"This has to be some kind of joke, right?" Titus demanded as he reached the counter of the Dust shop, Ilia trying desperately to pull him away as he stood his ground and refused to budge.
"Kid, why the hell would I joke about something like this?" The vendor asked as he held the Dust canisters in his hand and out towards Titus. "Now, you plan on buying them, or you just going to keep harassing me?"
"What happened to the shipment?" Titus inquired.
"I have no idea, but I'm about to tell you what happened to my patience!" The man yelled back at Titus.
"Please, just give him the lien," Ilia begged, feeling uneasy with all the people surrounding them.
"I'd like to have a word with your manager," Titus requested exchanging his money for the Dust.
"Yeah, you and everybody else, pal," the vendor scoffed. "Next!"
"I am a Lieutenant General of the Atlesian Military and I demand to speak with the owner of this establishment," Titus thundered. The man was unamused and leaned forward into Titus's space.
"You're not in Atlas, army boy! Get out!" He shouted.
"Not until…" Titus began before Ilia snatched his body and forced him out of the building and moved briskly towards the park, making it halfway there before she was tossed from his physique. "Why did you do that?!"
"I don't do well in crowds, I start getting paranoid! And you weren't exactly getting anywhere!" Ilia spat out.
"If he'd let me talk to the manager I could have asked for the airships identification number and we could have tracked it," Titus explained. "Every SDC airship has one."
"Well that's fine and all, but he wasn't having any of it," Ilia pointed out. "Now what?"
"I've been thinking about modifying my kopides," Titus mentioned as they headed back towards the shopping district much to Ilia's horror.
"You just did that a few months ago, didn't you?" Ilia asked. "Being able to use different Dusts with that revolving chamber or however the hell it works."
"Have you never changed up your tonfas?" Titus asked sounding concerned.
"Why would I?" She asked. "They already do exactly what I want them to."
"But what if you could make them better," Titus suggested. "Like adding a grenade launcher or something to that effect."
"I'm not sure if you're Atlas Military or a mad scientist at this point," Ilia scoffed.
"But even just changing the metal could make a world of difference, at least for my swords," Titus droned on.
"If you say so," Ilia agreed as they entered the weapon shop.
"Hello!" Pyrrha greeted them, approaching quickly and hugging Ilia who was stiff initially but finished by inviting it.
"Pyrrha… I mean, Mrs. Arc, you're here?" Ilia inquired.
"You can call me either outside of school," Pyrrha beamed.
"Is Jaune here too?" Titus asked her. Pyrrha nodded.
"He was considering a Dust alloy blade," Pyrrha explained with a sigh. "Ever since we found out that Orion's Gauntlet was made from a unique Dust alloy as they call it, everybody is trying to replicate it. If it works it seems to be quite powerful, but it seems to be more useful in coordination with one's semblance. Not to mention, if the metal doesn't take to the Dust like it should, it can be extremely unstable."
"Imagine if I used Gravity infused blades with my current injectors," Titus fantasized.
"It's only worth it to do that if you can pack a punch with your attacks," Jaune jested.
"That so, old man?" Titus asked.
"Without weighted handles, it might throw off the equilibrium that your muscles have become accustomed to," Jaune added.
"You think I'd have to start all over?" Titus questioned.
"I mean, the way that you fight now when you aren't using your semblance is more of a speed style, which is kind of strange for a man of your size," Jaune pointed out.
"If I upgraded my blades, I could adopt a power style," He mentioned.
"What if you used an air Dust alloy instead," Jaune offered. "Compliment your speed."
"Now I'm hung up on you telling me that I don't have any power," Titus groaned.
"Not exactly what I said," Jaune corrected.
"Between me and Neela?" Titus asked.
"Neela," Jaune whispered.
"Now I know you're messing with me!" Titus yelled. "Why don't you have your shield remade from a gravity alloy or earth?"
"Why would I need to do that?" Jaune argued. "I'm already good defensively, but my offense could always use the upper hand."
"Pyrrha just said that the alloys should be used to compliment semblances," Titus huffed. "What is your semblance again?"
"More useful than yours," Jaune scoffed.
"Oh really?" Titus spat. "You and me, training grounds in an hour!"
"I'll be too busy trying out my new sword and teaching you how not to use yours since you're going to screw up and pick gravity anyway," Jaune bit. "Even though the advice I'm giving you is sound."
