"Can you please, for the love of Oum, just let it drop already?" Orion griped as he chased Sirius into the foreman's office of the warehouse and closed the door shut behind them. The White Fang were sloppy in Mercury's mind, despite all of the convincing that Athena had tried to force upon them. Three of their major hideouts had been looked into in the last week, and they were burning through assets quickly in order to stay on the move around the city. The Stardust Gang themselves were in charge of making sure they remained hidden, none of the five of them had gotten any sleep in the past few days and it was starting to wear on their nerves. It was anyone's guess where the twins were at, Aurora was busy drinking at Junior's as she always was in her free time, and Sirius and Orion were preparing to get down to brass tacks, but it seemed Sirius was bitter over the outcome of the mission at city hall.
"Sometimes I honestly wonder how you're still alive," Sirius groaned as he sat, rubbing his face and shaking his head. "I'm not going to 'just let it drop', I really don't think you understand just how expensive that gauntlet was to construct, let alone research. The first of its kind, and now it's in the hands of the police or worse, the council. Once they reverse engineer that weapon, there's no telling what they'll do with that information and we don't have the time or money to get you a new one before we put things in motion on Friday."
"I'll be fine without it," Orion insisted. Sirius laughed and looked away, waving at his hand at Orion who protested. "You act like I was completely useless before I came here."
"You were!" Sirius noted. "Just a pathetic kid that wanted nothing more than to be a huntsman, right? Follow in the footsteps of his big sister? I've heard your sob story so many times now that I'm not really sure if I can believe it. The point is, if things don't go smoothly at the end of the week, we're all screwed. There won't be a chance to take down Mercury, we'll be out on the streets again."
"It's not like you were any better off when you showed up here," Orion reminded him. "It's amazing that we ever got you sobered up, if not for your aura, you would have easily died from alcohol poisoning several times over."
"I'm not here to argue with you," Sirius said standing. "There's a reason that I'm second in command, and the head of the Stardust Gang. Just stay out of my way and I'll take care of Mercury when the time comes." Sirius moved to leave the room and Orion attempted to grab his arm but Sirius broke free.
"There would be no plan without me!" Orion shouted. "You would have died to that Xiao Long girl!"
"Ha!" Sirius scoffed storming out of the room. "I don't need you to finish what we started! Not to mention, I had things under control that night!"
"Astra, what's going on out here," Asteria asked groggily as they spilled out into the storage room with the men, the girls' hair disheveled like the two of them had just rolled out of bed.
"Can't they keep it down out here, Asteria?" Astra questioned. Sirius bowed slightly and smirked.
"Apologies ladies," Sirius insisted. "Orion doesn't understand when it's time to leave."
"They're at it again, Asteria," Astra pointed out, rubbing her eyes.
"They need to see that we all have the same goal, Astra," Asteria noted breathing slowly, still not fully waking up.
"Sirius needs to understand that he can't just walk all over me," Orion vented. They stared at each other for a long moment before someone cleared their throat from the railing above them.
"Well boys, you either need to kiss or fight," Jett insisted, giving them a wave.
"What are you doing here?" Orion asked annoyed.
"That sounds like a great idea," Sirius agreed. The twins looked at each other and smiled.
"My money is on Sirius, Astra" Asteria exclaimed.
"Orion's got some fight in him though, Asteria," Astra pointed out. Orion looked at him.
"I'll even make it easy on you and say that we don't use our weapons," Sirius added as he cracked his knuckles and turned back to face Orion. He wasn't sure what Sirius had against him, but he couldn't let the Faunus beat him. He nodded, planting his feet and preparing for Sirius' first move. Sirius was easily stronger and faster, but what Orion lacked in those departments he made up for in having a semblance that's actually useful in the heat of battle. Sirius charged in a sudden burst of speed, slamming through Orion who'd quickly turned himself into light before reforming and throwing his weight at Sirius.
