Welcome back everyone, to another chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'! I hope I didn't keep anyone waiting. We are also now 1/3 of the way done with the story woo!

As always, I'd like to thank those who left a review on last chapter. I'd also like to thank you all for your patience. Usually I'd be putting out twice if not three times as much work a week. But I've got other commitments that deserve my undivided attention.

So thank you Ussop, Baoh joestar, jin0uga, Drake D Zero and noone297! Thank you for comments and patience. I hope you along with everyone enjoys this chapter.

NOTICE: I went back and added a scene with Cardin at the hospital in the conclusion to Downtime. So, if you want to see Cardin and Pyrrha finally talk about the incident and what not, you might wanna go back and read that.

Well enough with me talking, on with the story.

XXXIV

Nebula: Part 4

It was an ordinary day in Dayspring, a little town on the outskirts of the kingdom capitol. The overbearing sun was present as ever, nurturing backyard gardens. The children were out of the home and at school, the parents were out earning just enough to keep the lights on and put food on the table.

No one was present when an unmarked van made its way into town. No one was there when four men exited and paid a visit to the local shut in, a man who'd become an urban legend of sorts. Boo Pan was his name. A man too old to die young and still too young to die. Every day he'd receive groceries from one of those online apps, they were the only visitors he expected.

Pan was so set in his routine that the moment the doorbell rung he didn't bother to check. He just opened the door, allowing the men to jump him. Pan fought as best he could, but he was neither the huntsman he used to be. Retirement had sapped his strength, routine had soften his edge and that killer instinct, like a muscle, had receded from disuse. Not to mention, he'd never fought with only one arm before.

His attackers did not share his woes. They were at their physical peak. There was a man, tall, built like an action figure, who wore green goggles for the hell of it. He blindsided Pan and rammed the old huntsman up against a wall. He then doubled back, allowing his companion, a burly fellow with a thick beard, to run up get in a good punch and more some.

Defeated, Pan was helpless as the duo dragged him into his private study. The irony was lost to Pan, after all, he was a shut in. Everything in his home was private. They dragged him by his arm and tossed him onto the floor of his study right beside his lounging sofa. It occurred to Pan that if this was a typical burglary, then they wouldn't have gone through the effort. They had made it apparent they could've killed him by now, instead, they just stood there keeping watch, waiting for him to make a move.

"Boss, you can come in now." The man with the thick beard called out into the hallway.

Pan looked up through swelling eyes as a thin man in a beige day suit walked into his study. He had a handlebar moustache and a scruffy piece of fur growing on his chin. If he wasn't suffering the way he was now, Pan would've most certainly made fun of his appearance.

"Apologies for the intrusion." The man said before crouching down beside Pan. "I am Doctor Kruger. Maybe you've heard of me?"

"No." Pan deadpanned.

"Ah. Well, I am the leading scientist of my field." Dr. Kruger said a matter of fact.

"Congratulations, now get the fuck out of my home."

"In due time. But first, we have business, you and I." Dr. Kruger said before standing up and circling around Pan and taking a walk through his study. There were pictures of Pan in his prime. Photos of him with two arms instead of one. And there was even a newspaper article of his team and himself up at Sinbad Mountain. It was this photo that caught the so called doctor's attention, causing him to stop beside it and comb it for any outstanding details. "I am a simple ecologist in search of answers. Nothing too grand, nothing anyone should die for. So answer my questions and no harm will come to you."

Having taken notice of Kruger's actions, Pan deduced the man's intentions. So the once former huntsman held a firm scowl. "Go to hell."

"Break his legs." Dr. Kruger said over his shoulder.

"With pleasure." The man with green goggles growled before stomping at Pan's knees, kicking them both inward. There was a sickening pair of snapping noises followed closely by Pan's pained wails. The goggle wearing man and the burly bearded man then tossed the faunus onto the nearby by sofa where then the trio circled around Pan with Dr. Kruger taking point.

