Alright, so here is the next chapter for you all to enjoy. Frankly I found this one more fun to write than some I've done recently, and I hope you all enjoy the new stuff I throw into the story with this newest update.

In other news the reason I did this today rather than Monday like I've done with some of my recent updates (because apparently Monday's have been a regular day off for me for a while now and I figured I'd make use of that), is because I plan on starting to play Mass Effect Andromeda tomorrow with my 10 hours of Origin Access and roll right into the official launch of it through that as well. Plus I really wanted to get this particular set of fights and such over with since this is 3 if not 4 chapters that we've been focused on just these events.

As usual, leave any thoughts in a review or a convenient little PM if there's anything you wanted to comment on or criticize. Either way, have a great day folks!


Frost breathed heavily as he stood off with the pack of Grimm in front of him. His arms continued to glow and flash occasionally with a brief crackle of electricity. Sweat beaded and fell down his forehead as he clenched his teeth to bare the pain he could feel running through his bare arms. He knew why it was happening, but also that it was necessary to give Neo and Emerald the opening they needed to deal with the source of the problem- whatever it was.

He quickly hopped back as one of the Grimm swung for his previous position, releasing a sharp jolt of energy from one hand into the beast's claw, shattering some of the ice and black mass that the Grimm was composed of, but not enough to destroy it outright. As his momentum caused his feet to leave a small track of disturbed snow on his landing, he looked around to see how to better proceed with dealing with the Grimm. His original plan had simply been to act as a distraction for the other two, but now that he was faced with a group of Grimm by himself the reality of the situation set in.

He had once again managed to get caught in a fight on his own without planning ahead.

"Well, I guess I'll probably be getting an earful from Neo after this. She keeps going on about how I'm too eager to throw myself in harm's way." Frost chuckled lightly as he ducked under a horizontal swipe from another Grimm, only to wince as his outreached left hand made contact with the chest of the beast and the sound of hissing steam filled the air for a brief moment as his superheated fist met the surface of the creature's crystalline plating and broke through the other side of its back. "Oh well, it was bound to happen anyways. I'm just lucky I finally realized why I was never bothered by the cold after we had that talk by the lake the other day."


Frost grunted as he stretched his arms, the group of three casually returning back to the village as Neo tinkered with a couple parts that had come from her attempt at putting together hers and Torchwick's weapons.

"Seriously, how does that not feel cold to you?" Emerald asked with a perplexed look as she watched Frost walk around without so much as shivering in his light layering. "That thing can't be lined with anything to possibly keep you warm enough. So how do you do it?"

Neo shook her head as Frost just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Give it a rest, Em. We gave up trying to figure it out years ago when we first started to notice it. Everyone just kind of started joking that he was carrying a personal heater under his coats for all those years since it first started to be noticeable."

"I still think it's weird. No human being should be that resistant to cold."

Frost chuckled as he turned to face the other two from the front of the group, his back currently turned to their present direction as he walked backwards. "And what about if someone had a Semblance that made them, say… light on fire? Like Yang? What would you say then?"

"Well considering it's only when she gets mad that it happens, I'd say she's only somewhat lucky since on that note she'd be a real joy to go on a mission in Atlas with. Pass." Emerald stated as she waved a hand dismissively at Frost's retort. "It's not all it's cracked up to be to get worked up all the time."

"Yeah…" Frost responded with a more subdued tone of voice. "Tell me about it. Even before the whole thing with that weird-ass drug, my Semblance was still always tied to my emotions a fair bit. It was usually when I got really worked up that it flared more than when I used it consciously. Always wondered if there was a way to shut it off, but the multiple fired televisions that the orphanage had to get rid of was proof of the obvious. Oh well."

As Frost turned around to face in front of them once again, however, his foot slipped on a patch of ice and caused him to fall sideways into a large pile of snow on the side of the path, leaving only his legs exposed at an angle as they wiggled helplessly.

