Chapter 34: Party Crasher
The second river crossing was the final obstacle to overcome before stepping onto Beacon proper. If they were being honest, their trek seemed to be much more serene than what they had observed by watching the other half of their team. Contrary to the relative peace that they enjoyed as they waded across the water, Scarlet's constant stream of questions had become something of a nuisance to both Sun and Oobleck along their journey from their forest encampment to Beacon. "Which building did they go in... Why didn't they turn on the lights on the top floor like they were supposed to... Do you think they found anybody?"
Most of his questions did not have clear answers, so none were given. The foursome maintained a loose noise discipline when Scarlet wasn't busy breaking it. There had been no Grimm engagements along their trip. After the Nevermore and its entourage of Griffons flew away, the grounds surrounding the school became almost eerily quiet, with most of the smaller, land based Grimm scattering randomly, or retreating back to the interior regions. Even still, there was no clear line of sight to the interior courtyards, so caution was still exercised.
The smallest member of the group was the first one to reach the opposite bank of the river. Zwei shook the water off of himself, then walked in several tiny circles as if he was searching for something. The three men still wading through the water didn't pay much attention to it. They all had other things on their minds. After all, their journey had been pushed ahead somewhat based on the abnormal Grimm activity that they had witnessed.
In their own ways, they had all considered that splitting up might have been an unnecessary risk to take as part of their attempt to explore such a dangerous place. The time that had passed between the separation of the two groups had been less than an hour. But it had been enough to observe all of the bizarre goings on, emanating from the center of the school. At Sun's insistence, the four of them set out ahead of their predetermined schedule. Needless to say, they were all anxious to confirm that their friends and companions were safe.
As if he had nothing better to do than draw attention to himself, Scarlet spoke up again, "Where's Zwei off to?" Sun and Oobleck snapped out of their individual instances of tunnel vision to notice that their canine comrade had begun trotting towards the nearest building to their tiny beachhead.
Oobleck stopped in the middle of the water, keen to observe what Zwei was doing. After a moment of silent contemplation, he stated what was already obvious to the others in the way that had come to define him. "Gentlemen, it would appear that our canine companion has picked up a scent. Because of the naturally heightened instincts that dogs possess, it would be in our best interest to follow him at a safe distance."
From the far shore, Sun looked back at Doctor Oobleck. He hated to be disrespectful, but the man had an uncanny knack for saying the most obvious things. Constantly. He just didn't seem to understand that he was talking to huntsmen in training, not children. Everything was a lecture, which was useful in some situations, but not exactly necessary in this particular one. As far as he could tell, Zwei had picked up the scent of something, and he had to find out what that was. "Yeah, we know. Dogs are good at smelling stuff. Got it. Let's just go."
Oobleck must have realized the same thing, as he watched the students giving chase to Zwei, and then looked down at his own legs, which were partially submerged in the water. He considered that maybe he didn't give them enough credit as huntsmen, but at the same time, he couldn't bear the burden of guilt if something were to happen to them, especially something that he could have prevented. His position as the leader of this half of the expeditionary force meant that their safety was his responsibility. So he stepped out of the water and set out after the rest of his team.
Further ahead, Sun found it remarkable how quickly Zwei moved, considering his short, stubby legs. He and Scarlet were only just able to catch a glimpse of him entering one of the buildings on the outer edge of the campus before he disappeared inside.
"How can anything so small be so bloody fast!?" Scarlet's habitual outbursts of rhetorical questions had long ago become a source of aggravation for Sun. More often than not, he could ignore them. But even Doctor Oobleck heard him quite clearly from his position a few dozen paces behind them.
In a loud sort of whisper that had become commonly used during years of field work with other huntsmen and huntresses, Oobleck attempted to reign in his younger teammates. "Will you please keep your voice down, Mr. David? As I'm sure you are well aware, there could well be large concentrations of Grimm in or around this area." Turning his attention to Sun, he continued. "Sun, your enthusiasm for this mission is impressive, almost inexplicably so, honestly. But I would ask that you not run off in pursuit of our canine friend so…blindly. We cannot be sure who, or what, he is tracking. And until we find out, we must use the utmost degree of caution."
Sun couldn't help but disagree. "I know you're trying to protect us Doc, but I have a responsibility to the rest of my team. Maybe they're just inside searching for survivors, but if they're in trouble, then I can't afford to wait for Zwei to save them." He didn't dare address Oobleck's comment about his enthusiasm. He was a part of this mission because it was just about the only way to purge his mind of his last interaction with Blake. And yet, he still couldn't shake the notion that she just might work her way into this mess at some point. He knew that someone was in the woods with them, but not who.
