CHAPTER XV
Fog of War
Yang stood back to back with Hillphire as they planned a way out against all the Grimm marauding everywhere. How they had broken into the city and gotten past defenses was still a mystery, but that was one they would wait to solve until after the battle.
"You good?" she asked her companion.
"Yeah," Hillphire said, checking the systems on his powered armor. "I'm still at full power. Barely even getting started."
"Heh. I was thinking of calling my bike over so I could use my powered armor, too."
"Why haven't you?"
"Haven't gotten my hands dirty in a while."
"I expected that answer." He opened up channels between himself and his team. "Jerry, Sara, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Will," Jerry's voice sounded in his earpiece.
"What do you need?" Sara asked.
"What's the status on the vaults?" Hillphire said.
"We have three of them filled to capacity. Jerry and I are still working on evacuations, but it's pretty chaotic over here."
"Hillphire, do you copy?" Raven's voice came through.
"Yes, loud and clear," Hillphire said.
"The three of us are trying to get to you as we speak, but there's a new type of Grimm we're encountering here and they're a lot more trouble than the usual types. We've also encountered several Skinwalker Grimm. And the new Specter Grimm that Penny's team reported a few months back."
"You said there's a new Grimm?"
"I dunno if they're even Grimm, really," Lucia's voice sounded. "They look like they're Grimm, but, instead of the bony parts, they've got...machinery?"
"Cyborg Grimm?" Yang muttered.
"Exercise caution when engaging them," Hillphire said.
"That goes without saying," Raven said. "We'll try and make our way to you if we can manage to clear things up here."
"Roger that."
—
"Liam!" Penny said, switching her systems to communicator mode. "Are you hearing me?"
"Yes, Penny, I hear you," he said.
"Oh, thank goodness. The kids and I are on our way to you now!"
"Be careful. Skinwalkers and Specters have been spotted among the Grimm. They might be using the regular Grimm as distractions before striking opportunistically."
"Good to know. Are we suspecting the presence of Omega Grimm?"
"With an attack this large scale, it's beyond a doubt. However, none of my scanners have picked up their presence, which is worrying."
"Stay safe!"
"You, too."
"Nevermore!" Athena yelled as several giant bird Grimm swooped in from the sky, plucking panicked civilians up off the street.
"Everyone!" Leon yelled at the crowds. "Get indoors! Stay out of the streets!"
"Got another one incoming!" Perseus yelled.
"I've got this," Ingrid said as she hopped from building to building, increasing her altitude with each step.
She unleashed six Dust-powered clones of herself, each one grabbing onto the Nevermore before detonating themselves, sending the bird Grimm crashing into the street. Yuan delivered the coup de grâce with Heaven Scorcher, his Ji halberd, twisting it in the Grimm's head.
"Yuan," Penny began.
"I know," he said. "I won't use the Wraith-Knight's powers out here."
"If only he could," Perseus said after decapitating a Beowolf with his sword. "We could use all the help we could get right now, not gonna lie."
"Teams LILY and APEX will remain here to assist civilians," Ivory said. "Penny, Astor, head to the Forge without us for now. We will catch up."
"Are you sure?" Astor said, facing off against three Creeps with his guitar axe in hand.
"Yes. Qrow will probably be at the front lines with your mother and my mother right about now. They'll need all the Huntsmen they can muster."
"None of you do anything reckless!" Penny yelled at the group.
"We won't, senpai!" Xanthus said. "Be safe!"
—
"What the hell is this thing?" Qrow muttered as he and Hollie faced off against a new type of Grimm, one that seemed to combine the form of a Beowolf with mechanized weaponry and armor.
"It's like a Geist Grimm, but not really," Hollie said. "No, this is like the reverse, like somebody put all this equipment on existing Grimm."
"Yeah, but who?"
The mechanized Beowolf attacked with much greater ferocity than its standard counterpart. The armored sections proved to be quite effective even against Qrow's scythe. It took both Huntsmen attacking at once to overcome it and finally kill the thing.
"For shit's sake," Qrow panted.
Hollie transformed her axe into its anti-material rifle form, taking pot shots at armored Creep Grimm in the distance.
"Even Creeps have the upgrades," she mumbled. "This is bad."
"There you are!" Winter yelled, joining them alongside Penny and Astor.
