A/N: I do not own Toaru or RWBY, furthermore, I apologize for the long update, I did get a new job so it'll be tougher pushing out chapters, but I'm gonna keep pushing them out, just expect slower updates.
"What!?"
The light haze in Qrow's head dissipated as he stared down at Ozpin. He was expecting answers when he was asked to return to Beacon and he was given those answers. The problem was that it now posed more questions than ever, sobering him up in a flash. He leaned forward as he rested his palms on the desk, reasoning to himself that it was probably his ears betraying him and that he needed to re-check what the man in front of him said.
"Okay... Run that by me again, I think I've misheard it," he said more to himself than to Ozpin as he folded his arms.
The older man sighed as he bowed his head down and stated, "You haven't, Qrow, they have been missing for several days."
Qrow's jaws tightened, his chest heaving up and down as it contained the intensifying heat within it. He ran his hand through his black hair as he muttered to himself and closed his eyes as the information sank in, he croaked, "How?"
Ozpin looked up, his face passive, but his spectacles could not hide the regret and shame in his eyes. It was no secret that Beacon was one of the most secure locations in all of Remnant, but a whole team of huntsmen in training and then some being kidnapped right under their noses was very humbling.
"We don't have any concrete proof, but I do have something that might point us in the right direction," he answered as he tapped on his desk. The desk hummed as a screen opened up from within with footage captured by his numerous cameras in the Emerald Forest, Ozpin played the video as Qrow narrowed his eyes as he observed it.
"What am I looking at, Oz? I'm not seeing anything here," he asked as his eyes flicked at Ozpin.
"Indeed, I wouldn't expect you to," the headmaster answered, "As you know, Glynda has provided permission for team RWBY and Touma to perform some training exercises at the Emerald forest and if you see here," he tapped on his desk and more footage appeared, showing Ruby and her team walking through the forest.
"... Wait a minute," Qrow muttered as something felt off, on the video, Ruby and her team seemed to be walking outside the camera's reach. Normally they would appear on the next camera, but it showed no signs of them showing up.
"It would appear that my cameras have been tampered with and only two groups are capable of sabotaging the footage, let alone, locating the cameras. I've already contacted James and he has denied any involvement," Ozpin stated. Qrow bit back a snort at the mention, but he had to agree. As much as he loathed the General from Atlas, Ironwood wasn't the type to take hostages or kidnap people for his own interest.
"If it wasn't him… then it's…" Qrow muttered as his eyes widened only for the older man to nod in agreement, "Lionheart… damn… Didn't think he had it in him."
"Pardon?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow, he certainly didn't expect the younger man to be impressed at all.
Qrow coughed into his mouth, "Nothing, just… didn't expect it."
He honestly didn't, but unlike Ironwood, Leonardo had done things outside his expectations before and even if Ozpin trusted the man, Qrow had his reservations about the Faunus headmaster.
"Of course, Leonardo wasn't directly responsible, but we can expect that an operative from Mistral had certainly had a hand int this, and not many are capable of hacking into my cameras, much less locating them," the headmaster said with a slight tone of disappointment, "I had Glynda look into it-"
"And?" Qrow asked as he leaned forward only for him to be stopped in advance by a hand.
"As far as I'm aware, the only one we know who is privy to this kind of information is Motoharu." The moment the name was dropped was when Qrow's face twisted in bitterness, his fists curled into the desks as he breathed in sharply. Ozpin continued, " I understand that you aren't fond of him, but we can trust his capabilities to find your nieces."
The Branwen growled lowly, he knew the older man was right, but something in his gut clenched at his depths like an icy cold grip. He knows Ozpin trusted Motoharu and even if he didn't trust the latter, he knew some associates from Mistral that he deeply trusted as well. He had also heard that there was something stirring in that city and the fact that Ruby and Yang disappeared around the same time as that was far too much to be a coincidence and that was all he needed to pursue the lead. He pushed himself off the table and turned heel, he knew what he had to do and he was on a very strict clock.
"Qrow!" Ozpin called out. The man froze as he glanced over his shoulder and the headmaster tilted his head forward, "Please, I suggest you wait."
"... Really? Ruby and Yang, those kids… they don't have time for me to 'wait'," Qrow growled as he turned to the elevator.
"Qrow, don't misunderstand, I don't plan to stop you. I'm asking you to wait," the older man implored with an even tone.
Qrow took a deep breath, as images of Yang and Ruby flashed in his mind as well as the fact that three other kids were in danger and running out of time. However, he trusted Ozpin and his judgement as the older man had always seemed to have the answers, he faced the older man and approached the desk to which Ozpin bowed his head slightly in appreciation.
"I'm sure you're aware of a precarious situation that Mistral City is in, I intend to have a team to accompany you as backup," Ozpin stated.
Qrow nodded and replied, "Okay, so who's it gonna be? Barty? Pete? Hell, I'll even take Glynda." Impatience leaked in his voice as his foot started to tap the ground, but despite the eccentricity of those he named, they were good at what they did.
