"You expect the three of us to somehow reach one of the most likely places to be heavily guarded AND blow it up without managing to get killed in the process?" Emerald asked with an incredulous look as she crossed her arms over her chest. The neutral look given to her and Neo by Frost was hardly reassuring. "Alright then, let's say we ACTUALLY make it then. How are we supposed to let the others know about what's happening so that they don't wind up caught in the blast or trapped inside this place?"
"That's the tricky part. While I deal with the reactor with my Semblance, the two of you will run back to the others and teleport out while I make my own way out after I've overloaded the core." Frost said with a straight look. The other two blanched at his suggestion the moment he spoke it.
"Absolutely not!" Neo exclaimed with a stomp born out of exasperation. "We just got you back! We are not leaving you here to die doing something reckless!"
"Neo, we don't have another option." Frost stated matter-of-factly. "They likely had some sort of hierarchy in running this place, and only the more high-ranking scientists would have had full access to the system. I wouldn't be surprised if the only person to actually have the authority to self-destruct the place would be the leader himself. And there's not a chance in hell he would put all of this work to waste. Not with how close he was to getting what he wanted."
"How would you know what he wanted?" Emerald asked with a frown. "I doubt he was exactly the most confiding in a prisoner."
"He would if he thought he'd already won. He saw me as the perfection to his master plan – combining the essence of a Grimm with another living being without any sort of setbacks. While keeping the Grimm dormant in a person was easy enough, it was what happened after they were activated that was usually the problem. Most test subjects died within moments of the transformation, or were left so horribly disfigured that they were effectively discarded as waste. I saw some of those examples when the Grimm inside me was trying to find you guys. It wasn't pretty."
"We know." Frost turned to Neo with a surprised look as she continued. "When we were trying to find out where this place was, we went back to that village that we had helped back in Atlas. It turns out that the doctor that worked there was actually a double agent for the guy running this place. She had infected a good portion of the townsfolk and forced them to transform right in front of us. Then she transformed into some gigantic hybrid of those icy Beowolves we fought the first time."
Frost had to reign himself in for a moment with a deep, somewhat calming breath as he struggled to hold back the anger he felt welling up at hearing that the "innocent" woman they had met was actually another member of the disgusting group that had infected himself and Neo. He could sense the Grimm inside threatening to lunge out as it lapped at his negative emotions, but he couldn't let the others see that he wasn't actually at 100%. If he showed any signs of relapsing, his entire plan would likely fall apart.
"Well, she's dead. Obviously, otherwise you all wouldn't be here right now. Our concern is still the reactor powering this place."
"Okay, great. We have a suicidal plan, and all that's stopping us is whatever they have between here and the most important part of the building. What could go wrong?" Emerald groaned.
"Oh, plenty of things COULD go wrong," Frost started as he motioned for the other two to follow after him. "But I know the shortest route. Considering where they had me setup, I had a birds eye view of the core. It's in the central lab. And that's where we're going next. But there's one little snag that might make things a little tricky…"
"And what's that?" Neo asked with a concerned look.
"You two need to chase me like I'm running away from you. Otherwise they'll know something is up when they see the three of us on the cameras while we make our way." Frost gave the two an apologetic look as he started to sprint off, the other two fast on his heels as they proceeded to begin their "chase".
"Blast it! Where did that idiot boy get to?!" Asrani shouted to no one in particular as scientists scrambled back and forth all around him. "And where are we with those other Huntsmen and students roaming the corridors?!"
"Sir, the larger group is presently distracted by the occasional Grimm forces that are being released from their containment." One of the scientists nearby fumbled over their console as they flipped a pair of switches. "As planned, they're being led to one of the far ends of the facility thanks to the path we are forming with the closed-off passages. Unfortunately, in the battle between the boy and the two young girls, the camera feeds were short-circuited due to his Semblance. We don't currently have a visual on their whereabouts or what his present status happens to be."
"Curse the luck that gives us what we've finally been searching for only to lose track of it once again." Asrani fumed to himself as he leaned over his central console in the large laboratory. "I have put TOO MUCH work into this project to see it fail now! Someone give me a status report on our finalization of the serum, NOW!"
"Sir," another scientist shouted from a nearby machine that was currently humming away. "The formula is nearly complete! Within a few moments, we will finally have the solution we've been searching for all these years!"
"Excellent! Make sure to seal the samples in one of the containment vessels for transport once it is finished!" Asrani shouted back. "Even if it's not enough for as widespread a transformation as we'd initially intended, we can use one of the other decoy bases to replicate more from the base sample. Make sure to not drop ANY OF IT or I will personally-"
"Dr. Asrani, we have an update on the boy! He is currently retreating from his fight, with the two girls following closely behind him. They appear to be firing on his position as they proceed through the facility towards…" The first scientist paused as their eyes tracked the path of the cameras they were visible through before their face noticeably paled. "Here."
"WHAT?!" Asrani whirled to move over to the console overlooking the security footage. His hand swung out to smack the scientist on the head with a vicious clap. "Then barricade the door you idiot! We can't have them inside this room where they could potentially ruin everything! Reroute them, now!"
The scientist's hands were furiously clicking away at the keyboard as sweat beaded over their forehead. "Sir, I'm trying, but none of the doors on their route are responding to my commands!"
"What do you mean they're not responding?!" A vein could be seen visibly bulging from the man's forehead.
"I'm attempting to close the passages behind the boy, effectively separating him from his assailants, but nothing is working! They won't move!"
