Chapter Thirty-One: No Fear.
While Velvet checked over the bodies Ruby drifted over to Weiss who was standing down a ways from the room still doubled over and breathing deeply, the Heiress had had a very bad reaction to seeing the bodies and had nearly thrown up from the shock. "How you feeling, Princess?" Ruby asked as she placed a gentle hand on her girlfriend's back.
"Well I don't feel like my stomach is going to revolt anymore but I'm still queasy." Weiss replied still taking deep breaths. "That was just a bit to much for me. And what's with this 'Princess' business?" The Heiress glanced up at her wolf out of the corner of her eye.
A bit of blush dusted Ruby's cheeks as she rubbed the back of her neck, "I, ah, well I just figured that, well, it's just that you're a Heiress and kinda like royalty so I just figured, well, you know." The wolf looked away from the white haired girl as she continued to fidget.
With a sigh Weiss stood up and shook her head good naturedly as she took Ruby's hand, "You Dolt." With a smile she pecked at her wolf's lips. Ruby's tail whipped back and forth happily as she pulled herself in closer to the Heiress. Weiss smiled into their kiss as she ran her hand up into crimson locks.
"Hey you two, when you're done we'd like to have a discussion." Coco called out making the red and white duo spring apart.
"S-Sorry." Ruby stuttered as she looked down at the ground sheepishly.
Coco just laughed as she shook her head, "Yeah, sure you are. Anyways Velvet's found something."
The rabbit Faunus shook her head as they came back to the group, "More like found a lack of something. Those nails were pushed in post-mortem, there was a lack of bruising around the wounds and there were no signs that they fought back when they were attacked. And again their wounds don't match to a crash or an attack of that caliber. I really think we should consider the possibility that we've been set up."
"But the question then is who would do this?" Blake frowned she agreed with the older girl that this could be a set up but who would deliberately crash a bullhead, leave the cargo, and kill the crew then bring them to an abandoned facility. It wasn't the White Fang, that much she knew.
"That really doesn't matter, our task was to find the survivors then bring them back." Coco shook her head, "Obviously that's not the case any more, now we book it back to our EVAC site and get the hell off this island. If someone wants to come back and check out why this is a set up then they will. We're not equipped to-" Before the brunette could continue Ruby help up her hand stopping her.
The air in the building had changed, and the wolf could feel it. Instead of the eerie silence that had been present since they had entered it had become charged, like something was hunting. Taking a few deep inhales of the air she picked up on something that sent a chill up through her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck and tail to stand on end. It smelled like decay, mixed with sewage and rotten garbage. It was a scent that hadn't been there before and it wasn't coming from the room with the bodies, but from…below?
At the sudden change in the wolf both Blake and Velvet went on high alert. Blake slowly scanned the area looking for anything that could have set her Alpha off, ears pivoting and nose twitching. Velvet had been just slightly slower on picking up on the change in the small redhead but was quickly stretching her hearing to the limits searching for any sounds that shouldn't be there, far below them she could hear faint sounds of a dragging scrap followed by heavy, slow foot falls.
Taking queues from the Faunus the others took up guarded stances drawing their weapons and waiting. Yang and Yatsu took a few steps out from the group on either side, Coco fell back to the center of the group deploying her Gatling gun reading to whip it any direction, Fox stepped beside Velvet ready to defend her, Weiss drew her rapier and loaded a round of red dust into the blade stepping beside her wolf.
Before any of the Faunus could speak a load roar sounded out from below them. The sound was a mix of deep rumbling bass that shook the floor mixed with a trembling warble that sent shivers up everyone's spine. "And that's our queue to leave." Coco spoke up as the sound died out after a few seconds. "Yatsu, crack a window, everyone duck!"
With barely time to comprehend her words the giant swung his sword just as everyone ducked down, the metal crashed against the thick glass shattering it into millions of pieces. Without the need for orders the two teams leapt through the opening.
Ruby was the first one up, swinging Crescent Rose out into its scythe from facing the doors of the facility she could hear crashes and things falling down from inside, fallowed by more roars.
