Iskelle paced impatiently in the middle of the room. Leif sat around, facing away from the computer, the only other thing in the room besides the door, and watched Iskelle walk this way and that. He hated when she paced. It always showed she was angry or anxious, and neither of them was a good thing.
"Two days, Leif. Two days since they found that bug. Thirds the charm. You. Are. A. DUMBASS!" she shouted in anger. He rolled his eyes. It didn't matter what she said. "You should've let me kill them when we had the chance." she said, ringing her hands through her hair.
"Oh really? And left four dead bodies for Beacon? We wouldn't have had time to clean it up, and if we killed them, we'd have just had to leave them there. They haven't found any of the other bodies, Iskelle. If we'd left children dead, they'd have brought down every resource they had on our heads." he said, still calm.
"But think about the alternative! We let those kids go, and now they've given Beacon information about us...INFORMATION THAT LEAD TO THE CAPTURE OF OUR CAM DRONE! If they were dead, they'd never have known...We could've gotten out of here before they found us, and left this facility to blow the minute they entered. But nooooo." she finished sarcastically.
"Think about that, Iskelle. He wouldn't have let us blow this place up, we have far too many resources stored here...That's why we had to build it in the Forever Fall forest...That and the infinite access to Grimm." Leif said. He leaned back in his chair. "Besides, you shouldn't worry...I already sent Him a report about the situation. He's coming over...Today." Leif muttered. Iskelle's eye widened, and she fell to her knees. She put her hands over her eyes and rubbed them, then moving her hands to her forehead. Leif stood and walked over, kneeling next to her. She tried to hit him, wave him away, but he didn't budge, and put his arm over her shoulder. "It's ok, remember...He won't kill us. There's no one to replace us, and you know that...We killed them all to make sure of that. We're his strongest. I have a feeling that those kids are going to insist they go on the mission to hunt us down. We'll finish them this time...And if we don't...He will...For now, we've already prepped this place for their arrival. Don't worry..." Leif said in his best comforting voice. Iskelle looked at him, still trying to feign anger, but then leaned her head on his chest.
"Yeah...You're right...We won't die today...We'll finish what we started with those kids...The data transfer is almost complete, right?...We'll be out of here before they can launch another attack..." She stood up with Leif.
"Then let's get ready...Who knows when they'll arrive..." The large metal doors slid open in front of them, and slid shut behind them, as they went to ready the facility.
Teams JNAS and SCRT had woken early, and after a good breakfast, had gone to their launch point, near the river in the Forever Fall. Headmaster Ozpin greeted them when they got there.
"I do hope you're ready. There's no turning back." he muttered. Everyone stayed silent. None of them had ever had any intention of turning back. They had grouped into their teams already, and stood as Beacon officials walked around, handing each of the teams a small dufflebags. Nick opened the bag the bag he was given.
"Fire dust charges?" he said, looking at Ozpin.
"Plus ice dust charges and lightning dust charges." Goodwitch corrected him. Nick zipped the bag again and put it over his shoulder, holding it like a backpack. Sam did the same, as did Jay, and Tia with their own bags. A small motorboat was tied to the riverbank, with Beacon officials ready to drive it.
"One of you teams will be taking the river path, which the facility uses for a water source. Who will that be?" Ozpin asked, sipping his coffee. Jay wasted no time in stepping forward. Anna noticed that and stepped forward with him.
"We'll be taking the river path." Jay said.
"Very well. The rest of you will be delivered, on hovercraft, as close to the facility as we can get without being noticed. You'll decide what to do from their. Remember, your objective is to simply rout the enemy. Clear the facility, and bring Leif Malladus and Iskelle Femmaren in. We'd prefer them alive, if you can manage it." he said, looking at Nick and Sasha. They both rolled their eyes. Jay and Anna walked over and stepped into the boat. A large hovercraft, looking like nothing more then a platform, came silently up next to the rest of the teams. They all stepped on, and the hovercraft flew off through the trees. Ozpin turned to Jay and Anna as the boat started up, remaining quiet because of the dust propulsion system. He nodded, and the boat went away along the river. Jay and Anna sat down on the seats near the front of the boat. They waited as and watched in silence as they moved swiftly past the trees.
Jay cleared his throat, "Anna, remember today...Whatever we face, whoever we face...Be careful...Don't die." he muttered. Anna looked at him, though he hadn't looked at her.
"Thanks...You too." she said back. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, as the river turned this way and that, going around one of the cliff faces, where a few trees grew at odd angles out of the side. Jay frowned in silent consideration. After a few minutes of seeing him look this way and that, apparently looking for something he wasn't seeing, Anna spoke up, "Jay, is something wrong?"
Jay continued glancing around, "You could say that...Look around. Where are we?" he asked.
Anna shook her head, looking around with him, "I don't know...On a river? What does that have to do wit-"
"And what to you normally expect to see along rivers?" he interrupted. Anna frowned, and looked over at the river banks. She still wasn't quite sure what she was looking for.
Jay looked over at her, noting her confusion, "Ok, now look a little farther...Past the river bank... It's not what's there that you're looking for...It's what isn't. Think about where we are again...Where are we, Anna. What would you expect to see?" Jay said, still looking at her.
It was clear he was trying to lead her to a conclusion, and that conclusion suddenly struck Anna like a bullet, "Grimm! The Forever Fall, where are all the Grimm! she exclaimed, looking back at Jay.
Jay smiled, "Precisely. Where are all the Grimm? If the Grimm within a certain range of the facility have been cleared out, there are three conclusions you can draw. What are they?" he asked. Anna smiled, understanding what he was doing...He was trying to help calm her nerves.
She cleared her throat, "Ok...One would be that they...Went out and drove them off? Possibly put up some barrier?" she looked at him and he nodded, gesturing for her to continue. "Or they just killed them within a certain range...Or...Or they...Hm."
she put her hand under her chin, "Or they..." Jay coaxed. Anna thought...
But she thought the last conclusion was a little to weird, "Or they...Captured them?" she tried, although she wasn't sure that was right...She was sure that Jay had thought of some brilliant third option that she'd never think of.
He smiled, "Perfect. Yes. One, drove away, put up barriers to keep them away. Two, killed them all, used them as wards for others, which I know works, because I used to do it while travelling. Three, they're captured and just hidden away somewhere they can't do any harm...Or possibly for use as guards..." Jay said. Anna looked away, her face slightly red, her chest filled with pride that she'd succeeded in his challenge. The two sat in silence, continuing to contemplate these possibilities.