"Let me see that, you fool." Asrani shoved his way into the seat overlooking the controls as his eyes scanned after the three-person group rapidly approaching their position. Occasionally, a brief flicker of light could be seen on screen as the boy fired energy bursts back towards his pursuers. Only…they seemed to be missing every single time. Scientifically speaking, it was reasonable to assume that the occasional blast would miss as nothing was 100% accurate. But to have a 0% accuracy was…suspicious. The doctor's eyes widened as he clued into what was going on moments later. "You bumbling moron! The doors aren't working because he's disabling them after he passes! He's bringing them here on purpose!"
"But…why would he do that? It doesn't make sense for something part Grimm to toy with their targets like this!"
"No, it doesn't. Because he's not currently under the control of his Grimm. You pathetic FOOLS weren't able to dose him enough to fully complete the procedure!"
"But sir, we applied precisely as much of the final product as you instructed! It should have worked!" A scientist from off towards the finalizing serum shouted over the chaos. Everyone fell silent as all eyes fell on either the scientist that spoke or Dr. Asrani himself.
"…Are you implying that my calculations were off?" Asrani said in a dangerous tone as he crossed his hands calmly behind his back, his posture rigid as a board as he turned to face the scientist that had spoken last.
"Not at all sir, but there IS the possibility that we missed something in the testing phase that-" The words were sharply cut-off as a gunshot rang out, leaving the speaking the scientist with a new opening in their skull before their form collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Asrani calmly replaced his gun within its holster inside of his lab coat without blinking an eye, a thin smoke trail still wafting up from the barrel for a few moments. "Everyone, back to work. We will have some visitors here very soon and we need to have as many things prepared as possible. Where are we with the serum?"
"It's just finished the first batch, sir! We can have it sealed up and sent out within moments!"
"Good. But leave one sample out. I need to have something as a gift for our visitors when they arrive. The rest of you, gather what you can and head out through the emergency shaft. I will send you the coordinates of our next destination once I have handled our intruders."
"Sir, we haven't finished testing your DNA to see if it is compatible with the new formula! It's only just been finished!"
"That hardly concerns me. I have been working towards this for years. Fate demands that I see this through as the very thing I have been seeking to perfect. Now leave, all of you. Any stragglers will not be tolerated in the oncoming storm."
With that, all of the other scientists clambered over each other once again as they put together as many things possible before retreating out of a secondary corridor. One scientist stayed a moment longer to carefully place one of the samples on the table next to Asrani before giving a silent nod and sprinting off after the others.
Asrani sighed deeply to himself before his hand reached for the black concoction within the canister. His eyes traced over its bubbling mixture for a few moments before he carefully released the lid on it, an ominous hissing noise releasing as the container opened. He raised the canister to the air with a determined look in his eyes.
"For the sake of our future, I become a new man."
Frost and the others busted into the room a few minutes later, their bodies taut and prepared for combat the moment they arrived. What they weren't expecting to find was an empty lab devoid of people. Or at least, what they thought was devoid until they heard a raspy cough echoing from somewhere off to the side of the large area. All three of them cautiously walked over to where the noise was coming form in case they needed to move back in a hurry.
As it turned out, they were worried for nothing as they came upon the sickly face of Dr. Asrani, his body curled up and shivering against one of the consoles littering the room. Sweat was beaded on his forehead and soaked into the collar of his coat as labored breaths echoed from his throat.
"I see…that you've final made it…" The man rasped out in a hoarse voice. "Unfortunately for you…this is not…the victory you were hoping for…"
"You absolute moron." Frost stated with disgust littering his tone. "You took it, didn't you?"
"I had to, boy…for what purpose does being human serve…when everything is destined to fall to the Grimm regardless?" The man coughed harshly for a few moments before he regained his breath. "Better to stay alive…and become superior…than stay as we were and fail in the end…"
"No one ever gave up fighting the Grimm except for you and the other idiots that worked with you, old man." Frost stated as he looked down at the vulnerable man.
"I was…mistaken…"
"Yeah, you were."
"Not for what you think…you daft child…" The man took a deep, shuddering breath as his eyes began to glaze over. "I was mistaken…to think that I would see…the crowning achievement of my work come to fruition…It seems that I was always…doomed to die without seeing the fruits of my labour…to see our civilization progress into a new age…"
"That age will never come. And once this place is gone…No one will make this mistake again. Not after all of the damage it has already caused."
"That may be what you believe…boy…but someone will always be willing to make…the ugly choices if it means our survival…" The man's voice grew weaker as his body slumped further into the console. "Pray that you don't remain so naïve in the future…"
Frost silently looked at the man for a few moments before walking over to the console that showed all of the security footage around the facility. His eyes glanced over the large group of scientists heading down one of the passages, but they were of no consequence as he continued to look across the screens until he found what he was looking for. Once he saw it, his hands flew over to the button that engaged the intercom within the passage he wanted.
"Everyone, this place is going to go up in a little bit. Stay where you are so that Neo and Emerald can come to you and teleport you all out of here."
Frost turned with a neutral expression as he marched towards the large set of controls that kept the core locked down. A quick glance across the console gave nothing as he groaned before striding over to the door that entered into the chamber for maintenance purposes. One quick pulse of his Semblance disengaged the lock as he calmly pulled open the door a bit before turning back to face Neo and Emerald within the doorframe.
"Alright, now that they're aware to stop moving, you should be able to teleport to them since the camera offers you a view of the passage, Neo. Use your Semblance to get to them and then get them out of here."
Neo nodded as she started to turn towards the footage only to stop midway as she turned back to him. "I will but you make sure once you've set that thing to blow that you get back into this room for me to pull you out as well."
"…Sorry Neo, but that's not going to happen."
And with that, Frost closed the door to the reactor behind him even as Neo and Emerald both shouted out in protest.
Almost there, which does make me somewhat sad. Endings really are a blessing and a curse, aren't they?