"I'm the size of one and a half of you, I'm not going to choose an air alloy!" Titus replied.
"How long is this going to go on for?" Ilia asked. Pyrrha smirked. She raised a hand, both men being tossed away from each other through Pyrrha's polarity against their weapons. She put her hands on her hips and they both glared at her.
"You two can fight again once Ilia and I leave and head over to the mall, but if I hear any more arguing out of either of you, I'm going to use my semblance to remove both of your belts, and you will not be getting your pants back," Pyrrha shouted. The vendor looked at her, taking a step back as both Jaune and Titus swallowed, glancing at each other before nodding slowly. Pyrrha smiled at Ilia. "Would you like to go to the mall for a little bit while the boys finish comparing the size of their… swords?" Ilia nodded.
"Sure," Ilia agreed as the two of them left.
"I could overpower you without a new blade," Titus exclaimed as the doors closed.
"I could overpower you without using a sword at all," Jaune boasted.
"How about you both stop it right now?!" The shopkeeper shouted. "I don't even have Dust alloy available here! Dust is hard enough to get our hands on for ammo and to keep the lights on, you really think that everyone is feasibly going to be able to use it for infusing it into their weapon." Jaune and Titus looked at each other once more.
"What about the blacksmith on the outskirts of town?" Jaune asked.
"Could he do it?" Titus asked. The shopkeeper shook his head and gritted his teeth.
"The only way to find out would be to ask him," he told them. Jaune and Titus nodded and left together.
"To the blacksmith?" Titus asked.
"Sure," Jaune agreed. They walked in silence for a long moment.
"What if I configured it so that the chamber was able to mix two Dusts together?" Titus inquired.
"You could blow your arm off if anything went wrong, that's why mixed Dust ammo is so expensive," Jaune noted.
"What about using the second Dust to propel the first?" Titus asked. Jaune shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe that would work? I haven't used Dust that often, to be honest, I just have a pretty normal sword and shield… that's also a sword…" Jaune mentioned. "Maybe see if Winter could help you come up with something?"
"I hate bothering her if I don't have to," Titus noted. "Besides, we're expected to take care of our own weapon designs, modifications, and maintenance."
"I changed Crocea Mors once," Jaune recalled. Titus looked at him.
"Oh?" Titus asked.
"The gold at the bottom of the shield," Jaune said.
"That's it?" Titus asked underwhelmed.
"It was a big deal at the time!" Jaune shouted.
"It's my favorite day ever!" Shadow exclaimed as she clung close to Neela as they tried to shuffle through the crowd, Neela always keeping her hand on top of her sister's head as she led her through the people towards the ammo shop, but as if a switch had been thrown, the entirety of the mass turned back the other way, moving as one towards the docks and forcing Neela to pick up Shadow and hold her close.
"What day is that?" Neela asked.
"Sissy day!" Shadow announced. "I got to spend a whole day with you, and you alone!" Neela smiled as she rubbed Shadow's head.
"Just the two of us," Neela agreed. Shadow nodded.
"Yes! We should do it again, but differently next time!" Shadow informed her.
"How so?" Neela pried.
"Ice cream!" Shadow yelled. Neela laughed and tickled her sister. Shadow giggled as she fought Neela's grip, leaping down into the area devoid of all other people.
"Alright, next time we'll get ice cream," Neela agreed.
"That's why you're the best!" Shadow declared. "Grandpa Tai won't get me ice cream."
"Are you sure about that?" Neela asked.
"He says too much is bad for me," Shadow complained. "I told him maybe he needs to eat more of it to fully appreciate it." Neela laughed.
"You're really too smart for your own good," Neela said as they stopped at the front of the Dust shop, the owner flipping the sign to closed. Neela checked the time on her scroll, taking a step towards him to prevent him from closing the door quickly. "Kind of early to be closing for the day, isn't it?"
"You just get here?" He asked out of breath. She nodded and he exhaled, nodding his head as he looked at her. "SDC Airship went missing on its way here this morning. People came from all over the city and from out in the country to get some Dust today before they left for the summer, but with the last shipment being missing, we sold out faster than expected, even with the absurd markup we had to put on the product."
"So, there's no more Dust?" Neela double-checked.
"None to be had here anyway," he informed her. "Maybe some of the smaller street vendors have a touch left, or the guys trying to make a quick buck down on the shore. Sorry."
"They're out of Dust?" Shadow asked. Neela nodded and glanced around the street.