"Alright we're falling back to the crash site, it's closer and has plenty of room for our bullhead." Coco ordered out, "Blake you and Fo-"
Before she could finish the concrete around the doors was smashed sending dirt and debris into the air, the putrid smell that Ruby had picked up on earlier wafted though the air causing everyone to gag and cough. Slow heavy steps brought the source out from the shadows making the teams freeze.
The beast was easily fifteen feet fall and nearly five feet wide at its shoulder. It stood on two hind legs that were as thick as tree truck and looked like those of an Ursa. Two long, thick arms hung down to the ground, long fingers brushed along the ground as it lumbered forward each finger was tipped with razor sharp claws. From its long thick torso two more arms sprouted out, these were much shorter and skinnier only going to the beast's hips and lacked the razor sharp claws. From it's back large bone spines splayed out in every direction, they rattled together as it lumbered forward. The head of the beast looked like a slightly larger Beowolf's only its top fangs protruded down from both sides, it had four red eyes peered and blinked out at them. The bone plates that covered its black fur covered body were thick and cracked.
The beast looked at the group blinking as if it didn't understand what it was seeing. Each eye blinked and moved independently swiveling to fix on each of them for a brief moment before taking a deep inhale of the air. With another bellow the beast began to charge fast than seemed possible for its bulk, its long arms dragging behind it.
Yatsuhashi charged forward to meet the creature with a yell. The two opponents crashed together, the giant catching the beast's shorter arms holding them in a dead lock, the ground buckling slightly under the boy's feet. With a snarl the Grimm lashed out with it's two long arms the razor sharp claws hurtling towards his unprotected sides.
In a flash Ruby and Fox were there, their weapons clashing with the claws sending the two of them crashing back into the ground but they had deflected the danger from their teammate.
The roar of Coco's gun sounded out as a rain of bullets slammed into the beasts face seeming to do no damage other than to annoy it. The bullets where joined by Yang's explosive shots and bullets from Blake's pistol. When Coco paused her fire the beast let out another roar lifting Yatsu into the air and tossing him back seeming to realize that he had been holding it back.
The moment the giant was clear two bright flashes streaked through the air as Velvet's and Weiss' Dust attacks landed on the beast. The lower portion of the creature was engulfed in a thick layer of ice with spikes jutting up into its torso while the upper half of its body erupted into a ball of intense flames.
Again the creature roared as it swung its massive arms around trying to douse the flames. "MOVE!" Coco yelled out motioning towards the tree line.
"What the hell is that?" Yang yelled out as they sprinted into the woods.
"No idea." Coco replied as she jumped over a downed tree in her way, "Either way it's very tough." The fashionista switched her comm set to the bullhead and called to their EVAC. "Echo four-one-one, come in echo four-one-one this is Team CFVY leader Coco Adel, over."
"Coco? You kids find the survivors?" Lene's voice came across the line.
"Long story but short is yes but they're not alive," Coco replied as a roar sounded out behind them. "But we really need that EVAC now please, we've run into a bit of a nasty situation."
"Alright, you kids hang in there I'm on my way." Lene replied hearing the strain in Coco's voice. "I know I said it would take me an hour to get there but let's see how fast this bird can fly."
"Please and thank you." Coco gave off a brief smile, "We'll be inland a bit but we have an area that's landable."
"Rodger, just stay alive." Lene replied as the sounds of the bullhead powering up sounded in the back round.
"That's the plan." Coco replied as the comm clicked off. Another deep roar came from behind them as the sound of crashing trees grew closer.
"Well it's fast." Velvet yelled as she tossed a few more marbles to try to slow down the beast.
"And resilient." Weiss agreed as her own Dust attacks flashed out.
Ruby glanced over her shoulder to see how close the creature was to them hoping that the two Dust mages were slowing it down enough. Unfortunately it seemed like the attacks had done little to deter the beast or even cause it to pause. The wolf looked a head of them spotting two large trees in their path, "Yang, Blake!" she called out pointing to the trees, "Trip it up."
The brawler and the panther both nodded and shot forward to where their leader had indicated. Blake tossed Gambol Shroud over to the blonde quickly wrapping the ribbon around the trunk on her end. Yang let the line grow slack as the two teams ran over it only to pull it taut as the creature neared it.