"I understand your concern Sun. You must remember that Peter is in there as well. He is one of my closest friends, and although he is more than capable of handling himself, I intend to see to his well-being personally. We will proceed with caution, but not without concern for our teammates." He watched the young Faunus fight an internal struggle to comply with the suggestion… or quite possibly lash out against it, and made an attempt to help. "Why don't you take point? Scarlet and I will follow close behind."
A proud smile overtook Sun's face. He would get to dictate the terms of their search. Not only that, but Oobleck evidently trusted him enough to grant him this responsibility. The thought of this satisfied him greatly. "Sounds good to me. Let's get moving, we've wasted enough…"
Sun's first order was cut short by a distant rumble, which sounded quite a bit like thunder. All three men turned their attention to Vale, where the sound seemed to have originated from. At this distance, it was difficult to tell exactly what had caused it. When the second rumble tore through the air, they were able to observe the flash that accompanied it, revealing that it was in fact… gunfire. Against the dark backdrop of the night sky, it looked like nothing, but with each flash of light, the massive Schnee Dust Company airship became visible again. The tiny silhouettes that surrounded the ship, and the large ones that seemed to circle it were the source of some uncertainty.
Oobleck was the first to give his evaluation of the scene unfolding in the distance. "I would submit that the ship hovering over Vale is being attacked by the very same swarm of Grimm that we saw fly from Beacon Tower."
"Like some kind of… Grimm-nado..." Scarlet's comment was met with a stunned silence for a few moments, until Sun had finished rolling his eyes into the back of his head.
With a flat, defeated tone to his voice, he scolded his teammate for the terrible pun. "Really? Scar? That's where you went with that?"
"What, I thought it was clever… it's like the movie… You know..." he retorted.
Sun refused to give it any credence. "The movie… My god… Can we just get going before my urge to tape your mouth shut increases any further? There's literally nothing we can do to help that ship right now. Let's just stick to the plan."
"Agreed..." was the only word to come from Doctor Oobleck, who was rubbing his forehead as if he had been punched in the brain by Scarlet's earlier comment.
Before returning to their single-minded focus regarding the mission at hand, the trio watched as the great ship began to move away from the city, still firing its thunderous cannons in defense. Staying true to his earlier assessment about their inability to help, Sun turned his gaze away from Vale, and began taking steps toward the building that Zwei had already infiltrated.
There was nothing flashy or out of the ordinary about the building itself. Its large block construction gave it the appearance of a structure of great strength. The school itself was founded after the Great War, making any part of it at most eighty years old… relatively modern in the grand scheme of things. The metal door that rested partially ajar looked to be a more recent addition, adding security against potential intruders, but doing little to combat huntsmen with tridents who were determined to gain entry.
The evidence of Neptune's forced entry had left a scar on the door on the outer wall of the building. Of course, Sun had no way of knowing this… and really didn't pay much attention to it regardless. He peeked his head inside, hoping to find some sign of his teammates, or at least Zwei. Instead there was nothing, save for an ambient dust that filled the air, and the faint smell of smoke that could have come from any number of sources resulting from the events of the last few days.
He placed one hand on the door, and gently shoved it open, at least far enough that he could effortlessly step inside. Still, there was nothing to be seen, but there was a sound coming from nearby that was most definitely language. Sun couldn't make out whose voice it was, or who else might have been involved in the conversation, but he was sure that someone was talking to someone very nearby. Turning around, he poked his head back outside, and gave the all clear to Scarlet and Oobleck, before retreating back inside.
With his teammates on their way, Sun felt confident enough to call out, to get some form of closure regarding the identity of the voices. He began quietly, at a conversational volume. "Hello? Is anybody in here?" There was no response, which he considered was likely because he hadn't been loud enough. His next attempt included much more gusto. "Neptune? Sage? It's Sun… You guys in here? Professor Port? Anybody?"
The silence following his second attempt was alarmingly brief. "Sun? We're here! Help us!"
Sun wasn't sure exactly where 'here' was, but he was able to generalize that the voice sounded a lot like Neptune, and that it had come from one of the rooms closeby. 'Help' was not a word he expected to hear either, especially not from one of his teammates. His instincts kicked in, and he began sprinting down the hall. It turned out to be a waste of energy, as the room he was looking for ended up being the first on his right. By the time he was able to break his stride, he stood in the middle of the double-wide entryway.