"I'm afraid not, you know as well as I do that they have very important tasks that bind them here Qrow," Ozpin said with a small shake of his head as he tapped on his scroll, "Instead, I have a team that has proven themselves many times during their stay here. I'm sure they will be a great asset to rescuing my students."
Qrow frowned as he felt his own scroll vibrate, he opened it and before it could even register in his mind, his mouth said, "Serious? I work better alone, you know that. And if it's with someone, it has to be someone that can handle it."
"I'm quite aware, but this matter isn't something that should be handled alone," Ozpin pointed out with a hard edge on his tone, "I have been keeping an eye on Mistral City affairs ever since their quarantine policy has been put in place. I'm afraid that the situation may require a more… methodical approach, and you'll need a team capable enough to help you with that."
Qrow's eyes flicked to the scroll once before they turned to his boss's and with a disgruntled sigh, he complained with exasperation, "You're giving me students, second year students? Not even fourth or third years?"
"Yes, but I'm sure you are aware that many of the senior students are away on their missions right now," Ozpin replied, his tone growing softer but his gaze remained as strong as ever and as Qrow met those eyes, he faltered and nodded. The older man's lips curled slightly upwards as he continued, "These four are the best of their year. High all-around marks, impressive combat records and seamless teamwork."
The younger man sighed, his head and shoulders slumped as he was forced to accept that he was babysitting a team that should not have any stake in this, but he couldn't deny that what he was about to do was not going to be easy solo. With a quiet curse and a scratch on his head, he muttered, "Fine, but I'll only agree to this if they follow everything I say."
"That's all I ask," Ozpin nodded, he then tapped on the scroll, "They shall be here in a minute."
True enough the elevator door opened, revealing team CFVY in their combat gear. The four of them marched in with their backs straight and formed a line before Qrow and Ozpin, the former raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, his finger tapping at his arm impatiently.
"Team CFVY reporting in, headmaster," Coco announced as she stepped forward with steel in her voice. The rest of her team stood silently, but they were alert and their mouths were set in a thin line.
Qrow shot a glance at Ozpin while he tilted his head towards them, the older man coughed as if he understood the message and replied, "Thanks for coming in Ms Adel. What will be discussed here, will not leave this room, understood?"
Coco turned back to her team and like clockwork, her teammates nodded at her, "Yes, sir," the leader of CFVY answered with a nod of her own. Qrow leaned back as he bit back a snort when he noticed the headmaster giving him a pointed stare.
"Good. Then let's begin," Ozpin announced with a ghost of a smile, he tapped on his desk and everyone leaned forward as he began to brief them.
"Fascinating…" Touma flinched as the woman in a white lab coat poked him for the umpteenth time, murmuring as she continued to 'examine' him with thankfully, only her fingers. He eyed warily to the side as several metal implements were laid on a white cloth and he was sure that this woman would end up using it soon. After a few more pokes to his bare chest and sides, she looked up and asked, "So, despite the fact that you have an active semblance, you are incapable of utilising aura at all, correct?"
"Yes, been like that as long as I could remember," Touma answered, a little flustered as he tried to beat out the disgust in his voice. It was hard not to feel embarrassed as the woman was quite attractive, but at the same time, the way she talked and acted was pretty offputting.
"Hmm, yet this semblance… Imagine Breaker was it? Is capable of eliminating any Grimm so long as it manages a direct contact?" the woman inquired as she straightened up, her dark eyes peered at him as she folded her arms over her black business attire, her white lab coat bristling over it.
"Yeah, Motoharu said that it's the best way to get rid of the Covenant without an uproar," Touma explained, a little relieved that she stepped back and rubbed her chin.
"I see… I can't deny the possibility that it would be the most effective method," the woman said as she nodded before she eyed his right hand, tapping into her scroll and muttering to herself, "But perhaps it would be more effective if we remove that right hand and dissect it for analysis."
Touma blanched as he hopped off the chair, Motoharu warned him that this woman, Yuiitsu Kihara was a Kihara through and through despite her age. He gulped as he asked, almost afraid to find the answer, "Remove? Dissect?"
Yuiitsu's eyes flickered to him before she waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "No, too risky, especially since you are a unique specimen." Touma sighed in relief, but he didn't take his eyes off her. The fact that she even mentioned that was already unnerving, but if push comes to shove, he was prepared to defend himself if necessary. "However, until I have proper data on how your semblance functions, we should hold off finding the Covenant for now."
"Wait, what?" Touma asked, he stepped forward with all reservations thrown aside, "We should be finding the Covenant, haven't you heard the reports?"
"Of course I have," Yuiitsu replied, shooting a glare at him, hard enough that it made him step back, "But as far as I'm concerned, what we have to eliminate the Covenant is untested at best. Unless you want to throw half the city into a burning mess, I'd suggest you quiet down until I obtain the data on your semblance."
Touma's jaws tightened, but he knew fighting would be pointless, he wasn't great at making arguments as a few headbutts against Weiss had taught him. However, he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere if he tried to push it his way. He sighed and conceded, "Fine, but if we get this data?"
