Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine.
Chapter 110 is here. As always, I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks again for following/ favoring/ reading the story so far. You are al awesome!
See you again next week in chapter 111. Until then, be well and have fun!
Darkness and grime, along with the smell of rot welcomed team BLWS after they descended halfway. Blake and Velvet went ahead, eyes in full alert, while Weiss and Yang walked after with their lamps half-lit.
"Don't touch the railing" the cat-girl instructed her teammates. Weiss' eyes narrowed and she slightly moved her light to illuminate it better, revealing the clotted blood stains and pieces of flesh that hung from it.
"She warned you" Velvet forced a smile, her gaze having just fallen on dried red trails that climbed down the stairs. Behind her, Yang stared at the crimson stains that covered the tiled walls in disgust.
"No offence Blakey, but I am not sure this place is safer than above the ground" the blonde said, as she saw her partner stop and peek around a corner "if anything, we have even worse visibility than normal."
"You would normally be right" she motioned with her hand for Velvet to move in and the bunny girl turned the corner, taking aim in the dark, descending stairs before she motioned for them to follow.
"But there are quite the numerous advantages for us to take this route instead of above" she continued, taking in a torn, weathered piece of wallpaper that had been sliced and stained in bloody handprints.
Red footprints were plainly visible as day, jumping down the stairs into the deep darkness. Weiss stared above. There was a hanging sign that read 'Crumble Park Station; Connection to red and blue subway lines.'
Then, it clicked to her what the black-haired girl was implying "is it me, or do you intend for us to use the subway, Blake? Because I think I have to remind you that power is down everywhere inside the dome."
"But that doesn't apply to the railway vehicles that technicians use for emergency repairs, does it?" she asked, hoping she could hide both her smirk and her still-pounding heart "they run on autonomous engines."
All three of her subordinates blinked for a moment, before realization hit them. "You are right!" the brunette faunus commented "all stations should have at least one small railway car prepared for such cases!"
"With a little luck on our side, we can get it running. We take the blue line, leave the subway at Dawn Bridge Station, cross Dawn Bridge and then climb up the hill to reach Antares Observatory and stop whoever- or whatever- is creating the green pillar and powering up the dome."
She stopped to control her breathing and hydrate her parched lips "we will have to be slower than normal trains but it's still much faster than walking and it will allow us to rest a little along the way."
"That" Weiss thought about it for a few seconds, giving Velvet and Yang enough time to check the last flight of stairs leading to the subway's first level where the ticket machines were "is a really good plan, Blake."
The faunus' ears perked up for a moment, making her partner smile, before she collected herself. Ruby's words from yesterday's late night text message exchanges flashed back in her memory.
"Make sure to familiarize yourself with the area- read the map before you begin. Combine this knowledge with your sharp instincts and be always on the lookout for escape routes that can save your lives. Good luck, Blake. Please try to rest even for a few hours."
"Thanks" she murmured, slightly blushing. Her breathing and heartbeat had somehow relaxed, despite the sense of dread that accompanied their descent. "We only have to find where the car is stationed in here."
She made a sign with her hands again and all four of them ran down the stairs into the opening in full alert. The darkness was forced back by the Xiao Long couple's combined lights, leaving a macabre sight behind it.
Unlike above where only blood and prints remained, massacred corpses and torn apart bodies were splattered everywhere. Various shades of red, gooey blood and mangled flesh filled the ticket machines' area and spoke volumes about the horrible slaughter that had taken place in it.
"For the love of Dust…" the Schnee whispered in shock. "Those guys are left here; they were not killed by Ghouls" Yang stared at the bloodied opening that led to the main station hall "dunno if that's a good thing."
"I have to agree" Blake's voice replied, her glove-covered hands trying to clear the horrible remains off a picture that showed the subway's structure "I found a map. It says… wait a minute…" she whispered.
"We go through the opening and then take the path to our left. We open the staff staircase and climb it down to level 2 where the rails are. From there, we will find the rail car's dock on our right."
"Sounds clear enough to me" Yang took a large gulp, walked carefully around the pools of rotting remains and raised her lamp before moving towards the opening "cover me if you hear anything" she said.
"Of course" all of her friends readied their weapons and waited. Yang took a deep breath- and then jumped through the opening, into the dark and possibly dangerous main hall.
The floor here was so covered in blood, grime and human remains that she felt her feet slip, forcing her to grab the railing that passed by her side. She stopped, raised her light and took a good look around.
