Kain dashed towards Nina and Neil with savage aggression, his blade ripping a part of the floor as he swang it. The red-head was able to block the advance, but the force of the impact sent him flying to the nearest wall. His head was pounding, and with each heartbeat, he felt the rush of blood flowing through. A familiar, unsettling feeling that intensified the headache he felt. When he opened his eyes, the adversary was already flying towards him with his guillotine sword, ready to cut him in half. He tried to move away from the attack, but his body was feeling heavy. Fortunately, Nina used her semblance to create a wall between them, and the attack stopped short.

"His sword doesn't seem to have a ranged mode!" Nina shouted while attacking Kain from a distance, using her weapon's whip form.

The opponent deflected the blow and jumped at her, spinning like a human bullet. She was able to deflect the attack. However, she was forced back by the impact and lost her balance. Teal slid a short distance on the floor, using his sword to stop his momentum. The blade tore the concrete like butter, sending a portion of the debris to the sides. When he finally came to a full stop, he turned around to face the Faunus girl and continued his advance.

Neil stood up and used his sickle to catch the enemy's blade. The chain wrapped around the guillotine sword, and the read-head pulled in to deter the attack. His body was moving slowly; he was getting exhausted much faster than he anticipated. Kain's blade missed Nina's body by inches, which gave her the time to roll under the opponent and slash him across his chest.

"Are you getting tired?" Neil asked the Faunus girl.

Her ears twitched as she understood the question. "As a matter of fact, yes."

"It might be his semblance," Neil stated, not entirely sure himself. "If that's the case, we need to end this fast."

"Right," Nina gripped her Orchid Flame tighter.

Ame traded blows with her opponent. For a smaller guy, he was surprisingly strong and able to keep pace with her. His fighting style was a bit unorthodox as his footwork was somewhat unpredictable. He rarely stood still and skipped from place to place, almost like a child would during play.

"Have to give it to you," he suddenly started talking. "You're quite strong. But how long are you willing to play this cut and mouse game?"

"If you don't like games," she answered with a smirk. "Then how about a story? 'Cause I have a tail to tell!"

She dashed in, spinning around to smack the opponent with her tail.

The opponent dashed away to avoid the attack. "Please, am I not tail and handsome enough for you?"

"You hit the tail on the head." Amethyst could not stop smiling while they traded blows and quips. However, the longer the intrication was going on, the more tired she was getting.

After a while, the opponent jumped a safe distance away. He stood composed while Amethyst was breathing heavily.

"I'm having fun," he stated, looking at his claws like a child at his favorite toy. "It seems we are a match blade in heaven."

"It seems so," she said, still taking deep breaths.

The opponent tilted his head, looking a bit surprised at Ame. "Where's the pun in that?"

"Well, it stabbed your attention!" She fired dust bullets behind her to propel her forward.

When she got close enough, she punched him in the face sending him flying. She continued her assault, connecting another hit. He regained his footing and avoided the next few jabs that came his way. With a kick to deflect Ame's fist, he jumped backward to create some space between them again.

He stood on a recently created batch of rubble. "What's your name?"

The lizard girl was surprised by the question but still answered it: "Amethyst."

"I'm Yakshith Yara," he said his own, and with a smile on his face added: "I have to say, your name is quite fitting."

"Why is that?"

"Because you like to use your Ame-fist a lot." He started laughing, holding his sides.

Ame could not deny that she was actually having fun fighting this guy. However, one thing started to annoy her.

"Why aren't you tired? We're fighting tooth and tail here, and it's like it's nothing to you."

Yakshith stopped his chuckle and looked directly at her. "You see, my dear, I cannot feel fatigue."

Raymond's opponent dashed away and hid in some strange machinery that the room was full of. He didn't know what it was used for, but looking around in search of the girl, he examined the lab more thoroughly. It was a relatively spacious room with one side wholly cluttered with equipment and machines. In the middle, he could see a few beds with some medical appliances. He didn't have any knowledge about them and could not discern what they could be used for. At the other end of the lab, there were some cages. Half were simple glass holding cells, while the other half were steel-bared ones.

His opponent chose a moment to strike, yet he was prepared and deflected the blow. Still, there was no sound when their blades clashed which made Ray very uncomfortable. Thanks to his ability to sense aura, he didn't need to rely on his sense of hearing or even sight to pinpoint the opponent's location. She tried to surprise him again. This time he grabbed her by her hand and pulled to immobilize the opponent. With a short struggle, she was overwhelmed, and Ray pinned her to a nearby machine.

With a smirk on her face, the girl deactivated her semblance. "Don't tell me you can hear me as well now?"

Ray simply looked at her with his maroon eye.

"The strong silent type, are you?" With that, she kneed him in his crotch.

The attack got him off guard, and he let go of the fighter. Using this opportunity, the pink-haired enemy assaulted Ray with a flurry of quick slashes. Still hurting from the previous attack, he had problems deflecting and dodging all the strikes. Dashing backward to get some more space and compose himself, he took his stance with the sword above his head. His opponent did not stop her onslaught and connected the blades of her hook swords and spun them. The range of her linked weapons was enough to reach Ray and slash him across the chest.