The hovercraft swished silently past the trees as the teams sat silently in a circle, waiting to get to their destination. Nick and Sasha were joking about Jay and Anna being alone together, and Sam and Rachel were laughing about something that no one could hear. The twins sat next to eachother, just watching the forest. Suddenly they both cleared their throats, getting everyone's attention. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the twins.
"So we should decide who's going to take the back entrance, and who's going in through the front door..." they said in unison. Sasha grabbed Nick's right arm and squeezed slightly, looking anxiously at the twins. Nick took her hand in his left instead, and put his right arm over her shoulder.
"I call going in through the front," Nick said.
Sam glanced at him, "So do I." he said quickly. Rachel frowned.
The twins looked at eachother, "So we're going in the back?" they said together. Sam frowned, "Hey guys, does it bother anyone else that they gave us dust charges? They want us to rout these guys, but why do we need explosives? They want the place intact, right? So why bombs?" he said.
Nick smiled, "Who cares, let's blow shit up. It'll help clear em out faster. And besides, who doesn't love blowing up dumb fuckers..." he said happily. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Ok, but the real question is what is this facility even for? What are they doing there? For what purpose do they need that place?" Rachel asked the group.
The twins looked at eachother, "Well maybe it's just a thought...But when you read or see things like that in movies and books, they're mostly Testing Facilities of some sort, right? Perhaps they're trying to make a weapon?" they said together.
"If that's the case...And we found such a weapon...Ozpin would expect us to bring it back...But he'd never be allowed to keep such a weapon in custody, the government would seize it...And I doubt Ozpin would like any weapon in the hands of any official." Sasha said.
"So is that the reason for the explosives, do you think? Do you think he'd want us to destroy any weapon we find?" Nick said.
Sam put his hand to his chin, "So just how far ahead of us is Ozpin in this operation...And why do you think he agreed to let us go on it anyway?" he said.
Nick smirked, "Oh, you can thank Jay for that...He has a gift for words...Given time, I don't doubt he could convince Ozpin to do anything he wanted him to do."
"I don't mean to offend anyone, but something's seriously wrong with that Jay...I've seen his eyes turn red in combat...It's disturbing." Chris said, without Tia.
Nick looked at Sasha, "Long story," he muttered. Everyone stayed silent for a moment.
Nick pulled open the scroll on his prosthetic arm, "We should be arriving at the drop off point soon." he said. Everyone stood, and pulled the dufflebags onto their back. The hovercraft came to a stop, and the teams stepped off. The hovercraft flew off, and the team started walking in the direction of their target.
Mickey turned the page in the book she was reading. Her legs were crossed, and the airship was flying smoothly, as usual, towards Beacon Academy. She knew the pilot of this ship very well. She was nice, and she and Mickey had been close friends for years...Well perhaps friend wasn't the right word for it. Alice would always help when she would take Mickey over to Beacon to do her deliveries or needed another favor. Today, she had a special package though. She looked at the seat next to her, where the basket was. Inside, she had two 2-liters of soda, one root beer and one coka-cola plus vanilla ice cream, kept cool by ice dust, and two pizzas, warmed by fire dust. Mickey smiled and went back to her book. She was no liar. She said she'd bring soda, pizza and ice cream if her team went a week without trouble, and it was a week today. So just as she said she would, she'd brought the goods. She tapped her foot slowly out of habit as she read. The ride wouldn't be long now. She'd done this hundreds of times and knew almost exactly how long it took. She heard the familiar change in the engine tone that signaled the airship slowing to the dock. She stood, and put the basket on her cart.
"Thanks Alice," she shouted back to the pilot.
"My pleasure, Mickey." she heard over the microphone. Mickey smiled as she exited the airship, which took off as the dock retracted back into the side of the cliff. She wheeled slowly through the halls, hoping not to encounter her team until she'd finished the deliveries. She opened classroom doors, carefully, glancing inside to see if they were in their before opening the door completely, content to interrupt classes to toss boxes of dust at their recipients. She greeted students she knew from her routes and even stopped to talk to one. But when she was finished, she kicked open the door to the dorm of Team JNAS...And they were gone. Mickey frowned. They weren't in any of the classrooms she passed, and she didn't see them in the halls...She decided to go to Headmaster Ozpin. He'd know where they were. She opened the door to his office and marched in.
"Ozpin, where's my team?" she demanded, putting her palms on the desk before him.
Professor Goodwitch, who stood next to him, came around the table to Mickey, "Your team. You refer to Team JNAS?" she asked.
Mickey frowned, "Yes. I refer to Team JNAS. Where are they? As far as I can tell, they aren't currently on campus." she said. Goodwitch turned to Ozpin. Ozpin said nothing for a few seconds. Mickey's heart began beating faster. "Ozpin, Where's Jay?" she said, less composed. Ozpin sipped his coffee again. Mickey was annoyed now, and slammed her fists against the table, causing tiny cracks to appear, "Where. Is. Team. JNAS." she demanded. Goodwitch pulled free her riding crop and slapped the table next to her hands. Mickey turned to her, "Don't mess with me Glynda. Where are they?" she said, still angry. She could feel her heart beating in her chest and worry had began to set in.
Ozpin stood up, "Team JNAS has joined Team SCRT on a joint mission into the Forever Fall forest. They are infiltrating a facility we've recently located, and are going to apprehend two persons of interest in the disappearances and suspected murders of several Beacon graduates. You should know, this is privileged information, and therefore you cannot" Ozpin was interrupted when Mickey reached over his desk, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him over to look him right in the eye. Goodwitch raised her riding crop as though getting ready to attack, but Ozpin put up his hand, discouraging her.
Mickey glared at him, "Why would you let them do that. You're talking about those two they encountered in the forest last time, aren't you...Those two poisoned my boy, and nearly killed their entire team. Why would you..." she stopped and released Ozpin's collar. He leaned back and straightened himself.
"They have been training hard, and are in the company of an ally team. I believe that they will be more than sufficient to handle this task." he tried to assure her. Mickey didn't know what she was hearing. She ran her hands through her hair in anxiety. Without another word, she turned and walked from the room. She took the basket and went back to their dorm. When she arrived, she opened the door, instead of kicking it open. She walked in and placed the basket on the bed next to her, and sat down. She put her face in her hands, elbows on her knees, not sure what she'd do if...If they didn't come back...