"Astor!" Hollie said, running to hug her son.
"You guys needed help?" he said.
"Where is Liam?" Penny asked the group.
"He's out at the edge of the city with Yang," Qrow said.
"Okay."
"You headed there?"
"Yeah."
"Are you thinking this may all be because of what Ivory told us last year?" Winter said.
"I'm afraid that's the case."
"Atlas using Grimm?" Hollie said. "That's kind of unheard of."
"If it's Colonel Gottfried in charge," Winter began, "he'll go to any lengths to accomplish his mission. His black ops division is the most brutal Atlas has ever seen."
"And all this is sanctioned by the government?"
"Of course not. There's a reason it's called black ops."
Without another word, Penny darted toward the outskirts of the lower town.
—
"Looks like everything's going as planned."
Cinder turned to the Daemon she was working with.
"It's your turn, Fall Maiden. Show us what you're capable of."
"And what about that Colonel Gottfried?" she said.
"He has his own duties to fulfill. Worry about your own."
"Hmph."
"Do I get to kill this time?" Tyrian said maniacally.
"Of course you do."
Cinder still couldn't get used to seeing that Daemon in the form of her old master, Salem. It was uncanny how close the resemblance was. It seemed foolproof enough to convince even Tyrian, sating his obsession with her.
"Ohoho, thank you, mistress!" Tyrian cackled.
"Of course," Tamiel said, caressing his hair. He seemed to wag his scorpion tail as she patted his head. "Now, go and make mommy proud, Tyrian."
"Oh, oh! Yes!"
"Ugh," Cinder groaned as she moved out into the city with him and the rest of her crew.
—
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Yang grunted, wrestling with an armored Ursa. It snarled as it tried to bite at her head, but her new and improved right arm was much tougher than even the old Atlas model she once wore. Its teeth could not pierce her aura nor the artificial skin over her new arm. "Heh, no wonder Penny's mostly indestructible. Hey, Will!"
"Hmm?" Hillphire said, reloading his Dust cannons at a supply truck.
"I gotta give your company props! This arm's strong as hell!"
"L-Look out!"
She turned to the right at an approaching armored Beowolf, but something tackled it to the ground. The two rolled several times before the attacker tore open the Grimm's helmet and fired two Earth Dust rounds into its face, killing it.
"Holy shit, Penny!" Yang said before finally gaining the upper hand on the armored Ursa, wedging her shotgun gauntlet in the space between the armor plates and firing until it stopped moving.
"Are you guys okay?" Penny asked, running straight to Hillphire.
"Yes, we're fine," Hillphire said, looking at his arm-mounted monitor. Several reports came in through his radio system. "It looks like most of the civilians have been evacuated into the vaults. Nevertheless, the lower city is still overrun with Grimm."
"Have we figured out who's responsible for this shit?" Yang asked, reloading her gauntlet shotguns.
"Suspicion is on the report that Ivory gave us last year," Penny said. "At least, that's what Hollie and Winter are guessing."
"So, Colonel Gottfried has made his move," Hillphire said.
"That's the asshole from Atlas, isn't it?" Yang said. "Rumor has it he's the most ruthless and brutal guy ever."
"Borderline sadistic, according to Winter," Penny said.
"Finally," Raven said as she arrived with Lucia and Aurora in tow. "Good, you're not dead yet," she said to Hillphire.
"Any idea what these new things are?" Lucia said to the group.
"If Atlas is involved in all this," Hillphire began as he tinkered with the broken Grimm armor on the ground, "my best guess is that they've somehow succeeded in controlling the Grimm. Although, as to how that is possible, I have no idea. As far as we know, only Salem and her Omega Grimm had the ability to give direct orders to the Grimm, but some of this equipment looks like it could be used for communication purposes."
"They're directly commanding the Grimm?" Penny said, picking up one of the electronic components.
"We'll have to analyze it later."
"Okay," Raven began, "in the meantime, let's move you somewhere safe. We know you're a very high-priority target for them if they really are involved, so let's not get careless here."
"I agree with her," Penny said. "Please, Liam, let's get back to the Forge where you'll be safer."
"Wait," Yang said. "This is Colonel Gottfried we're talking about. He's not just brute force. He's also a master tactician. For sure he's already anticipated this. He might have an ambush for us on the way there or right at our destination."
