Chapter 22: Or Just Another Bug Hunt

Pyrrha laid in her bed, slowly flipping through a book Victor had recommended to her, even though she really didn't want anything to do with him. She took a deep breath and side, wallowing in her misery that both she and Victor had brought on, although it wasn't exactly Victor's fault. It wasn't Victor's fault he was kind, and caring, and handsome and- Pyrrha sat up and threw the book down as she barked "Fuck! Stop it!" Pyrrha placed the palms of her hands over her eyes, doing everything in her power to keep herself from crying… again.

She took several deep breaths, slowly gaining control over her body and keeping her eyes dry, at least for a moment. So many things swirled around in her head surrounding her current romantic situation with her faunus crush. She didn't know that Victor dating Kris would hit her this hard, but then again it was her first romantic interest since she won the Mistral Tournament the second time in a row. Pyrrha rolled onto her side, facing the wall as she grabbed one of the spare pillows she kept on her bed and pulled it to her chest. She took another deep breath and thought "I'm acting like Victor just broke up with me… but we never started dating."

Pyrrha took a deep breath and sighed "Maybe… maybe I should talk with him about it." Pyrrha rolled onto her back, arms still wrapped around a pillow as she sighed once again. "I really don't want to talk to him at all. Not with the thought of Kris all over him." Pyrrha thought as she wondered what she would say to Victor. "I'll figure something out by the time he gets back from his mission with his sister's team."

Aboard the large airship, Teams VAND and SNTL milled about, enjoying the features the airship had. They were provided an airship that was meant to spend more time on than for speed like more of the smaller airships. It had two levels that the teams were allowed access to, one that was similar to the common rooms in Beacon, while the upper one was set up with small rooms to sleep. The flight was going to take about 11 hours, so everyone would need something to do until they arrived at Eden. Alexi sat in one of the large arm chairs and watched the large T.V. that had some news about the new Grimm, which was mostly speculation.

Alexi had looked over the information files they were given on the "Insectosaurs", as Victor called them, and figured they were a near perfect system. The creatures worked in a Hive mind, all coordinating instantly with each other, so they either shared one mind or worked with a form of telepathy. Each bug had their own job and stuck to that job specifically. There was one theory that they were similar to ants with a Queen Bug that would lay eggs and possibly served as a matriarch for the Hive. Then again, the thought of a Queen Bug was pure theory since no one could find a serviceable entrance, let alone get into the Hive.

From what the file said, if anyone got close to the entrance to a tunnel, the Insectosaurs would just collapse the tunnel and make a new one somewhere else. The Atlas military had tried to use sonar to find the source of the Hive, but the Bugs would strike down any drones that would attempt to do so. The only location the suspected Hive was, was in the northern part of the Vale continent. So far, there were only three known Insectosaur subspecies. There was the main species that everyone saw on the live feed from the archeological dig that was commonly referred as Behemoth Rex, due to its size and resemblance to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

There was a much smaller species that seemed to work as the foot soldier for the Hive, known as Reapers. These Bugs were similar to Velociraptors in shape, but stood about 5 feet tall and 6 feet long. The Reapers had large plates that covered their back and head, like the Behemoth Rex, but left the belly and chest exposed to attack. The main reason the Bugs were referred to as Reapers were its particular set of natural weapons. The Reaper had two sets of arms that sat side by side; the back set like the normal Raptor arms, skinny and clawed while the front set had large scythe-like bone blades instead of hands.

The final kind was the reason the Atlas Military couldn't get a location on the Hive, Bugs simply called Flyers. These Bugs were similar to the Reapers, main shape of the body appearing like a Velociraptor. The only differences were the Flyers didn't have two sets of arms, but had a set of leathery black wings similar to bats. The Flyer also had a long crest on the back of its head, and the claws on the feet were longer, probably since that was its main weapon. Altogether, the Insectosaurs were definitely a serious threat since they were more intelligent than your average Grimm.