"I'm not that easy to…" Orion began before Sirius spun with blinding and unexpected torque, his fist crashing into Orion's chest and sending him bounding away. Orion managed to regain his wits after a moment, Sirius on top of him and gripping him by the neck before pinning him to a disheveled stack of crates.
"It'll take more than just parlor tricks to take me down," Sirius informed him. "Sometimes I get this feeling we'd be better off without you. You can't even channel your semblance that well without some kind of weapon to assist you, and your skills, in general, could use work."
"Your semblance only helps you find lost items," Orion grunted. "How special!" Orion snapped, the bright flash of light catching Sirius off guard this time as he stumbled back, eyes trying to recuperate. "You might have strength and ability over me, but you don't have my tenacity. Without that strange bone weapon of yours, I don't think you're all that tough."
"Stop flirting and just fight!" Jett demanded with a smirk, her arms folded as she watched. Orion hit Sirius hard as the man was still reeling, his fist crashing into his chin and sending him sprawling. He didn't want to fight Sirius, the man was supposed to be helping him plan how they were going to take down Mercury, but he wasn't going to let the Faunus walk all over him either.
"Sirius, we don't need to do this," Orion offered. Sirius threw a punch that Orion dodged, the second coming in with blinding speed that Orion didn't see until the last second, nailing him this time in the chest.
"We do," Sirius coughed, another blow to Orion's chest kept the man on the defensive and stumbling away until he knocked over a high rise of empty pallets. "If it's an act, then you need to drop it, and if you really have been this stupid the entire time, we need to cut you off anyway."
"Where is this coming from?" Orion asked deflecting the next blow by swinging around one of the pallets he'd just spilled. It splintered on contact, sending wood in every direction as he charged Sirius.
"You really are dense," Sirius grunted as they struggled against each other in a grapple.
"You're starting to really piss me off," Orion informed him before headbutting him. The two men stepped back from each other in pain before Orion threw his weight backward into a single punch. He swung around, slamming into Sirius' ribs before moving quickly in his light form. The strain was far more than he expected it would be but he made it to the other side of his opponent before losing his grip, reappeared in his physical form, and crashed against the other set of Sirius's ribs. "I'm not as weak and dumb as you think!"
"Then prove it," Sirius chuckled in pain. He shook it off, his body going rigid as he pulled himself together. He pounced on Orion who had no strength left at the moment to phase past him. Sirius took out his legs from under him, Orion hitting his back hard with a horrifying crash and shout of pain, the Faunus stood over his prey with a smile. "You can't prove it, because you really are just a pathetic nuisance."
"Am I?" Orion asked. "Is that what you all think?" He looked at the twins and Jett before pulling his trump card, the only surprise left in his arsenal that he'd been saving for such an occasion. He reached up, the light from the room was removed and suddenly rushed into his body, causing both of the twins to scream and Jett let out a sound of intrigue as Sirius laughed.
"I'm a Faunus," Sirius reminded him. "It's a fun trick, but it won't work on me."
"Then I guess you aren't too worried about physical light energy…" Orion informed him. A pike rose up from Orion in the blink of an eye, stopping just short of Sirius' throat as Orion gripped his collar. "Next time I'll do it." Sirius gave him a scowl as he attempted to break free, beginning to panic as he couldn't remove Orion's hand from his shirt.
"Let go!" Sirius demanded. Orion freed him, the Faunus taking a few steps back and feeling his neck for any blood as light filled the room once more.
"What the hell was that, Astra?" Asteria asked.
"Did Orion do that, Asteria?" Astra questioned.
"What's going on in here?!" Mercury demanded as he moved quickly through the room, nearly reaching them before the door had swung all the way open on the far end.
"They were having a friendly little spat," Jett assured him with a nod. "Let them be." Mercury glared at the two of them.
"We need to be preparing for Friday!" Mercury reminded them. "I don't give a shit what the two of you do after that, but let's focus our energy on that for now, okay?!" He looked over at the twins. "You two could be working on escape routes or something, do all of you need explicit instructions?!"
