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Once, this mall was probably a very popular hang-out in this small Ohio town , with all kinds of people coming and going. The shops would have been abuzz with customers and the main courtyard a perfect spot to meet up. Looking at the place now, though, who knows how long ago that was now. Dust clung to every surface, from the windows and benches to even the mannequins; the once lively stores vacant of even the slightest remnants of life. This graveyard of a building was where Ruby and Ceres had found themselves. The duo was still walking around, weapons at the ready and scanning their surroundings for anything, be it an exit, a person, or some other inhabitant. The revelation that the message they found, written in blood, was fresh, admittedly freaked both of them out, but they pushed it to the back of their minds.

Ruby periodically checked her ammo, just as a way to occupy her mind. The clicking of the magazines was preferable to the silence that surrounded her in the mall. The echo of the clicking she could do without, though.

"Nervous? You know we could handle whoever did that blood writing," Ceres said confidently, "I mean, it was freaky, sure, but not enough to get me sweating."

"Nervous? Me? Ceres, come on. You know that's a stretch," Ruby defended.

"Then why all the ammo checking? Never do that unless you're nervous."

"Ok first off, it pays to be prepared! Second," Ruby paused for a brief moment, "t's just…quiet. Way too quiet. There's not even wind. Hell, if there was an open door or window getting blown around, you know that classic trope, I'd be fine with it. But no, complete dead air!"

"That… is odd, actually," Ceres noted, "Why isn't there a breeze?"

"Right? Even Mother Nature decided to abandon this place!"

"Indeed..." Ceres frowned, looking around for an exit. She paused when she got an idea to try and kill two birds with one stone.

"We need to head to higher ground," the Archimedian said, "Need to get a better look around here." Ceres shifted her gaze upwards and spied a window above them.

"Think you can boost the two of us up there?" Ceres jabbed a thumb at the window above.

Ruby looked up as well and did some mental math, humming to herself as she did the calculations.

"Yeah, I think so," Ruby finally stated.

"Perfect. Then grab me." Ceres offered.

Ruby nodded and grabbed a hold of Zeta's leader. First thing she did was give them a bit of momentum with a shot from Crescent Rose, boosting them up into the air. Timing it just right, Ruby then used her Semblance mid-fall and raced right up to the window in a flurry of petals.

Ceres punched her way through the window, as the two of them found themselves on the roof of the mall.

"And just like that, say goodbye to the creepy-ass mall," Ceres smirked a bit.

"Annnnd say hello to an entire creepy-ass town," Ruby countered, seeing just where they were. The rest of the small town stretched out to the horizon in front of them, every single house and business in view.

"Ok…fair, lotta ground to cov-" Ceres paused, before sniffing the air. "Ruby, do you smell that?"

Ruby sniffed a bit as well, "What is it?"

"It's nothing. We're in a city, and you can't smell anything," Ceres frowned, "That's just not a thing."

"Every minute we stay here, things just get weirder and weirder don't they?" Ruby sighed.


Blonko was now a little paranoid. After the nightmare he and the others found back in the office building, he was about ready to jump at the smallest noise. He held his Prototool close, keeping it in rifle mode. He quickly turned, taking aim down another alleyway. He was about to pull the trigger because he thought he saw some movement, only to blink and realize he imagined it.

"Swear to god," Blonko muttered after almost having wasted a shot. They needed to find the others quick, before the paranoia got any worse.

Yang tried the comm channels again, hoping to get into contact with someone. Anyone.

"Nothing." Yang huffed, hearing static, "Fitting...but still annoying."

"Ok...aside from finding everyone, we gotta figure out how to get back to Atlas," Min said, testing to see if she could summon up a portal of her own.

For a moment, it worked. A portal of swirling purple energy appeared before the chaos demon. Her triumph was short-lived as she watched the portal spark and fade, before it suddenly collapsed in on itself, leaving nothing but a scent of what Min could only guess was burnt ozone.

"...well, that plan's out of the window," Min sighed. That creeped her out though. Her portals didn't just collapse like that.

"That...is concerning," Blonko said before peeking around a corner, checking for any more Grimm or whatever other monsters that called this place home.

Kylie huffed. "Does...anyone honestly remember what happened to us? Are we dead? Is this purgatory?"

"We were on a mission in Mantle. Prisoner escort. Everything was fine until we encountered...that thing," Blonko said.

"The four-armed zombie schoolgirl. Woulda been worse if she decided to crawl out of a TV," Yang said.

"Don't joke about that now!" Kylie huffed.

"I mean…she's not wrong," Min admitted.

"Greaaaaat. As if this place didn't provide enough nightmare fuel."

Kylie was about to keep going, but she froze in her tracks for a moment. She was starting to put things together now.

"Are…you guys thinking this might be a certain witch's newest plan too?" the Osmosian asked.

"Elaborate?" Yang asked.

"Well, think about it. Never seen her before and if she's got a power like this, able to send people to her own special made hell, maybe she's one of Salem's secret aces. Plus the zombie girl's just a weirdo, so...she has to be in league with Salem." Kylie said.

"Kylie's got a point. Lotta weirdos with 'her majesty'," Min agreed, mocking Salem's self-made royalty.

"Tyrian, Zs'skayr, Viktor," Blonko listed off, "That lines up."

"Ok, so if she is working with Salem...how does she fit into that little inner circle?" Yang asked.

"That part? Haven't figured out," Kylie admitted, "Best guess is maybe a magic version of a getaway driver. But...maybe she could just as well be a guinea pig for Corrodium and the rifts are her Semblance."

"Did you see any purple on her?" Blonko asked as he led on, Proto-Tool at the ready.

"I didn't. Think that'd be pretty obvious, too," Min added.

"She could be the direct result of Corrodium mutating someone just briefly." Yang shivered.

"...thanks for opening that Pandora's Box," Kylie groaned. That thought alone was perhaps the most terrifying part of this nightmare-at least so far. If Salem and Zs'skayr had that much control over the Corrodium, even if it was a rare event… No one wanted to finish that thought; they'd rather be able to sleep tonight. Well, if they could. Given what they've seen so far, that might not happen anyway.