The level of slaughter and destruction that she saw was unbelievable even by her standards. Blood, flesh and gore was everywhere around her, caked red reflecting her light no matter where she shed it.
From what she could see, she stood on one of four bridges that formed an X-shape pattern. In its middle was a large platform where two sets of stairs led the visitors either to the left or the blue subway lines.
The ceiling was tall enough for her to not be able to see it and her lilac orbs failed to properly see below as well. This must be where the train platforms are, she thought. Never used the subway a lot, to be honest.
"It's clear!" she shouted to her teammates "and slippery. Watch your step!" she added.
"I don't like this at all; I expected Ghouls, but this is…" her leader, voice full of concern, exclaimed as she walked. "Unbelievable; what Grimm could have done this?" Velvet stared down the deep darkness.
"The platforms are just beneath us" she informed them, making Yang smile at her successful assumption. Last walked Weiss, whose face was marred in extreme displeasure and disgust as she observed the area.
"I can't believe how easy it was…" she told them. "We have barely been starting the mission" Blake replied, motioning them to start walking the bridge on their left while her eyes kept monitoring the platforms below.
"I am talking about all these people" she said, sending a forced smile- one that Yang recognized at once "they were just living their lives in the third largest city of Remnant; they were supposed to be safe here."
"Baby…" "Why were they not safe?" she asked, without waiting for an answer. "We have grown so much; Ozpin, Glynda, SHU, all of us have been trying our best- working ourselves to the bone…" she trembled.
"And suddenly, the world decides to pull a stunt like this on the lives of people who simply wanted to live? What sort of sick joke is this? What in the heck do we have to do to stop seeing corpses around us?!"
It always fascinated Yang and Blake how Weiss always managed to have an outburst without raising her voice even one octave. Thankfully for the pale girl's image, they hadn't been around when Kendrick had died.
Yellow eyes blinked for a second and cat ears folded in understanding "I know what you mean, but please, Weiss." "You will attract whatever is in here to us, baby" Yang walked and caressed her fiancée's cheek.
"Sorry" she curtly apologized, averting her gaze towards Velvet who was dutifully standing guard behind them, Crescent Rose's copy always at her arms. The bunny faunus gave her an understanding smile as well.
"Shouldn't we get moving? We can have a few heart-to-hearts when we are safe inside the rail car" the brunette advised Blake. "Right" Weiss replied at once "no time to waste any more, sorry" she admitted.
She did, however, spend a few seconds to peck Yang's lips before they went back to walking the bridge. Blake was always leading, with the last one being Velvet, looking out for ambushes.
"I have to say" the tall woman fixed her hat "for all the inhuman and senseless slaughter, this is going way too smoothly so far." Her lover sent her a side glance, eyes fully narrowed.
"Were Ruby here, she would complain about you jinxing it" a quick and not so harsh reprimand came from her pink lips. "I second that; there is no reason to complain for our once-in-a-while good luck" Blake agreed.
All of a sudden, a loud noise echoed inside the empty station. To them, it sounded like metal being twisted and slowly getting bent. They were briefly reminded of a particular scene from Jurassic Island. Yang cursed.
"It came from below" Velvet aimed her rifle downwards and took small steps in order to avoid making any more sound than they already had. "I blame this on you" Weiss narrowed her eyes at her lover.
Their leader turned her face at them for a moment and motioned them to keep quiet. She then took a careful peek over the edge of the bridge- there was nothing to be seen, even with her superior eyesight.
The sound came again. This time a horrifying screech like claws being sharpened on polished steel accompanied it. The huntresses stared at each other. "Follow me and be silent" Blake whispered to her team.
The screeching stopped, making them all stay still. For the two humans, there was total, absolute silence. An utter absence of noise highlighted the deep darkness and the abhorrent dead spreading around them.
For the faunus girls, however, the situation was different. Their ears could pick up a very distinct noise that came from below. Something down there was letting out heavy breaths; and it sounded massive.
"Close your lights" Blake whispered at her team. Weiss and Yang were so fast to comply that she thought for a moment she had copied Sophia Carmel's semblance. "Guide them and stay calm" she instructed Velvet.
Immediately after that, Blake's shining yellow eyes turned and focused on the path. Two sets of ears stood in full alert, trying their best to let her pinpoint the monster's proximity, or at least track its movements.
She took a couple steps and stopped to check if there was any reaction from the Grimm she was sure lurked below. She really hoped she would be able to hear it, even with her heart thumping like a rock band drum.
