the title is a there for tomorrow reference, underrated band
so
We're ALMOST done with the Ever After arc. We have one more chapter left.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Ben was pretty quiet on the Manta ride back up to Atlas proper. Fiefstone's words echoed in his head before the sound of a gunshot drowned them out, cut them off. Fiefstone was in the wrong, there was no question on that. He drained people of raw emotion, raw fear that he himself induced, all to power the orbs and bring in hordes of Grimm. But in a way the words made sense. But there was still hope for change. With the election closer than ever, there was a chance that Robyn could actually win and be put in a position to change things for the better.
"You doing okay? That was...quite a strong response. But still, it was entirely justified." Ruby said.
Ben sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, but since The Collector, I can't stand it when people are used, you know? Seeing that lady get her emotions sucked out of her was...scary."
"According to the medics, she's gonna be ok," Ruby reassured, "A bit drained, but they'll keep on her until they're sure there's no weird side effects."
"Right..." Ben sighed.
"It's not just Cedar, is it?" Ruby picked up on that immediately, "It's about Fiefstone, isn't it?"
"Sort of. He was doing the usual 'villain mid-fight trash-talk' a lot of guys did, tried to break through the Nanomech armor with his drill..."
"And then Felix?" Ruby asked, putting the dots together.
"And then Felix. And, call me crazy, but I think Felix was there with the full intent to kill Fiefstone. Guy's usually armed to the teeth, so it makes sense. If his friend had been there, thought. we'd only be there to clean up whatever's left of Fiefstone," Ben shivered.
"I...I dunno if I wanna believe it. Ironwood isn't the type to randomly assassinate people without cause." Ruby countered.
"You mean if Locus had been there?" Weiss chimed in, "Sorry. Overheard. But...you have it backwards."
"I do?" Ben asked.
"Locus and Felix are...elites, a different breed than the Ace-Ops. Some people say they both tried applying for the unit but got rejected."
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"With Locus, no one could really give a consistent answer. But Felix? He's a loose cannon on nice days. He'll often go out of his way to disobey orders just to make sure that you know who actually accomplished the mission."
"So he's a glory hound then," Ben guessed.
"A glory hound who doesn't really care about who gets in his way. As for your bit on the assassination business, you're right. He'd never stoop that low."
Blake, who was also eavesdropping, said nothing.
"Ok, so then why was he there?" Ben asked. "Did someone call for backup?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Weiss admitted, "Maybe he was just in the area. With the...project going on," the heiress tried to be as vague as possible for secrecy's sake, "even the elites are being sent out on routine missions. Tundra patrols, Grimm clear-outs..."
"But the area we were in was nowhere close to the project," Blake said. "So, what? Did he follow us?"
"Like I said, it could've been along his patrol route. He could've gotten wind of the hunt for Fiefstone, found some evidence that led him to the grotto, and he put the pieces together," Weiss shrugged.
"So...basically I'm just hearing that we shouldn't trust him or his partner?" Yang added.
"Maybe." Kylie said. "It could just be a cosmic coincidence. I'm kinda on the fence about Ironwood doing something like that, but..."
"But what?"
"Ah, never mind. I was about to say Harriet sent him, but that'd be kinda crazy. Especially since she kinda has some respect for us now." Kylie shook her head.
"Harriet doesn't even work with them that often," Weiss added.
"Well...she did the one time," Rex corrected.
"What 'one time?'"
"The one mission with the Armodrillo guy."
"Oh, yeah. Did he get back home?" Kylie asked.
"Yeah, he did. Took a lot of effort, though." Blake said.
"First it was Andreas he was gonna kill...now he actually pulled the trigger on Fiefstone," Yang thought aloud, "Kind of obvious, but still, something's not right about him. Or Locus."
"We'll look into it later," Ceres said. "For now, we gotta focus on what's going on with those bombs."
"Felix did call in for a pick-up team to deal with the tech that Fiefstone collected," Weiss said, "But we still don't know how he got them. Glass was the end of the pipeline, Fiefstone filled them..."
"So who's supplying them?" Yang asked.
"Fiefstone could have told us," Ruby said.
"But then Felix got in the way." Ceres hummed. "That's enough there to start saying there's a conspiracy at play."
"This whole thing is a conspiracy. Weird part is that I'm not even sure this has anything to do with Salem," Ben admitted, "Like, everything just screams her, using people in positions of power inside Atlas. Hell, Cinder used Roman the same way as Glass. But…now I'm just thinking it's aimed just at Atlas, no bigger plans. It's almost personal in a way."
"An Atlesian mobster trying to peddle modified weapons, Fiefstone and his radical views about Atlas, Arrowfell tech which was an old Atlesian initiative," Weiss listed off, "It makes sense."