"Then…" Yuiitsu tapped her chin in thought, "It might be worth using you to spearhead the operation, provided such data is adequate."
"Then, what 'data' are you looking for?" Touma asked despite a small voice that sounded ominously like Motoharu's telling him that he was doing something stupid. Along with the warning, the huntsman had pointed out to never volunteer for a Kihara, but the situation she was presenting him didn't leave him much of an option.
Yuiitsu smiled, but it wasn't something Touma found comfort in. In fact, that very smile had the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as she stepped forward and said in a casual manner, "Oh, nothing too complicated. In fact, the situation this city is in provides a perfect testing ground for you and your semblance."
"... Right… you do know that I can't go anywhere without the okay from them, right?" Touma pointed out, but she scoffed as she headed to the nearest bench, pulled out a drawer and began rummaging through it.
As she pulled out a small black device, she said with a smile, "That is not going to be a problem. We have more important tasks to complete and if I were you, I'd suggest that… ah- this isn't very Kihara-like at all." She stopped as she shook her head in exasperation. Touma, however, stared at her dully as just interacting with her was too exhausting to be acting disgusted or shocked, he wasn't sure which.
"Well, let's start with the testing since you are so eager about it, my test subjects tend to be not as… energetic as you," Yuiitsu said as she pushed the device into Touma's hand before she suddenly faced towards the ceiling as if on a random choice and called out, "Well!? Are you satisfied?"
Touma raised an eyebrow as he carefully watched Yuiitsu, he knew Kihara's were eccentric by nature, but this one had baffled him and he had only met her for the past ten or so minutes. The young scientist shrugged and headed to the other side of the room, her heels clacking against the floor as she continued calling out, "Now, Kamijou, while he gets down here, I want to make a few things clear… for your… uh… safety."
"Safety?" he echoed, the way Yuiitsu was twirling her hand in a dismissive manner made him question her entire character.
"Yeah, safety," she droned with a blank face that could put a robot to an Atlas Mech to shame, "Anyways, I'm sure you've heard as I was talking with Tsuchimikado, that the district under quarantine is under Kihara surveillance and time isn't on our side. So, a word of warning, try not to catch any of their attention."
Touma blinked, he didn't expect a warning from her after their interactions and her uncomfortable examination of him. With a tentative nod, he muttered, "Uhh… thanks?"
Yuiitsu turned to him and approached with a black mechanical bracelet that is even smaller than his Retterhand in her hands, "Hmm, well, it'd be a shame to lose a chance to study you to another Kihara, but I digress." With that, she clamped the bracelet onto his right wrist, like a snake that struck its victim.
"Hey! What was that for!?" Touma barked as he went straight to tugging the device, but it wouldn't budge at all. Yuiitsu scoffed and before he pressed on her to remove the device, the glass doors to the lab slid open, revealing Motoharu whistling.
Both the scientist and the huntsman-in-training stared at the newcomer who returned and within the second, he sighed, "Kami-yan, not even ten minutes and she puts stuff on you? Hahhh, that's gotta be uh… 'misfortune' as you would say, right?"
Touma groaned as he slapped his hand over his face, but Yuiitsu coughed and replied with her head tilted upwards, "You wouldn't have stopped me."
Motoharu shrugged with a grin and the poor boy hung his head as he felt that the two of them were toying with him in their own way. Touma didn't exactly mind, as he knew it was something he'd have to do to help Mistral's issues, but at the same time, it annoyed him to the point where he had given up on resisting it.
"Well, in any case, he's ready to go?" Motoharu asked and Yuiitsu just gave a half-hearted wave, her attention focussed on a computer next to her. The huntsman nodded to Touma and the two exited the lab, "Kami-yan, since she's being a little stingy with what she's got, we're just going to move the timetable up a bit."
"Okay, so we're going after this… Effigy?" Touma asked as he fiddled with the foreign bracelet once more before giving up. The two of them strode through the empty concrete hallways, almost breaking into a jog, dodging littered crates and equipment.
"Hmm, not exactly, you remember the nuns that came by right?" the huntsman asked as the two stopped at a fork, "Well, with them we can get our investigation started unimpeded… probably. One of your friends is helping dealing with that little Kihara problem."
"Kihara problem?"
"Yep! Don't worry though, Oriana's taking a good care of her, besides, it should make your job easier for the time being," Motoharu nodded, leaning onto the concrete wall and folding his arms, "In the meantime, you just focus on doing that little job for our little Miss Kihara, okay?"
Touma scratched his head and muttered, "Argh… she was pretty vague about what I'm supposed to do."
The blonde huntsman grinned as he clapped his hand on Touma's shoulder, "About that, I got something that'll satisfy her conditions, no problem. I'll get Awaki to brief you, so in the meantime, why don't you head down to the garage and get ready? Nightfall is about to happen, so you might wanna check your gear before heading out."