Alexi continued to watch the news in silence, until Kira silently slid over to his left, arms tucked behind her back with her staring at her feet. "Umm… Hi, Alexi." Kira greeted nervously as she shifted her feet a bit. "Hey Kira, how are you feeling about the mission?" Alexi questioned as he sat up a bit.

"Just a bit. These new Grimm seem…"

"Scary?"

"Organized."

Kira crossed Alexi's vision and sat in the chair next to him, explaining her reasoning. "These new Grimm work in a way that other Grimm do not. The closest Grimm we've seen work like this is Beowolves, but they work in a pack system. The Insectosaurs work with a hive mind, all relying on one another for survival. The very fact that they aren't beating the military with sheer numbers, but instead, out smarting them is… just terrifying." Kira explained in depth. Alexi noted her extreme discomfort about the mission, so he decided to try and comfort her by reaching over and patting her shoulder. Kira smiled as Alexi comforted her, exclaiming "Thanks for listening to my concerns."

"Did you try talking to your team?" Alexi questioned as he leaned back in his seat.

"No. they were all pretty busy. Victor and Kris are 'sleeping' upstairs, Dev and Grey are playing pool, and Nabuya and Nigel are talking about weapons."

"Well, you can always count on me if you need to talk."

"Thanks Alexi, that means a lot."

Kira leaned back in her chair and started to relax as Alexi raised the volume on the T.V. a bit, the two of them enjoying the moment they were having together. In a different section of the ship, Grey leaned over the pool table, sinking her ball into the corner pocket. "Hell yeah. I've got you beat Dev." Grey bragged as she moved to her next shot. Dev adjusted himself to the other side of the table, enjoying the nice view of Grey's usual low cut shirt. Grey was about to take her next shot when she asked "You enjoying the view?"

Dev smirked as he leaned against his pool stick, commenting "You know I am." Grey rolled her eyes as she hit the cue ball, but her intended shot was off by a bit. "Well, your shot." Grey grumbled as she moved back to let Deveraux have his turn. Dev started looking as he questioned "So, Victor knew how she felt about him?"

"Yep. Big Doofus was just too nervous about asking Pyrrha out. No wonder she decided to make the first move herself."

"And yet, he's dating Kris. Don't get me wrong, it's good for them. Kris had a crush on Victor since our second day at Beacon, but the Big Guy never really talked about how cute Kris is."

"Trust me, I know. It's good to see Victor in the game again, but I wish he thought with his heart and not his penis."

"Isn't that roughly how you thought for us?"

Dev looked back from his shoot to see Grey roll her eyes and answer "Yeah, but I actually like liked you. Vic just kinda… liked Kris. Hell, he barely took notice of her until I got her to start flaunting her tits." Dev took his shot, missing by a decent margin as he replied "I should've figured you taught her that one."

"Hey, gotta learn from the best."

"Regardless, Vic and Kris are together and we're dealing with the backlash of teenage drama."

"Yep. Still, I feel bad for Pyrrha. The timing of everything was just… awful."

"It really was. So, why is Victor exactly with Kris? I'm still a little confused by it all."

"Because Victor is a nice guy and he didn't just want to toss Kris aside after sleeping with her."

Dev moved aside and let Grey take over as he rephrased "So, he didn't want to 'hit it and quit it'?" Grey took her shot, sinking her ball and replying "Yep. A dumb idea if you ask me, especially when there's another girl you like more."

"A real recipe for disaster."

Grey hit the cue ball and landed the eight in the corner pocket, Grey questioning as she leaned up "Hey Dev, can you do something for me later?" Dev took Grey's stick as he responded "Sure."

"Can you… ask Victor is this is what he really wants? Like, really wants?"

"Sure thing. I'm kinda wondering it myself since he's practically in love with Pyrrha."

"You think so too?"

"Everyone does."