"That's okay, we can walk over to the street market and see if they've got anything left to offer," Neela explained as she gently guided Shadow in the right direction. They walked next to each other, Shadow humming to herself as she tried to match her sister's stride but failed as her legs weren't nearly long enough.
"You can fight without Dust though, can't you?" Shadow asked. Neela nodded thoughtfully.
"I can, but it helps me fight," Neela explained.
"Like how I could have built Grandma Raven's birdhouse all by myself, but Grandpa Tai helped?" Shadow asked looking up at her sister. Neela snickered.
"Kind of…" Neela reassured her.
"Neela!" A familiar voice called out. Neela turned to spot May, jogging lightly over to the two of them. She crouched down, making herself eye level with Shadow. "Hey, Shadow!"
"Can I see under your eye patch now?" Shadow pleaded.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Shadow? If I take off my eye patch it opens a portal to the underworld and all the bad guys and Grimm would get out," May reminded her. Shadow folded her arms.
"Neela can take them," Shadow replied confidently. May chuckled.
"I'm sure she could," May replied. Shadow groaned and jumped in place.
"Please!" Shadow begged.
"Shadow," Neela scolded. Shadow's ears fell flat and she looked away.
"Sorry," Shadow apologized.
"It's okay," May reassured her petting her head and causing her ears to perk back up.
"What's up," Neela asked. "Today seems to be the weekend to be in town." May laughed.
"Everyone but your parents and Glynda are high tailing it out of here this next week," May refreshed Neela's memory. "Just wanted to see how you were doing since it seems like we had less time for one on one lessons this year than any other year that I've taught here."
"I'm good," Neela replied. "Still working on focusing on my surroundings and letting my instincts take over the shot."
"Good, at least I know I did right by one of my students," May said. "Hopefully we'll get to have some more lessons together again next year."
"I hope so too, nobody can hit a target from as far away as you," Neela insisted.
"Eh, maybe," May replied bashfully.
"Can I see your gun?" Shadow asked.
"Going to have to go with a hard pass on that one, Shadow," Neela said. Shadow folded her arms and stamped her feet.
"Why not?!" Shadow demanded.
"Weapons aren't toys," Neela told her sister. Shadow mumbled, folding her arms tighter.
"You can look at it," May replied, pulling it off her back and holding it out for the small Faunus to look at, her eyes lighting up at the sight.
"What's that?" Shadow asked.
"The scope lets me see bad guys that are really far away," May explained.
"Cool," Shadow said dazed. "I'm gonna use my grandma's sword to fight when I get older."
"That's still up for debate," Neela reminded her.
"Totally gonna happen," Shadow taunted.
"Did you manage to get any Dust this morning?" Neela asked May. May shook her head.
"I didn't know they were out until it was too late," May explained. "Most mornings I take a few laps by myself around the campus."
"Things didn't work out between you and Roy didn't work out?" Neela pried. May adjusted her beanie and faked a smile before shrugging.
"I'm past that now, that was a few months ago," May laughed but it fell flat.
"I'm sorry…" Neela began.
"It's fine," May insisted. "I'll find someone when the time is right, you know?" May winked at Neela who looked away. "Anyone that you like, Shadow?"
"Lamar," Shadow decided with a wicked grin. Her eyes lit up and she pointed back at Neela. "Sissy likes Elli!" Neela covered her face as May broke into laughter and picked Shadow up.
"I know," May replied. "Everybody knows but Elli." Shadow was confused and stared at Neela.
"Why doesn't Elli know?" Shadow asked.
"It's not that easy, Shadow," Neela told her. Shadow rolled her eyes.
"It is easy," Shadow said. "You be Elli and I'll be you." Neela nodded slowly.
"Okay," Neela agreed.
"Elli!" Shadow shouted.
"What's up, Neela?" Neela replied. Shadow groaned and shook her head wildly.
"Wrong!" Shadow yelled.
"What?" Neela asked befuddled.
"Elli calls you little hawk," Shadow explained. Neela stared at her in disbelief. She sighed. "Let's try again… Elli!"
"What's up… little hawk?" Neela played along.
"I like you!" Shadow exclaimed. "We should go fight Grimm together for the rest of forever!" May looked at Shadow and nodded before looking back to Neela. Shadow shrugged. "Easy." Neela knelt and bowed.
"I'm sorry that I doubted you, Lady Shadow," Neela apologized.