She sat, and muttered to herself, "Please...Be careful...And don't die..."
Nick raised his hand, motioning for the group to stop.
"According to Ozpin's map, the facility is 100 yards from here..." he whispered. Chris and Tia glanced at eachother,
"Roger. We'll be moving to our target now." they said in unison, both mocking a salute before jogging off into the forest. Sasha watched them go, then breathed out a sigh of relief.
"You don't seem to like the twins...Why ever not?" Rachel asked in a mocking voice. Sasha didn't respond, and turned back to the direction they were heading. Each of them did their best to stay quiet as they moved. Nick had closed his scroll back onto his arm in favor of just moving in the proper direction. After a few minutes of silently walking through the brush, they came to what they thought would be a clearing...They were wrong. There was a green building, painted to match the appearance of the trees around them. If it weren't for the buildings angular sides, it would be difficult to discern from the forest. On the roof, trees were growing upward to cloak its appearance from any airhsips flying overhead.
"Genius." Sam muttered.
They went up to the wall, and Rachel reached out to touch it, but Nick grabbed her arm, "No, don't!...This could be covered in sensors...If we can't just go touching..." he said.
Sasha looked sideways at him, "Aren't we just going to bomb our way in anyway?" she asked.
"Yes...But think about it...Jay would say the same if he were here. If they know we're here before we get in, then they have their advantage. If we bomb at random and don't get in right, then we take a huge step back, again handing them an advantage..." Nick said to Sasha. Sasha shrugged.
"Ok...So how would you proceed?" Sam asked.
"Well...The ex-thief in me says that most of the sensors that they use in walls are bio-sensitive...They sense stuff that's naturally made..." he reached out with his prosthetic arm, "So...It shouldn't detect my arm." he brushed the metal fingers lightly over the wall, focusing on his sense of touch.
Finally he found what he was looking for, a crease in the wall. He smiled and knocked lightly on the panel.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Rachel whispered angrily.
"Relax. This door is so hard to find in the first place. Plus, I wager that the sensor attach to a monitor somewhere...So if they don't detect us here, they aren't watching us. They don't need to guard an invisible door...They just need to watch it." Nick said, recalling his years as a thief, that was a cardinal rule. He remembered getting through plenty of heists because there was no security, only secret paths that no one but he could find. He reached for the dufflebag and pulled out one of the fire charges. They could be set to a timer, or detonated by heavy impact by throwing it. He placed it at the base of the door and set it to one minute. Then he calmly turned to his teammates and smiled. They all started moving to a safe distance from the bomb and turned to watch. Nick smiled and nudged Sasha as they watched. She glanced over at him, and he smiled at her, "Hey...Knock knock." he said as the bomb went off. The teams walked in through the whole in the wall, shielding their faces from the dust and earth as they did. The hall they entered was long, white, and ended in another door. They ran towards it, and Nick pulled out another charge, pressing the button on the top and tossing it. It struck the door with another explosion. An alarm started going off now, and as they came through the door, they almost tripped over the remains of two guards caught in the explosion. They stood in a small circular white room that led down two hallways. There were doors at intervals own the halls...Sam and Nick turned and nodded to one another. Then along with Sasha and Rachel, parted ways. Down the two halls, they heard scrambling and shouting as men came from the doors holding automatic machine guns. Nick and Sasha wasted no time pulling free her sword and raising his hand. One by one they fell as they went. Shocked to death by electric blasts from Nick's HopeBringer, or even burned to death by the same, otherwise shot dead by Sasha. On the other side, Sam's exo-skeleton had formed on himself and he was deftly moving around the shots, even up the walls to cut them down, moving around Rachel's whip, which lashed out around him, causing bloody destruction as she crushed skulls in and shattered ribs cages with each motion. Nick and Sasha turned to look back down the other hall at Sam and Rachel. They all gave eachother a thumbs up and ran down the turns, continuing to bring down the guards.
The boat came to a stop in front of a metal grating. The river ran under the building through here, and it would serve as a great entrance point. The official driving the boat had taken a grappling hook and thrown it around a tree to keep the boat in place. Jay and Anna stood, and looked into the grate. The river thinned here, and was deeper then it was wide. Jay reached into the dufflebag and pulled out an ice charge. He set it to about three seconds and dropped it over the side of the boat. It went off right as it struck the surface. The river carried through some of the dust as it froze, causing the surface of the river both around the boat, and all the way through the grate to freeze over. Jay and Anna stepped off of the boat onto the ice. Some of the water from the river was still flowing over the ice, but it was still thick enough to hold them, and most of the river water was flowing under the ice. Jay and Anna walked over to the grate itself. Jay wrapped a hand around one of the bars and tested it by giving it a tug.
"Pretty solid stuff...If we set a charge we could go back to the boat and get some distance away before it blew..." he muttered to Anna. She also gripped the bar, testing it's strength for herself, then putting her hand under her chin in consideration. Jay looked sideways at her, "What do you think?" he asked. She considered a few seconds more. Then she grabbed Jay's shoulder and shoved him back a bit. Jay looked at her in shock when he recovered, and Anna pulled her axe off of her back. With three quick swipes that appeared to have no effect, Jay walked over to stand next to her again. She placed her axe back into her sheath and looked at Jay. He raised an eyebrow at her as she raised her index finger dramatically. Slowly she reached over...And touched the metal grate. The grate fell apart, collapsing in pieces onto the ice on the other side of the grate. Jay's mouth fell open as Anna bowed dramatically twice, as if to a crowd's applause. Jay smiled and clapped a couple of times for her. Just then there was the sound of an explosion on the other side of the building. "Alright, that means we better get going." Jay said as he reached into the dufflebag and pulled out all the ice charges he could gather. They began walking under the building, tossing the ice charges as they went, forming a path.
Finally, they came to a large block in the path. The water continued flowing through a fine grate.
"Ok, it's a safe bet that this is the water filter...So..." Jay began to feel around in the tunnel above him until he found the hatch opening.
Anna nodded, "A service hatch...Things break, and they need to be able to access every angle of the machine to fix it...Wow..." she muttered as Jay jumped up slightly, pulling himself out of the tunnel. He reached down into the tunnel to help Anna up.
"I thought you hated touching people..." she pointed out.