The first thing he saw was Neptune, pulling himself to his feet, clinging to his trident. He was facing down into the large lecture hall. As his eyes worked in concert with his mind to collect all of the details of the situation, he noticed Neptune's leg. Specifically, the rip in the back of his pant leg, and the blood that had stained the area around it. Zwei stood next to him, growling in the same direction as Neptune was facing. Before he could so much as address his teammate, he noticed another person running towards them.
It took Mercury until he was halfway up the stairs to realize that Sun had reinforced his quickly withering team. This fact didn't stop him. Neptune was too easy of a target to let slip away on account of one Faunus. It did, however, inform him enough to know that a flying kick was probably not the best course of action, based on his encounter with Port earlier. He closed the distance on foot, planting himself a few feet from the wounded huntsman, and preparing some form of a roundhouse kick. In his estimation, there was no way that someone in Neptune's condition could dodge it. And he was right.
Neptune couldn't do anything. He didn't have to. Before Mercury's leg could swing into his defenseless target, it was redirected into the ground by Sun, who had in a blur of smooth, continuous motion, leapt forward towards his teammate and wound up an overhead strike with his staff. The impact drove Mercury's leg straight down into the ground, short of Neptune.
Mercury now stood face to face with both Neptune and Sun and for a moment, everything came to a standstill. Mercury was clearly aggravated by this interruption, as it had gotten in the way of his continued domination of his opponents. "You people just don't know when to stop, do you? How many of you do I have to take out befo-"
His sentence was cut short by another strike from Sun's staff, this time to the side of Mercury's head. He had attempted to block the attack with his arm, but the force of the swing overpowered the makeshift parry. The impact caused him to stumble back a few steps, while Sun twirled his weapon, and assumed a defensive position in front of Neptune. His words to Mercury were very straightforward, as they usually were. "You talk too much."
Maintaining a defensive position, he very quickly asked Neptune, "You alright?" Perhaps the question he asked wasn't the most important one he could have posed, but it covered his immediate concerns. As the words came out of his mouth, his powers of observation expanded past the reeling Mercury to encompass his other teammate lying on the ground near the bottom of the stairs, writhing ever so slightly in discomfort. This marked yet another red flag that something was very wrong with the scene in front of him.
Neptune answered, "I've been better… I don't think I can move very fast… But I can probably still shoot. These guys are unpredictable and dangerous. You're not… Sun, you can't fight them all by yourself..."
Sun could tell that Neptune wasn't in any condition to fight, but he also knew based on what he had seen of his friend's injuries that he wouldn't really be able to evacuate himself either. "Chill out dude, everything's gonna be fine. You just try to get yourself out of here if you can. The cavalry's coming."
As expected, Neptune didn't make much of an effort to get out of the room. Honestly, Sun considered how much of a challenge that would actually be, what with how much weight he had seemed to be putting on his trident-turned-crutch. "Sun, you don't understand… These people are dangerous. They did that to Sage, and this one..." he pointed at Mercury with the arm that wasn't bearing any weight "...did something to Port. I don't know where he is." He lowered his voice to attempt to address Sun more privately, "I'm not sure how much I can help you with. I can't do a whole lot more than what I'm doing right now, man. It was the short one… she came out of nowhere, caught both of us off guard. It wasn't even a fight."
"Hmm…" Sun looked down at the other two people standing at the bottom of the room. Two women, both of whom he was familiar, but not acquainted with. With his assessment complete, he turned his attention to the more immediate threat, who had not backed down, but still appeared to be fuming over the ease with which he had been repelled. Sun wasted no time with smalltalk or intimidation tactics. "So… what's your deal? Who are you people?"
Mercury looked particularly aggravated, a notable departure from the laughter and smiles that he had enjoyed when his side seemed assured victory. "I wouldn't worry about it. If you're anything like your friends here, it really won't matter in a few minutes."
"Oh, you're a badass then? Cool." Sun deflected Mercury's threat. "So here's how this is gonna go. First, you're gonna tell me where Professor Port is. After that, I guess we can talk about why you're doing all of this. Then, when we're done having that conversation, I'll probably drag you into custody in Vale." Thoughts of his junior detective badge flashed gloriously through his mind.
The signature smirk returned, and with it a snort which indicated that Mercury had his doubts about Sun's ability to backup any part of the plan he laid out. "Ok, sure monkey boy… You and what army?"
