The more Amethyst amped up her semblance, the more aura she was exhausting. However, she started to feel the woman's body melting under her touch. Aria writhed in pain and screamed in agony while her Grimm-tentacles lashed out. Some of the beastly appendages got out from the Faunus girl's grip and started smacking her wherever they had an opportunity to. The pressure on her arms was getting stronger, and Ame felt her hold was slowly being overcome. Just a bit more, she kept repeating to herself, but the opponent did not yield. With her strength at its limit, Ame's aura finally broke, and with it, her semblance turned off as well. Still holding the enemy in a body lock, she started to think of any other way to defeat the opponent. The only option that came to mind was to switch her lock into a chokehold and render Aria unconscious.

The moment she tried to force her to the ground and apply the chokehold, Aria, with a piercing shriek that didn't sound human, forced herself out from Ame's grip. The Faunus felt the strength of the Grimm-like appendages, and with a scream of anger, she tried to contain the monstrosity. A sudden shock stunned her. A sharp, piercing pain that quickly vanished. Aria broke free from her grapple, but Ame wasn't sure how? She was still holding her a second ago, and her hands are still clasping. The Faunus woman slowly gazed down, and her blood froze. She was still holding her right arm… However, it was no longer attached to her body.

After her body realized what happened, the pain finally hit her, and she screamed. Letting go of her torn-off arm, she clenched the bleeding wound. The entire arm got ripped off at the joint, and the opened gash was bleeding profusely.

Aria, in the meantime, was struggling herself. She held her stomach, where a burning imprint of Amethyst's arm was. A scorching mark that mixed seared flesh with blood and guts. Her Grimm-arms flailed chaotically all around her, smacking the walls behind, cracking them.

"I will not… give you… control…" Aria's breath was erratic. Her shoulders moving quickly with each breath she took. Still, the Grimm-vines continued to whip anything in their range.

"I think this is my cue to run," Ame dashed towards the exit.

A sudden, loud crash pulled her attention. The wall behind Aria collapsed, and with it, the roof of the room came crashing down on her. Terrified, Ame sprinted out as fast as she could to get out of the caving-in building. Like dominos, the walls of the complex started falling down one after another, burying anything inside. The girl was abruptly stopped in her tracks and fell to the ground. When she looked back, she noticed that her tail got caught in the falling debris. She closed her eyes. At least everyone else is safe…

Busting out through the building's door, Vivian was hit by the cold breeze of the outside. Only now she started to realize how tired she really was. She sat down to catch some breath and noticed that her teammates and all the people who managed to escape were nearby doing the same. Gran was tenderly holding unconscious Nina while Neil was sitting on the ground, looking like a ghost of a man.

She stood up to join them when a rumble startled her, and a sudden gust of wind pushed her to the ground. The building collapsed. Her eyes darted to the place the door was. She peered in with the hope of seeing the last person that was left inside. However, no one was standing there. The only thing how far the eye could see was a pile of rubble and concrete.

"No…" She didn't realize that Neil got closer to her, stumbling falteringly. "Ame…"

The red-head fell to his knees, looking at the mess. Vivian noticed his tears.

"She said she would handle it…" Vivian said towards the man. In a way, she was hoping to take the blame for leaving her teammate behind away from herself.

Neil chuckled through his tears. "She did, didn't she?" His fist started to clench, grasping the sand from between the cobblestones. "Always the hero… Always the one who had to bail me out when everything went to SHIT!" He hit the ground, startling Vivian.

She had no idea what to say to him or if there was even something she could say. Her eyes slowly went towards the ruins. Raymond walked over after noticing Neil's reaction.

"Where's Amethyst?" He asked, looking around.

"She didn't make it…" Vivian answered in a weak voice.

His eye widened. His shock made way for anger. "Stupid…" He said under his breath.

Granola observed the rest of the team with Nina still in his arms. A sudden movement made him change focus.

"Are you alright?" He asked his partner.

She started to mumble, like a child having a nightmare. "Ray… he…"

"What?" Gran was struggling to understand what she was saying.

"Raymond attacked me… he knocked me out… And stole the hybrid project data…"

Gran blinked a few times, trying to understand her words. She repeated that Ray attacked her and stole the information from the computer in the complex. His anger was slowly growing. How dare he hit his beloved? He gently put Nina down, stood up, and walked towards Merlot.

"Raymond!" He shouted with his deep, animalistic, and angry tone.

When the one-eyed warrior turned around, he noticed the mountain of a man winding a punch. Without a second thought, he activated his semblance, and he was able to see the attack clearly. The fist almost grazed him as he shifted his head aside. Grabbing Gran's stretched arm, he put a leg behind his, and with a push, he forced the Faunus to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" Merlot was still calm, despite the sudden attack of his teammate.

"You attacked Nina!" Gran spatted out, trying to grab the man.

"Gran, can you please calm down?" Neil said, looking him directly in the eyes.

Canis immediately stopped attacking and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Thank you," Ray turned towards Neil.

"Don't mention it," the red-head nodded, and his aura visibly dissipated from him.

"What do you mean he attacked Nina?" Vivian's curiosity was piqued by that statement.

Gran turned his head towards the leader of the group. "Nina said that it was Ray who knocked her out in the computer room and that he stole information about the hybrid project."

Black's eyes widened as she slowly looked towards Raymond. "Is that true?"

The man was looking into the distance. After a short while, he smiled and turned towards his teammate. "And if I did, so what?" His smug expression was getting on Vivian's nerves.

