The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 44: Lockdown
A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but expect a pretty good fight scene next chapter. :3
Touko Mikasa stumbled around as Orions missile strikes bombarded the base itself, the craft outside all but destroyed in a wreckage of orange fire and smoke. The White Fang leader growled as she adjusted her black Scroll to act as a data pad, assessing damages to the base.
"Miss Mikasa!" One of the White Fang representatives said in a panicked voice, the group of 8 in a large glass room above one of Touko's Cyber-Grimm labs, the men and women wearing very fancy suits and dresses. "We must flee this place!"
"Quiet!" Touko growled at the man, who then sat down quietly, his mouse whiskers twitching in fear. "You all are well protected. This room is impossible to penetrate. So shut up and let me think!"
"Ma'am. He's here." One of the bow wielding men serving Touko said with a bow, submitting to her as his commander.
"Good news at last... Well, sort of. Send him in to deal with these pests." Touko said with a sinister smile.
Fort Scatter
Level 8
5:52 AM
A small squad of five White Fang members slowly patrolled around a large open space at the break between two hallways deep inside the base, looking around for any signs of enemy activity or any clue as to where they were.
One of the soldiers sat down on a large grey bench to take a deep breath, his outfit growing very hot due to his sweating. Being nervous of intruders tends to do that to people.
A small black cat with dark purple tipped ears walked out of the shadows, meowing at the man as he aimed his gun at it in surprise, lowering it once he knew what it was.
"Hey kitty. How did you get down here? Are you los-" The man began before the cat appeared to teleport away, the man blinking a few times.
The faunus looked down at his stomach, seeing a large claw mark going across his chest, blood oozing from the wound before he slumped over, dead.
The other soldiers slowly walked over to their dead comrade, inspecting him as the cat appeared in the middle of the group, drawing their attention.
"Meow." The cat purred as it morphed bigger, to the size of an Ursa, its neon dark purple eyes glaring at the White Fang troops.
The massive cat tore through the White Fang, ripping the closest one to it in half, throwing her body across the room in different directions, blood splattering on the grey metal walls. It then stomped on another faunus, crushing it into a bloody pancake with bone sticking out as red liquid leaked from it. The cat leaped forward and chomped down on one of the two remaining White Fang, the surviving one firing his rifle at the beast as it ripped the one in its mouth in two, swallowing the waist up of the faunus after a few bites, knocking the remaining waist down part of the faunus over as it smacked the last one with its black paw. The faunus was sent flying across the room and into the wall, his skull shattering into pieces as he was killed instantly.
Cheshire morphed back to her normal 19 year old looking body, blood dripping from her lips as she licked it up with her cat-like tongue. She brushed part of her long hair back as she glanced down at the bloody floor, a faunus arm falling down from the ceiling.
"Hey Sasha?" Cheshire asked as her tail came into view.
'Yes?' Sasha answered.
"Do you think our new friends would mind if I... Ya know, kept this for later...? As a snack?" Cheshire asked innocently.
'Yes. They would mind.' Sasha said in Cheshires mind as the Goddess huffed, grabbing the arm anyways, and shooing her tail away as she walked off down the exit hallway the White Fang came from, brushing some blood around on her white and red tshirt.
Fort Scatter
Level 7
5:56 AM
"This is not the right way." Jacob said as he punched a large grey door with his metal cannon-arm, denting a large impact into it as he sighed, Lucas and Morris watching his flank as Jacob continued to punch.
"Shut up, Cobalt. We have a priority job to accomplish, and after reading the schematics of this fortress several times, seven in fact, I am sure this is the right door." Lucas countered Jacobs bored and lazy attitude, the latter rolling his eyes.
"Gentleman. Please." Morris said as he brushed some dirt off his brown trench coat, aiming his rifle down the hall. "The quieter we are, the better."
"Yet I'm punching a wall of steel? With a massive metal-robotic arm?" Jacob said with a sigh. "And I'm the stupid one."
"Just do it. It beats my plan." Felix said as he punched a computer console next to the door, rejoining his three fellow group-mates. "System was fried the moment Jacob hit the door. Physical assault is the only way in."
"Yeah yeah." Jacob said as he kept punching it. "Just watch my back."
Fort Scatter
Level 8
5:59 AM
"Blake... Correct?" Feng asked the Blake haired girl as she glanced back at the light blue tunic wearing boy, giving a questioning hum in response to him as they walked down the hallways. "You've been here before, yes?"
"Good guess. And how did you figure that?" Blake asked him.
"The bow isn't all that protective of your ears, and you seem to know where you are going." Feng responded.
Blake sighed. "I know the inside, just not where it is on a map."
"So it seems." Feng said, as it were no big deal.
Hayden poked Fengs shoulder, the monk turning to the younger boy with a tilt of his head.