Grey walked up behind dev, wrapping her arms around him and resting her chin on his shoulder. She sighed "I just don't want for this to end and we have to pick a side." Dev looked down, placing his hands on hers and replying "Hopefully it won't come to that."

"We'll just have to play it by ear then."

The two separated and went to the lounge area to see Kira and Alexi talking about the new Grimm. After a few more hours, the group finally arrived in the city of Eden, the northern city of the Vale continent. It was a fairly large city, but not as large as Vale. The city was mainly used as an airship refueling point between Vale and Atlas, so it was imperative that the city remain standing and not be taken over by the Insectosaurs. The teams exited the airship and proceeded to their assigned hotel where they would stay for a few days; one night to get over the jet lag before heading towards the suspected Insectosaur tunnel.

They were given two rooms, one for Team VAND and the other for SNTL, so basically split between the guys and girls. Victor dropped his bag on his bed and sighed "Alright gentlemen, get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I've got an alarm set and so does Grey. We leave first thing in the morning." Victor started to set his bed up when Dev approached him, questioning "Hey, Big Guy, you got a minute?"

"Can it wait? I'm kinda tired. Flying doesn't work very well for me."

"Alright man, I guess it can wait until morning."

Victor crawled into his bed and almost immediately went to sleep while the other three stayed awake for a bit longer. "So Nigel, didn't see you out and about on the airship." Alexi questioned as he prepared his bed. "I was enjoying some very interesting conversation with Mrs. Shirakami." Nigel answered as he prepared his own.

"Really? What about?"

"Weaponry. Her weapon, Mr. BOMBastic, is truly interesting. A rocket launcher combined with a spiked bat."

"Seems like a bit on the extreme ends."

"It makes sense, given her Semblance to charge her weapon and cause a small explosion."

"Oh yeah, she can do that."

"Stick with what you know. It makes the most sense."

The rest of the team got settled into their beds and drifted off to sleep. Sadly, morning came about 5:30 thanks to Team VAND's illustrious leader wanting to get the jump on the Insectosaurs. Victor slowly dragged himself from his bed while the rest of his team groaned in their beds. Victor went through his morning routine, showering and getting dressed, while everyone else started dragging themselves from their beds. Victor grabbed his axe and put it on his back as Nigel entered the shower, Victor heading down to grab some breakfast.

He grabbed a plate of eggs, bacon, toast and milk and took a seat at a table, reading over his mission file for the thousandth time, just to be safe. Their mission was merely to observe the workings of the Insectosaurs above ground, since no one could get inside the tunnels without them collapsing on their heads. Victor looked over the notes until Kira took a seat in front of him with a small breakfast of eggs and toast. "Morning Kira." Victor greeted as he continued to look over his notes. "Good morning Victor. Looking over the mission notes?"

"Yep. Just trying to figure out the best way to observe these things without getting involved."

"What are you thinking?"

"My team will probably set up on this small mountain that has a good vantage point. I'll talk with Grey about having your team moving around, getting a good look at the land around the tunnel since none of you have far sights with your weapons."

"Makes sense. I'm sure Grey will agree to it since our team is more about assaulting than anything. Can… I ask you something?"

"If this is about Kris and me, then no."

"Oh… okay then."

The two continued to eat breakfast in silence, until Kira questioned "Why don't you want to talk about you and Kris?" Victor dropped his fork and sighed "Because it all goes around the same few points. Why are you with Kris? Aren't you in love with Pyrrha? Kinda get tired of hearing it."

"Well, that's because everyone thought you and Pyrrha would be together."

"I'm well aware of that, but what's happened has happened. So you guys have to deal with that."

Kira nodded and finished "I just hope that you're happy with Kris." Victor picked his fork back up and continued eating, the two sharing small talk until the rest of the teams arrived. Victor ran his plan by Grey, who easily approved since she didn't really have a plan herself, so Little Brother's plan was the master plan. The group readied themselves, gathering their weapons and bags before heading into the forest, where the suspected Insectosaur Tunnel was. It was believed to be about 20 miles out from the city, but it was never confirmed since no one had seen any Insectosaurs, just rumored sightings of Flyers.

