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Chapter 84: A Night to Remember

The plan was in motion and the trap was about to be sprung.

Carmesi Hueso had returned to the outskirts of the small, peaceful and sleepy settlement of Verdance where his quarry had continued to operate in both his professional quality and with all of the sickening abuses of his power which only further proved that Nero's vision for the future was the best possible path forwards. It had taken no small amount of guile and subterfuge on the part of the Komodo Dragon Faunus to ensure that things came to pass at exactly the right time, with the rogue Hunter using the tools at his disposal and uncontested skills in order to both keep Halcyon, his fellow alumni of Haven Academy from finding the Creatures of Grimm which lurked in the rolling hills around Verdance until a time that suited Nero's goals and at the same time thinning out the horde of monsters enough to ensure that Halcyon was uninjured and capable of fighting at his full capacity in the coming confrontation. From there it had been a simple matter of baiting the trap, with Halcyon's journey back towards the city of Neo Vale from which he would likely depart for another mission in some small and forgettable settlement deliberately set to occur at the same time that Petrol had been instructed to unleash his freshly armed and equipped rabble into the midst of the students who had been brought to a place of Nero's choosing to stage a distraction that could not be ignored Carmesi had reached out to his former upper classman; giving the corrupted Hunter who would face no justice beyond what Carmesi inflicted upon him a lead that was just enticing enough to draw him away from his intended route and off of the well-lit, patrolled and protected roads between the Kingdom of New Vale's settlements and out into the wilderness.

The sight of approaching headlights told Carmesi that it was time.

In a gambit that would only be considered a risk if there was any chance of Carmesi's quarry surviving until sunrise Halcyon had received a message purporting to be from someone who had knowledge of the rogue Hunters' plans and location, reminding Halcyon that they were old acquaintances and possibly friends, in a loose sense and that the familiarity might aid in bringing a violent criminal to justice; a criminal who was also the subject of a considerable bounty. It was almost laughable that the blatant ploy had worked so well and Carmesi could only sneer to himself as the mystique and sense of fantastical heroism which his former fellow Hunter tried to promote was sullied in equal measure by the craven avarice and mercenary behaviour on display and the fact that the man who donned a cape and golden armour to battle drove an ill-maintained and unremarkable camper van with only the most rudimentary and token attempts to give the thing any practical armour.

Though Carmesi supposed that the detail would make things easier.

"And so it begins" his voice was a low, rumbling murmur which left his breath fogging before him in the cold night air as he stood in the midst of a small valley between hills, littered with rocks whose size allowed them to make functional cover; the base of the valley carving the route for a snaking, barely defined dirt track which would not reconnect to a proper road for several miles. As the trundling rattle of Halcyon's camper van drew closer Carmesi closed his eyes for a moment and allowed himself to reach out with other senses that were just as keen and alert as his sight, relaxing only a fraction when he could hear or smell no sign of a greater scheme on his quarry's part; only to become fully alert again with his crimson eyes focused entirely on his goal as the vehicle came a halt and the sound of footsteps tramping on frosty ground echoed through the valley.

"I thought it would be you in person" Halcyon laughed, leaving Carmesi fighting the urge to visibly rankle at the audacity the pristinely dressed and coiffed displayed by sounding relieved "I saw that message you left for me and I knew that if I came here I'd be seeing you, because honestly who else could it be? Who could have gotten close enough to you to give your secrets up?"

"Who indeed" Carmesi growled, jagged teeth bared in a brief smile of naked intimidation which collapsed into a look of loathing, scornful judgement "And yet you came alone; you didn't bring any back up and there isn't anybody moving in to surround me"

"That you know of-"

"Don't try and bluff" Carmesi's voice roughened, almost snarling as he added "We both know the kind of lies you have experience in telling; this isn't one of those situations-"

"Same old Carmesi" Halcyon laughed, widening his stance and posturing in a way which left his golden armour gleaming in to moonlight whilst his cape flowed out behind him "Always so serious, always with a chip on both shoulders and scared to enjoy the benefits of being a Hunter; now look at you….If you're gonna go rogue it may as well be for something worth it-"

"It was worth it" Carmesi answered calmly "I never betrayed the spirit of my oaths, not like you"

"Not like me?" Halcyon paused before barking out a hacking, cold laugh with nothing but condescension to fill it "You really think anybody cares about that? You have a price on your head. There's no 'Spirit of the oaths' there's the law, the job and us….All that matters is how much you can get away with bending the law while doing the job-"

"And yet you responded to a message, knowing it would lead you to me" Carmesi countered "Was that in service of the job or us, as in one Rogue Hunter to another-"

"My license is still valid, I'm not rogue" Halcyon flexed as he spoke, everything about his posture speaking to an easy gloating which only chipped at Carmesi's resolve and tempted him to kill the man before him personally and be done with it.

"But honestly, I did toy with the idea of doing you a favour; I guessed that you were laying low after being seen in Neo Vale and you reached out because you need something" Halcyon shrugged shoulders decorated with ornate armour "I thought I might take your weapons as proof we spoke and trade a little bit of intel on whoever is bankrolling the bigger plans you're part of in exchange for letting you slip away to the coast of Vaccuo or somewhere….Call it a favour for the kid I tried to look after at Haven, or just call it me investing to chase a bigger fish"

"A consideration and a reprieve from justice" Carmesi nodded slowly, allowing himself a grim smile as he passed the inevitable sentence on the quarry he had chosen "A mercy I have intention of showing you"

The trap was sprung, heralded by a blossoming fireball and wave of force which carried the scattered remains of Halcyon's camper van out in all directions as the vehicle exploded.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" the golden armoured man whirled around, the flowing of his cape less calculated and dramatic now as he was reduced to staring in abject shock and alternately blinking away spots of light that the explosion and lancing beam which had predicated it had left strewn across his vision and staring sweeping the valley in the hope of tracking down the source of the assault. Eventually his search was rewarded as a trio of hulking, lumbering figures stalked out from behind various rocks; their singular glowing red eyes and the horrific shrieking which escaped the beasts as they communicated identifying them.

"GRIMM!" Halcyon spat, reaching for the weapon that lay concealed beneath his cape "Truce? We'll deal with this first and-"

"No" Carmesi answered bluntly, his quarry's incredulous stare being interrupted as the hunched and armoured forms of the Cyber-Grimm came fully into view; their forms both utterly alien even to the expert Hunter of such abominations and conveying an undeniable power and threat which was made good upon as the trio fanned out into flanking positions, a feat achieved by opening the armoured carapaces of their abdomens and rocketing outwards with concealed propulsion systems whilst at the same time training the smaller weapons integrated into their antennae arrays on the golden Hunter and opening fire.

"What the fuck are these things?"

"They're the reason I reached out to you, they need to be properly tested and blooded in battle. For all of your many, many failings as a Hunter and as man you might still be able to provide something of value to the people you were supposed to protect" Carmesi answered tonelessly, seating himself upon a rock and watching intently.

"They're the future Halcyon, a bright new tomorrow" he continued "One that you will not see"

Hearing that Halcyon drew his weapon and unfurled it, a brilliant golden lance whose base was more than twice the width of the forearm it was affixed to with a series of mechanical braces and stabilisers hidden within his armour, tapering down conically to a point that then fanned out like a jagged, sweeping star intended to inflict savage wounds in those it pierced; the lance was easily as long as its' user was tall and yet was held outward easily and its' tapered length was broken into sections which seemed to be able to rotate independently of one another, with several of them whirring into life and revealing Dust chambers and other hidden aspects as armour plating retracted and the point of the weapon began to glow with a worrying, almost arcane light.

The Cyber-Grimm were fearless and simply charged with their chainsaw-shrieking echoing through the night.

Closing the jaws of the trap.


Petrol had threatened to kill all in his path unless Astra Mars came to face him in combat and despite the fact the crowd of the Aurora Hotel was made largely of student Hunters more than capable of defending themselves the Deer Faunus could not abide such an act and so, with Regalia only a step behind had rushed out passed the faculty of Halo Academy in attendance before they could properly react and bellowed out their answer to the challenge issued, letting the acid-spewing avian know exactly where his nemesis could be found in an effort to spare others from harm and pitting the inevitable combatants on thundering collision courses for one another.

They met in an already ruined corridor only a short distance from the hall in which the dance had been underway.