"This has everything to do with Atlas. The corruption's probably caught up by now." Blake said. "Who knows what the end goal is?"
"Here's hoping we can find out who's in charge before they get far," Yang said.
When the Manta's loading ramp lowered in the Atlesian hangar, the group were immediately surprised to see soldiers and pilots scrambling. A klaxon was sounding off throughout the whole base, making them all wonder if maybe they were too late. The group raced to Ironwood's office to see what the hell was happening. On the way, they passed by the Ace-Ops who were being deployed. When the door hissed open they saw Harper at the holo-table coordinating various response teams while Ironwood looked over the damage.
"What's happening?!" Weiss asked.
"Weiss? Good, you're back," Ironwood said, marching over to the Outcasts, "Fiefstone's unleashed one last bit of chaos. He must've smuggled orbs out before you got to him, because we're getting reports of increased Grimm activity across the continent. Flocks of Manticores and Nevermores heading to Atlas, a herd of Megoliaths and a pack of Sabyrs heading to Mantle."
"The remote," Ben realized, "He activated the orbs before Felix shot him."
"You met Felix in the field already? Good, because he and Locus will be helping you."
"Oh." Ben grit his teeth. "That's…um, that's great."
"Is something wrong?" Ironwood asked.
"Uh, n-no. Not really," Weiss lied. Ironwood raised a brow, clearly suspecting something, but he didn't say anything for the moment. The impending Grimm horde's approach took priority.
"Ok then," Ironwood said, "Half of you will go with Locus, the other half with Felix."
Ben frowned. "Good. So, uh. How should we split this up?"
"You, me, Kylie and Weiss with Felix. The rest with Locus." Ruby said.
"Ok, at least we get the...calmer of the two?" Rex asked, not really sure if this was a positive or a negative.
"Okay, what is up with you kids?" Ironwood frowned. "Why are you acting so odd about this?"
"...ok," Weiss sighed, "We...we think Felix and Locus might be in on this whole thing."
"What?" Harper asked, looking over from her work.
"That's impossible. Those two are two of the most loyal soldiers in my elite units," Ironwood said.
"Well, Felix showed up just as we were finishing off Hanlon. And he…killed him. Did you order that?" Ben asked.
Ironwood looked shocked. "I didn't authorize anything like that."
Weiss let out a small sigh of relief. She knew he'd never stoop that low!
"Sir...shouldn't we focus on them after the Grimm threat?" Harper added, "I know it's a security risk, but at the same time..."
"She's right. With the Grimm in such a frenzy...keep an eye on them as you go," Ironwood ordered, "Tell them that my direct orders are for you and no one else to touch the orbs until you return to Atlas."
"Do we have the right to suspect them?" Ben asked. "Please say yes."
"Since they disobeyed orders, yes. But why'd they shoot Hanlon?" Ironwood asked.
"He pulled out some sort of detonator thing...and..." Weiss slowly realized. "Oh."
"A calculated risk," Ironwood said, "If he activated all the orbs, that'd bring too much attention to whoever their benefactors might be. But if he was brought in, he might break, point us in the right direction anyway. Asset denial."
"Covering their tracks..." Harper said, "It makes sense for Felix, but Locus? Why would he betray us?"
"Could be money, could be someone taking advantage of his soldier mindset..."
"So, what? Is our team gonna turn into surveillance?" Ben asked.
"It seems so. Be careful. And don't let on that you know." Ironwood frowned.
"You four, be careful around Locus. Felix was always something of a rogue, but Locus is a different story, altogether. If things had gone differently, he would have been accepted," Harper explained.
"...well that's not ominous at all," Yang said.
"We'll deal with the unpredictable. And you deal with the quiet and deadly." Ben said. "Believe me, if that guy even shows one sign of breaking ANY orders, I'll personally punch him in the face."
"Don't show your hand too early," Harper warned, "If either of them even hear about this..."
"They'll make a break for it, we know," Blake nodded.
"Then I suggest we put this discussion on hold for now," Ironwood said, "They'll be here any minute."
A few seconds passed before the suspected duo appeared in the doorway, the door itself hissing open to dramatically reveal them.
"Locus reporting as ordered, general," the sniper of the duo saluted.
"Looks like ya shouldn't have doubted me, kid," Felix said, his gaze fixed on Ben from behind his helmet, "Pieced together this was Fiefstone's last hurrah before we got the order."
"Good," Ironwood nodded, hiding his suspicions of the two behind an impressive mask of professionalism, "You two will be deployed alongside the teams here. Locus, Felix, you're both in charge."