"Lay off, Mercury," Jett scolded as she leapt down from the catwalk above and landed next to him. "They'll be ready. Not to mention that once Athena sets her own schemes in motion, the police will be too confused to properly contain both situations. You go worry about whatever you need to, and I'll make sure that Stardust here is ready for the weekend."
"You know what Abigor will do if we fail," Mercury said to her. She smirked.
"I'm aware," She assured him. "For someone who witnessed the full wrath of Salem, you're far too afraid of that man."
"The most important thing to understand in Remnant is who to fear and who to tolerate," Mercury told her. "You're young yet, but I've been around long enough to know that Abigor is someone I should fear and you're someone that I tolerate." She scoffed.
"I'm hurt," She replied as he began walking away. She looked at Sirius and Orion. "Stop comparing dicks and get back to work."
"Morning at the school!" Cobalt announced to no one in particular as he sat in the dorm room alone and read one of his manga. "What a glorious time! Anything could happen really since classes have pretty much ground to a complete halt in order to have everything ready for the graduation ceremony! Maybe my teammates will come back and we'll head into town and you'll read about our shenanigans? We'll probably all enjoy a nice lunch at a cafe at the expense of my parents since they have quite a bit of money. Tawney will suggest that we will do something crazy involved with beating Neela and Lykos will go along with it reluctantly because Bái thinks it sounds fun. You know, that crazy stuff.
Oh, or I know! What if we start this scene over and I go with a cold open where I do the whole countdown thing that Neela and Eliana already did… Ahem. 5 days until Neela acts like she's going to confess but then gets interrupted by some kind of convenient ex machina so that the author never really has to get to the point. 120 hours until I finally get to take the team on vacation, CBLT that is. Probably somewhere nice with a beach resort. I hear that the coast of Vacuo is nice this time of year. Some odd minutes until Eliana bursts in the door and asks me a question about making sure she doesn't have any… Wait, what?"
"Cobalt!" Eliana yelled from the other side of the bedroom door as she rapped repeatedly on it with her knuckles, she seemed frantic, using enough force to let Cobalt know that something was wrong. Before he could get up she smashed through the door, out of breath as she glanced over at him, giving him a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. Phew. Man, I must not know my own strength. Heh."
"Are you alright?" He asked her. "You seem to be a little on the frantic side today." She looked at him and laughed.
"Perfectly fine, never been better really!" She exclaimed. She gave him a smile and he nodded slowly, picking up the door and leaning it against the wall.
"Did you need something?" Cobalt asked. He glanced at the door one more time. "Because if not, I'm gonna ask you to help me with the door."
"Oh yeah right," Eliana began as she glanced away from him, staring at the scene like a child who was fabricating some kind of story to tell their parents that was one-hundred percent truth and not exaggerated in the least. "So I need to ask you a question, but I'm not sure how to go about asking…"
"Is it girl problems?" Cobalt asked with wide eyes.
"No," Eliana flatly replied. Cobalt sighed in relief.
"Thank Oum," he told her. "Have to do with Neela?" Eliana nodded before moving in close to Cobalt, her body inches from him. He resisted the urge to look down her shirt. She really didn't understand the concept of personal space, did she?
"I think I've been bugged," Eliana explained quietly.
"By Neela?!" Cobalt asked. She hushed him. "Is she trying to find out what her birthday gift is early?" Eliana paused for a moment before nodding slowly.
"I don't want her to know that we think she might have bugged me," Eliana explained. "Any solutions?"
"Hmm…" Cobalt mulled it over as he took a step away. "Any idea where it might be?" She shook her head and shrugged.
"I don't know," she told him.
"Well I guess the only choice we have at this point to find it is for you to strip," he offered nonchalantly. She nodded at him, reaching down to pull her shirt off before he moved to her quickly and stopped her. "Joking! Joking! Nobody needs to die of a nosebleed today!"
"Do you have an actual idea then?" She asked.
"It's a long shot, but we'll have to break into Professor Peach's old lab," Cobalt explained.
"Why is it always breaking into places with you?" Eliana asked. He shrugged as he grabbed his drone and stepped out into the hallway.