"This just fuckin' sucks," Yang frowned, "Let's just try to get to higher ground and..."

Step.

The group suddenly looked to their right. The building they were about to pass up was a small-town type tool store, a family business maybe, not one of the big brand names. The backdoor hung open, but all any of them could see was just a pitch black darkness.

"...did you hear that?" Kylie asked.

Blonko nodded and got ready, taking aim at the door. Yang got ready as well, loading fresh sets of rounds into her gauntlets.

Step.

Kylie aimed her gun and Min readied her magic- for some reason, Min got this foreboding sense of dread creeping up...

Step.

Blonko locked his eyes onto the doorway, ready to unleash a hail of bullets at whatever came through.

Step.

Kylie began to sweat a little- what the fuck was happening? Why was she getting all worked up?

It felt even weirder, to all of them really, when they saw what stepped through the door. It was just a person. Brown hair, green eyes, average build; a completely normal looking, by every definition of the word, middle-aged man in normal clothes.

Yang and Min shared a look between them. Someone was still ALIVE in this place?

"...huh?" Kylie said, blinking. "What the hell? Hey, buddy- what are you..."

Step.

Kylie's eyes suddenly shrank in horror. "GET AWAY!" Kylie yelled.

"What? What's wro-" Yang started before the man lunged at her. The blonde shouted as she shoved him back, not firing in case the guy just wasn't in his right mind.

"Oh great! And now it's Night of the Living Dead! Great!" Min yelled sarcastically.

"It's not zombies..." Kylie said, freaking out. She'd felt this vibe before. That calm, silent atmosphere in a tense place.

And the last time she felt that-

Oh, God.

The man staggered back before he slumped over. He still stood, but when he righted himself, his eyes were glowing crimson and flashing, like a projector that was swapping between slides.

"Get the fuck back," Kylie said, with barely hidden panic in her voice, as she aimed her gun. Gas was starting to emit from her body as that panicked feeling kept rising. Min and Blonko stepped back, as Yang prepared to fight.

The man turned to blonde, eyes still flashing and suddenly her arms started to feel heavy, her mind started to get hazy. Yang shook her head, trying to get things clear, but the flashing seemed so...enticing. She couldn't look away.

And that was just how it hunted.

Kylie pulled her away, snapping Yang from its gaze. She put on her plague mask, and immediately fired her revolver at its eyes. She promised herself that she'd never fuck up against one of these again. Never had Kylie been so deadly accurate.

The two bullets hit and the man screamed in pain. No, not screamed, that's not the right for it. What came out of the man's mouth wasn't a sound any human should be able to make, a horrible screech that sounded like needles scraping against metal. All of a sudden, the man was flung out at the group, slamming into the shocked Blonko. He quickly pushed the man off of him, but the Revonnahgander quickly realized the man wouldn't make another move against them. The guy was totally still, not even the slightest twitch or anything. Blonko quickly put his fingers to the man's neck to check.

No pulse.

Nothing but a macabre puppet.

Kylie held her gun forward. "Blonko- remember how I had that therapy session thing back at Beacon?" the Osmosian asked.

"Yes?" Blonko was concerned now.

"We're about to be face to face with the bastard that sent me there," Kylie frowned.

Blonko was about to say something but then they all heard it. A loud, shaking sound, like a rattlesnake shaking its tail, echoed out from the interior of the store. All eyes were locked on the doorway as a spindly arm suddenly shot out from inside the building and dug its three claws into the doorframe. And then another. And then another. In total six arms jabbed their bone white, needle-like claws into the wooden door. Those arms then pulled out the hulking frame of the monster that had mentally scarred Kylie.

Looking at it, it was like the worm-like body was wrapped up in some kind of black leather. A red light shone through the leather, showing some of the creature's own skeleton in vague shadows. The head was, at first, covered by that same leather-like material. It then unfurled into a hood behind the monster's head, like that of a cobra. Its head was unnervingly humanoid, like a skull without the bottom jaw. Hanging from the bottom of the skull was a series of, for lack of a better comparison, red, vein-like strings that connected to the base of the Grimm's neck, covering the entirety of the neck itself. Both of its crimson eyes scanned the group before it, slowly moving from one to the other and then back again, like it was sizing them up.

This was the monster of every single one of Kylie's nightmares. This was the creature of Grimm that gained the unsettling title of Seamstress.

Kylie's finger hovered over the trigger. "I...I can do this." Kylie whispered to herself, her voice starting to quiver. "Just...pull the damn trigger-"

"Was...was that thing...using the body...?" Yang asked, now honestly terrified.

The Seamstress let out a monstrous shriek and quickly slithered out, its eyes locked on Blonko. It wanted a more unique lure this time...

Kylie's finger didn't hesitate now. She pulled the trigger over and over, firing a barrage of shots, aiming for the head. Puffs of smoke and flames hit the monster, as Kylie looked for a way to escape the Grimm.

Blonko fired a barrage of shots from the Proto-Tool as well, landing some good hits on the abomination. The creature let out screams of pain, black smoke rising from each one of the wounds. The Seamstress closed its hood to protect its head, the shots hitting and damaging the leathery coat of the monster instead. As it slithered out, two of the arms busied themselves with "stitching" the wounds the bullets inflicted closed.

"Don't let it touch you!" Kylie frowned, as she quickly reloaded her weapon, "You're as good as dead if you do!"

"Noted!" Yang said, jumping back. She fired more rounds into the serpentine creature, but all that did was cause it to double down, using four arms to stitch up the wounds. It lashed its tail out at Yang, who managed to blast herself out of the way with her gauntlets. As she dodged out of the way, Yang noticed that the tail itself seemed to end in a collection of red, thread-like tendrils that coiled together to resemble the end of a rattlesnake's. Only, this rattle had much more bludgeoning power behind it. So many threads were coiled together, With its two free arms, it reached out towards Blonko, ready to strike.

Kylie grabbed her axe, and cut the arms off at the forearm. Her focus returned to the face of the monster- once more, she fired a barrage of bullets.