Whatever interest the Grimm had in the city, it wasn't very clear since they hadn't shown… really any interest in the city. The group moved through the forest with ease since it was about the same thickness as the Emerald Forest, about 10 feet between trees with some large brush and a few clearings. It was nearly noon when they reached the small mountain, or a large pile of rocks that could be called such, and VAND started their climb. Team SNTL started their walk, finding their way around the forest, but not to the tunnel so the Insectosaurs could collapse it. Grey looked at the map they were given, careful to avoid the spot marked "TUNNEL" on it.

They were walking for about an hour when Kira felt a slight headache start to develop in the back of her head. She put a hand there and rubbed it to try and soothe it, but kept quiet about it to prevent her team from worrying about her. The group pressed on and Kira's headache slowly started to get worse when Kris pointed out "Have any of you noticed that there aren't any Grimm around here? Like… at all." Grey stopped and looked around, agreeing "You're right. We should have at least seen a Beowolf or two this deep into the forest. Something isn't right." Nabuya looked around and noticed Kira's discomfort, questioning "Are you feeling okay Kira?"

Kira shook her head and groaned "I have a headache." It slowly became unbearable as Kira brought both hands to the back of her head, dropping to her knees out of pain. Nabuya dropped to her own knees and called to the rest of the team, Kira attempting to block everything out as her headache worsened. Thankfully, her headache started to subside, but the pain was replace by a quiet whisper, almost completely inaudible. Nabuya questioned "Kira, are you-". Kira immediately held up a hand and hushed Nabuya, attempting to focus in on the whispers and determine what was being said.

Kira started to hone in on the whispers until they slowly became clear… and they were orders. "Find anything you can. The Queen must be fed." The whisper barked. There were several other whispers that seemed like confirmations and then everything went silent, replaced with just a slight headache. Kira brought her head up to see the worried expressions of her team. "You feeling alright Kira?" Grey questioned as she took a knee.

"I… I can hear them." Kira exclaimed quietly.

"What?"

"The Insectosaurs. I can hear them. They're… gathering food to feed the Queen."

Kris knelt down and questioned "Is it because you're?" Kira nodded and replied "I… I think so." Nabuya immediately barked "We can't tell anyone about this! If we do, they'll take Kira away to some lab!" Grey covered Nabuya's mouth to prevent their location from being known to anything in the area. "We won't tell anyone. I'm not letting anything happen to my friends. But for now, we have a chance to hear what the Insectosaurs are up to." Nabuya looked to Kira with a worried look, unsure of letting Kira tap into the Insectosaur Hive mind.

"Okay… just… let Kira turn it off if she can. I don't want anything to happen to her." Nabuya argued quietly. Kira was her best friend and her partner, she didn't want anything to happen to her… especially since she still had a tiny crush on Kira. Grey nodded and returned to Kira, ensuring that she was still doing just fine.

"Are you doing okay, Kira?" Grey questioned, making sure that her friend wasn't putting too much strain on herself. Kira nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the whispers in her head, attempting to figure out what the Insectosaurs were planning. It was a bit of a hassle since she was new to the Hive mind collective and was worried about being found out. A new thought bubbled into her head as she listened to the Collective, how was she able to listen in on the Hive mind? She couldn't help but wonder if… if part of her was one of these things.

She only ever tried to turn into pieces of Grimm, like Nevermore wings or Boarbatusk armor in emergencies. The only Grimm she ever fully transformed into was the Shadow Raptor, and even that was risky to be lost to her Hunger. She looked down at her hands, pondering what would happen if she tried to turn into one of those Bug Grimm. She shook her head and focused once again on the whispers, hearing a conversation between two of them.