"I WAS STARTING TO THINK YOU'D RUN AND HIDE! THAT YOU WERE ALL TALK AND DIDN'T REALLY WANT ANY PROBLEMS AFTER I CUT YOU LAST TIME!" Petrol's distorted voice was painfully loud as it echoed in the high-ceilinged but relatively narrow space; the attempt at intimidation given some weight by the lumbering group of machines present being the avians' own charging mecha, others accompanying those who had attacked on foot in spreading out through the building as a whole though Astra's focus remained squarely on the ringleader as the two rushed forward and Astra carefully chose their opening gambit and the specific angle angle and timing that the attack would need.

It was a precarious thing, foregoing the use of their Semblance in an effort to avoid making an easier target of themselves whilst Petrol for his part seemed content to allow the battle to occur at close quarters and either by choice or simple, blind fury elected not to open fire with any of his various guns; instead waiting until his machine was close enough to loom overhead and swing a massive leg forward in a kick which missed its' mark and the brought down for a crushing stomp that would shatter Astra's body entirely.

It was then that the leader of Team MARZ acted.

Fiery red light filled the corridor as Astra's Semblance took hold, the construction of solidified Aura which took their general shape expanding out to a size comparable to that of Petrol's war machine before seizing its' leg before it could crash down into them, arms encircling armoured thigh and holding fast as Astra rose up and thrust forward to send the machine tumbling backwards with an impact which shook the nearby surroundings and culminated in falling dust and plaster along with cracked glass in several nearby rooms.

"REGALIA, NOW!" Astra boomed out, still holding the mech-suit in place by its' legs and in a vaguely crouched position which allowed their partner to run and leap, scaling the surface of the glowing Aura-self until she stood atop its' shoulder from which she leapt again, Aura visibly gathering around her as she focused all of her might into a single punishing blow which she hoped would suffice in the absence of her weapon.

Only for Petrol to respond with calculated ruthlessness.

"LOOK OUT!" Panicked terror filled Astra's voice as they saw one of the weapons mounted at the back and shoulders of the headless machine lurch forward into a firing position, the cumbersome and cylindrical launcher; discharging a single projectile which arced through the air with a painful slowness which allowed Astra to act on instinct alone and snatch Regalia out of the air, glowing Aura-formed hand closing around her and beginning to pull her clear just as the ordnance exploded and revealed itself to be a dangerously powerful incendiary shot, painting flaming accelerant across the walls and ceiling which was in turn quickly doused by one of the weapons carried by one the mech-suits behind Petrol. More immediately importantly however was that the blast had destroyed the right hand of Astra's Semblance-body and sent Regalia crashing and rolling painfully back in the direction she had come, Astra being left reeling and unable to protect themselves as Petrol made good use of the sudden opening, bringing their mech lunging into something akin to as sitting position from which it managed to slash at the thighs of the glowing construct with Dust-treated blades which continued to arc and crackle before finally aiming the massive rotary guns which made up part of Petrol's bastardised copy of Buckshot Ares and opening fire directly at the centre of the glowing bodies' mass.

Forcing Astra to drop their Semblance entirely.

It was a risk they were forced to take, they could have grown themselves to a much larger size however doing so within the confines of the building would likely cause more damage than it prevented and though this was balanced against the fact Astra was using less of their Aura to maintain their Semblance form this would only give the construct more longevity, leaving its' durability against attacks unchanged. Rounds that the word bullet seemed far too small to describe shredded the walls and floor around Astra in a maelstrom of deafening violence which Astra could only weave, roll and run at odd zigzagging angles to avoid given the utter lack of cover available to them however they still managed to avoid anything more severe than a few painful impacts with debris which left their Aura rippling before finally managing to reach where Regalia was already dragging herself shakily back to her feet.

"Are you-"

"GET DOWN!" Regalia's yell cut through Astra's concern as the Raccoon Faunus charged at them in a blur of motion, lean and powerful arms seizing them about the waist and dragging them to the floor with a thudding crash that left her straddling her partner; though any awkwardness or levity that might have been present in less dire circumstances was stripped away Petrol's launcher whirred and chugged as it prepared another of its' variety of horrific payloads before discharging with a whoosh of air. Seeing that they were target Astra flung themselves aside and in doing to rolled Regalia off of them in such a way that the pair narrowly avoided being caught in the most immediate area of effect when the latest explosive vomited forth its' corrosive, steaming contents which began to reduce the space they had occupied to a blackened, incoherent slurry which gave off an acrid fog that stung the eyes; becoming even more opaque and cloying, potent enough to leave the students' Auras rippling on contact as Petrol used his mech-suits' shoulder mounted laser to strike the puddle of indistinct sludge that now filled part of the corridor.

"Okay, that's definitely better than what they had last time" Astra grunted as they struggled back to their feet, helping Regalia to stand as they did so; the Deer Faunus's own Aura stabilising a moment after hers as the two of them stepped back to avoid the dissipating gas after being taxed by the use of their Semblance.

"I think he knew you'd come to meet him here, we should head-" Astra knew what Regalia was likely planning to suggest yet was denied the opportunity to hear it as Petrol, evidently growing tired of waiting forced the pair to throw themselves to the ground and roll to avoid the next barrage of high calibre shots as he aimed and unleashed his mech-suits' arm-mounted cannons once again; punching holes in the surrounding walls which threatened their overall structure before pausing just long enough to offer a taunting observation.

"Hiding behind the fumes from an acid spray….That's one of my tricks! You'd be dumb to think I don't have an answer for it!" through the still present but fading cloud of stinging, painful steam Astra and Regalia could see only the vaguest outline of Petrol's mecha but this allowed them to see that the thing stood upright and reared itself back in order to expel something from compartments within its' lower torso, the spaces at its' flanks between waist and where a person's lowest rib might sit.

Faint whirring sounds filled the air and it was Regalia whose eyes widened in fearful comprehension first.

"These are what they stole from Cosmo-Guild!" she exclaimed "Cosmo-Guild make drones as well, we saw some of the bigger ones when we first came here from Menagerie!"

"We need to fall back!" Astra declared, taking the advice that Regalia herself had likely been trying to give and taking their partners' hand as they all but hauled her away, the pair of them rushing through the corridor and painfully aware of the whirring of small propellers and stabilisers drawing close even before small calibre rounds, fired from machines they were limited in their ability to fight without their own weapons began to stitch the floor only a short distance behind them.

As the entrance to the hall in which the dance had took place came into view once more the ground trembled with a series of mechanical footsteps.

The mech-suits had given chase.

"WE'VE GOT INCOMING!" Astra bellowed as they and Regalia flung themselves inside, throwing the doors shut behind them but wasting no time on a futile effort to barricade them and instead yelling out frantic warnings to students whose reactions were still slowed by drink and confusion, breaking tables and chairs as they went in the hopes that the legs they claimed as weapons might do something of use.

As they went both Astra and Regalia hopefully searched the crowd for any sign of Athena-Jade or Zirconia but going unrewarded and ultimately forced to return their focus to the matter at hand as the door they had closed and sections of wall around it were simply obliterated by a devastating combination of gunfire, explosions and simple pummelling which Astra and Regalia were both stunned in a detached, faintly disbelieving way had included efforts from one war machine sporting a crude morning-star made from a wrecking ball and reinforced chains in place of its' right hand.

The moment was completed as Petrol's mech-suit strode through the smoke and falling dust, flanked on either side by the small drones it had deployed which hovered and bristled in an oddly animated fashion; the dust clinging to the machines' glossy exterior being more noteworthy than any damage that either Astra or Regalia had managed to inflict upon it thus far; giving the Faunus within a commanding presence and sense of untouchable finality as he spoke.

"The party's just getting started fuckers!"


Their first time together had been an impossibly loving and yet brief and uncertain affair, underscored by the nervousness and inexperience of both parties as they seized the moment with abandon; their second time had been an urgent, needy and almost frenzied thing where the two claimed every inch of one another's bodies that they could reach and following that the third, fourth and a tired, blissfully hazy fifth had been tender, passionate and steadily closer to ecstatic perfection with each touch and movement until both Athena and Zirconia were utterly spent; losing track of time as they clutched at one another in an exhausted but satisfied tangle of limbs where neither sweat, soreness or the utter disarray of the sheets strewn around them could lessen the serenity of the afterglow the partners basked in.

Explosions and gunfire ripping through the hotel below them had brought the moment to an end.

