, "You were nothing at Signal before Maggie and I picked you out of the crowd and brought you into the fold. We gave you everything!"

"And taught me nothing! I was horrible because of you, thinking myself high and mighty, better than the rest, not being able to appreciate certain things because of your influence! I'd still be blindly at your side if Elenor...if Elenor didn't show me the right way."

She gave an honest smile to her partner, who smiled happily back, which got Primrose to scoff, "Of course, little Elenor, I hated you the moment you paired up with Rita."

"That's your loss," Elenor said with rare confidence. "I wanted to be your friend, but you were a bully from day one. Those teams you're trying to kill were more family to me than you ever were capable of."

"Proud to be your family, Elenor," said Glyph in a brotherly way.

"Yeah, we'd take you over someone like Primrose every day of the week, " added Macro.

This teasing made Primrose incensed, "I am going to break you all so badly you will beg-"

"Enough, stop!" begged Maggie as she got right up to Primrose and cupped her face, "They don't have to beg, I will! Please come back, Primrose, I want my friend back! Ever since you left...it's just not been right!"

"Maggie..."

"I don't know if this can be reversed, but I'm willing to help you try! No matter how long it takes. Just stop this stupid grudge! Come back to me, please. I'll find a way to change you back!"

GRYD and MEAL looked at each other in worry, but also curiosity because, in their eyes, she was getting through to Primrose. Especially when for the first time, Primrose's expression softened.

"Mags..."

At the hearing of her nickname, Maggie smiled and started to well up, especially when Primrose put her human hand on her face.

Primrose closed her eyes, but then opened them up in fury, and in the blink of an eye, Maggie was choking on air.

"No!" Rita shouted.

The others recoiled as well, because Primrose had shoved her poleaxe through Maggie's chest, and with distinct coldness said, "I don't want to change back."

She lifted up her poleaxe, Maggie still attached, and moved the blade of it away in such a way that Maggie flew off of it and landed on the ground a few feet away. When she landed, her phone popped out of a pocket, and on the background was a picture of her and Primrose hugging and smiling for the camera.

Primrose gave one last look at Maggie before returning to GRYD and MEAL, "Do you understand now? Do you finally understand now? I just that...to Maggie. What do you think I will do to you?"

Each of them now very angry, they rushed at Primrose and attacked again, all except for Glyph, he teleported to Elenor and Rita and took them to Maggie's now dead body.

"Take her away, get to safety, and don't let anyone else come out here!" Glyph ordered.

"You think we're going to let this lie?" Rita asked incensed.

"You're no good in this state, Rita! She'll kill you the moment she can just to get to us more! Get to safety, and make sure no one else comes to join the fight! We'll finish this! I promise."

"Glyph..." started Elenor.

"I take care of my family, Elenor, and right now that means you getting out of here. We'll talk when this is done, ok?"

"...ok."

With a nod to the two Glyph teleported away to rejoin the battle.

The moment he did he found himself in a flurry of motion and action. Everyone on MEAL and GRYD attacked Primrose with everything they had, but for one reason or another, Primrose was able to withstand the attacks and keep going.

The only thing they had going for them was numbers. With eight of them and only one Primrose, they could help each other out and ensure she couldn't focus on just one of their members. But even with that advantage, it seemed like they were only chipping away at her, and she could give just as good as she would get.

In one case she tried to choke the life out of Leilani, and only combined attacks from Glyph, Reyson and Erin released her grip long enough to Yasmine to get her sister a safe distance.

Macro and Glyph would shout out patterns and attacks to try, yet while they had some effect on her, it never seemed to be enough, especially when the attacks would be on Primrose's Grimm side. After one flurry of attacks, Primrose got so angry that wisps of darkness started pouring out of her body.

"Enough!" she shouted and she sent the darkness flying out in all directions.

The darkness hit the teams and sent them flying back. Thankfully, unlike her other darkness attack, it didn't freeze them in time. They all got back to their feet as quickly as they could. Some of which were quicker than others, which amused Primrose greatly.

"Yes, please, don't stop now. I'm not done playing with my food."

"Then someone should teach you some table manners," came a deep voice.

They turned to see Night on the battlefield, in full armor and lance at the ready. While most of them were happy to see him, Macro and Glyph weren't as pleased.

"Where the heck have you been?" Glyph asked intensely.

"She killed Maggie!" added Macro.

Night closed his eyes and sighed, "I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't sure whether to come or not, you all have handled her before quite well. I shouldn't have assumed it would be that easy this time around. I'm sorry."

"Ha!" mocked Primrose, "Knight in shining armor indeed. Way to show up to the party...oh fearless leader..."

This got a livid reaction from Night, who pointed his lance menacingly at Primrose, "Where is he? Where is Taupen Wizzer!?"