As the legs of the beast hit the black ribbon it was set tumbling to the ground with a loud thud. Once the creature was down Yang jumped out from her spot and sent a rain of blows down onto its head. One of the beast's smaller hands shot out and grabbed the brawlers legs tossing her away and through a tree.
As the creature started to push itself up Ruby shot back towards it, her scythe flashing in the light. Sliding underneath the creature the wolf's blade caught one of the smaller arms and severed it from its body. Black ichor spewed from the wound as the beast roared back slashing at the wolf with long sharp claws. Ruby danced back away from the blow her scythe spinning in intricate circles.
A flash of white accompanied by a high pitched whine shot forward, a sliver rapier slashing out at the exposed flesh between the thick bone plates. Weiss had seen her wolf attack the creature and a flash of their last mission played out in her head as the beast's claws drew closer to Ruby. Anger and fear boiled together as the Heiress shifted cylinders on Myrtenaster's hilt to yellow dust and shot forward with a white glyph. She would not let Ruby get hurt here, not with when she could do something.
With each strike the Heiress shot flashes of lighting out of her blade and into the creature. Using her glyphs Weiss skated around the beast striking faster than it could follow hitting the beast from every angle causing to roar out as it tried to strike back. Flipping back to a glyph to avoid a swing the Heiress made her mistake as she let her eyes off her opponent to check on the others. With speed the creature hadn't displayed before a long arm shot forward. Sharp claws raked across her back punching through her Aura as if it wasn't even there drawing four long cuts into her flesh and making her cry out.
"WEISS!" Ruby yelled as she watched the Heiress fall to the ground as she missed her landing on her glyph. With a growl the wolf shot forward letting her semblance slip. Crescent Rose slashed forward quicker than anyone could follow its long sharp blade gouging long deep wounds into the beast's bone plates with each boom of the rifle.
Blake and Velvet rushed forward towards the downed Heiress pulling her back away from the fight causing her to cry out it pain. "Shit." Blake hissed as she tore away some of the material that was left of Weiss' dress. "We need medical foam."
"Got it." Velvet nodded as she pulled out a can of the sealing foam, "Hold her still I'm going to apply it and direct her Aura to the location." Blake nodded as she pushed down on the Heiress shoulders making her cry out again.
"Sorry Weiss." Blake muttered, "Just hold on for a few minutes." The panther glanced up towards the creature to see how the others were doing.
Ruby was still engaged with the creature, her scythe flashing in large circles. Every time the wolf would back away Yatsuhashi would rush in with his sword landing heavy blows to where Crescent Rose had damaged the plates cracking them open even wider. Yang had returned from being thrown through a tree and had grabbed ahold of one of the creatures spines on its back and was hammering away with shotgun blasts. Fox was darting in and out from the beast's legs cutting at the hide of the creature keeping it off balance. Coco stood in front of them keeping the beast back, her Gatling gun would roar out when she had a clear shot her bullets only annoying the creature.
"Velvet how's she doing?" Coco called over her shoulder.
Velvet frowned as she tried to keep the Heiress form bleeding, every time she applied the foam to the wound it dissolved after a few moments allowing the blood to flow again. Her control over the younger girl's Aura allowed her to slow the bleeding but it wouldn't hold for long. "Something's keeping the wounds open, I'm only acting like a stop gap right now."
"Son of a bitch." Coco growled out, this had dissolved into a bad situation. "Velvet take full control, we don't have time."
Velvet blinked for a moment before gritting her teeth, "Alright fine, Weiss I apologize in advance." Blake was about to ask what she meant when suddenly Weiss screamed out as Velvet shut her eyes. A light blue glow covered the Heiress before it stared to flow up and around Velvet leaving the white haired girl. The rabbit Faunus shook as the glow faded into he skin. Weiss' skin paled even more and her breathing grew shallow but the bleeding slowed significantly.
"What did you do?" Blake asked as she checked the Heiress' pulse, it was very slow and very shallow.
"I took full control of her Aura." Velvet panted as she shook her head. Blake blinked but before she could ask what she meant the beast roared out again.
"We need to keep moving." Coco called out, "Yatsu take Weiss and Velvet. Blake, keep up with him." The giant nodded and sprinted over towards them quickly picking up both Weiss and Velvet making sure they stayed in contact with each other. "Ruby we have to bring this thing down now."
