The lines of mutant Grimm continuously moved into the station like columns of snails. A few minutes passed and the amount of Grimm didn't thin.
The sight sickened him to his core. He clutched his scroll tighter and managed to pull his gaze away from the strange sight. Looking at his scroll, his eyes widened. They only had a few more minutes until his shift ended.
He urgently whispered to his two partners, "We have to head back. We don't have that much time."
Pyrrha nodded and put her scroll away. Blake continued to look at the Grimm. He walked behind her and grasped her shoulders, gently shaking her. She jumped slightly and faced him, trance broken. Pain smoldered in her eyes.
He asked, "Are you alright?"
She glanced back at the lines of mutant Grimm. Her body trembled. He held onto her, trying to ground her. She stopped shaking and faced him once more.
A steely determination replaced the pain in her eyes.
She nodded and murmured, "I'm fine, let's head back."
He gently let go of her. She muttered a small thanks and jumped off the apartment building. Pyrrha motioned him over and together they jumped after Blake.
They ran through the streets or traveled over rooftops, uncaring of the Grimm. The night wind blew against him, cold as ice. In a terrifying orchestra, the wind caused the derelict buildings to groan and shake.
His aura fought back against the cold. His body shivered not from the freezing temperature but from the lines of the mutant Grimm replaying in his head. He looked over at Pyrrha and Blake. Could they be experiencing the same thoughts?
They reached the small wine store. He ushered his two partners back into their bedrolls. They silently got in and quickly fell asleep. He jumped onto the roof of the store and swept the nearby area. No Grimm had come close.
He took up a post and waited for his shift to end. Thank the brothers no Grimm had stumbled onto the sleeping group. They wouldn't have died but they could have been heavily hurt and he would have had a lot of explaining to do. Blake and Pyrrha would also get into massive trouble for going with him.
He stopped his negative musing. The what-ifs were just what-ifs. He needed to focus on the present.
The silent alarm went off. He jumped back down into the wine store. He prodded over to Weiss and gently nudged her shoulder. The dust heiress woke up and muttered something. Rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn, she thanked him for waking her up. She got ready and jumped onto the roof, weapon in hand.
He reflexively yawned. Shaking his head, he slid into his bedroll. Sleep took him in a few moments.
He woke up to the smell of eggs and sizzling meat. His eyes popped open and he sprang out of his bedroll. The delicious smells pushed out all his troubling thoughts from the night before.
In the center of the room, Qrow prodded and poked the fireplace, cooking a batch of rations.
All around him, the rest of his party friends slowly woke up. Nora and Yang grew glints of hunger in their eyes, not bothering to hide their hunger. The rest of his eight-man team also looked at the rations longingly but weren't as obvious as Nora and Yang.
His stomach grumbled and he walked over to the fire.
Qrow said, moving his hands over the rations, "Everyone I've heated your rations but you'll have to put them together. Don't take too long to eat, I want to make a lot of progress this morning."
He walked away from the fire and began to devour his rations.
Ruby dropped down from the hole and looked over the room, eyes widening. Hunger blossomed to life in her pupils and a bit of drool coursed down her lips. She bounded to the rations and picked one up.
He picked his ration up. and sat next to the fire. Tearing open a small tube of utensils, he dug into his food. They somehow fit an entire fulfilling breakfast into the small compact ration bag. Everything tasted amazing. Although, his hunger probably had something to do with the elevated taste.
He savored some eggs and slices of meat. There was even a sweet included in the rations. He ate that as well, savoring the jolt of sugar. He wolfed down the rest of the food.
Standing, he placed his now empty ration into a waste bag. His friends enjoyed their meals and made light conversation. Qrow finished his meal and tossed it into the waste bag.
The older huntsman walked over to him and asked, "You ready to move out."
He nodded, "Ready as I'll ever be. I'm itching to fight some Grimm."
Qrow nodded, smiling, "I get that. Clean up camp and meet me on the roof."
He slapped his back with a meaty hand. He tripped forward from the sudden impact. Sliding his feet, he managed to catch himself right before he fell. Qrow barked out a laugh and jumped onto the roof.
He turned to his eight-man team. Most of them were finished.
Ruby prodded Yang for one of her sweets. The yellow-haired brawler shook her head and comically ate the sweet, causing Ruby to deflate like a balloon. Yang laughed and Ruby threw out her ration bag, grumbling.
Nora turned to Ren and puffed her face in a doe-like fashion. Ren sighed and held out a sweet. The pink-haired bomber squealed and quickly snatched the sweet, scarfing it down in a very un-doe-like fashion. Ren shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha, stood off to the side watching the duo in befuddlement.
The team finished their food and placed their empty ration packs into the waste bag. He hauled the bag onto the fire. The orange flames swallowed the bag and turned it to ash.
He and Pyrrha snuffed out the fire. His redhead partner, using her semblance, willed small bits of metal littering the floor to scoop up the remains of the fire. Closing her hand into a tight fist, the bits formed a tight ball. She furrowed her brow and the metal crunched together, turning into a smaller ball. Pyrrha flung the sphere into one of the wine cubbies and dusted her hands off.