After a couple minutes of perfect silence, both from the humans on the bridge and the unnamable creature below it, Blake took a brief glance back. She met with three sets of eyes waiting for her command and at once started to move again with graceful, cat-like steps.
The sound of something screeching against metal echoed once more. A heavy breathing rose from below and this time it was loud enough for all girls to hear. The cat faunus kept moving at a slow, silent pace.
"Keep moving after me" Velvet whispered to her back. Yang slowed her tempo, matching that of Weiss'. Her eyes narrowed and she diverted all her focus to her hearing. She had to be able to detect at least its-
A massive rumble shook the bridge. Something moved; big enough for even the humans to see its outline as its body rose from the platforms, the horrible sound of flesh being stretched thin penetrating their ears.
And then, it rose. A towering figure slithered in the deep shadows. Its size was so immense, even Yang and Weiss managed to see its outline as it moved, rising up to meet their gazes head-on.
Blake and Velvet's eyes opened wide. Their faunus eyes could discern even more of the monster's body- and what they saw was utterly and absolutely terrifying.
That Grimm had a thick, serpentine body that looked like an enormous black snake. It had no limbs, but its impossible size allowed it to reach the bridge merely by stretching out its worm-like form.
On its top, where the head was supposed to be, the girls saw wide jaws open. Its teeth were huge and resembled jagged bone plates growing out of its skull.
It yawned, shaking the air with a huge bellow and then turned to them, revealing that it lacked the ever-present red Grimm eyes. In fact, save for its jaws, they couldn't see it have any eyes or facial features at all!
Its breath was horrible. The smell of rot and putrid flesh assaulted their nostrils as the gaping maw hovered in front of the huntresses, its teeth a few meters away from their faces. Saliva dripped out of them.
Slowly and carefully, Blake raised her arm and gripped the railing. The humongous head slightly tilted towards them. "As soon as it attacks, we all jump down" she whispered in the lowest voice possible.
Velvet readied her legs. A slimy, fleshy tongue came out of the Grimm's mouth and licked its jaws. Weiss held her breath. The creature opened its mouth wide. Yang cracked her fingers and bent her knees.
The attack was fast and powerful, like a canon shooting them in close proximity. Thankfully, their reaction was even faster; they all jumped down the bridge seconds before the Grimm chomped down on them.
"WEISS!" shouting all of a sudden, her teammates allowed the white girl to find out their location. Her arms formed an array of shining white glyphs that slowed their fall and let them land on- something slimy.
Without even waiting for Blake to give the command, Velvet and Weiss threw a vision flare to the opposing sides of the platform. Red light cut through the darkness, revealing the Grimm- and their surroundings.
The amount of gore, blood and senseless slaughter around them would be enough to make any average huntress quiver in shock. So huge were the piles, that Blake could barely discern the pavement at some places.
Their state of decompose was unnaturally advanced, so that any sort of smell had vanished already. Stones and metal pieces could be seen among the bodies, swayed aside by the huge Grimm's worm-like body.
A violent sound came from above, accompanied by rubble falling down on them. The four huntresses quickly moved into formation and looked up- where the Grimm thrashed around, jaws attached on the bridge.
"This is our-" A loud cracking sound cut her off, as the monstrous head snapped back, concrete and metal on its mouth. It gashed and spat, a rain of stones and bars falling down on the mortified humans.
"You are fucking kidding me- IT BIT OFF PART OF THE BRIDGE!" Yang's voice rose, her shock and astonishment evident with each word. "We need foothold!" Blake screamed at Weiss, standing beside the blonde.
The head came down at them. Glyphs formed above the sea of dead bodies and the team jumped on them, away from the colossal Grimm's attack. Or at least, that's what they thought.
As it hit the ground, the tremor was so massive that it sent a shockwave towards all directions. Thinking they had escaped, Yang and Weiss were hit head-on, auras shaking violently as they were thrown back away.
Velvet saw the wave coming, but had no time to react. She could only use Anesidora to conjure Jaune's shield and absorb most of the impact before she was blown into the pile of gore as well.
Blake was on full alert. Her heightened senses and overclocking nerves let her realize exactly what was going to happen. She conjured a clone and then jumped forward, showering the Grimm in bullets.
The projectiles did nothing more than annoy it, however. She stowed away Envelop and readied Nightfall- the monster's tail hit her from the back, sending surges of immense pain up her spine.
"GAH!" Blake felt her aura tremble as she mustered her focus to make a shadow clone and jump away at once. She teleported a couple meters to the front- and came face to face with the gaping maw charging her.