"Fuck the jacket, I don't need it" Athena's frantic, hyper-alert and yet distinctly irked words managed to break Zirconia's focus for a moment, distracting the Grasshopper Faunus from the act of donning attire that was not so easily put on as it was shrugged off; turning and being treated to a sight that might have been seductive at another time in the form of her girlfriend in her suit pants and dress shirt, several buttons remaining undone, sleeves rolled up to the elbows to save her from having to search for lost cufflinks whilst her tie and jacket had been abandoned entirely. As if the moment were not charged enough already Athena, with the sounds of chaos steadily filtering up from the hotel below, crossed the room and planted a single kiss at the base of Zirconia's neck before helping her fasten her dress.

"Come on, we need to go" there was an urgency in the Bear Faunus's voice which would not be contained or denied, which left Zirconia hoping that she could at least direct it in her efforts to keep Nero's distraction from his true intentions from becoming too needlessly costly.

"We can't just charge in blindly, we need a plan"

"Okay, what's the plan?" Athena accepted the objection without hesitation, a feat that few people could have achieved given the snowy haired girls' propensity for direct and decisive action, derring-do and gung-ho approaches to solving problems; the knowledge that she was one of the few people her partner would allow herself to be dissuaded by leaving Zirconia feeling truly wretched as she prepared to abuse that trust, her reasoning that it was a choice which might well save Athena's life doing little to help in the moment.

"We head away from the sound of the attack-"
"What?" Athena gave her an incredulous look "Hops, I love you but….what the hell?"

"We don't know what we're up against yet" Zirconia fought the instinct to physically crumble beneath the weight of her partners' accusatory question, focusing instead on making her rationale as sound and logical as Athena would expect "There are other students down there, along with the Professors. We don't have an idea of what we're up against….I don't want us to run in blind-"

"But-"

"We're not the only people here" Zirconia pushed onwards "The waiters and non-essential staff will be trying to flee; we should move to escort them to safety, that way we can get information before we head into….Whatever is going on"

"That's too much time that we don't have" Athena shook her head, sapphire blue eyes wild and yet still holding a sadness about them "An aerial platform like this will have a secure crash vault like the ship we boarded last year, the hotel has a security team; I think the professors will coordinate with them to get people to safety….We can split up if you want but it sounds like fighting is all coming from one place-"

"I don't want to split up" Zirconia answered without hesitation or any chance to consciously consider the notion, her mismatched eyes intense, entire body tense with nervous energy as she tried to form another argument that would steer Athena-Jade away from a course of action that would place her in a situation perilous enough that Nero had warned Zirconia about it in advance; all of her thoughts coming to a standstill as Athena offered a counterargument of her own which effectively ended the debate.

"Our friends are down there, we can't leave them" it took the Grasshopper Faunus only the briefest moment to study the notion in its' entirety before deciding that it was a flawless and inarguable reason. Athena-Jade was beloved and cherished but she also cared deeply for Astra and Regalia along with the friends she and her team-mates had made; her plan had initially been to devise a circumstance in which the four of them could avoid the scene below but with that rendered impossible the four of them standing side by side was the next best option.

"You're right" she murmured, making a final adjustment to her dress before kicking the door to the hotel room entirely free of its' hinges with a single tremendous blow rather than waste the few seconds it would take her to locate her key-card.

In the next instant she and Athena-Jade were rushing through the corridors of the Aurora Hotel.

Elevators were likely disabled in the case of an emergency, with power being rerouted to the systems keeping the aerial platform aloft and stable and so neither girl attempted or suggested their use and instead the pair sprinted at full-tilt and hurled themselves over railings to plummet down stairwells, boosted to even greater speeds and yet kept from harm by Athena's glyphs until finally, after what could only have been a matter of minutes at the very most but had felt like an eternity to the pair of them, silently agreeing to take something of a shortcut came bursting out through a pair of doors which saw them skidding to a halt in the centre of a walkway spanning the width of the dance floor below.

Giving the two of them time to take in the carnage.

"This is madness" Zirconia whispered, voice dropping below its' usual hushed rasping into something utterly aghast the two of them left watching, stunned and horrified as several teams of students who were unarmed and decidedly worse for wear made a valiant effort to form defensive lines and fend off the merciless advances of several heavily armed and armoured war-machines; others taking the opportunity to slip through the chaos and draw close the distance with the enemy. Zirconia noticed Honey Arc in the thickest part of a battle with several assailants who were carrying various exotic heavy weapons, the rest of her team in position around her and the four of them shifting positions and interacting with a fluidity which suggested that each of them could read the minds of their allies.

"There!" Athena-Jade caught her girlfriends' attention, sharp yell punctuating a jab of her finger downwards to where a massive machine with a glossy black exterior swung a pair of monstrously oversized blades which crackled with lightning and left a stench of ozone in their wake in savage, albeit jerky and inexperienced motions; the glowing after-image left by the slashes drawing the eye towards the machines' intended targets, specifically Astra Mars and Regalia Russet who desperately scrabbled, leapt and pulled one another aside.

"They're trying to distract the pilot" Zirconia surmised as the pair continued their evasive manoeuvrers "They're drawing it away from the others"

"They're gonna get themselves killed!" Athena exclaimed, committing to action the instant the machine reared back with both of its' sword-arms, the exposed pistons of its' digitigrade legs letting out an almighty hiss as the thing thrust itself forward in attempt to spear its' targets only to find itself halted as both of its' blades, held closer together for the stabbing attack crashed against the glowing surface of a glyph; the outermost of a series which Athena-Jade had conjured into existence in close proximity with the effect of making the mech-suit visibly jerk and shudder with an impact which should have rattled its' pilot.

The response was immediate and decidedly less rattled than the Bear Faunus had hoped.

"GO!" she yelled as the machine pivoted at the waist and began aiming its' shoulder-mounted weapons, both she and Zirconia managing to leap clear of the walkway that Professors Ren and Nora had been based on at the start of the dance mere moments before a lance of searing light reduced its' centre to a molten mass and left the platform collapsing under its' own weight, striking the dance floor with a deafening crash which sent panicked screams through the venue like ripples across water. Unsatisfied with the destruction however, more so given that the two girls stumbled out of the fallen debris, clutching one another and shaken but ultimately unharmed the machine continued its' assault by launching a spherical projectile from the weapon mounted at its' other shoulder.

"LOOK OUT!" Zirconia's raised voice forced Athena-Jade to act and any notions of making this a triumphant moment where she revealed new techniques she had been working on were dashed as she was forced to be solely reactive, throwing up a glyph in order to block the incoming device which was revealed to be an incendiary bomb as it exploded in a flash of blinding fire which was mercifully quick to gutter out.

Only to be proven to be the ruse required for the true assault

Zirconia's pained yell alerted Athena to the new threat a moment to late.

"Get behind me!" she all-but wept in distress, struggling to focus with spots of light dancing in front of her vision and yet the sawing sound of low calibre gunfire pierced her senses to allow her a chance to focus and get her bearings; the mech-suit, which still fought alone and yet with the force of a small army had deployed a pair of drones which had begun to flank the two girls and open fire with one bullets that had clipped Zirconia's shoulder; leaving the taller girls' Aura rippling but intact.

Athena-Jade let out a roar of unfettered rage and began launching glyphs like shrieking, spinning saw-blades; using a technique passed down to her by other members of her family to cleave through the pair of drones, finding them far less capable than she had first feared. The mech-suit itself began to advance the moment the shredded pieces of the drones struck the floor, blades crackling with renewed ferocity only for the behemoth construct to be left staggering off-balance as an attack came from behind with devastating speed and coordination.

Regalia slipped beneath its' arms and thrust a length of metal which might have been part of a barstool into exposed pistons of its' left leg which in turn allowed Astra to engage and release their Semblance in rapid succession, their Semblance-self flickering into life for just long enough to strike the mech-suit between its' shoulders and hurl it away; the blow impacting against its' power plant with a creaking and groaning of punished metal and leaving the entire machine shuddering in a way which suggested several key components would need to be manually reset or repaired.

Allowing Team MARZ a chance to regroup.

"Everyone okay?" Astra asked, dropping into a fighting stance and managing to appear ready for what was to come despite being dressed for an entirely different occasion.

"Who is that?" Zirconia demanded, choosing not to acknowledge the question or comment on the fact that she had been shot, however little the attack had actually achieved and distracting with a question of her own which she already suspected she knew the answer to.