"Should Aurora and I check it out in advance?" Lucia said.
"No, we stick with Hillphire," Raven said. "We need to keep as much firepower around him as possible."
"I agree," Penny said, switching over her communicator. "Guys, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear," Ivory responded. "We've just cleaned up here and we're heading to you now."
"Okay. The civilians in the lower town have been mostly evacuated, so we can leave the heavy duty security to the Mistral army. Hillphire is our number one priority right now, so meet up with us here."
"What about the Forge?" Athena said. "That place is pretty much a fortress, isn't it?"
"Have you anticipated that Colonel Gottfried might have agents there already?" Ivory said.
"So you were thinking the same thing?" Penny said.
"Yes. My mother has told me stories about him. His ruthlessness is matched only by his strategic and tactical genius. At this point, it is likely that he has traps waiting for us everywhere."
"How the hell could he have infiltrated Mistral so easily, though?" Leon said.
"He's a master of subterfuge. He most likely has sleeper agents all throughout the five kingdoms. Perhaps even in Atlas itself."
"We'll be the advance team for the Forge," Athena said.
"What?" Penny yelled. "No! You guys head over here! I don't want you doing anything reckless, you hear me?"
"We're not going to be reckless," Yuan said. "You and Professor Branwen have taught us well."
"Damn it, Yuan! I won't allow you to just run headlong into danger like this!"
"Our parents did the same thing twenty years ago, didn't they?" Ingrid said. "Besides, we're already here."
"We'll keep you updated, senpai," Xanthus said. "I'll make sure the whole group stays in line."
"Going into radio silence," Ivory said. "We'll report back when we clear the Forge."
"Wait!" Penny yelled. "Hey! Teams LILY and APEX!" She grunted, stamping her foot on the ground. "Winter, do you copy?" Penny said through her communicator.
"Yes," Winter responded. "What is it, Penny?"
"Are you close to the Forge?"
"A few blocks away," Hollie said. "Why?"
"Okay, send me your coordinates and wait for us there. I'll fill you in along the way."
—
"Maintain a tight formation," Ivory said, leading the group.
"All of a sudden you're our tactical expert, huh?" Athena said.
"You might be the best at fighting the Grimm, but I've trained for this kind of scenario my whole life."
"You mean, fighting against other people?" Xanthus said.
She nodded.
"You guys really took the prospect of war seriously."
"For all intents and purposes, we expected to go to war with Vacuo within the next ten years. I had no idea Atlas would start a global war in mere months, though. Ingrid, Echo."
The two scouts nodded before disappearing onto rooftops. They kept an eye on one another as well as their surroundings while they surveyed the environment. The Forge was much too quiet despite the surrounding battle against the Grimm.
"Are your Echo senses tingling?" Ingrid asked her partner.
Echo nodded. "Are your cat ears standing on end?"
"Yeah. I don't like this feeling."
"It's just like with that Moloch guy."
"And the Specter Grimm. I feel like they're everywhere."
Echo's danger sensing Semblance spiked in the direction of Athena and the rest of the group and she broke into a dash. Ingrid needed no verbal cues, following after her companion, but they were intercepted by a group of Specter Grimm, those humanoid Grimm which stood on two reverse-jointed legs and had the capability of optically camouflaging themselves into their environments.
"I still don't get it," Ingrid said, breaking her Shadow Blitz into dual swords. "Salem's sealed away, isn't she? How the hell are new Grimm popping out of nowhere?"
"It's the armored ones that worry me," Echo said, deflecting a sniper bullet with her bow before countering with such pinpoint accuracy that her arrow sank between the Specter Grimm's armor plates into its eye.
"Has anyone told you yet that you're a freakin' deadeye with that thing?"
"Wait, was that a pun?"
"Damn it, I just channeled the twins, didn't I?"
Echo chuckled.
—
"What the hell is with this armored shit?" Athena grunted as she drove her spear into an armored Beowolf's eye socket.
"I dunno!" Leon grunted as he struggled against an armored Boarbatusk, "but this is starting to be a pain in the ass!"
"Hey," Perseus said, backing up against Ivory. "Do you or your mom know anything about this?"