"Oh, he's close, and yet, very far. He's watching right now I'm sure..."

In Taupen's lair, he was indeed watching via his computer while hacked into the security feed. He was smiling widely and failing to contain a snicker.

But back on the battlefield, Primrose continued to mock Knight, "I'm not sure why you're so upset, Headmaster. You were the one who told us some wouldn't make it to graduation. I'm just fulfilling your promise."

"Shut your mouth, you incessant child," spat Night with venom.

"What did you just call me?"

"You're a spoiled brat of a child, that's what I said. You can't be helped. If you recall my opening speech you'll remember I said that all students have a moniker or tagline attached them by various staff or headmasters about your 'expectations'. Would you like to know what yours was?

A grimace grew on Primrose's face as she could tell she wouldn't like the answer.

"Lots of potential, lots of ego, unclear which is greater. I took you in because I felt I could help you, another mistake, and one I'm about to correct."

With the press of a button Night split his lance and charged a massive beam of energy and fired it right at Primrose. Glyph recalled seeing this attack against the Grimm invasion of Vale. Primrose was shocked by the attack coming and didn't attempt to block it.

The blast of energy consumed her, and for a moment, MEAL and GRYD felt that they were safe, but that feeling quickly left them, as Primrose was still standing. She was a little worse for wear though, parts of her Grimm self were cracked or even evaporating off her body, and she was breathing heavily at the attack she just took.

"Ok...that hurt..." she admitted, but a smile quickly grew back. "Taupen may not have told me about that attack, but he did warn you would come...so..."

Quick as a flash she threw her poleaxe at him, which he quickly parried and parried into the ground, but when he did Primrose shot a black sphere at him from her Grimm arm. It raced towards him and then broke apart from a sphere into a series of rings that wrapped around his body, constricting him and sending him to the ground. Dark energy shot out of them, causing him to roar in pain.

"The Wiz sends his regards. Now where were-"

Before she could finish the others were recharged and happy to get back into the fight. Knowing that there were no trump cards left they truly went all out because if they didn't stop her, no one would.

As they fought, Glyph noticed something, Primrose wasn't fighting as quickly or as powerfully as before. After doing a barrage of attacks with his escrima he noticed that her human skin was getting cracks in it. He noticed similar things as the others released attacks on that side. When he then tried to do damage to the Grimm side, he noticed the damage was much less.

Seeing an opportunity, he teleported to Yasmine and pulled her slightly back from the battle.

She was very confused by this, "What are you doing?"

"Scan her right now!" he urged, "I think Night's attack weakened her, but I can't be sure!"

As quickly as she could she used her Semblance, and for the first time since the battle started, she was noticing weakness on her body, specifically her human side.

"She's weakening on her human side..."

"That's what I thought too. Her Grimm side is supercharging her body, but just like all Grimm it has a limit!"

"And she's reaching it, Night's attack must've done a lot of damage. So now..."

"We just need to pour it on," he finished with a smile.

She smiled back, "Let's get everyone together on this."

With a nod he touched her shoulder and teleported back to the fight. But this time, he teleported everyone away from Primrose and into their pairings.

They each were shocked at this, especially Diana when Glyph was suddenly next to her, "What's the deal, partner?"

"Primrose is weakening!" he shouted to everyone, "Stay in your partner groups, and let's pour it on until she's done! Target her human side specifically!"

"Oh heck yeah," Reyson said as he prepared for the final round.

Primrose wasn't amused, "I don't break easily."

"No, you don't," admitted Yasmine with a smirk. "But your body has a limit, or have you not noticed your skin is cracking?"

Primrose looked at her body and indeed saw the damage on both sides of her for, she scoffed it off though, "A few cracks don't scare me!"

Macro reloaded his machine gun and pointed it right at her, "Then let's make it more than a few! Engage!"

All at once the eight went and attacked Primrose in their pairs, each working to both damage her and also protect one another.

Macro and Leilani focused on long-range assaults via their guns, Primrose got annoyed by this and tried to break them up, but they worked together to combat roll around her, and once in close range, Leilani used her claws to scratch at her skin, which grew in the number of cracks. Before she could retaliate the two kicked her backward, and right into the range of The Lovers.

Aaron and Erin worked in perfect harmony to trip up and barrage Primrose. Erin used her light Semblance multiple times to blind her, leaving Aaron open to shoot her point-blank in the head again, which he smiled widely as he did. When Primrose was able to get in attacks Aaron protect the two with his shields. Erin used this break to load up her Naginata gun and send Primrose stumbling back with a blast.

