Chapter Sixty: Hunt for Ghosts
Boom! A clean shot breaks the white mask of another Creep, collapsing it. Carmine watches the black body hit the ground in a heap. Right next to the last four corpses. Despite how well the venture was going, the boy couldn't help but be nervous, doing this in the dead of night. The lit area was slowly diminishing as bodies were being left to rot.
Carmine dances back from a lumbering Creep. Misreading his surroundings, Carmine's back hits the side of the van, making him flinch. Crap, no more room. He aims up and fires a double shot at the beast's face! It's head explodes back as the body hits the pavement...
A second Creep leaps over the body towards the boy! Before it closes distance, Neo drops down, impaling Hush into the monster's skull with a crack. It collapses with the girl on top, smirking. Carmine rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." He smiles and marches out.
He couldn't tell if he should be impressed or disappointed. It's not a horde, but the numbers were worrying. He'd downed over half a dozen. Sparing a look to Roman, he finds a number of Grimm corpses around.
The man twirls Velvet and rams its pick side to pierce the Creep's eye. He wrenches down, plowing the Creep into the ground. Then, he rips his weapon free, twisting it and smashing the hammer head on the grip down, smashing the skull mask on the monster.
Carmine them looks to Blair, seeing more corpses around her, but none actively attacking. Most the bodies around her were not whole, but rather sliced to pieces. The blonde narrows a look over the bodies.
"Notice something good there?" Carmine calls out for her.
"Just that the Grimm coming in are rather steady in their charges." Blair calls back. "Usually, when finding Grimm at the edges of forming hordes, they move in small groups that can call to others. However, we're finding a lot of steady stragglers coming one after another. That type of pattern more resembles an established horde."
Another Creep waddles its stride out of the shadows to snap at Neo. The girl leaps out of the way, Carmine nailing it with another double shot to kill. It was as if proving the woman's point. He could almost predict when the next should happen by.
"A uniform pattern as opposed to legitimate scouts... You think a horde has already been made?" Carmine gulps hoping against that.
"No... Too few for that." Blair muses as another Creep sprints out from the shadows, jaws open! The woman almost whips past it, returning to a thoughtful expression as the Grimm falls in two pieces dead. "No. Not a true horde, but Grimm do hold a primitive vague sense of intelligence. They would only move this comfortably if they had reason to. Either the horde is almost purely hiding underground or..."
"Or?" Roman calls out from around the van. A Creep lurches towards him as he speaks. Roman spins out of the way, cracking the beast's leg joint with Velvet to collapse it mid stride. He quickly smashes its head it with another crack.
"Or the rare kind Grimm is significantly strong. Enough to bolster confidence to challenge opposition." Blair finishes.
Carmine huffs. He looks around to the nearby buildings. "Only one way to find out. Let's go ahead and work our way towards the mine then. Once close, we'll see if we can bait the rare kind into a trap then." He glances over to Neo. The girl salutes and gets into the driver seat of the van. "Move slow. We'll escort."
Roman grumbles. "Great. Now, I'll have to adjust the seat... again."
. . .
The trip further and further into the expansion zone took time. In ten minutes, the group had progressed across the mountain slope, finding another road to lead down the other end of the mountain. In twenty minutes, the group had cleared a line of Creepers that had appeared to be using a corner building as a sleeping nest.
In forty five minutes, the group got through several construction redirection routes through the deeper areas. In one hour and fifteen minutes, the group had found another rising ramp that zigzagged up the side of a massive stone foundation for the next building section of the town. The further in found them with less and less to work with for detail.
Scaffolds of abandoned building projects and base materials lie littered around. Barriers for area safety, many destroyed, also obscured a great deal of the environment from them. The structures themselves were getting shorter and shorter. And the Grimm? More and more frequent.
Except...
Two hours, almost midnight, the group finds themselves at the edge of the sinkhole. A wide expanse drop that leads to blackness below.
Even more eerie... The Grimm are no longer coming at them.
Scattered Creeps all stand in place, glaring at the van without approaching. They snarl. They growl. They snap their jaws. Yet, they do not dare take a single step at the van as it stops at the edge of the sink hole. Carmine frowns. "This is new." He looks to Blair. "I don't like new. What is this?"
Blair looks through the darkness. Red eyes glow in various corners. The pitch blackness beyond the vehicle lights made it difficult to note their numbers, but... "Less than one hundred by a large deal. Remember Fairmare?" Blair eyes around them. "There may me more Grimm than the faunus fools had total, or comparable, but the half formed horde is uniform in their type. Not nearly as threatening on its own."
Roman takes a huff from a cigar. "I thought you said these things were clumsy on land. Why are they suddenly giving the death stare and playing possum?"
"Rare type Grimm can command others... Meaning..." Blair responds, her eyes carefully scanning the large number of Grimm around them. The implication is clear. The rare kind Grimm is here... and it's aware of them.
Neo exits the van, looking around with them. Goosebumps form on her as she glances about at each and every set of red eyes. Any one of the sets in the darkness could be the culprit. The girl spares a look over at Blair, worried.
"Well, Silver Streak. Got any bright ideas?" Roman quips. He transforms Velvet to its gun mode. "Or, we just gonna search through the dark."
"We need to get them moving, but moving any further in might trigger a trap." Carmine muses. "If this rare kind is smart enough to have them all hold back to conserve strength, they could have a preferred battlefield, right? Maybe lay traps?"
"Traps are pushing their intelligence, but fundamentally, yes." Blair pops out a cylinder of white dust. She passes it over her shoulder at Roman. He raises a brow at her. "You're the second best caster here, so light the area if need be."
Roman snorts. "When second best amounts to a three out of ten, you know we're in a dingy spot."
"I would place you at a two preferable to the two ones with us." Blair amends.
"Hey!" Carmine exclaims, Neo likewise giving a haughty look, offended. Groaning, he steps forward. "Whatever. Conserve dust until the rare kind shows itself. Roman's turn to hang back and look out. Schneider!"
Carmine, Blair, and Neo fan out, remaining close enough to be in light as they attack the passive Grimm. Within range, the Grimm do viciously snap at them, but still, none of their pack mates come to their dying cries or wails.
It just seemed strange... to not even bother swarming back or trying.
Out of the darkness one of the Creeps stumbles. Red veins showed from its black limbs as black liquid drips from its mouth. The beast shakes, almost in a seizure experience. Neo kills a nearby Creep, then back steps further into the light to get her bearings.
The small girl eyes the sickly Grimm, a curious gaze coming over. She places two fingers in her lips and blows, whistling out for the others. Blair and Carmine both cease their attacks, moving to safety before eyeing the curious Creep before the girl.
Blair narrows her gaze on the dripping black liquid, then the beast's proportions. Its limbs are misshapen. Too much mass in its muscles. One of its clawed legs is significantly smaller than the other. It's displaying symptoms of...
