Ch. 31

"Duuuddee, couldn't we just get one full day off after the dance?" Jurano whined as KAJE headed towards the auditorium.

Everyone went to their dorms right after the dance the night before, but the only reprieve they gained was sleeping in a few extra hours. Even though there were no classes that day, it was mission day, and everyone had to sign up for one no matter how tired they were.

"Too bad. You shouldn't have stayed up late with Velvet," Kathleen retorted.

"What were you two doing anyway?" Emma asked.

Jurano slightly blushed. "Nothing…you need to…worry about."

"Hmmm, love making perhaps?" Abaddon couldn't help but tease the boy.

"No! It's just none of your business." Jurano blushed even harder.

"Alright, alright, we'll wait 'til you're ready," Abaddon told him.

They entered the auditorium and went up to one of the large mission screens. Abaddon scrolled through the various missions for a minute, looking for any extermination missions, but came up with none.

"Shit, there's only scout and city patrol missions available for us. The rest are either taken or for upperclassman only," he grumbled.

"Hey, at least we'll get to relax today," Kathleen said, grasping his left hand.

"True," Abaddon agreed.

"Hey, guys!" Team KAJE turned around to see team RWBY heading their way.

"Yo, what's going on?" Jurano wondered.

"Have you seen JNPR? We were supposed to go on a mission with them, but Jaune's not answering his scroll," Ruby told them. "And we can't find Professor Goodwitch."

"We haven't seen JNPR since the dance, and Goodwitch…just entered the auditorium right now," Emma pointed.

Glynda walked into the auditorium, all the while tapping and sliding away on her scroll. She didn't even look at the two teams until she was right in front of them.

"Good afternoon teams RWBY and KAJE," she greeted.

"Professor, have you seen JNPR?" Weiss asked.

"They've already departed on their mission," Glynda said plainly.

"They left?!" Ruby screamed.

"Yes," the professor said. "They're planning to exterminate a group of Grimm on their own."

Ruby grimaced. "Grrr…Jaune's being weirdly proactive."

"Nothing really wrong with being proactive…unless he didn't plan things out," Kathleen added.

"Perhaps he's trying to clear the mission and gain experience before you do so he can demonstrate how brave he is to Weiss or Pyrrha Nikos?" Glynda surmised.

"Professor! You're so cynical," Ruby said. "But I can actually see that…"

"We left 20 minutes late because you overslept, Ruby! Don't forget you're the leader of this team!" Weiss said, reprimanding Ruby.

"Uh, I was tired because you got all excited about brushing up on history 'till late last night," Ruby shot back.

As Ruby and Weiss continued to argue, Ozpin strolled into the room.

"Mr. Rizer."

Abaddon turned in response to his name. "Oh, hey Professor Ozpin."

"I would like to ask a favor of you," he said.

Abaddon shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"After your incursion last semester deep within the emerald forest, we sent scouts to investigate whether the upsurge of Grimm had diminished, which it has, but a new kind of Grimm has entered the fray," Ozpin explained.

"Which is?" Emma asked.

"The same Grimm that attacked team RWBY on their last mission. I believe they're called Ghouls," Ozpin stated.

"Of course. Whenever there's one Ghoul, there's always more in the area," Abaddon thought.

"Your grandfather informed me that you had experience with these Grimm. In fact, you're the only person here I know of that has had past encounters with them, besides team RWBY and Oobleck, but I'd rather not send them due to what happened to Ms. Rose last time," Ozpin told them. "That and they've already left to assist JNPR."

"Then what are we waiting for? We can take this mission ourselves. No problem," Jurano said with a confident grin.

"Yeah, let's go!" Emma jumped up in excitement.

Abaddon smiled. "You okay with this too Kat? I thought you wanted to relax today."

Kathleen shrugged. "I'll be fine. Besides, we have to see what those Ghouls are doing here anyway."

Abaddon sighed. "Well, you heard them, Professor. Ready when you are."

XXXXXXX

The bullhead flew off with a low roar, leaving the huntsmen in training on their own. The group then began their stroll through the forest.

Jurano pulled out his scroll and expanded it to show a map of the known area. It displayed their location, which was even deeper in the Emerald Forest than they were last time. "So, since Emma and I haven't fought any yet, what are we to expect from these Ghouls?"

"Well," Abaddon began, "they are smarter than your average Grimm, able to work in groups like the Beowulf packs. They are fast, strong, durable, and deadly, especially the shadow balls they spew from their mouths. You get hit with those, you'll feel like your melting and burning at the same time, especially when your aura is in the red, which is why Ruby was like that. They can also emit their breath as a harmless smokescreen that can blind their foes…or prey. They don't usually retreat from a fight. Nevertheless, they are the most unpredictable Grimm I know."