"The Queen has moved her location. The mammals have come too close to finding the nest." The new voice exclaimed. This voice was… different from the one she was hearing bark orders earlier. This one seemed, older… and darker, establishing a sense of command and superiority that screamed 'I'm better than you and I know it.'

"Where has she moved? We will begin work on food transport and the movement of our Hive." The original voice questioned. The first voice was still commanding, but nowhere near as dark or self-absorbed as the new one.

"We have found a suitable nest, the remains of a city. It is beyond the reach of the mammals and gives easy access to food. There we will rebuild our once great race." The dark voice responded. Whatever the Bugs were planning, it was going to be big and it was going to be bad for any humans anywhere near the Hive. Kira lifted her head and relayed what she just heard to her team, all of them immediately worried about the conversation.

"We have to tell someone about this." Grey exclaimed as she set her bag on the ground. She had to write all of this down before any of them forgot the conversation.

"No! They'll take Kira from us!" Nabuya argued, panicking that she might lose her friend.

"We have to! For something this big? Nabuya, these bugs are setting up for a new nest and are preparing to attack in force. We can't keep this to ourselves."

"But…"

"No buts here Nabuya. We have a duty as Huntresses to protect the people. We'll tell Ozpin and he can figure out what to do from there."

"Kira… I'm sorry." Grey apologized as she turned back to Kira, guilt already building up inside her for basically throwing Kira to the wolves. She didn't want to see her team torn apart and to lose her friend, but this was something bigger than them and it needed to be taken care of.

"It's okay. I understand, Grey." Kira sighed as she pull her knees to her face and rested her forehead on them. She knew this would have come out eventually, she just thought she would have a bit more time before it did. She just hoped that she wouldn't go back to being an animal in a cage for the sake of science, her own feelings tossed aside just to learn about what she could do… again. She closed her eyes, pretending that she was listening to the whispers, but she just wanted to hide her face so no one could see her crying.

Team VAND climbed the rock mountain, attempting to get as high as possible before they started searching for the nest location. After climbing for about 30 minutes, they found a nice flat spot for them to start looking, or at least rest before. Dev pulled his rifle off of his back and started searching for anything that would give sign to the Insectosaur Tunnel. He turned for a minute before he finally spotted what he was looking for, a large clearing with movement occurring. He investigated further and saw the Insectosaurs classified as Reapers, gathering fruits and herbs from the forest.

"I've got something." Dev announced, calling the rest of his team over to look at what he was seeing. Victor took the first look, seeing exactly what Dev was seeing earlier, the Insectosaurs gathering food. Victor lowered the rifle and handed it off to the next person as he stepped back to think about what they could be doing.

"Why are they gathering fruits and herbs? Grimm usually eat meat… human to be specific." Victor thought as he leaned against the side of the mountain. The Insectosaurs definitely showed signs of intelligence, but the fact that they were foraging for food was definitely something different.

"Alright everyone, we'll set up shifts. Dev and I will take the first shift. We'll keep observing the Insectosaurs for anything else. I'll be keeping notes on what they're up to so we can report back." Victor announced as he took a seat next to the spot where Dev originally spotted the Insectosaurs foraging. Dev took his rifle back and returned to his spot, staring down the scope and continuing to watch the Insectosaurs. Alexi and Nigel pulled out their sleeping bags from their beds and got some sleep before their shift began. Victor pulled out a notepad and started jotting down his observations, attempting to figure out what the Bugs were up to. It was about 2 hours of silence other than the sound of Victor's scribbling before Dev finally broke the silence.

"Mind if I ask you my question now?" Dev questioned as nothing happened with the Bugs, who were still foraging.

"Shoot." Victor exclaimed as he set the notepad down.

"You and Kris. Are you sure this is what you want? Like, what you really want?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"You know I'm asking because I care. After all, you are in love with Pyrrha."

"I'm not in love with Pyrrha." Victor growled as Dev handed his sniper rifle to him. Victor adjusted his position to look through the scope and still keep an eye on the Insectosaurs. He felt his anger start to bubble, the fact that everyone constantly questioning his relationship with Kristine was starting to get to him.