The Creep's head starts to quake, a rumbling throat huffing gurgling out.
Blair shouts out. "Neo! Get back! That's the rare kind!"
Before the girl moves back, the Creep's shaking head opens its jaws wide, revealing a second mouth in its abyss of a throat!
SCREECH!
The ear piercing scream blows out in a sonic wave, directed out from the Creep directly at Neo. The sound vibrations blow out like wind, Neo's first instinct to block then getting overtaken by cupping her ears. The girl's balance gives out as she collapses to her knees.
The vibrations wash over as all members of team CRBN are forced to clasp over their ears and crouch. Their legs shake with the vibrations! The windshield of the van cracks behind Roman, as do the windows of constructed buildings a distance back.
It ends.
The others recover first, letting the ear ringing fade out as they look up. As soon as the shriek ends, the infected Creep lurches back into the shadows. Fleeing for its safety! Simultaneously, ALL the red eyes in the darkness move.
It wasn't a true trap. The rare kind just wanted to be the opening salvo!
Neo, having been directly in the path of the attack, stumbles. Her balance is thrown out and vision impaired. Creeps begin to surge in from the darkness at the girl. Neo looks up, seeing double of the charge Grimm. She jerks back, swinging Hush wild and cutting what she thought was a Grimm, but hits nothing.
Carmine and Blair attempt to charge, but Creeps begin pouring in from the darkness, the two slashing away at them. Thus, it falls to Roman to open fire with Velvet, blasting the Grimm before Neo can be chomped! The Creeps are blasted with fire dust, allowing the girl some reprieve.
Aura healing taking effect, Neo regains balance, ears still ringing. She stands and slashes a Grimm successfully this time. Moving back, she looks into the darkness. Where the hell did that Grimm go?
Far off, Carmine slices a Creep down with Schneider. "Shit! That Grimm is gonna hang back and weaken us while the small fry attack. We have to find it before it shrieks again!"
Blair cuts down another Creep before adding herself. "Pattern will be simple. It will attack whichever of us appears most isolated. Carmine, blood!"
The boy dodges away from a Creep. "Zero!" His armor flashes under his jacket and he guns the Creep down with his gun. "Up!" He raises his right arm beside Blair.
Mid slash of another Creep, Blair's off hand shifts Fluorescent's sheath up and jabs into Carmine's right bicep freely. Capturing a blood sample from him, Blair immediately sheathes her blade and activates the switch, imbuing the golden sword with crimson red inside. "Neo, keep a shatter ready and bait!"
Neo dodges one Creep, letting Roman blast it. She follows up with a slash to down the burning beast's side. The girl shakes off the numbness in her limbs. That sonic scream messed with her muscles and nerves it seems. Reactions are slow as Neo twists over a Creep and leaps further into the dark.
Her mismatched eyes scan the area around her, flashes from Carmine and Roman's guns let her see quick details in the dark. Two Creeps charge from different sides in a pincer attack.
She drops under the coming snap and slashes out the Creep's ankle. It hits the ground, one limb useless and flailing. Neo dodges back as the other Creep stomps over the downed companion after her. Neo rising cuts, slicing its nose and making it recoil. The girl twists and kicks up, bashing it back. As it thrashes about, Neo slits its throat.
As it falls, Neo looks around the canvas of black around her. Any red she finds should catch her eyes. She isn't too far in. Eyes adjusting... there.
Red eyes look back at her, shaking and quaking. Red glowing veins in the two limbs twitch. It's the infected Creep. Neo raises Hush, opening it in a vain attempt of defense. She covers one ear, eyes clenching shut.
SCREECH!
The wave of vibrating sound blasts and warps around the shielding parasol. Neo's body quakes, bones rattling as her faculties are thrown in flux! Mid scream, another Creep lurches for her, snapping down-
Shatter. Neo manages to move in her brief displacement a distance off, back in the light. The vibrations still weaken her movements, Neo tripping up and hitting the ground.
Roman grits his teeth, one eye closed in pain from the scream, but he raises the dust dust cylinder. Channeling his aura, the cylinder begins to shine like a radiant beacon, illuminating the darkness around the full area of the sink hole in front of the mine! He throws the cylinder in a pitch, sending it up and over, fully creating a mock day time in the area.
The infected Creeper ceases its scream, looking about confused.
Now... Blair bursts forward in speed, directly for the Creep. Several others move in, attempting to swarm Blair before she can close the distance. The nearest one attempts to close in on Neo.
Blair triggers Fluorescent, activating Carmine's blood as she taps into his magic. Carmine's Overlap ability. As she passes the first Creep, a second image of Blair veers out of her and slashes the beast down. Another Blair warps out, slashing a second. A third Creep steps between her and the rare kind. A third Blair darts forward to impale it as Blair herself leaps over.
Landing, she makes a final dash for the retreating infected Creep. The three other Blairs all disappear. Before she gets hit with the aura backlash, Blair activates the dust in her weapon, igniting the sword in orange flames! She slashes down, a torrent of orange fire licking out and bathing the Grimm over!
The monster jerks about in the flames squealing in pain. Until it comes to a stop, burning before the blonde. Blair stands up, wincing as she feels the backlash of using the Overlap attack. Carmine might be able to shrug it off well, but it always seems to take more out of others.
The white light dims from above, the white dust cylinder hitting the ground by Blair. The woman bends down and retrieves it. She may need it. Neo comes up behind her.
Carmine and Roman shoot the remaining Creeps around the van, looking across the distance at the vague shadows next to a fire. "Hey! Did you get it?!"
Neo smirks, but her expression drops when she eyes Blair's hard stare on the burning corpse before them. "Now comes the hard part." The girl flinches at that.
What?
Crack.
The burning Creep's jaws unhinge open! A black extending limb fires out from the dead maw! Blair brings Fluorescent up to block, the two clawed fingers sparking on either side of the blade. The webbing of the finger meets the blade! The two claws stop mere inches from her amber eyes.
The force of the limb extending out throws Blair skidding along the ground maintaining her block! The woman grinds her teeth as she halts the push, standing her ground. "Neo, move away, now!"
Neo jerks up, but not quick enough! Another two clawed hand fires out at the girl. Neo, like Blair, brings up Hush to block. Unlike the blonde, the extending limb launches the girl airborne, carrying her over the shadowed distance! In the nearest structure, Neo hits the wall, pinned with the two claws on either side of her!
"Neo!" Carmine shouts, aiming up and blasting a double shot! The burst explodes on the extended limb, eliciting a grumble as the limb retracts! Neo drops and lands, winded. She isn't given time to recover as she rolls from another Creep coming from the side.
Seeing Neo moving well enough, Carmine rushes in to Blair's side. The clawed hand on the woman's weapon retracts away from her. Both limbs retract back into the dead burning Creep's jaw. Each hand grips a side of the jaw, pushing it apart to expand wide.