"No," she said, reloading Elfenbein's Dust cartridges. "In fact, I have a hard time believing Atlas has anything to do with these monstrosities. I know Colonel Gottfried can go to lengths that no one else is willing to, but even this is...I don't even know what to call this."
"It's possible for him to go rogue, though, isn't it?" Xanthus said. "How much latitude does your country afford him anyway?"
"A lot, but I doubt even this would be sanctioned by the Atlas government."
"Not officially, anyway," Athena said. "Damn it, where are Echo and Ingrid?"
"Right here!" Echo said, landing next to her team leader alongside the cat Faunus.
"Where's Yuan?" Ingrid said.
Leon looked left and right. "The hell? He was right next to me!"
"Over there!" Xanthus yelled, pointing to their teammate, who was surrounded by Grimm of all types.
The group started toward him, but they were intercepted by another group of armored Grimm.
"Shit, Alphas," Perseus said, readying his sword and shield.
"You guys get to your teammate!" Athena yelled. "We'll take care of these assholes!"
"Roger!" Ivory said, leading the way.
—
Penny ran alongside her group, which included Hillphire, Yang's quartet, Ren, Nora, and Winter. Qrow, Hollie, and Astor had since joined up with Hillphire's old friends, Sara and Jerry, to continue helping with civilian evacuations. The bulk of the lower city's population was already in the impenetrable underground vaults, but the rest needed to be escorted to the inner city, where the wall and the main army would provide better cover than the open ground.
"There's no point in trying to reach them," Winter said to Hillphire, who continued attempting contact with the youngsters. "Ivory knows to go into radio silence when it's possible they'll encounter enemy combatants other than Grimm."
"You sure taught your kid how to kill other people, haven't you?" Yang said.
"Yang, not now," Penny said. "Besides, that training's coming in handy now that we're probably fighting against Atlas forces."
"Atlas forces that use Grimm to attack, huh?" Nora said. "Boy, I knew times were changing, but man they sure are changing."
"This is all most likely black ops," Winter said. "I've never heard of any official Atlas-sanctioned programs that utilize domesticated Grimm."
"General Holland really trusts this Colonel Gottfried, doesn't he?" Ren said.
"I was Ironwood's right hand. It's not surprising Gottfried is Holland's."
"Hold up," Yang said, stopping the group. Their path down the road was blocked by an unfamiliar face, accompanied by about half a dozen Grimm the group had never seen before, Grimm that stood on two legs with stature that was far too humanlike. They were enormous with bodybuilding physiques, faces frozen into identical emotionless stares.
"The hell are those things?" Nora muttered, readying her hammer, Magnhild.
"I don't know, but I don't like how they look," Ren said, readying StormFlower.
"Colonel Gottfried!" Winter yelled to the man, who was dressed in fully black garb from his jackboots all the way up to the military cap on his head.
"Colonel Winter Schnee," he said. "You have been quite the troublesome woman, do you know that?"
"What the hell are you doing with all these Grimm? Since when has our government sanctioned these kinds of experiments?"
"The council does not need to know about these matters. My goal is simply to ensure the continued hegemony of Atlas. The other kingdoms stand in the way of our manifest destiny."
"There's something off about those Grimm with him," Ren said.
"Yeah, it's making my hair stand up," Nora said.
"Oh?" Colonel Gottfried said. "Are you admiring our new Übersoldaten? Atlas may pride itself on its android army, but my Schwarze Sonne specialist corps has developed a far superior machine, perfectly obedient, immune to remote hacking, and quite powerful as well. Would you like to test yourself against them?"
"Don't mind if I do!" Nora yelled, rushing forward.
Ren advanced alongside her, engaging two Übersoldaten that had stepped out of formation to meet them in combat. Nora's hammer made direct contact with one of the monsters, but her strike seemed to have little effect.
"Does this thing have an aura?" Ren said, exchanging blows with the Übersoldat.
"There's no way these are regular Grimm," Nora said.
"You are correct," Gottfried said. "Countless hours of experimentation went into developing these perfect soldiers."
"Okay, what the hell did you do to those things?" Yang said.
"Surely you did not think I would divulge state secrets to outsiders so easily, especially not with a traitor in your midst. Colonel Schnee, did you succeed in finding your daughter? You do realize she is under suspicion of espionage and treason, do you not?"