It reared back when its arms were sliced, large black pillars of smoke rising from the stubs. Kylie's bullets tore through the hood, chipping the monster's skull. Through one of the holes, the crimson eye of the Seamstress locked onto Kylie and let out a shriek, slithering towards her instead. With the four arms it still had, it began trying to slice Kylie to pieces.

"GO!" Kylie yelled, as she transformed into gas. She flew around the creature, trying to hit the thing at all angles.

Yang and Blonko fired out a few barrages at the monster, hoping to keep the monster's attention divided. Min threw some black fire at the Seamstress, trying to burn away the leather around its body but as they kept throwing attacks at it, Blonko was the first to notice. The Seamstress' severed arms...were growing back.

Kylie frowned. "GO! I'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU!" Kylie said. "It can't touch me!"

Yang looked to Min and Blonko. She didn't need to say anything, of course. The intent was obvious, but if all this Grimm needed to do was touch its prey to kill them… The blonde knew she was at a disadvantage there.

"You two, go! I will stay as well!" Blonko finally said, volunteering himself to stay and taking aim at the Seamstress. The energy shots began to shred through the cords of the beast's tail. The Seamstress screeched out, two of its arms moving back unnaturally to stitch the tail back together.

Blonko had to admit, that might have been its most annoying quality. No other Grimm was able to just stitch its own wounds closed.

Kylie held her axe in front of Blonko, forcing him to stop firing.

"Listen. You need to go. Now." Kylie said, lowering both their weapons.

"Kylie, forgive me, but to hell with that! I am not leaving you to fight this alone," Blonko countered.

The hood of the monster unfurled again as it looked between Blonko and Kylie. Two promising candidates for a lure. Which to choose?

"No. You're going now," Kylie said, ushering Blonko to join the others, "I need you all clear of the store for what I'm going to do."

"But-" Blonko began before he felt Yang put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just as worried as you, bud. But...gotta have faith in her, right?" Yang said.

Blonko was hoping for a slightly more convincing argument, but conceded the point.

"Fine. Just...come back in one piece. Weiss would kill us all if you did not."

Kylie nodded, as she turned to face the Grimm once more. "It's even scarier than the last time..."

She could still hear those screams from her 'perfect' family. It would keep her up at night sometimes. She swore she could miss them, but even when she did, it was a very rare and vulnerable moment.

Kylie took a deep breath, as gas started to come out of her skin.

The Seamstress saw most of its prey leave. With its options narrowed, the monster began to slither forward at Kylie, needle-like claws ready to turn her into its new lure.

Kylie dodged out of the way, letting the creature simply grab at wisps in the air. As she passed it, she sliced into its flesh with her axe, leaving a deep gash in its she turned back to a solid form, she fired off another barrage, watching the shots impact the leathery hood of the monster. The skull-like head turned to the Osmosian, its red eyes locking onto her, like it knew who she was. Kylie took a deep breath, trying to keep herself steady.

"You want a new puppet?" Kylie taunted, "Then come get me!" She fired off a few more shots before turning to gas again, racing past the Seamstress as it screeched in annoyance. She reloaded at the door leading into the tool store before firing off another shot. With that, Kylie dashed into the building, the Seamstress slithering after her. With so little light, it was hard for Kylie to effectively dodge, bumping into some of the shelves and rattling them. Her eyes went wide behind her mask as she ducked out of the way of a tail swipe from the monster, letting it shatter one of the shelves. With the opening, Kylie bolted closer to the front of the store, firing off a shot every so often. If it hit the creature, she knew where it was. If the bullet missed, the resulting spark from the metal in the store illuminated it and the surrounding area for a few precious seconds, seconds that Kylie desperately needed. Something she noticed was that the creature was too busy with the chase, that it didn't even bother to tend to its wounds.

Eventually, Kylie found herself backed against the front door of the shop, locked and boarded up from the outside.

Fine by her.

The Grimm slithered closer, but not close enough to where its prey was in range of its claws. It wove between the shelves and ailes, its eyes the only indicator of where it was. Kylie turned to face the creature and let out the breath she was holding from when this chase started. She put all of her focus on the creature. The beast, the lives it stole, the trauma it created. Kylie let gas roll off her body and fill the store- why wasn't she filled with fear? Maybe it was the adrenaline in her body, or just the shock. She just needed to finish the job.

The Grimm's weaving brought it closer to Kylie, almost like it was circling her. Soon, the creature was right in front of Kylie, standing to its full height and towering over her. It reared back all of its claws, aimed to impale its prey. The abomination thrust them forward, ready to impale Kylie with a triumphant screech.

"Rot," Kylie said, pointing her weapon forward.

The Seamstress' claws cut through the air, before they stopped inches away from her face. The two crimson eyes in the beast's humanoid skull were wild, darting around in confusion.

"Do you feel your body dissolving?" Kylie asked. "You know those shots I made earlier, when I was running from you? Luring you in here and away from my friends? The ones you forgot to stitch back up? They're being invaded. My gas is seeping into your body."

The Grimm could only hiss in response as it started to see its arms and body rot. Smoke was rising up all over its body as the wounds Kylie put in it grew and grew, as if it was being eaten away from the inside. That red light that shone from within the Grimm, that spark of whatever life a Grimm had, was seeping out, muffled by the rising columns of smoke.

The Seamstress' panicked eyes locked onto Kylie again, anger now mixing with that prevalent panic. It screeched as it tried to lash out with its tail, only for the tail to fall apart, smoke rising from the stump. It screamed out in pain as the wounds grew more and more. The protective leather coat began to dissolve, like paper being burned away by an open flame. In a few more, short, minutes, the Grimm was completely engulfed in its own smoky blood. It let out one last, hate and pain filled screech as it faded out. Something clattered to the ground inside the smoke, before it too disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.

Kylie huffed, as she collapsed to the ground, breathing and panting a bit. "God..."

Yang, Min and Blonko were all outside the store, each one ready to go in after Kylie if anything sounded wrong. Yang double checked her ammo, making sure she had enough to tear through that bastard. Min tossed a small black orb of fire in her hand, just waiting for an excuse to burn the Grimm to the ground.