Jay shook his head, "There's no time for my own foolish boundaries now, just take my hand..." he insisted. Anna smiled and reached up to grab hold of him. He easily pulled Anna's light frame up through the hatch.
"Wow...You're awfully light...You should eat more." Jay told her. Anna frowned and looked away. Jay looked around in the small room filled with tools and large tanks for the purifying process. They weaved their way through the equipment and found the door. Jay pulled it open, and as he did, several guard ran past him and Anna, who stood in the doorway a little absently. The guards didn't even bother looking back at them. Jay turned to Anna and she shrugged. They ran down the hallway the way the guards had come. As they rounded a corner, they saw three more guards running in their direction. Upon seeing Jay and Anna, the guards stopped and raised their guns. Jay and Anna looked at eachother quickly and looked back. Jay's eyes turned gold, and Anna crouched slightly. The guards fired on them, but it wasn't of any use. Jay weaved around the paths of the shots, easily discerning their vectors and avoiding them. Anna did the same, only focusing on the guns themselves, and watching carefully the way they were pointing, and simply tracing the path by line of sight. They were on the guards in only a single second. Anna sliced one guard's body clean in half with her axe. Jay grabbed the gun of another and pointed it up at his chin, and pulled the trigger himself. As the man dropped dead and let go of the weapon, Anna sliced apart the gun of the last one, and ducked down for Jay to shoot him. Jay walked over and picked up his gun too.
"You're using their weapons?" Anna asked him.
"Why not. Resources Anna. Resources. This way, I don't have to pull out my own weapons and waste ammo. Plus, I'd rather save the use of my own weapons for someone who deserves the effort. Like our targets..." Jay explained. Anna shrugged and followed suite by picking up the spare gun of the third guard from his belt, and running after Jay as they continued down the hall.
The twins jogged at a quicker and quicker pace, braking into a run until they reached the other side of the building. When they reached a spot they deemed sufficient, they glanced at eachother and Tia pulled out her batons. She passed one to her brother, and together they activated the fire dust crystals. Interacting with their aura, the flames crawled to a point on the baton and turned blue, then near white. They both started at the ground, about three feet away from eachother, and burned through the metal on the side of the building. As they did, they heard an explosion from the front of the building. Glancing at eachother, they attempted to speed up their efforts. Their auras protected them from the sparks and the heat as they made an opening in the side of the building. When they reached a point where the flames met, they stopped. Chris handed the baton back to his sister, and he kicked the large piece of metal in. Together they walked into the building and looked around the small room they had found. It looked like a bedroom.
"So they sleep here...Interesting." Chris muttered.
"Anyway, let's go. We've got a job to do here." Tia responded. He nodded and together they went over to the door. As they stepped out into the hallway, they heard shouting and gunshots in the distant parts of the building. Although they wanted a piece of the combat too, they decided it best to avoid that. Instead they followed the maze of hallways, using their scrolls to guide them. They didn't have internal maps, but they did have an image of the outside, and great directional orientation. They were trying to keep moving towards the middle of the building. They weaved this way and that, taking branches and stairs downward. Finally they came to a flight of stairs which they suspected to be at the very center of the building. They encountered no guard nor ally. At the bottom of the stairs was nothing but a long white hallway. They walked to the end where there was a door, next to which was propped a small computer board, meant to recognize a scroll code. They looked at eachother. Tia gestured towards it and Chris pulled out his batons. They both lit up with electricity and he jammed them into the board. The thing shorted and buzzed. After a second, the power in the hallway went out. He sheathed his batons and together they squeezed their nails into the doorway, then their fingertips, then their fingers before dragging the doors open. Inside was an elevator. They stepped in and waited a couple of seconds for auxiliary power to kick in. They both knew it would...A facility like this, and a hallway like this one...There simply had to be some sort of back-up power. When it did, Tia pressed the only button in the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator shook. On the display, it showed the feet bellow ground they were travelling. Twenty meters. Thirty meters. Forty meters. Fifty meters. Sixty meters. Seventy meters. Seventy five meters, and the elevator stopped.
The twins looked at eachother in surprise before the door opened. They stepped out. They found themselves in a large oval room. There several huge doors before them. Off to the side, there was an incredibly large platform that looked to be an elevator. They walked over to it and looked up. It appeared stretched as far as the surface, where there was a large hatch door. They were speechless as they walked back into the room where they started. Tia tapped Chris's shoulder and had him look above the doors. There were labels above each one.
"What in hell...Beowulves...Ursa Major...King Taijitu...Deathstalkers...They can't...There aren't...Do you think there are?" he said, glancing sidelong at his sister.
She shrugged, "Only one way to find out." she said. Together they walked over the the Ursa Major door. The door opened before them. Inside was a large room, with about twenty five large well lit cubes. Inside each cube was an Ursa Major. One of the cages by the door was empty. This one actually had a name tag before it. "Teddy?" Tia read in confusion. But something was wrong with these Ursa...Suddenly, the clear doors to the cubes slid down, opening the cages. The Ursa walked from the cages, and Chris and Tia ran back to the door, eyes wide in worry. The Ursa's roared and ran after them. The creatures of Grimm tried to run them down, but Chris looked back, letting their eyes turn light blue. Tia jumped in sync with Chris, over the swipe of one of them. But another came up over them. Chris and Tia grabbed arms and used eachother's weight as leverage, swinging themselves around the Ursa, one after another. Something wasn't right here, and they both knew it. The Ursa moved together, in a deliberate group. Their reflexes were vastly superior to any they'd ever seen, and they seemed to be able to plan a coordinated attack. Chris and Tia was forced over to the Deathstalker door, which opened behind them. The Ursa followed them in, and again, they noticed an empty cage, also labeled, George. They glanced at eachother as the Deathstalker cages opened. One of the ones next to them wasted no time in attacking them with their stinger. The twins flipped back in perfect harmony as an Ursa ran forward, being caught in the stinger, which went right through it's skull and killed it. Chris and Tia noticed the skull emitting sparks, and looked closely. They had some sort of implant...