"I did not receive any such orders from General Holland," Winter said. "Are you here under his orders or your own?"
"There is no official word regarding Cadet Ivory Schnee, of course, but I did not reach my rank by simply waiting for things to happen. You of all people should know how proactive I am."
"Yes, and I know that trait of yours has gotten our country into more human rights violations in the last two decades than any before."
"Well, as the saying goes, you cannot make a pancake without breaking a few eggs, yes?"
"You ruined pancakes for me," Nora snarled. "Also you got that idiom completely wrong, you doof."
"No matter." He drew his saber. "Colonel Winter Schnee, this confrontation between you und I has been very long in the making, yes?"
"So, you're here to fight," Winter said, drawing her own weapon.
"Well, not that I want to. You must understand. I am merely acting in the best interests of our country. There are things General Holland himself is not willing to do, and so I must soil my hands in order to ensure that he does not need to."
"Penny," Winter mumbled, "keep a close eye on Hillphire, okay?"
"No need to tell me twice," she said.
Winter projected a glyph behind, launching herself at Colonel Gottfried, who matched her saber work with expertise befitting that of a leader of one of Atlas's two specialist corps.
"Wunderbar," Gottfried said as he exchanged blows with Winter. "Your skills have not dulled one bit in the last several months you have spent away."
"And you're not taking this fight seriously," she said.
"Hmm? Oh, you are referring to how I fight with one hand behind my back. I thought you would have noticed by now that this is how I do battle. We are fencing, after all, are we not?"
"Hmph." She projected a number of glyphs to attack with Dust, but Gottfried countered with rapid shots from his saber's built-in gun module, nullifying all of Winter's Dust projectiles. The fight once again returned to a melee scuffle between the two, with occasional Dust attacks here and there.
"He's just toying with her," Nora said.
"I don't think either of them are fighting at full power, to be honest," Yang said.
There was an explosion in the distance and the group looked over to the smoke rising from the direction of the Hillphire Innovations campus.
"That was," Hillphire began.
"The Dust refinery!" Penny said.
"Hey," Yang said to Penny. "Go help the kids."
Penny looked at her and then at Hillphire. "But..."
"I'll be fine," he said. "I've got Yang and her gang protecting me."
"High five, Will," Yang said, to which Hillphire responded accordingly.
"If you're sure," Penny said.
"Those youngsters need your help," Raven said. "William Hillphire is paying us to protect him. Plus, you can count on his safety with the Spring Maiden here."
"And us," Nora said, pointing to herself with her thumb. Ren nodded in agreement.
Penny let out heavy sigh. She turned to Hillphire before lunging at him in an embrace.
"Hey, what's up?" he said.
"Don't die, okay?"
"I won't. I promise."
She managed a smile before darting in the direction of the Forge, moving as fast as her body would permit.
—
Ivory took a deep breath as she landed beside the rest of her team, letting it out slowly. She needed to pace herself. This battle was much more taxing than normal. She peeked out from their hiding place, spying on the marauding armored Grimm.
"I'm so tired," Leon huffed.
"I mean," Ingrid panted, "they do have those stupid armored bits. Which makes this so much harder."
"Status report," Ivory said.
"I think I need a breather," Leon said.
"Same," Ingrid echoed.
"I can reinforce your auras if you need," Yuan said. "That should help with fatigue somewhat."
"Do that if you need to," Ivory said. "So far, it doesn't look like they notice us. We should take all the rest we need."
"What about you?" Ingrid said.
Ivory paused before answering, "I'll be fine."
"You don't have to put on a brave face for our sake, you know," Leon said.
She turned to him.
"We get it. We just want you know that we're looking out for you, too."
She gave him a nod before peeking between the two crates again to continue surveillance.
"Do you need extra aura from me?" Yuan asked her.
"My aura regenerates faster than most," she said. "Leon and Ingrid need your help more than I do."
"All right."
"I wonder how Athena's team is doing," Ingrid mumbled as Yuan extended his aura to her to aid with physical healing.
—
Echo yelped as she crashed into a steel beam after tumbling on the ground several times. She looked over at her opponent, a massive human-like Grimm she'd never seen before. It had swatted her like a fly with just a single punch, shattering her aura in the process and blinding her danger sensing Semblance. With it gone, she needed to utilize the rest of her senses, but her vision was blurry from the pain and there was a loud buzzing noise in her ears.