"It's princess now," Shadow corrected. Neela looked at her with confusion once more.
"Since when?" Neela asked. Shadow shook her head.
"Boy are you out of the loop," Shadow told her.
"You free yet?" A voice asked Neela from behind that sent a chill down her spine. She leapt into the air, turning as she landed, hand on her chest as she recomposed herself.
"Elli!" Neela blurted.
"What's up, little hawk?" Eliana asked.
"Do it!" Shadow shouted.
"Shhhhhh…" May told the girl walking away with her. "It's a secret. She doesn't want Eliana to know yet." Shadow's eyes filled with acknowledgment.
"Oh!" Shadow blurted out. Shadow winked at May before leaping to the ground and leaving a clone behind that May dropped out of shock. "Just having our sister day. Just us sisters. Just me and Neela."
"Almost done I hope?" Eliana asked. Shadow shrugged.
"Maybe…" Shadow answered.
"Elli! Neela!" Yang called out as they appeared from a nearby alley.
"Anyone else we can run into?" Eliana asked, watching Neela who was still trying to recover.
"Neela, do you have a moment?" Titus shouted as he ran up the street with Ilia close behind.
"What's happening?" Neela muttered. "Like… right now. What's going on? Is this some kind of weird black hole that I've found myself in?"
"You okay, Neela?" Blake asked. "You look a bit pale." Neela nodded.
"Fine, just Elli nearly scared me to death," Neela informed them.
"Sorry," Eliana offered.
"What's going on, Titus?" Neela asked him as she stepped away from her parents and Shadow.
"We'll take Shadow with us; you kids have fun!" Yang announced.
"Sure!" Neela called out blindly still dazed over the events of the last minute or so.
"Is this a bad time?" Titus added after things grew silent. Neela shook her head.
"Nope, this is fine, just had a little jump there a moment ago," Neela repeated. "What's up?"
"Were the two of you able to get any Dust?" Ilia asked.
"Were you?" Neela replied. Titus nodded.
"It cost more than I care to admit spending," Titus noted.
"The street stands were awful pricewise," Eliana informed them.
"Just me then?" Neela inquired. Eliana shook her head.
"I couldn't afford any," Eliana pointed out.
"I know how we can find the lost Dust," Titus offered. Eliana's eyes lit up.
"How?" She pried.
"We ask the shop owner here what the tracking identification number was for the airship and I'll make a call to Atlas for the coordinates," Titus explained. "We go find it and bring it back and I'm sure that they'll offer us some of it in return."
"Great in theory, but what if it was the Fang or Stardust?" Ilia asked.
"Then we get the teachers or police involved," Eliana threw out there.
"Worth a shot," Neela noted. She walked up to the Dust shop, rapping on the door with her knuckles for a long minute before the clerk finally opened the door.
"I already told you that I'm all out," he griped before spotting Titus. "And I don't want to talk to him again!"
"The feeling is mutual!" Titus shouted.
"Forgive him, is there any chance that you can give us the tracking number for the airship that the Dust was on?" Eliana asked him. He chuckled.
"You think that's information that I can just give out to kids?" The man laughed. "You trainees have a long way to go, don't you?"
"We could do it the hard way," Ilia mentioned, cracking her knuckles. Titus held up a hand.
"We probably shouldn't," he scolded.
"You sure?" she begged.
"Yes," Titus replied.
"Yes, I can?" Ilia changed his words.
"Ilia…" He exhaled.
"What if we said we could get it back for you?" Eliana asked.
"I'd say it's unlikely," he told them. He looked them over, frustration filling him before he groaned in exasperation and nodded. "You know what? What the hell? If you kids are just kids, this number isn't going to get you anywhere, and if you can actually find it, who am I to stop you?"
"There is a third possibility where…" Titus began before Ilia grabbed him and took control. "We appreciate the information, thank you." They left minutes later with the info and ducked into a café to take a few moments to locate the shipment.
"That was easy enough," Ilia gloated.
"If you'd stop grabbing my body when you think that I'm being an ass, that'd be great," Titus growled.
"Come on, if you'd opened your mouth again we would have lost the info," Ilia reiterated.
"Any luck?" Neela asked.
"Waiting on Atlas to message me back," Titus said.
"Can I order food?" Eliana asked.
"Can you eat it quickly?" Ilia replied. Eliana nodded.
"It's fine," Titus added without looking up from his scroll.