In a moment of perfect dramatic timing, Sun detected the presence of Scarlet and Doctor Oobleck rushing into the room behind him. A quick glance back was all he needed to confirm it. Ignoring the bewildered expressions that they displayed, he turned back to Mercury and reciprocated his half-smile. "Uh, I guess that one." He didn't know all of the details of what Mercury had done in the last few weeks, more specifically the last few hours, but Sun took great enjoyment in seeing the smile fade into a concerned grimace.
Mercury took several slow steps backwards, attempting to avoid overplaying the uneasiness that he felt standing opposite of so many formidable fighters. As he did, he became close enough to his allies that they could actually communicate without broadcasting their words to everyone else nearby. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity since entering the room, Emerald spoked to Mercury in as low a tone as she though was still audible to him. "We have to get out of this Mercury. Stop trying to pick a fight. Have you not noticed that they're blocking our only way out of here?"
Mercury growled back at her. He knew she was right, but his pride wouldn't let him back down from the blonde haired Faunus standing across the room.
Scarlet rushed to Neptune immediately upon noticing his physical condition. He took his wounded teammate's arm, and put it over his own shoulder. For his part, Oobleck didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation, but could sense the tension in the air. He spoke briefly to Neptune quietly, to make sure that he was not injured more seriously than it appeared, and confirmed that he wasn't. With that out of the way, he joined Sun opposite of Mercury, Emerald and Neo.
He looked at the two women, then Mercury, then Sun. "Ladies… Gentlemen… It seems I've arrived a bit late to the metaphorical party so… If someone would be so kind as to let me know what in the world is going on, we can get on with… whatever this is."
Neptune wasted no time in airing his perspective of the night's events. "Long story short, Port came in this room, then goes missing. Sage and I showed up and asked about him, then got sneak-attacked by the little one over there. Don't know why." Oobleck became visibly angered by his colleague's disappearance. He drew his thermos, and readied it for combat, extending it into its projectile form.
Sun picked up the story with his entrance, "When I got here, it looked like they were in the process of attacking Neptune, just like Sage. I got a few good hits in, and here we are."
"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way…" Neptune interjected.
"No problem." His response to Neptune was at the same hushed volume as the rest of the conversation. Then, Sun raised his voice so that everyone in the room would be able to hear it. "Right now, I'm going to come down there and help my other teammate." He pointed at Mercury, "You... are not going to move. After that we'll figure out how to settle all of this."
Mercury wasn't thrilled with this itinerary. "You're pretty confident for someone who doesn't understand what he's getting himself into, and I gotta be honest with you… I gave your friends the same warning right before they ended up like this guy."
Sun kept his staff readied in one hand, and took two steps toward Sage. Mercury made a move to match him, but was stopped in his tracks by a ball of fire that was propelled his way by Doctor Oobleck. In the wake of the small explosion, Mercury was taken aback. "Mr. Black," Oobleck made one more plea, "I do not know what you've done, nor can I fathom what you plan to do. But whatever it is, I assure you… it is not too late to stop." He waited a moment, trying to gauge the young man's reaction to his proposition. "We only want to help our friends."
Shaking his head, Mercury acknowledged, but at the same time shot down the proposition, "Why bother? Don't you people realize that you don't have control any more? Can't you see how fast things went from peace to paranoia? Synergy to savagery? Let me help you with that." He snapped his fingers, "That fast. And it's going to get much, much worse for you. Wanna know the best part? I don't have to do a damn thing. You're gonna do it to yourselves. You people and your delicate system of alliances crumbled at the first hint of trouble. You have no idea what's in store for you next. It's really too bad that the CCTS is down for the count. I'd love to kick my feet up and watch it all come apart."
After a long sigh, Oobleck let his expression droop into a sort of sadness at the words coming from the corrupted youth in front of him. He casually, and almost reluctantly, matched the steps that Sun had taken earlier, and now stood alongside the young fighter, who was still in a ready position. Sun acknowledged the inevitability that they both had on their minds with a nod. "Mr. Black, if you are trying to intimidate us, you're going to have to do better than harsh words…"
Emerald and Neopolitan, who had been observers for the majority of this confrontation, exchanged annoyed expressions. Emerald had no idea what Mercury's endgame was for any of this. In her estimation, he would either have to swallow his pride and back down, or fight several skilled huntsmen. She knew that if it came to a fight, she would have no choice but to help her partner, but Neo was something of a wildcard, considering her… less than amiable disposition toward Mercury.
