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Chapter 18: Sunrise

For Team MARZ the sight of Breaktide Hunter Academy of Menagerie with its' many towers rising above a vast defensive perimeter wall and into the skyline of Port Alistair, flanked and surrounded by the largest buildings of island Kingdoms' Capital City had perhaps not been quite so welcoming since the first time they had all seen it.

The flight from the wastelands between Menagerie's settlements had allowed the four of them a measure of respite, though Ruby had taken care not to allow any of the teens now under her care to fall asleep until she was certain that none of them were suffering from a concussion or any more serious injuries to the brain or skull and after an amount of time that none of the four teams had been able to accurately measure as minutes blurred together in an indistinct haze of exhaustion they felt the thud of their transport landing on one of the landing pads and were quickly but gently ushered inside by both Ruby and Penny.

The first and undeniably most important order of business upon Team MARZ's return had been that of medical treatment, administered as always by Breaktide Academies' chief of medical staff, the Fox Faunus Nurse Kintsugi. It had been ascertained, with no small amount relief from the students themselves and a measure of incredulity from the nurse that Team MARZ were mostly unharmed and by and large would need nothing more than rest and stimulants to replenish their Aura more quickly in order to make full recoveries from their ordeal in the wasteland; Athena-Jade predictably having taxed herself the most in that regard whilst Regalia's left arm had been bound to her body with a sling to keep a damaged muscle in her shoulder from deteriorating further and Astra had been treated for both bruised ribs and their concussion, the latter causing the Deer Faunus to let out a groan of despair as it would prevent them from proceeding directly to their bed and sleeping for several hours.

Once the medical treatment had been administered Team MARZ's next port of call had been to report to Headmistress Coco Adel's office for a proper debriefing, or the closest thing to one that they could reasonably be expected to give and despite being on the verge of collapse the four teens had pushed themselves onwards admirably and recounted their experiences to the best of their abilities, explaining how they had deviated so wildly from the original mission remit and what they had discovered with Ruby and Penny verifying their statements in the absence of Major Grapeshot of Carmesi Hueso. Coco had congratulated them on a job well done before dismissing the team and promising to speak with the absent veteran Hunters at the first available opportunity.

At which point Team MARZ had finally been able to return to their dorms and their waiting bunks.

To say Astra's mind was racing would not be entirely accurate given the erratic and disjointed nature of the thoughts currently clattering around it and the general fug on aching, heavy and eye-itching tiredness that overwhelmed them despite their inability to act on it; instead Astra' mind veered, careened and clanked like some poorly maintained machine until finally a distraction came in the form of Regalia kicking the bathroom door open, the sound causing Astra's vision to snap back into focus and allow them to actually see their surroundings just as the Racoon Faunus flopped on the bunk below as dramatically as possible without further injuring her shoulder, her vast mane of bushy grey-brown hair still untied and burying much of her form as she lay down.

"Finally" an exhausted sigh escaped her, muffled by pillows "Don't wake me up for anything, I don't even care if some more of the moon falls off"

"Good for you" Astra grumbled, rubbing bleary eyes and trying their hardest not to sound overly bitter at the fact that they would not be able to sleep for a few more hours yet.

"You okay over there?" a voice almost as as exhausted as their own was interrupted by a loud, jaw-popping yawn and Astra glanced over at Athena, the Bear Faunus having swapped bunks with her partner for the night whilst Zirconia fiddled absently with her Scroll beneath her; the Grasshopper Faunus currently sported a bandage which obscured one of her eyes and was in turn almost lost beneath masses of spiky black hair which had been released from' its' signature styling. more worrying for her team-mates however was the reason for change in sleeping arrangements, Zirconia had removed her damaged prosthetic during the medical exam and the limb itself was currently propped against the rack where the teams' weapons were stored whilst the crutch she had been given by Nurse Kintsugi was propped against the bunk-bed she and Astra shared. Astra considered Athena's question for a moment, pushing curly and fiery red locks whose natural auburn colour was beginning to show away from where they had fallen after the Deer Faunus had washed the various products from their Mohawk and gently massaging the points where their antlers met their skull before breathing out an answer.

"I don't know….I mean I know Professor Adel and Professor Ruby and even Grapeshot said we did good tonight but I don't know, does it feel like we won to you?" they rubbed bloodshot sea-green eyes again and added "We went out there to get rid of an Alpha Beowolf and I had the thing right in front of me-"

"Without your weapons though, come on Astra I expect a lot from myself but even I wouldn't expect to win that" Athena interrupted.

"But it's still out there, that's the important part" Astra countered "And so is the Geist, so that's two dangerous Grimm that got away from us tonight as well as Persian Green….I know Grapeshot is going after him but I just feel like we should have done more"

"There was no more we could have done" it was Zirconia's dry, rasping voice that reached up to them, the most taciturn of the team regarding her leader with a pale pink eye as she added "Grapeshot called for assistance because he knew that we were already in a situation beyond our abilities….as much as we all want to be able to save Remnant from every threat we're just not ready yet; more capable people are dealing with it now"

"I know that" Astra almost whined "I just….I don't ever wanna be a 'not my problem' kinda Hunter y'know?"

"I get that" Athena-Jade spoke up again, assuring them as she added "And we won't, but what more could we have done….Do you really wanna go out into the wastes and look for those two Alpha Grimm just to be able to say that we got 'em"

"I mean it might not be impossible" this time it was Regalia who spoke up, clearly still awake and listening as she added "I could always call home and have my people keep watch for-

"NO!" the word left Astra in a panicked yell as what their partner was about to suggest cut through their haze of exhaustion and sent chills down their spine, seeing the suddenly confused and concerned looks they were getting from all angles Astra explained "Regalia you call home and tell your Mum about that Alpha Geist and then tell her to make sure your people avoid that thing at all costs….if it managed to get close enough to the Aiktishaf to absorb it-"

"It would be a massacre" Regalia mouthed out, suddenly wide-eyed and alert at the harrowing thought and clearly considering departing so that she could use her jetbikes' radio at that very moment. A moment later a dull thud announced Astra slipping from their bunk and landing shakily before searching for a pair of sweatpants and hoodie bearing the Breaktide Academy logo.

"Going somewhere?" Athena asked.

"Just a walk, or somewhere to hang out….If I stay here I'm gonna pass out with a concussion" the Deer Faunus answered with a shrug of their sagging shoulders "You guys get some sleep, I'll catch up with you in the….well, in a few hours" as they prepared to leave the searched for a scrunchie or something similar to tie their hair back for a moment, only to give up and make for the door and be halted again by Zirconia's voice, the usual upper class Vale accent being tinged by a rare timidness.