That's what was going on here. They looked at eachother again as more Deathstalkers came forth from their cages behind them. But just then, the Ursa attacked... The Deathstalker that had brought down that first Ursa. The twin's watched them tear the creature apart, and grinned. They turned, and ran towards the Deathstalkers, keeping their shared vision sharp, and began to dodge around the Deathstalkers as they attacked. It was difficult, as they too could move as a unit. But the Ursa came upon them and a bloody battle began. The twins jumped on the cages, and leaped this way and that, using the Deathstalker's tails as swinging bars, jumped to the other side, and moving back towards the door. The Deathstalkers tried to follow, shoving their way through the Ursa, which didn't give any quarter. The cages began to break under the pressure of the battle shoving them into eachother. The twins knew they wouldn't live to see the surface if they tried for the elevator now...They'd only be trapped as the doors closed and be killed in the onslaught. Instead, they ran past the elevator door, and had it open as the things chased them past. They ran back into the Ursa room, the battle following. One of the Deathstalkers caught them against the back wall and tried to sting them. Chris and Tia pulled out their batons and both batted the stinger downwards instead. An Ursa then came up behind it and ripped the tail off. The Deathstalker turned and dug into it's torso with it's pincers. The twins saw their path at that moment. They jumped onto the back of the Deathstalker and both jammed their batons into it's armor. It screamed in pain as it's insides were boiled and shocked to death. All the other Deathstalkers turned away from the Ursa, and focused on the twins. They smiled...As they jumped forward off their kill, they ran for the door, through the din. They ducked under the swipe of pincers and leaped onto and over two Ursa who both had hold of a pincer each, and ripped the large scorpion apart. As they did, they wrapped their batons around the Ursa's neck, burning through the flesh and removing the head, and simply electrifying one to death. They continued this trend as they went, crippling some and allowing their opposing Grimm to finish them and then finishing the Grimm themselves on occasion. They rolled under one of the Ursa as pincers lifted it from the ground, and out the door.
They ran into the small room and into the elevator, which closed before any of the fighting Grimm noticed. They both gasped and heaved huge breaths, trying to recover. They looked at eachother and began to chuckle. Then they let it rise to a full laugh, gripping eachother's shoulders to stay steady.
"That was INSANE!" Chris said, as their eyes faded back to their original color.
"I KNOW!" Tia gasped in response.
"What in hell...Are those things..." Chris said.
"I don't know...But they were crazy strong...Much stronger then any other Grimm I've ever seen." Tia exclaimed.
"Yeah...They appeared to have brain implants, but each species wasn't connected...They couldn't be, because they attacked eachother." Chris thought out-loud.
Tia nodded, "No, they were separate alright...Seek and destroy any threat...First us, then their higher priority opponents...Wow...And did you notice the empty cages?" she asked, looking at her brother and leaning against the side of the elevator.
"Yeah...Teddy and George, I think it was..." he answered. They shook their heads together.
"Ok...I think I know what we're using our charges on," Chris said as he opened up the dufflebag he still had on his shoulder. They'd both forgotten about it in the scrap...He pulled out one of the fire charges and set it to two minutes as the elevator opened back into the white hallway. He put the one back in the bag and dropped the bag in the elevator, pressing the button that would take the elevator down. Then they walked away as the doors closed. When they got to the top of the staircase, they heard it go off, and braced on eachother as the whole building shook above the massive explosion. They looked at eachother and smiled in satisfaction as they went off to find their allies.
Jay tossed away the empty guns and bent down and picked up the communicator from one of the fallen mercenaries. Anna glanced around the small room as he did so, watching for anymore of them to come around a corner. When she was satisfied the were clear, she walked over to Jay, who was fiddling with the comm. He heard chatter about a man with a metal arm and a viscous women with a whip in two different parts of the facility and laughed to himself. He fiddled more with the comm's channels, and switched the settings to the locator form. The red light on the display started flashing, and Jay smiled again. He heard more chattering on the comm, but ignored it.
"And what exactly does that red light do?" Anna asked.
Jay looked up at her, "This is a Survival Comm. This red light will flash more when we get close to other comm's. When they get close enough, it will start to beep loudly. I turned down the volume though, so now we can sneak around without having to deal with the small fry." he explained. They went through the door on the far side of the room, and continued to run down the halls. They passed door after door, looking through the windows as they did, but there was no one present in any of the bedrooms or labs or conference rooms. They rounded a corner and the comm began to beep. Without hesitation, Jay yanked open one of the doors on his right, grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her through it, shutting it quickly behind them. Once inside, Jay pulled Anna over to himself and ducked down under the window with Anna in tow. Footsteps slammed passed them in the hall and they sat next to eachother waiting for them to pass. When they did, Jay stood and pulled Anna to her feet. The bedroom they had stepped into looked as though no one had ever used it before. The desk had gathered dust, and the bed sheets hadn't ever been changed. Anna felt a little uncomfortable in the room, while Jay just glanced around. They opened the door up and went back into the hall. No sooner then they stepped out did another two guards come around the corner, and only after that happened did the comm start beeping.
Jay rolled his eyes, "Damnit!" he shouted, and pulled the comm of his belt, "What is the point of you!" he shouted at it.
"Watch out!" Anna shouted as she shoved him to the side as the guards open fired, but Jay grabbed her arm and yanked her with him, out of the path of the shots. Jay slammed against the wall, and Anna slammed against him. Neither Jay nor Anna hesitated, however, to reach back on his belt and pull out one of his tonfas each. Anna turned on her heel away from Jay, and shot as Jay pulled one out and did the same. Both the guards fell dead to the first attacks.
Jay looked at Anna, "Quick thinking, there...I would've dodged, though..." Jay said. Anna's face turned red and handed the tonfa back to Jay. He put both back on the clips on his belt.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to... I just...My weapon wouldn't have worked from that distance, and I knew yours would...I'm sorry, I know you don't like people touching you or your things..." she stammered. Jay shook his head,
"It's fine. Like I said before...Right now is no time for my stupid boundaries...You have nothing to apologize for." he said calmly. They continued through the hallway, walking over the bodies, and turning to the left. Beyond this point, there was nothing but a small door. They glanced at eachother and the door opened as they waked towards it.
Nick and Sasha ducked down behind the counter against the shots of the mercenary guns. They were currently in what looked to be a break room. The couch had been tipped over, and set on fire by Nick's blasts. Nick stood up and shot over the counter they were hiding behind. The shot hit one of the mercenaries in the head and burned through to the brain, killing the man. He ducked back down, as Sasha went up, heaving Loachsamhail around to shoot down another one. "They're still coming... What do we do," she said to Nick. Nick pulled out another fire charge and pressed the button on the top, "Thin em out..." he said, and tossed the canister over the counter. She explosion silenced the gunshots. Nick and Sasha came out from behind the counter and glanced around. Nick walked over and picked up one of the guns that was still intact, and smiled at Sasha.