Sun descended the final few stairs to the place where Sage was resting on the ground, and now stood on the lecture room floor. He kept his guard up, but slowly knelt down to try to help his friend.
Mercury's eyes followed Sun's every move. He wished with every fiber of his being that there was some opening, or some weakness to exploit. The lessons learned from fighting Port had left an impression on his ego, and his midsection. So, with that in mind, he continued to watch.
Before fully committing to Sage, Sun panned his head right, then left. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Professor Port for the first time since separating earlier. He was lying face down, pushed up against the first row of desks in the room, making him invisible to anyone not standing at ground level in the room. He was breathing, that much could be deciphered by the rising and falling of the large man's chest. His analysis was interrupted by a rumbling sound.
In the blink of an eye, Sun shot back to his feet as the entire room began to shake. His first instinct was to shift his focus back to Mercury. He expected that somehow, the deviant standing in front of him was responsible for the tremor. Instead, he found Mercury standing exactly as he had been before, with same cold, determined expression on his face. It was almost like he didn't even notice the interruption. Looking past him, Sun noticed the two women in the background looking around the room inquisitively, seemingly unsure as to the source of the disturbance..
For a few seconds, no one moved. When the rumbling faded a bit, Sun spoke to Oobleck, but did not look away from Mercury, who would very easily be able to hear him. "I see Port. He's alive." He didn't need to say anything more with regard to their incapacitated ally, Oobleck had been closely watching Sun's every move as he inched closer to Sage, then looked around the room.
Sun's words were now redirected at Mercury. "So you're some kind of agent of chaos. I get it… But do ya think you could… maybe… not… do that right now? I want to help my friends… Our friends. If you're dead set on stopping me, I've got no problem with readjusting your face again. I gotta tell ya, given the circumstances, it seems like an incredible waste of time, but hey… I've got nothing but time now that you kinda… stopped the tournament… and overran the school with Grimm… which reminds me, I meant to ask. That was you, right?"
Mercury smiled again, "You have no idea how in over your head you are… And to be honest, I'll admit that I've made some mistakes today," He stopped himself. He wanted to make sure that his words would not be misinterpreted as an apology, or anything even remotely resembling regret. "Let me try that again. It's not my style to leave a trail. See, I'm kinda like a ghost. The fact that you've seen me here means that I've made some mistakes. Mistakes that I intend to rectify before calling it a day. That means… you can help whoever you want, but my entire purpose here is to send a... very… clear message… to all of you… that you are not welcome here any more."
Emerald began to move closer to Mercury. She wasn't sure if what she felt was inspiration or desperation, but to her, it seemed a lot like her help would be required in very short order. Her steps were very slow and cautious, and she took great care to avoid making any sudden or aggressive moves. Oobleck and Sun noticed her creeping closer to them, but chose not to direct their attention away from Mercury. Neither one of them was particularly thrilled about starting what seemed like an unavoidable conflict, but if it had to happen, they didn't want to be the aggressors.
Everything was put on hold when the entire building quaked once again. The ambience was different this time. The rumble was accompanied by a long, low roar that seemed to echo from down the hall, but at the same time permeated the walls from every direction. From inside, it felt and sounded like an enormous freight train was just circling the building. Zwei seemed to sense what was coming and growled, but his warning was almost inaudible amidst the rest of the noise.
The two pairs of combatants remained locked into a staring contest in the middle of the room, with neither group willing to give any ground to the other, despite their curiosity regarding the apparent earthquake that seemed to be happening around them. That is, until the wall behind Mercury and Emerald exploded into a cloud of dust, debris and smoke. They found themselves almost immediately shrouded by a heavy shower of concrete, drywall and innumerable other materials that formerly comprised an exterior wall.
Mercury immediately began to consider a potential plan of attack, using the dust as a shroud. He couldn't see much, but if he could get close enough, he was sure that he could handle anyone in the room in a fight. His plans changed when a hand grabbed him from behind. Emerald was quick to reach for Mercury's arm while she could still make it out through the dust. "Come on!" was her only comment to him as she attempted to drag him back towards what used to be a wall. As far as she was concerned, this was the break that they needed to get out of a situation that was not strategically important enough to warrant a fight on something resembling even terms. For a moment, Mercury resisted, but even he knew that staying to fight would be pointless. His run-in with Ruby several days before would be enough to blow his cover. He had hoped to salvage some pride out of all of this. The realization that he had actually taken down two huntsmen, albeit with some help from Neo, was a victory that he could take some solace in.