"Petrol" Regalia answered darkly, eyes flitting worriedly to her partner "The guy who stabbed Astra, the guy we've been looking for….Looks like he decided to come to us-"

"And you two have been missing all the fun" Astra grimaced as the mech-suit began to reorient itself "Where the hell were you?"

"Distracted" Athena, still panting and riding the high that had come with unleashing her fury on the drones had hoped that she could utter the word with enough charisma and presence that it would serve as a proper answer, it was not the case however and Athena, despite the situation was left shuffling uncomfortably as Astra glanced at her, sea-green eyes trailing from her dishevelled hair to a shirt that was only partially buttoned and the several bite marks left on her neck and the swell of her breasts which were likely visible.

"Seriously?" the Deer Faunus demanded, the lone word enough to make Athena almost thankful when Petrol charged again and resumed the battle.


"You'll be safe down here!" Nora's words rang hollow as the sounds of a rampaging war-machine piloted by a delinquent unhinged and untethered by their newfound sense of power drew closer by the second. She and her husband had been away from the dance floor itself when the commotion had begun and as such had found themselves regrouping with their fellow faculty members some distance from where the action seemed to be at its' zenith, a situation which none of the professors considered to be ideal but had still made use of by preparing a safe passage for rightfully terrified and unfortunately panicked staff of the Aurora Hotel, whose training and procedures had never had reason to cover such events. At present Ren and Nora were one half of a quartet who stood guard over the access point into the lower reaches of the aerial platform itself, hidden within floor tiles and opened with an equally hidden control panel which employees were being hurriedly, but with as much compassion as could be spared ushered down into; a process expedited as Ren and Nora shared a meaningful glance and the Headmaster of Halo Academy gave a single nod of understanding before straightening his posture and taking a deep breath to centre himself.

And by proxy those around him.

Ren's Semblance leached the colour from the air and cast everything in dull sepia tones for several moments though this alteration was less immediately important than its' effects, namely that the frantic jostling for position which threatened to transform into a stampede or press of bodies in which more harm than good would be done into a more subdued and rational affair as cooks, waiters and other staff began moving at a brisk pace but in a more orderly fashion as Ren relieved them of their fears; maintaining the effect until the task at hand was concluded at which point he turned to his wife and the two other members of their party, Neptune and Scarlet.

"Neptune" Ren's voice was calming, as though the man had considered allowing his Semblance to linger a moment longer "Peach is already in the bowels and most of the security teams were regrouping there to defend the reactor and stabilisers….They can send a squad here if you-"

"I'll guard the staff" Neptune nodded swallowing thickly as he interrupted, knowing what would be asked of him and rising to the occasion; the fact that he had given up on his goals of being a Hunter in favour of pursuing a career as a student counsellor in order to prevent other teens from suffering mental breakdowns like that which had ended his own career during the war against Salem going unspoken between the colleagues and old friends.

"There're teams of guards still in the hotel" Nora added in warning "Some of the attackers on foot broke off and slipped through the building, either looking for people hiding or just to loot-"

"And the security that didn't fall back are chasing them down" Scarlet David interjected, eyes fierce as the knuckles of his cybernetic hand audibly strained as he snarled out his next words "They're outgunned and not prepared for what they're up against. I'll help them"

With that, a brief kiss on his husbands' cheek and a dramatic flip of his immaculate hair Scarlet was in motion, coordinating with the people he hoped to join as he went and leaving Neptune to cast a concerned look towards Ren and Nora.

"What are you to going to be-" the blue-haired man found his words interrupted by another crash from the approaching war-machine which had continued to advance on their position, its' pilot evidently indulging in several acts of petty vandalism as they went.

"Handling that" Nora answered, bouncing on the balls of her feet and smiling nonchalantly as though the situation were the most natural thing in the world, carefully containing and controlling a rage that left the air around her laden with a charged, crackling static. Ren nodded in silent confirmation and Neptune could do no more than offer them a gesture and some hope.

"Stay safe" his words earned him more silent nods and in the next instant he had dipped below out of view, sealing the access point hidden in the floor behind him with a faint hiss which went largely unheard as the remaining pair of defenders turned and began to stride with purpose and determination towards their approaching opponent.

"I hope you brought protection tonight?" Nora almost managed to sound playful, the attempt at a joke losing something in its' delivery as her voice was left ragged by the pure fury it held and yet still, as she reached into the back of her suit jacket and produced the collapsed form of Magnhild Ren could not help but stare at his wife in loving adoration for a few moments before answering.

"Never leave home without it" he succeeded in giving her a small, wry smile despite the situation and producing the Storm-Flowers from beneath the lower portion of his own jacket which had been left flapping like a cape by the way it was drawn in at the waist; with their hands occupied by their weapons they were unable to reach out and clasp one another in their grip although Nora did manage to briefly touch his cheek with one hand as the other managed to process of shifting Magnhild into its' grenade launcher form before the inevitable interruption came thundering toward them.

"We found some Hunters, showtime baby!" a voice that would be insufferable in its' sneering arrogance in normal circumstances boomed out from within a mech-suit which gave the speaker a level of justification. The thing was more vehicle than battle robot, standing on bipedal legs that sported joints capable of reconfiguring to make use of the heavily armoured treads which ran through them and which were attached to an upper body featuring four upper limbs which the word 'arms' seemed unfitting for, a pair of grinding, shredding implements that might serve to clear debris when the machine was making use of its' treads were set too far forward and too low to be arms in a proper sense, more like vestigial limbs mounted at the blunted nose of an angular and tapering cockpit whilst to the sides of the mecha were weapon mounts that began training on Ren and Nora with a shakiness that belied the nerves and inexperience in real combat of the posturing pilot. Lurking in the dust-filled gloom behind the cumbersome and stalwart machine were a loosely arranged group of young men and women wearing tactical armour and carrying weapons whose menacing glows gave away their positions.

Ren and Nora turned to one another, each giving the other permission to unleash themselves and deliver righteous retribution upon their foes in a way that they otherwise might not dare; forgoing all of the usual caution and decorum with which they conducted themselves as hunters for one single reason.

These people had attacked the children in their care.

Visibly unnerved by the lack of response of any kind the mech-suit was brought charging forwards by its' pilot in a crushing advance which the two seasoned Hunters made no effort to react to, waiting patiently until the opportune moment which presented itself when the war-machine opened fire and Nora answered with three blasts from Magnhild which filled the ruined corridor with shredded metal, pink smoke and the beginnings of a fire.

The first grenade had struck an incoming rocket in mid-air, the second had destroyed a vulnerable joint in the mecha's left leg and the third had blown a hole in the centre of its' armoured cockpit large enough for the pilots' expression, like that of a deer in the headlights, amidst the sparks and acrid smoke billowing from destroyed controls.

The small contingent of enemies accompanying the mech-suit fumbled as they raised their weapons, only used to fighting fellow gangsters of comparable skill, or else overwhelming the helpless in a show of violent force and being entirely unprepared to deal with someone utterly unafraid of them. Ren stepped forward and utilised his Semblance again, though this time in its' inverse and in a way that he rarely allowed of himself; taking all of the fear and grief he had absorbed from years as a Hunter and the emotional maelstrom that was a Hunter Academy and projecting outwards into a palpable, haunting burst of concentrated terror which left his opponents reeling, bowels betraying them as tears down faces.

Leaving them utterly immobile as he began to unload the Storm-Flowers into their midst.

It was only when Nora transformed Magnhild and began stalking towards the ruins of their mech that the group managed to regain some proximity of control and begin to run screaming back in the direction they had come, weapons blindly firing over their shoulders as their rampaging assault was transformed into the most paltry excuse of a fighting retreat.


Separated from both her team-mates and her twin brother Tiger Santara had, for some time now been flitting across the impromptu battlefield that the dance-floor and surrounding area had become; all the while cursing her earlier joking comments to her partner about being more comfortable if a situation such as this were to occur despite how impossible it seemed as she leant what help she could to her peers and produced Fearful Symmetry from where it had been collapsed and strapped to her thigh beneath her skirt. After snaking and weaving her way through the chaos, taking out an attacker from behind before they could deliver a decisive blow here and cutting an exposed coolant line on battle-suit there she had concluded that reuniting with the people whose safety was paramount to her would require another approach.