"Before you go….Can I get a selfie?" the Grasshopper Faunus shifted awkwardly, clearly unused to asking for such things "I did promise my guardian that I would send a message when we returned from our mission"

"Sure" Athena-Jade answered first, slipping down on to her own bunk in an instant; seemingly perpetually prepared for photographs whilst creaking behind Astra and a muffled groan announced Regalia dragging herself from her bed with some reluctance; Astra for their part merely regarded Zirconia for a moment and gave a weak and exhausted smile before answering.

"You waited until my hair was down to ask for selfies….What the hell Zirconia, I thought we were friends?"


Whilst Team MARZ along with their fellow first year students had been embarking on their first official training missions, a rite of passage and momentous occasion in the career of any prospective Hunter, Coco Adel had spent the previous day attempting to rally the Council of Menagerie to action.

Following the revelation that more Hunters, and specifically a young woman trained at Breaktide Academy itself had been found killed and buried at the side of the road like some common thug, disposed of by the mob Coco and Yatsuhashi had spent the day absent from their school, leaving Velvet to assume an overall leadership role in their stead; whilst the gentle giant who served as the student counsellor had taken on he role of informing families and helping them with the emotional and practical aspects of their bereavement as much as possible Coco; a more fierce, politically savvy and strong-willed individual by far had used the seat on the Council of Menagerie afforded to her by her position as headmistress to demand an emergency meeting of her peers and spend several hours displaying evidence, arguing, yelling until her voice was hoarse, casting aspersions about loyalties and corruption and making vague threats about withholding the aid of her academy and the trainee Hunters under its' care until finally; after what had seemed like a Herculean effort her efforts had been rewarded. Menagerie was the youngest of the Kingdoms of Remnants by a considerable margin and many of those within its' borders did not, if truth were told consider themselves citizens of the island Kingdom and instead still believed themselves to be members of the nations under which they had been born, or in many cases people loyal to no flag and governed by no law other than that which they chose for themselves; a condition which made policing the settlements of Menagerie nigh on impossible as all authority beyond simple force was discarded in settlements ranging from small hamlets that functioned as little more than a feudal fiefdom under the sway of the lone Hunter that protected them up to the Mistrali founded city of Blackwater Cove yet despite this each of the various Council representatives had been united under the force of Coco Adel's charisma and iron-will and agreed that they would take steps to uproot the murders and corruption festering within the Kingdom.

Only for the entire affair to be rendered almost moot by Team MARZ's debriefing and the information it had brought to light.

"All I wanna know" Coco breathed out, voice wavering as she removed her sunglasses and leaned forward on to the desk of her office with her head in her hands "Is how desperate did she have to be to go to these people….What had to have gone wrong in her life for her to even entertain the idea of-"

"We don't know for certain that she was competing in the death-matches" Penny interjected, cutting off Coco's lamentations before they could spiral into full self loathing at her own perceived failings in regards to a former student. Both Ruby and Penny had remained on hand after Team MARZ had been allowed to leave; listening to the additional information provided by Major Grapeshot once it had been possible to reach him and discuss what had transpired in the Shabah Pass and beyond it; the two of them naturally having the clearance, experience and level of personal trust and friendship required to be a part of Coco's inner circle of trusted confidants and privy to all of her secrets and decisions and it was Ruby who spoke next, bolstering her wife's efforts to assuage Coco's guilt over things she had no control over.

"Maybe she'd found out about the fight club and was trying to infiltrate it. Grapeshot said that he'd already heard rumours about it and he's not even from Menagerie"

"It's possible, but we don't really believe that do we?" Coco gave a bitter, mournful laugh "It doesn't really matter now I suppose"

"I would argue that it matters very much" Penny's eyes widened in shock only for Coco to raise a hand and shake her head wearily.

"Obviously one of our former students, any Hunter dying in the line of duty….or in other way, that matters" she sighed heavily "What I mean is that it's not important whether she was infiltrating the fight club or just caught up in it, we get the luxury of believing whatever makes it easier for us because it's over. The place is destroyed, we have enough names and faces of people who were there to bring the whole operation down once they start cutting deals and informing on each other"

"We don't have the person operating it yet" Ruby noted.

"Persian Green" Coco murmured "From what I understand Astra Mars managed to place a tracker on him which Grapeshot and Hueso are following….Whatever you think of the two of them I think they'll have him in custody within the next twenty-four hours, that's allowing for transit"

"The people we have evidence against" Penny mused, eyes narrowing as she found herself deploring the depths humanity was willing to sink to; allowing herself to view herself as separate from it in a way she rarely did "They have resources and public profiles….they won't be easy to bring to justice, many of them will use the disorder that their arrests could bring as leverage; would it be more practical to have Qrow-"

"Nothing overt" Coco shook her head sensing the direction the conversation was heading "Qrow and his people can search for evidence now we know who we're dealing with but this has to be done publicly….These people aren't Salem and Remnant needs to know about the monsters it's dealing with, they don't get to disappear quietly with their good names in tact"

"Agreed" Ruby nodded, hearing the brimstone in her long-time friends' voice and finding herself agreeing with it wholeheartedly "But….it feels almost too neat somehow"

"What do you mean?" Penny asked

"The Hunters that were found dead, it's safe to assume that all of their deaths were connected to fight club that Team MARZ found….But we were so sure that those deaths were connected to the Grimm smuggling attempt, we know that what turned up in Neo Vale came from Menagerie"

"We know that these sick fucks had backers all over Remnant, maybe they were planning on starting second branch?" Coco shrugged "Who knows, Team FADE are still on the case in New Vale and if the two things are connected we'll find out soon enough….I'll tell Qrow about the latest developments tomorrow, in the meantime there's another team of first years scheduled to return within the hour-"

"We'll handle it" Ruby offered "We're awake now….get some sleep Coco you need it"

"Thanks" the older woman nodded her head and allowed her entire body language to sag with exhaustion that bordered on defeat but never quite crossed that boundary before speaking again, her voice seeming to have aged another decade.

"Do you get the feeling it's gonna be one of those years?"


Team WULF exited their transport and stepped into the pre-dawn gloom, the sky slowly lightening even though the sun was yet to crest the horizon and the air fresh in the way it could seemingly only be at those unsociable hours. Whilst his team-mates trudged along behind him, fighting through various degrees of lethargy Wolfram Ironside; almost predictably led the way as they made for the entrance of Breaktide Academy, matching both the pace and effortless swaggering bravado of Ranger Altan who seemed more than a little amused by the effort.