Mercury wondered where Neo had gotten to in all of the chaos. She had been helpful, for once, in incapacitating Sage, and handicapping Neptune. Unfortunately for her, Mercury didn't care. He was still nursing a damaged prosthetic because of her, which had gotten him into some trouble on at least one occasion. He reluctantly allowed himself to be guided by Emerald, and the two of them ran off into the smoke. As they did, they seemed to be running underneath what had quite apparently caused the rumble. Its legs were like tree trunks, and its enormous torso was mostly distinguishable even with their obscured vision.
"My God," were the only two words to accompany the incredulous expression on Oobleck's face at the sight of a Goliath emerging from the smoke. "They must have been drawn here by all of the negative tension. We have to…" his words trailed off as he realized that he was talking to no one. His two opponents had been obscured by the expanding cloud in front of him, and Sun had gone straight to Professor Port. Recognizing that he had to contribute to this sudden and unexpected rescue in some way, he looked down at Sage, who had evidently been jolted back to consciousness by the sudden burst of activity in the room. "Right, let's get you out of here."
Once Sage was helped to his feet, he was able to walk with Oobleck's assistance. He was a bit unsteady on his own, but at least he didn't need to be carried. Sun wasn't as lucky. His split-second decision to try to help Port was looking more perilous by the moment. The enormous Grimm that had emerged from the smoke seemed unable to locate the focal point of negativity that had drawn it here in the first place. Instead of searching for it, it turned its attention to Sun, who was not only struggling to lift the much larger man, but also the first thing that the Goliath cast its gaze upon.
Sun's suddenly dire situation did not go unnoticed. Before he could think to call out for help, Scarlet arrived at his side, next to Port's unconscious body. Sun immediately glanced up towards Neptune, who was obscured somewhat by the billowing cloud of dust. He had been joined by Oobleck and Sage, and now, much like Sage, Neptune was supporting himself against the Doctor. Sun called out as loudly as he could to the trio near the entrance of the room, "Go! Get out of here! We'll be right behind you!"
The words made it through all of the commotion, and the mass of broken humanity that was Sage and Neptune supporting themselves against Oobleck began its slow turn to orient itself towards the exit.
Before they could take more than a few steps toward the door, Neptune saw a silhouette casually moving into view from their left, hidden partially by the last row of desks in the room. The group stopped, and Neptune mumbled a couple expletives under his breath as he realized that it was her. Neo didn't seem to care that she was staring down three huntsmen, albeit only one that could really put up a fight, as she continued to stroll closer to them. In a matter of seconds, she closed the gap between them to less than an arm's length.
Neo stood directly in front of a now trembling Neptune, looking up at the much taller man. She tilted her head and smiled, before kneeling down, almost to the floor. It wasn't until she picked up the umbrella that rested at her feet on the ground that Neptune wished he had thrown it further. When she got back up, she smiled again, but this time winked at him, before taking several steps backwards, curtseying, and then vanishing into thin air.
Sage had one hand on his forehead, and more than one question on his mind. "How long was I out? What just happened? I… guess you found your damsel…?"
"I mean, she tried to kill us both," Neptune reminded him.
They were both interrupted by Oobleck dragging the group forward. He was apparently the only one who still remembered that there was a Goliath in the room behind them causing havoc. "Do you think we can save the idle chatter for another time?" Both of the younger men agreed, and the three of them hobbled their way through the doors.
In the meantime, Sun and Scarlet had lifted Professor Port, with the latter electing to use a fireman's carry to balance the much larger man on his shoulders. This way, the process of moving him would only preoccupy one of them, even if it meant more strain on Scarlet. They started to make their way up the stairs, but their pursuer demanded that they die, in the form of a deafening roar. The Goliath unleashed a sound similar to that of a trumpet, only amplified several dozen times. Then, it began to lumber its way menacingly towards Sun and Scarlet.
"We need to get moving Scar, Come on!" Sun shouted over the tremendous noise. He tried as best he could to help Scarlet ascend the stairs to the top of the room, the exit door, and hopefully safety. The added weight of the eldest huntsman made their progress significantly slower than it would have been otherwise. Then, there was the thought that the monster behind him might just smash through the wall in pursuit of them, even if they made it to the exit, but Sun decided to cross that bridge only if he came to it.