This had in turn seen her perched upon on the monumental glass statues littering the periphery of the spacious hall and peering into the midst of the chaos in an effort to find Ravi, Stygian, Amaya or Rye, eyes lingering on the sight of Team MARZ locked in battle with what seemed to be the leader of this assault and none other than the criminal Astra had been searching for judging by what snippets of the bellowed threats and damnations pouring from black mech-suit she allowed herself to pay attention; her search coming to an end when Stygian turned the tables on his partner by appearing directly beside her and already mid-tackle.

His Semblance making the action something reckless and more importantly, a prelude to a fast approaching danger.

"GET DOWN!" he yelled, painfully loud in Tiger's ear as he dragged her from the crystalline structure a fraction of a second before it could be utterly destroyed and reduced to to a rain of fine, jagged fragments falling upon everything nearby. In her haste Tiger had chosen a vantage point that had made her visible to any mech-suit pilot who cared to look in her direction, with the first to do so being the pilot of the machine whose wrecking-ball arm had allowed it smash its' way into the hall.

It had more reach than Tiger had anticipated.

"One day I'm not gonna be there to do that" Stygian managed a playful smirk as he pulled his partner to her feet, the vibrant blue suit he wore managing to look tremendously out of place in the current chaos and at the same time, exuding the nonchalant confidence the Mouse Faunus often displayed; Tiger fought back the urge to lecture him as best she could but still found herself grumbling as she stood and twirled Fearful Symmetry in her hands.

"One day you're going to get your timing wrong and end up smeared across a wall or cut in half" any further discussion was cut short as the mech-suit that had attempted to blind-side Tiger came charging at the two of them again; smaller and more squat than many of the others, though boasting a hand with functioning digits on the opposite arm to its' wrecking ball along with a pair of guns mounted low enough to give the illusion of firing from the hip. Weaving around an initial spray of gunfire in a show of Semblance-fuelled agility and reflexes honed to a preternatural degree both Tiger and Stygian began to hurtle towards the machine, if only to put themselves in a position where they were less likely to be shot; Tiger's broad-bladed trident unfurling and reconfiguring into its' overly stylised pistol form as she went.

"I can't believe you brought your weapon to a dance" Stygian sighed, his tone suggesting that he was in fact more than willing to believe such a thing.

"I can't believe you didn't bring yours" Tiger countered without breaking from her grim determination, squeezing the trigger of Fearful Symmetry and letting loose with a steadily changing array of Dust rounds in an effort to find a solution to the fast approaching problem, leaving the exterior of the mech-suit blackened, dented and crackling with lightning yet ultimately unbroken until finally aid presented itself in dramatic fashion as the rest of Team TRQS entered the fray.

Whilst Tiger had been looking for her team-mates it seemed that they had been aware of her predicament and preparing to intervene, as was evidenced by the fact that Rye and Amaya had collaborated to form a makeshift weapon; the pale and sharp featured young woman taking a lengthy strip of fabric which had previously been part of a curtain and affixing a makeshift blade of some kind to it in a way which allowed it to be wielded in a roughly similar fashion to her bladed revolvers. The mech-suit charged and the blade sunk into the surface of the nearest wall, leaving the fabric in the machines' path at which point Rye revealed that the other end had been tied a trolley of some kind which he then kicked away with all of his Aura-enhanced might to pull the impromptu trip-wire taut and send the mech-suit toppling forward as it struck it.

"Good work!" Tiger called out, frowning as she noted a glaring issue with the situation as it was currently unfolding "Your Semblance-"

"No use this far from the ground" Rye confirmed, giving her an apologetic look and splaying his hands wide "It only works on actual ground and even if it could work on the floor here I'd probably damage part of the aerial platform"

"Damn it" Tiger hissed through clenched teeth, answering a questioning look from Stygian with a gesture towards the war-machine which was already beginning to right itself "I'm the only one of us that brought a weapon and I can't blow a hole in that things' armour, we could use a-"

"LOOKS LIKE YOU NEEDED A HAND TIGER!" a voice filled with swaggering confidence which the leader of Team TRQS would recognise anywhere and never fail to be annoyed by the presence of cut through her explanation, the speaker throwing herself into view with all of the effortless presence and natural talent for Hunter work that made her so insufferable; the iridescent dress she had worn to the dance clashing somewhat with her weaponised footwear.

Snapdragon Majus, leader of team SHMR, partner and current date to Tiger's twin brother.

Tiger could only watch, nerve close to the beauty spot below her right eye making her features twitch slightly as Snapdragon used the Dust features of her 'Shuffle Kicks' to first throw herself into a gravity defying backflip which saw her landing on the back and shoulders on the mech-suit just as it managed to right itself, from which she shifted to a combination of Ice and Gravity Dust to deliver an axe kick which sent a spear of densely packed ice rupturing through the body of the machine in a spray of rapidly cooling and congealing fluids before then throwing herself into an even more acrobatic leap and landing just close enough to Tiger to give her fellow team leader a devilish grin as she delivered a side kick which saw her boots discharge Hard-Light Dust mixed with yet more Gravity Dust in a burst which sent the damaged war-machine staggering backwards and damaged further by the flailing recoil of its' own wrecking ball in a way which left it toppling over, smoking and inert with its' pilots' fists beating against a jammed escape hatch clearly audible amidst the uproar.

"Of all the people to actually come prepared" Tiger breathed out, shaking her head and focusing "Where's my brother?"

"Holding my handbag and my shoes, like a real gentleman" Snapdragon's grin only widened and Team TRQS found themselves reflexively coiling as though the animosity between the two team leaders were somehow more volatile than the ongoing attack. Tiger for her part swept her eyes across the hall and took in the overall scene, green eyes gleaming with satisfaction as she realised a simple, satisfying truth.

They were winning.

More than one mech-suit had already been utterly demolished in a way that suggested it had been accidentally shot by its' own allies, many of the attackers who had come on foot were already detained, unconscious or too injured to go on fighting and overall it felt as though the pace and direction of the battle had shifted, the initial momentum of the surprise attack having been spent and answered with a steadily mounting determination as the defenders had time to muster themselves properly. Honey Arc and her team could be scene near the centre of the thickest fighting, with the golden haired Rabbit Faunus managing to distract a mech-suit despite being unarmed whilst her team-mates, especially her partner with her mechanical arm delivered decisive blows to key areas. Eventually though Tiger found what she sought most, Ravi was fighting alongside Marsh and Hibiscus against the last remaining dregs of the enemy footsoldiers; the fact they were winning handily being owed in no small part to the fact that Ravi Santara had also thought ahead and brought his weapons in case of emergency.

Tiger turned to Snapdragon, taking a deep breath before uttering words that she would be sure to have Stygian buy her another drink in order to forget.

"Good work Snapdragon" She held out a hand to shake "We don't have enough weapons between us to work alone, we should join the fight and cover each other….Look after my brother"

"A Team SHMR and Team TRQS team up! It'll be spectacular darling" Snapdragon gave a winning smile, deliberately drawing out her words and making a show of flourishing as she spoke; Tiger expelled air through her nose and found herself falling back into more familiar territory; snapping words out as the eight students began to converge and rush once more into the tide of violence.

"Don't ruin the fucking moment"


In the absence of their weapons and against such a capable and determined foe Team MARZ had been forced to rely on their coordination, quick wits and Astra's inventive planning to conduct a series of hit and run attacks that had been rewarded with limited success.

With his mechas' drones destroyed Petrol's sense of his surroundings had been limited to what the suit itself could provide, even his own eyes and ears being curtailed by being ensconced within the armoured cockpit whose heavily tinted, smoky black casing was closer to a shield than a canopy. This had allowed the four Faunus he had chosen to engage several opportunities to attack from oblique angles, which their own Semblances and abilities made all the more more impactful.

With one such exchange currently underway.

"Now!" Astra called out as they rushed in close to Petrol's war machine from behind; the Deer Faunus had used their Semblance sparingly and in short bursts thus far to achieve the most value from each attack and did so once again as the construct of blazing red light took shape and expanded around them, Astra's arms seizing Petrol's mech-suit by the upper arms and pinning them against its' torso in a way that limited the sweeping motions of its' crackling blades and rotary cannons at least somewhat however the acid-spewing Faunus within the machine retaliated swiftly by bringing shoulder-mounted weapons to bare against Team MARZ.