"I just can't resist, and I'm guessing it'll have just what we need," he informed her.
"How are we going to get in?" She inquired.
"We may need to enlist some help," Cobalt noted. She groaned, her hands shaking visibly. She noted the fact and forced them to stop. She couldn't waste any time, if this was the only way to do it, so be it. But no one could find out the real reason why.
"Just as long as Neela doesn't find out," Eliana said. Cobalt nodded.
"No Titus or you, got it," Cobalt agreed before she raised an eyebrow. "You tell Neela everything!"
"Well, not this!" She yelled.
"Alright! Calm down! I get that you want to get her an awesome surprise for her birthday! Let's go!" Cobalt exclaimed.
"Why do we always get dragged into this?" Tawney asked as she walked to the elevator with Lykos and Bái. "Why can't we just have a normal day for the first time ever and just not have to play along with one of Cobalt's shenanigans. We could be having a normal lunch in the cafeteria. I could be enjoying some pizza while jamming out to Jeff and Casey and the two of you could be all flirty with each other, and it would be great, and we wouldn't be getting in trouble for the sake of satiating Cobalt's curiosity!"
"We're doing it to help Eliana, remember?" Bái reminded her.
"I know, it just feels wrong," Tawney explained. "I asked her out once you know. She didn't even realize I was asking her out."
"Now I just feel worse for Neela," Lykos said. "No wonder Eliana doesn't see it like the rest of us."
"The way that Neela just follows her around like a lovesick puppy," Tawney shuddered. "Be a woman and just take her already."
"That sounded bad," Bái noted.
"In a sexual way," Lykos added. Tawney blushed.
"That's not the way that I meant it," she clarified.
*Cobalt to Alpha Team, what the hell is taking so long?!*
"We haven't even gotten on the elevator yet, calm the hell down!" Tawney yelled into the walkie-talkie before tossing it to Lykos.
"We'll get back to you as soon as we have a better idea of what's going on," Lykos replied.
*We're counting on you* Tawney scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"He's counting on us," Tawney corrected.
"You know, ever since he slept with that girl from Team IVRY, you've been kind of hostile towards him," Bái pointed out to her.
"He can do what he wants," Tawney mumbled. Lykos and Bái looked at each other, shaking their heads as they entered the elevator and pressed the button for the lab. The door closed slowly before it loudly crashed to life and took them down towards the basement at a crawl.
"I heard a rumor that at the very bottom level, which only the headmaster or mistress can get to, they have an aura transferring device," Bái informed them.
"That can't possibly be true," Lykos noted.
"Why not?" Bái asked with a frown.
"That just sounds made up," Tawney explained.
"Who could make something like that up?" Bái stammered.
"Cobalt," the other two said in unison as the elevator stopped and the doors ground open. The hallway was coated in dust and dirt, part of it was obstructed by some kind of cave in and they slowly headed out of the elevator and into the tunnel.
"Is this part of the original building?" Bái questioned. "Why wouldn't they have rebuilt this section?"
"If it's as locked up as Cobalt is thinking it is, there's probably something in there of great value," Lykos suggested.
"Or a Grimm," Tawney offered.
"I highly doubt that Team RWBY would have just left a Grimm locked up down here," Lykos disagreed. "They took out that dragon, didn't they?"
"That's what they say happened anyway," Tawney muttered.
"Not convinced?" Bái pondered.
"Oobleck has it listed in the registry," Lykos noted as he moved a large chunk of stone out of their path and the walls seemed to shift. He held Bái back for a moment.
"The guy's a bit out there, can we be sure that all of the Grimm in that thing really exist?" Tawney doubted. "I mean, the Apathy? A bunch of tall, lanky, creepy-ass Grimm that just suck your will to live?"
"I'm sure there are crazier things, possession Grimm have been known to be capable of really strange abilities," Lykos interjected.
"Like what?" Tawney sassed.