Before she could say anything else, they all heard two female voices talking in unison.

"I hope you have the data," two tall and similar-looking women in strapless dresses stood in front of a small squad of muscular-looking goons.

Raymond walked towards them without any hesitation and gave them a data chip he had in his armor's pocket.

"Splendid work," the woman in white dress said. She had heavy cyan makeup that highlighted her pale green eyes.

"What is going on?" Vivian was perplexed at what she was looking at.

"I can't believe it," Neil, who could barely stand, started talking. "From the very beginning, you used us, haven't you?"

"Do you need us to take care of this?" The second woman asked. She wore heavy red makeup highlighting the same pale green eyes as the woman in white.

"Don't worry," Raymond raised his hand, slowly turning towards his Huntsmen friends. "I can handle this."

The women scoffed. "Whatever," they both said in unison and turned around on their heels, walking away from the situation. Their goons followed.

Neil was getting more and more furious. "Why? Amethyst died for this!?" He dashed towards Ray with his fist raised, but the man simply deflected the blow and kneed the red-head in the guts. With a simple push, Merlot sent the writhing man to the ground.

Raymond's single eye turned towards Gran. "You're not fighting me? I presumed you would be the first to go berserk."

The Faunus was sitting patiently in the same spot, looking at the man. However, his eyes betrayed the burning rage inside him. "I want to, but I'm ordered to stay calm."

"Good thing Neil hadn't have the chance to use his semblance on me," he looked at the red-head lying on the ground, powerless. "That ability is genuinely scary. And you?" He addressed the question towards Vivian.

"I don't want to fight you, but I want to know how all this relates? Did you know from the beginning what was going on?"

Raymond smirked. "I did not. My mission was reconnaissance and gaining all the information I possibly could on the three crime gangs of Kuchinashi. However, the kidnapings were a genuine sign that a fourth force was at play. True, it turned out I was wrong about that one, but still, I decided to call on your help."

"And use us to benefit what exactly?"

"More precise would be 'who,'" he rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing a spider webbing tattoo. "Remember this?"

"Lil' miss Malachite."

"Well, her family business is now run by her daughters Melanie and Militia," he covered up his arm. "And you don't need to know the rest."

"So that's everything you're going to tell me? I'm not worth the whole truth?"

"No."

His simple answer angered her to no end. They went through so much together, and this is how it ends? She was fuming.

"You son of a…" She didn't end the sentence as Raymond's blade was now directly to her throat.

"Don't you ever dare to call my mother that!" His so far, calm face twisted in rage.

She felt a strange sting in her heart. "But Ray… Your mother is gone…"

"You don't know that!" He screamed out.

"The doctors told you countless times that…"

"Shut up!" His blade was getting dangerously close to her. A tear slowly dripped down his face.

Her thoughts were racing. She saw Raymond concerned or distraught many times but never cry. The whole situation was confusing, and she did not know what to expect from him anymore. It seemed like he was just a man lost in his old ways, holding tightly to the life he once had. Even if it was a life of crime and hardships.

"Ray, you can still…"

"Shut up!" He hit her with the hilt of his sword, and she fell to the ground.

Raymond wiped the single tear from his cheek and walked away. Vivian stood up, looking at what was around. The ruins of the laboratory that created monsters made her smile slightly. The people that escaped the complex dispersed and vanished somewhere.

"Ungrateful bastards," she could not spot herself from swearing.

Nina and Neil were still lying on the ground, almost lifeless, while Gran sat in place. If a human body could generate heat from anger, he would be a scorching wild bonfire at the moment. After a short while, a small group of people having a similar attire came.

"Secure the perimeter," a robust man dressed in layers of thick leather coats and a sheriff badge shouted towards his men. "Check for any survivors."

"Yes 'sir!" They moved towards the wreckage of the building.

The sheriff walked towards Vivian and eyed her suspiciously. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

She was taken aback by the man's presence for a short while. "I'm Vivian," she hesitated, "and my friends and I need some help."

The group leader nodded, looking at the rest of the people in the field of view. His brows seemed very low, like he distrusted everything he sees for a living. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. "Sylvia, Jet, can you tend to these people?" It was more of a command than a question.

The people he mentioned got a few more from the group and tended to the team. When they got close to Nina and put her on stretchers, Gran got close to accompany her.

"Please remain calm, sir. We're here to help." One of the sheriff's subordinates addressed the huge Faunus.

"I am calm," he answered, fuming with anger that his body did not entirely agree on. "I cannot be anything else but calm."

The man holding one side of the stretcher looked intimidated but simply nodded. "Is she your family?"

"She's my partner," he smiled, looking at her.

"If that's the case, you can follow us to the hospital."

The moment the second group started tending to Neil, Vivian walked towards them.

"Are you family with this man?" The woman who the sheriff referred to as Sylvia asked.

Vivian hesitated for a brief moment. "Yes, yes I am." She grabbed his hand and looked at the girl holding the stretcher.

The group headed towards the hospital that was fortunately located in the lower district. Gran was tenderly looking at Nina. She was seemingly calmed down and looked like a sleeping child. Seeing her this way calmed down the beast inside Canis and his true feelings finally matched what he was forced to feel.

Vivian got closer to Neil. "Do your semblance have an expiration time?"

He was drowsy, but he answered: "If I put someone under it? No. It only dispels the moment I give an order for them to go back to normal."

She sighed. "I don't think that using it on Gran was the right choice…"

He looked away from her.