"Well, at least I know they can handle themselves, given the whole Breach thing," Felix rolled his neck, "Alright kids, let's go hunting."
"Understood, sir," Locus nodded, "Assigned teammates, with me."
Felix's team was already aboard a Manta, speeding its way down towards Mantle. Even from up here, if one were to look out from the airship's windows, they would see the entirety of the industrial city blanketed in red. Disaster sirens were no doubt sounding down there as the Grimm were getting closer and closer. From this vantage point, the cloud of snow from the oncoming Megoliath herd was easy to see, but so were the explosions. Other Mantas were doing quick strafing runs on the Grimm, trying to force them away from the city. From here, it was hard to tell if any of those attacks actually worked.
While the Megoliaths were being held at bay, Ruby could see that, every so often, a flash of green shone from the streets of Mantle. The Sabyrs must have gotten pas the city's defenses already and Penny was down there, living up to her title of "Protector of Mantle."
"Alright you four, listen up," Felix's voice echoed in the confines of the ship, "Some new intel came in. According to what we got, that Fiefstone bastard activated four orbs before his brain stopped working from the hole I put in it. One's in Mantle, another in Atlas proper somehow, and a third out by this little town called Dormir. We deal with the Mantle orb, Locus' team handles the Atlas one, we both meet up and head out to Dormir once everything's safe here."
"So...we're ignoring the defenseless village in favor of the heavily fortified cities?" Kylie asked.
"Hey, we're not leaving 'em to fend for themselves for long," Felix countered, "Besides, last I heard, there were already soldiers out there. Routine patrol, you know how it is. They can hang on a little while longer. Now, according to the techies back upstairs, the activation signal got picked up at Streamline Pros. Ice fishing place on the west end of town."
"Ice fishing?" Ben asked.
"Fiefstone's union wasn't tied to mining or steelwork. He had friends in a lot of industries down there. Now, I really doubt that the bastard would leave it unguarded. If he did, well then I guess he wasn't really using his brain before he lost it. Either way, be ready for a fight."
Ok, before he was just annoying, Kylie thought to herself. Now it's like every sentence he says makes me want to deck him. Hope the others are doing better with Locus.
Ceres, Rex, Yang and Blake sat in silence as their Manta made the flight from the military HQ's hangar to the neighborhood where the signal was sent. They didn't even manage to get a word in before Locus drew their attention. He went over the same intel that Felix did, about how three orbs had been activated simultaneously and that their priorities were the ones in Atlas and Mantle first. It didn't sit well with the four that they'd be leaving the village to last.
"Our target is the mansion of one Onyx Churmon, who, thanks to our interrogation of Glass, has been outed as one of his many previous customers. Glass sold the orb to him under false pretenses. The location is personal to Fiefstone as, during his early days as a union leader, Churmon was one of his chief opponents, outside of Jacques Schnee, of course," Locus explained, "Recently, he's upped his security in the form of retired AK-130 androids. After the 200 model was introduced, many of the older models found their way into private hands, acting as private muscle."
"Shouldn't be too bad then," Rex said, "If they're outdated, then we ca-"
"Do not underestimate your opponent in any scenario, Agent Salazar. The AK 130s have been the backbone of Atlas' mechanized infantry for years. In the hands of a private-sector individual like Churmon, they have been upgraded in ways not on record."
"Outdated or not, they're still military grade." Ceres said. "Pretty expensive muscle. What did this guy do to get the money?"
"Onyx is fond of 'Day Trading'- It's easy to get excited about the idea of making quick money on the stock market, but almost no one gets rich from day trading. In fact, many people are more likely to lose money than to make it." Locus explained. "But Lady Luck keeps smiling upon him. He doesn't even work- just keeps winning."
"You said it yourself though. He's a friend of Glass," Yang said, "Might be getting the money from back-alley deals."
"You might be right, but that's not our concern right now. This is a textbook search-and-destroy op. We find the orb and destroy it before the Grimm flocks get too serious. Hard light shields are already up, and beam turrets and burrow guns are on stand-by."
I've never seen the guy this serious before. He's saying a lot of technical stuff too- he kinda makes Harriet's professionalism look like amateur hour. Rex thought.
"We're descending. Look alive." Locus said.
The Manta hovered above the street just outside the expansion manor of Churmon. It was a mansion with an exterior made entirely of marble, drawing some architectural cues from Greek buildings, with the signature pillars at the entryway. Locus was the first to leap from the open doors of the airship, landing with a heavy thud on the sidewalk. Just in case things would get loud, which he knew they would, the Atlesian soldier pulled a shotgun off the magnetics clamps at the back of his armor. He made sure the shells were ready and made his way up to the gate of the manor, the rest of his team in tow.