From the burning husk, a black humanoid form with bone protrusions at the rib cage and back steps out. It's tall. Taller than either Roman or Blair. Its bone mask has two horns curved upward like a devil. A burning orange mouth is visible between links of black flesh of a lower jaw fused into sections of the upper bone mouth. The skinny, lanky beast moves stiff, each twitch accompanied with a sickening crack.
Carmine gulps. "Okay... I'll bite. What's it called?"
Blair winces and straightens her stance. "It's an Imp." She widens her stance. "Intelligent enough to be the mind for other Grimm. They primarily operate by grafting themselves on to another Grimm. However..." She eyes the burning corpse of the Creep behind the Imp. "Lesser Grimm have issues acclimating the extra mass."
Carmine nods. "Kay... So, on its own?"
"Its body can shift and contort in many ways, making it attack in a greatly unorthodox pattern. Its limbs can stretch to attack as you just saw. The only other alternative means of attack you also see."
"Sonic screams." Carmine grimaces. "So, this thing is weak to brute force close quarters combat."
Blair huffs. "Classifying it as 'weak' to melee combat is a false security. Don't take them lightly."
The Imp twitches, the cracking of inner bone sounding with each movement. Its head tilts up, jaw widening! The flesh stitching connecting its bottom jaw to the bone top pulls before popping. The Imp's burning orange maw opens wide as it shrieks up into the sky!
Not the sonic shriek from before. A call.
All the remaining red eyes in the darkness surge in from the edges of the construction, while more Creeps crawl up through the sink hole. Carmine and Blair both dodge back as Grimm surge at them. However, the numbers appear much lower. Perhaps only a couple dozen.
Neo leaps up the scaffolding of construction nearby as Creeps surge after her. Carmine and Blair begin dodging Creeps as they're surrounded by the newcomers coming from the hole. Back to back, Carmine begins dodging and firing Heulin Noon while Blair plays defensive for the two, parrying Grimm off and clipping limbs.
Seeing them surrounded, Roman scoffs, moving into the driver seat of the van. His knees hit the front as he grumbles. "Damned Neo..." Shifting the seat, Roman ramps up the vehicle engines. Eyeing the cracked windshield, he scowls. "Great." He brings up Velvet, using its hilt to bash the windshield out.
Pedal to the metal, the van lurches forward. Roman's off hand aims Velvet Valentine up through the open windshield. He sprays a burst over the Creeps in the way, causing them to part. Carmine and Blair blink, eyes wide, before leaping to the side.
Roman drives right by them, rounding the side of the sink hole and directing the vehicle at the Imp standing ahead. The lanky Grimm raises one claw hand, the arm extending out like a rocket! Exactly what Roman expects as he cranks the wheel and slams the break.
The van turns into a drag spin. The side of the vehicle smacks the extending claws aside. The drifting spin continues with the van speeding towards the Grimm. The Imp's other arm cracks up and extends while the first retracts back in!
The second claw arm pierces into the broad side of the van, ripping through the metal and down, out the bottom of the vehicle. The claws dig into the ground as the van is pinned in place at a dead stop! With the jerking stop, Roman launches out of the driver seat, using the momentum to kick into a run at the monster.
Velvet's sights and gun grip lock back in. Roman grips the weapon with the drum magazine as a club head! The strike lands, cracking the Imp in the jaw upward! The Imp's body snaps back, the unnatural stiffness to its movements eerie.
Suddenly, the Imp's torso twists... and twists... and twists. The upper half of its body spins in place as its clawed arms lash out, constantly shifting lengths. Eyes wide, Roman side steps an extending claw, then ducks a swinging long arm! His hat is knocked clear from him, hair falling over his right eye.
He deflects a clawed arm with Velvet, then swings in! Using Velvet like a club, he bashes the drum mag into the Grimm's exposed torso bones! The hit stops the spin in place, the Imp jolting as if winded. Its head crack turns to stare at Roman up close.
Despite sweating lightly, Roman smirks. "You most certainly aren't getting by on looks."
The Imp's arm swipes up, Roman dodging back. His drum magazine remains lodged in the Imp's exposed rib cage. The beast's arm stretches out, catching Roman between the claws and sweeping him with the hand! Roman is slammed into the side of the van, pinned into the frame!
"Roman!" Carmine shouts in worry, but dodges a Creep and shoots it down.
The Imp's mouth parts, flesh bits snapping free of the bone once more. The Imp releases a might shriek. Without direction, the piercing rattling of bones elicits pain from Roman. Blair and Carmine each are forced to halt, defensively countering Creeps still progressing unaffected.
Neo is safe from the worst of it, now atop the metal skeletal foundation of a building and slashing a Creep through the leg. The Creep falls off, allowing Neo time to take in the situation... Wait. The darkness had shifted with the van's spot, but everything appears to haze.
She realizes why. Fog? Why is there fog? Where is it coming from?
The Imp's scream ceases, followed by Roman grunting out loud in pain. The conman grits his teeth and glares at the monster. His gaze falls to the lodged drum magazine stuck on it. He jerks with his arms, but the large extended claw hand keeps him bound. Forcing a grin, he chuckles as the cloud of fog begins to spread over. He snaps his fingers. His semblance ignites air against the magazine, catching the load of fire dust inside.
An unearthly scream sounds for a split second before cutting out with the explosion!
The blast lights the area, the others shielding their eyes as the Imp's main body is vaporized! The outstretched arm pinning Roman loses its back half as Roman pushes the claws from the van frame. Dropping down, Roman starts patting off dirt before looking around for his hat.
Carmine blasts another creep before rushing to the man. His eyes look to the cooked remains of the Grimm. "Wow. Good job!" He glances over, assessing the damage to the van. "Ah, jeez. I hope there's a worthwhile garage around here."
"Yes." Blair cuts in, slicing another Creep in two. She comes around and eyes Roman. "Much as that was an impressive take down, I loath the consequences."
Roman groans. "Fine, Barbie. I'll pay for it." Despite the flippant reply, he still smirks. He, a career criminal... well, maybe former... just did the Hunter's job for them. "We killed your big bad. Let's just get out of here."
A whistle echoes out, Neo hard landing on the van. Alert, the girl is looking around. The action gets the others looking as Roman puts his hat on. A quick look about finds a slowly thickening fog around them. The remaining Creeps, about five in total, charge at the four.
Blair slices through them with ease, then narrows her gaze around. "They aren't fleeing."
"They're small fry. Not smart without their brainy demon." Roman snorts.
Neo continues to look about, the fog getting thicker. It's getting colder too... Carmine eyes her as her narrowed gaze finds the sink hole. Although, even the hole was beginning to obscure in the haze.
"Even minor Grimm recognize when far superior Grimm are killed around them. Elder Grimm's self preservation doesn't just up and appear. However remote, there exists some form of self preservation when facing insurmountable odds." Blair scowls out into the fog.