"Okay you little punks did good today, I know it wasn't much and it wasn't the exciting first mission you probably wanted….but it was a first mission that went according to plan, that's something you should all be proud of because that doesn't happen as often as you'd think" the platinum blonde intoned as the stretched, working out sore and stiff joints that had developed after hours of driving "I called ahead to let the academy know you're on the way back, so head inside and someone will be waiting to handle your debriefing"

"Shouldn't you join us for that?" Diabla noted seriously from behind, tiredness doing little to dull the gruff and demanding edge to her words "We were assigned to you, it was your mission….we were basically guests"

"You're right, that's the way protocol is supposed to work and I probably shouldn't be teaching you my bad habits" Ranger chuckled weakly as they rubbed the back of their neck before adding "But since nothing went wrong and I haven't got any complaints to file about any of you the paperwork I need to fill is something I can do from memory and an old template once I've slept; besides I haven't seen enough of my family since they moved away from Mistral and I'm thinking if I head over to their place now I can get breakfast there before Reese and Arslan leave to come here"

"I can sit with that" Ursinia yawned, interjecting and cutting off any disagreements from her team-mates as she removed her hat with the tip of her chitinous tail and gave a warm smile "Breakfast with the whole family….darn I could sure go for that myself"

"Well it's not the same but if we stop by the mess hall we'll probably be the first ones there, we can get everything fresh" Wolfram offered, understanding just how much the Scorpion Faunus's seemingly large rural family meant to her and privately wondering when would be the most practical time to visit his own mother.

"Don' say something like that in front of Laser, he'll get stupid ideas and try to steal all the bacon so he can sell it" Diabla snorted, even managing the faintest ghost of a smile as she did so; her casual ribbing of her partner being one of the rare instances where she engaged in the friendly banter that Team WULF shared and appreciated as such, even as Laser himself responded with a look of faux horror.

"I would never interfere with peoples' food. I'm a Vaccuan not a monster" the reply got a round of laughter from the teens who still strived to keep their voices low enough to not disturb anyone lest the face the ire of a rudely awoken upper class-man. From there Ranger Altan and Team WULF went their separate ways, the Professional Hunter departing for the main gates of the Academy which had already been opened for the day whilst the students, still chatting quietly amongst themselves made their way up the stairs leading to the vast double doors of the main entrance which were opened from within before Wolfram could reach them, revealing a familiar face waiting for them.

"Hey Professor Rose" Wolfram managed a weak and lazy half-salute coupled with a savage smile "Our Hunter went to get breakfast, mind if we do the same before we go for our debriefing?"

"I don't see why not" Ruby nodded

"Thank you ma'am" Ursinia chimed in, refusing to part with the manners she had been raised with no matter how many times her Professors told her they were not required.

"You okay there Professor, ya look a little tired?" Laser asked, earning himself a swift elbow to the ribs from Diabla for his presumptuousness whilst Ruby herself managed a smile that did nothing to mask her own obvious exhaustion.

"I am" she assured them "Penny and I had to make an emergency flight out into the wastelands to intervene in a mission gone wrong and return a team of students"

"Damn who fucked up that bad" Wolfram snorted, forgetting to whom he was speaking for a moment and turning to his team-mates with a mocking smirk plastered across his face "Seriously, imagine needing to be rescued-"

"Spreading rumours and talking about your fellow Hunters behind their back is hardly the kind of conduct I like to see from my students Ironside" Ruby snapped, the biting edge to her voice robbing Wolfram of his cockiness in an instant "It was not a matter of incompetence, rather that the situation evolved into something beyond the scope of its' original remit and it was no longer suitable for first year students….In fact Team MARZ went above and beyond the call of duty and are fortunate to have returned without any major injuries"

"Wait, Astra?" Wolfram's face paled "Where are they, if they're still being debriefed we'll go now-"

"Team MARZ are unharmed and most likely asleep Wolfram. You have your own matters to attend to" Ruby answered bluntly, but with a small, knowing smile at the way the leader of Team WULF had honed in so swiftly and specifically on the condition of his fellow leader.

"Debriefings can wait, you said that" Wolfram objected "I just wanna go check-"

"Darlin' none of us are sleeping until we get a debriefing, now let's be clear about this I do not intend to be kept from my bed a minute longer than I need to be" Ursinia interrupted bluntly; Wolfram turned to face her with a scowl and Ruby subtly shifted her weight in case she needed to intervene in a conflict between the two contrasting and powerful personalities, only to be laughed struggling not collapse in a fit of laugher as the Scorpion Faunus simply lifted her partner off of the ground and slung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Who do we need to speak to about a debriefing ma'am?" she asked, pointedly ignoring the tears of hysterics streaming from Ruby's remaining eye as she pointed in the general direction in which they should head; taking a moment to compose herself before heading after them.

Coco had been right, it was most certainly going to be one of those years.


Each of Team MARZ had a haunt within Breaktide Academy that they considered to be their own domain, regardless of how many students had shared that same spot within the campus over the years; though none had left their mark in the form of graffiti or carvings as they might at another school for simple fear of the wrath of the Headmistress. Regalia considered her spiritual dorm outside of the dormitory to be the dark corner of the parking lot where she kept Clunker, other students who owned their own vehicles had taken to leaving several spaces empty around the jetbike where possible so that the Racoon Faunus could work on it or use its' radio to contact her nomadic clan without interruption whilst Athena-Jade and Zirconia shared a spot on the roof of the section of the academy where the dorms were housed, the place giving Zirconia somewhere to practice her violin in peace and, according to Athena look suitably brooding and cool whilst the Bear Faunus simply enjoyed having an amazing view of Port Alistair at her disposal whenever she desired it.

Astra's spot was the bleachers.

After leaving Team MARZ's dormitory, knowing that it was likely not safe for them to try and sleep for a few more hours the Deer Faunus had trudged and wandered, unable to find the energy to jog out of the main building of the campus and towards the outdoor training area that Ruby, Arslan and a handful of other Professors of more esoteric subjects often used and found themselves in the highest point of its' seating, located towards the rear, outer edge of the stands of the faux colosseum from which they would have a passable view of the sunrise when it came, provided they managed to force their stinging, aching eyes to remain open for that long.

A challenge that they had received unexpected help with.

"Hey….I brought coffee, the good Atlesian stuff not the battery acid they serve in the mess hall" Athena-Jade managed a bright smile despite her own obvious exhaustion as she sat beside them and pressed one of two steaming mugs into their hands.

"Thanks" Astra mumbled "I thought you were gonna sleep?"

"I tried, too late now it's already too warm" Athena shrugged, gesturing to the general vicinity as a whole before regarding the training area itself more intently and adding "Honestly I surprised you wanna hang out here of all places"

"What do ya mean?" Astra asked, genuinely nonplussed and far too tired to try and extrapolate meaning.

"An arena" Athena-Jade answered, voice becoming hushed an oddly strained "I mean after you got thrown in an arena to fight without your weapons and then the Alpha Geist….you could've died tonight, I mean all of us could but you were-"

"It don't think it's really sunk in yet" Astra interjected with a yawn, waving off her concerns as politely as they could and making to pop their collar out of habit only to realise that the hoodie they were wearing did not have one.

"You were awesome out there y'know….even if the Grimm got away" Athena assured them before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I just did what I had to do and hoped it was enough….I wish it felt like enough" the Deer Faunus mumbled, trying to keep an agitated note out of their voice as their urge to exude confidence and control was utterly consumed by their more honest self-doubts and uncertainties.