"Sweet, I am famished," Eliana noted as she grabbed a waitress.
"Hopefully it's just Grimm and we can take them ourselves," Neela said as she stretched her hands out over her head.
"What was that?" Cobalt asked stopping at their booth with the rest of his team.
"What was what?" Eliana asked.
"Something about Grimm," Cobalt refreshed their memories.
"You're a Grimm," Eliana said sticking out her tongue.
"Stop it!" Cobalt demanded.
"Stop what?" Eliana defended.
"Deflecting!" Tawney helped.
"I don't have a mirror," Eliana shrugged.
"That's reflecting!" Tawney corrected.
"I'm not thinking about anything that happened in the past," Eliana chuckled. Lykos pushed the two of them along with Bái clinging to him closely.
"Sorry to bother you guys," Lykos told them. The waitress came back to the table, placing a pizza in the middle of them.
"Eliana, we said something fast," Ilia reminded her.
"Guess you guys will have to help me finish it then," Eliana offered. Titus took a slice, his eyes still glued to his scroll as Ilia and Neela both took one as well. "And you thought this was a bad idea."
"I never said that," Ilia defended.
"Here!" Titus blurted placing his scroll on the table.
"Just north of the city?" Neela said.
"That's not too far!" Ilia exclaimed.
"But my pizza…" Eliana whined.
"We can finish the pizza first," Titus instructed.
"Yes!" Eliana cheered.
"I don't know about everyone else on this team, but I thought that the pizza that we had was delicious and was a great team bonding experience. We found out that Titus likes pepperoni the most out of all of us, and that Ilia is not a fan of olives," Eliana noted as they walked through the woods towards the last known coordinates.
"We're getting pretty close," Neela mentioned as Titus watched the GPS. "You'd think that by now we would have seen or heard something if it was Grimm."
"Guys, something is following us," Ilia casually brought up as they stopped abruptly.
"Yeah, I know," Neela sighed.
"Thought that you guys would go find the Dust and take all of the glory, huh?!" Cobalt called out at the front of his group. "Think again!"
"That's not what we were thinking at all," Neela assured them.
"Lies," Tawney replied.
"Forgive us," Lykos said.
"We're sure you guys could have handled this without us," Bái noted.
"No!" Cobalt yelled. "Don't compliment them like that!"
"They were number one," Bái defended.
"Only until next year!" Cobalt claimed. Interrupting them came a high-pitched scream that washed over the area, throwing them all off their feet and uprooting trees in the process which were also tossed away with ease. Cobalt scanned the area but came up empty as the Grimm wasn't yet within his line of sight.
"Sounded like a Camazotz!" Lykos shouted as his ears tried to adjust.
"Yeah, only bigger!" Cobalt noted.
"You don't think it's like an Alpha version of the thing, do you?" Bái questioned.
"This thing is the Grimm you faced when we were in Mistral?!" Titus asked.
"I mean, it sounds like it," Cobalt was forced to yell as the beast screeched again before the sound was replaced with an opposing roar that was much lower in tone.
"A Prime Beringel?" Neela questioned as she took off running.
"Wait!" Ilia called taking off with Eliana and Titus. Cobalt shrugged and Lykos shook his head in frustration as they gave chase, all of them reaching the ridge at the same time after Neela and digesting the situation. A Prime Beringel and a much larger version of the Camazotz were going toe to toe, a crashed airship amid their stomping grounds, surrounded by charred earth and Dust crates that miraculously hadn't been stepped on somehow. Neela used her ability.
"The pilot is trapped inside and he's still alive!" Neela informed them. The Beringel beat its chest and roared, preparing to charge the Camazotz as the creature beat its wings once, stopping the Beringel in its tracks and the airborne Grimm flew in at an uncanny speed and dragged the primate across the ground, slamming through trees as the earth was torn apart by the Beringel's legs trying to dig in.
"Since when do Grimm fight for territory?" Bái asked.
"The Camazotz doesn't seem to behave like a normal Grimm," Lykos noted.
"Titus, free the pilot. Bái, make a cold compress and have Lykos take him back to town since he's the fastest out of us. The rest of us will defend the Dust and get rid of these Grimm," Neela ordered.
"Won't Oobleck want to see this thing?" Cobalt asked.
"Maybe, but I'm not going to compromise safety for the sake of catching that thing," Neela informed him. "If one of those crates is stepped on the Grimm will be gone and with the chain reaction, so will we. It's really a miracle that the crash didn't destroy them."