Their worries rose when they saw movement coming from inside the store, but they disappeared just as quickly as soon as they saw who was coming out. Kylie walked out of that now wrecked store, a bit out of breath and still a bit shaken by the whole experience.

"Sorry about that..." Kylie huffed, her breathing shaky.

"Guessing it's..." Yang started.

Kylie nodded.

"If...you need a minute."

Kylie slid to the ground and began taking deep breaths. Oh, Jesus. She was shocked she came out alive- that was seriously dangerous!

Blonko immediately went over to try and comfort her, but he knew they needed to find Weiss as soon as possible.

First, a regenerating nightmare and now a Seamstress...what else was stuck here with them?


Back in the Atlesian prison, Doctor Holiday stood in front of the firing line of soldiers that had their aim trained on Breach. The doctor made sure to stand between two of the soldiers, ensuring their line-of-sight wasn't blocked.

"Ok, Breach," Holiday began, "Indulge me. Where did you send them? I know you said you needed new...'toys' but you never answered the question."

"It's a school," Breach said.

"A...school? Okay, that doesn't really he-" Weller began.

"But it's not a school. But it is a school."

Holiday and Weller shared a confused look with each other.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Holiday asked.

"You take that with a grain of salt. But I promise you…they will not withstand my assault." Breach said, a wicked grin on her face. "Albedo? Might I ask? Why come here? To confirm the silver eyed's worst fear?"

"What the hell is she talking about?" Holiday asked.

"Ignore her," Albedo deflected, "She's just trying to distract us. She thinks talking in rhyme is creepy but it's literal child's play. It's annoying, and not even clever."

"You're named after a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed. I feel you should feel like the fool, because I find that abhor," Breach shot back.

"...damn slant rhymes."

"Want me to shut the Cat in the Hat here up?" Felix asked, his trigger starting to get a bit itchy.

"No, ignore her. She's trying to get in our heads," Doctor Weller said, turning his attention back to his work.

"And I think it's workiiiiiing," Breach grinned.

"If your soldiers won't silence her, I would...but there's one problem," Albedo said.

"And what would that be?" Holiday asked.

Albedo looked around before taking hold of a pen, one of many. He tossed it in his hand a bit before throwing it at Breach. The pen never reached her as a small red rift appeared in front of her and swallowed up the pen.

"Her portals can be used reflexively as a defense."

"...well, I'm glad we don't need to get close to her for…anything right now," Weller paled a little.

"She's got the ultimate offense and defense; the ultimate utility. She is a creature far beyond our understanding, and she knows it. She could escape right now...but she hasn't even struggled," Albedo explained, "Why?"

"Could it be that I just want to revel in this? Or is your head worried about what's in the abyss?" Breach taunted, "Deeper and deeper, the rabbit hole goes, where it stops, nobody knows. People come up dead, killed by something most dread, and best of all, is that in the end..."

Breach's eyes drilled a hole through everyone's soul. "Their eyes saw horrors that no one could comprehend."

"Was…was she always like this?" Weller asked, still trying to ignore her. He had to admit though, the rhymes were unnerving, especially that last one. He shuddered a little at the idea of whatever was kept locked away on the other side of those rifts.

"She was never this…talkative," Albedo admitted.

"Oh good. Special treatment..." the doctor rolled his eyes, annoyed at that.

"There's no shame in having some fun, Albedo~" Breach teased. "Besides...my new friends are having fun~"

Albedo shut out her taunts and continued his work, thinking them nothing more than just that, taunts. For one usually so quiet, she sure did talk a lot when behind bars.

Wait...wait a minute. Albedo went over some possibilities in his head before he settled on something. He might have an idea they could work with.

"Doctor Holiday, you wouldn't happen to have your Scroll, would you?" Albedo asked.

"Yes…in case we needed to contact the general for outside reinforcements," Holiday replied, immediately suspicious of this, "Why?"

"Everyone taken would've had their Scrolls on them, considering how...high-value this convoy was. And that means I might have a way to get in contact with them."

"Must admit, it's a bit of a stretch…but if you think you can," Holiday handed over her Scroll, as Albedo began to type out a few things.

"I'm connecting this to the strongest communication source within Breach's pocketspace," Albedo explained, "In other words, the Omnitrix."

That surprisingly got Breach's attention. She actually hadn't considered that they could make contact with people on the inside. Even if the connection wasn't the best, that took away one of her biggest advantages with this: isolation. After all, numbers were on their side for several different fights now. She needed to stop this, somehow. Throw them a curveball they wouldn't see coming. Of course, she needed to see where her guests actually were for this to work.

Across the Dollhouse, several smaller red rifts opened up, small enough to where no one would notice them. Breach had been keeping track of them as often as she could, spying Ben and Neo leave the library a few hours ago and she saw Kylie take down the Seamstress earlier, the latter angering her quite a lot. It actually took some work on Breach's part to get the monstrosity caged. Now it was just more ash polluting the dead skyline. If a rift opened and didn't see one of her newest toys, it closed and reopened somewhere else. Soon enough, Breach had eyes on everyone in the Dollhouse. She needed a plan, because if Holiday and Albedo didn't break the isolation, they would break it themselves. She was running out of time.

"There we go. I believe you should be able to call someone now," Albedo said, finished with his tinkering and passed the Scroll back to Holiday.

Breach growled; her time was up. She underestimated how fast the traitor could work.

"I heard that!" Felix called out, much to Breach's annoyance. That decided it for the abomination, he'd be the first to die if she got the chance.

"Thank you," Holiday said, immediately going for Rex's Scroll and ignoring Felix's callout.

She let the Scroll ring for a while, hoping that whatever Albedo did would work. The Galvan was anxiously awaiting the results as well. If this worked, they were one step closer to bringing them all home.

Breach knew that too, and it infuriated her. If she couldn't maintain that sense of isolation she so hoped for, then maybe she'd need to go for something more direct. Maybe, for the first time in her service to Salem, she'd need to get her hands dirty.

It could be fun for her, though. She hadn't played that "game" before.