She rolled her eyes, "Put that down..." she said.
Nick frowned, "Why?...Shouldn't we be using them if we can?" Nick responded. She looked at him seriously, "
No...You're a huntsman in training now for god's sake. You don't need to use other people's weapons. You have your own, and you should take pride in using it..." she said, as though she was a parent.
"But...I have pride and all, but I kinda think I should conserve my canisters for Leif and Iskelle...If Jay were here, he'd say I should use it..." he muttered. S
asha rolled her eyes, "Then maybe you should've teamed up with him." she said sternly. Nick frowned again and dropped the gun, grabbing her free arm.
"It wasn't my choice, and even if it was, I'd have chosen you. You matter more. Jay's one thing, but he's with Anna, and he's a big boy. He's capable of fighting without me." he said seriously. Sasha blushed a little and walked close to him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thanks for that...Now like I said...You don't need their weapons with a weapon like yours...Leave it, and let's go..." she turned and walked away. Nick smiled and watched the movement of her hips as she went. "Eyes front, soldier." she called back to him. Nick shook his head clear and jogged to catch up to her. She looked over her shoulder smugly at him, and he smiled and walked behind her deliberately. As they rounded another corner, there were only two guards to greet them.
"Party's thinning out..." Nick said as they shot them down together without hesitation. They stepped over their bodies as they walked towards the door they were guarding. The double door slid open as they walked towards it, and walked into a giant white room. The door sealed shut behind them. They glanced back at it, then turned to look at the whole room, and noticed five doors total. The one that they had come through. One on the right wall. One on the back wall. And two on the left wall. And on the far side of the room...Stood Leif Malladus and Iskelle Femmaren. Neither Nick nor Sasha hesitated to immediately restock their clips and canisters. But neither of their targets moved to stop them, or even made any move at all. Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room swung open and Jay and Anna walked in. Leif and Iskelle looked at eachother, and stood up straight. Leif held on to his poison canister, and the room began to fill with the same fog as before. Jay noticed and looked at Nick quickly. Nick opened the pouch on his belt and pulled out his extra Wind canister. He hadn't used any of the first one, so he was fine wasting this one. He quickly tossed the canister towards the ceiling. The case shattered on the ceiling and reacted immediately, sweeping the room clean of the fog with swirling gales. The wind howled viciously, escaping through the vents, and taking the poison with it.
Nick smiled, "Not this time." he said.
"This time...Your our prey..." Jay said after him.
Samuel leaned back against the wall behind Rachel as she continued viciously lashing out at the guards. He chuckled slightly, because it wasn't like they stood any chance. They came around the corner and she was just waiting to knock them down as she saw them. They tried raising their guns, but the weren't fast enough. They tried attacking in numbers, but she'd use the body of one to shield herself while she finished the rest. Sam pushed himself from the wall, still equipped for combat, and jumped over Rachel as she retracted from an attack. He ran quickly to the end of the hall. Two guards reached the corner as he did, but they weren't standing for long, as Samuel cut them down without hesitation. He glanced down the hall and motioned for Rachel to follow. She did, and together they continued running down the hall.
"How many is that now?" he asked her casually.
She looked at him through the corner of her eye as they ran, "Thirty seven." she said simply.
"Damn, you're on fire today..." he said back. She smiled as they moved.
Sam noticed and smiled as well, "There it is...You don't smile enough, Rachel. It's good to see...It makes you look much more beautiful." he remarked. Her face was slightly red as they almost rounded the next corner. Guards were waiting for them though, and Sam stopped short of the turn, grabbing Rachel's arm as she rounded the corner. Their guns went off, but Sam had already pulled Rachel back, against himself. She looked over at his face, an inc from hers, and smiled again.
"Thanks, Sam..." she said, in a much more gentler tone than she normally spoke with. He smiled again. She stood up, so as to not stay leaning against Sam all day, and they waited at the corner, as the guards continued firing.
"Damnit, why won't they stop?" Sam said, annoyed.
"Listen close...They're alternating fire. One fires so as to let the other reload, and then the other does the same." she conjectured.
"Ok...So let's wait till the alternation, and attack the one reloading?" Sam asked. She nodded. But before they got to go along with this plan, there were two gasps and the bullet hail stopped. They both glanced tentatively around the corner, to see Chris and Tia standing over the dead guards. They high-fived one another as Sam and Rachel came around the corner and walked over to them.
"These two were giving you trouble, eh?" they said together.
"A little bit. Good to see you two though...Have you made any contact with Team JNAS?" Sam asked. They shook their heads in unison, as they always did.
"Damn...So what happened? You two know where our targets are?" Rachel chimed in. Again they shook their heads.
"But we did find something interesting." they said. Both Rachel and Sam's heads perked up at this. "We know what this place is for. There were Grimm hidden here. But they weren't normal Grimm." they said. Sam and Rachel shared a look. "What do you mean, weren't normal Grimm?" Sam asked, a little worried about the potential answers. "They had brain implants...They didn't act like Grimm. They acted like an army." they explained.
"An army?" Rachel spoke up again.
The twins nodded, "Yeah. They acted as though they were intelligent. They fought together, as if they planned their moves together...They coordinated attacks. But oddly enough, they were willing to attack eachother..."
"Attack eachother? I thought you said they were intelligent..." Rachel said.
"Not like that. The Ursa Major attacked together, as did the Deathstalkers...But when a Deathstalker accidentally killed an Ursa, all the other Ursa began tearing them apart." they continued.
Sam's eyes widened, "Wait...Ursa Major and Deathstalkers? How in hell did you get out of there alive? Even with them attacking eachother, if you two got caught in such a fight, you'd have been slaughtered..." Sam said in shock.
The twins beamed with pride, "We just stayed out of the way. The Ursa Major distracted and massacred the Deathstalkers, while we just thinned the Ursa's numbers a bit to get to the elevator. Oh yeah, we should mention that this was underground. We blew up the elevator." the twins seemed quite proud of their accomplishments. Sam and Rachel were surprised, but then again...These were the Dragoon Twins. This was just proof of their abilities.