*You guys should be there by now*
"There's been little to no security or resistance, you probably could have just come down here yourself since we have no idea what we're looking for even if we can get in," Lykos informed him. "Right now we're just trying to navigate this long-ass corridor that seems to have had a cave in."
*Cave in? Do you think it's part of the original school?*
"Well, it's either that or they are doing a really shitty job at maintaining parts of the current campus," Tawney replied sarcastically. They finally reached the doors, Lykos clearing a bit more debris so that they could get a good look at it, pushing his body against it to see if it had any give.
"It's still pretty sturdy," Lykos said.
*VOICE RECOGNITION FAILED*
"What?" Bái replied.
*VOICE RECOGNITION FAILED*
"It seems that the door is still functional," Tawney told Cobalt.
*VOICE RECOGNITION FAILED*
"Alright already!" Tawney shouted.
*VOICE RECOGNITION FAILED*
*Just pry it open!* Bái formed as much ice as she could in the crack of the door before generating more, forcing it apart and destroying the motor.
*SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!* The robotic voice repeated over and over as they all looked at one another.
"Cobalt!" Tawney screamed.
*Nothing in the school's security mainframe is going off that I can tell!*
"Hey!" Someone shouted from the lab. Her heels clicked on the marble floors as she walked towards the door.
"Cobalt…" Bái stammered.
"Shhhh…" Lykos shushed her.
"What are you kids doing down here?" The woman asked.
*What's going on? Who is it?*
"Are you free later tonight?" Tawney blurted out. Lykos facepalmed.
"While I'm extremely flattered, I'm a professor here," she informed them.
"It's Peach," Lykos informed Cobalt.
"She is a peach," Tawney mumbled before Bái smacked the back of her head. "Ow!"
"Sorry to bother you!" Bái exclaimed with a smile. "We thought this place was abandoned! Just some troublemakers! We'll be leaving now!"
"You look so young though!" Tawney shouted as they tried to drag her away.
"Tree sap," she replied.
"Hope to see you again!" Tawney called out starstruck.
"Hold on!" Peach yelled to them. Lykos and Bái cringed as they stopped in their tracks. "What were you down here for?"
*Lie!*
"A micro EMP," Tawney told her outright. Lykos and Bái clamped her mouth.
"She's been drinking a little too much," Lykos assured Peach. "We'll just be leaving now."
"I have one that needs testing if you want to take it with you," Peach told them as she turned back and rummaged through the lab.
"That seems a bit irresponsible," Bái mumbled.
"What was that?" Peach asked.
"Nothing!" Bái replied with a smile that Peach reciprocated as she approached. She handed the device over to them and they nodded to her.
"This means a lot, thanks," Lykos told her, nodding. She waved them off.
"Anytime, I could always use more lab rats," Peach said, winking to Tawney before waving at them as they left.
"Well that was easy," Bái replied.
"This is all good and well, but why am I the ketchup bottle?" Tawney asked.
*Beg your pardon?*
"You heard me," she replied to Cobalt.
They all sat at one of the lunch tables, Cobalt using salt, pepper, and ketchup to represent his teammates in the crude setup he had laid out on the table to show them what they'd be doing.
"There's no meaning behind it, it was just the closest bottle of condiment that I had, and since I have an actual peach here to represent Peach, it just worked out that way. Lykos and Bái would have to be salt and pepper, they're a couple," Cobalt explained to her. "So that's the plan and exactly how I expect it to go down."
"Seems too easy," Lykos told him. Cobalt pointed at him as he stabbed the peach with his fork.
"You can be a realist all you want, I prefer being an idealist," Cobalt told him taking a bite of it. "Mmmm. Sweet."
"I say we bring Eliana with us," Bái informed him.
"She needs to stay with me so that if we're caught, they can't trace this back to her," Cobalt explained eating the rest of the fruit and wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Why do we need to worry about that if you think this whole thing is going to go off without a hitch?" Tawney asked coyly. Cobalt rolled his eyes.
"It will so I guess you're right, take her with you for all I care," Cobalt permitted.