"Hello?" Rex's voice came through, breaking through the almost constant wall of static. Holiday gave a big sigh of relief. Hearing that gave Albedo a little bit more hope. His tinkering succeeded. Even Dr. Weller was glad to hear it, pumping his fist a little in cheer. Albedo did take notice of that and raised a brow, forcing the good doctor to fix his tie and compose himself again.

"Sorry," Weller muttered.

"Rex, can you hear me?" Holiday asked.

"Loud and clear!" Rex nodded. "How did you-"

"Long story," Holiday interjected. "Where are you?"

"No idea, really. But, uh, I just got out of a school with one of the most terrifying Grimm I've ever seen. Like, whole new species."

"New species? That's...interesting. But you said a school? You're in a town?"

"Looks like it. Totally abandoned though. Uh, hold on," Rex said. On the other end of the line, Rex quickly landed on the street and looked for something he could use, finding a convenient mailbox with the name of the town on the side of it.

"Greenville. Greenville...Ohio? I am not in fucking Ohio! Not after the shit I've seen here!" Rex said.

"You're in Ohio?" Holiday repeated. Greenville, Greenville...why did that name sound familiar?

"Can you find a nearby road?" Weller interrupted, "See if it can take you out of town, out of the dead zone. Then we can send reinforcements!"

"Easier said than done," Rex nodded, "but I can try!"

"Ohio," Breach chuckled a little, "It's such a nice place to visit this time of the year. You just need to watch your step on those roads."

Holiday rolled her eyes and just ignored the prisoner again, letting Rex take a few minutes to try and navigate his way down a road. He stopped mid-step and it sounded like he jumped back.

"Ok, um, I have good news and bad news," Rex said.

"...of course, you chose that cliché phrase," Weller said.

"Good news, I found the road out. Bad news...the road out leads to an empty void."

Weller blinked a few times in surprise before finally speaking.

"Come again?" the doctor asked.

"There's...there's nothing out there." Rex said, looking out into the void. "I'm pretty sure that this place was ripped out of the Earth."

"It was," Albedo said, turning to look at Breach. "She stole that entire town for her own amusement."

"'Stole' is such a negative word. All I did was turn it into a nice, little, toybox," Breach grinned.

"Wait a minute, was that-?" Rex started to say before the static started to drown out his words. Almost like something, or someone, had perfectly timed it so that the interference increased.

"Rex?" Holiday asked. "Rex, can you hear me?"

But all Rex heard in response was static. Holiday's eyes went back to Breach.

"What did you do?" the doctor demanded.

"Me? What makes you think I can do anything here? You have me alllll locked up…" Breach smirked, feigning innocence.

"Oh, we all know that's a lie. If we so much as throw a penny at you, one of your portals opens up and sends us off to...apparently hell's version of Ohio," Weller said. "...never thought I'd say that in my life."

"We don't need to get close as long as we have this thing," Felix taunted, gesturing to his zero-point weapon, "But, hell's Ohio wouldn't be the worst place I've been to. Which…never thought I'd say that."

"Everyone seems to be saying things they never thought they'd say. Brand new sentences every day," Breach grinned ear-to-ear, "Isn't it scary? To venture uncharted? If you're thinking I'll give mercy...you'll find me cold hearted."

And once the word left her lips, Breach smirked and summoned up several rifts, smaller ones around her restraints and a massive one beneath her. Alarms started to sound as the rifts began to act like vortexes, sucking the restraints into them, tearing them off of Breach like they were made of paper. Albedo quickly scrolled to a form on the Ultimatrix and slammed down on the dial, filling the room with a quick flash of red light.

Ultimate Echo Echo quickly began to move its hollow limbs around, creating painful waves of sound for everyone, low-pitched and vertigo-inducing. No one could withstand the attack. Unfortunately, that included Felix. He was ready to open fire with the zero-point gun, but the sonic assault prevented him.

Breach braced herself against the vertigo, but her rifts continued their task. The last two shackles shattered into pieces that the rifts swallowed up, dropping Breach from the ring. She gave one last wave to the scientists as she fell through the rift beneath her, completely consumed by the crimson energy. Once she was through, the rifts all closed simultaneously, right as a group of soldiers burst into the holding cell/lab, weapons at the ready. Considering Breach was gone and Albedo was now in one of his alien forms...well, it wasn't hard to form an incorrect conclusion.

"She got away." Albedo said, reverting back to human. "I'm shocked she had the gall to-"

Albedo suddenly heard the sound of guns cocking behind him.

"...ah."


"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! It's not him!" Weller said, "It was Breach! She managed to break out with her rifts. She was probably just...toying with us this entire time. She could've broken out at any point."

Two of the soldiers shared a look with each other, not even daring to lower their weapons just in case Weller was wrong.

"Oh, yeah. It was just a fucking coincidence he turned into an alien that made me unable to aim!" Felix growled, now aiming the zero-point weapon at the Galvan.

"...put the guns down now," Holiday said, standing back up, "I can vouch. That includes you, Felix."

The normal men immediately put their guns down. Weller pouted. "Aw, how come they listen to you?"

"Ah ah, they listened to you, doc. I didn't. One good reason why I shouldn't just blast this frog bastard," Felix threatened.

"Aside from the threat of a court martial for insubordination? I'm sure the general and Specialist Schnee would love to hear you're responsible for them losing one of their family members," Holiday threatened.

Felix was quiet for a few moments, before he powered down the weapon and had it rest on his shoulder.

"Alright, doc. Compelling argument," the soldier said, like nothing had just happened.

Holiday rolled her eyes, "Now what?"

Albedo looked back at the Scroll and then at his hands and he got another idea.

"...now I can cut through the interference," Albedo said.


A few minutes later, Ruby and Ceres were taking a bit of a different route to try and group up with the others. They were jumping across the roofs of nearby buildings, sometimes needing to use Ruby's semblance to close the larger distances. They were looking for someplace that would be noticeable from most locations in town, someplace where the others might go to meet up.

"This place is seriously freaking me out," Ruby shuddered.

"Tell me about it," Ceres said as she looked out over the mist-shrouded town.

"HEY!"