"Okay, I am definitely saving this." Neo exclaimed with glee as she went to pull out her scroll and take a few pictures of Frost's legs slumped next to the large snowdrift. Once she was done and Emerald taken the time to laugh to her hearts content, they both moved forward to grab an individual limb to pull him free. However, when they went to grab his legs, they both reacted with a sharp yelp of pain as a searing heat rushed through their hands the moment they started to grip onto Frost. What followed was a series of very odd events.

What had once been a large pile of snow very rapidly became a pile of slush and water that Frost lay face-down in as he turned his soaked head to look at the other two with a confused look. "Okay…what the hell just happened?" After that, the three quickly realized that Frost's Semblance had once again shown a new use, though only in select circumstances would it even remotely be useful.


"I doubt our first guess about its functionality would be punching ice-based Grimm. Seriously, as far as I knew these things have never even been seen before. Maybe we'll get to name the things since we were the first ones to ever encounter them." Frost's thought was interrupted as another Grimm swung for his position with a series of savage bites and swipes of its claws in an attempt to claim Frost for its meal.

"Okay now, take your time guys. I'm just a distraction after all." Frost stated coolly as he turned his full attention back to the pack of Grimm in front of him. "Can't let this end too soon, you know." He then took a ready stance as his arms began to glow just a little bit brighter as he channeled a fraction more of his Semblance into generating the heat in his arms.

"Now…whose next?"


Neo back flipped swiftly over an outreached claw as the Alpha attempted to slam her off balance with a vicious sideswipe. Meanwhile, Emerald unloaded few rounds of bullets in the direction of the black floating crystal, only for the swirling snow around it to rapidly condense into a barrier of ice and harmlessly deflect the shots into a random direction away from the battle. As soon as this happened the Alpha whirled to face Emerald, completely ignoring Neo directly in front of it in favour of targeting the thing that had chosen to attack the source of its existence. Emerald quickly back stepped to avoid an attack directed at her head, the force behind it carrying slight gust of air to ruffle her hair a bit before she landed off to another corner of the rooftop.

"This isn't working, Neo!" Emerald yelled over the snarling of the Alpha Grimm they were faced with. "Whatever that thing is, we can't destroy it by normal means! Neither of our weapons can get any damage in on that weird black thing as long as it's covered by the Grimm. It's almost like there's a link between the two that it responds to every time we try to damage it. Any ideas?"

"Only one!" Neo exclaimed as she flipped a switch on her now fully-modified parasol. Where once a compartment existed that housed a blade or briefly a shoddy attempt at Torchwick's own weapon was now a revolving holster that could be switched from blade to gun mode without much time spent. "But even with this thing assembled properly it can only do a few shots before I have to reload it! I need you to get that Grimm as far from the crystal as you can so that I can get a few clear shots on the crystal! One or two won't be enough from what I've seen, so I'll need time to fire each shot since this thing isn't exactly an automatic like yours are!"

"So basically you're saying that I need to be a scapegoat." Emerald replied as Neo hopped away from another attack from the Grimm, which was now just attacking whichever of them it pleased as they had not yet taken any shots or attempts at hitting the crystal at present to attract its attention. "Great…"

"Whenever you're ready, start shooting!"

"Next time I swear she gets to be the distraction…" Emerald thought to herself as she started running to the opposite end of the rooftop, taking rapid shots from her guns at the floating crystal. Barely a moment later the Alpha whirled to chase her once more in defiance of her actions, which Neo used to her advantage as she lined up the shot on the crystal mass and waited for Emerald to bring the Grimm far enough away to give her time.

The diminutive girl took a deep, calming breath as she took aimed and pulled the trigger on the first shot, a bang echoing from her weapon and jolting her arm slightly from the expected recoil as the first canister of Dust ammo unloaded and sailed towards the floating mass. Just as it started to brush against the revolving surface of snow the usual occurrence of an ice barrier occurred, however due to the higher force behind the Dust ammo it was not able to form a full barrier right away and a bit of damage was shown on the crystal in the form of a few cracks on its surface at the point of impact.

In response to this the Alpha spun to face Neo once more, only this time its actions were more erratic than usual as it seemed to scramble against the rooftop in a hurried effort to reach the newest assailant of the floating object. Even Emerald's attempt to redraw its attention proved fruitless as the beast continued to lumber in Neo's direction despite her peppering the floating ice barrier with bullets.

