"So…anybody got a key?"
The majority of the group gave each other shrugs and unsure looks as they stood before the entrance to the facility. They had followed Qrow through the woods as he led them to their destination, but now they were faced with a new issue. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the door was reinforced beyond normal means. Whether that was to keep people out, or to keep something inside, or even both was anyone's guess.
"Well, we've got at least 2 or 3 heavy hitters; why not just try hitting the door at once with a few Semblances going off at the same time?" Yang proposed as she cracked her knuckles with a pointed look. Off to the side, Nora began to take up a stance with Magnhild unholstered while a few of them backed away cautiously.
"Too noisy." Qrow shook his head in refusal to the suggestion. "They may know that we're on the way or even here, but we don't want them being able to know exactly where we are at all times. We have to be at least a little stealthy about this."
"Well yeah, but how are we supposed to get-"
The words were cut off as the large frame shook slightly before it began to open with the booming noise of shifting machinery. Apparently, whoever was inside wasn't against them just walking through the front door.
"-inside. Well that works." Yang stated even as the group began to move through the open passage with their weapons drawn and their senses on high alert.
"Just be careful as we go through this place." Qrow warned from the head of the group. "We have no idea what kind of defenses this place has or what else they might have hidden in here. Keep your eyes peeled and watch each other's backs."
"You would think that they would have hesitated at least a little bit more when the doors opened." Asrani thought aloud as he stood next to Frost within the security room that he had been watching everything from. "I know we invited them in, but to think that even someone like Qrow or Ozpin would waltz in without at least a little bit of investigation is curious. Either they must think they'll be able to handle whatever threat we throw at them, or they aren't very confident in our defenses since we only had one man outside watching the place."
"Or they could just be deciding that whatever is in here is worth the risk." "Frost" spoke as he turned a black and red eye towards the scientist. "They know full well the kinds of things being kept here, but the average Grimm doesn't mean anything against that many trained fighters. I still say we just let a bunch of them loose at once to see how well they defend themselves in confined spaces."
"The Grimm would be at a disadvantage as well, you imbecile." The older man chided as he continued to watch the screens with an appraising eye. "Many of them are bulkier than the average person, so they would likely end up pinning each other in doorways and passages trying to scramble over one another in their frenzy. No, we need to split them up first. Make them easier prey for our little friends before we make our next move."
"And how are we supposed to control how they get split up? They're pretty tightly packed together right now."
"We bait a few of them away from the pack." The man finally turned to face "Frost" with a sinister grin. "That is precisely one of the reasons that I wanted to be sure of your allegiances before I let you out of the containment cell."
"And you couldn't tell me this before, because…?"
"I needed to know who would be in their group before I knew whether or not this would be fruitful. The last report we received from Amala informed me that some…familiar faces…were there in the village she had been instructed to work within. Meaning that within that group are your previous companions. And if there's ever a weak link within a group, it's someone with a personal agenda."
The beast inhabiting Frost frowned as it turned to look at the screens for himself. After scanning the various windows to see the different angles within the base, he finally noticed the group and what Asrani was getting at. It was easy to spot them even from here and with the slight gradient that the video feeds had from the cameras themselves.
He clearly meant for him to bait out Neo and Emerald from the group to separate them. But it was too soon. It needed more time to let Frost wallow and despair to feed him more before he would have to start looking for sustenance on its own. It didn't want to give up it's free meal this early on.
"I don't hear an agreement. I thought that you would savor the opportunity to finish the final strand of humanity within you. Or was I wrong in my assessment of your alliances?" Asrani's tone took on a dark note as the beast turned with shock and worry on its face towards its master.
"No! I was just wondering if it would be possible to…play with them a little bit after we split them up." The monster clawed at its one chance to sustain itself at least a little while longer. "We only need them split up after all, after that anything else we do to the individual groups doesn't matter as much, right?" Asrani gave him a scrutinizing look for a few moments before nodding slowly and turning back to face the screens with a wave of his hand.
"Very well, but don't play with them TOO much. We'll still need your assistance in handling some of the larger problems in their group after we've dealt with the small fry."
"Frost" nodded in acknowledgement before turning and sprinting off towards a passage that would allow him to come up behind the group as they progressed through the building.
"Didn't want to kill them so soon, huh?" Frost asked aloud as he sat within the darkness of his mind. "Well that's too bad. I don't really want to let them see me like this either, but if it means there's some closure and they can put you down then I'm all for it."
"You think they'll be able to kill us so easily, do you?" The monster hissed at him from all around as it controlled his body and led them through the building. "You saw what we were able to do to the majority of them after what Adam did, right? What makes you think TWO of them can do what eight couldn't?"
"Because you'll never see the two of them coming."
"That won't be an issue. After all, at least one of them will be dead before they know what's happened. Consider it a mercy kill. I just can't decide who it'll be."
Frost scoffed even as he tried and failed to hide the worry that he felt at the beast's statement that he would be attacking one of them right away. "Yeah, mercy from a Grimm. I'll believe it when I see it."