"Great, let's get going," Bái replied excitedly. She leapt up followed by Lykos who followed after her, Tawney and Cobalt taking up the rear as Eliana quickly tagged along with the first two.
"Why are you coming with, aren't you the brains of the operation," Tawney asked sarcastically.
"That's why you need me. If there is trouble, which there won't be, I'm the quickest thinker we've got," Cobalt noted happily as they left the lunchroom and headed for the tower.
"What's it like being that full of yourself?" She asked.
"And you're not?" Cobalt replied.
"I will turn this breaking and entering job around," Lykos called back to them. Cobalt and Tawney looked at each other.
"Sorry!" They shouted in unison. They entered the lobby, Cobalt running into Lykos, Bái, and Eliana who had all stopped as they noted the two guards at the door of the elevator, arms folded as the students glanced about the room.
"This is a problem," Bái pointed out.
"Act natural," Eliana stammered as she began to sweat. They HAD to get that device, and time was wasting away. She had to keep her cool. They had bought her story so far about her needing the EMP to kill a device that she suspected Neela had put on her, so they weren't aware of the life and death situation on her hands.
"You okay?" Tawney asked Eliana quietly. "You look a little pale." Eliana nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She assured her.
"What do we do, Cobalt?" Lykos asked.
"What are you kids doing in here?" One of the men asked.
"What are you doing in here?" Cobalt replied. Lykos elbowed him in the stomach.
"Just came in here to admire the building's architecture," Lykos recovered. "They say that it was based on the fable of the Girl in the Tower. I guess it makes sense, I hear that former Headmaster Ozpin had a thing for fairy tales."
"Cut the small talk and get out of here," the other man told them.
"This area is off-limits, not to mention that Glynda is in the middle of a meeting," the first added.
"You might have to do the thing," Cobalt whispered to Lykos.
"When we get expelled, I'm blaming you," Lykos informed him with gritted teeth.
"That's fair," Cobalt agreed.
"I don't think it's worth that!" Tawney exclaimed.
"Too late!" Bái noted as Lykos's eyes lit up. Bái grabbed Tawney and Eliana, shoving them to the left on a sheet of ice and letting them slide out of the way as she dove after them, leaving Cobalt to leap back as the Camazotz visible only to the guards screeched and they covered their ears.
"What the hell!?" The men yelled. They moved to keep it back, Cobalt making his way quickly to the elevator.
"Where did this thing come from?" One of them asked.
"We fought one once!" Cobalt informed them as he motioned for the girls to move. He selected the floor for them as they entered and he stepped out. "Good luck."
"But!" Bái started to protest.
"We'll keep them busy," Cobalt noted with a wink. The doors closed and he moved to support the men. "They can teleport! Does no one here read Oobleck's registry?!"
"Why isn't it moving?" Tawney asked as Bái repeatedly smashed the button for the elevator to descend.
"Well we can't go up and we can't go back out!" Bái exclaimed.
"Find the access panel!" Eliana demanded.
"Elli, we don't know how far down this thing goes and none of us have a weapon aside from Bái who essentially is a weapon! There is no landing strategy that can help us survive this! That would be too much of a strain on Bái!" Tawney shouted as Eliana ripped at the floor before finding it.
"I'm aware!" Eliana yelled, tearing the grate open. "Come on!" She slipped down, landing on one of her forcefields. Tawney and Bái glanced at each other before nodding and following, Tawney reaching up to close the panel behind them.
"You sure you can handle this?" Tawney asked. Eliana nodded as she strained, offering a pained smile.
"Yeah, sure," she gasped as they descended quickly.
"What if Cobalt is wrong about the lab being down here?" Bái questioned.
"I'll probably kill him," Eliana chuckled nervously.
"Can I help?" Tawney requested.
"Wait, something is here!" Bái shouted as Eliana slowed them to step off into the opening.