"Neo! It's not focusing on me again! Do something quick while you still have the chance!" Emerald yelled over the aggravated howls and snarls emanating from the Alpha as it rushed at its target.

"I've only got time for one more shot! I don't know if it'll be enough!"

"Do it anyways! What other chance do we have at this point?!"

With a steeled expression, Neo lined up the shot even as the Alpha bore down on her. As she pulled back on the trigger, everything seemed to happen as though in slow motion. As the burst of Dust propelled itself from the barrel of the weapon and sail towards the bruised crystal, the Alpha's opened slowly as it pounced face first at Neo in an effort to grab her in its open maw. With the recoil of the shot carrying her arm off angle somewhat, she was left without the ability to engage the shield portion of the parasol in time, as well as being unsure if it would even be enough to stop a full sized Alpha either. With that thought in mind, Neo shut her eyes tightly and braced herself for the searing pain or end that was about to come.


Frost looked around confused as the entire group of Grimm started howling and wobbling in place before falling to the ground in a heap, their forms lifeless and unmoving but at the same time not dissolving like Grimm normally would when they perished. Regardless, he counted his blessings as he propelled himself onto a building not far from where he saw Neo and Emerald go last before he was unable to see them and focused on the Grimm on the ground.

As he turned to face the rooftop he knew them to be on, his eyes widened as his pupils shrank at the sight he bore witness to. However, without hesitation he sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop he was currently on, his last step carrying one foot slightly over the corner of the building, causing his foot to bend slightly at the difference in surfaces. As his foot angled somewhat, his leg flashed brightly as he put a large chunk of his Semblance towards that one limb, launching himself at a rapid speed towards the battle Neo and Emerald were currently pitted in.


Emerald was unsure how to react. On the one hand, there was nothing she could do at this time to either distract the Grimm or to damage the crystal as that had already been established. But she still felt like she could have done more as the Grimm slowly neared Neo's position. With a look of defeat, her arms went slack at her sides as the thought of finally having something other than destruction and death follow her slipped away. With this, it would only be a matter of time before both herself and Frost would be overrun and torn apart just like Neo was about to. They had come all this way only to die before accomplishing anything in stopping Cinder and whatever she had planned. It would all be for nothing, just like her life had been before aiding in the fall of Beacon and the death of one of the Maidens. Even if she somehow managed to survive, there would be nowhere she could go at this point. Her life was over.


Neo's eyes clenched shut as she heard the crunch of the Grimm's claws on the rooftop mere feet away from as it took its final steps towards her demise. However, after feeling nothing for a few moments of feeling nothing, she opened her eyes in confusion only for them to widen in shock and surprise.

Standing only a foot away from her and breathing heavily was Frost, his arms and legs glowing brightly as the Alpha lay a few feet away with a shattered jaw. It was not dead however, as it slowly started climbing back to its feet as a swirl of ice and snow detached from the crystal and rebuilt the jaw that had been shattered on the Grimm's face. With a roar of rage it pounced at Frost and Neo, only for its body to sail backwards again from Frost's outstretched fist; which also appeared to be smoking as well as glowing. Without so much as a word Frost turned to give Neo and brief nod before sprinting towards the Alpha's form and slamming it with both feet in its chest and sending himself and the Grimm off of the roof and down to the ground below. After reeling from what had just happened for a moment, Neo lined up the third shot as she yelled out to get Emerald's attention.

"Emerald, once this next shot lands, attack the crystal with your blades! It should destroy it once and for all!"

And with that, she fired.


Emerald stood in mute shock, her weapons still held slack at her sides as she continued to stare in the direction of where Frost had carried the Alpha off the room in his brief moment of salvation. She barely processed Neo's words to get ready as she heard the bang of the weapon once again, but as soon as she heard the sharp crackle of ice shattering her mind returned to her as she triggered the blades in her weapons and sprinted towards the exposed black crystal. With a yell of outrage and defiance she swung both weapons in an angled hook and waited with bated breath for the telltale shattering of more crystal. What happened instead was both amazing and terrifying.