Ruby's ears perked up. "Huh?"

"HEY! DOWN HERE!"

Ruby ran over to the side of a building to see Ben, Neo, Weiss and Blake, all waving towards them from the ground.

"Holy shit! Guys!" Ruby waved down at them all. Ceres raced over and peeked over the roof as well.

"Luck's turning our way," Ceres smirked, "Give us a minute! We'll be right down!"

Ceres still looked for a good place where everyone could meet up. Her eyes quickly scanned the town's horizon for a good monument to use.

"Alright- hold on." Ruby said. "I told you about my first day at Beacon, right?"

"Where you exploded? Yeah."

"...I meant, the landing strategy thing." Ruby said. "We're gonna do that! Kinda."

"Kinda?" Ceres asked.

"Yeah...trust me. It went great back then! Except for a bird I ran into mid-air..." Ruby remembered.

"Just take my hand, and we'll be on the way down." Ruby said.

"Alright," Ceres said, taking hold of Ruby's hand.

Ruby and Ceres jumped off the roof, as the group watched in confusion.

"The hell are they-?" Blake yelled.

Suddenly, both of them were engulfed in Ruby's petals in a quick burst bringing them down halfway. Ruby then brought out Crescent Rose and fired a few rounds into the ground, each one slowing their descent somewhat.

Ruby and Ceres landed safely on the ground, as the group stared at them.

"I could've just had Bloxx make a fun slide for you two," Ben said.

"Oh...well my way was fun too," Ruby countered, "Right, Ceres?"

"...Weiss, Blake, be honest. How did she land at Beacon?" Ceres said.

"That was...actually pretty close to it," Weiss admitted.

"She mentioned hitting a bird on the way down right?" Blake added.

"Guyyyyys!" Ruby huffed, as her eyes moved over to Neo, "...what's she doing here?"

Really feeling the acceptance here guys, Neo rolled her eyes.

"She got sent here with us," Ben said, "And…I think she's on our side. Long story."

...should I mention the great 'battle' Weiss fought before we got here? Neo smirked.

"I have no idea what she's saying," Ruby admitted, "Anyways, find anyone else yet?"

"We all ended up in the library," Weiss said.

"We ended up in a creepy, abandoned mall," Ruby said, "Complete with a freshly written blood message."

"...freshly?" Ben repeated.

"Yeah..." Ruby shivered.

"Great...might get to meet them after all," Ben muttered.

"So, what do we do now? How are we gonna find everyone?" Weiss asked.

"Well, we're hoping there's someplace you can see from most anywhere in town," Ruby explained, "Clocktower, church bell-tower, something."

Just as Ruby said that, a church bell began to ring.

"...that's spooky." Ben said.

"...why do I have the strangest feeling that's a trap?" Blake asked.

"Well, at least we know people are gonna be attracted to the noise. They'll go in that direction...and we can meet them before the inevitable ambush." Ruby said.

If need be I can cloak us before we get too close, Neo signed.

"Cloak?" Ben repeated. Blake raised an eyebrow, as Ruby hummed.

"Yeah, I don't know. He spoke a different language a few weeks back." Ruby said.

My Semblance. I can basically make us all invisible, but it's less pure invisibility and more I can change our colors to look like our surroundings. Illusions are my thing, Neo smirked.

"Alright, interesting..." Ben hummed. "If that happens, I'll let you do it."

"I...guess we have a plan, then?" Weiss asked.

"In case anything happens, Neo'll make sure we're not spotted," Ben summarized.

I'm good at hiding. Literally hide and seek champ at the orphanage, Neo signed, with a very proud tone to her words.

"...at some point, we gotta ask about your backstory," Ben said.

You'll get it when you get it, Neo signed.

"Alright, alright. Fair. For now, let's get to that church. If we heard it, the others did, too," Ben said, before starting off towards the church. The bell continued to ring, echoing out through the entire town.

Ben and the others began to walk over. Ben looked over at Ruby.

"So...real blood, right?" Ben asked

"Yuuuuuuup," Ruby said, "Big, bold, bloody letters spelling out 'no escape.'"

"Cliche," Ben rolled his eyes.

"Very. But...earlier you said we 'might get to meet them.' Who were you talking about?"

There's gonna be someone from Salem's circle here...dunno who, honestly, Neo said.

"Still don't know what you're saying," Ruby said.

"She said one of Salem's underlings might be here with us," Ben clarified.

"Who knows how many underlings she has?" Ceres huffed. "For all we know, it's another one of Zs'skayr's freak show."


Rex had been flying for a while, looking around for a sign of...well, anyone. Something caught his attention though. He heard several gunshots ring out through the misty town and he zoomed down to investigate.

"What the heck was that?" Rex asked, as he flew down to get a closer look.

When he landed, he saw the aftermath of a battle...against something. Kylie, Yang, Blonko, and Blonko looked exhausted, but also relieved.

"Holy shit," Rex muttered as he flew down to land.

Kylie huffed and puffed a few times, before her ears perked up. "...hey, you guys hear that?"

The group looked up, to see Rex descending from the sky. Yang gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, good- there you are."

"THERE you guys are! I had to fend for myself back there! Faced a living nightmare awhile back..." Rex said.

"As did we." Blonko said.

"Oh, god, there's more of those things?" Rex asked.

"Wait, you fought a Seamstress, too?" Min said.

"A Seamstress?"

"What did you fight?" Kylie asked.

"Something that probably requires therapy after fighting." Rex said.

"...know what, we'll ask later," Yang said, "I don't need to hear about MORE Grimm causing trauma right now."

"Yeah. Don't even know how to explain it, honestly," Rex said. "There was this little girl, and-"

"Oh, you mean her?" Min said, pointing to Rex's side. Rex raised an eyebrow, as he looked over...and saw her, next to him.

"I...uh...wait, was I not hallucinating then?" Rex asked. Seriously, was this kid real or not?

"He saved me from a scary monster..." The girl said, a bit deadpan.

Rex was still a bit on guard. The last time this kid was around, she vanished entirely followed by that nightmare. Either it was still alive, or this...somehow was just a normal kid that got stuck in this hell.

