Vivian could hear the sounds of battle even from her cell. At times even the entire complex was shaking. She got closer to the door, ready to join the fight at any moment. However, there was something that attracted her attention more than the battle, and it was the two lab coats arguing about something. When they got close enough for her to unmistakenly understand what the spat was about, she sat down to not attract their attention.
"They are fine!" Aurelius said calmly. "They are the best we could get in this filthy city, and I doubt anyone could beat them."
"You don't get anything I try to say!" Aria was furious. "We are compromised! We can't stay here anymore, and you know it."
The blond man stood still for a brief moment, looking into space like he was searching for an answer. "Looking at the situation, I don't think we have anything to fear."
Aria's eyes widened even more. "You've completely disconnected from reality."
"I would say I'm more attuned to it," he raised his hands in a boasting manner. "No one ever came this close to creating such beautiful weapons as we have! And we are even closer to make them the most deadly creatures capable of combating absolutely anything!"
"You're delusional," her fist tightened as she tried to hold her composure.
"I'm a visionary!" Aurelius boasted even more as the entire complex shook to the foundations.
"I'm organizing everyone, and we're abandoning this site. We don't need these test subjects; we have all the data we need to make the perfect hybrids."
"You will do no such thing." His voice was stern and firm. However, Aria just smiled.
"And what will you do to stop that from happening?"
"I am your superior, and I demand you to…" He stopped, blood slowly dripping from his mouth. When he looked down, his terrified eyes saw that his body was pierced in many places with Grimm-like tentacles.
Vivian's eyes widened, and she clasped her hands on her mouth to stifle a scream. The tentacles were coming out from under Aria's coat, and they had unmistakenly a physical form. It wasn't a semblance or any kind of weapon; she turned herself into a hybrid.
"You were always a fool, Aurelius," she lifted him higher and closer to her.
"How?" His confusion was blazing from his eyes.
"It's all about will," she answered him, with a smile on her face. "But you never figured that out, have you? Our subjects perished before they could take control because they had no will to survive, no intention to dominate the creature that was slowly overtaking them."
The man tried to say anything, but the more he struggled, the more blood was filling his mouth. However, he was smiling. "I'm proud of you…" the words came out gargling from his mouth while he coughed blood.
Aria was even more infuriated, and she ripped the man in half. "You don't have the right to say that! To believe I called you a mentor…" She composed herself quickly after a moment of visible pain on her face. She moved towards the metal room at the one end of the area.
Vivian got closer to the cell door to look at the remains of what was her captor. She never suspected that one of them dared to experiment on themselves… A sudden voice echoed throughout the complex.
"Every staff member, please evacuate from the complex. This is not a drill. Leave everything and commence to the exit immediately." That was Aria's voice.
Amethyst helped both Nina and Neil stand up. They looked exhausted, especially Neil, as his face grimaced with pain.
"You okay, buddy?" She asked him, concerned.
"Yeah," he said dismissively. "Just a lot happened in one day."
"We should check on Gran," Nina said, looking inside the room where he went to.
"Sure," Ame went in first, and she stopped in her tracks when she saw what was in that room.
Everything wasn't like it was supposed to, and she could not even think about what to look at first. However, it was Gran that dominated the entire presence of the room. He was calmly taking very deep breaths, looking down at the body of someone that could no longer be identified. Amethyst could not believe her eyes. Bloodied bodies scattered in almost every corner of the area, steel cages ripped open, crimson trails leaving them. The whole scene looked like a shot from a snuff film.
When their friend noticed them, with a roar of rage, he attacked. Amethyst instinctively moved in to confront him, and their hands clasped. Blood that Gran was covered in splattered on her face.
"What happened here?" Nina stood in place, almost oblivious to the fact that her man just attacked them.
"Some help, maybe?" Ame was struggling to keep the mountain of a man contained and was getting slowly overpowered.
"Nina?" Neil looked at the Faunus girl, who still looked into space.
"Gran?" She asked, blankly looking at the Faunus wrestling together.
Canis slowly lost his grip, and Amethyst was able to force him on his knee. She noticed that he was slowly regaining his calm and let go. It still amazed her how this small woman was able to calm this beast with such ease. His eyes started to lose their light as he stared blankly at everything around them.
"What happened here?" Neil asked, breaking the silence.
Granola was still looking around, shell-shocked. He gazed at his hands, covered in blood to a point where none of his skin was showing.