When it came to combat, Yang prided herself being the first in and last out, no matter who or what the opponent was. Despite that straightforward style of fighting, she wasn't completely mindless in just shoving her fists at her opponents, she liked to use a few clever tactics here and there, but at the end of the day, it's always punch first and then keep punching until they were down.
Unfortunately, tonight was not the night for brawling for her as she followed Oriana and that White Fang nun around the city. The nun had all the makings of a suspicious character, even if she wasn't from the infamous group; not a single word or grunt from her, always wearing that signature White Fang mask over her face and that gut feeling Yang always felt around her.
However, Oriana didn't voice a single complaint or concern and provided one clear objective to the two of them; wipe out all Kihara surveillance and any secondary properties in the district. That was something Yang hoped she wouldn't have to do as she was not only put on a janitor job, but separated from the rest of her friends. It was hardly a challenge yet something she couldn't take lightly and it was all tedious to her, plus an extra point that she had to wear a gas-mask to keep up the guise of the quarantine which was far from fashionable.
"Hold," Oriana whispered, her voice muffled in their ears and all three of them halted on the orangish-blue roof, "Do you two see it? Two O'clock about sixty metres ahead, just above the window."
"Do we have to keep those masks on? We're so deep inside the district and no one sees us because we're on the roof all the time!" Yang complained as she tugged on her yellow gas-mask.
The nun ignored her though she could've sworn that she heard a snicker with the way her shoulders were shaking while Oriana turned to her with a single raised eyebrow, but with a grey mask covering half her face, it was hard to tell if she was smiling or frowning, "I don't like it anymore than you do, but it's better to be safe than sorry if someone decides to look and see us not wearing 'protective' gear in a quarantine zone."
Yang groaned under her breath and nodded as she adjusted it in an attempt to make it more comfortable at the very least.
"Good, now, do you see the cameras?" the older huntsman asked.
Yang narrowed her eyes and just as her superior said, there was a large black spider shaped device placed above a house's window on the second floor. On the top of the device was an antenna with a blinking red light. She nodded to her fellow blonde while the nun mirrored her action.
"Okay, I'll take it out, keep an eye out for those mechs," Oriana said and the three of them jumped to the next roof, their feet tapping lightly on the red tiles. The buxom blonde fished out her stack of flashcards and tore one out, her aura flaring while Yang's own aura started to crackle against it. With a hum, a bolt of lighting shot out and smashed right into the device, leaving nothing but a smoldering scorch mark.
At that moment, chittering echoed around the group, Yang whipped her head around trying to locate the source, but the buildings around them seemed to shudder as the sound grew louder. Her Ember Celica clicked into active mode as she noticed the nun silently shift into combat position, pulling what looked like a parasol while Oriana huffed and flipped a flashcard, ready for her to use.
Clicking began to accompany the noise and Yang shifted her stance lower as she knew those mechs were very close by. She could feel Oriana and the nun right at her back, but it did little to comfort her. Instead, she gritted her teeth as her head heated up from the fact she couldn't just charge in and punch through the mechs that were surrounding them out of sight. As seconds went by, Yang's eyes slowly scanned the edge of the roof and surrounding buildings, waiting for them to pop out.
As if answering to her silent call, a spiny silver robot leapt from the edge, shaped like a cross between spider and squid as its tentacles whipped around wildly. Yang growled, her arms snapped to its position and with two resounding bangs, her shotgun shells blasted through the mech, tearing it to pieces. However, before the pieces could even hit the roof, two more robots took its place as it leapt with their writhing tentacles.
She shot forward, ducking under a lashing tentacle before hopping over another one and slammed her fist at the first mech, easily crumbling it to bits and pieces. Yang then backhanded another offending tentacle with a resounding clang before smoothly stepping forward and thrusting her fist at the robot's core without a flinch. She checked her surroundings and all that was left was the nun and Oriana standing over metal pieces and wires.
"Hah… well, that was easy!" Yang declared with a smirk as she dusted her hands as she strode towards her teammates, the nun shrugged as she twirled the parasol and Oriana mirrored the same smirk.
"The Kihara's may be quite the scientists, but it's clear they weren't prepared for us," Oriana agreed as she turned to the nun, "Though, I'm surprised you managed to keep up with us, the Church faction certainly has capable fighters in their ranks."
Yang had to agree, the nun was over a head shorter than her yet her moves were very acrobatic, just as good as Blake's if not better, plus she was very sure she had not taken even a scratch on her.
"That aside, you're pretty good yourself, Yang. Give it a year or two and you'd be just as good as your standard huntsman," Oriana continued her eyes closed but the younger girl could tell she was smiling, "Okay, that was seven cameras down, that sho-"
Suddenly, Oriana flipped a flashcard and tore it out, the paper glowing blue with such intensity that Yang and the nun covered their eyes. Next second, they felt the very roof they stood on shuddering, the metal debris around them clattering as the air around them clapped sharply. Yang blinked as she slowly lowered her hand, the first thing she saw was the paper at Oriana's lips crumbling to dust, next, a blue transparent hemisphere covering the three of them as it shimmered against the orange skies.