"My reasonability is wearing thin. Your compliance would help speed up this process." Dr. Kruger said, sounding rather taxed.

"I know what you seek. And I will never tell." Pan met Kruger's stare with his own.

"As I'd hoped." Dr. Kruger smirked. "One last time, I ask you, please reconsider. Simply divulging what you know will save you and I the pain of what happens next."

"Do you're worst." Pan laughed hollowly.

"It is not I who you should fear, Mr. Pan." Dr. Kruger gave a look at the door. "Coyote, will come in here? I'm in need of your services."

The door leading into the hallway opened and in stepped a lean tall figure dressed in a dark brown duster, a white undershirt and light blue cowboy pants. He wore a red tattered scarf around his neck which hung loosely against his chest as if it were a noose. But the most striking detail about the man was his headwear.

It appeared he wore an old fashioned Atlesian trooper helmet, the one used by their soldiers during the Great War when the kingdom was known as Mantle. But it had since 'evolved'. On the left side of his helmet, there appeared to be a cracked horn belonging to a bull seemingly bolted into it. The pitch black visor still gleamed like the day it was made, but now it was slanted into a permanent glare. Patches of the helmet had been removed and seeming replaced with almost bone-like material. The lower chin guard and mouth plate were missing entirely, along with the rest of the lower section of the helmet. It had been replaced with a jaw bone.

"Mr. Pan, Coyote. Coyote, Mr. Pan." Dr. Kruger spoke lividly as he introduced the pair to each other. "Mr. Pan has been very uncooperative. Mind persuading him?"

Coyote's helmeted head turned slowly, as if suddenly noticing Mr. Pan's presence. It was the way that dark mirror like visor of his stared at Pan that creeped the faunus out the most. Whatever lay behind the man's helmet, whether it be two eye or more, whatever it was caused a chill to run down Pan's spine.

The bearded man raised a hand in the air as if he were waiting to be called on by a teacher at school. "Hey, Boss, is it cool if we just hang outside or something?"

"Yeah, we're not big fans on what happens next." The man with goggles said from where he now stood right beside the door. Pan just looked at the men standing around, noticing how the two men who'd just broken his legs now seemed uneasy with the helmeted man's presence.

"Yes and I think I'll join you." Dr. Kruger said, giving his pair of bruisers the okay to leave the room. The ecologist then turned back around to face the injured faunus once more.

"I'll be honest with you, Mr. Pan, this man disturbs me. So I'll be in the next room, waiting." He said quietly as if not to let the leering Coyote behind hear. "Just call out when you're ready to talk. And you will want to talk." Dr. Kruger said with sure smile before turning and leaving the room.

And then there were only two left in Pan's private study. There were no words exchanged between them at first, just the sounds of pained panting belonging to Pan. The helmeted Coyote just stared at Pan, that god awful helmet o his piercing into the faunus' soul.

"You will get nothing out of me." Pan spat defiantly.

"Frying or Flute?" A low distorted voice emitted from Coyote's helmet.

Pan raised a brow at the man's question. It wasn't difficult for the man to figure out what Coyote referred to. He referred to the kitchen utensil and the musical instrument. Pan shot the man a dirty look and kept silent.

"Frying it is." Coyote muttered forebodingly before proceeding to stalk towards Pan on the sofa. The man then drew what appeared to be a baton like weapon from his back and pressed a button, causing it to extend and reveal its cattle prod nature.

It was a good thing the neighborhood was empty. Everyone would have heard the screaming.

The sun slowly crept up over the sky, bathing the land in its life giving light. Usual Monday mornings at Shade would see students running around, all making their rounds before winding up at the dining hall for breakfast. But classes have since been cancelled in favor for the missions the students were to partake in. For an entire month, no class, no stress, no worry. All leading up to the Vytal Festival.

So the students who hadn't been assigned a mission this week had partied all through the night not a care in the world. But those students who did have missions, well, it sucked to be them. But for all of them, it was the day after. The day after the dance.