"What's your name, kid?" Kylie asked, but the child gave no response.

"He saved me..." The girl repeated.

Rex…Rex started to feel that something was off about this kid. He wasn't being an asshole about, but correlation was a bitch, as Yang could agree. He walked over to Weiss and Blonko to at least tell them what was up. Kylie went over to try and comfort the girl. Being in here for God knows how long must've traumatized her.

"Hey...if you guys can, could you keep an eye on her when no one else is?" Rex asked.

"Why, is she not just a child?" Blonko asked.

"Look, she disappeared before this...thing showed up. It...it imitated her scream and I couldn't find her after I killed it. I thought they were the same, but...now she's here."

"Where did you even end up?" Weiss asked.

"Creepy as hell boarding school full of mannequins," Rex answered.

"Language..." Kylie cautioned him.

"He...saved me..." The girl repeated, her voice softer this time.

"Yeah, we know-" Yang huffed.

"He saved me," the voice no longer sounded human.

The girl's eyes and mouth began to turn pitch black, letting out an ear piercing shriek. Rex and the others covered their ears in pain.

They could do nothing but watch in terror as a black arm reached out of the girl's mouth.

"What the fuck?!" Min yelled, summoning a black fireball and tossing it at whatever was once pretending to be a little girl. The flame hit and sent the "girl" flying back, away from Kylie and the others. The arm retracted back from the pain, as the "suit" it was wearing landed on the concrete a few feet away. Everyone got ready for a fight just in case this thing wasn't down, and knowing everything they've seen so far in here, it wouldn't be from one shot.

The little girl's body writhed on the floor as the black arm appeared again, followed by another as something pulled its way free.

Kylie yelled, as she began firing like crazy. The shots impacted the rising creature's flesh and blood splattered against the ground from each impact, just like the monster Rex had fought.

"Oh GREAT, they come in all sizes now!" Rex yelled as the monster fully emerged from its "shell." It was like a mass of black Grimm flesh, the top of it barely resembling some kind of humanoid. Its skull resembled that of an Imp's, part of its flesh obscuring its left eye. It wheezed as it reared back and roared, the sound making them all cover their ears again.

"...I'm getting the fuck outta here," Min said, as she booked it. When a demon ran, you best follow her.

The others quickly followed, Blonko and Kylie taking potshots back at the monster. The Grimm mass was rushing after them, pulling itself along. It wasn't fast enough to catch them, but it wasn't going to lose them anytime soon. The monster shrieked as it ran after them. When they got to a good point, Rex shifted his build into the Slam Cannon and looked around the area. If he made a good shot at the building on the right...

The maw at the back of the cannon scooped up a chunk of concrete and Rex took aim at the building. Kylie and Blonko raced past him and, once they were a good distance away, Rex fired. Bullseye. The building's side started to collapse. He fired another shot at the opposite building and the same thing happened. A makeshift roadblock. It might nod hold the beast, but that'd slow it down.

"Come on!" Kylie yelled, as she pulled Rex's arm. "We need to seriously get the fuck out of here!"

"Just making it harder for it to catch up!" Rex said, before running after the others. He thought about using the Rex Ride, but he wasn't sure if everyone would fit on the build. He decided to risk it, his legs shifting into the hoverbike.

"Everyone on!"

The group didn't need to be told twice. The ride's engine roared as Rex revved the engine before they all sped off.

The group hung on for dear life as Rex sped down the way, the roar of the twisted Imp being heard from back the way they'd come.

"You guys got any sign of the others?" Rex called back to his passengers.

"Just a call a few hours ago!" Yang shouted back.

"Any idea where THEY are!?" Rex yelled, as he sped up as best he could- never had this many passengers on.

"They said they were in a public library, but they're probably gone by now! No idea where!" Min shouted back. Right as she said that, the group heard a thundering crash behind them. So much for stalling the nightmare for long.

Rex turned around, and prepared to stop and fight the thing, only to be met with nothing.

"...guys? Where'd nightmare fuel go?" Yang asked.

"I swear to god if it can teleport-" Min started to say.

"Don't you DARE finish that and jinx us!"

Blonko pulled out his scanner. "No signs of it in the area. Even in the skies and ground."

"Where the hell could it have gone?" Kylie asked.

"No idea...but let's not go looking for it!" Rex said, revving up the engine and speeding up, "Any ideas on where to go?"

"Anywhere but backwards!" Kylie yelled, as Rex continued forward.

"On it!" The group sped off, a trail of dust behind as they raced off into the town. If they could find the others or find somewhere that the others might reach too, they'd be set.

They were all ready to leave this hellscape.


Rush zipped through the winding streets of the city. No matter which way he turned, it always looked the same. Empty, lifeless buildings and grey smog.

The same empty, lifeless buildings.

"Oh come on," Kevin huffed, "they gotta be here somewhere!"

Kevin paused to look around, growling in annoyance after seeing that nothing changed.

"I'd say you're going in circles, but...you were going straight." Doppler hummed.

"And you've got ideas on where to go?"

"Well...uh...hmm," Doppler muttered, looking around for something to help his point.

"Let's try something. Gimme Hot Shot's hand." Kevin said.

"One mutated Pyronite hand, as per your order!" Doppler proudly said as he morphed Kevin's hand into the flaming alien's hand.

Kevin used Hot Shot's flames to burn a dark "K" into the side of a building, some kind of restaurant.

"Okay. Now, to test it." Kevin's mask went back on, as he returned to zooming down the way.

He kept going before skidding to a stop...and seeing the same dark "K" burned into the side of the same restaurant.

"Fuck..."

"Despite the fact we move forwards, we're right back where we started..." Doppler hummed, "That's unsettling."

"Greaaaaat, it's one of these mind game things. Ok...maybe if we go the other way," Kevin suggested before racing off in the opposite direction. Maybe that would change the scenery.

Nope. Back to the freshly graffitied building..

"The fuck is up with this hellscape!?" Kevin yelled, as he came to a halt.

"Um...ok...starting to run out of ideas here. How do we break this..." Doppler muttered.