"I'm not some big hero or anything special….not like my brother" Astra continued, leaning forward to hunch in on themselves "Fighting the Geist, initiation….hell even stopping the guys trying to break into the Dust store back home; it's like I can plan but I don't really think ahead, all I can really do is try and compensate for the fact I'm a boneheaded and hope for the best"

"Well I'm happy to have you as my team leader" that admission, plain and unfurnished from Athena made Astra pause and so the Bear Faunus continued "Seriously, I know I said a lot of stuff and acted-"

"It's fine, I'm over it"

"Maybe" Athena huffed "But work with me here okay….I'm trying to say that I think you're doing a great job as leader, and that I'm honestly glad I was wrong….Which I will admit feels a little strange for me to say"

"Thanks AJ, it means a lot it really does" Astra managed a weak smile at her last comment and drained his own coffee before his eyes, tired and bleary as they were honed in on someone else entering the training area and making a beeline for the two of them, clearly trying to keep up a brisk pace despite the sluggish unwillingness of their limbs.

"Is that Wolfram?" Athena-Jade murmured before giving Astra a knowing, toothy smile as she rose to her feet and stretched out her broad shoulders and powerful arms before taking the Deer Faunus's cup.

"I'm gonna head back inside" she yawned "I'll give you two some privacy"

"Whatever AJ" Astra fought the urge to offer her a sarcastic comment or rude hand gesture, far too exhausted to entertain the playful teasing. They watched as Athena left, pausing to share a few words with Wolfram whilst Astra tried to do something with their hair, silently fuming at themselves for letting it down prematurely and then venturing out where they might be seen until a few moments later Wolfram took a seat beside them, the tall, muscular and striking young man still wearing his armour with Berserker still slung across his back as he perched on the back of a seat to appear even taller.

"Hey….don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down" he noted casually

"Yeah it usually looks a mess, antlers get in the way" Astra attempted to sound nonchalant, not daring to gauge their own success "I didn't know you were back already"

"Got back after you did, I'm avoiding the dorm 'cos I'm probably gonna have to throw Ursinia out of a window when I next see her" Wolfram let out a snort, clearly trying to seem unbothered by anything as he added "I heard your team ran into some trouble though, you good….what the fuck happened out there?"

"A lot happened" Astra sighed wearily "We were supposed to be looking for an Alpha Beowolf that was leading some kind of super pack….ended up finding some guys who were poaching Grimm to run a fight club"

"What the fuck?" Wolfram breathed out, steel-grey eyes widening in disbelief "No seriously, what?….Who does that shit, I mean it sounds cool in a way and I'd probably sign up for a few rounds but it's still messed up"

"Yeah it's just…." Astra trailed off, looking for words and finding none "It's been a hell of a long day, do you mind if we don't talk about it? I already had to deal with a debriefing"

"Sure, sure I get it" Wolfram nodded and with that he slipped down onto the seat, positioning himself in it properly. From there the two of them enjoyed a peaceful silence and each others' easy, welcome company as the sun rose over Menagerie, with Wolfram turning to Astra only a few moments later to see that the Deer Faunus had fallen asleep; after debating either waking them or leaning into them for a while he finally decided against both and simply let them be; enjoying the moment until a custodian arrived some time later to politely but insistently inform the two of them that a class would be taking place in the training area that morning and that they needed to leave.


Whilst Astra and Athena-Jade were elsewhere and Regalia was fast asleep on her bunk, her faint snoring filling the dormitory which was steadily lightening as the sun rose outside Zirconia Shadowmoon was wide awake.

Part of the reason for this was her cybernetic limbs, despite the assurances she had given to her team-mates and Athena-Jade in particular the absence of one of her legs was uncomfortable both for the physical sensation and lack of balance it brought and for the memories it unearthed, the sate of the art and specially made prosthetic could be repaired however and Zirconia was thankfully well-versed in the operation and maintenance of her own limbs; meaning that rather then sending them back to the team of experts that her guardian had contracted to design and manufacture her legs and waiting for the damaged limb to be returned or replaced the Grasshopper Faunus would instead spend the next day or two, mercifully freed from her academic schedule to repair the leg herself. She also intended to perform routine but overdue maintenance on the leg that had not been removed as she was almost certain that an amount of dust and grit had worked its' way into the many joints of the digitigrade prosthetic and become the source of the slight grinding sensation akin to a sluggish ache that she had become aware of.

Another reason that Zirconia was yet to drift off to sleep was simply that she was not trying to.

'Your new friends certainly seem an interesting bunch, I'm glad to see that you've returned safely from your mission….Although I wish you hadn't gotten hurt; was there anything that could have been done to prevent it, on your part, your teams' part?' Zirconia scanned the message she had received a short while ago, re-reading it several dozen times and allowing herself a small smile; whilst the latter half of the message might have seemed needlessly demanding or even condescending to an outsider looking in she understand it for what it was, it was her guardians' nature to strive for improvement in all things and this, coupled with his protectiveness toward her, which Zirconia could admit was often understandable led to well-meaning affection being filtered through a lens of exacting standards and worrying. After a while she began typing out a response.

'Nothing could have been done, the situation changed into something unexpected too fast to prepare for it and this was the best outcome. Why are you awake so early? You worry about me so much that you forget to take proper care of yourself' she sent the message and simply waited, knowing that a reply would be forthcoming in mere moments as a claim of hypocrisy would certainly garner a reaction from her guardian who found such things intolerable; less than a minute later her scroll vibrated and she read the latest message.

'I was woken early due to some business opportunities presenting themselves, the kind that require my immediate attention without delay; I promise you I am doing just fine without you reminding me to eat and sleep. But enough about me, what happened during your mission? Are you sure that you're well?' Zirconia pursed her lips and considered for a moment, her damaged leg had not been shown in the picture of Team MARZ that she had sent to her guardian and she had not mentioned it to him; she was loathe to lie to the man whom she loved almost like her late parents but she also knew that if she told him that his worrying would become unbearable.

'I promise you that I'm fine. It was a Geist, it wasn't the Grimm we were looking for….some rich people were using Grimm for bloodsports and that intersected with our mission' Zirconia typed and sent the message before deleting it from her scroll a moment later, making a mental note to put her programming and other similar skills to use and ensure that any trace of her giving out such confidential and classified information was well and truly deleted before another incoming message was received.