A mighty explosion slammed the maw's left side. An array of glyphs got between the cat girl and the drooling jaws. A blonde-haired comet fell on its head, smashing it down to earth with a sickening splash.
"Are you all right Blake?" skating on top of her glyphs, Weiss reached the faunus. "I am fine- focus on helping Yang!" she blurted in a slightly embarrassed manner. "On it!" the pale girl agreed and ran forward.
The monster raised its head and thrashed it around mid-air. "WoW!" failing to find anything to grab at, Yang fell down, slammed her back on its slithering body and landed on top of her fiancée's glyphs.
A hungry maw turned at them, but another explosion slammed its back. Blake stared behind, where Velvet had conjured Nora's missile launcher and was alternating strikes to divert its attention away from them.
The huge tail cracked like a whip to try and break the bunny girl's neck. Blake saw it- she saw her friend fall for a moment- and her heartbeat rose, urging her to try shielding her with both Nightfall and her body.
"Blake!" the maw came down the exact moment the tail slammed on the black-haired huntress' body. Weiss somersaulted away, but it was too late; the dripping, abysmal mouth covered their vision.
"ARG!" two loud screams echoed inside the cavern, accompanied by the sound of flesh grinding on metal. Nightfall absorbed most of the attack, the harsh skin of the monster chunking off pieces of Blake's aura as she parried it away from her fellow faunus.
On the other side, Yang had jumped and stood above Weiss. Her arms were stretched out, holding the monster's jaws open wide, her muscles shaking as she mustered all the strength she could possibly find.
The dripping tongue lashed out, coiling around her body and squeezing her chest. She felt her breath dragged out of her lungs. For a moment, her arms nearly gave off, as her strength was getting sapped away.
"IDIOT!" Weiss rolled next to her and performed an X-shape slash with her fire-infused blades. The humongous roar almost destroyed the girls' eardrums, but it did its job as the Grimm mouth moved away, dripping thick blood on them and thrashed around the air in pain.
"We have to deal with it quickly!" Blake shouted from afar, holding her arm. "I need Yang to act as bait!" she added, making Weiss open her eyes wide in an attempt to protest. Yang just grabbed her shoulder and shook her head, pushing her back as the Grimm stopped convulsing.
"I am ready!" she slammed the ground and activate her semblance; the heat rose at once, searing the ground, scorching the corpses around her and, thankfully, attracting the worm's attention.
"Get your biggest gun ready!" Blake ordered her fellow faunus. Velvet complied and swapped Magnhild for something even more devastating- a massive portable canon used by Shea, a huntress of Shade Academy.
The monster rushed forward. Weiss gritted her teeth, hands shaking in anticipation. She side eyed Blake and saw that the faunus still clutched her chest and breathed uncharacteristically heavily and audibly.
Yang grinned. She thought she felt for a moment her left hand itch, but she frankly didn't care right now. Standing face-to-face with impossible enemies, smiling as death hovered over her… it roared and bit her.
A memory came to her. She stood, smiling in front of a massive Goliath herd as it ran over the desert. Next to her, Blake tried her best to hit as many Sabertooths as possible while avoiding being trampled flat.
"Why do you always have to rush at the stupidest, most dangerous and most impossible situations on your own? There is a limit to how much you can get high on danger!"
Yang flared her semblance and punched the maw head-on, ripples of golden energy surging through her body live waves of blazing power.
"I am not getting high on danger, kitten. I am getting high on keeping that danger away from all of you."
Yang's fist collided with the open jaws. The thing was as huge as it was powerful, but the damage the brawler had accumulated during the last two fights was more than enough to make up for it.
Even so, her lilac eyes opened wide as she found herself unable to push it away, even by alternating a couple punches as a follow-up attack on it. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to.
"Checkmate!" with immense speed, Blake and Weiss jumped on each side of the Grimm. Both Nightfall and Myrtenaster encased in lightning, came down and landed on its neck, cutting through the thick hide.
The Grimm opened its jaws and tried to throw the new threats away by shaking violently. Yang took aim and rammed its belly with another mighty punch. "Kill it, Velvet!" Blake's voice commanded the brunette.
The canon replica shot, sending a hardlight dust projectile missile right into its mouth. There was a cacophonous sound, a blinding light and a nauseating feeling of nasty goo splatter all over the place. "This place sucks!" Yang screamed out as the flares slowly died and darkness engulfed them.