Neo is the first to lightly shiver... the temperature is nosediving. Carmine grimaces. "Did it just drop twenty degrees?" Soon as he says so, they each share a look. The fog continues to thicken. The lights of the van begin reflecting off the fog wall. Almost a white haze around them. Somehow both obscuring and illuminating. "This fog isn't natural, is it?"
"No. It is not."
Roman grimaces. "Barbie... You're the Grimm expert. That devil is able to summon ice fog?"
"No..." Blair grumbles unhappy.
"Follow up... Barbie, are you certain our 'friend' implied only one rare kind?"
"She said the humanoid Grimm from the caverns underneath the city expansion. It was quite specific!" The blonde nearly snaps. "Unless... Unless this growing horde didn't belong to the Imp... If there was a far stronger Grimm available, the Imp would have attached to it instead."
"Unless the other Grimm is stronger." Roman surmises. Blair and Neo flinch a look at him. "What? If these hideous things have preferred ways of doing things, they have to conflict at some point."
Neo grimaces at the still thickening fog. At this point, they might not be able to see twenty feet. She glances over to Carmine, removing her previous thoughts. A choppy breath was coming out. His eyes slightly too wide.
Blair's voice cuts in. "That appears so. The Creeps are natural to the area, drawn to the caverns. That means the Imp arrived later. It was manipulating the growing horde for its own devices."
Neo frowns, signing. "Would the stronger one allow that?"
"Only if it was convenient to itself." Blair directs herself to the sink hole. "Imps fight by empowering a single Grimm, surrounding itself with others, and depowering the enemy."
A crack of earthen rock echoes from the sink hole. Blair gulps.
"The other must use Grimm hordes to soften their enemies before finishing them off alone."
In front of them, obscured in the fog, a large armored humanoid shape steps up from the edge of the sink hole. Not beside them, but a distance around the hole from them. Going off purely the shape, it was like a one armed knight fully armored and kneeling over a sword. Whatever the 'sword' was, though, frost glazes out over the ground, creeping towards the group and painting a light off white on the concrete.
Blair's gaze scrunches. "That's... That's a-"
"Nelo." Carmine steps back, eyes locked on the silhouette.
. . .
The fog like mist hazes over the image before them. A six year old Carmine is transfixed on the image as a woman steps between him and the being ahead. Summer Rose stares down the encroaching threat.
The silhouette of the being lit with line-like wisps around it for a flash. He steps forward, an object dragging on the ground beside it.
Stepping forth, it was definitely human shaped. Rippling muscle with its large rib cage sticking just outside the skin like armor. White bones coat the shoulders like shoulder pads. Short stub spikes stick from it's spinal vertebra. Its Grimm mask has violet cracks and four horns. Its left arm is stubby, only reaching the end of its ribs, while it's other arm reaches the knees.
The hand also merges into a bone like club, like a cross between a spine and sword. The edge of the weapon rattles as sparks of electricity zap into the ground.
. . .
The boy takes another step back. His body almost locks up. No! Now is not a time to freeze... He blinks. Ah, a pun. Yeah. Register other things. Lock in. Calm down, and breath. It's no different from Killian. It's just an obstacle.
Still, the beast disappears in a wall of chilled white. Carmine flinches when losing sight of the Grimm! Blair shouts behind them. "Dodge!" The four scatter as a bone blade jabs between them all. It digs into the ground, revealing a smoothed elongated bone gladius sword!
The arm is rippling with muscle, dark gray armor scales showing around many of the bulging masses. Its rib cage is large, sticking out of the skin and flattened as a bone chest plate. The armor like scales fill the gaps in the bone, and chilled bone spikes come up from the shoulders, fused into the shoulder blades. Gray scales drape down its back before peeling free and hanging like a cloak or cape.
The creature's bone mask locks over the lower face like a helmet with spikes at the top. Two small slits in the mask showcase glowing red eyes. Its left arm is stubbed, just like the last Nelo Carmine faced.
The bone sword twists, side swinging into a blocking Roman and Carmine! Both are launched away, Carmine slamming into the metal scaffolds and into the second floor of the next building! The Nelo turns on Blair and Neo, raising its bone blade as ice forms around it!
Blair ignites Fluorescent in fire and blocks the attack full force. Ice and fire radiate from the blades, blowing steam around them and cracking the ground beneath her feet. Blair roars and blasts the bone blade up from her. She attempts to counter slash in the opening, but the fire leaves Fluorescent too soon. Her slash scrapes the chest.
The Nelo grumbles, a frosted layer icing over the scrape and repairing it with ice. It slams the sword into the ground, forcing Blair back as ice spikes grow out after her.
To the side, Neo rounds and leaps in at the monster. The Nelo turns at her, then sweeps its blade up at the girl. Neo twists into a back flip, the bone blade whiffing inches by her head. She drop kicks the Grimm in the head, barely budging it is she bounces down to land.
Quick stepping back, Neo dodges a downward slash. It then sweeps at her again, Neo ducking the massive blade this time! As the Nelo swings back around, Neo twirls Hush, using the curved handle to hook catch the sword as she jumps it! The blade carries Neo away from the ground. Neo flips off the blade, slashing at the beast's head!
However, the Nelo dodges her, Neo left wide eyed mid air. The Nelo aims its ice clawed stub arm at her before it stretches out like a missile at the girl!
Shatter!
The extending arm continues into the fog. Neo reappears landing at the Grimm's legs. With a smirk, she intends to rise up and stab it in the gut! Stuck. Neo's eyes wide as she notices a layer of ice freezing her legs and Hush to the ground. She looks up to see the Nelo step back and bring its extended arm back before firing it down at her!
Roman comes between them, using Velvet to block the ice claws! His feet start to get dug into the ground under pressure. He twirls his cane, directing the extending arm by the two to strike the ground behind them!
Before it can attack again, Blair launches a burst of lightning from Fluorescent, the strobe light bouncing off the fog in a blinding fashion! The blast strikes the Nelo off balance and back! Blair lands in front of Roman, stance up.
Recall. Carmine flashes back in place, aiming up and emptying a cylinder of Heulin Noon into the off balance Grimm to keep it back. Relieved, Roman turns to Neo, the girl's teeth clattering as she shivers stuck. "One sec." He pops the spare round out of Velvet that always remains after ejecting the magazine. Cracking the shot with his hand, he spreads the fire dust over the ice, wiping it away.
Neo lets out a satisfied sigh as the ice steams off her. One look over Roman's shoulder, the girl flinches. He follows suit as Carmine and Blair look shocked as well.
The Nelo fires its stub arm out, striking and digging into the ice spikes by the team. Breaking it off, the ice spike is hauled in as a stiff arm club. Lifting the massive load of ice up, it brings it down towards them! Carmine snap reloads then rapid fires three double shots in the center stress point in the ice!