Yasmine and Reyson were next, and Reyson used a combination of one sword and one cannon to really hammer home the damage. He would use the sword to parry her increasingly wild attacks, and then would blast her with his cannon. All the while, Yasmine sent out her drones to attack Primrose endlessly while not hurting Reyson.

Primrose did get the drones to stop firing at her with another darkness attack, but it was only because they fled, and that left Reyson wide open to do a double barrel cannon blast right at her head, again sending her flying backward...

...and into the waiting arms of Diana and Glyph, who used various techniques to Primrose off her rhythm. Diana constantly used her whip to trip up Primrose in the literal sense. Glyph would teleport around Primrose to points where she was exposed and couldn't counterattack and sent her careening in all directions via his shotgun.

The damage was becoming more and more clear, her skin was cracking on both sides and Glyph could tell the time was right to end it.

"Diana! Hold her down!" he directed

"You go it, partner," Diana happily answered!

She spun around and sent out her dancing projections, all of whom wrapped their own whips around Primrose's limbs, leaving her in a stuck position.

Primrose tried to get out, but couldn't, and she all but foamed at the mouth as Glyph drew closer with his shotgun, "This isn't how this ends, do you hear me! I won't allow you to win, I refuse! This is not over! This is not-"

A loud shot rang out on the grounds, Primrose choked on air in a way Maggie had done just minutes before, and she looked down to see a giant hole in her chest from where Glyph had just shot her.

"It's over," he said succinctly and with cold eyes.

She continued to choke as she tried to breathe, but soon the life left her eyes and she collapsed on the ground, Diana's projections fading as they did.

Glyph hovered over her for a while, just to make she was gone, to make sure no one else was getting hurt because of her. Diana came to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "She's gone, Glyph. For real this time. Let's go check on the others, ok?"

He turned to her and saw she had a very pure smile on her face, he nodded and said, "Ok."

With that, they head to the other members of GRYD and MEAL, but as they did, a pulse rang out.

"Did you feel that?"

"Yeah...I did...that's not good, is it, partner?"

The others rushed to where Glyph and Diana stood and they all watched anxiously as Primrose's body didn't disappear, but rather, it pulsed with dark energy. First slowly, then more rapidly.

"Everyone get ready!" warned Macro as he again prepared for action.

They watched as the pulses grew, and dark energy filled the hole that was in Primrose's chest. Suddenly, the pulsing stopped, and the teams didn't know what that meant. But before they could talk, another blast of dark energy blasted out from Primrose's body, and it knocked both MEAL and GRYD backward, though they were still in their partner groups.

The darkness soon consumed and then raised Primrose's body, hovering it into the air. As it did, the pulsing continued once again, but much stronger this time.

Glyph watched the darkness pouring out with a grimace, Diana though was looking at Glyph with confusion, "What are you waiting for, blink us out of here!"

"I can't," he said back, fear now creeping in, "something's wrong, I can't use my Semblance!"

He lifted up his arm closest to her and she noticed his Aura fluctuating, and when she tried to summon hers, it did the same thing.

The others all tried their Semblances as well, but none of them would work, and they soon found the darkness was making it hard to move at all.

Fear crept in as the darkness grew even more intense. Leilani looked towards Yasmine and tried to reach out, "Sis!"

"Leilani, hold on!" she cried.

But no matter what they did they were rooted to the spot, and soon the darkness went out towards them in a blanket effect that covered them all. They each held onto their partner as it did to try and ensure they wouldn't get separated.

Slowly, the darkness faded, and when it did, the battlefield was mostly clear. Primrose's body was gone, as was the dark pulses. But, so were GRYD and MEAL.

The only people who remained were Night and the staff members. Each of whom slowly found themselves released from their prison now that their source was gone.

The staffers all fell to their knees after being released, breathing heavily and trying to get the feeling back into them. Night meanwhile tried to get back to his feet, but the pain of his trap was still ringing through.

Eventually, they saw one another and regrouped, Night was the first to get to them, "Are you all ok?"

"I'm not even sure what just happened," noted Lochen.

"We couldn't move, but we could see and hear everything, it was frightening!" acknowledged Barker.

"Are you ok, Night? That thing was hurting you pretty bad," wondered Vixi with some concern.

Night tried to laugh it off but failed, "I'm fine, but I'm more worried about...the students."

He turned to the battlefield and only then realized that neither GRYD nor MEAL was visible. He raced to where they last were, looked for any sign of them. But could find none.

Across the way, Rita and Elenor, realizing that the fight was over, tried to see what was the result, but they too were stunned to not see anyone from GRYD or MEAL.

Night looked to the staff, who were just as confused, then looked at Elenor and Rita who were just as confused.

"Where did they go?" he asked, but none could answer.

*credits*

It's taken some time, but Season 2 of GRYD is done! Season 3 WILL come! And you won't want to miss it!