It had been an absolutely fine affair. Team NDGO hadn't been stuck on the planning committee, so that did fine by Nebula. The music didn't tank and one of the chefs whipped up one of the most fabulous finger sandwiches she'd ever had. But it was the after bash that Nebula had spent most of her time. As it was, one of the fourth year students had managed to sneak a keg onto campus.

Nebula had never been one for alcohol, but she tried it. She didn't abuse it like Octavia did. For the most part, the NDGO leader had spent her time supervising her hot headed teammate, making sure she didn't get into any trouble. She also made sure to take lots of incriminating videos of Octavia's actions for later use.

Overall, it had been a little over two weeks since Talal had passed. Shade didn't waste a breath, it kept trudging forward. As did Nebula. Standing in her dorm room alone, dressed and waiting on her teammates, the Violette was prepared more than anything for what the day offered her. Team NDGO was first on the list and set to meet at the tarmac in less than an hour.

"Hurry up and get dressed, we'll be heading out soon." Nebula cast a glance over to Octavia, who still remained in bed.

"Not so loud, Neb. My brains ringing." Octavia muttered woozily.

The NDGO leader frowned at her teammate. The night before she'd tried to temper Octavia's consumption of drink, but the girl kept at it with no intent of stopping. "That's what you get. Should've quit at five like I told you to." Nebula remarked sharply.

"Five? I don't remember having five." Octavia said as she attempted to climb out of bed, resulting in her falling face first onto the floor. "…Ow."

"Light weight." Gwen quipped as she finished with her hair.

"Ugh…rooms spinning. I'm gonna hurl." Octavia warned the duo of girls before puking on her side of the room.

"Gwen, would you be a dear and help Octavia?" nebula looked over her shoulder and to the team's resident knife thrower.

Gwen nodded and went to aid her partner and picked Octavia off the ground. As Gwen helped Octavia to the restroom to clean herself up, Nebula herself got to work cleaning up the mess. She grabbed some paper towels and wiped up Octavia's upchuck.

With that taken care of, the NDGO leader double checked her mental list. Finding her partner Dew. Though sleep came easy to Nebula last night, the alcohol had helped with that, the Violette couldn't help but worry about her teammate's wellbeing, especially since she forgot her scroll at the dorm. With no means to directly contact her, Nebula set off down the hall in search of her partner.

As Nebula recalled, Dew was the only one of their team who'd gotten a date to the dance. Brawnz Ni, the leader of Team BRNZ. He wasn't as big a condescending prick as Nolan, nor was he sweet like Roy, or soft spoken like May. Brawnz had an alpha male persona that he'd go to great lengths to showcase. But there was something about the boy Nebula couldn't help but admit as fetching. Maybe it was the hair, how it was slicked back or maybe it was his toned forearms.

Whatever it was that Brawnz had going for him, it was enough to get Dew to agree to going with him. So that's where Nebula's search began. Three doors down the hall on the left, Nebula found herself at Team BRNZ's dorm room. Nebula knocked loudly, not caring who she would wake up. Their team was heading out in an hour, she didn't have the time to go about this quietly.

There was some rumbling noises within the room. A slight thudding sound behind the door followed by a pained groan. Nebula strained to hear what was going on within the room, but she could hear some cussing. Less than a minute later, the handle turned and the door flew up. In the doorway stood Nolan dressed in a pair of pajama pants with an angered expression on his face.

"What do you want?" Nolan asked angrily through tired eyes. It went unsaid through the months they'd known each other, but there was always something there in between Nolan's words that egged Nebula. Never once had they traded anything other than unpleasant comments.

Sometimes Nebula wanted to just reach out and ask the boy what exactly it was he had against her. She'd always attributed it to her name and the burden of being related to failed generals, but there was much more to it. Even before they'd learned each other's names, Nolan had been spiteful and resentful.

"Looking for my partner. Any chance you know where she might be?" Nebula asked, unfazed by Nolan's crass attitude.