"What the hell!?" Yang roared as she whipped her head around and on an adjacent roof was a purple mech she had never seen before. The waning sunlight glinted against its large grey cylindrical head as it stomped towards them, in its hands was a large black rifle with its barrel smoking from the round it just discharged.
As she eyed the humanoid robot, more stomping surrounded her team and as she glanced at the sources, identical robots were approaching them with their rifles trained on them at other rooftops, cracks appearing underneath their boots. Compared to the robots that ambushed them at every camera they destroyed, these humanoid mechs were bulkier and the one with the smoking barrel seemed to have extra features like larger shoulder plates. A sigh escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes at more robot foes that were probably not a challenge to her.
With them surrounded, one of them stepped up, lowering its rifle as a clear female voice with a very faint buzzing sound resounded from it, "This is truly an intriguing find, a White Fang nun and huntsmen working together in a quarantine zone no less." The cylinder head started to recede into the armour revealing a feminine head with auburn hair tightly wound into a bun as her piercing blue eyes flashed behind her spectacles.
"Uhh… any idea who that is?" Yang asked as she raised her fist, the nun merely shrugged while Oriana shook her head.
"Not sure who it is, but she's probably a Kihara," she said as she flipped through her flashcards.
"Ah… yes, I apologize for my rudeness, allow me to introduce myself," the woman said as she placed a robotic hand over the chest of her armour, "I am Therestina Kihara, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Oriana stepped forward, her head held high as she announced, "I am Oriana Thompson, these two are my colleagues, Yang and Natilop. Pleasure to meet you too."
"Mmm, now, I would like to inquire, why are you three destroying my property? Much less know about them?" Therestina asked, yet there was something in her tone that had Yang's hair at the back of the neck stand up. It was elegant and calm, but at the same time, malice was dripping out of her voice.
Natilop, the nun, shrugged while leaning on her parasol and once again, Yang found herself questioning if Natilop was really a nun, even if she was part of the White Fang. Oriana just folded her arms and replied with a question of her own, "I'm sure the Kihara's were aware of what the Government and the huntsmen's objectives are, are you really that surprised that we are targeting your surveillance equipment?"
"No… I suppose you are right, but what concerns me is that I've been informed of your… little alliance, and this here confirms it," the Kihara answered as she gestured towards Natilop.
At this point, the robots around them jerked forward and both Natilop and Yang whipped around, ready to defend themselves, but Oriana simply raised her stack of flashcards, "And what of it?"
"Well… since you are destroying my cameras… I guess it is fair to say that both the White Fang and huntsmen have a mutual agreement to be an obstacle to my goals… I can't have that," Therestina said with a sigh.
"Woah hold up, you just want to watch that Grimm!? Are you freaking serious?" Yang cried out as she shot a look at the Kihara.
"One of the basic foundations of science requires careful observation of the subject," the woman replied with a small smile and Yang growled as she felt as if she was being chided to, "Simply put, such a rare specimen must be observed and recorded for… future applications. Allow me to explain…"
It was at this moment, Yang felt an odd sense of dejavu, the woman in front of her lectured the wonders of the Covenant, almost as if she was in love. Yang found herself inching away as the woman in a robotic suit danced a little as her gibberish began to gain intensity, at the corner of her eye, she saw Natilop shoot a glance and twirled her finger next to her head and for once, Yang had to agree with the silent nun.
"... but alas, such is the rarity of the Covenant making research and development a little too difficult… until now," Therestina ended her sermon as she stepped forward and the robots shuddered into action their rifles clicking as she said, "With you three, however, you must be removed for you are an obstacle to such important development."
"... Is that so? Then, that saves us the trouble," Oriana replied as she narrowed her eyes and she plucked one of the flashcards which started to glow while the rifles from the robots began to hum. Yang grinned as she liked where this was going while she picked up a small sigh from Natilop who twirled her parasol into a combat stance.
Therestina smiled yet what she said next held nothing but a chilling premonition, "Ah… I was hoping you'd get my point."
XXXX
"About time you got here, put this on," Awaki barked and Touma's vision suddenly blackened and his face stung a little as he caught what was thrown at him, a gas mask and blue cloth. He looked up and noticed Blake, Awaki and one of the White Fang nuns that came by having a gas mask around their neck. Not only that, apart from the nun, they were wearing blue overalls and black boots complete with black smudges dotted all over their outfits.
Touma held up the items in question but Awaki had already turned while Blake muttered, "It's our 'disguise'. Apparently, we're going in as repairmen to 'repair' something that broke down."
"Oh… but, why?" Touma asked.
"No idea, she said she's going to explain, now go get changed, quickly!" Blake implored as she pushed Touma into the more closed off areas.
Once he had changed into the baggy yet rough clothing and rejoined his team, Awaki nodded curtly as she stepped in front of a large board with a map and various photos, and announced to the three that assembled before her, "Okay, let's get this straight, I don't like any of you, but I don't plan on having any of us dying in this thing. So listen to what I tell you to do and we'll all get out of this in one piece."