The giant man-Grimm was marching at her, the steady thumping of its heavy boots getting louder and louder with each step. At the last second, she managed to come back to her senses, kicking off the ground and vaulting over the muscle-bound Grimm's head, landing precariously atop a steel girder above. She coughed as the smoke from fires clouded her vision, stinging her eyes. She lowered herself to another beam, scanning her environment for her team. Athena was in one section of the warehouse, surrounded by fire and Grimm. Perseus and Xanthus weren't that far from her, fighting their own armored Grimm and giant, humanoid Grimm.
She took a deep breath, allowing her aura to reconstitute, before she jumped back down. With her Semblance back online, the red flags started pointing in the direction of her teammates again, making it easier to keep track of them. She darted from crate to crate before landing just above Athena, sending arrows flying at each of her enemies.
"Hey!" Athena called out as she pinned an armored Alpha Beowolf to the ground. "This is just like when we first met!"
Echo couldn't help but smile as she recalled that day in the woods, when she sent arrows flying to support who would become her partner, both in combat and in everything else. After felling all of their enemies, Echo leaped down, landing beside her partner, who gave her a high five.
"Let's go find the boys," Athena said.
"My Semblance is pointing this way," Echo said, pointing toward a stack of flaming boxes. "It's not too intense, so I think they're not in any serious danger."
"Good, let's join up with them so we can get the hell outta here. All this fire is making me all sweaty and gross."
Echo giggled, following after her team leader.
—
Penny continued dashing as fast as she could. Her heart was torn in two right now. On the one hand, she could not leave Hillphire's side, not while he shared the road with the man who presented the clearest threat to him. But she also could not just abandon the youngsters, whom she vowed to keep safe no matter what.
Please be okay, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth. All of you, please be okay.
She vaulted off of rooftops, heading toward the Dust refinery. She gripped her perch tightly as she looked out at the carnage. The entire structure had been obliterated and neighboring buildings were on fire, one of which was a Dust storage warehouse. That was liable to explode at any minute.
Where are you, dammit!
She spotted a set of doors fly open. Team APEX piled out.
"Go, go!" Athena yelled. "It's gonna blow!"
"Get behind something!" Perseus said.
Penny jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of her students, landing behind them just in time to shield them from debris sent their way by the massive explosion.
"Senpai?" Xanthus said as he got back to his feet, head still ringing from the enormous blast just now.
"Are you guys okay?" Penny asked them.
"Yeah, are you?" Athena asked.
"No sweat. Where is Team LILY?"
"We got separated a while back," Perseus said. "Not sure where in the world they are right now, though."
There was gunfire in the distance.
"That might be them," Athena said. "Or it might be Mistral security forces."
Penny unhooked a pouch on her belt, pulling out a dozen tiny orbs, which began floating in the air. She threw them skyward and they each flew off in different directions.
"Drones?" Xanthus said.
Penny nodded before closing her eyes to focus on each of her surveillance drones. After a few minutes, she looked around at the team.
"Find them?" Athena said.
"Yeah," she said. "They're over at the actual Forge."
"Okay, let's go."
—
Leon grunted as he pushed back against a Specter Grimm's battle axe. His Vermillion Crescent groaned as its blade grinded up against his enemy's blade. For the longest time, they had thought that the only Grimm capable of utilizing weapons and thinking strategically were the Omega Grimm, which also possessed an aura and commanded the other Grimm. Specters had the advantage of stealth in addition to tactical ability and usage of weapons.
Without any other recourse, Leon used his Semblance, teleporting above the Specter with his scythe fully deployed, swinging it downward and impaling the Grimm in the back. He panted as he landed on the ground, watching the Grimm disappear. He looked around for his team. Ingrid and Yuan were back to back, surrounded by a group of armored Grimm of different types. Ivory was further away, fighting something he had never seen before, a severely muscular, human-like Grimm. She deployed glyph after glyph in both offense and defense, but the glyphs she used directly on her opponent had little effect and the offensive Dust-powered ones were completely useless.
The manlike Grimm broke through her glyphs and punched her in the jaw with enough force to send her flying through several crates. Without wasting another second, Leon teleported three times, covering the maximum twenty-five yards per teleport, making his way directly to his team leader, who had blood streaming down the side of her chin.