"And you thought she'd be here?" The messy haired red head raised a brow.

"Last I checked, she and Brawnz were getting cozy. Didn't hurt to check." Nebula said, meeting Nolan's angered expression. "So is Dew in there or not?"

"Oh let me check that for you." Nolan rolled his eyes before closing the door, intent on slamming it on Nebula's face.

But Nebula was conscious of the fact Nolan would be unwilling to assist her. So she'd already stuck her foot in the door way, preventing it from closing. "Let's try that again. This time with a little less attitude." She folded her arms over her chest. "Do you or do you not know where Dew is?"

"Ugh." Nolan groaned as he once more attempted to shut his door by pulling it back and slamming it against Nebula's foot in hopes maybe she'd be hurt and pull it back in recoil. It probably would've worked if it had been Dew at the door who wore sandals, or Gwen and her ballet flats. But Nebula wore padded boots. Try as Nolan may, she would not be removing her foot any time soon. Once realizing this, Nolan's scowl deepened as he once more face Nebula.

"Just point me in the direction of my partner, I'll be out of your hair and you can go back to sleeping." The NDGO leader said, in a way handing Nolan an ultimatum.

Nolan let out an irritated sigh. He gave a look over his shoulder, no doubt to his bed which he longed to reunite with. Resolving this to be the quickest way of returning to his slumber, Nolan nodded and face Nebula once more. "Last night, your pal Dew, the rest of us and PSYK ran off into town. Took the party to go, hit up a club, around two. We came back a little after that. If anything your girl is probably passed out in the PSYK dorm."

As it appeared Nolan had given her a definite location, Nebula removed her foot from the doorway. "Thanks." She said before turning her back to the boy and heading off on her way. She heard the feint sound of a door closing behind her, no doubt Nolan returning to bed.

So Nebula walked off further down the hall and soon enough she was face to face with the PSYK dorm room. Like how she'd done earlier with the BRNZ room, Nebula knocked and hoped for the best. Unlike with the Team BRNZ, she was on the outs with all of Team PSYK. She hadn't forgotten their part in what became of the first Faunus to attend Shade Academy. It had only been weeks and yet the world moved on, uncaring of what happened in these very dorms. No one was held responsible.

With no answer, Nebula knocked once again, this time a tad bit louder. She heard some rummaging within the room. Some voices conversing with the other. It was a squabble to see who would answer the door. Nebula waited patiently, though she found her mind wandering slightly to the clock on her scroll. Mindful of the time, she knocked once more, letting the inhabitants of the room know their problem wouldn't simply go away.

The door opened almost immediately after the third thunderous knock. It flew open, revealing a half dressed Panini in the door way. "Oh fuck off." The Team PSYK leader cursed as she recognized Nebula. She then went to slam the door, only for Nebula to put her door in the way, preventing it from closing.

Nebula was just about to comment on the fact that this was the second time someone had tried to slam a door in her face this morning when she found Panini's fist connecting with her face. The force behind the punch knocked the Violette off her feet and sending her backwards into the hallway. The strike had taken her off guard, she was genuinely unprepared for that. Stupid mistake, she muttered to herself as she found her way back to her feet.

Once more Nebula turned to the Team PSYK dorm room and once more she found it closed. The NDGO leader sighed. She'd wanted to handle this as civilly as possible, but it appeared that would not be the case. So Nebula walked up to the door once more and place her right leg against it.

Panini was just about to climb back into bed when her door came flying off the hinges into the center of the room. The Team PSYK leader whipped her head around and glared at Nebula as she stepped inside, rubbing the side of her face where she'd been hit.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Panini shouted angrily.

But the Team PSYK's cries fell on uncaring ears as Nebula scanned the room. In one of the beds, Nebula spotted a familiar head of blonde hair belonging to Dew beside a passed out Brawnz. Having found her partner, Nebula allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief. Her search had come at an end.