"You cannnnn't~" A voice teased. "Believe me...I've tried."

"Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me," Kevin turned around to see Salem's loyal psychopath. He held a small Grendel by its neck, even as the Grimm thrashed around in his grip.

"She finds it oh SO funny, us running around like hamsters on a wheel," Tyrian sighed, "it DOES get annoying on the fifteenth attempt."

"She? Wait…you mean-" Kevin said, before it suddenly came to him, "Oh, fuck, the weird arm lady! The one from the convoy!"

"She didn't even introduce herself? Tsk tsk tsk, she never was one for manners, was she?"

Kevin formed Numb's legs on his back, as he frowned. "Give me names. Now." Kevin pointed all the legs at Tyrian, as ice began to sharpen around them.

"Really? Not even a please? People these days. But...fine. The 'weird arm lady' is Salem's very own Breach," Tyrian smirked.

"Breach..." Kevin said. That name said a lot about her.

"Lemme guess- she sent us to some weird...alternate dimension with her little portals," Kevin continued.

"Her...toybox. Dollhouse. Sometimes we use it for transport, other times punishment, but mostly she just keeps her...'toys' in here."

"So, you're telling us you've been her little...Barbie doll for all these months?" Doppler snickered. "Come on...have some dignity, man!"

"It was...a fitting punishment for my outburst. I...I attacked her majesty. My...anger towards your little friend blinded me. I didn't care who I was hitting," Tyrian whined, like he was about to have a mental breakdown before he composed himself and continued, "But my time here has brought me newfound…clarity. Once I get out, I know EXACTLY how to deal with all this...pent up fury," the scorpion Faunus chuckled to himself, imagining all the different ways he could tear Ben apart.

Kevin grimaced, "Assuming you live past me."

Tyrian clapped his hands. "Ohohoho~! Trauma boy's got some fangs!"

"What did you-!?" Kevin yelled, before he watched Tyrian's face change from insane joy...to fear. Pure, primal fear.

That's when he too heard the whistling.

Kevin tried to find the source of the whistling, while Tyrian started to actually break down.

"No...no, no, no, she's here, she found us!" Tyrian muttered.

"Who's here? Who found us?" Doppler yelled, as Kevin looked around.

"Who do you think?!" Tyrian hissed, "I shouldn't have said her name, I shouldn't have said her name!"

"...Breach." Kevin said, as he looked around even more.

"Where the hell could she-" Doppler began.

"Be," a voice whispered behind the duo.

Kevin spun around, and saw her, standing there menacingly. Kevin yelled, as the legs on his back all attempted to skewer her, but Breach responded by making a portal in front of herself...and it led to Kevin stabbing Tyrian in the back.

Tyrian yelled out in pain, staggering forward from the hit. His purple Aura flashed as he spun around, clawed gauntlets at the ready.

"One of my newest...at least you won't be bored anymore, Tyrian," Breach taunted.

"Stay away from me, you bitch!" Tyrian hissed. It was so weird to see a psycho beg.

"How many times have you said to me?" Breach sighed, "If you don't want to play, fine. I need to break in the new one, anyway."

"Break him in all you fucking want!" Tyrian yelled, as he booked it. "I'm fucking out of here!"

Kevin was still face to face with the strangest enemy he'd ever faced. Portals rotated around her body, and he could feel her eyes bore holes into his soul.

"Run," she warned.

"...as much as I hate to say, I think we should listen to the mutant schoolgirl!" Doppler yelled.

"No need to warn me twice!" Kevin said, as Doppler changed their backwear into what looked like a part of Radiohead's own back. Kevin zoomed off, leaving a sonic boom in his wake. It shook the Earth, and even fazed the stoic Breach a bit. Kevin ran off, occasionally producing a sonic boom behind him.

Breach simply held two of her arms to the left and opened up a red rift. She didn't even step through it, she simply had the rift move closer and over her before it closed. She would catch up to him in no time.

Kevin was still running when the four-armed abomination appeared before him. She created a rift that swallowed his body, and sent him crashing into the side of a building.

"...ow..." Kevin muttered after bouncing off of the side of the building. As Kevin started to right himself, another red rift opened and something fell through.

"Um...Kevin? We have a problem. A very big one...as in 'big enough to where we need to run again!' Like, NOW!" Doppler yelled.

"Why? What is it?" Kevin asked, vision still a bit blurred.

"I have no FUCKING IDEA!" The symbiote yelled. He could only stare in horror as what could only be described as a mass of Grimm flesh, topped with the head of what seemed like an Imp, twisted and deformed, made its way towards them. The creature seemed to have arms, one of a Beowolf and the other of a massive Geist, just to give it even more of a terrifying visage.

Kevin's eyes widened and he quickly turned away. His visor dropped and rushed off again, another sonic boom left in his wake.

"Um, I know we're not in any real danger here," Doppler said, craning around to keep an eye out behind them, "but it IS following us! Not very fast, but it's there!"

Kevin frowned. "Switch to Hot Shot thrusters! Or Smashing Pumpkins! Anything that can just help boost me the fuck away from that thing!"

"On it!"

With Doppler's help, two volcanic jets appeared on Kevin's back, fire roaring inside the molten rock. As quick as they emerged, jets of flame shot out behind Kevin, increasing Rush's already impressive speed. If this didn't leave that abomination in the dust, he'd have to fight. And against that, only the head seemed to be a weak spot.

Kevin raced through the city, not even bothering to move his legs, just letting the thrusters propel him forward. He needed to put his as much as distance between himself that fucking monster as possible.

It was around this time, however, that a church bell began ringing off in the distance.

"So, we could keep racing off in random directions and just pray. Ooooor we head for the ringing bell," Doppler suggested.

"Good enough for me!" Kevin said, as he raced off.

Breach stepped out of a crimson rift atop a building and watched Kevin race off.

"That's it…everyone come together. I want to see all my new toys in person. No more watching from afar," the mutant grinned. Another rift opened up beneath her and she sunk into it, that disturbing grin never leaving her face.


Author's Note: rosie is now a certified Little stan, anyone who insults that mouse gets a slap across the face

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