"Are you okay?" he asked, shouldering her up.
"Your aura just broke," she said.
"You noticed that, did you?"
"You've overused your Semblance."
"And I think yours barely kept you from getting killed with a single punch."
They both looked at the muscle-bound Grimm, which was stomping in their direction. To Ivory's surprise, Leon stepped between her and the thing.
"What are you doing?" she said.
"Without your glyphs, you're completely defenseless," he said. "I'll keep him distracted while your aura recovers."
"You idiot! Your aura is gone! Your mobility is severely limited along with your physical integrity!"
He gripped Vermillion Crescent tightly. "Even so, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."
"Leon!"
He charged in, swinging at the big Grimm, but his blade bounced off of its aura.
"What the hell?" he said. "This thing has an aura!"
The monster grabbed him by the throat, and he dropped his weapon, clawing at the thing's hands to try and break free, but it hurled him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Ivory screamed out his name, running to his defense, but he was right. Without her aura active, her Semblance was inaccessible to her and without her glyphs, she was completely defenseless.
The man-Grimm was about to stomp on Leon when someone tackled it to the ground, grappling with it while exchanging blows. Even Ivory, who was aware of Penny's physical strength, was astonished at her ability to evenly dish out damage against this new Grimm they had never seen before. It possessed brute force, but Penny was far too agile. She dove at the Grimm, taking out its legs from beneath it before pinning it face down, sitting on its back as she gripped it in a headlock. She pulled on its head more and more as it flailed at her, trying to fight her off.
With a final jerking motion, she broke the monster's neck and it lay silent and still on the ground. Leon couldn't help but notice the ferocious look on her face during the whole scuffle. The first time he ever saw this face was when Athena was stabbed by one of the Omegas that had ambushed them in Forever Fall. The mask Penny wore on that day was just as scary as the one she wore now.
"Are you two okay?" she asked them.
"Y-Yeah," Leon said. "Look out!"
She was already ahead of him, turning to face another of those massive man-like Grimm, which tried to grab her. She counter-gripped the monster, both of them trying to wrestle each other to the ground.
"Find Yuan and Ingrid!" she yelled at the two. "I'll take care of this Übersoldat!"
"Right," Ivory said without any hesitation, heading to where she last saw her teammates.
"W-Wait a minute!" Leon said, following after her.
"Our auras still need time to recover," she said as she led the way, staying in the shadows to dodge all sorts of Grimm heading to where Penny was fighting that massive Grimm. "And it seems like she knows what that thing is."
"What was it she called it?"
"Übersoldat. I think I see them."
Leon looked ahead. Yuan and Ingrid were fighting against a horde of armored Grimm, but fortunately none of those Übersoldaten were nearby. With the four of them working together, it was easy to eliminate even these armored Grimm.
"Fighting these things is so goddamn tiring," Leon said.
"I've gotten kinda used to going for the weak points between the armor plates," Ingrid said.
"Me, too," Yuan said. "And also, lightning seems to short out their equipment pretty well."
"Oh, right," Leon said. "Your Heaven Scorcher can literally scorch the heavens with Lightning Dust."
"Okay, let's get back to Penny," Ivory said.
"Penny?" Ingrid said as they moved out. "Is anyone else here, too?"
Both teams were within eyesight of each other when they were split up once again. Barring Team LILY's path were two familiar faces.
"Hey, didn't we see them back at your hometown?" Leon said, glancing at Yuan, whose face was painted with anger. Leon recalled what happened to Kuroyuri. Yuan and his family were the only survivors of the Labyrinth catastrophe that had occurred there, and both of these new arrivals had been clearly involved in the incident.
"Mercury! Emerald!" Penny yelled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I asked the same questions myself," Mercury said before holding out a hand toward Team LILY along with Emerald. Their hands began to glow before they launched fireballs at the team, scattering them.
"Were those runes?" Ingrid said from atop a crate.
Yuan looked at his own hands, tempted to fight back with magic, but he knew of his limitations. There was no choice now, though. These two were clearly able to use magic outside of the Labyrinth and he needed to fight back somehow. He willed his Earth and Water Runes to manifest on his flesh, building up enough magical energy to launch his own attacks. Mercury and Emerald prepared to evade, but relaxed themselves upon seeing Yuan's runes flicker until vanishing.