So the NDGO leader marched into the room, brushing off Panini and the rest of her team's comments. Kneeling beside Dew, Nebula tapped her shoulder until the slumbering siren began to wake.

Once awaking, Dew sat up in bed and reached up to clear her blurred vision. To her right she found Nebula waving at her and to her left she found "Ugh." Dew spat in disgust at the sight of Brawnz.

"Not the night you expected, huh?" Nebula asked cheekily.

"He wouldn't shut up about what he did back in his old combat school. As if that matters. What a waste of time he was." Dew said before slapping Brawnz's shoulder. But the BRNZ leader slept like a rock, he'd wake when he felt like it. "So, what's up?"

"We got our first mission in less than an hour. I was hoping you'd be joining us." Nebula said casually. "No sense in going without you watching my back."

"Well, I ain't got nothing better to do." Dew shrugged before jumping out of bed.

Once gathering Dew's things, the duo began to head for the doorway. "Hey, what about our door?!" Panini shouted in protest.

Nebula and Dew exchanged a glance and shrugged. "I'm quoting here, so bear with me." Nebula cracked a smile. "Oh Fuck off."

With that, the duo left the room.

Up top beyond the laughter of youth within Shade Tower, the Headmistress of the academy, Wytcherly, sat in her chair, back to the window as she entertained her pair of guests. But 'entertain' is a rather strong word, more like, put up with. Looking cross, up earlier than she would've liked for the benefit of another, Headmistress Wycherly was absolutely livid.

Sitting across from the purple haired woman sat a face all of Vacuo knew. Stagnant Vermillion, one of the hundred elected officials governing the country as a whole, as well as The Speaker of Chambers. With jet black hair, a winning smile and twenty years of public office under his belt, he was still the youngest man serving in office at forty-five.

And to the councilman's right sat his aide, a woman who'd since gone unnamed, but Wytcherly had picked up the formality between the two of them since they'd walked in. A conversation or two, picked up via listening device in the elevator. Gabriella was her name, though Wytcherly was unsure whether it was her first or last name. She had long dirty blonde hair tied into a bun, a perkish nose elevated slightly to a point, and she was quiet on an unsettling level.

"When you'd messaged me about meeting, I hadn't imagined you'd show up at my doors this early in the day." Wytcherly mock yawned. "But, then again, given your busy schedule, I'm not surprised in the slightest. You must be dead tired."

"The re-election campaign runs itself. I have good people working for me. The finest movers and shakers for campaign managers. Not to mention inspired interns all too willing to lend a hand." Vermillion smiled.

"I bet not a one of them is a Faunus."

"Progress takes time. But you know that already, don't you, Wytcherly?" Vermillion said in a knowing tone.

"Talal's suicide was unfortunate and a setback, yes." The headmistress sighed. "I really thought he could've made the difference."

"Which is why we're here today." The councilman said before he shifted the conversation. "Human-Faunus relationships are at an all-time low." Vermillion informed as he extended a hand to his aide. Gabriella dug into the brief case she'd brought with her and handed the councilman a sheet of paper, which Vermillion then placed onto he desk in front of him and slid to Wytcherly.

"I don't need polls to know that." Wytcherly muttered before sliding the paper back. "All I need to do is switch on the telly or look to my computer. Faunus getting shot by cops. Riots in the streets. How long before we have another civil war in our streets?"

"That is something I hope to avoid." Vermillion sighed as he reclaimed the sheet of paper and handed it back to his aide. "I've gotten a think tank together. We've brain stormed some options, and I think we've come up with a solution."

"You and the rest of your cabal of politicians are finally going to let them vote?"

"Fuck no. You kidding? Then they'd get the idea of voting one of their own into public office." The Speaker of the Chamber said in disgust. "We want to attract more Faunus to the Huntsmen work field. Get them out of slums, let them see beyond their ghettos and learn to love Vacuo and the rest of its people."

"Which is what I've already been working on."