'That's morally repulsive on every level, however it's certainly interesting information. All information is useful as I always say and these deplorable individuals may be people I have to interact with at some point in the future. Now, you have had far too little rest and I would be remiss in my duties if I did not tell you to get some sleep. I'm glad to hear from you as always Zirconia and it is excellent to see that you've made friends and that you're smiling…..however I must caution you not to let anything interfere with your work, you're attending the academy to do great things' Zirconia's mismatched eyes, one of which was obscured by the bandages around her head narrowed somewhat as she frowned in response to that last message and silently debated if it would be wise to delete it only for the sound of the dormitory door opening to cause her to almost throw the scroll aside in blind panic, pausing only when she saw that it was Athena-Jade; whose bunk the Grasshopper Faunus had commandeered due to her current inability to climb up to her own.

"Hey, you okay….you nearly jumped out of your skin?" the Bear Faunus asked quietly, catching sight of Regalia sleeping and taking care not to wake her.

"I'm fine, just still a little tense I guess" Zirconia glanced away and gave a non-committal shrug.

"Definitely understandable, you might want to talk to Counsellor Daichi if it stops you from sleeping though?" Athena suggested

"I'll be fine" Zirconia said simply "I'm awake because I was sending a message home. Did you find Astra

"Yeah, they're okay and we talked some things over until Wolfram showed up….Those two are dorks around each other and it's great" the shorter but far more muscular of the two young women answered before her face became a bright smile "Oh did your guardian message back? Or have you got a boyfriend, girlfriend….younger siblings back home that none of us knew about"

"No, just me and my guardian" Zirconia breathed out, not quite able to regret telling her partner why she was awake even as Athena flopped down onto the bunk beside her, leaning over and trying to read the messages in a way that made it perfectly clear that the Bear Faunus was a younger sibling to someone. Zirconia quickly closed her messages revealing the background image on the devices' screen which in turn caused Athena to stifle an 'awww' behind her hands.

"You made us your background, that's cute" Athena was on the verge of giggles as she saw the same image that had been taken recently of Team MARZ as a whole, the one that Zirconia had sent to her guardian.

"It's a good picture" Zirconia squirmed uncomfortably

"It is, I just didn't expect you to have it as a wallpaper….I don't why but I didn't think you were sentimental" Athena-Jade flung a large arm over her partners' shoulders "I'll figure you out one day Hops, no matter how long it takes I'm gonna find out what's under all that mysterious bad-ass" with that Athena pulled away and slipped off of the bunk, beginning to get ready for bed so that she could try again to get at least a few hours rest. With her back turned she heard her partners' words but missed the look on Zirconia's face as she answered.

"Oh you have no idea how mysterious I can be"


Persian Green had thought he had escaped, that had been a foolish mistake.

The criminal entrepreneur had readily and hastily abandoned his underlings to their fate, using their deaths to by him the time he needed to speed away from the Desert Claw, which was now almost certainly destroyed or swarming with Hunters and other authorities. Once he had sped through the barren wastelands of Menagerie for long enough to reach a familiar road, one of the few regularly patrolled thoroughfares between settlements the blood-spattered blonde, still half-delirious with terror had sped towards the city of Blackwater Cove; slowing just enough to avoid arousing suspicion in the drivers of the few other vehicles the passed on the way.

Due to its' size alone Blackwater Cove should rightly have been regarded as Menagerie's second city yet it was rarely given this honour or title and instead had been awarded a variety of epithets based on the identity of a crime ridden cesspool that had come to define it. Founded by settlers from a city with a similar reputation in Mistrali territories the city had begun as little more than a pretext to money laundering and other such illegal activity yet had expanded rapidly, first becoming a port city whose docks and their workers were willing to deal with cargo that Port Alistair; under the watchful eye of Coco Adel would not and therefore the primary route into Menagerie for all contraband substances and materials. Naturally an ecosystem of sorts had risen up around these criminal enterprises but the fact remained that the denizens of Blackwater Cove were a dour, cynical and insular bunch who trusted little and were yet to truly acknowledge that they were a part of the island Kingdom and much less that they were subject to its' laws.

It was this bleak and foreboding city that Persian Green had called home for many years now and once within its' smoke-blackened and graffiti-littered walls he felt, almost perversely safe. He had parked the car he had taken out to his operation in the wastes outside of the apartment block in a relatively quiet, yet central neighbourhood he resided in a little after sunrise and made his way inside; being silently thankful for the fact that it was deeply ingrained into the people of Blackwater Cove to never question things that did not directly affect them no matter how suspicious or worrisome they might seem, an insistence that ensured the few neighbours Persian passed looked pointedly away and did not comment on the dried blood that caked his person. Once inside his apartment the criminal, still numb with shock and more importantly steadfastly refusing to allow that numbness to fade, lest he might actually be forced to feel something in regards to what had transpired had showered in scalding water and used substances not intended for human skin to clean the blood and other evidence from themselves. Once dressed Persian had continued in his ruthless and urgent destruction of anything that might incriminate him, taking the car and clothes he had worn to a scrapyard where he knew that they would be disposed of before visiting another, equally unscrupulous establishment to enjoy a hot breakfast and establish an alibi before finally returning to his apartment a few hours later; unbothered even by pack of gaunt-faced and scowling youths he passed in the street clearly estimating the price of his outfit and deciding if it would be worth their effort to rob him.

Once he had returned to his apartment however Persian had quickly realised that he was not alone.

That awareness had come a moment too late however as a pair of shadows had loomed over him from behind almost the instant he had become aware of a presence within his apartment and two figures had slunk from the shadows, locking the only exit and ensuring that the only way out would be if Persian chose to leap from a window whilst several stories above the ground, as a civilian who had never unlocked their Aura the idea bordered on lunacy and so instead the man who saw himself as simply a businessman and a provider raised his hand in a non-threatening gesture as he attempted to reason and bargain with the two men; his stammered words being interrupted by a punishing blow to the side of the skull which had knocked him unconscious.

Now that he was slowly, painfully regaining consciousness Persian realised that he had been bound tightly to a chair in his own dining room and his mouth was taped shut.

"I'm gonna take this tape off" a low voice rumbled menacingly "And if you scream I'm going to cut your tongue out, we don't need you to talk, it's just going to save time" Persian's eyes widened as the speaker strode into view from behind him and revealed themselves to be the same monstrous, bearded reptilian Faunus with hellish red eyes who had cut through so many of his men only a few short hours ago. The moment the tape was pulled away he thrashed and struggled in his seat, crying out despite knowing the utter futility of it; the people of Blackwater Cove knew how to mind their own business after all and as tears of pure, unfettered panic spilled from forest green eyes Persian found himself silenced again, this time with a sharp slap that left his cheek stinging and forced him to finally acknowledge the presence of the second, far less imposing of his abductors.

"Pull yourself together man, you're embarrassing yourself" the leathery yet dignified older man harrumphed, curled moustache twitching with his words as he pulled the tape away from Persian's mouth and stepped back, before the terrified blonde could utter a word the Komodo Dragon Faunus loomed over him again and unsheathed his still bloodstained machete in a silent warning.