"Bái, you'll have to pry the doors open," Tawney informed her. Bái nodded, doing so and letting them enter the tunnel which was much as Cobalt had expected. It had caved in, though it was wide enough that they'd be able to travel through cracks and crevices that had been left, and any other tight fits could be freed up or widened using Bái's powers. "Strange how part of his plan actually checked out."
"That's a first," Eliana murmured, their goal the sole center of her focus.
"So, it's probably safe to assume that Peach isn't here, right?" Bái questioned.
"Not unless she's Neo sized," Tawney noted. "I can guarantee that no one has been through here for quite some time."
"Unless this is part of a semblance," Eliana explained moving a board out of the way.
"The destruction?" Tawney asked.
"She's suggesting it's an illusion," Bái corrected. Tawney gasped.
"That would be epic," Tawney replied. Eliana held up her hand and they stopped for a moment behind her.
"Shhh…" Eliana hushed them.
"What is it?" Bái asked. Eliana listed for a long moment.
"Sounds like something skittering," Tawney said. Eliana screamed as a baby Deathstalker surprised them from the debris, looking at them in confusion for a long moment.
"Awww. It's kind of cute," Bái offered, squatting down to look at it. It fired its stinger at her and she quickly moved back, it glanced off of her aura but still caused a sharp pain.
"And now it's annoying," Tawney added. Eliana stepped on it, killing it easily.
"And now it's dead," Eliana noted as they pressed on further, nearly causing more of the tunnel to collapse before Bái sealed off the rock pouring in with her ice.
"It's a good thing we brought Bái because Cobalt would have been useless," Tawney laughed.
"You think they're okay upstairs?" Bái questioned as they reached a long stretch of open tunnel.
"Lykos is smart and Cobalt is weasley, I'm sure they'll be fine," Eliana comforted her. Another baby Deathstalker approached, prompting Eliana to step on this one as well. "Think these things are leftover from the fall?"
"Hopefully," Bái answered. "Wouldn't it mean that there's a pool down here otherwise? Like Tawney said before, it doesn't look like anyone has been down here in a long time."
"There's the lab!" Eliana exclaimed as her scroll's light glared off of the metal and they sprinted for it. "Crack her open and let's see if we can find that EMP!"
"Sure thing!" Bái exclaimed as she forced it open with a loud crash. She destroyed the ice, letting them have a glimpse into the room. What they assumed was once a well maintained and clean work area for the leading science professor at Beacon had been reduced to a time capsule of sorts. Dust floated through the air due to the ventilation failing during the fall, the tower itself had simply been renovated and rebuilt, it seemed as if there was no intention to ever visit the subterranean levels again.
"I think Cobalt would be wetting himself right now," Tawney stated in awe of the room herself.
"What does it look like?" Bái asked. Eliana brought up the picture on her scroll.
"Is that to scale with the lien beside it?" Tawney asked. Eliana nodded. They looked around the large room again. "Great!"
"Calm down," Bái told her as she began searching the room. "We'll find it."
"In a week or so maybe!" Tawney shouted. "This room is huge and that thing seems pretty small comparatively!" Eliana searched quickly, unable to give herself the proper time that she would have like to have spent admiring all of the tech in the room that Peach had created in her tenure at the school. Some of the devices were undoubtedly useful, and others unstable, but Eliana could only worry about the micro EMP. It was the most effective way that Cobalt could think to disable any bugs that Athena might have planted on her, and Eliana knew that meant it would work for sure.
"I bet something in here would be great for beating Neela," Tawney snickered with glee.
"We're just here for the EMP," Eliana reminded her. Tawney stuck out her tongue.
"Whatever," Tawney said. "I'm just saying if we ever have the opportunity to come back here, I'm putting an item like that on the top of my list."
"Is this it?" Bái asked, picking up what appeared to be a small speaker and examining it. Eliana handed her scroll to Tawney before taking it and turning it on. The device played a strange low noise that sounded like warbled white noise, a loud bass-filled groaning emitted from it with enough force to cause Eliana to drop it. "Did it work?"
"I would have to think that's not it," Eliana said as she reached down and turned it off. "An EMP just causes an electromagnetic pulse, I can't imagine that it would sound like that."