The one-eyed warrior was getting pushed more and more to his limits. However, he noticed that the girl was getting as tired as he was. All he needed was one opening to get the upper hand and end this fight. The question was if she ever gives him that chance?

Amethyst still continued her assault in hopes of quickly beating her opponent. Yakshith was quite fast, and his movements were unpredictable. From time to time, he could land a cheeky attack on her, but she was unable to reach him with her current approach.

"Don't tell me you're done tailing me?" Yakshith chuckled as he danced around her.

Ame's brain went into overdrive. If his semblance blocks his ability to feel exhaustion, it shouldn't actually prevent him from getting tired. However, she had no idea of how tired he actually was. Neil would have some good strategy here, she thought to herself.

Yara's expression started slowly changing. He was getting visibly annoyed by the lack of response. "I thought we would have more fun together. As much as this doesn't slit well with me…"

He dashed towards Amethyst with incredible speed, his claws exposed. She was able to deflect the attack and grabbed his leg with her tail. She smacked him to the ground and punched him with all the power she still had. The entire complex shook after the impact, but when the dust settled, she noticed that he was not there.

"Wouldn't it be slice if we were older…" Yakshith started singing while he dashed around attacking Ame.

His attacks started to be slower and less savage. Even though he could not feel fatigued, his body was slowly giving in.

"If you can't feel tired, then all I have to do is knock you out!" She shouted, seeing him attempting another attack.

She grabbed Yakshith by his face and slammed him to the ground.

"Here's where your high ends. Let me bring you down to earth!"

Amethyst dragged him through the ground, propelling herself with dust bullets from the tonfa in her free hand. The floor was splitting as she cleared it with the body of her opponent. When they were getting to the end of the room, she pulled him up and crashed Yakshith through the wall.

Neil and Nina tried to keep a going offense against their opponent. His sword's size made it relatively slow, and in situations when he blocked an attack, the other half of the duo could strike. However, whenever that happened, he used his other hand to deflect the attempt.

Neil injected a fire dust crystal into his sickle. "Distract him!" He shouted towards his companion.

Nina dashed in for a low attack. Kain slammed his sword, and the Faunus girl needed to jump to the side to avoid the blade. At the same time, Neil sent out his chained sickle for a ranged attack. However, the enemy noticed that and caught the edge just before it could connect.

"Bingo!" Neil activated the dust in his weapon, and a fiery explosion covered the enemy.

"Yes!" Nina shouted livelily.

Kain emerged from the smoke, dragging his sword behind him.

"No." The Faunus' enthusiasm vanished as quickly as it appeared.

The opponent tossed the sickle aside and ran towards Nina. She raised her sword to block the incoming hit, but the impact of the blow smacked her to the wall. She bounded from the concrete like a tennis ball against the court and, with a thud, landed on the floor. When she tried to get up, a sudden weight on her shoulders held her down. The girl raised her head to see what it was she was feeling, and to her surprise, it was Kain's blade; her head was inside the guillotine mechanism.

"No!" Neil jumped in. A swish and then a loud clunk echoed through the corridor.

Raymond continued to trade blows with his opponent. Her aggressive movement made him consider every approach and keep his guard up. However, the time he spent studying her style made him realize something. It seemed she no longer depended on her powers to win the fight, and Ray saw that as an opportunity. He activated his semblance to tip the scales and noticed she was still visible. He smirked.

With his mind now clear and working faster, he could predict every move his opponent made and had enough time to react to it. With a few slashes to test the waters, he noticed that his opponent tried to redirect all his attempts to quickly switch to an offensive approach. She wasn't keen on keeping up a defensive battle plan and wanted to be the aggressor.

Raymond tried to stab her directly, but she locked her hook swords on his blade and pulled downward to disarm him. He was prepared for that and let go of his weapon to grab the enemy by her wrists and twisted them inward. With a surprised scream, she let go of her blades, and Raymond used that opportunity to turn her whole arm behind her back.

With anger in her voice, she tried to break free from the hold, but the more she struggled, the more Ray kept pressing.

"Wild, aren't you?" Raymond was impressed with her fighting spirit.

Her other hand tried to punch him in his vulnerable parts, but Ray was prepared this time and caught it before the attack could connect. He forced her to the ground, which made her shout like a wild cat.

"Will you finally surrender?" He asked, keeping her pinned face down to the ground.

"Why don't you just kill me," she shouted angrily.

"That would be a waste of such talent."

"Bulshit! Just get it over with…" She finally stopped struggling.

Raymond looked around and noticed a strange plastic tubing. That could be a good substitute for a rope. He grabbed it with one hand and tied the girl.

"As I said," he continued. "I really don't want to prematurely end a life of a Huntress with such potential."

The girl smirked, looking at him provocatively. "If you untie me, we could have some good time here."

He raised his brow. "I think you misread the situation."

"And you're not gullible enough to fall for that," she chuckled.

Raymond patted her down in search of the card she used to get in here.