Touma shot a glance at Blake and both of them nodded while the nun lightly scoffed but nodded as well.
"Good. Our objectives are simple, to get Kamijou his data so that Kihara can get whatever she needs done for this whole debacle while investigating the incident report two twenty-nine. That location will be at an industrial complex and it hasn't been running since the quarantine, so there shouldn't be any civilians, that said, according to the incident report, a number of people disappeared there and the Kihara said that there might be a Sentinel or two there," Awaki briefed as she shot a stick out of nowhere to a circle point on the map.
"So… you're just gonna believe a Kihara?" the nun asked in disbelief, folding her arms and both Touma and Blake had to agree with the White Fang member. It was hard to trust the Kihara at all.
"It's the best lead we have, I don't like it any more than any of you do," Awaki replied with a shrug, "That said, there are more problems than just some Grimm. This is White Fang territory, and even if we have you, Sanctis, the locals won't let us go unless we pretend we're something else."
"Hence, the outfits… great, I always thought being an… handyman would be a great career backup plan," Blake muttered as she lifted her arms.
"Keep that up and it might be your plan, Belladonna," Awaki retorted while Agnese grunted in annoyance, "Our backstory is that we are from a small machine company performing some maintenance there. It should buy us time to investigate the area while allowing us to bring out weapons in the tool bags. Sanctis will be our safeguard and 'guide', are we clear so far?"
As everyone nodded, Awaki's lips twitched upwards lightly, "Good, now just to add on a bit more. Magnus and his team will shadow us and bail us out if things get out of hand, but until then, we're on our own. Here." She held out three ear pieces and three capsules that held two green pills to which everyone took one, "Tsuchimikado is gonna be our eyes in the sky, and as for the pills…
"Well, these are just experimental, but chances are, if the Sentinels are here, then, the Effigy is probably here too, these pills should protect our heads for an hour or two, but let's hope we don't have to use all of them," Agnese stated, "I've already sent you a map on your scrolls, we'll be splitting to two groups to cover more ground when we get there. Any questions?" Touma and Blake shared a look, the former raising his hand only for the auburn haired woman to say, "Good let's move out."
Awaki threw a small bag at Touma who easily caught it and headed towards a blue van with a sticker called 'Mistral Wrench Company' in big red letters at the sides. The four of them clambered into the van, with Awaki and Agnese at the driver and passenger seat while Blake and Touma took the rear.
The van hummed to life and took off, it wasn't long before the streets were soon becoming devoid of other vehicles as they traveled through Mistral, just empty streets without a single soul. Everyone remained silent, unable to comment as the only thing that filled the air was the van.
"What's that?" Blake piped up, her eyes on Touma's right wrist.
"Ah… I'm actually not sure, that Kihara girl just put it on me," Touma replied as he tugged at the bracelet, "Can't get it off either."
Blake raised an eyebrow and took a seat at Touma's side, she knew this wasn't something Touma would wear and the fact a Kihara put it on him without giving Touma any knowledge about it was already disconcerting enough, she muttered, "Here, let me help." She tugged at the bracelet while being careful not to touch the right hand and then she held onto his arm with her left hand and tried once more while carefully toning her strength down in case she accidentally hurt him.
"Yeah… I tried, it's not coming off," Touma chuckled with a shake of his head as Blake sighed and let go as she reasoned to herself that if it wasn't going to harm him now, she'll just have to watch over him in case it does.
"Hello, hello? Anybody home?" a jovial voice pinged in their ear.
"Tsuchimikado? What is it?" Awaki growled as she turned the wheel into another street.
"Oh, ya know… just a radio check and all. Also, a little heads up. By now, you guys should be heading into the area, Mr Torchwick had told me that the area should be evacuated by the church…" Motoharu reported.
Everyone shot a glance at Agnese who nodded and muttered, "That's true, when we realised that the Covenant is likely to be in this district, the higher ups demanded every Faunus to evacuate the area into our sanctuaries where they will be safe."
Touma caught Blake's eyes narrowing, but only for a split second as he couldn't tell much from what her mouth was like behind the mask.
"Yup, that'd be it! Problem is, he couldn't guarantee that it will be clear and that there are still people left there, after all, Grimm's gotta feed on something right? Still, objective stands on highest priority, don't bother with anything else," Motoharu said. Agnese snorted but said nothing else while Awaki nodded.
Touma frowned and asked, "Wait… you're saying that if we find anyone here, we don't help them?"
"Hmmm, Yep! Now before you go all 'blah blah blah' on me," Motoharu answered while Touma bit back a growl but quickly stopped as he felt Blake's hand grip onto his shoulder, her eyes held nothing but sympathy, "We just don't have the capacity to save people, especially if you take into account what the Covenant can do. We're better off shooting straight to the root cause rather than get distracted by minor symptoms."
"He's right, as much as I hate to admit it," Awaki piped up, but there was an edge of steel in her voice, her hand was gripped onto the wheel so tightly that Touma could've sworn it was whining under the pressure, "We can't afford to leave ourselves open to unknowns, even with Magnus covering us."