As her blades met the black mass, it seemed to stop moving altogether before pulsating wildly and sending out a shockwave of force that flattened Neo and Emerald to the rooftop. As soon as that occurred, both the forms of the assorted Grimm and the Alpha stopped everything as they rapidly lost form and sailed through the air back to the crystal. Once the final portion of Grimm essence returned to it, the crystal went from pulsating to cracking and emitting a painful shrieking noise as though it were alive and had a sense of feeling before imploding and ceasing to exist.

With a wince of pain, she lifted herself from the roof and moved over to were Neo was bringing herself to her feet as well. The two of them looked around with a sense of caution, not trusting that things were over until the realized that even the sounds of howling Grimm had ceased. With that the two of them moved to the side of the building to see what had happened to Frost. They both breathed a collective sigh of relief as they saw that he was alright, and was simply leaning against the trunk of a tree as he took deep, tired breaths and gave them a weak wave. It was over. With a nod to Neo, Emerald leapt from the roof and sprinted off to find the villagers and bring them home as Neo teleported next to Frost and began to berate him for once again leaping into harm's way…as usual.


A dark haired woman gasped for breath as her hand clutched to her chest under her lab coat, her face glistening with sweat as she activated a monitor in her workspace. Moments later, a silhouette of a man appeared on screen and spoke in a distorted voice.

"For what purpose have you called me when you should be currently occupied monitoring one of our test sites?" The silhouette spoke roughly as the woman finished catching her breath.

"Sir…I regret to…inform you…that our test subject has been destroyed…" She reached over to one end of her desk for a tall glass of some black liquid before draining it in one large gulp. This seemed to help somewhat as her breathing became less labored and her face bore less pain than it had previously. "But I do have…better news to give you. It seems that despite our subject being lost in the test…I sensed the presence of another being among those that were under our control. One that seems to match in description to one of the samples that had been sent to Vale months ago for Cinder's part in our efforts. It's here. In Atlas."

"That is…intriguing news. However you are to simply continue maintaining your cover there. Do not interfere with the trespassers regardless of what you may otherwise wish, Miss Amala. We have other operatives in the field for that. Continue your research as you find the time, but otherwise do not let those around you discover your true efforts. Dismissed."

With a grunt of disgust, the dark haired woman named Amala turned off the monitor before going to the lift in the laboratory. After waiting for it to ascend and flipping a few hidden switched to hide the presence of said elevator, she opened the door to the outside of the building she was currently occupying. Her eyes widened as she noticed two figures near a tree amidst the snow, the only two around at present. It seemed that no one had returned yet, but that did not matter. She had her cover to operate under, and her orders were as such. With a deep breath she put on a fake concerned look as she approached the two figures.

"Are…are they gone? Is it over? Is it safe?"

"I…I think so," one of them, clearly a young girl, stated as she stood up from beside the other figure. "Do you know what they were?"

"I don't, I'm sorry. They attacked us out of nowhere but I had no time to flee like the others since I was inside the clinic going over stock. My name is Doctor Amalie. What are yours?"

The other figure, this time a boy, stood up slowly and with a grunt as he turned to regard "Amalie" as well. "This is Neo, and I'm Frost. Was there anyone else stuck here? Or were you the only one?"

"I was the only one," the doctor began as she put on a false look of hope and wonder at the intervention of these accursed Huntsmen for appearances sake. She reached forward to shake each of their hands as a show of thanks, like most people would when saved from danger. "Thank you so much for coming when you did, I don't know what I would have done had you not arrived sooner!" As her hands left Neo's and came in contact with Frost's, the boy winced in pain as he yanked his hands back sharply as thought burned.

"Sorry, just sore after fighting all of those Grimm back there." The boy stated with an apologetic look.

"And that's what happens when you take off your gauntlets like that! What did I tell you about getting into danger!" The girl reprimanded the boy, though Amala paid little attention as she looked down at the hand that had brushed up against the boy's before he had recoiled with interest.

After all, she had felt the same burning sensation as well. Only…

She was more familiar with what it meant.