"Now, let's be about our business shall we?" the older man's voice was jovial and yet unspeakably ominous "I am Major Grapeshot, formerly of the Mistrali Air-Force and this is my associate Mister Hueso; I feel entirely comfortable in giving you both of our names dear be for the very simple fact that there is already enough evidence against you and your employers to ensure that you don't see the light of day again"

"We have photo and video evidence of your little fight club and we can tie that to several dead Hunters, which means several murder charges" Carmesi spat, openly disgusted "We can put names to faces and have everyone in the crowd dealt with, we have an eye witness account from a Hunter that says you were the man in charge, my eye witness account and the tracker that was put on you both put you at the scene as well….I know you destroyed the terminals you were broadcasting your death-matches on, you're keeping someone safe but what you've gotta ask yourself is are they gonna keep you safe?"

"Don't be foolish enough to believe that my associate is talking about your safety in a legal sense Mister Green" Grapeshot chided with no small amount of amusement as he watched the gears begin to turn in the criminals' mind "You are alone, already proven to be a dangerous individual and the word of two upstanding Hunters will not be questioned for your benefit, your choices are cooperation or death"

Persian gave an audible gulp.

His mind raced frantically for a few moments, breathing coming in shallow and ragged pants that bordered on hyperventilation as he quickly disregarded the idea that the two men before him were bluffing, the idea that his employers would do anything to prevent or avenge his death was similarly dismissed a moment later; knowing the ways of those amoral sadists who fashioned themselves as gentry as he did he understood perfectly that his demise would be seen as nothing more than a loose end that had been tied up and everything that he had built would be taken and divided amongst their own networks of toadies. Persian decided, out of bitterness as much as a simple need to survive that could not be allowed to happen.

"Okay I'll talk, I'll talk" he gasped "I don't have a name or face for all of clients, you understand that a lot of 'em wanted to keep their privacy and used a lot of proxies but I've been working my through back-tracing them so I could blackmail-"

Another slap from Grapeshot silenced him again.

"Biting the hand that feeds you, is there nothing you won't stoop to?" he scoffed before waving his stick towards the apartment as whole "I don't want or need the names of your backers boy, what I want is your operation as a whole"

"I-what?" Persian stammered, trying to make sense of something that was not an option he had considered, Carmesi let out a rumbling snarl and readied their machete but was held back by Grapeshot who reiterated his demands.

"I want a list of all of your ground level associates, I daresay that you have plenty more than those who were present tonight. Along with names and locations of all of businesses in the area that helped make your operations possible, arms dealers, the people who supply your vehicles and the like" Grapeshot smiled as he leaned in "I know your sort, bean counters as well as cowards….I think you have your accounts close to hand at all times"

"I do….I do" Persian nodded fervently "In the freezer there's a tub of chocolate ice-cream, it's right at the back and there's a hard-drive hidden in there; it's got everything on it, payroll, dates, names and-"

"Carmesi, see if he's lying to us old chap" with that the reptilian Faunus stalked away and could be heard loudly rummaging through the fridge until his gruff voice called back.

"I've got the hard-drive"

"Jolly good show" Grapeshot's smile widened and he turned his attention back to Persian "Well it would seem that you are capable of honesty, painful as it must be for you….I have no need of your backers, my own benefactor has more than enough coin to keep your legion of thugs sated, their manpower will be greatly appreciated however"

"Wait, you're not arresting us?" Persian's terror and adrenaline addled mind buzzed as it struggled to comprehend the spiralling situation "But, you're Hunters-"

"Oh come now….do you really think that I'm speaking to you in my official capacity right now?" the sinister, dreadful aspect that the older mans' smile took on sent waves of icy terror through Persian that almost cost him the control of his bladder, a small whine escaped the criminal as Grapeshot stepped away; the realisation of why he had done so came a moment later as Persian felt the barrel of a weapon press against the back of his neck and began to sob in earnest.

Carmesi fired his shotgun at point blank range, the booming report was ignored by all who heard it and Persian Green met an undignified end, unmourned and unremembered with the contents of his skull staining the wall and floor of his apartments' dining room.

"Now then, time to report back to base as it were; let our benefactor know that we're not simply gallivanting around on their Lien with nothing to show for it"

"I'm sure they could get a tax write off for paying to get rid of that" Carmesi snarled in the direction of the man he had just murdered in cold blood.

"Don't be crass" Grapeshot sighed as he produced a scroll, one that had been given to him specifically for the purpose of contacting his current employer, the individual whose bidding he was actually doing on Menagerie; no mater what contacts he had signed with Professor Adel.

"Major Grapeshot, Carmesi" a distorted, yet seemingly masculine voice greeted them as the video call began; revealing nothing more than vague, humanoid shadow without features "I would have contacted you sooner but I was delayed by….other matters. You have something to report?"

"I believe so" Grapeshot answered.

"And will it be more viable than your previous attempt to send a Grimm to Neo Vale for my research?….Hunters are still investigating that lapse in your judgement"

"My apologies once again, truly I thought that much Ice Dust would hold it for long enough, my condolences to the families of those aboard the ship when it got loose" Grapeshot looked away from the screen and cleared his throat before continuing

"However we have identified what I believe will be a perfect subject for your experiments and possibly the means to transport it safely"

"Explain"

"We were following the trail of another candidate" Grapeshot began, smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he recounted the story "I'd heard rumours of Grimm-Poachers operating in the area and our hunt led us to where they were playing at being gladiators….not a small scale operation but certainly a small minded one, a waste of their potential and a damnable lack of imagination or foresight-"

"They had an Alpha Geist" Carmesi interrupted, growing tired of the older mans' chattering "It got away but I tracked down the person running the show; he's dead now and Breaktide Academy had enough evidence to go after their financial backers….which leaves us in a prime position as the only people willing and able to fund a Grimm-Poaching and smuggling operation in Menagerie, they already captured and contained the Alpha Geist once, they'll do it again….Or I'll kill them all" the off-handed way the final words were delivered and the casual shrug that accompanied them, as though it were nothing at all was unsettling to behold.

"An Alpha Geist….interesting, very interesting" the distorted voice mused "And with these financial backers being apprehended that will no doubt allow me to acquire their more legitimate assets, further aiding my long-term goals….Very well, you've made acceptable progress; I will send the requisite funds to keep this formerly rival enterprise in business and you will take leadership of it; send me the Alpha Geist, it may well be the key component to the next stage of my plans"

"Understood sir" Grapeshot saluted out of habit, the distorted shadow not correcting his form of address and simply chuckling at some private joke.

"Good hunting Major"


The Alpha Geist had fled through wastelands of Menagerie until it could flee no further, base instinct taking over and burying what higher intelligence it possessed as it sought to escape the raging inferno that had torn the building it had merged its' body with apart in a maelstrom of explosions and blazing green light from above.