He led the eight-man group onto the roof. Qrow, who stood on the edge, motioned them over.
The older huntsman pointed deeper into the city, towards the path he, Blake, and Pyrrha used to get to the city's core, "We can make good progress if we use that route. We'll take a steady pace but one that should cover a fair amount of distance."
He interjected, "Why can't we go quicker?"
Qrow turned and met his eyes, raising a brow, "You kids want to go at a huntsman's pace? It's tough and could drain you too much."
He responded, "I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we're willing to do it. We truly want to become great huntsmen and we're willing to put in the work. I promise you that."
His friends made sounds of agreement.
Qrow hummed, rubbing some faint stubble on his chin, "Alright kids if you want to push yourselves I'm not going to stop you. But we can't rush straight to the city's core. This mission is a Grimm extermination mission and we have specific places where high amounts of Grimm activity have been spotted. Thankfully all of these locations are on the way to the core where the largest amount of Grimm was spotted."
He nodded along with the rest of his friends. He wanted to go directly to the station and hopefully find the Fang. But it would look suspicious if he went against the mission directive.
Hopefully, they would be able to reach the station.
Qrow continued, "If everyone's ready, let's head out."
He jumped to a nearby building and jumped deeper into the city. He bunched his legs, pushing aura to his feet, and jumped after Qrow. His friends followed.
They traveled through several blocks, going much the same way he did the night before. Qrow led them.
They stopped on the edge of a building. Qrow fished out his scroll and tapped on it. A beep echoed from it and a 3D projection of Mount Glenn flashed into the air above the scroll. A red compass mark spun to life and a red dot blinked on the map.
Qrow positioned his scroll, causing the compass mark to turn until it pointed to the red dot. He held out his scroll and walked to the other side of the roof. They tentatively followed him.
Peering over the edge of the roof, he pointed and said, "That's one of the Grimm concentrations."
His finger led to a small abandoned park a few blocks away from their current position. Many Grimm milled around the park. They lazed around, basking in the sun or walking through trampled playground structures. They looked like they didn't have a care in the world.
The sight sickened Jaune.
Qrow leaped over to the playground. He landed on a pile of Grimm, crushing them, and began to tear through them. He and his friends landed on the edge of the playground and pushed into the Grimm, acting as a rear strike.
He quickly piled the Grimm, wading through their bodies like thick dunes of sand. His friends fanned out, cutting Grimm down systematically. Jumping onto a broken slide, he ran up the slide and leaped off. His sword plunged into the head of a Beowolf below.
Flicking his sword out, he cut into another Grimm and deflected a blow with his shield.
He and his friends stood among the disintegrating bodies of Grimm. His team and team RWBY formed together and went over to Qrow. The older huntsman stood on top of a broken twisted pile of metal, surveying the area.
He hummed, "It looks like we cleaned the place out. Let's keep on moving."
Jumping off the platform, he leaped onto the nearby buildings and began to traverse them. They followed.
About halfway to the city core, Qrow stopped again. He took out his scroll and he used the light dust projection map once more.
He pointed to an abandoned parking lot. Thick long strands of grass grew on the lot, covering it like a fuzzy green carpet. Animals darted around the edge of the lot but none entered it. Flowers grew from rusty old cars inside of the lot. Turned over cars lay scattered outside the lot, utterly destroyed.
A thick horde of Grimm lazed inside of the lot. They stood on top of the cars or lay on the grass, looking around slowly. It was the same amount of Grimm as the playground.
Qrow jumped and landed among the Grimm. They followed right on the older huntsman's heels. They fought the Grimm. It was the same case as before. They decimated them.
He lobbed the head off of an Ursa and jumped on top of a rusty car. He redirected the swipe of a Beowolf and hacked the opposing arm off. As the arm fell, he jumped down and stabbed into the Beowolf, killing it. Another jumped on top of his previous spot and swiped at him. He ducked and dove through the empty doorway of the car.
Twisting before he landed on moldy seats, he stabbed through the weak roof of the car. His sword cut through steel and found purchase in flesh. He jumped back out, tearing the roof off and dragging the Grimm. He pulled the beast to the ground and killed it.
They cleared out the lot and began to move once more.
They reached the first buildings of the city's core and his heart soared. The station was right there!
Qrow came to a stop, dashing his excitement. He didn't take out his scroll this time and simply pointed down. In the street below them, a horde of Grimm prowled in an abandoned mall.
Through broken window panes, their black forms hunkered through vine-covered floors and walls.
They dove into the mall and cleared it out as quickly as the other places. Nothing remarkable happened.
Sweeping out of the mall, they headed deeper into the city.
Qrow turned around and said, "We're nearing the last cluster. It's an abandoned skyscraper and this one will probably be the hardest one we've fought yet. Be smart about this."
He led them into the city's core. It looked just the same as it had the night before. The train station the Fang grunts had herded the Grimm into still stood with its giant gaping entrance.