"Yes, except we don't want them to kill themselves this time. That's counterproductive, Wytcherly." Vermillion snapped. "To amend this, I hope you'll consider sending this year's first year students on missions near Faunus border towns. They'll patrol and maybe they can do some community outreach while they're there. It might inspire a few Faunus and definitely it'll remind them that there's more important things we must divide our attention to, such as possible Grimm invasions."

"Well as it so happens, I've already to deploy teams to the border." Wytcherly muttered as she reclined back in her chair.

"Ah, great minds think alike."

"Don't flatter yourself, Vermillion. If anything I thought of it first." The Headmistress smirked.

After Dew had finished dressing, Team NDGO was now mission ready. And with ten minutes to spare too. The quartet of young women made their way out of the dormitory and down to the tarmac where they had been notified days earlier to meet for assignment.

Nebula looked to her team and studied them for a moment. They were mobile, but last night's dance and after activities had taken a toll on a few of their number. Octavia had taken the worst of it by suffering from a hangover. And Dew just looked tired in general. That had her worried.

She debated voicing her concerns for a little bit as they engaged in conversation about the last night's events. In between the laughter at Octavia's expense and the fiery girl's response in angered shouting, Nebula decided against killing the mood. Should her team falter in anyway, Nebula would be sure to shoulder it like the leader she was.

This was her team after all. They were the only people she could rely on and vice versa. She would be damned if she couldn't fulfil her duties.

"Hey, Nebula, you listening?" Dew snapped her finger in front of Nebula's face, snapping the team leader out of her thoughts. '

"Huh? Oh, sorry, zoned out. What did you say?" She sheepishly asked.

"I said we're about to head out." Dew jotted a thumb over her shoulder at Professor Kashmir of all people who waited beside a Bullhead.

"Well come along, students." Professor Kashmir gestured to the waiting Bullhead, the first of the day. "We're due in about an hour. We'd best get going now. We Huntsmen are both deadly and timely now."

With that the Team boarded the waiting Bullhead. They threw the doors closed and then moved to take their seats. "You girls have been assigned to shadow me on this trip of ours. Expect to reconnaissance, getting to know our neighbors, and eventually we'll get around to killing Grimm. How's that sound?" The four huntresses in training gave a hearty roar.

"And our destination, Professor?" Nebula asked as she and the other members of Team NDGO took their seats.

"I'm glad you asked, Ms. Violette. This came down from the Headmistress herself. We're off to the border. We'll patrol the area and stop by a local predominately Faunus town." Professor Kashmir answered in his usual upbeat attitude. "Shows the little guy we're out there protecting them."

"I'd like that." Nebula quietly said to herself.

With that said, Professor Kashmir gave the thumbs up to the pilot to take off. The Bullhead shot up off the tarmac and sped off to the east, to the border and what would no doubt be a memorable first adventure for Team NDGO.

"Mr. Freeman, or would you prefer to be addressed by your birth given name, Balkin?" Dr. Kruger asked aloud as he addressed a dark skinned man who was on his knees glaring up at him. It had been three days since paying Pan a visit, but the former huntsman had died before he could give them anything valuable. So then they tracked down one of his teammates.

Their journey took them into the heart of a Faunus ghetto near the border Vacuo shared with Vale. The men in Kruger's employ had stormed this particular home belonging to the Mr. Freeman, the man on his knees before Kruger. It was in the day, his family was home, giving Kruger and his men the proper leverage to no doubt finally get the answers he sought.

"That was another life, one I've turned my back on." Freeman said, quickly glancing past Kruger and to his family, his darling wife and his two children who were all huddled beside each other with an absolutely haunting individual wearing a helmet stood pointing a gun at them.

Normally Kruger would have assigned the rest of his muscle to watch over and keep the family in line. But after storming the house and taking them by surprise, it became all too apparent that allowing Coyote stand outside alone unsupervised would do no one good. So the rest of the men waited outside, keeping watch, while the helmeted Coyote stood there menacingly brandishing a gun in the family's direction.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry, but we have much to discuss on that matter." Kruger said, sounding a tad regretful. "We've spoken to your surviving associates. None of them were exactly willing to share what you four found up on the mountain."