"Sure thing man, just keep telling yourself that." Dev pushed as he stood up to stretch.

"I'm. Not."

"Totally believe you, Big Guy."

"I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH PYRRHA!" Victor exploded as he stood up. Alexi and Nigel awoke with a start as Dev put his hands up shoulder height, attempting to calm Victor down.

"I AM WITH KRISTINE BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT HER! AND I'M TIRED OF ALL OF YOU QUESTIONING IT!"

"Relax Victor, it's okay."

"NO IT ISN'T! I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH PYRRHA AND I NEVER WILL BE!"

Victor was panting out of anger, attempting to catch his breath after his outburst. The silence was broken as the group heard something land on the rocks above them, something with large leathery wings. All of the group looked up to get a close up of a Flyer, and all its Insectosaur glory. The close up showed the Flyer had a second set of chitinous shell on its stomach, white just like the top shell. The Flyer also had four red eyes, one large pair in front and then another, smaller red pair just behind the front ones. The claws on the Flyer's feet were at least 8 inches long with jointed toes like a human's fingers.

The Flyer looked at them, head bouncing from one person to the next, similar to a bird and started making small chirping sounds. Everyone stood still as the Flyer opened its mouth and uttered a horrid screech that nearly deafened all of them. Dev quickly grabbed his rifle and swung it towards the Flyer, pulling the trigger and putting a bullet in the Grimm Bug's head. The Grimm collapsed and fell forward in a crumpled heap, the large exit would in the back of its head oozing blood. Dev immediately swung his rifle and looked for the Reapers, all of them staring up at the mountain they were on.

"Well, looks like not getting involved just got a hell of a lot harder." Dev groaned as all of the Reapers dropped what they were carrying and started heading towards them. Dev was about to lower his rifle when he spotted a new Insectosaur, and it was big. This one looked taller than Victor, possibly about 10ft tall and had a similar shape to the Flyer. It had the head just like a Flyer, but the body was much larger and bulkier with the same plates on its back and chest. The Grimm's arms were as thick as Victor's but were white like the plates on its body and there were four of them.

The hands had three fingers and a thumb on it, but the main detail was the large bone-like blade that extended three feet from its wrist. Dev watched the new Grimm start to move towards the mountain they were on, ready for a fight.

"Get ready for some more, because those things are on their way." Dev updated as he swapped his rifle for his revolvers. Everyone pulled their weapons, Nigel stepping up to the edge of the flat with is weapon, Edgar's Revenge, in its mini-gun form. He pulled the trigger and started to unload rounds into the trees, hoping to cut the Insectosaurs down before they were going to reach them. Trees began to fall as Edgar's Revenge began to slow down and conserve the lesser amount of ammunition. Victor charged his LMG and pointed it at the smoke, preparing to unload into anything that came out of the smoke.

Three Reapers flew out of the smoke, charging the mountain with lightning speed and large scythe hands ready to rip through flesh. Alexi joined Victor and the two began unloading rounds at the Insectosaurs, hoping to cut them down before anything got to them and made their day worse. Luckily, they were able to cut the Reapers down before they even made it to the mountain. Unfortunately, something large jumped from the smoke and landed about halfway up the mountain, red eyes locked on the team. Victor pointed his weapon at the Grimm, but the beast launched itself forward and landed on their small rock pad.

The Grimm had a long, almost whip-like tail that immediately slammed Nigel in the back and sent him toppling over the edge of the mountain. Dev turned and started putting rounds into the beast, but the bullets had little to no effect, but mainly just pissed the beast off. The beast swung one of its massive arms at Dev, who simply Blinked out of the way of the attack and above the beast to try and get the drop on the beast. The beast must've sensed Dev attacking him somehow, because the beast grabbed Alexi and threw him up, slamming the two Huntsman in training into each other. Victor attempted to charge the beast, but it brought its arms around and slammed Victor in the chest with the blunt end of its blades and sent Victor over the edge.