As the building that the Grimm's captors had sought to contain it in had been destroyed and it had been forced to retract itself from the collapsing walls and corridors and its' tendrils had writhed and slithered outwards in all directions in a blind and barely sensate desperation until finally it had found its' means of departure and without hesitation the Alpha Geist had forced its' ephemeral mass, the weapon it had claimed for itself included into one of the vehicles that the humans used; its' metallic confines far too small to be suitable and straining under the monsters' presence yet managing to sustain its' form until after the sun had risen over the desolate wasteland of the island Kingdom.

For several hours the Alpha Geist had followed several pairs of tracks that could only have belonged to other Grimm, an air of rage and monstrous hatred permeating the atmosphere guiding the way as much as the physical paw prints that had been lest on the dusty earth until finally the Grimm, or more accurately the vehicle it has possessed came skidding to a halt. The chassis and panels of what had once been a luxury limousine had warped and distended like a rotten and bloating corpse under the influence of the Alpha Geist until matte black paint had flaked away like dead skin reveal the metal beneath steadily corroding and rubbery, pulsating obsidian flesh bulging through the gaps where the chassis had split, bent and ruptured. Bony spines grew from the front and rear of the vehicle in a twisted and oddly comedic parody of a plough and spoiler, both formed of twisted horns and splintered chitin whilst the headlights gave off a hateful crimson glow, shining like monstrous and baleful eyes until they eventually guttered and blinked out of existence when the limousine stopped and with a final groaning creak of tortured metal fell apart, the Alpha Geist emerging from the twisted and rusting ruins with a shrieking hiss, like the sound of gas spilling from a burst pipe as it reformed itself. Its' four arms sagged in exhaustion and the knife blades slipped from the tips of its' taloned digits though the monstrous thing kept its' grip on the artillery piece that it had taken despite the way the weapon drooped in its' grasp; flattened and sucker-lined tendril mimicking ragged cloth brushed against the ground as the Alpha Geist hovered, its' entire demeanour speaking to its' exhaustion.

It was then that the Beowolves attacked.

The Alpha Beowolf that had been unleashed against Astra Mars had freed the remains of one of its' packs that had not already been thrown into battle against Hunters for the pleasure of a sadistic audience before fleeing from the makeshift stadium the moment that the chaos that had led to the release of the Alpha Geist had begun.

Many of those smaller and less capable monsters that had followed it had been cut or gunned down by their former captors in their escape, leaving only a trio of lupine horrors following their larger and more intelligent leader as they fled into the wastelands, taking a route that would allow them to return to the vast swathe of territory that the Alpha had claimed as its' own by violently uniting several smaller packs; it was whilst fleeing however that the Alpha Beowolf had become aware of a presence following it and promptly skulked into the shadows in order to lay an ambush, the monster being as surprised as its' primal and primitive way of thinking would allow when its' pursuer was revealed to be another Creature of Grimm, one of some intelligence rather than Hunters.

The trio of Beowolves fanned out, low growls of warning escaping them as they paced and circled whilst in the centre of the loose ring they formed with their motion the two Alpha Grimm regarded one another, the Alpha Beowolf letting out a snarl that displayed its' fangs in a clear challenge to the Alpha Geist whose Cyclopean gaze and fixed rictus gaze remained unchanged by the display. The mind of the lupine beast raced as it calculated the chances of victory, it was larger and bulkier by far yet it was wounded and the nightmarish spectre before it was clearly well equipped for violence; the Geist was exhausted however and the Beowolves had he advantage of numbers.

The decision was made quickly, there could only be one Alpha and so there could only be one outcome.

With a barely perceived gesture the Alpha Beowolf sent one of its' pack surging at the Geist from the right, fangs and claws bared as it made to latch onto the limb supporting the phantasms' weapon yet the Alpha Geist was far more manoeuvrable even whilst so thoroughly weary and to the Alpha Beowolf, already charging across the distance between them came skidding to a halt, a fearful whine escaping it as it watched its' opponent grasp one of its' pack by the neck before holding it aloft and seizing it with three hands then simply tearing it asunder in an explosion of shattering and fading darkness.

Before the lupine beast could issue any form of command to its' two remaining pack mates the Alpha Geist had aimed and fired the artillery piece it had grafted to its' form, a single high calibre shell of pitted and sharpened bone ripping through the larger and more muscular monsters' gut and bursting from its' back to leave it prone and immobile; an easy target for the spectral predator which quickly drifted over it and began ensnaring its' fellow Grimm in its' tendrils.

The two remaining Beowolves watched with tucked tails and ears laying slick against their skulls as one Alpha Grimm consumed another and began to transform.

The bone protrusions of the Alpha Geist, which had wrapped around its' shoulders and had an appearance not unlike broken ribs began to crack and reform themselves until they had become a series of towering spikes which fanned upward and out at opposite angles like that which the Alpha Beowolf had used to add to its' intimidating height.

The spine of the spectre lengthened and its' entire lower section began to reshape itself, the tendrils that resembled tattered robes lashing around one another to form a many-tipped and thrashing tail formed of tentacles lined with fang-rimmed suckers whilst at the same time the thing grew legs, clawed and digitigrade things with a skeletal appearance of slick, midnight black and small clusters of sharpened bone studding the joints in a clear facsimile of the Beowolf it had consumed. From there the upper limbs of the Alpha Geist began to change, the upper arms becoming larger and more powerful whilst the secondary pair of arms positioned themselves in a way that allowed the creature to walk on its' knuckles like a gorilla; the artillery piece vanished into the bowels of the Grimm which allowed it to use all four of its' arms once again all whilst the claws of each of its' digits extended along the fingers themselves.

The ragged, flesh robes of the Geists upper body lengthened and fell about its' sides, with each tip of the faux-fabric remaining tipped with grasping claws and suckers that revealed their true nature as vestigial tendrils al whilst the entire ribcage of the of the monster cracked and spilt, its' torso widening forming whilst the bone formed an armour of sorts that roughly resembled a vertical, gaping maw whilst at the same time the artillery piece it had stolen erupted from its' back and was reincorporated into its' form, new muscle and bone structure forming to allow the Grimm to carry the weapon between its' shoulder blades, nestled within the bone spikes that rose up around it to form some twisted parody of a turret which it could fire whilst charging. Finally the neck and skull-mask of the Geist repositioned to suit its' new stance and the bone mask began to lengthen into something horrific, a nightmarish hooded and Cyclopean, lupine skull with pronounced fangs which spread wide a sickening crack of breaking bone as the rictus grin of the mask morphed into working jaws.

There was no moon to be seen but still the monster howled, a high-pitched wailing shriek that echoed through the wastelands as the monster completed its' apotheosis and left the two Beowolves close by, along with every other member of the packs that the consumed Alpha had controlled bowing their heads in submission to this new being.

It was no longer an Alpha Geist, but no matter what the thing had become it was ready to begin its' reign as the apex predator of the wastelands.