While the two teams were dealing with the source of the incursions, Penny was giving it her all fighting in the streets of Mantle. Of course, she wasn't fighting alone, but she was making the biggest difference. AK-200s were in the streets, taking shots at the Sabyrs that managed to slip in from outside, but the feline Grimm were too fast for their targeting systems. One android was forced to the ground by a pouncing beast, knocking its rifle away. Before the machine could even think about bring out its collapsible arm-blades, the jaws of the Sabyr were already around its head. With one quick move, the head of the android was crushed like a tin can, its screen-like face cracking and shattering.
A second AK was dealing with a frost covered alpha Beowolf in melee range and was holding its own fairly well. But in the end, the Grimm managed to get the better of it. A quick swipe to grab the AK by the legs gave it the upper hand, literally. Its free hand grabbed hold of both of the machine's arms as it began to pull, the metal body straining and creaking before it gave way. The Grimm tore the combat android in half, with screws and bolts clanging onto the pavement. Before it could even really celebrate that kind of victory, a sword lodged itself between the Beowolf's eyes. Two more swords launched out and cut through its waist, letting the two halves slide apart before they turned to ash.
"I wonder if Ruby would be interested to know how many I have taken down when all is said and done," Penny wondered aloud.
Penny sent all her swords flying at a particularly massive Alpha Beowulf, before her swords sliced through it like a warm knife through butter. "I thought the cold was supposed to make these guys tougher to take down. Or maybe I'm just too powerful!"
As if the universe heard her and wished to test that theory, a pack of four Sabyrs rounded a street corner at full speed. One of them skidded a bit, losing traction, but quickly righted itself before joining the others. The lead beast pounced at Penny, only for two of her blades to come together into a small combination. Energy quickly built up as the blades spun around before firing off a small but powerful green laser that shot right through the Grimm's skull with a burst of smoke-like blood. The beast turned to ash before it hit the ground. With precise movements, almost like a puppeteer moving strings, her blades danced about at the other Grimm. One of the cat monsters tried to swat the blades away, but the thin wires wrapped around it and, when pulled taut, sliced right through its middle.
"We improved THOSE just in case someone tried to be a little sneaky." Penny grinned, as the monster faded away. Penny looked around for any other Grimm. It was strange, they were coming in droves just a second ago. Where had they gone?
She soon figured out why when the ground started shaking. She turned around just in time to see an armored military truck, full of combat androids in the back, get flung into a nearby building with a loud trumpet. A Megoliath thundered into view, somehow having gotten into the city despite all the air-strikes at the borders, strikes that Penny could still hear booming off in the distance.
"Oh! You are much bigger in person than I thought!" Penny said, looking up at the skull-mask of the elephantine juggernaut. There was a reason for its larger size, though. Not only did this larger beast sport sharper ice spikes jutting up from its back, but the skull mask had more frozen horns on it, more armor covering its legs and trunk, and the front tusks, already much larger, curved back towards its face before curving again to point up.
It was an Alpha.
Penny hummed. I have my work cut out for me! She began zipping around with her swords, trying to cut into this beast with speed and sheer force. Ruby would be proud- but the beast wasn't budging.
Her blades clinked against the thick armor and hide of the Alpha, barely even cutting into the beast. It huffed in annoyance and turned on a dime, surprising for a creature of its size, and slammed its trunk into the mechanical girl, sending her careening through the nearest window. The inhabitants of the building screamed when they heard the glass shatter and, in the panic, someone grabbed a fire poker to use as a makeshift weapon.
Penny rose up from the impact, covered in the drapes of the window, shaking off glass as she stood back up.
"S-stay back!" the terrified man said, waving the fire poker in Penny's direction. She turned her head towards him before pulling off the drapes and revealing herself.
"Do not worry, citizen! I am here to help!" Penny proudly said before looking over to the window, "I am sorry for breaking and entering like this! There is a Megoliath outside that I must tend to! Please stay indoors until the sirens have stopped!"
The jets in her legs roared to life as she rocketed out the window to once again face the beast...only to find that it seemingly forgot about her. It was moving westward.
"I don't think so!" Penny beamed, having all of her swords circle together in formation and begin to spin. Energy charged up in the middle, but before she could fire off at the elephant Grimm, she heard a familiar avian shriek. She looked up to see a Nevermore dive-bombing her. She quickly turned her laser upward and fired, disintegrating the bird before its beak got too close. Of course, with the charge expended, she'd need to do another blast to stop the Alpha Megoliath.
The Alpha Megoliath that had now turned around to look right at her. It huffed and scraped its tusks on the road, sharpening them in a threatening gesture, as if it was challenging her.