He fell to the ground, panting as intense pain burned throughout his body. Ingrid ran to his side, helping him back up to a knee.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"I thought..." he panted. "I thought maybe I could use my magic since they could use theirs."
"That's what I'm worried about. The fact that they can use magic."
Penny had just killed another Übersoldat and was dashing to Cinder's two companions when Cinder herself blocked her path, swords already fully formed. Penny formed her own swords, Aequitas et Veritas, engaging in a ferocious sword clash with the Fall Maiden.
"C'mon," Cinder taunted. "This didn't exactly end well with you the first time we fought."
"Neither of us was really into that fight," Penny said. "But this time, I really wanna kill you!"
Cinder grinned before signaling somewhere. Out of the rafters, Tyrian jumped down, stabbing Leon with his scorpion tail before snatching Ivory and disappearing with her, all while cackling maniacally.
"Ivory!" Penny yelled.
"Shit!" Athena said, arriving with Team APEX. "Where the hell did that son of a bitch go?"
"Tamiel!" Cinder yelled. "Now!"
A shadowy figure flickered into existence before spreading her arms, expelling a shadow-like mist that enveloped Penny, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and all of Team APEX. Ingrid and Yuan shielded their eyes as the wind force died down. Everyone else was gone.
"What the hell just happened?" Ingrid said.
"Ivory," Leon grunted before falling flat on his face.
"You've been poisoned," Yuan said, ripping open his shirt and examining the wound Tyrian had inflicted on him before reaching into his med kit. "Ingrid, I'm going to try and siphon out as much poison as I can. Try and contact Dr. Hillphire or anyone else that might still be alive. We need medical equipment ASAP."
"Okay," she said, getting on her communicator. "Damn it, there's too much interference in here."
"Head to the roof."
"Will you be all right down here?"
"Ingrid, we need to get someone now."
She nodded before hopping from crate to crate and rafter to rafter, disappearing through a skylight.
Armored Grimm began to surround Yuan as he worked on Leon's wound. There was no way a single Huntsman-in-training would be able to take down this many, not while he took care of a wounded comrade.
Sir Elyan, he thought, closing his eyes. If you can hear me, I really need your help right now. I know you said you would turn over your whole destiny to me, but our power doesn't work in the real world. What should I do?
There was no answer. There had been no word from that ancient being of magic since they had formed their pact. Left with no other choice, Yuan once more attempted to draw out that forbidden power. Even if he passed out from the exertion, if he succeeded in clearing out all the Grimm from the building, his mission would be accomplished.
That was assuming that the worst that would happen is him passing out. It would be just as likely that the power would tear him to shreds. After all, each time he tried to use the Wraith-Knight's power in the real world, that's exactly what it felt like.
I have a friend to protect, he thought, his heart and body resolute. Just as that day he formed that pact with Sir Elyan of Kameloth, he was once again willing to sacrifice his life for someone he cared about. He closed his eyes, digging deep into that well of power. As the magical energy burgeoned to the surface, he once again experienced that intense pain of his first unleashing of the Wraith-Knight and he screamed as something exploded outward.
—
"Why isn't anyone answering?" Ingrid yelled into her lapel microphone. She looked at the roof beneath her feet. Something was actively interfering with their communications, though she had no time to figure out what it was.
An explosion rocked the entire building, accompanied by a flash of light that blew every window outward. Amidst the racket, she could swear she heard Yuan scream. Her blood ran cold. He must have tried to use his magic once more. The consequences could be dire.
Tunnel vision dominated as she hopped back down through the skylight, moving from platform to platform before arriving where Yuan had been watching over Leon. Not a Grimm was in sight. Both of her teammates were unconscious and there was an apparent blast mark centered around Yuan's body. Upon closer inspection, she noticed something peculiar about the marks. It appeared to take the shape of feathered, eagle-like wings that extended outward from Yuan's body.
Ignoring it, she headed straight to her two companions, trying to shake them awake. Leon was in a cold sweat, his eyes closed, breathing and heart rate rapid. He was unresponsive to her commands, as was Yuan.
"Damn it!" she cursed, pounding the ground with her fist. "Is anyone out there?" she yelled into her microphone once more.