Author's Notes:

So….that's the end of Vol.01.
I could have just ended it on one plot-twist and cliffhanger but I decided to string a few together for you, don't say I don't treat you guys.
I did promise that this would tie up some things and give you the shape of what's to come for Vol.01 and 03….Did I lie?

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I feel like I write this after every chapter involving someone getting their head boxed in but readers, do NOT try and sleep after a concussion.
I don't think Nurse Kintsugi has actually appeared on screen yet, she' the Professor Peach of this story.
There was honestly no point having the debriefing itself happen on screen when Coco has her own scene anyway.
Damn three of four Team MARZ members with their hair down at the same time, that's how you know they're tired.
There's that team leader stubbornness from Astra, they are definitely related to Felix.
Yeah that was Team MARZ choosing not to pull a Vol.2 Blake, because they understand where their limits are and also Astra's right, if the Alpha Geist infested the Aiktishaf then that's Regalia's entire clan wiped out in minutes.
"You waited until my hair was down to ask for selfies….What the hell Zirconia, I thought we were friends?" seriously though, the time and effort that goes into that Mohawk and you got them on camera without it?
So here's a recap on what Coco was doing while the students were away and also a chance to do some world-building to explain the political climate of Menagerie; a lot of its' settlements really do still think of themselves as independent colonies or part of their parent Kingdom more than anything else; also Blackwater Cove is the city nearest to the village where Wolfram was born and raised.
So from the way she spoke about Grapeshot and Carmesi Coco has probably already spoken to them by this point, likely called them whilst they were still following Persian.
I feel like corrupt politicians or heads of massive corporations would absolutely use 'Arresting me or making my crimes public in any way would actually attract the Grimm, so you have to let me get away with it' as a defence, but ultimately Coco is right justice has to be done publicly for their to be any faith in it.
The mystery of the dead Hunters has been solved, the smuggling operation hasn't….I made the two seem connected but never overtly stated anything; that should have been your first hint that something big was coming.
As someone who's job has involved keep track of important paperwork regarding things like health and safety, quality checks and maintenance records….Don't be like Ranger, I'll come looking for you.
Wolfram's got a good heart really, it's just buried under a ton of attitude.
Giving Laser shit is basically a favourite pass time of Team WULF's.
Lol Wolfie changed his tone the second he found out who it was that needed air support.
Yes, Ursinia literally carried him away.
Everyone else had their spots at school and college right?
Firstly, AJ absolutely gets her taste in coffee from Weiss….secondly, do not underestimate the battery acid coffee.
Astra has layers, sometimes those layers overlap.
The Astra and AJ moment felt needed and necessary after the way they started out.
Look at this two dorks trying to sound cool and nonchalant around each other.
Of course Wolfram thinks a fight club with the Grimm is cool.
So Zirconia being without a limb brings back memories….well that's telling isn't it.
Zirconia can repair her own prosthetics, also if you think back a few chapters she's also been shown to be a capable programmer….She has some skills.
This is our first introduction to Zirconia's guardian, no name and no face so far; all we know is that they're filthy rich and very reclusive.
"All information is useful as I always say"No comment but I'm sure some of you can make inferences.
Just think about Zirconia's behaviour in this scene for a while, or don't.
AJ is definitely used to having an older sibling to annoy.
The mysterious and brooding character having a soft spot like that is one of the classic tropes for a reason.
"Oh you have no idea how mysterious I can be" Presented without comment.
Just from the off you knew Persian was done for this scene….When I introduced him I wanted him to feel like an equivalent to Roman, like someone who'd be around for a few volumes but honestly it was a deliberate fake out.
Okay so it's not important to the story but Blackwater Cove is not only founded by Mistrali settlers, but specifically people from the same Hell on Remnant city that appeared in Downward Spiral; Merc and Em hid out there for a while, Raven did some vigilante justice there and in FADE: Legacy Diamond Sustrai-Black said she actually grew up there until Merc & Em moved for her to attend Sanctum.
"scalding water and used substances not intended for human skin" if you know about a 'Petrol bath and a sauna' to get rid of evidence left on your person then you may well be a career criminal.
Persian did all that, just to not realise that he'd been wearing a tracker when he went to his apartment.
Can you blame him for screaming? The last time he saw Carmesi the guy had just shot one of his people in the head.
Oh you knew that he was dead the second that Grapeshot gave his name like that.
Grapeshot is right, there's safe in the legal sense and then there's safe in the physical sense; words on paper are just words on paper.
I know plenty of drug dealers who've hidden there money and stash in places like the freezer.
And there's the plot twist that I've been waiting to get to for the last few chapters….one of you guessed it but Grapeshot and Carmesi are the two unseen villains from a few chapters back who were looking for an intelligent Grimm; the alibi that they had for being on Menagerie was that they were making themselves available to Coco for the mission.
It was Grapeshot who sent a frozen Grimm to Neo Vale, he and Carmesi are the people Team FADE are looking for; when Grapeshot said in that initial scene that they were going to have to approach the competition this is what he meant, taking over Persian's operations.
And now we have a new villain, someone who is funding a Grimm smuggling operation and looking specifically for intelligent Grimm for experimentation.
The Alpha Geist merging with a car started off as something like Transformers but ended up scratching my Warhammer 40k itch because it was basically a demon engine at that point.
You didn't think I'd forgotten about the Alpha Beowolf now did you?
I could have made this fight longer and more dramatic but that would have detracted from what I was actually trying to do….The Beowolf might be big enough, strong enough and smart enough to lead a super-pack of other Beowolves but it really didn't stand a chance against the Alpha Geist.
And now we have a new form, the result of one Alpha Grimm literally eating and absorbing another….At this point its' an intelligent and unique creature so be ready for it to start developing a sense of identity.
I was actually originally gonna have the gun be under-slung, but after I'd drank a few pints of scotch I realised that the Grimm wouldn't actually be able to stand upright with out the barrel being in the way of its' face, so I re-wrote the scene a little; the bone spikes coming out of its' back were already there so adding the gun onto its' back just worked.
That final shriek honestly reminded me of the proto-Xenomorph from Prometheus, although I'd have to watch that scene again and make sure that's actually what I'm thinking of.
So we have a few threads for Vol.02: Who is the backer and what do they want? How will Team MARZ find out that the Hunters they trusted are the criminals? What will the new Geist-Wolf (Working name) do? And then of course there's the ongoing training and developments between Team MARZ and their fellow students.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I think there's a difference between shelling your own position and shelling your niece's position.
Yeah, just based on the fact that I'm averaging over 10k words per chapter this couldend up being longer than FADE.
You thought the Alpha Geist was creepy before...how about now?
I had another primate Grimm before as well, the "Spider-Monkey"
You didn't expect the brutality last chapter...well, what about the plot twists this chapter, did you expect those?
Still think it was a happy ending?

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.