The wolf jumped back away and nodded as she watched her partner be carried off by the giant. "Yang, knock it's head back!" The blonde nodded as she let go from the back of the beast and ran over to the young leader. "Coco, Fox knock its arms back, I need a clear shot at its throat."
The older two nodded as they jumped forward to do as Ruby ordered. Coco ran at the left arm knocking it back with her hand bag while Fox hit the right arm locking it into place with his arm blades. As they held back the long arms the wolf took a few steps back and took a sprinters posture cocking her rifle.
Narrowing her eyes the wolf shot forward, her semblance ripping up the ground as she rocketed towards the beast. Yang ran forward positioning herself under the beast's head and jump up sending a thundering uppercut into the creature's jaw exposing its neck. The blonde cleared the space just as Crescent Rose's blade slammed into its exposed throat, with a yell Ruby fired her rifle and pulled the blade through the neck sending black blood raining into the air.
With a flip Ruby landed on her feet just as the beast thudded to the ground its head bouncing into the undergrowth. Flicking her blade clean the wolf bared her teeth at the dead beast before nodding satisfied that it was dead. "Good job Red." Coco nodded as she examined the dead creature.
"Thanks." Ruby nodded, "Now let's go catch up with the others." With a nod from the others they set off in a quick trot to meet with the others. They reached the crash sight just as Velvet finished wrapping the Heiress in thick bandages, Yatsu had his back to them while Blake hovered nearby ready to provide assistance if needed. Velvet tilted the Heiress head to the side and place it on her lap keeping Weiss on her back.
The wolf ran over to her girlfriend and looked up at Velvet for an explanation, "I took control of her Aura." Velvet answered keeping her eyes on the Heiress, "I'm currently forcing it to heal her wounds though it's being very resistant to my directions. Something's blocking it from sealing the wounds." Velvet narrowed her eyes and Weiss flinched.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelped as she started to reach for the Heiress. Her hand was caught by Coco's iron grip, the wolf growled as she tried to pull her hand from the fashionista.
"Don't touch her." Coco ground out fixing the wolf with her gaze, even through the dark glass Ruby could feel the weight of her eyes. "When Velvet takes control of a persons Aura she has to remain in contact with that person or else she'll strip them of their Aura completely. If the connection is broken now Weiss will likely die."
"Why would she do that then?" Ruby asked, a growl building up in her throat.
"Because it's the only way to keep her alive." Velvet answered, "The foam isn't working and I can only keep her Aura stable if I have direct control. Until we get her to a hospital or an infirmary to operate this is the best I can do." Ruby looked torn between growling at someone or whining. Velvet looked up at the wolf and gave her a small smile, "It will be fine Ruby, I've done this before and I know what I'm doing. Weiss will be fine."
Before Ruby could nod her ears twisted towards a sound that sound be there, a thudding sound like slow heavy foot falls. Slowly the wolf turned towards the sound, Blake stepped beside her Alpha following the sound, Velvet's gazed followed from her spot on the ground. "That's not possible." Ruby muttered as she grabbed Crescent Rose.
"What's wrong?" Coco asked as she peered through the tree line, her Gatling gun deploying. The three Faunus didn't have to answer the fashionista's question as a large dark lumbering figure broke through the trees. The creature had come back, minus its head.
"How the hell is that possible?" Yang blinked as the beast stopped at the edge of the clearing. "Ruby took its fucking head off it shouldn't still be kicking about."
"Well obviously it's a bit more stubborn than we thought." Coco narrowed her eyes, "Echo four-one-one, this is Coco Adel, come in Echo four-one-one."
"Coco," Lene's voice came over the comms. "Good to hear you're still kicking. Everyo-"
Before the pilot could ask her question Coco cut over her, "Lene our situation has kinda dissolved at bit more and we really need that EVAC right now. We have a Huntress down and a Grimm that doesn't want to stay dead."
"Well shit." Lene cursed, "Hang on kids I'll be there in twenty minutes."