"Is this info courtesy of your adventures?" Kathleen asked.

Abaddon nodded. "Yeah. I encountered many and destroyed as many as I could. Their existence is not widely known though, for their appearance was sometimes heralded by White Fang activity…like there was a connection. Cinder and I tried looking into it, but nothing came up except the weird animal traits they have and how they turn into their superior stage."

"Superior stage," Emma repeated. "You mean the Mega Ghoul you were talking about at the city docks?"

"Yeah. Stronger shadow balls that can be shot at a faster fire rate, extra limbs, a little more strength and intelligence, greater size, and regeneration. All the things you don't want in a Grimm like that. I've only seen a Mega form when two Ghouls forced themselves together. The way that Ghoul at the docks transformed, by eating its own kin, that was new to me," Abaddon explained.

"Well, that just means we have more to learn. And more to tell professor Oobleck," Kathleen said.

Then, Emma's faunus ears perked up. "Wait, guys! I hear footsteps."

Abaddon's ears perked up as well. He could hear a multitude of footsteps northeast of their position.

"That way!" Abaddon rushed northeast with his team in tow. They ran about 30 meters before coming to stop in a crowd of bushes bordering a large ravine. Abaddon peeked through the foliage to get a look at what they were getting themselves into.

"Shit," he said.

"What? Are there too many Ghouls?" Emma asked.

"No, it's worse. Come look."

Kathleen, Emma, and Jurano all peeked in out the bushes as well. What they saw did not boost their confidence. In the ravine were eight Ghouls, all sitting or crawling around as if there was nothing to do. Amid the group was what was really concerning: A huge hound-like quadraped Grimm with three narrow canine heads. Its body was mainly black like most Grimm and had white skeletal spines going down its necks and back all the way to the tip of its slender tail. The skeletal structure of its underbelly could also be seen on its chest. Each head had mostly bone armor with flesh only shown in the mouth and under the chin.

Next to the beast was another dog-like Grimm. It was small next to the three-headed beast, but almost as big as a Ghoul. It had clawed paws, a tail, and sported a Grimm mask with small red eyes and red markings.

"Are Cerberus supposed to be that big?" Kathleen asked aloud.

"No. In our books, it says that the biggest recorded one was around the size of an Ursa Major," Jurano answered. "This one's as big as a fucking Goliath!"

"This Cerberus must've survived a long time to get that big," Abaddon explained. "Another thing is that there is only one Cadejo next to that Cerberus. There's supposed to be two: a black one and a white one."

"Over there." Emma pointed to the other side of the ravine. Another Cadejo walked out of the trees, its skin stark white, unlike its counterpart. It trotted along the other edge of the ravine on black hooves instead of paws.

"What all do we know about these Grimm?" Kathleen asked.

"The Ghouls should take priority. They're the most intelligent of the group and are probably hanging around the big dog for added protection," Abaddon said.

"Cerberus are known to be very aggressive bastards," said Jurano. "And that Grimm's size just makes it worse. We could probably attack it all together in different directions to confuse it. But we have to watch out for its fire breath."

Emma was last to add her bit. "Cadejos always come in pairs. When you find one, the other isn't too far away. The black one is the heavy hitter but it's slow, while the white one is the fast runner but its all-around weaker in battle. The white one, when caught, could be dealt with first and the black one picked off last."

"So, it's settled," Abaddon exclaimed. "Kathleen and I will handle the Ghouls, Jurano and Emma catch the Cadejos, and after that, we all jump the Cerberus. Any questions?"

Emma raised her hand. "Will it be difficult to destroy that many Ghouls? You said they are pretty tough."

"Hmmm." Abaddon peeked out of the bushes and looked back and forth across the ravine until he found what he was looking for. "Don't worry, this should go smoothly."

XXXXXXX

The white Cadejo trotted back and forth across the ravine's edge. In truth, the beast could not stand still and wait, unlike its counterpart. Grimm could not normally communicate with one another, but it, along with the black Cadejo and the Cerberus, had been following the Ghouls. The Ghouls had been tracking the scent of humans. They seemed to be communicating, but what really brought the other three to follow the Ghouls was something much more alluring: Negative emotion. The scent of raw hatred left behind by a group of faunus. Negative emotions like terror, sadness, fear, anger, all these were like the smell of a delicious meal begging to be found. And they would follow it until they could feast on the source with their very eyes, and destroy it, as was the purpose of their existence. The Grimm continued to stroll around until a sound in the brush caught its attention. The white Cadejo howled, signaling its partner to join it. The black one heeded its call and climbed up the steep slope, using its claws to dig into the dirt. It joined the white one as it headed into the trees. Another sound, the breaking of branches, lured them even further. More lures later and soon enough the pair were a little over a mile away from the other Grimm. The white Cadejo looked around, expecting another lure, but was surprised to hear three gunshots go off. Three bullets embedded themselves in the flesh of its left side and made it tumble to the ground.