There would be no bridge in their future. They didn't even make it halfway up the stairs before the great beast was all but on top of them. Keeping an eye on something so large would have been a simple task if not for the extra luggage that they were carrying. As a result, they couldn't pay close enough attention to see the Goliath lower its head in mid-stride, then swing its tusks at them. The attack fell just short of its intended targets, but the resulting shockwaves, not to mention the debris that was kicked up by the monster's head crashing into the ground behind them, sent the already top heavy Scarlet off balance. Sun tried to stabilize him, but it was too late to make a difference.
Sun watched helplessly as Scarlet and Port fell onto what was left of the stairs. His first instinct was to help them up, but he stopped himself. He turned around completely, and now stood facing a creature hundreds of times his own size. His teammate scrambled back to his feet, and began to drag Port up the stairs as best he could.
When Scarlet looked back to make sure that Sun was alright, he saw what his teammate was doing, and stopped completely. "What are you… Sun, No."
Sun had already made up his mind. As far as he was concerned, this was a responsibility that he had to shoulder. He quickly glanced back, directing his attention at Port. "Scar, you have to get him out of here. I'll slow this thing down… buy you some time. I'll be right behind you."
Scarlet couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Slow it down!? That thing'll kill you if it sneezes on you. Let's go!"
Sun wanted to insist that Scarlet stop wasting precious seconds and just go, but there wasn't enough time. By now, the Goliath had recoiled, recovered, and then repositioned itself to attack again. They both recognized that attempting to flee would be next to pointless. Their pace had been at a crawl as they tried to evacuate their wounded ally. Sun took the initiative. He used the little space he had between himself and the creature to build up to a sprint towards it. Just as it had done before, it lowered its head, and prepared to maul everything in its path with a mighty swing of its tusks. This time, Sun was ready. He planted one end of his staff in the ground, committing himself to attempt to pole vault his way over it. In his mind, this maneuver would land him somewhere behind his target. From there, hopefully he would be able to draw attention away from Scarlet, allowing him to escape.
Sun had not seen the original attack from the Goliath. He was busy helping Scarlet with Professor Port, and therefore did not have a complete understanding of its attack patterns and timing. The creature's speed was surprising, considering how lumbering this type of Grimm always appeared to be from a distance. The error in judgement meant that Sun managed to evade the full force of the swipe, but his staff did not. Before he could complete his acrobatics, it was flicked out from under him as if it were a toothpick, flying out of his hands and across the room. With the source of his propulsion gone, it was no longer possible to gain the momentum necessary to properly push off of the ground as he had planned. Sun was left twisting awkwardly through the air, over the Goliath.
The fact that Sun managed to salvage a respectable landing, considering how turbulent his flight looked, was astonishing to Scarlet. He had seen his share of seemingly effortless maneuvers from his team leader, but it never ceased to amaze him how much control Sun always had. He found himself simply watching everything unfold in front of him until an angry voice got his attention. "Why are you still here!? Go!"
Scarlet knew that he wasn't making efficient use of the several seconds that he had been given. He didn't want to go, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Sun's plan was probably their only chance at getting Port out of the building without further harm. He grabbed the older man's arms and began to drag him up the stairs.
Sun was not as prone to wasting time as some of his teammates, so while Scarlet tried to drag Port to safety, he darted to what he considered the most likely resting place for his staff. It only took him a few seconds to locate the first half of it. In its collapsed form, Sun's weapon was designed to essentially fold into its component parts. He guessed that the immense force applied by the full weight of a Goliath's head acting as a battering ram caused his staff to separate into its two halves. It wasn't an enormous problem, he could still use the nunchuck form with the pieces available to him.
Without spending a second more than was absolutely necessary in evaluating his tactical situation, Sun picked up the half of his weapon that was on the ground in front of him, and immediately began to cycle through the lever actions of the shotguns that formed the two parts of his nunchucks. The shots he was firing were nothing more than a minor inconvenience to the monster in front of him, but his efforts were enough to at least draw its attention. Up until now, the Goliath had been trying to locate its prey, as the physical limitations of being a quadruped meant that it couldn't raise or twist its head to follow his ever evasive prey's trajectory through the air. Sun wanted to be sure that it found him.
The commotion that one pair of his gunchucks created was enough to draw the full attention of the Goliath. Out of the corner of his eye, Sun watched as his teammate slowly made his way towards the exit, according to the plan. Content with the progress, Sun shifted his focus back to finding the missing half of his weapon. He scanned as much as the room as time allowed, before the telltale roar associated with another incoming charge forced him to address the threat that such an attack posed.