"Good, the Church has some guys and engineers near the vicinity, you should meet up with them soon. Good luck!" With that, the van fell into a grim silence.
Suddenly, Agnese leaned forward and pointed, "There, by the gate."
Touma and Blake peeked over her shoulder and they spotted a small group of people, most of them were dressed in bright white robes with golden symbols, a stark contrast to the grey buildings surrounding them. Awaki slowed down the van to a halt and she shot a glance to the two of them at the back, "Sanctis will lead, but stay at my back."
They nodded, and the four of them clambered out of the van, each one except Agnese carrying a bag over their shoulders. The nun briskly trotted ahead nodding to the men and women in the white robes.
"Sister! We have secured the area here… are these the-?" one of the men in white robes asked as he bowed to Agnese.
"Correct, they will be doing a routine check on the heating systems," Agnese replied as she beckoned the team to follow her before pointing at the lone man wearing a work vest and an orange hard hat, "You, can you provide access into the facility?"
"Uh-uhm, y-yes!" the man bowed as he took off his hard hat in an attempt to be courteous, revealing two fluffy ears on top of his head, bent down. "Though we haven't been inside for a week now, but here!" He handed in a small keycard, to which Agnese scooped up and inspected it, "This should provide you access to the area."
"Sister, we'd like to escort you inside," one of the White Fang members said, but he shot a glance at Touma and the others, while his fellow priests and nuns murmured and nodded.
"That will not be necessary, you've been tasked by… Torchwick to make sure no one gets in or out of this facility," Agnese returned with a guttural tone.
The priest faltered as his fists clenched and unclenched before he stepped back and muttered, "Of course, sister. Please do not hesitate to call upon us should you need us."
With that Agnese nodded at Touma and the others, and the four of them headed into the courtyard, their steps and the jingling of their bags was the only thing that filled the atmosphere under the cloudy skies.
"So… they're not coming to help us?" Touma ventured as he looked over his shoulder.
"No, while most of the Church is combat trained, they aren't capable of dealing with most Grimm, let alone ones that rarely show up anywhere," Awaki explained.
Agnese silently nodded and as they reached the door, she swiped the keycard on the reader and with a loud beep, it swung open. "Masks off and grab your weapons," Awaki ordered and as soon as Touma took his off, he was washed with a faint sweet scent in a very white hall that flickered into black every few seconds. The Faunus huntsmen grunted as she pulled out her scroll and tapped it, revealing a map, "Alright, we'll split here, Sanctis and I will take the Central Control room, you guys take the East Wing. Tsuchimikado, you hear that?"
"Yep, loud and clear, the Church isn't moving from their position, so they won't be a problem," he replied in a relaxed manner.
"Good, pop your pills, we'll rendezvous here in one hour, that should be when the pill will roughly run out," Awaki as she popped a pill then threw the card at Touma who held it confused. "We won't need it, but you will, just keep an eye out and don't do anything stupid."
Touma glanced at Blake, who nodded, before pocketing the card while the nun pulled out a staff from under her robes and with a tap on the staff, the nearest door bursted wide open with a sickening crunch.
"Oh… and one more thing, don't try and be a hero," Awaki parted off with Agnese, the shadows swallowing them up.
"Okay," Blake asked as she swallowed a pill before shuddering for a brief second and then pulled out Gambol Shroud, before muttering, "Ugh, that's disgusting… you ready?" Touma popped the pill, his lips pursing together at the sudden bitterness before shaking it off and activating his Retterhand and nodded at his partner, swiping the keycard on the door.
The two of them pushed forward, their footsteps echoing through the large room and as if realising their presence, the room was illuminated with flickering lights, revealing a number of machinery and pipes. However, despite the 'guise' of needing maintenance, there was not a single fleck of rust on the machines, but instead each and every piece looked like it was painted in white or blue only a few hours ago.
Neither Blake or Touma spoke a word as they traversed room to room, unable to find a single soul or Grimm, but the former pursed her lips as her ears twitched, attempting to remove the sound of their footsteps while Touma's eyes darted left to right as shadows seemed to twist and flicker behind the machines and crates they came across.
The winding corridors and twisting rooms made it difficult to navigate despite the map in Touma's hands and soon enough, they found themselves carefully stepping through the maze, so that their footsteps would join the silence. Touma wasn't exactly scared or terrified, but he could feel the tension like it was choking him at the neck to the point that he could even hear Blake's breathing from behind him.
"Oi, Tsuchimikado, Sanctis found a body, fresh… couldn't have been dead for more than a couple of hours," Awaki's voice suddenly shot through their earpiece, shattering the silence and the two young fighters found themselves breathing out in slight relief, but the mention of the corpse still had their bodies tensed as they knew they weren't out of the woods.
"Hahh… and the state?" Motoharu asked, though his voice was crackling compared to Awaki's smooth voice.
"... Consistent with a Sentinel. Kamijou, Belladonna, Grimm might still be around, so keep your eyes peeled," Awaki confirmed before the communications cut off.