They dropped down onto the streets. Qrow quickly led them through the debris-filled plaza towards the skyscraper. The same building the mutant Grimm had come out of the night before.
He tried to get a good look through the station's entrance. Thick darkness prevented anything inside from being visible. The morning sunlight only permeated the frayed edges of the entrance.
Brightly colored flora grew in the plaza. They passed by a few Grimm so quickly that the beasts didn't pursue them. Broken cars and other bits of debris stood as obstacles or convenient pieces of cover. Dead almost fully rotted bodies covered the ground, covered by the flowers.
His stomach roiled and a stab of pain went through his heart wherever one came into view. He tried not to look at them.
They reached the skyscraper. Qrow made a flurry of hand signals, indicating breaking up into groups and scouting. He and Pyrrha separated from the party. They did a sweep of the nearby area, killing any Grimm. Howls and growls emanated from the shattered windows of the looming skyscraper.
They killed the last of the Grimm and rendezvoused with the rest of their team in front of the skyscraper entrance.
Qrow, covered in Grimm ash, said, "Now I want everyone to keep constant vigilance. Keep close but not so close that you hit one another. Don't try anything showy because this building looks like it could crash down on us if we sneeze too hard. Let's head in."
They jogged into the building.
They quickly cut through the Grimm inhabiting the lobby. The bulk of the Grimm came down from the higher floors.
In the tight corners of the stairs, he had to be careful with his swings. The Grimm pooled onto the steps but weren't difficult to fight. Their only real danger was friendly fire.
They reached the second floor, a dusty abandoned office space dotted with cubicles. He and his team took one side of the room while Team RWBY and Qrow took the other. He led his team through more of Grimm and met back up with the other half of their party at the other side of the floor.
They ascended the building, wiping out thicker groups of Grimm.
Reaching the top floors, they took a breather on the stairs. He took deep heavy breaths, sweat soaking his skin. His muscles roared from exertion and a strong heat broiled in his chest. His aura coated him, cooling down any pains.
He took out a small bottle of water from his pack and chugged it. Throwing the bottle away, he moved to the door leading to the floor.
Opening the door, the party team walked onto the floor. Broken windows made up the walls, overlooking the abandoned city. Thick vines grew among toppled cubicles and water coolers. The glowing eyes of an owl looked down from a hole inside the roof.
The wind blew into the room, causing dust and debris to sting his eyes and making him cough.
A giant horde of Grimm took up every nook and cranny of the floor. They flung themselves at them. They rushed head-on and met the Grimm.
They cut through them until only a few stragglers remained.
He killed one of the lone Grimm with a sword through the chest and flung it to the side. He stood under a giant hole leading directly to the floor above. No Grimm jumped down to meet his silver sword.
Qrow, the closest person near him, killed one of the straggling Grimm. He stabbed his weapon into the floor and looked around, chest heaving slightly.
The frayed edges of the hole shuddered, dropping loose bits onto the floor. A growl emitted from above and the hole shook once more.
A mutant Grimm jumped through the hole and slammed onto the ground. Its impact sent out a mini-shockwave, tossing dust and office supplies into the air. The Beowolf, the largest Grimm had fought so far, flexed its beck. Red glowing dust crystals bunched together out of its back and on the side of its face.
It howled and a puff of steam erupted out of its nostrils. The beast sniffed the air and turned to Qrow, rearing on its legs. It lunged at the older huntsman. Qrow pivoted at an angle and leaped as well, greatsword pointed out like a spear.
The two fighters met in a furious clash of flesh and steel. Qrow cut into the arm of the behemoth. The beast didn't react. It swung its mechanical arm at Qrow. The mature huntsman, using the height difference between him and the Grimm, jumped off its arm, ripping his sword away with a satisfying tear.
He jumped onto the dust crystal-filled back of the Grimm and cut into it over and over. The Grimm, too slow to account for his sudden change in position, slammed its arm into its other arm. It howled and shook violently.
Qrow, aura coating his legs and arms, jumped along the Grimm's back, neck, and shoulders, somehow always finding a foothold to stab into the Beowolf.
Slowly deep cuts began to form all over its skin. The Beowolf's movements slowed down and its attacks became more telegraphed.
The beast stopped trying to swipe at Qrow and instead began to move back. Qrow jumped off right before it slammed into the windows. He landed in front of the beast as its crystal-filled back shattered the remains of the windowed wall.
Red dust crystals broke off its back and fell to the floor. Some crystals poked out of the broken windows, catching beams of sunlight and glowing even more brightly. The wall groaned heavily and a shudder shook the floor.
The Grimm bunched its thick back like a cat. Its muscles rippled and the dust crystals lining its back and face glowed brighter.
Qrow backflipped out of the way right as the crystals reached a glow that dwarfed all the other sources of light near them. A giant explosion of fire erupted out of the Beowolf's back, destroying the wall, and a gout of flame flew out of its bone-white mouth.
The fire missed Qrow by a few inches, trailing on the edge of his shoes. The explosion blasted out the windows and melted the wall, gathering in a beautiful red bloom outside.
