Ruby watched in awe as her sister ran straight for the gargantuan grimm without fear or hesitation. While the Hound swiped horizontally at head level, Yang ducked in and slammed an uppercut into the chest of the beast. The sound of a shotgun rang out as she pumped a ring of lead into the grimm's ribcage at point blank range, though the beast barely reacted at all. As its head came up and it looked to bite down on the blonde, three golden, pointed tines attached to high-tension cables impaled themselves into the side of the grimm's neck with great speed. The wires went taut almost immediately as Taiyang pulled back on his trident, wrenching the Hound's head to the side and preventing it from biting down while Yang sank yet more blows into the chest of the beast.

"Watch for an opening!" Raven instructed, as though she was reading Ruby's mind. The elder huntress circled toward the Hound's flank, her hand on the hilt of Omen and ready to draw. "Only move in if it will not hinder them!"

"I have to do something!" Ruby protested as she pointed her sidearm at the grimm. The beast was struggling against Taiyang's grip as he tried to reel it toward himself and keep it off-balance. "Don't treat me like I'm a burden just because you hated my mom!"

"I didn't…" Raven began as she leapt to the side to reposition herself. With an annoyed huff, she sank into a low stance before rushing in toward the grimm's side. "Now is not the time for this! Just be smart about what you're doing!"

Ruby growled as she watched Raven score a raking slash on the Hound's side, earning its attention while Yang finally slid out from underneath its chest. Seeing her moment, Ruby fired several potshots for the grimm's damaged chest. Flecks of ash bounced off and toward the ground, though the damage was minimal compared to everyone else's efforts. With an irritated frown, she holstered the firearm and drew Clover's swords as Yang arrived at her side.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," Ruby insisted. "You want it pinned down? I'll use these swords to trap one of its limbs."

"Be careful- it's faster than it looks," Yang advised. "I don't want you getting caught by those cl-"

"I'm not going to… why is everyone doubting me!?" Ruby whined as she whirled her broadswords. "I've never been a burden fighting with you! Just let me do my thing!"

Before Yang could say anything more, Ruby took off in a swirl of red fabric and petals. Just as the Hound finally broke free of Taiyang's snare and turned to face her, the young huntress collided her boot with the side of its jaw. The sheer momentum of the hit caused the Hound to reel backward, and Ruby thrusted a sword upward through the center of its chin. Black liquid began to seep down through the wound as the tip of the blade impacted the roof of its mouth, and Ruby found herself unable to pull the blade back out. Sensing impending danger, she engaged her Semblance to dash away from the massive paw that would surely have dealt a disastrous blow to her side as it came in with a vengeance.

"Ruby!" Yang called as she boosted in to stand beside her sister once again, her gauntlets firing off shots behind her.

"I'm fine!" the girl repeated, drawing her pistol with her free hand. "That should slow it down a bit!"

The snarling beast whirled to where Raven was assaulting it from the side and began a charge. A quick portal was the only thing that saved the woman as she emerged right next to Taiyang, putting all of the fighters side by side in a wide line. The Hound turned to face them, its mouth oozing as it glared in their direction with bloodlust in its eyes. In a slow, deliberate motion, the grimm stood on its hind legs and reached up, wrapping its clawed digits around the hilt of the sword before pulling the weapon out of its chin and tossing it aside. The beast's lips pulled back as it stood menacingly, and then, its mouth opened to speak in a gravelly, broken voice.

"None of you… leave… alive…"

"…what the fuck?" Yang whispered, her eyes wide. "What the hell are we dealing with here…?"

"Nothing good," Taiyang answered. "But we can't let that thing run free in Mantle. I have a feeling it could accelerate the slaughter of the citizens down here faster than almost anything else…"

"We won't let it escape," Ruby reaffirmed as she watched the Hound drop back down to all fours and dig its claws into the pavement.

"We need to end this quickly," Taiyang warned. "If more grimm arrive… the four of us can barely handle this thing as it is…"

"Then we fight until it becomes unreasonable to remain here," Raven cautioned. "We may not have the luxury of bringing it down if things get too chaotic!"

"Ruby…" Yang began, taking a deep breath as she clenched a fist, "…do that again, but get your remaining sword into one of its front legs. Dad- tie up one of the hind ones, if you can. Raven… can you ice over the other one?"

"I can… but I'm not sure how long it'll hold," Raven admitted. "That monster hits like a truck, and I'm… drained…"

"I only need a few seconds," Yang reassured as her mechanical fist folded back into her wrist to reveal a hollowed-out core. "I'll watch for reinforcements. Get m-"

As if to address the party's fears, the Hound opened its mouth and unhinged its jaw while tilting its head to the sky. Rather than a howl, a piercing, otherworldly shriek escaped from its throat and echoed around the area. The sound was enough to make Ruby's blood run cold, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to run. She knew that somehow, the grimm had understood them and called for backup. The clock was winding down, and with every passing second, the urge to simply leave grew stronger. As the Hound lowered its face to meet her eyes once again, though, something else entirely came over her.