Nina's eyes were getting watery, and like in a trance, she started to recite: "I fear no beasts, for no beats I see. Because all this time, the beast has been me…"
Granola's let out a whimper as he peered at them with tears swelling in his eyes.
Their silence was broken by a loud voice coming from the intercom in the room. "Every staff member, please evacuate from the complex. This is not a drill. Leave everything and commence to the exit immediately."
"We need to stop them," Neil commanded to the team. However, it took some time before all of them got to the same page. Both Gran and Nina looked at each other with blank stares, but Ame slapped the huge Faunus.
"What's done is done. We still have a job to do," she said firmly.
Gran and Nina both nodded. The man picked up his weapon, and the whole group moved towards the second room they suspected was holding the kidnapping victims. The moment they got a T-shaped cross-section, they met Raymond.
"You've also heard the announcement?" He asked the moment he saw them.
"Yeah," Neil answered, holding his head. He looked like he was about to vomit.
"What happened to you guys?" Ray was surprised to see them in such a shape. Neil was looking almost like a walking corpse, and Nina with Gran were utterly deflated.
"It doesn't matter," Ame immediately stopped any further conversation. "We still have to free the remaining prisoners."
Merlot smiled. "We have only one room left."
They all moved into the last corridor, leading to the second place they suspected the victims would have to be stored. When they entered, they saw rows of glass cells similar to those in the room Gran went into. However, there was one surprising fact that no one suspected they would see - a man severed in two lying near one of the cells.
"There's Vivian!" Raymond noticed their leader inside one of the glass boxes.
He moved first to the cage, with the rest of the gang slowly following.
"Glad to see you guys," she said, looking a bit shaken.
An angry voice boomed from the end of the room. "Haven't you ruin everything thoroughly enough?" It was a woman with silver hair.
"I see there is still someone who needs taking care of," Ame punched her open palm and moved towards the opponent.
Meanwhile, Ray had a question for Vivian. "Where is the main computer?"
She was taken aback by the question, but she pointed deeper into the hall after a short thought. "I believe it's in that steel box she came from."
"Thanks," he acknowledged and grabbed Nina by her hand. "I will need you."
"Hey!" She was angry but had no strength left to fight him. Even Gran just watched blankly, not responding to what was happening.
"Ray!" Vivian banged on the glass door, frustrated that the first thing he did was leave her in a cell.
"The body there had a card," Neil stepped in and opened the confinement. "It looks like it works.
Vivian was surprised, and the first instinct she had was to hug the red-head. She had enough of being held captive. Being a damsel in distress wasn't her thing, but she could be helpful to the team now.
The sudden show of emotion took the man by surprise, but he embraced her back. "It's good to have you back."
The tranquility was suddenly broken when Amethyst flew past them and landed on the ground. All their eyes widened when they saw Aria with her coat off. She had black spots on her arms and a bunch of tentacles growing from her back.
"Gran! Some help, maybe?" Ame shouted while dashing towards the opponent.
The man blinked a few times before he responded. "Yeah, sure…"
He followed her to attack the woman. Activating Crimson Tide, he jumped high to deliver a powerful slash while Ame swang her fist from below. Both of their attacks were swatted away by the additional appendages of their foe. Crushing into the nearest cells, they quickly regained composure and advanced again.
"Never thought I would fight something like that," Vivian moved forward. Neil tried to follow her to the battle, but dizzy from exhaustion and extensive usage of his semblance, he collapsed.
The girl was shocked, and instead of helping the two Faunus fight, she quickly got to the red-head to see if he's alright.
"I'm fine," he said, seeing her reaction. "Just go help the others."
"What did you go through to get here?"
The man chuckled. "I'll tell you everything. Just take care of this, please."
She nodded and stood up, looking directly at Aria. The silver-haired woman smacked the attackers away, lashing them with her tentacles. Vivian took a deep breath and activated her semblance when the cells all opened up simultaneously.
"What the…" Aria was taken off guard by that, and Amethyst, seeing an opportunity, dashed in for an attack.
The opponent was able to grab her hand, stopping the blow. Ame was surprised that the woman had so much strength in her despite not having much muscle.
"Annoying," the silver-haired woman looked down on the Faunus and tossed her aside.