As the comms went dead Coco nodded, "Alright we've got twenty minutes to either survive or put this thing down for good. Blake, Fox you two guard Velvet and Weiss. The rest of us are going to put the hurt on this thing."
Ruby had already rushed forward towards the creature, her scythe flashing out behind her. This thing had hurt her mate; it was going to pay for doing that. The wolf deep inside of her growl out as she slashed out at the creature drawing another deep line across the bone plate. Yang and Yatsu were close behind her as they landed duel thundering blow cracking the plate even further, even knocking parts of them off. Coco stayed in the mid ground between the beast and the two guarding the Heiress keeping her eyes on the creature and firing if it strayed to close to them.
The wolf was a streak of crimson as rose petals fluttered in the air around the beast, Crescent Rose a blur of motion as new deep wounds appeared around the creature's body. Anytime the wolf slowed a resounding shot would bark out sending her into a new flurry of motion. She was going to tear this thing apart limb by limb if she had to.
Yang and Yatsuhashi duck and dodged out of the creatures wild swings as it tried to retaliate from the onslaught of attacks. Its long claws and spines still trying to cut them in any way. Yang managed to knock a spine free from the creatures back with one heavy blow, grabbing the spine the blonde jammed it up into its side then hammering it deeper in the creature with another blow.
With out the head they were unable to tell if the creature was bellowing but after a particularly heavy blow a large gurgle of black ichor would bubble up from the severed neck of the beast showering the surrounding ground in the goo. But no matter how hard they managed to hit it or how many deep wounds were inflicted to the creature it didn't seem to slow down in the slightest.
"What the hell is with this thing?" Yang panted as she jumped over a swipe of a long arm. "We've more than done enough to kill it. So why isn't it going down?"
"Just keep hammering it." Coco called, "We've only got another five minutes."
"Echo four-one-one to Coco Adel." Lene's voice broke over the comms, "I've got a lock on your beacon, if that Grimm is still up paint it with a laser and I'll light the bastard up."
"Rodger." Coco replied pulling out a small laser transmitter from her pocket. "Guys clear the area!" The fashionista pointed the beam at the creature while the others ran clear. The creature flayed around for a few moments before seeming to realize that it wasn't being attack causing it to pause, just as the light on the transmitter turned green.
"Target lock." Lene said, "Firing two missiles, say cheese motherfucker."
Coco kept the transmitter pointed at the creature for as long as she dared before turning and dashing off towards a piece of cover just as two rockets streaked over head and slammed into the beast causing it to erupt into a ball of flame.
The ground shook and bucked as the two teams stayed behind their cover, the heat and pressure wave rushed past them causing their Aura's to flare. Velvet increased her own to engulf Weiss' body to keep the Heiress from being hurt worse.
As the ground stopped shaking and the heat dissipated they slowly began to poke their heads out to see what had become of the beast. When Ruby laid eyes on what remained of the creature she could only blink in amazement.
The beast still stood where it had been struck by the missiles but it was now missing several more body parts. Its left long arm was completely gone while it was missing most of the right one below the elbow. Chucks of its torso were completely gone exposing the inner organs and bone of the beast, a missing chunk on its right side allowed for them to see all they way to its spine. The spines of the beast had been blown off completely and there were a few embedded into the ground behind it. The legs of the creature were burnt and charred but remained mostly intact.
Everyone watched in stunned silence as the creature took a shaky step forward, then another slowly coming forward again. Blood poured out of every wound and the internal organs started to spill out onto the ground. The bone plate cracked and fell onto the ground breaking apart into many pieces as they hit.
"No fucking way." Yang whispered as the creature continued forward. "That's not possible."
The roar of the bullhead overhead drew their eyes away from the beast, the roar of the large caliber guns roared out as their rounds slammed into the creature, kicking up dust and creating more wounds. Once the dust cleared the beast was down on its stomach in a pool of its own innards and blood. "Alright I'm going to set down, get on and let's get the hell out of here." Lene called as the bullhead slowly lowered to the ground.
It only took a few seconds for them to load onto the bullhead, Weiss and Velvet being carried by Yatsuhashi then being set gently on the ground. Blake and Ruby started to assist the rabbit with the on board medical kit flushing out her wounds and applying more foam.