"I kept you alive, didn't I? It's too bad I can't promise the same for your friends."
"Yeah, well I don't think tha-"
Frost's voice stopped as his body turned the corner and he noticed the group standing in front of him, their backs facing away. They had no idea he was here judging from their stance and pacing, and he know the beast inside of him could tell that as well.
"Looks like it's showtime."
Frost could already tell what was happening even as he noticed the slight pulsing around him as a bolt of energy began to form in both of his hands. He watched in fear as the monster raised his hands to point towards the group as the air crackled around them. It must have made some noise however as a few of them began to turn with looks of confusion as they turned their various weapons towards whatever had approached them. He could see the sudden hesitation and looks of surprise as they saw his face before noticing he energy he was amassing in his hands. But it was too late. He couldn't stop the attack even if he tried. But that didn't stop him from trying to assert one last moment of control before he wouldn't be able to again. It would just take…a single moment…
A blast of electricity rocketed out of Frost's hands towards the group even as they tried to dodge out of the way of the powerful attack. At first, many of them had thought that he had managed to break himself out and had managed to find them, but the way he had been standing as well as the action he had been in the middle of performing was all too telling of their worst fears.
Frost was no longer on their side. And he was set to kill.
And yet…his attack went far off course as it sailed into the ceiling beyond the group and fizzled throughout the metal lining the walls and ceiling without doing anyone harm.
"Dude, what the fuck?!" Yang shouted out as her eyes flashed red as she moved to march towards the lone boy. She was stopped however as an arm reached out to bock her path and keep her from splitting off from the group, Qrow's head shaking being the only sign he gave that it was a bad idea to approach. His head then turned to face Frost with a pointed glare.
"Finally lost, huh kid?" Qrow questioned as he shouldered his weapon and tilted his head at the boy. "Or is he already gone and you're just some monster sent by the doctor that wanted to have a little fun?"
"You have…to kill me…" Frost groaned out as his body seemed to sag before them, his entire body tensed up and his face sweaty from exertion all of a sudden. "I can't…hold it off…for much longer…"
Neo's eyes widened in shock before she moved to stand in front of everyone with her arms outstretched, her back facing Frost as she pleaded with tears in the corners of her eyes. "You can't kill him! He's still in there! We can save him!"
"Kid, he just tried to attack us. Probably meant to kill at least one or two of us with that attack, too. Even if he was able to redirect that attack once, what's keeping him from just doing it again when he tires out enough for that thing inside of him to just attack us again?"
"He won't! I won't let him!"
"Neo…" Ruby started as she stepped towards the girl even as she kept Crescent Rose at the ready in its sniper form. "What if this is like what Professor Ozpin was talking about? What if he really CAN'T be saved?"
"I don't care! None of you are going to kill him!" Neo exclaimed even as Frost's body seemed to relax for a moment before he stood up straight once again.
"While I appreciate that, Neo…I don't think there's any convincing them. But why don't I make the choice easier for you?" The boy spread his arms invitingly as is posture seemed to relax from its aggressive tone from before. "I'll let you be th one to do it, no strings attached. That way you don't have to witness someone else kill the only person you still have left from your childhood."
Neo's eyes widened as she turned to face her friend…or at least his body. "You're…not Frost. What did you do with him?"
"Just made him take a little nap. Can't have him interfering and tuckering himself out after all. Besides, I've been meaning to thank you for a long time now."
"Thank…me? For what?"
"For giving me the chance to exist, that's what!" "Frost" stated as though it were obvious as he continued to hold his arms out. "If it weren't for your boy's bleeding heart and overusing his powers to both erase the Grimm that had been growing in you as well as that power surge he had the night Beacon fell, I wouldn't be here right now! It's only because his reserves and Aura were so low that I was able to finally gain a foothold and start working my way in. It's still taken a while since then to finally get here, but I finally have a body of my own again!"
"…Again?" Emerald asked as she stepped forward to place a calming hand on Neo's shoulders as the smaller girl shook with her eyes wide and fear etched on her face at the statements just recently made by the monster inside of Frost. "What's that supposed to mean?"
An exaggerated look of understanding appeared on the boy's face as the monster continued. "That's right; he never got the chance to tell any of you. I guess he just didn't think it important enough to inform any of you just what I am. I'm not just a Grimm inhabiting this boy. I'm the most important Grimm in both his life and his little friend here."
"I'm the one that killed your parents."
Had to reveal it eventually. I couldn't just state something like that happening to ONE character and not have it shared with everyone else later on. What it means for the next series of events?...You'll just have to wait and see. All in all, I know that some of these chapters approaching the ending aren't my best. But I can promise that the finale should have you on the edge of your seat. Or at least some of you. I can't say for certain since I don't know most, if any of you personally. So I could be totally off the mark and not have anyone baiting their breath. Whatever. Until next time, hope you all have a good one.