It was Athena-Jade who countered the swathe of destruction Petrol threatened to cut into their surroundings, the hole it pierced in Zirconia's darkness sealing shut in the next moment and the Bear Faunus throwing up a series of glyphs in order to halt the beam of searing light before it could cut through support columns, then swaying slightly where she stood and with sweat sheening on her alabaster skin and blood beginning to drip from her nose as she overtaxed herself with the repeated use of her Semblance the Bear Faunus conjured up dozens of ephemeral, glowing glyphs within millimetres of one another directly in front of the lasers' barrel which forced Petrol to cease fire lest his weapon overheat and malfunction beyond repair.

Which gave Zirconia and Regalia the freedom to act.

Within the cockpit of his mech-suit Petrol was left cursing in impotent fury as the various displays and alerts imposed over his vision by the goggles which interfaced with the cockpit of the machine were left flickering and failing by the effects of Zirconia Shadowmoon's Semblance; his vision being reduced to an all consuming blackness broken only by the faint glow of Astra Mars's Semblance emanating directly from behind him and even that seemed far too dim. In the next instant the fiery glow vanished as Astra released their Semblance, the follow up blows coming before Petrol could hope to react or adjust to the shifting weight and balance of their mecha; Phantasmagoria, the darkness no sense could escape which the Grasshopper Faunus controlled bucked and roiled as though a wave were passing through the solid ground beneath the mecha's feet to send it toppling down into a crouch and in response Petrol brought the bladed limbs of the suit upwards, channelling additional power into them so that the lightning crackling across their surfaces grew more intense, becoming a light powerful enough for him to seek out a target to fire a chemical weapon at.

The first thing he saw was Regalia Russet on the offensive.

The Racoon Faunus was agile, athletic and resourceful and also boasted an extensive knowledge of machinery which expanded to heavily modified robots owing to how many were used by her people in place of beasts of burden; these qualities, when combined with her Semblance of 'Look-See' and its' ability to guide her led to Regalia landing a series of punishing blows and the latest came as she clambered up onto the back of the war-machine, using a broken bottle to stab at several wires and cables that had been left exposed by a previous assault and then crushing the glass in her hands in order to feed the jagged debris into a vent.

The end result of this was that the left of arm of Petrol's mech-suit fell limp and lifeless, its' thrumming and crackling blade falling silent whilst Petrol himself was left straining against a sudden weight and pressure which dragged against his own left arm where his gauntlet was connected to the cockpit through a series of conduits.

"FUCK ALL OF THIS!" the avian Faunus screamed, voice distorted by his mask and transformed into something monstrous as it was projected outward. Athena-Jade revealed her presence within the darkness of her partners' manifestation by unleashing another pair of her saw-blade glyphs which Petrol had come to loathe and dread as they tore armour plating away from what had previously been a pristine finish with each pass. In response he brought his mecha lurching to its' feet in a lunging, thrashing motion, pivoting at the waist in order to both seek out his adversaries and sling Regalia Russet clear of his back.

"IT COULD HAVE JUST BEEN YOU FUCKS, NOW EVERYBODY DIES!" Petrol bellowed, aiming the remaining rotary cannon at his disposal and opening fire indiscriminatingly, the brief specks of light where bullets tore through the darkness of Zirconia's Semblance slowly amounting to more and more as the roguish young woman allowed Phantasmagoria to fade, only for Petrol's brief sense of victory to fade as Regalia landed directly in front of his machine with a calculating look in her eye as she regarded his remaining weapons and plotted how to dismantle them.

"To the death?" the bushy tailed young woman gave a mocking, almost feral smile "No, to the pain!"

She made a rush for the remaining gun-arm of Petrol's mecha and the crook responded on instinct, being rewarded for his intuitive violence as he stabbed down at the ground between the two of them and watched as the crackling, lighting-wreathed blade fitting in place of a hand sent arcs forking across the ground which brought Regalia staggering and skidding to a halt for just long enough for his mech-suit to deliver a kick which sent the Racoon Faunus hurtling through the air with a reverberating, tooth-rattling impact and landing with a dull boom as she was sent skipping and rolling to a stop where she lay unmoving with her Aura crackling weakly around her.

"HELP HER!" Astra's ragged cry to their team-mates was Petrol's only warning that the Deer Faunus was upon him before the glowing red of a towering Semblance-form large enough to simply hoist the mech-suit into the air and slam it down back-first onto a glowing knee; the impact sending cracks and fissures through Astra's Aura-self which they refused to heed in their blind fury whilst also leaving Petrol gasping for air and certain that his ribs had been bruised by the force with which he had been smashed against the harness holding him within the cockpit.

From there Astra took the mecha to the ground, allowing their Semblance-self to shrink somewhat so that they could grapple and wrestle more easily until they had managed to somewhat awkwardly straddled the machine; a prospect made difficult by its' headless design, trapping its' still functioning limb beneath them and beginning to rain down blows upon the smoky surface of the cockpit.

Yet even here Petrol was determined to claw back a victory and revenge himself upon his hated foe.

Astra's Aura self was left reeling backwards as the mech-suit jerked violently, freeing itself enough for the entire outer canopy of the cockpit to be discharged as part of an emergency eject sequence which sent it blasting upwards and into the face of the glowing construct with enough force to reduce glowing red Aura to a mass of cracks and deformation which left an antler drooping. This alone would not be a decisive blow given that Astra's true body was located within the centre of the giant constructs' chest however Petrol, still connected to the workings of his machine through cables attached to his gauntlets and goggles took the opportunity to perch himself at the lip of the now exposed cockpit and brandish a high-powered shotgun which he began firing directly into Astra without pause.

The assault forced Astra to back away, their Semblance failing as they dropped to the ground which in turn allowed Petrol to throw himself back into the mech-suits' cockpit and drag the mangled machine back to its' feet, determined to cleave Astra apart with the remaining blade or reduce the Deer Faunus to a fine mist with ranged weapons.

Before this could happen the already chaotic battle took on another, far more horrifying turn that signalled its' ending.

"GET AWAY FROM MY STUDENTS!" the voice of Nora Ren boomed through the hall, trembling with unspeakable fury as the diminutive redhead came barrelling into view; seeing Petrol almost inherently as the leader of the attackers and taking aim at his mech suit without hesitation. Magnhild fired a grenade and Petrol pivoted his mech at the waist, aiming to use his corrosive Semblance to destroy the incoming explosive before it could trouble him.

The results of his failure were catastrophic.

The grenade exploded far too close to the mecha, flinging viscous, glowing globs of corrosive mucus back towards the war-machine; where they spattered across the inside of the cockpit to leave Petrol struggling to free himself as sparks and smoke served as a precursor for a more violent reaction, more dreadful however was the result of acidic phlegm striking both the Lightning Dust infused blade and the ammunition dumps for the machines' weapons, including its' own supply of acid and chemical rounds which promptly exploded or caught fire under the various stimulations and chemical reactions inflicted upon them.

Within seconds Petrol's mech-suit, its' pilot along with it were engulfed flames that spewed from within the machine itself whilst Petrol was unable to escape from the harness and connection points that held him fast.

Seeing this and hearing the tortured screaming from within the last vestiges of nerve and morale of the remaining attackers finally broke and those who had not been beaten or captured promptly began to turn tail and run, screaming at one another to retreat and throwing every smoke bomb or similar distraction left at their disposal as they went, mech-suits thundering as they bolted in the cases where they were not simply abandoned; one pilot having the sense and compassion to fire an Ice Dust shell into Petrol's mech-suit and douse the worst of the flames before dragging the ruined thing along after themselves in the direction of waiting transports somewhere at the aerial platforms' edge.

Astra, in a kneeling crouch and struggling to catch their breath after everything they had been subjected to, yet still almost overwhelmed by the adrenaline coursing through them found their eyes darting from the path of destruction which marked the enemies' retreat to where Athena-Jade and Zirconia were tending to Regalia, who was conscious but clearly in pain and barely coherent. It took several seconds for the Deer Faunus to even attempt to order their thoughts and try and make a practical, rational decision not based on a desire to end this vendetta once and for all before anybody else they cared about could be harmed and in that time the decision had slipped from their grasp; their course of action dictated instead by Headmaster Ren as he strode through the hall with his Semblance rippling outwards in a wave of sepia.

"Regroup and stand down!" he called out "Police and Hunters are already moving to intercept them, the priorities here are the injured and the civilians!"

Hearing that Astra forced themselves to let out a breath they had been holding, forcing themselves to abandon the idea of giving chase and by means they were yet to fully grasp ending the fight with Petrol once and for all. Though as they limped painfully towards their team-mates, willing themselves to give Regalia a reassuring look as they did so the four of them shared stricken looks that suggested that each of them were entertaining the same thoughts.