With a flick of his wrist, Qrow transformed his sword into its stythe mode and jumped towards the Grimm. The Grimm reared back and its crystals glowed once more.
Thoughts of the Fang hiding out underneath the city rose to the surface of Jaune's head. If they didn't investigate the station they wouldn't be able to find the Fang. But he couldn't just outright lead them to the station. It would be too suspicious.
Qrow crossed half the distance to the crystal-laden Beowolf.
An idea sparked to life in his mind.
He pushed all of his aura to his feet and jumped to the Beowolf, shield raised. His feet created a mini shockwave, pushing his friends back. He reached the beast well ahead of Qrow.
The Beowolf's eyes seemed to dilate in surprise. He slammed into the beast with all of his might. His aura bloomed to life on his arm, helping him push against the ton of Grimm mass. It was as if he had slammed straight into a brick wall and was trying to move it.
They ripped through the melted wall frame and smoldering windows and into the open air. The Beowolf, whether too stunned or too hurt, simply failed its limbs. He pushed harder on its chest, flinging them faster through the air.
The beast regained its senses and tried to claw at his head. He fought through the pain of the claws raking against his aura and kept his attention on pushing down the beast.
The air roared in his ears and the skyscrapers flew past his vision, becoming a blur of gray and blue.
Gritting his teeth, dug his head behind his shield and prayed to the brothers.
They hit the ground hard in an explosion of concrete and dust. Jolts rattled his shields and traveled through his arms. His skull shook violently and he tried to keep his brain in the confines of his skull.
A sharp crack echoed below him and the Bewolf stopped moving. Ringing filled his ears and coarse black fur brushed against his tongue.
He shakily stood, blinking rapidly and coughing out the Grimm fur. A cloud of dust surrounded him and the Beowolf.
They were in a deep cracked crater. His aura washed over his body, turning the cloud of dust into a living thunderstorm. The Beowolf raised a shaky claw and weakly scratched against his shin guard. It gurgled and its arm flopped to the side.
Its body slowly withered into dust. His eyes widened. He stepped off the Grimm and looked through the dust cloud.
Spotting the station, he rushed aura to his feet. He kicked the Grimm corpse.
The body flew through the dust, taking the cloud with it and leaving him in the sunshine. It landed with a heavy thud right in front of the station entrance.
He took a deep breath and smiled. Thuds echoed behind him. Right in time.
He turned around to greet his team plus Qrow. The older huntsman looked between him and the far-off Beowolf with wide eyes.
The older huntsman's face twisted into a frown and he walked over to him, the rest of the party following behind.
Pointing at him the older Huntsman shook his head and asked sternly, "Why'd you do that? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Jaune rubbed the back of his head and smiled sincerely. He glanced at Pyrrha and Blake.
They wore smaller frowns of confusion compared to the rest of his friends. He tried to convey a sense of trust in his eyes before he looked down to the ground.
Chuckling, he acted embarrassed, "You looked like you were about to get burnt so I tried to ram it down. I misjudged how much force I put behind my legs and before I knew it me and the Grimm crashed through the windows."
He added, "Sorry…"
Looking back up, he kept his gaze on the older huntsman's piercing look. Qrow stared him down, expression unchanging.
His heart thumped slow and hard against his chest. Cool confidence enveloped his skin and he didn't waver in his gaze.
Qrow sighed and broke eye contact, looking past his shoulder.
The older huntsman shook his head and gruffly said, "Don't worry kid. But I think I had it in the bag. Don't make the same mistake again."
Without another word, Qrow walked past him. He sighed, internally, in relief. The tension seeped out of his shoulders. His team walked towards Qrow. Pyrrha and Blake slid up next to him. Blake patted him on the shoulders.
Pyrrha asked, worry stricken, "Are you okay?"'
He grinned, "Yep, aura took all of the damage. Anyways I feel much better now that Qrow isn't trying to interrogate me."
He turned around and said, "Come on, let's catch up before they start getting any ideas."
Blake shook her head and sighed, "I'm pretty sure they've already formed several, several ideas about us."
He shrugged mischievously and led his two partners back to their party.
They gathered in front of the giant hole that acted as the station's entrance. Broken glass and crusty red stains marred the ground in and around the station. A decomposed body lay over a baby stroller to the side of the station, covered in glass shards.
Qrow stood crouched and rummaged over the pile of Grimm ash that had been the Beowolf. He picked up a fistful of dull red dust crystals.
The sunlight caught strongly onto something inside of the station, causing it to glimmer. As the clouds swam across the sky and the sunlight vanished, the glimmering receded.
He walked to the last location of the glimmering object. He crouched and squinted. In the low light coming through the cracks in the station walls, small dust crystal shards shone brightly like diamonds.
He brushed some onto his hand. They were all different dust crystal types, small as pebbles, and might have remained unseen if the sun hadn't shone on them.
Greaved boots walked into the corner of his vision. He looked up to find a frowning Pyrrha.
She crouched next to him and moved her hand into his own, moving over the dust shards. A shard plopped off his hand and fell onto a small trail of other shards leading into the station.