It shatters before striking Blair and Carmine, blowing ice fog in their faces as they shield their eyes. Blair looks through. "Look out!"
The Nelo was undisturbed losing the temporary limb, having swung into a spin to sweep its blade at the four! Blair raises Fluorescent to block, but she isn't grounded to bear the force. Carmine uses his armored arm to block, but likewise can't bear it. Both are carried with the sweep into Roman and Neo.
The Nelo's swipe throws all four CRBN members off their feet. Off their feet... and into the hole. Light leaves their sights as the group descends into the fogged black abyss below. Unsure of how far the pit drops, Carmine shouts frantic. "Neo!"
The girl opens Hush, catching air resistance! Blair snatches her ankle, Roman snatching Blair's, and Carmine snatching Roman's. Their combined weight sends them harshly down, so Carmine shouts again. "Jager!" His armor flashes to his calves before the boost thrusts!
The burst of dust from the armor lights their fall, showing the rapidly incoming ground! He vaguely makes out crystals glowing in the dark. Carmine hits first into a tumble as each of the four land in a heap with four echoing utterances. "Fuck-!" "Gah-!" "Ah-!" "Eep-!" In order of their descent.
Groaning, Blair withdraws the white dust cylinder. Pumping aura it lights bright in the area to reveal the massive caverns. Like an ant nest, the tunnels curve around with loops and sturdy walls in all directions! Raw dust crystals reflect off the light in large patches all around, eliciting blue, violet, and orange in uniform sections.
Roman spots a curve in the wall as he hauls Neo and Carmine up. "Neo, cover. Come on Barbie!"
Blair follows the three into the corner before Neo concentrates. In a mute blink, an illusion crystal wall appears over them. Inside, Blair deactivates the white dust, putting them all in darkness once more. The four able to see outside the illusion, they wait only a few seconds.
Crack!
The Nelo lands in a harsh landing, sending dirt out from the center of the cavern. Its presence blows its fog around the underground. Red eyes direct themselves one way... then the other. The Grimm breathes heavily, the sound like winds through an ice crevice. Like whispers but too loud.
The fog obscures it entirely as CRBN watches from inside Neo's illusion. All sight of it disappears... and a minute later, the fog starts to clear. When it clears, the Nelo is gone, leaving then alone.
Shatter.
The four step out from cover, checking all sides for which direction it could have gone. Carmine huffs, pulling their attention as he nods to a tunnel far off. The tail end of a fog trail wisps into the tunnel and disappears.
Alone, the Roman looks wide eyed at Carmine and Blair. "What the hell was that? The freaking Lich King?"
Blair spares a look at Carmine, noticing his breathing still off. "You've seen one before?" Eyes fall on Carmine, making him flinch.
"I..." He darts his eyes around, teeth grinding. He nods to Neo and releases a breath. "The day before we met. Uh... when Sum-" He looks to Roman, seeing recognition dawn on the man. "One was in our way... Used lesser Grimm to attack us first before bothering to appear itself..." His eyes snap up to Blair. "But! It used lightning. The fog it had was wet, like a mist. Its armor was different!"
Eyes move to Blair, the blonde scowling at their situation. "A Nelo can be affiliated with any element. All Nelo can manipulate weather to a degree, and their element can influence that manifestation at times." She shakes her head. "Team WMBR in my graduating class at Beacon encountered one their sophomore year with a professor escort. It was unexpected, and the professor had to bear the brunt as they helped."
"Which professor?" Carmine couldn't help but ask.
"Port. How else would I know about it?" Blair drones unhappily. "The one they'd encountered was affiliated with acid using a barbed rapier and acid mist."
Neo purses her lips. Didn't want to even think about facing that. However, that makes her curious as she nods to Blair.
"No. I specifically have never encountered one. For Grimm, they are some of the most independent. The fact that it allowed the Imp to control all the Grimm coming to its own growing horde is proof of that. Very ancient, and they have keen fighting instincts. Atlesian Knights were partially created in their honor. Or, infamy I should say."
The conman grumbles under his breath, flippant. "K... I'll bite then. What do we need to know, Professor Barbie?"
"Each Nelo has a weapon of bone grown unique to them, which influences their weapon style. This one loves sweeping slashes for example. Their armor can very as well, but function universally as incredibly durable. Weak spots are joints like a person or the eyes in the slits." Blair raises her left arm. "They all have a deceptively small left arm that can function as the Imp's did, grafting onto inorganic material instead of Grimm material."
Carmine gets his breathing under control, nodding. "Okay..." He glances around them at the crystals. "Are these... raw dust deposits?"
Roman glances around. "Looks right to me. We're sitting in a pretty loaded powder keg in here."
"I can Recall up to the van and get a rope. We can draw it back out and fight it prepared this time." Carmine suggests.
Roman scoffs. "After blowing my load on the knock off devil, I'd need a while to load a second drum magazine." Neo sends a smirk at him, sly. The conman glowers at her. "Shut up." Neo grins and shakes her head. What he gets for showing off.
Blair grimaces. "Attempting to get at its weak spots will be a long drawn out fight, above or below. Risky to maintain without sustaining injury." She looks at Carmine. "The only moves we have that could hopefully put it down quickly would be if I use your Overlap again and unload multiple dust loads in melee."
"Or my Panzer..." Carmine muses, but grimaces. "But with how thick the fog is, if I miss..." Neo looks to the caverns over them. The action garners a curious glance from the boy. He follows the gaze and thinks. "Hmm... what if we do this the CRBN way?" He smirks devilishly.
At Blair's confusion, Roman catches on and gives a smarmy grin. "These caverns aren't linked to the mines the city expansion plans recognized, so they aren't claimed as city property... Although, letting all this go to waste might make me cry. Still, unrefined dust would be just as volatile as what we use."
The blonde blinks, then understands. A small smile creeps on her. "Then perhaps we spend some time procuring some of these assets for later. I'm sure you can find someone willing to buy."
Roman's expression lights up. "Oh my, yes." His green eyes lock onto Carmine. "Why, Silver Streak, I thought you got offended when our plans included a big boom."
Carmine sends a poker face. Once upon a time, he recalled feeling degraded by Qrow for such a thing being a common occurrence. Now... He smirks. "Well, you get used to it. Plus, we didn't blow anything up in Patch. The trip felt naked." The four nod, before looking around themselves. "So, lets plan this out."
. . .
Above ground, high in the sky at the top of a half constructed building, sits an individual in the darkness.
Cinder watches the group from her far perch in the dark. A dark red coat keeps her warm in the open cold air. She brushes her raven locks of hair aside, using a scope to observe the happenings at the sink hole. Having observed the Nelo chase the CRBN group inside the caverns below. Her frown sets at the display. The Nelo was quite ferocious. More so than she thought it would be.
It's no wonder they're such an annoyance... the both sides.
Bzzt... Her scroll begins vibrating with an incoming call. She doesn't need to look at it to know who is calling. She answers. "Yes."