Dev and Alexi finally started coming down, but the beast back handed them as they came down and sent them rolling down the mountain side with the rest of their team. Alexi and Deveraux landed on Victor's back, who was face down on the ground with Nigel laying a few feet away.

"Well that could've gone better." Victor groaned as he got up, sliding Dev and Alexi off of his back. Nigel started to slide and grab his weapon as the beast delivered a loud screech, probably the Grimm boasting about its future victory. Victor scrambled to grab his axe from the ground as Nigel grabbed his, Dev and Alexi still recovering from their fall. The Grimm jumped from its pad and landed in between Victor and Nigel, who were both ready for the fight. Victor swung first while Nigel converted his mini-gun into its cricket bat form, the Grimm clashing its bone blades with Victor's axe.

The Grimm started to spin, bone blades ready to impale Victor when Nigel started to bring his cricket bat down on the bug and smash it. The Grimm saw it and raised its claws, blocking the swing while changing its attack to a grab and throwing Victor into Nigel, knocking them both to the ground. The Grimm would have ended them, but Alexi and Deveraux had recovered and started their own attack against the Grimm. The Bug raised a pair of blades, Dev's sword slamming against one while Alexi's blade wrapped around the other. The Bug pushed Dev away while it threw Alexi to the side.

The two hit the ground and slid, but recovered faster than the two heavy fighters, and then charged the Grimm once more. Alexi would constantly try to get close and hook one of his sickles around its arm, attempting to disarm the Grimm and give them a better chance. Deveraux would use his sword and one of his revolvers simultaneously to try and throw off the Insectosaur, but it only seemed to agitate the Grimm further. The Grimm caught one of Alexi's blade and then swung him into a fallen tree, focusing all four of its bone blades into Dev. Dev did his best to try and deflect the blows, but a few made it through and struck Dev in the chest several times.

Luckily, Victor had recovered and tackled the Grimm, throwing it to its side and Victor began attempting to chop the Bug to pieces. The Bug rolled out of the way of Victor's axe swings, narrowly avoid every single chop until Nigel came to Victor's side and brought down his weapon, the Bug rolling out of the way. Victor brought his axe down on the Bug, aiming for its chest, but the bug rolled away from Victor, but Victor was able to cut off part of the Grimm's tail. The Bug howled in pain as the remains of its tail flipped and swung, spraying blood everywhere, the Grimm clearly mad and in pain. The Grimm then charged the group, intent to kill renewed and stronger than ever.

The Bug started swinging like mad, Victor and Nigel doing their best to block as many incoming blows as possible. Luckily, Dev and Alexi came in and started swinging against the Insectosaur, putting it at a disadvantage of having to choose which fight to fight. The Grimm bug mainly went on the defensive, blocking attacks from Dev and Alexi while dodging Victor and Nigel's swings. The fight went on for a few minutes before the Bug was able to land a hit, a bone blade striking Victor across the chest and making him stumble. Once the opening occurred, the Insectosaur spun, forcing everyone to go defensive and allowing the Grimm to slip away.

The Grimm was fast, faster than Victor was able to recover and delivered a few more hate filled blows. Victor knew he could maybe take one or two more blows before his Aura gave out on him, so he held his arms up and allowed the blades to slice them instead of his chest or neck. Three blows raked across Victor's arms while the forth slashed him across his stomach, forcing him to drop to his knees. The next blows would have been fatal, if Deveraux hadn't Blinked behind Victor and then Blinked again, taking him out of combat. Alexi decided to go more offensive and loaded a grenade into his weapon, blasting a round into the Grimm Bug's back while Nigel swapped to his mini-gun.