Sam looked around at his team, "Ok, let's proceed. Our targets are very dangerous, so it's best we continue together." Sam said, assuming his leader role again. They decided to double back, seeing as the twins could tell them there was nothing down the way they'd come. Instead, they went back to an earlier branch in their path, and take the other hallway. "Where are any of the guards, we couldn't have finished them all..." Rachel said as they walked through the halls. After a while they came to a door on what they could only think was at the top of the building.
Sam opened the door, which led onto the roof. The trees had vanished under a landing pad, where at that moment, a Bullhead was just taking off. It appeared as though the camouflage was activated by proximity, because as the thing flew off, the trees began appearing from holes opening up in the rooftop. But these trees were clearly fake, made of metal, and collapsed into the ground. But that wasn't the important matter. What was, was the man standing on the rooftop with them as they all walked out onto the landing pad, the trees rising around them. None of them could see his face, as he wore a long black cloak that came down to his feet, with a hood that he had drawn over his head.
"Who's that?" the twins asked, to anyone in particular. No one answered. The man said nothing, instead beginning to walk towards them. A dread fell over Team SCRT, and all of them began shuttering. No one waited for him to get close to draw their weapons. The man walked silently, as though not moving at all, and shadows shifted behind him...
Sam frowned, "What are those...Shadows?..." he muttered. Rachel shook her head. She didn't know what it was either. But it didn't matter. Her heart was beating far too fast. The whole team felt like animals, trapped in a steel box in a forest. They wanted to attack...To lash out at this...This Demon. But they couldn't move. Rachel was the first to snap. She attacked with a mighty swing of her whip, but the hit never landed...Instead, the small bulb on the head of the whip was suddenly chopped from the end by the shifting shadows. Rachel's eyes widened and her teeth gritted. The whole team gasped. Sam didn't waste time. The twins followed him as he ran towards the Demon, with only a small hope of bringing him down...
Leif and Iskelle looked at eachother, as Leif heaved his cylinder onto his shoulder. They walked into the middle of the room, where they stood deliberately. Jay and Anna took up a position on Iskelle's side, and Nick and Sasha faced Leif. Leif nodded towards Iskelle, who stood with her back to him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a scroll. Jay glanced at Anna as Iskelle fiddled with it for a second or two. She put the scroll away, and the room shook suddenly. A large wall rose from the floor, right in between Leif and Iskelle. The wall rose all the way up to the ceiling and slammed into place. Jay and Anna's mouths dropped open.
"Well that was unexpected." Jay muttered. On Leif's side, Nick and Sasha just looked at the wall with disbelief.
"I know...No one ever sees things like this coming..." Leif said to them.
Nick and Sasha glared at him, and he smiled while Iskelle laughed a menacing laugh, "What was that about prey, you worthless little shit?" Iskelle taunted. Jay shook his head. Anna pulled her axe off of her back and held it out in her normal stance. Jay took his tonfas off of his belt and didn't hesitate to clip the bayonet endings on them. He crossed his arms over his chest like he always did. Iskelle's eyes narrowed, and she raised her hands out in front of her. The designs on her shirt began to glow more as she readied for battle. Meanwhile, Leif had already prepared himself for combat, and stood ready for Nick and Sasha.
Leif dropped his cylinder from his shoulder and ran towards Nick and Sasha. He was already tapping away on the triggers, and catching the needles in his right hand as he passed the cylinder over to his left. Nick and Sasha separated, trying to split his attention. This didn't work, and Leif immediately focused on Nick, swinging the cylinder around to strike Nick. Nick blocked with his left arm and opened his palm, already set to the lightning canister, and let out a blast, which Leif ducked under. He turned and threw the needles at Sasha, who had gotten ready to shoot toward Leif. She stopped and dodged right, using her Strength to roll to her feet and redirect herself to shoot again. Nick pulled free his sword and slashed towards Leif, who shoved Nick's left arm off of his canister and jumped back. On the other side of the wall, Jay and Anna had began to move towards Iskelle, who crossed her arms to her shoulders, then threw them back out, tossing small blue orbs. The orbs didn't move towards Jay and Anna, instead, they moved towards the ground in front of them. Jay's eyes turned gold, and he ran forward, as Anna ran left. The orbs hit the ground, and huge stalagmites formed in quick succession in a spread pattern. They ice began to move towards the two of them, continuing to form viscous spikes. Jay leaped up as the trail of them reached him, and landed in between two of them, proceeding to move towards Iskelle by pushing himself off of the sides, and moving closer. Anna dodged around the ice, trying to stay moving towards Iskelle as well. Iskelle raised her palm, and the ice under Jay started glowing and shifting. Jay jumped off of the ice as it detonated in a huge blast. Anna had gotten close enough to Iskelle to attack, and started to do so, swinging her axe around her arms and body, striking without hesitation. The blue patterns on Iskelle's shirt began to flow again, and the dust moved to her hands, and formed huge curved claws at the end of them. She used these to block Anna's blows, slashing back at Anna whenever she got the chance. At that time, Leif was holding strong against Nick and Sasha, who had taken to move closer to Leif. Leif had pressed the triggers, and from them, he produced four needles that appeared to be shaped like claws as well, and he held them in between his fingers, using them to block Nick's slash attacks. He used the cylinder to block Sasha and swung back at her. She parried and swung low, forcing him to jump, as Nick switched to the wind canister. He raised his palm, and while Leif was still in the air, loosed a blast that Leif guarded with his cylinder, as Nick knew he would. But the gale force blew him back, over Sasha. He landed on his back and rolled to his feet, tapping the triggers again as he threw the claw needles towards Sasha so that she couldn't move towards him. He caught the next set of needles, and began to throw them at the high rates that he used before. Nick recognized the metal piercing needles and was careful to avoid them. But as he did, Leif moved in close and swung with all his strength. Sasha intervened, putting her claymore in between Nick and the blow. Leif was strong, but he was no match for Sasha's Strength, and she threw him back, pointing her blade towards him and firing. The shots bounced harmlessly off of the canister as he countered, throwing needles towards Nick, who used the wind canister to through them off course.