He stood and turned to the rest of the party, "I think I found something!"
The rest of his friends came over.
He pointed down to the crystal shards, "It looks like a lot of mutant Grimm passed through here."
Qrow hummed and grabbed a fistful of the small shards. He pulled out a small pack and took out the large intact shards from the slain Beowolf. He looked between both items, eyeing them carefully.
Putting the materials away, he stood and looked down the trail.
He rubbed his faint stubble and said, " Let's follow this trail and see if we can find where the mutant Grimm went. Our main objective is complete but it wouldn't hurt to investigate this. Follow me and be careful."
He raised his sword to his side and walked down the crystal trail. The crunch between his books and the crystals echoed through the station.
They followed him into the darkness.
Creeping vines and purple ivy draped over the station walls. Trash and debris marked the floor like everywhere else in the city.
Peeling ads drooped down onto the floor, advertising products never produced. Small animals skittered at the sound of their footsteps and darted between small storefronts built inside of the station.
Rays of sunlight peeked in through cracks in the roof, lighting bits of the shard trail. Luminous wolf eyes peered at them from the darkness of abandoned stores.
He gripped his sword tightly, waiting for a Grimm to pop out. His team kept a close formation, eyeing every inch of the station.
The trail led to an old subway platform. A husk of a train sat on one side, rusty beyond recognition. On the other side of the platform, the dust shards led down onto the tracks.
Qrow shone his scroll light over the train tracks. The broken trail traveled down the tracks into a pitch-black tunnel.
Sheathing his weapon, he jumped down onto the tracks. They followed the older huntsman down and into the tunnel.
Skittering and the whispers of wind echoed around them. The hair on his arms stood up on end. Shivers traveled up and down his spine. As they delved deeper, his breath fogged.
Red eyes blinked to life in the dark and Grimm ran out to fight them. They quickly fell victim to their steel. More Grimm came at them but easily cut through them and walked deeper into the tunnel.
A few lights lining the tunnel walls flickered sporadically, somehow clinging onto life.
Loud sounds of chirping birds bloomed to life further into the tunnel, echoing. They sped up their pace.
They came upon a large spear of sunlight coming in through a large jagged hole cut into the tunnel roof.
A fresh breeze drifted from the hole He took a deep gulp of the clean air. It was a nice contrast to the dry dust-filled air that had been sweeping through the tunnels
They stopped at the edge of the sunlight.
Moldy dirt lay in large piles under the edges of the hole. Flora grew from the dirt towards the sun. Thick trees surrounded the hole, their roots dropping down into the tunnel and breaking through the walls. A squirrel dashed by the trees. It glanced at them before racing into the half-hidden trees.
Another sweep of fresh air came down from above. He and his friends stepped into the sunlight.
In the far distance, the tip of the mountain Glenn rose out of the trees.
Qrow piped up, looking at the edges of the hole, "Looks like this was one of the places the tunnel collapsed. Look - he pointed at burn marks dotting the tunnel wall- some sort of explosion must have caused the collapse."
He shook his head, "Such a waste of life."
Blake added solemnly, "And all from petty greed."
Ruby choked on a sob, "It was unfair what happened to them. Why hasn't anyone been punished for this!"
Qrow met Ruby's gaze, "It's not that simple kiddo. Oh believe me I would love to go out there and drag the ones responsible into the daylight, but there were so many fingers pointed at one another and so many people of power were involved, it became a hot mess. No one wanted to take the fall so the Grimm were used as an easy scapegoat. It's all about politics."
Ruby shook her head and crossed her arms in a huff, "I hate politics."
Qrow barked out a laugh, "Me too kid. That's why I'm still out here in the field. I'll leave all the politicking to people like Ozpin. I like to make change out here with a weapon in hand and aura coursing through my veins. Come on, let's head deeper."
Ruby nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She met his gaze, her silver eyes red and slightly puffy.
He whispered, "I know this was horrible Ruby, but the only thing we can do now is forge on ahead and stop something horrible like this from ever happening again. If the mutant Grimm might cause a disaster like this then we have to put a stop to them."
She nodded and a grim determination swept over her face, turning her more mature.
They joined back up with the group. They reached a large branch of tunnels leading in multiple directions. Dust shards led down into each branch tunnel.
Qrow stopped in front of the paths and groaned, "Everyone, it looks like we'll have to decide on where to go. Let's take a quick break but look for any clues if you can."
He broke away from them and delved into one of the tunnels, Jaune took out an energy bar and began to chew on it. As he ate, he moved around the area.
At the end of the tunnel they had originally come from, in a small alcove off to the side, he found a small yellow maintenance door. A grime-covered warning sign hung on the door, occasionally lit by the flicker of a dirty lightbulb above.
He called his team over and they inspected the alcove.
On the ground, a few feet away from the door, he found a small bundle of candy wrappers and cigarette butts. They were bright and brand new compared to everything else. He scooped the waste up.
His team gathered around him, looking at the bundle of trash with strange expressions.
He shouted over his friends' heads towards Qrow, "I think we found something!"