"Yes, Hayden?" Feng asked.
Hayden simply pointed down the hallway exit to their left, spotting a large break in the hallways. The room was all bloody, body parts laying sprung out across the room.
Yang was poking one of the dead White Fang as the group walked over to her position, Blake in utter shock.
"Yang...? Are you okay...?" Blake slowly asked, her hand slowly reaching for her katana on her back.
"Oh, hey guys. Pretty scene ain't it? Got here a few minutes ago." Yang explained herself, Blake slowly lowering her rising hand.
"What kind of monster would do this?" Blake asked aloud, Yang shrugging.
"Doubt they had much of a chance to fight back." The yellow haired girl deadpanned.
"Indeed. We should keep moving, in case the beast still lurks nearby." Feng decided, the girls nodding in agreement as Hayden pointed to an exit in the other hall.
"Good eye." Blake said with a nod to Hayden, who simply shrugged as they began their way down the hall.
Fort Scatter
Level 3
6:01 AM
"Watch your boots." Saturn said as he lifted Weiss by her waist over a few dead White Fang, setting her down away from the blood puddles.
"Are you even sane?" Weiss said as she adjusted her combat skirt.
"I'm not above killing anyone for no reason, Schnee." Saturn rolled his lenses. "Hell is a crowded place, Weiss. The sooner you realize that, it becomes much easier to kill."
"You act like I want to be like you." Weiss retorted.
"No, I just want to know how ready you are to truly kill someone. Not just in a battle." Saturn explained as one of his snakes, Sara, was chewing on a part of one of the dead faunus. "Hey, leave that alone." Saturn said to his snake.
"I thought I "truly" killed you." Weiss huffed.
"That's not what I mean." Saturn said as he walked further on, pausing and turning back. "And clearly, you didn't."
Weiss growled as the duo walked down the hall to what looked like a dead end, Weiss huffing.
"Now what?" The heiress said with heavy sarcasm.
Saturn noticed a vent attached to the wall they were at, gripping it as he pulled it back and off the wall, tossing it aside.
"This drops down to the eighth floor. Or ninth, give or take." Saturn said with a pause to think.
The sound of many footsteps on metal made Saturn and Weiss turn to the hallways behind them, Weiss taking a few steps back to the wall.
"In the vent." Saturn said as he pulled out a black pistol. "Now."
Weiss slowly nodded as she climbed into the vent, sliding forward a tad as she dropped straight down into the dark below.
Fort Scatter
Level 8
6:04 AM
'Cheshire...' Sasha spoke in Cheshires mind, the faunus Goddess turning to her side to see her tail flickering around in the air.
"Yes?" Cheshire asked as she chewed on the arm she had taken with her, swallowing a few pieces.
'Can you please get that arm out of here?' Sasha sighed.
"Hey-" Cheshire said as she ripped another part of the arm off with her teeth. "It's not my fault mortals taste tasty. And it's not my fault that Daddy cursed me to have to eat to live, thank you very much."
'You aren't the sanest person, you know that?' Sasha said with a flicker.
"I know." Cheshire sighed. "I realized that once I figured out you are just a tail that somehow talks to me in my mind."
'Yep.' Sasha said to the cat girl. 'You are clearly insane.'
"In a good way!" The Goddess said, her mixed voice of male and female chirping happily.
A female scream from above her caused the Goddess to look upward at the vent above her, her eyes widening as a blob of white slammed into her, falling to the floor.
Weiss had tumbled in the vents and ended up falling face first downward, crashing into Cheshire, landing with a thud on the girl.
Weiss's face was in Cheshires chest, muffled yelling coming from Weiss as Cheshire just blinked.
"Buy me dinner first, kid." Cheshire said as she pushed Weiss off of her, the heiress taking a deep breath of air as a light crimson blush dotted her cheeks.
Weiss stood up and took a step back as Saturn landed on his feet before the duo, the ground cracking beneath his feet. Weiss heard a soft squishy sound, lifting her left boot and looking down... At a torn up arm.
"EEEEEEE!" Weiss screamed as she jumped for cover behind Saturn, the bigger man raising an eyebrow at Cheshire, who just plucked up the arm and shrugged.
"What? It's tasty." She countered as Weiss poked her head out from behind Saturn, her left eye twitching and her face paling as Cheshire chewed on the arm.
"C-cannibal!" Weiss stuttered, wanting to pass out.
"No, I'm not! I'm not a stupid mortal, okay? So it's not cannibalism. Just... Ya know... It's like I'm the cat, and you all are mouses." Cheshire struggled at explaining herself.
"I don't like that analogy..." Weiss gulped as Saturn sighed.
"This is going to be a long day..." Saturn muttered as he rubbed the bridge between his nose, his lenses flickering like a camera lens as they changed to dark green: depressed.