"On it!" Titus shouted rushing down the hill, Bái sliding down behind him with Lykos behind her. Titus rubbed his hands together. "Don't have any power my ass!" Titus ripped the doors off the cockpit, tossing them away and easing the pilot out, handing him over to Lykos. "You and Bái stabilize him before going."
"We need to keep them away from the crash as much as possible!" Neela explained, running with Tawney and Ilia towards the fighting creatures. "Eliana, you're the last line of defense, stay down there and prepare to make a forcefield with everything you've got if they make it back that way."
"I'll do what I can!" Eliana declared.
"You ready?" Ilia asked. Neela nodded before glancing at Tawney.
"For the record, I hate this idea," Tawney spat.
"That makes one of us," Neela declared. She removed her bow, coating it in gravity Dust before dry pulling it back. Ilia leapt into Tawney's body. "Now!" Tawney leapt into the air, Neela's empty string displacing the gravity laced on it and rocketing the girls into the air. Ilia leapt out early, grabbing Tawney's arm from behind her and throwing the girl past her. Tawney's impact was enough to jerk the Camazotz around, shocking it as it cried out in pain and sent Tawney hurling away from them.
"Tawney!" Eliana shouted.
"She's fine," Cobalt replied. "She's resilient." Ilia landed beneath the two Grimm, the monsters too distracted by Tawney to pay the girl any mind. Ilia fired up at the two of them, the gravity shots proving underwhelming against the goliaths and they swatted at her. She rolled under the first attack, the second diverted by Neela who'd fired three fire arrows at once, the explosion enough to redirect the swing and throw Ilia away.
"Ready to fire, Cobalt?" Neela asked.
"Born ready," Cobalt informed her. He glanced back at Titus. "Can you throw me?"
"What?" Titus asked.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," Cobalt told him.
"I… I guess…" Titus replied. Cobalt crouched, both feet on Titus's hand as he reached back and threw him forward with everything he had.
"Fastball special!" Cobalt shouted as he fired his laser off, just missing the area between the Beringel's plates and instead just pissing it off as he fell to the ground. "I'm fine…"
"And I'm back!" Tawney announced racing past him.
"Wait!" Neela exclaimed, but it was too late. Tawney had launched herself, mid-swing with her right arm coming around her body and the Beringel swatted at her but missed as Neela grappled her out of the way.
"What's the big idea, Neela?!" Tawney demanded.
"I just saved you, Maniac, calm down!" Neela shouted.
"Can this wait until later?" Ilia asked rushing Neela and tackling her as the Camazotz made a low sweep.
"Pilot is stable!" Lykos informed them as he took off for the city.
"I made a call so that they can meet Lykos on the way there!" Titus informed them. He charged the flying Grimm, slicing his blades through the air and casting long, sharp waves of gravity Dust at it but they glanced off and it only seemed to make it angrier.
"If someone can it down, I can keep it from getting airborne again!" Bái shouted.
"Beringel!" Eliana shouted. She shielded Cobalt with a forcefield in time to keep him from taking the hit, allowing him to slide away unscathed. The Beringel beat its chest, ignoring them once more as it spotted its opponent trying to step on Titus. It made a beeline for the Camazotz, Neela firing at it in an attempt to throw it off course as Bái coated the crates in a thick layer of ice to protect them. Her eyes began to light up, Eliana grabbed her by the shoulder as she glanced back at the Grimm.
"Bái?" Eliana spoke.
"I'm okay," Bái replied though she seemed distant.
"Ilia, stay close by," Neela instructed. Ilia nodded, returning to them as Tawney took off again before Neela could assess the current situation.
"Tawney!" Neela shouted.
"Sick of all this standing around!" Tawney yelled back to them. Titus blocked the Camazotz claws, deflecting them with his swords before striking with his fists, shocking it with the sudden pain and it dropped momentarily before looking directly at him and letting out an ear-splitting scream. Titus reached up to cover the sides of his head, the sonic waves tossing him away luckily as he slid across the ground under a large tree that the Beringel had ripped from the earth and thrown at the bat. It glanced off, striking Tawney and taking her for a ride, Neela sprinting over to check on her.
"How did that work for you," Neela asked.