All of Team MARZ had heard Petrol's screaming and it had sounded final in the most horrific terms.


As the field testing of the Cyber-Grimm continued Carmesi Hueso found himself studying Halcyon's weapon.

The lance the golden-armoured man wielded had been a marvel of its' time and something Carmesi himself had been openly impressed by when the two of them had been students of Haven Academy; now however he looked at the rotating dust chambers and the greater whole of weapon and wielder together and couldn't help but scoff as he noted that it bore striking similarities to Zirconia's weapon in concept and implementation. Carmesi found it laughably fitting that Nero's daughter in everything but blood, naive, sheltered from the worst of Remnant and perpetually living in fantasy inspired by cartoons she was far too old for would take ideas from another imbecile who sought to make fantastical stories come to life through their sheer charisma.

Though Carmesi was forced to admit that Halcyon was at least capable with the weapon.

Beams of lights danced and stitched their way across the night sky as the Cyber-Grimm launched salvo after salvo from the monstrous laser weapons affixed to their upper carapaces, each of the monsters using the thrusters hidden beneath within their armoured abdomens to hurl themselves upwards for aerial attacks and revealing that they each boasted a pair of retractable wings which, whilst having the gossamer appearance of insect wings were more sweeping and angular in shape and remained perfectly still when in flight. Halcyon himself returned fire with a laser weapon of his own which had been concealed within one of the rotating cylinders or his segmented lance; the beam coloured a brilliant gold in contrast to bloody crimson of the Grimm's and far more narrow and precise in appearance though Carmesi had still been forced to abandon his original perch as his former comrade in arms had turned the beam upon him, a brief opening allowing the besieged Hunter a moment of spiteful retribution. At present the battle was purely one of evasion, with Halcyon leaping and rolling aside, his cape having been shredded and scorched in the process as he sought to avoid not only assaults which scorched and cracked the ground around him but also the threat of being surrounded and overwhelmed by horrors the likes of which he had never seen before whilst the Cyber-Grimm themselves were equally evasive, being forced to pull out wheeling dives which were less flight and more controlled falls made by using their propulsion systems in shirt bursts and gliding briefly with their wings.

The tide of the battle changed again the moment the first of the trio of monsters touched the ground again.

Clawed limbs tore frozen earth apart with the force of the things' thundering charge and Halcyon was immediately forced to defend against this more visceral and direct threat; time seemed to slow to a point of irrelevance and the blonde haired and golden-armoured man was left without the opportunity to appreciate that the Cyber-Grimm had forsaken not only its' laser weapon but also machine guns integrated into antennae like sensory organs growing from its' skull, instead he used the stretching expanse of a moment to study the various nicks and gouges where his weapon had glanced off of the things' armour without discernable effect or worse still where it had been blackened by laser-fire with equally negligible impact all whilst the singular baleful eye within the centre of the things partially collapsed skull focused on the Hunter with malevolent intent.

Carmesi saw the moment of fear flicker across the older man's face and relished it before it was quickly smothered; Halcyon springing into action with focus and decision.

The armoured Hunter, still maintaining the illusion of showmanship as though he were not fighting for his life managed a confidant smirk whilst he twirled his lance vaguely artistically, the motion being marked by the mechanisms supporting his hold on the weapon adjusting before dropping into a crouch and driving the point of the weapon into the ground, its' entire midsection beginning to glow with a frightening blue-white as various Dust chambers began to rotate and more power began to flood into the weapon that put Carmesi loosely in mind of a technique once used by Weiss Schnee when the woman had been a Huntress herself; the comparison becoming even more pointed as the first part of Halcyon's answer to the Cyber-Grimm was revealed to be Ice-Dust which erupted forth from the ground in a rolling tidal wave of spires and jagged points which Carmesi could not help but feel was the corrupt Hunter's way of thumbing his nose at the Komodo Dragon Faunus's Semblance.

The Cyber-Grimm was halted as a spear of compacted ice burst through its' torso and out of its' back, leaving its' wing casings and armoured carapace bent and dislodged from its' proper place whilst vestigial limbs clawed and scrabbled ineffectually against the smooth surface in an effort to chip away at it and free itself, the things monstrous upper limbs, each a fused pair being held at bay by more icicle spears. From here Halcyon revealed the second stage of his assault in the form of a Gravity Dust onslaught which warped natural forces in the immediate area to such a degree that the blonde man was left with his own orbit, the skewered Cyber-Grimm and the ice spears being pulled into it which in turn tore the ice fee of the monster from a different angle to which it had been inserted.

Killing the monstrosity entirely.

It did not fade like a normal Creature of Grimm however, the multiple layers of interlinked Grimm flesh and armour interacting in such a way that, by design the nightmarish darkness was reduced to a primordial and sludgy state which, rather than spawning more horrors began instead to simply eat away at vital and traceable parts of the Cyber-Grimm's innards to prevent it from being recovered by anyone other than Nero and his allies; the body breaking further along the axis of the gaping and ragged wound which had been torn into its' torso until it was finally severed in to and its' broken halves orbited Halcyon a moment longer, viscous ichor seeping from them as they did.

Before the ruined chassis of the Cyber-Grimm had struck the ground its' remaining pack-mates were on the offensive.

Another beast, which Carmesi recognised as the first to be spawned by a few small identifying scuffs and scrapes from its' earlier testing, rocketed toward Halcyon with its' clawed and oversized arms ready and the arcing, horned crest growing from its' thorax tilted and poised. Seeing the attack coming Halcyon leapt to his feet with a wordless yell, fear beginning to show once more through the thin veneer of contempt and control he clung to as he unveiled yet another Dust based attack and thrust the tip of his lance forward in an exploding corona of lightning which Carmesi would concede Zirconia's equivalent to was far superior, the graceless and desperate attack managing to halt the Cyber-Grimm momentarily as its' mechanical components stuttered and jerked against the relentlessly savage intentions of its' living tissue; allowing Halcyon to deploy his laser once again and bring the weapons' golden beam scything down in an effort to cleave through his foe only for the Cyber-Grimm to reel back far enough to mostly evade it, still shrieking and spitting in defiant rage as a glowing wound was torn into its' armoured form from the left side of its' cranium into a diagonal slash across its' upper torso.

Then the third and Final Cyber-Grimm attacked.

Any demands to be released or challenges Halcyon might have wished to utter to the aggressor went unsaid, replaced by a scream of pain as the horn of the loosely insectoid Cyber-Grimm was driven through his back at the point where shoulder blade met arm and out through his shoulder in a spray of dark blood and rent amour, Halcyon's Aura shattering entirely and collapsing outward from the point of impact, his lance losing power and falling silent as it fell from his hand and hung limply from its' support system and yet even here Halcyon refused to give up the fight, kicking and thrashing despite the stomach-churning agony each movement sent coursing through his body from the place he had been impaled; the Cyber-Grimm itself was larger indifferent to the limited attempts at violence inflicted against it however and answered only by using the twitching and segmented limbs sprouting from its' chest to ensnare Halcyon's legs, keeping him from kicking out as the monster stood taller and dragged him painfully up from the ground.

"Good" Carmesi kept his tone completely even before nodding to the scarred and electrocuted Cyber-Grimm "Finish it"

The beast which represented the first of its' kind, the manifestation of all of Nero's plans which Carmesi had worked and sacrificed to realise, a change to the fundamental order of society and Remnant as a whole threw itself forward without hesitation; once again favouring melee combat over guns in a way Carmesi was certain Albion would take issue with even of the reptilian Faunus shared that preference. It was here that Halcyon finally made an effort to beg for his life, a desperate plea for help from one Hunter to another that went unanswered and unfinished as the first of the Cyber-Grimm drew close, adding the momentum given by its' propulsion system to its' already inconceivable strength and rearing back a three fingered claw for the killing blow.

A single swipe reduced Halcyon's skull and a portion of his upper body to a slurry of blood, bone and viscera which painted the ground and the bodies of the two remaining Cyber-Grimm.

Carmesi watched the scene dispassionately, crimson eyes cold and unfeeling as he contacted Albion.

"Did you get what you needed?"

"I did" the scientist sounded as though he might retch and Carmesi fought to keep a smirk from showing to clearly or carrying itself into his words, for all of his other uses the man had no stomach for the realities of combat. After a small pause Carmesi instead focused on pertinent matters.

"Are we still in the clear?"