"Thanks for the quick rescue" Coco sighed as she slumped back down into a seat, her bag thudding to the ground beside her.
"No problem kid." Lene replied as the bullhead swung around and started back towards the outpost island. "So what was that thing?"
Coco looked over the teams; they were coved in black ichor and dust. Weiss' dress was stained red and Ruby's tail was tucked close against her body with her ears close to her skull. Blake was glancing between her three teammates while helping Velvet the best she could. Yang was slumped over in another seat, her blonde hair tarnished with soot and black goo but the brawler seemed to wiped out to care beyond a frown. Fox was also slumped over in a seat his eyes closed and already asleep, he had been pushing is Aura to the max since that creature had shown up. Yatsu was sitting beside Velvet with the medical kit open in his lap keeping it steady as the bullhead rocked slightly. With a sigh the fashionista shook her head, "I don't know but if there are more of them then we are in trouble."
The Doctor sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He was slightly disappointed in the fact that it hadn't really done anything other than get angry at his chimera. He had been hoping that he might actually cause it to awaken after the Heiress had gotten injured. It had seemed to spur it into fighting harder but beyond that there was nothing. He'd have to rethink his next plan.
On the bright side the chimera had surpassed his expectations. He knew he had designed it to be hearty but even he hadn't counted on it still functioning after its head had been removed. It had taken a few years to prefect the splicing technique to make his chimera but now that he had seen the results it was clear that those years had been well spent indeed. Now if only he could get the regeneration to work then he might just have something. But for now he'd settle for the results he'd gotten.
"Doctor." Klon asked as she brought over a tray of tea, "Should I send someone out to recover the chimera's remains?"
The Doctor considered her question as she poured his tea and added a dash of honey to it. "No, it will dissolve just like any other Grimm now that it's dead." He replied after taking a sip of the beverage. "Oh this is a new blend isn't it Klon?"
"Correct Doctor." Klon smiled, "I figured since the cold is coming soon it might be best to switch to a warming tea."
"Ah you're a bright one." The Doctor nodded, "Such a good helper you are."
"Thank you Doctor." Klon smiled and gave a small curtsy, "Doctor if I may, why didn't the little miss' wounds heal?"
"I spliced in Tiajitu DNA into the chimera. The fangs held the majority of the venom but the claws also had some residual toxins in them, when they racked across the Heiress back small slivers broke off and embedded themselves in her skin preventing her Aura from healing them. They'll catch them once she's in surgery but if they try to examine them they'll find nothing." The Doctor shrugged and took another sip of his tea, the warming liquid spread through his limbs.
"Are we going to be using the rest of the chimeras or should I put them back in stasis?" Klon asked.
Again the Doctor paused and gave her question consideration, "Leave two on standby but return the others into stasis. For now we won't need them but I may come up with something were they will be useful again. For now let's see what Augustus and his little puppet do next."
"Yes sir." Penny nodded into the screen. "I understand. I will carry out the mission without fail."
"See that you do." Augustus Schnee growled through the screen. "If you do you'll find yourself on the scrapheap."
"Do not worry sir, I am combat ready." Penny saluted the elder Schnee. "Your daughter will return to Atlas willingly or by force." The white haired man gave a curt nod before the connection went dead. Penny smiled as she turned to leave her room. Her mission was to return Weiss Schnee to Atlas by any means necessary and to eliminate anyone who got in her way. It was a shame that she had to destroy the 'Eisen-Krieger' but the White Fang had hijacked the airship and she had been ordered to bring it down. Now she had to find a new way to get Miss Schnee back to Atlas, but a quick scan of Beacon showed several bullheads at the docks always ready for launch. Now she just had to figure out how to get the wolf away from Miss Schnee. But that would all have to wait until Weiss Schnee returned to Beacon. Until then Penny was going to plan and wait for the perfect moment to start her mission.
A/N: Well it looks like Penny is going to be making her move soon and the Doctor is going to wait it out to see what happens. Hope everyone enjoyed the chimera fight and if you don't have a good picture of what it looked like take a whole bunch of Grimm and smash them together and there you go instant chimera.
With that: Thanks to everyone who reads each week, please tell me how I'm doing, and may you have a week that makes you smile.