"Shut up!" Tawney shouted pushing her off. Neela activated her semblance, throwing Tawney back to the ground and covering her as the Camazotz flew overhead, grappling the Beringel before throwing it to the ground close by. The ice cracked, Bái stumbling as she recoated it and Ilia kept a hand on her.
"If you want to help, lure it away!" Neela told her.
"So you can have all the glory?" Tawney asked. Neela grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
"So that we can get out of this alive!" Neela said. Eliana shielded them, running in and placing several earth shots in the middle of the Beringel's chest between its bone plates. "Tawney!"
"Fine, whatever!" Tawney replied complying. She forced Neela to roll off of her, snapping both of her tonfas together and firing at the Camazotz looming above that was ready for another round with its foe of choice. It screeched normally, flying quickly after Tawney who used her shotgun to put distance in between it.
"Bái, Eliana can handle watching the Dust, for now, we need to ground that bat!" Neela shouted. Bái gave a nod as her eyes returned to normal, giving chase with Titus close behind.
"We've got this!" Eliana assured her, giving Ilia a set of platforms to run up. Ilia leapt out at the primate that prepared to give chase again, sinking her blades deep into its chest and hanging there for a long couple of seconds, waiting to see what it would do.
"Any ideas?" Ilia asked. Eliana thought over everything that could possibly work before she finally came to a conclusion.
"I've got one!" Eliana declared.
"And?" Cobalt asked.
"If you can aim this shot better than the last one you tried, and Ilia can make it angry, then I have something that can work!" Eliana informed them. Ilia dropped as the Beringel reached to remove her from his torso, slipping past its legs and slicing at them beside her. She fired pointlessly up at it, rolling out of the way as it reached through its legs and missed. It slammed the ground, throwing Ilia off-balance as it swung around, missing her again with some help from Eliana. It hammered on its chest, roaring loudly before leaping up into the air. "I need it facing this direction!"
"What exactly are we doing, Elli?" Ilia asked leaping back away from the Beringel as it landed, just missing a crate of Dust.
"Remember initiation?" Eliana questioned on the move, motioning for Cobalt to stay close to her. Ilia chuckled.
"I recall," Ilia replied blocking the Grimm by crossing her blades. As it reached above its head and prepared to swing down, Eliana strained, holding its hands up and creating another series of platforms that Ilia took advantage of. She managed to slam one of her blades in its chest again, the other glancing off of its chest plate as it tried shaking her off.
"I can help," Cobalt declared, sending his clone in and letting it slice up the Beringel's knees. The beast was furious, letting out another mighty howl as Eliana released its arms and kept its mouth open with her semblance.
"Now, Cobalt!" Eliana announced. Cobalt lined up the shot.
*NOW ATTEMPTING SHOT NUMBER TWO*
*ODDS OF FATALITY: 100%*
"Fire in the hole!" Cobalt shouted out as the Dust laser blasted through the beast's mouth and exited the other side of its skull.
"One down!" Eliana yelled as it disappeared and drifted away as smoke.
"I swear Neela if I don't get the final blow on this thing, I'm never helping you out again," Tawney yelled blasting at the beast and keeping it from screaming at her. It slapped its wings together, throwing her into a pile of brush for a second before she flew back out and slammed into its jaw.
"I have an idea!" Bái noted. Titus flew past her as Neela stopped to hear her out.
"And here I thought Lykos was the brains," Neela laughed.
"Titus, can you take out its knees again?" Bái requested.
"I'll do my best!" Titus reassured her. He moved to immobilize it again with his fists but it was as if the bat sensed the blow coming and flew directly into the air.
"That's a problem," Neela said out loud.
"Can't pull it down?" Tawney scoffed.
"That would kill my towing motor," Neela informed her.
"Then I'll go do it!" Tawney declared blasting into the air before she was smacked away by the bat.
"She has no off switch, just warning you," Cobalt told them as the rest of them arrived.
"Can you shoot it down?" Neela asked. Cobalt shook his head.
"My visor's only assistive, and that thing has way more bone than the normal one," Cobalt explained. The Camazotz threw its head back, its body shaking violently before screaming into the air, shaking the area and forcing them all to cover their ears. Parts of the bat melted, dripping onto the ground and created a dozen or so human-sized bats that moved at a high speed for the group.
"The hell?!" Titus shouted.
"Manbat!" Cobalt yelled. Neela focused on the few getting the closest, grounding them quickly with earth arrows before Bái formed an ice wall to protect them.
"Did the other one do that?" Neela inquired.