You guys*** Can't delay them*** Longer***
"That doesn't sound good," Bái noted as they searched more frantically. Eliana tore through the lab faster than the other two girls combined. This was a matter of life and death and like a fool, she'd only planned one way out, but it seemed to be the only way out. Her mother's life was on the line. If it meant that they left and she continued searching for the next several days, so be it…
"Here!" Tawney exclaimed. They gathered quickly, agreeing that it was the same device from the image. "Want to use it now?"
"I'll wait until we regroup with Cobalt, let's go!" Eliana demanded already leaving.
"Good enough for me," Tawney said on her heels.
"Wait up!" Bái yelled, chasing them down and crashing into Tawney. She shook it off and looked at them. "What's going on?"
"Get her up here!" Eliana demanded. Eliana dragged her to the front, revealing an entire army of Baby Deathstalkers heading for them.
"Why so many all of a sudden?" Tawney asked.
"I have no idea!" Eliana shouted moving back quickly as they scurried closer. "One or two would be one thing, but it's almost like something's attracting them now."
"Maybe they don't like us being down here?" Bái questioned as her eyes lit up and ice crashed through the tunnel, murdering the small creatures easily.
"Did I mention it's a good thing we brought her with?" Tawney noted.
"Agreed," Eliana stated as they took off down the tunnel again.
Did you guys hear me the first time?
"Barely!" Tawney replied. "How much time do we have?"
They're already taking the elevator up to report to Glynda what happened.
"Damn," Eliana breathed heavily, sprinting towards the elevator shaft with Bái and Tawney struggling to catch up. "You guys must have really fooled them."
Lykos is pretty good for that. Are you guys going to be able to get back up?
"If you pry the door open," Bái explained. Eliana leapt into the chasm first, preparing her platform and lifting it slightly for Bái and Tawney to step on to. They shot up quickly, nearly tossing Tawney on her ass.
"Do we really need to go this fast?" Tawney questioned, her hair whipping violently around her. "This seems a bit extreme!"
"Don't want to get crushed by an elevator, do we?" Eliana asked without missing a beat. Tawney nodded.
"Alright, good point," Tawney noted. They reached their stop, Lykos and Cobalt straining with one of Cobalt's clones as they kept the door forced open.
"Ladies…" Cobalt grunted.
"Please note that there are two of him on that side, and he's breaking a sweat," Lykos chuckled. The girls giggled as they stepped out into the lobby.
"Shut up, Lykos," Cobalt huffed as he released the door and Lykos gently shut it. Cobalt doubled over and breathed sharply, nodding and saluting the girls as he shook his head. "That thing was heavy despite what macho man over there says."
"You know, Cobalt never told us in the first place why you need this EMP anyway," Tawney noted as they left the tower and headed back towards the cafeteria.
"Classified," Eliana told them with a wink. Cobalt winked back.
"I get this strange feeling that you didn't even need this and that we were tricked into helping Cobalt again at the risk of getting in trouble," Lykos pointed out
"I really do need it, and I couldn't have done it without you guys," Eliana reassured them.
"I can only imagine the looks those guards are going to get when they explain that Grimm attack to Glynda," Cobalt laughed.
"Priceless, to be sure," Lykos said.
"And so CBLT helped Eliana get the EMP device, putting her one step closer towards her plan which would soon be set into motion. 3 days until Eliana would be giving Neela the greatest gift that she had ever received for her birthday, which I can only imagine, is something pretty damn epic if we're being real with each other right now. 59 hours until Eliana credits the successful surprise to Cobalt, to be honest, she really couldn't have done it without him. She'll say he's the greatest, probably the best friend that she's ever had and… is this bit getting old yet?" Cobalt said out loud.
"Who the hell are you talking to?!" Tawney asked.
"Nobody," Cobalt told her with a wink before she hit him in the arm. "Ouch!"
Eliana can take care of any potential bug now, but what if they're still watching her? Next week, Chapter 127 - Beads!
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!