All of Ruby's pent-up anger and despair suddenly came to a head. While she knew that giving in to such feelings was incredibly dangerous, especially given their propensity to draw grimm, she needed to use them as fuel. As the Hound's jaw clicked back into place and it cracked its neck to one side, Ruby opened her own and let out a furious cry. For all of a second, the Hound looked confused as she began to run straight for it, firing off distracting rounds before she twisted into a crimson swirl and rocketed forward. Again, the Hound darted forward to try to catch the huntress, but Ruby was too quick for the overhead slam to pin her down. With another yell, she inverted her borrowed sword and impaled it vertically into the beast's leg near the elbow, boring it all the way down to the paw. The roar of pain that escaped the creature told her that she had hit her target exactly, while the roars from several others around her filled her with adrenaline and fear.

"Ruby, fall back!" Yang ordered as she fired a few shots from her gauntlet at a stream of beowulfs approaching from a side alley. "I'm gonna need cover!"

"Coming!" Ruby announced as she flitted away, reaching her sister as Raven made it to the rear of the grimm. "One limb down!"

Raven steadied her breathing, capitalizing on the distraction that Ruby had afforded her as she reached down and engaged Omen's rotating mechanism. With a quick draw of an icy blue blade, Raven thrust the tip of her katana down into the Hound's rear leg near the ankle. Upon contact with the concrete, a large formation of crystal began to manifest from the steel and spread out around the Hound's leg, trapping it in place for a moment. Raven detached the blade from the hilt and leapt backward through a portal just as more grimm emerged onto the scene, only to find herself back next to Taiyang in time to watch him aim and fire the tines from his trident once again.

Taiyang clenched his teeth as he once again scored a hit into the Hound with his mechanized trident. As the cabled tines sank into the side of the beast's leg opposite of Raven's efforts, he slammed the staff itself into the ground only for a deep purple glow to manifest around the base. The weapon stood rigid as the Hound tried to pull against its cables, the gravitational field provided by the dust within the shaft providing enough resistance to keep the grimm in place. Taiyang cracked his knuckles as he put his back to Raven and raised his fists, eyeing up the approaching swarm of grimm while Ruby dashed about, firing weak shots to try to draw the attention of the crowd.

"Yang, I hope you're ready with whatever it is you're doing!" Taiyang yelled as he stepped forward to throw a haymaker into the face of a beowulf that had gotten too close.

"Hold them off for just a second!" the blonde replied as she raised her arm cannon, bracing her natural hand against it at the elbow. "On my call, get behind me!"

Seemingly within seconds, the side streets and small pavilion around the election hall had become crowded with grimm and the hunters were caught fighting for their lives. Raven's eyes sparked momentarily as she tried to summon up a whirlwind, only to find that she didn't have the energy to call forth a storm. In a desperate move, she ran forward into the crowd, whirling her blade as Taiyang followed to engage in hand-to-hand combat with stunning blows when and where he could. Yang felt a sudden impact against her back as Ruby pushed up against her, still firing wildly into the approaching pack.

"Yang, we gotta h-"

"Get clear!" Yang called just as the Hound broke from the icy grip upon its leg.

Raven and Taiyang appeared at Yang's side in a flash of red light as Yang narrowed her eyes and made a face. The Hound opened its jaw, potentially to say something before the young huntress cut it off.

"Suck on this!"

Yang's mechanical arm grew uncomfortably hot as the opening at the wrist began to rotate and whine. Light gathered within the opening before a yellow laser fired forth, expanding rapidly to eclipse Yang herself in size. The Hound was completely engulfed within the burning light as Yang dug in her heels, bracing herself as the laser began to condense and turn an electric blue. She soon found several hands bracing against her to help prevent her from falling down as the beam buzzed and crackled with intense energy, finally progressing to an almost shimmering white. With a yell of effort, Yang swept the beam around, incinerating waves of grimm around her and setting the sides of several buildings alight before the laser fizzled out, leaving scorch marks along her arm.

"Holy shit…" Taiyang cursed as he surveyed the destruction left in Yang's wake. The grimm remaining in the area began to back away from the party, unsure whether or not they should even approach. "When did you…?"

"Ironwood," Yang answered breathlessly. "He gave us… you've got to be fucking kidding me…"

Where the Hound had once stood was instead a pile of warped bone and twisted sinew writhing upon the pavement. The silver-eyed warrior embedded within the mess was still partially intact, convulsing as they stared up at Yang. Quite suddenly, a twisted limb of black bone burst from where one of their arms should have been, and white bone claws erupted and began to rapidly grow from the tips of the digits. The skull of the Hound began to quickly reform above the warrior's head, and it was then that Taiyang ran forward to grab his trident and reel the tines back in.

"Alright, we need to go!" the man declared as he looked to Raven. "We're not stopping it!"

"If Salem has more of these…" Raven said before trailing off. With a quick swipe of her scarlet blade, a portal opened and she ushered Ruby and Yang through it. "Hurry, Tai!"

Taiyang ran and leapt through the portal, leaving Raven momentarily alone with the Hound as it finished sprouting limbs and its flesh began to bubble. With one final shake of her head, Raven stepped through the portal and emerged onto the snowy landing zone outside of Atlas Academy.

Author's Note:

Next week, Sun takes charge and the next arc begins…

-RD