"No," Bái replied plainly.
"Forgetting someone?" Tawney asked from the other side. They all glanced at each other.
"Figured you had it!" Cobalt announced.
"It's fine, someone ground that thing quick, I'm just about ready to use my semblance!" Tawney noted.
"Can he go stone at any time?" Cobalt asked gesturing to Titus.
"No," Ilia replied.
"Damn," Cobalt cursed, rubbing his chin.
"Let's do the opening move again with me and Ilia this time," Titus suggested. "Try tearing up its wings." Ilia nodded.
"Sure," she agreed.
"Anyone have some gravity Dust?" Neela asked checking her pouch.
"I can launch someone," Titus noted before Bái's wall was shattered and the bat grappled her, taking off.
"Bái!" Cobalt yelled.
"You guys are pissing me off!" Tawney screamed sprinting at them. "Ilia! Come with me! Titus, throw us now!" Titus swung around into position without missing a beat as Ilia just grazed Tawney, leaping into her as they were fired through the air, Tawney's eyes burning intensely as they reached the creature.
"Neela, come on!" Eliana beckoned her running for the action as Neela glanced at her pouch once again.
"I…" Neela began. Titus placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Now's not the time to worry about how Tawney didn't listen to you," Titus offered. "Save it for later." She gave him a nod and they chased after the Grimm with their friends.
"Let her go!" Tawney shouted as Ilia dropped out, her blades tearing through one set of wings as Tawney slammed the end of her gun in its jaw and fired, spinning it around before it could scream at them again.
"Fire your grapple!" Titus told Neela.
"I just went over this with…" Neela began.
"Just do it!" Titus requested. Neela sighed, complying and hooking its leg as it tried to jerk from the device. Titus grabbed the rope quickly, pulling down with all the strength he could manage, swinging the beast close enough to the ground for Cobalt to carve through the second wing, forcing it to drop Bái who hit the ground inside of an ice cocoon of sorts. The beast landed a few feet from her, picking up the ice block and tossing it towards Neela and Eliana who scattered out of the way.
"Let's go!" Cobalt declared sprinting in with a smirk. The beast threw its wings out and stumbled forward with a cry of pain, the forgotten clone of Cobalt from before, hanging off of its back.
"This is our chance!" Titus declared. He slid in, slashing both of its knees and forcing it to stumble. "Bái!"
"Got it!" She declared breaking free and racing past a surprised Neela.
"Elli!" Neela yelled. Her best friend nodded, deflecting a blow meant for Titus from above as Neela grappled its hands and assisted Eliana.
"This time you die!" Tawney shouted out as she blasted herself through the air and landed on its chest, smiling wickedly as she placed her barrel in its face and pulled the trigger, the blast throwing her and Ilia from the Grimm, in addition to knocking Titus and Bái off of their feet as it gave one last agonized screech and slumped to the ground lifeless. Eliana stopped Ilia and Tawney with her forcefields, laughing as they slammed into them.
"Is it dead?" Ilia asked. Cobalt moved to it, poking and prodding at it with the end of his blade.
"It seems dead," Cobalt replied. "Kind of strange that it didn't disappear like they normally do, though they don't seem like normal Grimm."
"We did it!" Eliana declared. "That was awesome!"
"Albeit a bit disturbing," Cobalt decided.
"Great job everybody!" Neela told them as she doubled over and took a deep breath.
"You seemed a little worried there," Titus chuckled as he came over to check on her.
"Me?" She asked brushing him off. "As if."
"The Camazotz are something else," Bái mentioned.
"I still think Oobleck is going to be upset that we killed this one," Ilia added.
"We didn't have much of a choice," Tawney grunted as she approached with a hobble. "And it is still here for him to examine."
"You alright?" Cobalt asked. She gritted her teeth.
"Yeah, fine!" She replied sarcastically.
"Look at all the Dust that's here!" Eliana noted.
"We could make a small killing," Titus said doing the math in his head.
"We have to call Coco and tell her, right?" Ilia checked.
"Right," Neela agreed.
"Can't we just take… like… a little and say that it blew up or something?" Cobalt requested.
"No," Tawney scolded.
"I was kidding," Cobalt groaned. "Let's call Coco. Me and the rest of the team can stay and make sure that it doesn't get back up or anything."
Where are these Grimm coming from? Next week, Chapter 121 - The Runaround!
A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy, and make sure to wash those hands!