"Jurano, now!"

Given his signal, Jurano dove from the trees above the black Cadejo. He landed on its back and used his semblance to quickly electrify its body, stunning the beast in the process. The white Cadejo began to regain its footing, but before it could even take two steps Emma swept in with her Umbra Claws and sliced through its front legs.

ROOOOOOOO!

The helpless creature fell to the ground again, holding up the front of its body with the leftover stumps it had. It gazed at Emma as she lifted one of her hand scythes to its skull and fired a bullet into its head, finally freeing it from its suffering.

"The white one is dead," Emma said.

"Nice!" Jurano leaped off the black Cadejo.

Free from the electric bonds keeping it paralyzed, the Grimm stood up on its hind legs and roared. On two feet, it was taller than an Ursa Major. It swiped its claws at the duo, but they managed to dash out of its range. Emma fired several rifle rounds into the Cadejos hide, but this only irritated it more. It grabbed two boulders in its paws and threw them at her. Emma teleported out of the way of the first and cut the second in half with her full scythe. Jurano aimed his hand cannon at the Cadejo's left paw and blasted part of it off. It screamed in pain as it gave Jurano its full attention. It charged on all fours in his direction. Jurano's double-barreled green and black hand cannon, Irakkamarra, had three ammo cylinders that could automatically switch thanks to a rotating vial mechanism that they were connected to. This vial had a kinetic converter that gained kinetic energy from the fast rotation of the three cylinders. Jurano electrified his gun, giving the shot the extra power it needed. After a few seconds, before the Cadejo was even five feet from him, Jurano fired the shot.

BANG!

It was powerful enough to blow its head and some of its torso to pieces. The body slid to a stop in front of the huntsman as he smiled triumphantly.

"Both Cadejos are down! I repeat, both Cadejos are down!"

XXXXXXX

Abaddon sat against an enormous boulder on the lip of the ravine, waiting patiently.

"Hopefully those Grimm don't catch on to the disappearance of the Cadejos. The Cerberus is just pure muscle, but the Ghouls are what makes this plan somewhat difficult," he thought.

Abaddon's communicator crackled to life. "Hey, Abaddon."

"What's up Kat?" he replied.

"When we get back after this, what're we gonna do for our first date?" Kathleen asked.

Abaddon smiled. "I hadn't really thought about that lately. Maybe a night on the town?"

"So, you agree that we're dating then," Kathleen concluded.

Abaddon blinked. "I didn't even get a chance to ask yesterday though. I was focused on the dance at present."

"You kinda did, in your apology. Just indirectly. And I accepted," Kathleen concluded again.

Abaddon blinked again and laughed. "Fine. I don't know how that really works in your mind, but I'm cool with it."

"The Cadejos are down! I repeat, the Cadejos are down!"

"Here we go!" Abaddon stood up and lifted the boulder by its edge without much effort and pushed it.

On the other side of the ravine behind another boulder, Kathleen prepared herself to push hers. She wasn't as physically strong as her partner, so she struck the boulder's surface with her palm and at the same time channeled her aura into the strike to send the rock tumbling. Both boulders fell into the ravine, dislodging other debris as they fell. The Ghouls below looked up to see the carnage coming from above. They had almost no time to react as they were crushed.

"The Ghouls have been buried. Get your asses over here before the Cerberus gets up," Abaddon said into the communicator.

Kathleen jumped across the ravine to Abaddon's side. "That worked better than you thought, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I thought at least one or two Ghouls would've jumped to safety," he admitted. "I wouldn't have any trouble with them though. It's just dealing with them while trying not to get roasted that would get annoying."

A moment later, the ravine exploded in a shower of flaming rock. The two huntsmen stepped back from the heat coming from in the ravine.

Abaddon unsheathed his Obsidian Fangs. "Someone's pissed."

Jurano and Emma arrived with their weapons still in hand.

"What's going on!?" Emma exclaimed.

The claws of Cerberus grabbed onto the edges of the ravine. It crawled onto even ground, its body covered in its own flames.

Abaddon ignited his swords with twilight. "Guys, we're about to experience a small glimpse of hell."