Now that he knew what to expect, all that was left to do was figure out how to evade the attack with only half of the weapon that he had access to previously. Sun watched as the Goliath took its first few steps, slowly beginning to build up speed as it moved toward him. Just as before, it lowered its head for an attack. Only this time, it revealed that the other half of his weapon was caught on its tusk. This information was good to know, but not especially useful.
Sun leapt backward as far as he was able, eventually landing on his hands, and pushing off to propel himself back even further. He eventually completed his back handspring and launched into several more, covering an surprising distance in a short amount of time. It was quite a feat, but the Goliath was not impressed. It simply continued its charge directly at Sun, who had now backed himself substantially closer to the wall on the far left side of the room.
A sense of panic began to set in. Sun had assumed that the beast would smash its head into the ground, thereby stopping its progress, and then he could reset, and repeat as long as necessary. As it turned out, the creature seemed to possess a level of intelligence that allowed it to force him into a tight space, by never allowing him time to plan his next move. It just continued charging directly at him. The sweeping nature of its attacks meant that trying to escape to either side would require more time and space than was available. The only option was up.
Sun found himself caught off guard by how quickly and soundly such a lumbering creature had outsmarted him. He had been lulled into thinking that this fight could be won by delay tactics and superior agility. Losing half of his staff had been a stroke of bad luck, mixed with a hint of poor judgement. To be fair, the young huntsman in training had never fought a creature of Grimm that was so cunning.
He jumped into the air as high as he was able, with the hope that he would clear the charging behemoth, and either land on its back, or on the ground behind it entirely. This time, the sweeping attack was more upward than across, and the Goliath's trunk clipped Sun on his way up, sending him spiraling out of control. Propelled by the impact, he flew higher and faster than he had ever intended, causing him to carom off of the ceiling and smash into the ground.
The attack had overwhelmed Sun, but the Goliath had also overexerted itself in committing to it. The upward swipe did not allow time for the aggressor to slow down after connecting. As a result, it plowed through the wall that had been behind Sun and subsequently fell forward through the hole that its head had created. As it slid to a stop, its momentum caused it to bump into another wall in the next room over, creating a gap in it as well.
Sun had not seen anything that happened in the wake of his collision. The time between his flight path being adjusted and the present had been something of a blur for him. He got himself to his feet, and shook the dust and debris off of himself. He wasn't badly hurt, but he definitely felt like he had been hit by an elephant. In the seconds that followed, his senses returned to normal. He quickly turned towards the man-made exit to the room, and saw that Scarlet wasn't still stalling. Good, he thought. Turning his attention back to the fight at hand, Sun realized that his opponent hadn't fared much better than he had after the impact. The gaping hole in the wall was evidence of that.
This new cavity in the room was still partially obscured by even more dust and debris, much like the previous one had been. Sun half expected to hear the Goliath's roar, indicating the resumption of hostilities. In actuality, the sounds he heard were much lower in pitch… more like growls than roars. They also seemed to be echoing from all around him. As he glanced over his right shoulder at the first hole, Sun detected the silhouettes of vaguely humanoid figures of various shapes and sizes coming through it.
For a moment, he thought about calling out to them, but as he watched a few of them, their some of their movements seemed distinctly inhuman. Their vocalizations, incomprehensible. Everything about the situation screamed danger. Sun assumed that he was being surrounded by a pack of Beowolves, or some other form of Grimm. They had probably found their way inside through the path blazed by their larger cousin. With only half of a weapon at his disposal, he knew that this could go very badly, very quickly. Even though he was much more familiar with the fighting style of a Beowolf, a pack of them posed a major threat.
From his position, he saw the figures moving towards the exit that Scarlet and Port had used. Sun knew that he couldn't allow them to reach them, as the resulting fight would be closer to a slaughter. Even though he couldn't be sure whether the evacuation had been completed or not, he was determined to stop the Grimm from finding out. He darted across the room as quickly as his legs could carry him. He lined up the one leading the charge, and shouldered it to the ground.
He was surprised how easily it went down. It was much lighter than he had expected it to be. As they fell to the ground, Sun had landed on top of it… her… and froze in the position that he was in, completely dumbfounded by what he was seeing. Her figure was very much human. Well, mostly... except for the ears. She spoke to him in a language that he understood. And Sun's assessment of the situation had evidently been slightly off-base. As he lay on top of her, the whole world seemed to screech to a halt around him.
Blake's words were like a song playing amidst the chaos, even if they didn't sound like the fairy tale as they had been in Sun's various imaginative iterations of this reunion. "Are you trying to get us killed?"