The older huntsman, who had been gazing down one of the tunnels, turned around and came over to them.
He showed the older man the bundle of oddities. Qrow gently picked up a cigarette butt and rotated it.
He grunted, "This looks fresh, very fresh."
Pulling it to his nose, he sniffed it and said, "Still has some stench to it as well. I can't tell how long ago it was used."
Nora picked up one of the candy wrappers and unfolded it. She creased it against her palm. She used her scroll light to scrutinize the candy wrapper.
She hummed and said, "This is a piece of pretty popular chocolate. It was created years after Mountain Glenn so unless all of these dead people came back to life and went down to Vale for some candy, I would say some other people have been here recently."
Qrow smiled at Nora, "Good job kid. Seems like whoever was in here never learned not to litter. It's going to be their undoing."
Nora beamed a bright toothy smile.
Her tongue darted out, quick as a chameleon, and licked the candy wrapper. Ren tried to rip the wrapper away but only caught air. Nora's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she shivered.
As everyone made sounds of shock or disgust, she moaned, "So good!"
Jaune laughed and Pyrrha chuckled.
He asked Qrow a question, even though he already knew the answer, "Could these have been some huntsmen before us?"
The older man shook his head, "No, that's impossible. no huntsmen have taken any missions in mountain Glenn recently. Hell, there haven't been any missions around Mountain Glenn in years, well not including ours right now."
He paused before continuing, "No one else other than us should have any business in the city, so the fact that someone has been in here is really interesting. Let's see where these litterbugs went."
Qrow opened the maintenance door, cracking the handle.
All of them stepped through the doorway and found themselves in a small room crammed with machinery.
Thick motes of dust flew across their lights. A turned-over toolbox lay haphazardly on the floor, spilling out cracked tools. A tangy taste, like old iron, rubbed against his tongue.
Yang sneezed, letting out a high-pitched cute noise unfitting of her. The entire group, including Qrow, broke snickered. Ruby gently patted her older sister on the back as she continued to sneeze.
In the corner of the room, a small doorway stood slightly ajar. He went to the door, stepping over spilled tools and bulky machinery.
Opening it, he hunched and went through. A flimsy spiral staircase greeted him.
His scroll shone over silver steps covered in a light layer of dust. Faint boot prints marked the steps. The blackened walls around the staircase gave very little room to breathe.
His scroll light showed only two flights. The darkness covered the rest of the staircase. A strong gust of wind swept up and hit him in the face with a handful of dust. He quickly peddled back. The staircase groaned.
Coughing, he backed into the room and brushed away the dust.
Pyrrha called out to him, "Did you find something Jaune?"
He nodded, "Yep. Some stairs leading down into brothers know where."
The rest of his party joined him on the platform connecting to the stairs.
Gripping the platform railing, they peered into the darkness.
Qrow whistled, "That looks like a long way down. Is everyone ready?'
He didn't wait for an answer, walking down the stairs. They had to follow him in a single file line to fit into the stairs. The steps shook at every step they took.
Jaune quickly went down the steps, not using the needle-thin railing. His heart spiked at every instance the stirs wobbled.
Weiss spoke of his fears, "I feel like this thing is going to fall right underneath our feet!"
Qrow, not looking back at her, shook his head, "Well we have aura to protect us."
Weiss balked and she sputtered, "But we'll still feel the pain. I think the shock from falling this high might kill us."
Qrow shrugged and continued down.
The party reached the bottom after what felt like an hour. The stairs ended at a small open area with another maintenance door. They stopped and took a small rest.
He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Pyrrha joined him and so did Nora who used him as a headrest. He gulped water from a bottle. A fire burned in his legs.
Qrow called an end to their break.
They gathered in front of the door, weapons at the ready.
Qrow opened the door and a bright light flooded the small area.
He backed away, hand over his eyes. The sounds of his friend's shuffling feet accompanied his own.
Blurry dots filled his vision and light imprinted on his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he slowly uncovered his eyes. The door led into a brightly lit tunnel.
Ridges rounded the tunnel interior and an elevated wide walkway led deeper into it. The lights came from industrial bulbs affixed to the ceiling.
They slowly entered the tunnel, Qrow at the helm. The elevated walkway, compared to the spiral staircase, had enough room for them to walk side by side in pairs.
Deeper in, they passed by boot prints. The sounds of hissing and thumping machinery resonated from behind the walls. Everything had the feel of an Atlesian bomb shelter.
Qrow stopped and raised a finger, stopping them in their tracks.
Jaune gripped his sword and his eyes darted around. His teammates stiffened. In the silence of their halted movement, the ring of boots on metal became clear. The sounds echoed from behind a corner further into the tunnel.
There were no places to hide. His eyes widened but he didn't give in to fear. The boots grew closer and with them came faint conversation.
Qrow pointed down and it hit him.
Of course, it was that simple.
The older huntsman lunged off the elevated walkway. He followed Qrow an instant later into the space beneath the walkway. The rest of his party did the same, landing with quiet thumps.
His heart raced and his fingers twitched around the hilt of his blade. The tip of black boots came out of the tunnel corner.