The force of the throw was so strong that she broke through to one of the cells. She stood up, ready for another attempt, but a sudden feeling of someone's hand on her shoulder made her turn her head around. It was one of the prisoners. However, his hands weren't normal, and Ame started feeling a sting in her shoulder as the hybrid's claws tightened their grip. Among the captors were also the beasts that Ame did not want to acknowledge the existence of. She forced the creature to the ground, ready to bash its head in. However, the look on its face made her hesitant - frightened eyes of someone unaware of his surroundings. Still, the hand was tightening more and more, and the claws would slowly but surely break through her aura and sink into her skin.
"I'm sorry," she punched the prisoner with a force that knocked him out on the spot. The hand fell to the ground, lifeless.
People previously trapped ran out of the cages and into the hall, far away from the action. However, some didn't run and instead attacked Aria. Each of the brave souls was cut in half, pierced, or lacerated by her Grimm-tentacles.
Raymond got out of the metal room with Nina unconscious on one of his shoulders. He moved towards Vivian, avoiding an attack from one of the freed hybrids. Gran was already there to smack some sense into the beast. However, his attacks weren't very decisive, and it seemed like he wasn't entirely in the fight.
"We should get out of here as soon as possible," the one-eyed warrior addressed Vivian, who, with the help of her semblance, disposed of the nearest hybrid.
"What happened to Nina?" Black was concerned.
"She fainted," Ray noticed Neil lying on the floor. "What happened to Neil?"
"He fainted," Vivian smirked. "If you can take both Nina and Neil, I can take care of the Grimm-lady."
Raymond smiled back at her. "I always thought you were the Grimm-lady."
Before she could say anything back, Gran interjected. "I can take Nina. I doubt I would be of any use in this fight anyway…"
Both Vivian and Ray looked at each other surprised that he would say something like that. He lived for fighting, and yet, he wanted to be the first one out.
"Sure," Merlot said, looking at the situation. "We can take them out and show every one of the prisoners to the exit."
"Great," Black smiled. "I trust you with this."
She slowly walked towards Aria, who disposed of the last of the hybrids that attacked her. Vivian lashed out with her aura tentacles to attack the woman. The opponent reacted quickly and started deflecting the whipping attempts and counter-attacked with her own. Vivian concentrated, her eyes dashing from place to place, trying to discern where the enemy's Grimm-like appendages will strike. Aria was slowly moving forward while her lashes continued to pressure the leader of team VNGR. Black did not want to give any ground and continued to attack the foe while deflecting her attempts. The silver-haired woman chuckled, still slowly moving forward.
"It seems you need to fully control your semblance; every single piece of that aura requires your conscious input. I see I was right that you would be an excellent test subject."
Vivian tried to ignore her words and focus on the fight. Keeping up with her was getting more and more challenging.
"You see," Aria continued. "My Grimm-entity just follows orders without my direct input into every single decision. So basically, you fight two opponents at once."
The oppressor continued to move forward, shortening the distance between them. Vivian took a step back.
"Of course, it needs to rely on my senses to see or hear, but I think you get what I'm saying."
Amethyst got out of the cell she was tossed into to see the two women battle it out in a manner she never experienced. They were both practically standing in one place while the black tentacles swung wildly around them. And with such momentum, it looked like they were encased in a dark, shimmering sphere. Fighting Aria, Ame did notice the speed and force her Grimm-arms could swing, but she never imagined that clashing with Vivian's semblance would look so bizarre. Her teammate took a step back. I have to do something, she started to think of a strategy and quickly came to a conclusion that the most straightforward option is probably best.
"Semblance!" She shouted towards the fighting duo, dashing to Vivian's help.
The leader quickly understood her intentions and closed her eyes. A flash of light blinded the silver-haired woman, and Amethyst grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. With a complete body lock, the Faunus held the woman and her tentacles in a tight squeeze with her arms and wrapped her tail around the opponent's lower section.
"Run!" She commanded towards Vivian.
The girl looked at her, thinking of a way to end the fight but piercing Aria with her semblance would also go through Amethyst.
"I told you to run!" Aria was struggling to break free from the grapple. "I can take her."
Noticing the smile on Tautara's face, Vivian gave in and decided to leave the rest to her teammate. She ran towards the exit – the door she remembered from her failed attempt at escape.
"So it seems it's you and me," Amethyst started to use her power close to the opponent's body. Heating up her palm to melt the flesh of the woman held in her clutches. "I never really used my semblance in this way before. Never thought that I would have to…"
Aria started screaming in pain, and her Grimm-tentacles started pressing on with more force to get out. Ame began to feel the strength of the beastly vines, and her aura was slowly breaking.