"Hey!" She was getting agitated. "Hands of the merchandise!"

When he finally found the key, he saluted her and went towards the door. However, the creatures that were locked in the barred cages piqued his interest. Beasts that were an abhorrent mixture of people and Grimm.

"So that's why…"

"No!" Neil jumped in and threw his kama into the mechanism. When the kusarigama logged itself in the guillotine's edge, he pulled up while the blade snapped.

A loud clunk echoed through the corridor. The red-head was able to drag the guillotine up, and the blade missed Nina's head, but it cut clean through his weapon, leaving it destroyed.

Nina was still in shock, but she quickly regained composure and created two slabs of aura wall on both sides of Kain. With a clap of her hands, she made them meet, crushing the opponent inside. She saw his aura breaking by the force of the impact, and when her constructs disappeared, he collapsed to the ground.

"Are you ok?" Neil quickly dashed towards his companion, who now leaned on the nearby wall.

"I'm fine," she answered in a faint voice. "I hope the rest did better than we…"

Her eyes widened. Neil was confused for a while, but when he looked behind him, he understood the shock. Kain was standing behind them, holding his bleeding head with one hand.

"You bi…" He couldn't finish his sentence, as he was hit by a sudden force that broke through the nearby wall. It was Amethyst who hit Kain with her opponent when she came through.

The building shook, and some debris started slowly falling from the ceiling. The lizard Faunus dropped now unconscious Yakshith on top of his teammate.

"Man, I hope this whole thing won't come crashing down on us," she said, looking up.

"Happy to see you," Neil said, smiling, and collapsed next to Nina.

"You guys look pretty beat up," the huge woman was concerned. "Do you need help? Remember, we still need to get Vivian and others out of here."

"We're good," Nina said, with her eyes closed. "Just really tired…"

With an angry warcry, Granola dashed towards his opponent. The moment he got close, Korin splurted a thick web into his eyes. Blinded by the webbing, Gran's attack whiffed, and the spider Faunus was able to directly cut him across his abdomen. Canis tried to catch the enemy, but he already was behind him. He felt a sting in his neck, a slight prick that was hard to notice in the thick of battle.

He tore the webbing stuck to his face and turned around to face his opponent. Korin wasn't there anymore. Gran started to feel his heartbeat going faster. His grip on Crimson Tide tightened as his anger started slowly boiling in him.

He heard a scuttling sound and looked in that direction. Korin was crawling on the ceiling above him quite fast. Such sight would probably scare a general pedestrian, but it just made Gran more furious.

"Get down here and fight like a proper Huntsman!" He shouted, his animalistic growl growing louder.

The enemy used his web to swing across the room with the idea of kicking the shouting Faunus. However, Gran jumped towards him to meet the spider Faunus in the air. Shocked, Korin pulled himself up to avoid collision and landed gracefully.

"Why do you even help these people?" Gran was more and more driven by rage. "Why do you help enslave your own kind?"

He continued an onslaught of attacks that his opponent dodged with relative ease. His head was pulsing, adrenaline slowly overwhelming him.

"A job is a job," Korin answered calmly, still avoiding all of his adversary's attacks. "The bottom line is I get paid."

Gran tried to calm himself down. Something wasn't right. "What did you do to me?"

Korin smiled. "I injected you with my fear toxin. In conjunction with my semblance, you should soon feel absolutely terrified and in no condition to fight."

Gran let go of his weapon and looked at his hands. He could feel the blood flowing throughout his body. He didn't feel fear; he was furious. Containing his anger was always something he struggled with, and at this point, his only train of thought was to tear to shreds anything in his way. He started chuckling. It was a slow laugh that started growing, overwhelming him and finally turning into deranged laughter that surprised even Korin.

"What?" Korin took a step back.

"Nina told me once that fear is one of the triggers of a flight or fight response." Gran was still laughing while speaking. It was clear he was trying to control his emotions that were taking control over him. "Too bad for you I never run."

Canis let go and dashed towards his foe. With a mighty blow that Korin avoided, he created a small crater in the ground. The entire complex shook while he continued his assault. With terror painted on his face, the spider Faunus tried to escape by swinging on his web towards the door.

"I had enough!" With a shout that echoed through the walls, Granola activated his semblance to control the blood in Korin's body.

The enemy, suspended in mid-air, was held in place by his own blood. "What are you doing?"

Gran could not answer. He only howled while ripping his opponent's blood through his skin. The fluid splattered across the walls while the lifeless and mangled body of Kain flopped to the ground with a wet splat.

The last man standing stumbled slowly towards the body. He was hyperventilating and trying to contain himself while his rage was contorting his body. After a few steps, he noticed a few people hiding in the corner. They were wearing lab coats, but most of all, they were unarmed.

"Please…" One of them started pleading, with his arms raised.

Canis looked around the room. Rows of cages with people and Faunus in them. He came to free them… Right?

"Please… I have a family…"

His mind was clouded, thoughts contorted in a manner that he could not make heads or tails from. He just wanted all of this to stop, but all he could see… was red…