"Status report." The prim male voice demands.
"Team CRBN has made contact with the Nelo. It seems to have caught them off guard. All other Grimm in the area have been killed, including the Imp." Cinder's tone laces with an undertone of irritation. "The fight has gone underground, so I now lack the tools to observe in real time."
"They better succeed for your sake. You lack the time to replace them for this coming operation."
Cinder huffs as a dark look comes over her. "Much as you'd love me disappearing, I plan to stick around. Besides." She keeps an eye on the sink hole through her one eye scope. A slow creeping smirk comes. "They show a great deal of potential." She lowers the scope to muse to the device. "But you didn't interrupt my recon for asking the obvious."
"We've located Fall." The statement makes the woman stiffen. Was... was this the time? "When Team CRBN defeats the rogue mind, you may give them my location. After that, hurry up and gather a team. She will be your mission here after."
Cinder's hand tightens around the scroll. "Understood."
. . .
Underground, Carmine's gaze glares down upon his shaking hand.
It's just a Grimm. Not even the same kind as back then. It shouldn't make him react like that. He was able to move and fight against it at least. The Nelo wasn't as debilitating a presence as Killian Gonzola, that's for sure. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling. Like he was seeing a ghost.
Carmine stands in the darkness of the cave, seeing Roman and Blair give signals near the dull glows of unrefined dust. He then spots Neo on an alcove below doing the same. The group found the perfect cavern chamber. The ground was uneven, which should slow the larger being. Enough of the deposits grant multi colored lighting in a haze of color.
Yes... This would do perfect. A surge of confidence allows a small smile, in spite of his heart rate. This isn't just a hunt. This is a redemption... Passively, he looks up, murmuring to the air. "I'll be useful this time, Summer..." He looks to the others, calling out. "Alright, we ready? Let's go!"
Neo nods, leaping to the center of the chambers and looking to the different cavern tunnels connecting to the chamber. Her fingers pinch in her lips as she sucks in a large breath.
She whistles! The piercing sound echoing into the tunnels.
Blair, Roman, and Carmine take positions in separate corners, waiting to see the coming cloud of fog. However, the first complication comes almost immediately. The fog begins to waft in from multiple tunnels... Neo keeps her wits about her, head in a swivel.
The temperature descends quickly, Roman absently huddling in his cove of rock. Bathed in a dull orange glow of the unrefined fire dust, he gains some warmth. The same could not be said for Carmine, binding himself tight for heat hidden near a mix of colored crystals ranging from clear to yellow to green. Wind dust, as its coloration was quite subjective to change with impurities.
While quelling his jitters, Carmine sees the shadow silhouette emerge from one of the tunnels. The Nelo has arrived. The boy prays silently...
Neo breathes out, her huff blowing out in a cold puff. Behind her, the large silhouette more than twice as tall as her comes into view. If she wasn't sure of the danger, the sudden chill up her spine absolutely alerts her. The bone sword sweeps down through her!
Shatter.
The Nelo comes to a halt in the cavern chamber. Its sword dips, pulling attention to its arm. Neo stands balanced upon the blade. The girl dashes down the blade's length, slashing across the Grimm's chilled bone plate helmet. Flipping over, Neo lands and moves into a sprint away from the beast. It misses a swing at the girl's back, then lurches after her!
Blair eyes the silhouettes, waiting for the Nelo to move into position. Stepping free of her hiding spot, she rams Fluorescent into the wall! The gold blade shifts a pulsing violet lightning! The dust crystals around her and embedded in the ground light up as she casts the dust through the natural formations!
The Nelo halts, glancing around as Neo rushes clear. The crystals all around light like LED lights before arcs of lightning burst and crackle out! The arcs link into each other, creating a net of striking electricity!
The Nelo releases a howl of pain as the interconnected arcs bolts and surge into the various bone points. As if to lightning rods. The Nelo fires through it, turning red eyes on Blair.
Roman steps free next, flicking a raw fire dust crystal up like flipping a coin. As it pings off the crystals in the ceiling, the conman snaps his fingers, igniting the crystal with his semblance! Roman's casting, rudimentary as it is, radiates along the ceiling of the cavern, blasting out dust deposits and bringing the start of a cave collapse on the Nelo.
Neo shatters from her side of the Nelo, reappearing near the other four. She smiles at Carmine as he steps out.
In front of them, the ground vaporizes away with crackling lightning, revealing different dusts crystallized underneath. More dust crystals fall from above around it, shattering and igniting. Perfect.
Carmine scowls at the monster, raising his gun. A grim smile comes on. "I'm gonna enjoy this."
Double shot. He fires directly into the reacting crystals. The explosion sets off the chain reaction! All four CRBN members turn tail and dash for the exit behind the boy! A mixture of reactions blows behind them, collapsing hundreds of tons of rock upon the Grimm!
The last view Carmine catches is the Nelo's extending arm piercing into the ground under it. It was trying something, but there's no way it can survive this... right? The four make it to the next cavern chamber, the collapse nipping at their heels until ceasing. Slowing themselves to a stop, they catch a breath and gaze back at the crumbled stone...
"Well... when we party, we bring the house down." Carmine cracks a surprised smile.
All three of the others scoffs. "Please no." Roman grumbles.
"What's wrong? We won." Carmine smirks more comfortably. "Another one bites the DUST! HA!" he giggles as Blair and Roman both wince. Neo straightens, slightly more perky and receptive, but no more... He doesn't get the memo. "You could say we gave him an... Icey Hot-neh!"
He jerks from Neo poking Hush into his side! The boy moves a step away as the girl smirks devilishly. She shakes her head.
"Fine. I'm done." Carmine pouts. He rubs his side painfully. "So rude-"
Rumble.
Rocks tumble and quake lightly before the rattling earth stills. All four CRBN members snap their gazes at the collapsed wall of rock. Carmine can't help his mouth parting. "No..."
The rumble comes again, the four stepping back. Roman scowls. "Oh, come on... Barbie, that thing can't tank an underground collapse can it?"
Stones and tumbled rocks begin to frost over. Blair enters her kendo stance. "If so, we will need a larger 'boom' as it were."
Carmine sneers. "Right. Collapsing the entire caverns it is." He looks to the three. "Get topside. I'm using Panzer!" The three move to the original chamber they'd landed in, the hole leading up to pure darkness.
Roman turns for Neo. "Grab the rope in the van. Both of them. Tie them together and tie one end to the van itself." The girl nods. He cups his hands low, allowing Neo a running start to boost jump off his hands high into the darkness.
Blair places wind dust into Fluorescent and channels it up. Neo opens Hush, catching the air as she's launched up through the shadows above!
The remaining three CRBN members turn on the source of the rumbling. Creeping ice gradually forms out as a sheet over the stone before a loud shatter blasts out! Erupting from the stone is the black body. The Nelo rips out and lands across from the three!