Anna back-flipped over Jay, who slid under her, as Iskelle slashed towards her. Jay came to his feet using his heels, and blocked the attacks, and began to fight Iskelle up close himself, using his bayonet endings to slash at her, while she continued with her claws. Anna watched carefully, keeping a suitable distance, as Jay continued to push Iskelle back. Every move she made was crystal clear to him, each twitch of those aura filled claws full of light and sharp, slow motion. He easily picked her defense apart, getting close, and crossing his arms over his chest. He threw them out, as Iskelle raised her claws to block. The force of the blow threw her back against the wall, and her claws shattered into dust. Anna jumped over Jay and moved in, long-sword equipped, and tried to keep her there. But Jay ran forward, tossing Umbra into the air. The dust that had fallen from her claws glowed as it hit the ground. Jay grabbed Anna by the collar and yanked her back like a kitten, as the dust formed into an icy spire that would've stabbed right through Anna. Jay pulled her back, making sure she stayed on her feet, and as he let go of her collar, he caught Umbra, and dodged back as Iskelle's hands glowed. He switched the orientation of his tonfas and began to shoot the blasts that Iskelle let loose, destroying them in the air, while Leif had Nick and Sasha right upon him on both sides. Sasha turned on her heel, slashing at him in a spinning attack, taking a page from Anna's book. Leif blocked the strikes with his canister and turned to use it to block Nick's attacks, while he used more claw needles to slash at Sasha. Sasha stepped back, allowing Leif to return focus to Nick, running at him, and bringing his cylinder down on his prosthetic arm. Nick grunted under the force, and was driven to his knees. Sasha's eyes narrowed and she moved to shoot at Leif, but he had already retrieved more needles, and and turned to toss them at Sasha, who had to dodge. But Nick used the opportunity, turning his arm and grabbing the body of the cylinder, pulling Leif off balance as he threw it to the side, and stood. Nick slashed down at him, but Leif used his loss of balance, rolling into the canister and past Nick's slash. Leif turned the canister over, slamming the handle to the ground, and jumping up on top of it. The sides of the canister opened up, revealing the outer shell to look spoke like mechanisms that folded into the thing, which now fell open and began spinning. Leif smiled as Sasha and Nick's eyes widened in worry. There was a small blast, and the sound like a gun shot as needles were launched in every direction. Nick raised his hand and let loose the last of the wind canister in one blast, producing a huge gale wave the knocked the needles moving towards them around them. All the needles stuck into the walls, as Leif jumped down, the spokes folding back into the cylinder.
"Bad idea...Now you're out of wind dust...How will you defend against that a second time?" Leif teased, taking the cylinder by the handle, and pressing the triggers again, letting loose more needles.
Meanwhile, Iskelle had had used her power to break off the spikes that she had first sent towards Jay and Anna. Those spikes hovered in circles around Jay and Anna, and flew towards them in odd patterns. Jay's eyes saw most of it, and the two of them all but danced around eachother in circles, ducking under, rolling over, and swinging around the other to block, or otherwise destroy them as they flew towards them. Jay was good, but Anna's poleaxe was doing most of the work, easily twirling around herself, and even Jay, who used his Semblance to decipher the pattern, and match her movement style, letting her use him like an extra body to use her axe with. And it was a near perfect defense. Not a single ice crystal made it through the two of them. Soon, Iskelle threw her arms across the other, and all the ice came at them at once. Jay jumped up over Anna, twisting in the air over her own spinning defense. Jay's bayonets slashed through half of the ice, and Anna's axe slashed through the ones that remained. Iskelle's teeth ground as she growled angrily at the two of them, as Jay landed next to Anna. They stood and Iskelle's shirt began shifting again. The ice formed into her hands. She gripped the handles of two long, single edged ice swords. With these in hand, she ran towards Jay and Anna. On Leif's side, he had Nick and Sasha dodging as he continued his onslaught. Nick and Sasha wondered how long this could last. His supply wasn't infinite, was it? How long could he hold. Suddenly, he stopped throwing needles and ran towards them. Nick and Sasha smirked and started jumping back, keeping their distance. Sasha shot towards him, forcing Leif to stop and stay in place, while Nick ran around to the side, and raised his palm, heading with the ice canister. He shot a fourth of the container at once, but Leif recognized the blast, and dodged instead of blocked. They blast hit the wall, showering dust through the air, and covering it in a huge chunk of ice.
Leif looked at Nick, "Nice try, but I won't fall for the same trick twice." he said slyly.
"THIS ORIGINAL ENOUGH FOR YOU," Sasha shouted, as she smashed through the block of ice, Loachsamhail swinging towards Leif with all her strength. He raised the canister to block...But the blow was far too powerful, lifting him off of his feet, and throwing him back, against the back wall. His cylinder slammed into him as well, knocking the air from his lungs. There was a huge dent in the side of the cylinder...Nick and Sasha walked towards him now. It's not like he was going anywhere at this point. On the other side, Jay and Anna fought Iskelle, who moved with her dancer's motion, twisting around. But Anna had something now that she didn't have before...Her Semblance. Jay rolled around Iskelle and jumped back as Anna took control, also dodging back, activating her Semblance to make Iskelle see her move forward instead. Iskelle slashed at the illusion, which disappeared as Anna took the opening, swinging, and knocking her back towards Jay. Jay immediately, slammed his right leg into her in a high kick. He twisted his left heel, using the motion to turn and throw Iskelle back. She grunted and looked up after recovering, to see Jay upon her. 'That's not possible,' she thought, as she put her arms up to guard...But the illusion vanished, as Jay really surged towards her, his arms crossed over his chest. She had made her see that so she would guard instead of attack, which provided Jay the time to get in close. "This is for calling Anna a whore..." he shouted as he threw out his arms, lunging past her. The blades shattered just like that, and the dust on her shirt scattered as the blow sliced throw the clothe. Iskelle shouted in pain as blood flowed from her shoulders and lower sides, where Jay's slash had cut through, and she fell to her knees. Anna had now come upon her.
She raised up her axe, ready to bring it down, "AND THIS ONE'S FOR SASHA!" she shouted, bringing the blade down. But at that moment, the wall dropped from the ceiling, as a door opened. Anna stopped her attack. Jay turned and glanced over at Nick and Sasha, who stood over Leif.
The whole team looked over at the door which had opened. A man stood there, in a long black cloak. The hood was drawn, and it looked as though there were shadows dancing around him. They ebbed this way and that like sand or river water...But they also looked solid. The man raised his hand and pulled back his hood, to reveal silver hair.
His eyes burned blood red as opened his mouth, "That's enough..."
(AN sorry for the erratic updating schedule, again, give us a review and if you have any ideas for the story that you can think of, please, send us a PM either on here, or on )