They dropped onto their chests.
The footsteps grew closer.
They crawled under the elevated platform, bodies hugging the floor.
He kept his breathing to a minimum and didn't make a noise. Dust and other particles wafted into his nose. He fought against the instinct to sneeze. His muscles twitched and an itch formed on his head. Using all of his willpower, he stood still.
Black grime stuck to his hands and pants. The steady thump of the machines traveled into his body.
They moved in a single file line in time with the ringing boots. The sounds rang above them. Muffled conversation filled the air.
He and his party stopped. He held his breath.
The footsteps passed by without pause and continued to travel further away. Qrow didn't move.
Slowly, Qrow shuffled to the side and moved into a crouching position. He gently climbed back onto the platform. They climbed after him, quietly.
Qrow faced the footsteps. A group of Fang grunts walked down the tunnel.
They stealthily crouch walked toward the group. He led the pack, right behind Qrow.
Their assailants didn't turn around.
A few feet from the grunts, Qrow dashed forward. He cut into the closest one, shattering their aura. They fell on the rest of the Fang.
He jabbed his sword like a spear into the stomach of a grunt. Their aura shattered and they fell to the floor with a quiet groan, clutching their stomach.
He twirled, ready to cut into another member. There were none left standing. The rest of the party stood above unconscious Fang bodies. Qrow kicked the one near him. The grunt simply rolled over.
The older huntsman began to shuffle through the uniforms of the Fang. He pulled out some zip ties from his pocket and tossed them some.
Qrow whispered, "Tie these guys up and take their weapons."
He tied the wrists and ankles of the nearest Fang grunt.
He picked up two of the larger grunts and dropped them over the platform. His team dumped the other grunts over.
They took their weapons and Pyrrha used her semblance to turn them into bent pieces of metal.
They organized the bodies under the platform in a single file line so they wouldn't be spotted.
Dusting off his hands, he vaulted back onto the platform. Qrow led them in the direction they had been going.
Further in, they found small rooms off to the side of the tunnel. They were either small storage places or break rooms. There was nothing of real value in them.
There were a few grunts who resided in these rooms, but they quickly dispatched them.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, they walked into a flat area.
Large blast doors took up the wall opposite them. They looked thick enough to survive several of Nora's bombardments. There were smaller doors on either side of the blast ones.
Qrow whispered, "Let's take those smaller doors but remember to stick low to the ground when we come out on the other side. Be prepared to find anything."
The party went over to the small door on the right side of the wall. Crouching, they formed a single-file line.
Qrow craned his head and urgently whispered, "Our first priority is to get evidence of these mutant Grimm and whatever the Fang plans to do with them. We are not to engage fully unless we have to. I would rather we gather evidence and come back later to deal with them safely."
Jaune nodded along with the rest of his friends. But they were most likely going to fight Fang and stop what they had planned. They couldn't come back later if they didn't want the breach to occur.
Slowly, Qrow reached out a hand. The door hissed open, sliding into the wall.
They shuffled in, bodies low to the ground. They moved quickly through a wide hallway, going past chrome-plated walls tinted an Atlas blue. Sounds of machinery grew louder.
At the end of the hall, they emptied into an expansive room.
He, and the rest of his party, bounced forward and dove behind a pile of barrels for cover. He peeked over the barrels.
The facility took up several stories. Thick bulky catwalks connected platforms built into the walls. Stairs led up from their level to three wide symmetrical platforms that reached from wall to wall.
A few ladders on their floor led to the smaller platforms.
Fang grunts walked between the smaller platforms, carrying boxes full of dust or talking among one another.
Grunts led the mutant Grim from side entrances on the first floor to the main platforms.
His teammates, except for Blake and Pyrrha, gasped or cursed.
Ruby shuddered. Qrow placed a hand on her shoulder. He grumbled something under his breath into her ear. Ruby nodded and stopped moving, her hand closing in a tight knuckle fist.
One of the crystal-laden Grimm stopped. The grunt leading it, without turning back, took out their scroll and pressed it. Electricity flared on the metal side of the Grimm. The beast spasmed and its head fell to the floor. It shakily stood and resumed walking behind the grunt, now slightly limping.
The sounds of machinery echoed loudly throughout the room.
On the highest platform, between white machinery, a puff of red hair moved past the platform railing. It vanished behind a tall bank of machines.
Jaune turned to his team, pointed at the higher platform, and said "I think I spotted someone that looked like the leader of the Fang here. They weren't wearing a head covering. There on the highest large platform."
Qrow, craning his head, said, "Let's head up there and investigate.."
Without another word, the older huntsman leaped to the nearest ladder and silently climbed. Blake followed an instant later, going up the ladder silent as her faunus name snake.
He and the rest of his friends followed her.
They stuck to the shadows and hid behind storage containers scattered among the smaller platforms.
There weren't so many Fang grunts that they weren't able to travel on the catwalks, but there were just enough that they needed patience. They knocked out the Fang deftly and hid them inside the storage boxes.
Most of the grunts concentrated on the main platforms, leading charges of Grimm. No Grimm walked between the smaller platforms.