It was most certainly injured. The bone plate mask helmet was half cracked off with black blood dripping off. Its bone sword is snapped at the base of the blade! The bone plate armor skin is cracked over, large sections peeled off and shattered.
But... its left arm.
The gimp arm was now replaced, melded and attached to an inanimate object... a large raw ice dust crystal! The crystal cracks, the clear blue crystal marring with splits as the black Grimm arm begins to extend into the crystal itself.
"Blair... what is..?"
"I... do not know..." Blair states, equally bewildered.
The crystal arm begins to shape with the black arm inside. The crystal cracks apart, the cracks forming joints, the Grimm arm inside acting as the skeleton. In seconds, the Grimm forms the raw dust into a fully humanoid arm, fist clenching. Clear, the black Grimm limb shows inside as the thin bone of the arm. Its fist clenches.
"Okay... it has a dust arm... Barbie?" Roman takes a hesitant step back. His gaze eyes various ice spikes hanging off the beast. "Wait... Did it use that ice dust to defend itself to survive that collapse?" After a second he cocks his head. "Does this thing's ice power translate to dust?"
"Nonsense. A Grimm could never hope to cast with dust. Its power comes from a different source than aura!" Blair asserts firmly.
The Grimm holds up its broken bone sword as it clenches its ice fist around it.
"And you're sure about that?" Carmine asks softly.
"Yes! I am certain!" Blair nearly snaps.
The Grimm draws the bone sword from the hand. With it, the flash of dust casting warps out as a long ice blade mends to replace the broken sword! From the ice dust arm, casting washes over the Grimm... as ice patches mend and reconstruct the missing and shattered bone pieces of armor. Its helmet reforms, half bone, half ice.
Fully reconstructed, the Grimm roars and moves to charge.
Blair's eyes now wide, she purses her lips as Carmine and Roman both send piercing gazes at the back of her head. "... No. I am not certain."
The Nelo moves into a charging sprint at the three! Carmine flinches before calling out. "Panzer!" His armor flashes around his gun into its off balance cannon mode! His left arm hauls the weapon up to aim!
The Grimm's ice arm raises as ice casts out! Just before Carmine can center his aim on the beast, the ice hits him! A shell of frost ices over him, freezing him in place! "Frrrrk!" He growls out, ice holding him in place. The Nelo continues towards him as he yelps!
Roman jerks him aside as Blair rounds the right. She activates gravity dust, Fluorescent shifting black with space like white specks. She ignites the gravity dust into the ground, a warp shifting the air and pulling the Nelo off balance on its left leg towards her.
Shifting its target, it slashes at the blonde, the woman barely parrying the massive blade with her own! Knocking Blair off balance, the Nelo roars in a circular sweep with its blade. Roman pulls Carmine low as the ice blade waves over his head!
"Opening!" Roman calls out for Blair as he raises Velvet Valentine! He catches the hook in the pick side handle on the ice blade as it comes back around on him! It drags him two feet, but Roman grinds to a halt, stopping the Nelo's second sweep swing!
Blair dashes in as Roman jerks the blade down. The blonde leaps up, landing a rising cut up up the Grimm's exposed chest and leaving a gash! Mid air, Blair spins to slash at the beast's head! The Nelo lurches and raises its ice dust arm to block. The sword slices into the ice, but wedges stuck!
Its arm pulses, getting an alert gaze from Blair. Stuck with her weapon in its arm, Blair retrieves a fire dust cylinder, ramming it into Fluorescent as the ice arm continues warp flashing! She ignites the fire dust as the Grimm blasts an ice cast from its forearm!
A torrent of ice and fire clash and blow apart, throwing Blair into the cavern wall! The Nelo itself is thrown back two steps, and the blast shakes Roman off! The Nelo turns on him, lunging its blade!
Wide eyed, Roman deflects the large blade up with Velvet with a wincing growl. However, he's open to a center mass punch from the ice arm! The hit sends him sliding along the ground! He comes to a stop, gritting his teeth. "This is starting to piss me off..."
His gaze looks up, bringing an appreciative look. The rope drops down from the world above! Neo's finished! Roman moves to his feet, looking to Carmine still frozen by the Nelo. "Silver Streak!"
Carmine's aura pulses as he Recalls! The ice in his shape is left behind hollow as Carmine warps into place near the Nelo. He drops down, his body numb from undoing the chilled cold. He's behind the Nelo, so he releases a breath of relief.
It turns around... making him freeze.
"Uh... Okay, Mr death knight, can you just..." The boy begins backing up as it sets fully on him. "... take it easy... Shake hands." He raises his Panzer gun up as quick as he can!
The Nelo lurches forward, its ice dust arm reaching and clasping around the gun arm entirely! The large icicle fingers clench around the gun as a coating of ice begins to chill over the metal! Carmine fights for his grip, planting his feet and aiming.
The Nelo's torso is twisted just slightly putting its upper chest behind the ice arm holding Panzer. Line of fire. Carmine can feel the ice starting to form around his hand. If he's going to pull the trigger... "Roman! Blair! Clear!" Both adults get on their feet, moving full speed towards the rope in the chamber!
Looking back, the Grimm begins raising its ice blade to bring down on the boy. Carmine sweats nervously, but manages a grin. He pulls the trigger.
Panzer ignites its full power! Observed slowly, one would see the warping white spark inside the ice before ripping through the entirety of the ice arm. The pure dust blast impacts the Nelo's left pectoral, shattering the reformed bone plate and vaporizing the entire left side of its torso! The left jaw and cheek of the head rip away with it as the blast booms through behind it, black blood splattering back!
The blast continues and buries itself into the cavern walls! The raw dust deposits within ignite on impact, sending a cascade of reactive explosions of varying elements.
That's if observed slowly. In reality, all occurs in the span of a quarter second! The blast throws Carmine tumbling back, a result of the ice dust arm reacting and exploding as well!
Quakes begin rocking the chamber, walls cracking as the underground becomes unstable. Carmine gets to his feet, looking at the Nelo. A third of its mass gone, the remainder of it gurgles before hitting the ground in a flail! The boy struggles to remain standing, looking to the adults now hanging on the rope. "Zero!" His armor flashes back under his jacket as he moves into a sprint!
. . .
Above ground, Neo feels the rumbling, eyes going wide. Standing at the edge, she peers as far as she can in the dark, even with the lights on the van still on to illuminate the surroundings.
Roman's voice calls from below. "We're on the rope! Get us outta here!"
Neo is moving before the second sentence. The rope is tied to the back bumper of the van, so she jumps into the driver seat. Quickly, she starts the engine and revs the van forward! Moving as quickly as she can, the van drags the rope, rapidly pulling the other three up along.
Roman, then Blair, then Carmine all get hauled up out of the sink hole, hitting the ground and rolling off the rope! Neo brings the van to the stop as the ground continues to rumble. She gets up as the three all look to the sink hole. Then they all four shield themselves!