"We are" Albion breathed out "Damascus's distraction worked, a massive Hunter and police response is being mobilised within Neo Vale and the city walls are being locked down….It will be some time before Halcyon's absence is noted"

"Good" Carmesi murmured "Then the testing is complete. I'll begin clean up work and return with the Cyber-Grimm….The two that are left can carry what's left of the other one"

With that he ended the call and turned his focus back towards the scene before him, committing it to memory and relishing it; Halcyon had been a corrupt Hunter and a blight upon those he encountered, in Carmesi's mind his former comrade had been as much a cause of the sickness which the Creatures of Grimm were symptomatic of as the cities' gangs or the bandits who had taken his family.

Now he had the means to excise that sickness.

Author's Notes:

So….half way through Vol.05.
How was that for a mid-season finale? 'Cos I felt like I outdid myself with this one to be completely honest.
Although that might just be due to the fact I've wanted to write this chapter for a while now and getting to do it finally, it felt great.
That being said, I'm actually writing this two weeks ahead of when I intend to post it so it's probably unlikely that there's going to be a delay before the next chapter but it's still possible….Though if there is it will still only be a week before we pick up with the back half of Vol.05.
Vol.05 will take us to Chapter 92, with 91 completing my resolution of posting 50 chapters for this story this year.
The back half is gonna be fun, I've got some stuff planned for you.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
We didn't touch this aspect of thing last chapter but yeah, everything happening at the dance is a distraction to make sure that this happens without incident.
I don't know why but the idea of the Hunter with gold armour and a cape who sells himself as a fantasy knight driving a camper fan just really drove home how much of a fraud he really is.
"And so it begins" one of the most cliché lines in all of writing and yet it works here.
Halcyon basically may as well have just come out and said "We both know you don't have friends".
"There's the law, the job and us. All that matters is how much you can get away with bending the law while doing the job" And that right there is why Halcyon had to die.
So Halcyon knows or assumes Carmesi is part of a bigger plan, even if the Benefactor isn't being disclosed to public….Mainly because Carmesi's actions only make sense as part of something else.
Truce?….He's really not that bright. But an actual Hunter seeing the Cyber-Grimm for the first time and immediately being thrown off by them just made sense.
Tricked out lance, 'cos why not.
Of course Astra went straight for Petrol.
Astra's Semblance out here proving that it's not the size that counts it's how you use it.
I wanted to show right from the start of this fight that Petrol feels like he constantly has the upper hand, like fighting him always feels like he has a lot more options than you do.
Astra making their Semblance body smaller doesn't make it tougher or denser, they can just last longer with it.
Cosmo-Guild make drones, we saw the flying ones in Vol.04, so not only does Petrol's suit have on-board drones…..Nero and co have access to robot drones if they want to make more Cyber-Grimm.
Falling back was definitely the right choice, Astra and Regalia were never gonna win that fight alone.
The description wasn't explicit at all but damn, five times before the dance was even finished; AJ and Hops railed the shit out of each other.
The thing is Zirconia's ideas all sound perfectly reasonable and logically sound….Take the long way around to help an evacuation and do some recon, when what she actually wants is an excuse to keep herself and as many members of Team MARZ away from Nero's distraction as possible.
Now Team MARZ being present doesn't actually hurt the mission, but it does still feel like Zirconia ultimately chose her friends over the mission here.
I can never remember if I've actually named Honey's team in text, it's Team Honey but I can't remember if I spelled it Team HONY or HNEY; I'll have to double check before the tournament arc next volume.
Jerky and inexperienced motions, because the mech is connected to Petrol's body and he can definitely fight but he's still not a pilot.
AJ still didn't get a chance to show off that new move she's been working on….I promise when she finally does pull it out it'll be great and will become an instant staple of her arsenal.
He shot Zirconia….That will not end well for him.
Gotta have a little bit of chatter when Team MARZ regroup and the "Seriously" moment added some needed levity.
Zirconia's assessment of where the staff would be was accurate, wonder if that was an educated guess or foreknowledge courtesy of Nero?
Ren's Semblance coming in clutch here.
So Professor Peach, who has never actually been shown on screen in canon or any part of the Spiral-Verse, Neptune who never actually qualified as a Hunter and Scarlet are there, but other Professors including Qrow are absent; almost a fair fight for the attackers then.
Protection tonight….Yes I lowered the tone with a condom joke, but honestly it feels like one Nora would make to hide her nerves.
So this guy showed up in a Transformer….And not even a good one, like an accessory for a 1989 Action-master.
Ren taking all of those emotions and unleashing them as a weapon is something from FADE: Legacy where he used it to immobilise a variant Pyrrha.
And yeah, honestly Nora being ready to end you us bad enough but if it's Ren and Nora both walking you down you are forgiven for shitting yourself in pure terror.
Tiger 'These aren't my friends, this team is strictly business' Santara frantically searching for the rest of Team TRQS.
The bickering between Tiger and Stygian is eternal, even in the middle of saving each others' lives.
Stygian saying what we were all thinking about her just casually having a trident in a party.
Rye and Amaya don't get much screen time, but they do fun stuff in fights….But yeah having Rye's Semblance here would be broken and also not make much sense.
….Nothing like a little shared trauma to help people bond, so naturally this is where Snapdragon shows up and reminds everyone that no, she really is a natural at this.
Yeah, the heroes are winning….Because this is not the right moment in this story to start breaking people and their hope but also because yeah, they might be unarmed and a little tipsy, but they're still Hunters; they vastly outclass the mech pilots in terms of skill and the mechs are only as good as their pilots.
Y'know, Tiger curses more around people she's okay with….Just saying.
Hit and Run was the right choice of approach here.
Fighting Zirconia when she uses her Semblance must be an actual pain in the arse, we now have confirmation that being inside that bubble effect not only leaves you unaware of your surroundings but also jams any comms or sensors you might have.
AJ's quick thinking took a cannon out, but yeah she's getting tired and this fight was never gonna go on for too long; that Schnee Semblance drains its' users.
Zirconia's Semblance still has the upgrade she unlocked back in Vol.02, the one based on the JJK Domains.
Regalia going full scavenger nomad and using whatever was available to break that robot down to easily tradable scrap metal and parts.
The effect on Petrol's arm should have been the first hint that he was gonna get stuck in that mech.
"No, to the pain!" Regalia needed to drop a movie quote in this fight and let's be honest if you can make a Princess Bride quote homage work then it's a good day.
He knocked Regalia out….Shouldn't have done that, that pissed Astra off good and proper.
Okay you've gotta admit, Petrol is the kind of villain you love to hate but also have to have a level of respect for because of moves like that, the eject button on the canopy and waiting behind it with a shotgun was just a well executed move.
But there was no accounting for Nora….And Jesus fuck that turned dark.
So yeah, plenty of villains taken into custody and mechs destroyed along with Petrol being absolutely fucked by that but the key point here is what Ren said to Astra, police and Hunters are already mobile….So Nero's plan worked.
But Regalia is mostly okay, so that's good.
Also….Yay for trauma, everyone gets trauma after being to see, hear and smell what happened to Petrol.
Zirconia didn't base her weapon on Halcyon's, it's more a case of them having similar ideas in mind and the comparison amusing Carmesi.
The light show from that laser fight would get attention any other night.
Oh and surprise, we've only seen the Cyber-Grimm rocket-jump before but we'd also only seen them inside before, those wing casing having some wings in 'em….Not great at flying but still something.
Plenty of people try and copy Ruby, or Qrow's moves across Remnant….Someone was bound to try and pull off one of Weiss's.
Using Gravity Dust to create an orbiting effect is something I'm surprised we haven't seen in canon yet.
So the Cyber-Grimm can be died, but they die differently to other Grimm; for one they leave their metal bits behind to be possibly repaired and recycled….Which is possibly a massive issue if there's anything with memory for the next Grimm host to interact with.
Yeah Zirconia does the lightning thing better and could have done that laser slash better with Hard-Light Dust.
But we now had a distinguishable Cyber-Grimm, the first one made now has a battle scar….Mainly as a little homage to Hardshell from Transformers Prime since he was one of the inspirations for the design of the Cyber-Grimm.
Yeah we already knew that he was gonna get attacked from multiple angles, it was foreshadowed with the runt of the litter that got killed off.
And he's gone….Boom, head-shot.
Oof Carmesi, the edge. Good way to end a chapter and a mid-season finale though.

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