Blake nodded to Touma and through the silent conversation, the two continued with their task, this time, weapons drawn and prepared. It wasn't long before they entered a room and instead of the clean dust or sweet perfume that would invade their nose, it was a pungent sweet smell as if it was trying to drown them inside it. The cat Faunus coughed as she tried to cover her more sensitive nose behind her arm.
Touma clenched his jaws and threw a look at Blake who's teary golden eyes sharpened and nodded despite the stench that covered them, and the two pressed on. As they ventured into the room, the smell grew more pungent and behind the machines began to reveal trails of red paint that had Touma pursing his lips in anticipation while Blake growled lowly as suspicion began to fill their minds.
Surely enough, a body slumped over one of the smaller machines revealed itself, blood splattered all over the machine making it difficult to tell what it was even covering. He could tell that the man suffered various traumatic stab wounds despite his limited medical knowledge plus what looked like a stump of a tail, but what he was very certain on was that the man was unmistakably dead. Touma cursed under his breath as he reported into his earpiece, "We've found another body… looks like it's in one of the processing rooms."
"I thought this place was evacuated, Sanctis," Awaki's voice almost made Touma flinch with the way she said it, but he couldn't blame her.
"It is… or it should be, unfortunately, not everyone follows the Church," Agnese replied tersely, "We couldn't verify if this whole area is evacuated or not."
"Uhh… so… what do we do? If the Grimm is around shouldn't we regroup?" Touma asked as he inched closer to the corpse, he could see that the face was frozen in a silent scream with blood trailing from the nostrils.
"Hmmm probably, just a heads up, Awaki, there's some movement outside the facility, they're approaching the priests at the entrance, your window just got smaller," Motoharu reported.
"What?" Agnese's response almost had Blake flinching. "I need to get to them."
"No! Don't, it's too dangerous!" Awaki hissed.
"What if we all go there? It shouldn't take us too long," Touma suggested as Blake nodded to him with determined eyes.
"I've mentioned this before, and I'll mention this again. Don't worry about the little stuff, we got more important things to deal with here, the Church will have to handle it their way," Motoharu chided with urgency absent from his voice.
"Well, I'm part of the Church! You can't stop me!" Agnese retorted, but Touma could make out some sort of scuffle on the other side of the line as well as some more feminine grunts.
"We'll help them," Touma declared with Blake humming in agreement.
"Ah ah! That's not gonna happen, you two keep working here, you need to track that Grimm down," Motoharu replied sharply.
"But-"
"No, I wouldn't do this if I were you," Motoharu warned.
Blake glowered, unwilling to let her fellow Faunus fall into danger, even if they were part of the White Fang, she growled, "You can't stop us, we're going to help them, whether you like it or not."
She then threw the earpiece out to which Touma followed and the two sprinted to the entrance, their hurried steps echoing the halls for a few minutes and as the smell slowly started to weaken, they eventually made it to the entrance. They knew what they were doing would have consequences, but both of them also knew that they couldn't leave people in danger and they had turned enough blind eyes to the issue at hand.
"What the…" the words uttered out of Touma as they saw several people, perhaps no larger than at least thirty were all huddled over pools of red. When they turned to him and Blake, he noticed that their eyes looked a lot like oil pools. Pure blackness with barely opened lips, some of which had drool trailing out of their mouths, some whose ears were of various animals were standing straight while some with tails were hanging loosely. In their hands were a number of implements like clubs, pipes and kitchen knives, some even had sharper claws, but one thing was for sure, the unmistakable shades of red that seemed to invade those tools, each one dripping onto the pavement.
At their feet was what the two feared most, they could make out white cloth stained with red and the pale hands sticking from under the mob. Touma and Blake stared as the mob continued to observe them without a single sound.
"They're…" Blake whispered, she couldn't believe that these people were capable of murdering another.
Suddenly, the mob shuddered and a black figure rose from behind them, it was towering over the mob as its white plates crackled, revealing a thin humanoid form as a single blazing red eye peeked from its boney mask. The mob shuffled aside as the Grimm stepped forward, its head and arms jittering with every step.
Touma gulped, he had fought his fair share of Grimm before, but despite their ghastly appearances, they always reminded him of rabid animals, this Grimm before him, felt more like a robot or puppet with how stiffly it approached and it didn't make a peep of a sound. Alarm bells rang through his head as he realised that this Grimm was something he had to run from, but he quelled it, if he ran, who knows what this Grimm would do to the people behind it and he couldn't not risk it.
He glanced sideways and noticed Blake pacing her breathing as she knelt down, ready for combat with her blade and scabbard prepared. This had to be the Grimm they were looking for and there were many things that just seemed to swirl in a vortex inside him. He shook his head, now wasn't the time for hesitation, his Retterhand hummed lightly and his right hand seemed to itch as he stretched his fingers.
The Grimm seemed to realise what was happening and halted, its head twisting slightly and the three of them watched, four eyes against a blazing red one, and at that moment Touma realised the misfortune of fighting a Grimm like this.
Alright! Adios people! I'll be back!