Like a geyser, the sink hole blows upward in a spew of a debris cloud! The rumble ends with a final quake as the impacts of small blasted pebbles hit around them. A last ding rattles as a larger pebble smacks off the van. As silence comes over them, the four allow themselves to glance around.
Collectively, they release a relieved sigh.
"It is absolutely dead this time." Blair breathes out.
"It better be. I blew half its damned body off!" Carmine releases a small chuckle looking at the others. Suddenly, he stiffens and growls. "DAMN IT!"
"What?!" Roman and Blair echo alert, Neo twisting on him.
"I missed a chance for an ice one liner!" Carmine drops to a knee in shame, hands on his head. Instantly, all three relax, settling annoyed looks on the boy, even Neo.
"Good. We never, ever need that." Roman scoffs as he moves for the van.
The group moves back to the van as Carmine sulks, but starts speaking out his ideas depressed. "We put him on ice... It's a cold day in Hell... I'll end you like a cold killer- OW!" He yelps as the four take their seats in the half ruined van.
"Thank you, Neo." Roman sighs satisfied.
. . .
The cracking of sunlight over the mountain tops begins to light the Mantle lands. The city is more active than usual, many of the peoples curiously looking northwest to the dusted plum. A cloud continues to slowly drift up into the sky from the sinkhole! People gossip and prattle on among themselves.
All the while...
Squeak... squeak... squeak...
The wheels of the van roll round and round... carrying the vehicle with a destroyed left side, shredded undercarriage, and shattered glass windows. The CRBN van pulls into an automotive body repair shop, one of its faunus workers scrunching his head at the squeaks. He turns to look as his jaw parts frozen.
The van comes to a stop in front of the shop... Then, a bar clangs off the bottom and into the concrete. The faunus, a slightly overweight man with donkey ears, looks into the window to Roman.
Roman holds a hand out, containing 3,000 Lien. "This is a down payment for you all to fix this within two days. Interested?"
The faunus looks at the wreckage that used to be a sleek and comfortable van. He mutters softly. "I... will let the boss know."
. . .
The four CRBN members groan as they ease into their seats in the cafe. Having picked a body shop in the more ill faithful part of town to bribe, they find themselves among the faunus intended businesses. After finding where they were, Carmine decided that the four could try to eat at the faunus equivalent of the restaurant they'd ate at yesterday. Seren's Shack.
This one was particularly less tended to, with far more lacking conditions and out of date tools. Still, the atmosphere seemed ever slightly more genuine to Carmine. Some of the faunus seemed put off seeing a group of four humans come in, but money is money.
Carmine thinks back to Roman's favorite color, mentally referencing the prior day's talking to about treatment of the faunus. Although, despite a sign on the business clearly noting the 'human' location, the people here were much less attentive to those rules. It brings a smile to him, at least finding some place.
Didn't stop him from noticing Blair rather tight gripped on her wallet. Neo looked ready to take from everyone. Meanwhile, Roman seemed the most unaffected.
Grabbing breakfast, they all go for variations of the same meal. For Carmine, pancakes. For Neo, waffle. Roman? Crepes. And Blair? Carmine looks at the woman's order. "What the hell is a blintz?" He squints at the rolled, filled, double cooked wrapped delicacy on Blair's plate.
The tired blonde offers a bite. "Try it. This one is filled with vanilla-" Carmine accepts the fork and chops on the bite. His eyes light up in pure joy! Blair finishes. "-and cheese cream... You enjoyed that I see."
Carmine returns to his pancakes smirking. "I know what I'm ordering for seconds." At Neo's look, he clarifies. "Oh... Uh, I'm covering today's food for everyone since Roman's covering van repairs."
"Neo covers inns and tailoring." Roman volunteers the girl in a grumbling voice. He notices the cutting look from Blair. "Yes, Barbie?"
"Just noticing you volunteering me to refill our weapon supplies." Blair almost moves on, but pauses at the approach of a dark skinned short faunus girl walks up with two antennae poking out of her hair. "Can I help you?"
The girl holds her hand out, offering a device. "I was told to give this to you." She places the device on the table before turning and fleeing from the restaurant.
All four stare at the device, a crummy looking scroll... "It's a burner." Roman notes as Blair picks it up. "So, now we're just waiting around for them to grace us with-"
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.
The scroll call rattles in Blair's hands as the four spare off glances at one another. Blair centers herself and answers the scroll. "Defeating a Nelo has benefited our Mistress greatly. It's no small feat."
A male voice...
Blair straightens. She feels... No, she KNOWS she's heard that voice somewhere. Still, she answers back in a cutting tone, voice low. "Yes, we've done your dirty work. We will do nothing further for you unless you honor your end of the deal."
"I see why Miss Fall reported well for you..." The man's voice carries a venom, irritation at Blair's attitude. Before Blair can speak further, he continues. "Select one of your companions by the next time we contact you. As soon as you may, head to the Pillar of New Malum. You will have one call to make to from that burner. Use it once you're in the city."
"Speak our objective, and you'll receive cooperation." Blair snips back, eyes narrowing. This man's dismissive tone and venomous dips were beginning to infuriate her. Carmine, Neo, and Roman share a glance. Carmine and Neo shrug as Roman glares back at the burner scroll.
However, all confusion left when the man stated clearly. "We will be organizing a face to face meeting between one member of your team and AZRL's top member inside the SDC."
The woman freezes. Wait... these people know AZRL's source inside the SDC?! How? What information are they privy to? More importantly, why have they not acted upon it?! Unless... they benefit from not outing the man? Or rather, they don't benefit from the government of Atlas removing them?
Thousands of questions more fly through her mind in high speed. It must have brought a significant pause in her response time, as the man continues. "I'm glad to have your attention. Call the contact number in the scroll when you arrive."
A silence comes over Blair as she lowers the scroll. A minute passes as the other three await to be filled in. Roman speaking first. "... Why do I feel we've just ran head long into a whole host of complications lacking information? Is it that complicated?"
Blair grimaces in response, to which Carmine and Neo share another look. The boy sulks. "... Yeah. That sounds about our luck."
A successful hunt! We've secured CRBN's alliance with their... sponsor of sorts... While it's implied to have an alternate reason for why Salem's people would hunt a Grimm, it's not going to have much detail here. Far future planning.
A return from the first custom Grimm I put into this fic, the Nelo, new ice sub-type Nelo. A bit more information on this Grimm type showcasing that they have elemental affiliations, the one that attacked Carmine and Summer ten years ago being a lightning sub-type.
Also, more use of the Creeps, first put into last chapter. Trying to familiarize myself with more other types of canon Grimm to help Atlas feel separate. It IS a whole different continent after all. Also use of an Imp as well.
Join next time in chapter Sixty One: The Great Pillars.