The Grimm Bug turned to see the massive weapon and jumped, just narrowly avoiding the bullet storm. Nigel saw the jump was coming at him and attempted to pull his weapon up to cut the Insectosaur down, but he was too slow. The Bug came down and drove one of its blades into Nigel's shoulder, pinning him to the ground with a nasty scream. The Insectosaur was about to stab him again, but Alexi was able to swing a sickle and slice the arm pinning Nigel to the ground off, the Insectosaur howling in pain. Alexi tried to deliver another blow, but the Grimm recovered quickly and swung its remaining arm and slashed Alexi from his left hip up to his right shoulder.

Alexi stumbled back as the Grimm clutched its arm stub with a free hand, two more arms still free to attack the downed fighters. Deveraux made sure that the Grimm couldn't attack his friends while they were down, unloading rounds from his revolvers until they both clicked empty. Dev holstered his guns and drew his sword, charging the Grimm with rage from seeing his friends get cut down in front of him. Dev's blade clashed with one of the arm blades, but the other one came at Dev from the side, but was stopped just short. The Grimm was confused, until there was a blue shimmer from the point of contact that eventually revealed the large blue demon knight, Yamato.

"You just made one of the worst mistakes in your miserable life." Deveraux growled with a dark echo following it. Yamato pushed the arm blade aside while Dev did the same, leaving the Grimm wide open for the twin bladed assault. Yamato started by driving his blade through the Bug's left shoulder, just like it did to Nigel, then Deveraux delivered a slash up the Bug's body, just like it did to Alexi. Yamato then ripped his blade out and slashed the Insectosaur across the stomach like it did Victor, Deveraux ending the attack be driving his blade up through the bottom of its jaw and up through its head. Dev ripped the blade out, the Insectosaur dropping to its knees and then falling to its side.

Dev wasn't done there, he then took his blade and lopped the head of the Bug off, letting it roll across the ground as Yamato slowly dissipated. As Dev dropped to his knees, panting like crazy when Team SNTL showed up, all of them covered in blood. Kristine immediately ran to Victor's side while Kira ran to Alexi's and Nabuya attended to Nigel. Grey knelt down in front of Deveraux, clearly concerned about him.

"Dev? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Grey questioned, opening his coat to check him for any injuries. She wasn't seeing anything, but Dev started laughing as she checked him over for wounds.

"You're asking me if I'm okay when you're covered in blood?" Dev questioned as he chuckled.

"You can worry if it's my blood I'm covered in. This is all from those stupid Reaper bugs. A couple of them came after us once we heard gunfire start coming from your guys' direction."

"How sweet. Worried about your boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend I would like to keep. Come on, we need to get the rest of the guys to a hospital."

Almost immediately after Grey finished her statement, there was a large explosion-like sound with a massive dust cloud coming from the direction of the Insectosaur Tunnel. Everyone assumed that the Insectosaurs had just collapsed their Tunnel since they were discovered, just like they always did. Kris and Dev helped Victor to his feet, who had already used his jacket and shirt to bandage his wounds and just needed help moving a bit. Nigel was able to walk and move normally, he was just in a large amount of pain. Alexi needed a bit of support, but Kira was there to help him and bandage the wound the best they could.

Grey quickly scaled the small mountain and grabbed the guys' packs, bringing them down so nothing was left behind. Instead of trying to drag the injured members back to the city for several hours and risking infection and sickness, Grey called an airship with medical staff. The ship arrived in about an hour, medics immediately treating the injured parties before loading them into the airship. Once everyone was stabilized, they were loaded into the airship and brought to a hospital to ensure that their wounds weren't fatal. Once everyone's wounds were treated and stitched, the teams decided it would be best for them to return to Beacon and inform Professor Ozpin of what they found, and that they had failed their mission.

Chief A/N: There you have it everyone! The Insectosaurs are out and about and planning something big! What will it be? You have to wait and see. Review your thoughts, comments, concerns, bitches, gripes or complaints or PM myself (ChiefD3m0n1c), SOVIETxEAGLE, or roosterteethfanatic. Until next time!

-Chief