"As it should be." Freeman sneered.

"Young, foolhardy huntsmen gone treasure hunting. Ends in tragedy." Kruger said aloud, reciting the old newspaper clipping he'd found in Pan's study. "Three of you lived through your experience, but none shared the truth of your experience. But unlike your friends Demeter or Pan, you went off the grid entirely. You even married a Faunus."

"No! Please stop!" Freeman begged. "Pease, I'll give you what you want. Just don't hurt my family."

"Splendid." Kruger happily danced. "The Sentinel and his knowledge, where is it?"

"In Vale, we tracked it to a town called Venezier." Freeman lowered his head in shame, as he relinquished a secret his former teammates had died to keep. "That's where our journey took us. That's where it ended. Now please, just leave my family alone."

Kruger was prepared to fulfil his end of the bargain. He turned to face Coyote and gestured to the man to cease his actions, to turn the gun he held in his hands away from Freeman's family. But the helmeted man remained still, as if not seeing Kruger and his vision fixated on the trio of Faunus kneeling before him.

"Oh no." Kruger muttered under his breath. Coyote let out a low growl then proceeded to execute Freeman's family. A series of loud gunshot rang out through the neighborhood and caused a startled Kruger to jump backwards. "Goddammit, Coyote!" The doctor shouted.

"No!" Freeman screamed.

"I apologize, I do not condone my associate's behavior. He's only like this around Faunus. I'm very sorry." Kruger said, waving his hands defensively as if such an action could calm Freeman. "Please, lets not get violent. We can still sort things out."

"I'll kill you!" Freeman shouted before leaping at Dr. Kruger. Another pair of gunshots rang loudly. Before he'd even gotten off the ground, the Freeman was dead. His body hit the floor with a silent thud.

The doctor sighed. He looked to Coyote who was still staring downward at the dead Faunus. "I guess I should have expected as much."

"People would've heard that, Boss. We'd better get going." The goggle wearing bruiser in Kruger's employ said as he entered the room.

Kruger nodded in acknowledgement, understanding his subordinate's concerns. But the man waved them off, he still had much to do here in the Freeman household. "I don't believe Balkin was telling the truth. He was hiding something." Kruger muttered. "Brussels, you and I are sacking this place. Maybe he left something behind."

"But, what if cops show up?"

"In a fuanus ghetto? Unlikely." Kruger practically laughed at the idea. "What we should be worried about are Huntsmen. This close to the border and Grimm, no doubt a patrol team would have heard Coyote's commotion."

"So what do we do?" Brussels, the goggle wearing bruiser, asked.

Kruger spared a glance Coyote's way. "Take Pepper and do what you do best. Divert attention away from us."

The helmeted Coyote gave a nod and then turned to the front door. He then let out a haunting laugh that sent a shiver down his associates spines. He then set out on his task still brandishing his gun. Monty help them all.

This chapter was originally going to be longer, by that I mean, I was going to wrap up NDGO's first mission in this one chapter. But I decided to move all of that to the next chapter and then do what I originally planned.

I'm also happy to introduce to you all a number of OC characters who will be serving as antagonists. Season 3 is where the canon material ends and Season 4 is pretty much picking up with RNJR going to Mistral. So, I'm forced to create antagonists to challenge the characters and so forth. But what's really important is that they aren't just one note characters. I don't want to write characters who are evil for the sake of evil. So, I hope the characterizations I provided for Dr. Kruger and Coyote sort of suffice for now, next chapter we'll get more into their motivations and unravel just what the heck they're doing.

Also, we saw some political intrigue with Wytcherly and Vermillion. That's kind of important moving forward. Because, eventually, Russel will be coming to Vacuo. And I can't wait for that.

I hope to update sooner, but I will within the next seven days. 'Til then, later days!