He took the scrolls of knocked-out Fang. He kept one scroll for himself while he gave the others to the rest of his party. If all else failed, they would have a weapon against the mutant Grimm.
They reached a platform above the highest platform and stopped. On the platform, Adam Taurus, in his full black regalia, walked beside an older man. The man wore a frayed lab coat and a mop of pitch white hair hung from his head. He sported a sharp beard the same bleach color as his hair. A red glowing lens took up the spot where his right eye should have been.
Blake gasped and began to shake. He snaked his hand into hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Her gaze met his and fire sparked in her eyes. She stopped shaking and her eyes narrowed towards Adam.
Fang members walked around Adam and the old man, leading mutant Grimm onto a train car situated on a train track built into the platform. The track led down to train tracks from the other two main platforms. The tracks combined into one large track leading out of a hole into the darkened subway system of the city.
A Fang grunt closed the train car, now full of Mutant Grimm. The car flew down the track and through the hole. Its wheels hissed into the darkness.
Qrow muttered, "By the brothers…."
He whispered, "It seems like they're going to ship the Grimm somewhere. Maybe a place they could attack the city directly?"
The older huntsman shrugged, "Can't say for certain but it's definitely not good. We just have to wait and see."
A factory of machines made mutant Grimm beneath the main platforms. Caged Grimm shook violently against their holdings. Fang grunts prodded the cages with shock sticks and light-dust brands, shoveling the Grimm from their cages and onto conveyor belts.
Machines shocked the Grimm into submission and clamped them down onto the belts. They proceed through machines with claws and drills that tore off half of their bodies and replaced them with metal. They then went through machines with thousand needle-like points, which pierced their skin with dust crystals. Finally, the Grimm were moved through machines that injected something into their brains.
At the end of the conveyor belt, machines shoved dazed Grimm in front of Fang grunts. The grunts used their scrolls on the beasts, making them writhe.
The Fang took the Grimm from the factory floor and came out of the entrances leading to the first floor of the facility.
Adam and the scientist moved across the platform and stood below them. Adam, white bone mask reflecting artificial light, leaned on the railing. The rose on the back of his jacket glowed dark red.
The older man raised a finger and said, " , while I have loved the chance to research the Grimm and to play a part in their evolution, I would like to know what you intend to do with them. Here I've learned so much about the Grimm, more than any person in history no doubt, yet I still don't know what you plan to do with them."
Adam, not turning, said, " Look, Merlot-"
"Dr. Merlot."
"Merlot. Aren't you satisfied? We held up our end of the bargain. You got to experiment with the Grimm while we got to control them. You never signed up with the Fang so you don't need to know more."
"But still!"
Adam shook his head and grinned, "Again no, but isn't it obvious? What purpose would the Fang need with Grimm? To keep them as pets?"
He laughed coarsely. Merlot's expression paled and he pulled at the collar of his coat.
Merlot shook his head and stood taller, "I… I can't condone this. My life's purpose has only been to use the Grimm as a tool to better humanity. I will not allow you to use them to cause another Mountain Gle-"
Adam, faster than the eye could track, drew his blade. His sword's red steel rested against Merlot's throat. The Fang grunts near them drew their weapons and aimed them at Merlot.
Everything came to a stop and a suffocating thickness filled the air. The slightest sound, like a shuffle of feet, echoed throughout the facility. The thumping of the machines droned on in the background.
The leader of the Fang Vale branch growled, "Don't give me that high and mighty bullshit doctor. You knew full well what we were going to do with the Grimm the moment you accepted our offer. Don't try to excuse your thirst for knowledge as anything but that. You never intended to better humanity, you only wanted to satiate your curiosity."
Sweat pooled on Merlot's face and his legs began to shake. He gulped and moved back. Adam pushed his sword forward, drawing a small trickle of blood from Merlot's throat. The older scientist stepped back and fell to the floor.
Adam looked down at the older man and gruffly asked, "Do we have an understanding?"
Merlot nodded fervently.
Adam flicked his sword back into its sheathe. The Fang grunts put their weapons away and resumed their duties.
Merlot slowly stood and took out a small piece of cloth. He covered his bleeding throat, quickly shuffling away from Adam.
Adam turned around and said, "Anyways soon you'll be free to pile your dogma onto someone else. We're going to stop gathering Grimm and we're going to finish modifying the ones we have."
Merlot sputtered, "What? But the calibrations aren't precise yet. There's still a risk of losing control!"
Adam shrugged, "That doesn't matter, we've only had one case of the Grimm losing control since we started. Everything else is only conjecture."
Merlot weakly asked, "But why the sudden shift?"
Adam began to walk away and stopped, looking over his shoulder.
His eyes glowed red from behind his mask and a dreadful smile bloomed on his lips, "Because of recent events, we're moving up the schedule."
AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I finished my big test but I still have my regular finals so expect updates to be few and far between. School is ending soon so I will be able to update the story during the summer. I plan on finishing this story this year, hopefully. See you guys next chapter and please leave a review!