"Oh, I see what we're doing here!" Penny realized.
Penny landed on the ground, and stabbed her swords into the road below. She and the beast stared at each other for a moment. Penny's 'ahoge' wagged in excitement for the next move.
The elephant scraped its foot against the pavement before letting out an earth-shaking trumpet. It raced towards Penny with its powerful tusks lowered, ready to gore the Protector of Mantle and crush what remained underfoot. Each thunderous step made the ground shake, but Penny held her ground. She had a plan!
Just as the elephant was about to bulldoze its way right over her, she flew upwards and ripped the chunk of pavement out of the ground. The hole it made was big enough for the beast to fall into, giving Penny ample time to drop the giant chunk of pavement on top of it.
The beast fell for her trap, plummeting into the hole and tripping. One of its tusks broke off in the process, clattering onto the pavement. It let out a higher-pitched trumpet before the chunk of pavement came flying back down. With a loud thud, its trumpeting stopped and the Megoliath's body turned to ash.
"Phew! I'll say you were a challenge to be nice!" Penny beamed. Before she could even think of going to check on the driver of that armored truck, on the off chance it wasn't automated, a barrage of fireballs rained down from the sky and knocked the upbeat girl off her feet. Four frost-covered Manticores landed on the pavement, two in front of her and two behind her. Above her, a Sphinx landed on one of the rooftops, the rooftop of the building Penny had crashed into mere moments ago.
Penny looked around, confused. "These bombs are potent enough to even attract you guys, huh? Alright." Penny began slicing and dicing her way through the crowd of monsters.
While the Manticores focused on Penny, the Sphinx...looked down. It sniffed at the roof and pawed at the stone a few times, curiously. Its ice-coated, feathered wings began to beat as it took to the sky above the building.
Meanwhile, the Manticores were pouncing and clawing at the mechanical girl, trying to get an opening. Unlike the Beowolf, these guys were significantly sturdier. It'd take more than one hit to take them down, unless that hit was aimed at their head. One of the Manticores fell when Penny's wires wrapped around its horns and forced it to faceplant into the stone. Three quick blade thrusts into the back of its head, spine, and back and the beast went limp, turning to ash soon after.
However, it was then that Penny heard the Sphinx charging up a massive fireball. The flames seemed to seep out from its fangs, but it wasn't aiming at Penny. It was aiming at the building beneath it.
The civilians inside! Penny realized.
Penny made a beeline for the flaming orb just as it was being unleashed by the sphinx. She threw her swords in front of her, and their lasers immediately started firing. The lasers, however...had no effect.
I'm fireproof now! I can take the hit! Penny thought.
The fireball slammed right into her, causing a massive explosion that actually made the Sphinx recoil in the air a bit. The Protector of Mantle, however, was launched because of the blast. She slammed through a factory's brick wall and bounced off one of the many metal pipes inside, denting it before she thudded to the ground. Her outfit was scorched from the attack and she felt her Aura flare a bit from the explosion.
"I...was right...partially," Penny winced as she tried to get back up. She could hear the distant roars and growls of the Grimm. They were either coming after her to try and finish her off or they were trying to get into the building again. She needed to stand, she needed to get back out there and save them!
Penny tried to fire up her body, but it just couldn't move. Had she taken critical damage or something? The protector of Mantle looked over her body. There was no rip in her synthetic skin to expose some of her inner tech or wires.
Perhaps the damage was internal? With all of her upgrades and improvements, that shouldn't be possible. Right? She ran quick diagnostic and found nothing out of the ordinary in the scan.
Penny blinked a few times at that oddity. Perhaps a reboot's needed. This should only take a second. Maybe that'll fix the problem!
Before the reboot actually kicked in, Penny took notice of something. As the building shook, no doubt the result of Megoliath stampeding or missile impact, she saw a glow off in the distance. Maybe it was a Dust furnace in the lower-level of the factory. But then, why was it glowing green instead of red?
Penny blinked as she found the strength to suddenly stand back up. She got back on her feet and dusted herself off.
And…now I feel all better. How odd. Penny thought.
Not only that, but according to her internal meter, her Aura was...fully charged again? It was like nothing had hit her to begin with.
That's...strange, Penny tilted her head in confusion for a moment, before her focus came back. There were people who needed her. Her thrusters roared to life once again and she flew back towards the pack of feline hybrid Grimm.
They were swarming the building, one Manticore having forced its head through the window and roaring. It seemed to be stuck, thankfully, though its flame breath still presented a hazard to those inside. The guy with the fire poker slammed the implement over the Grimm's head from the side, only aggravating it further. The other beasts were trying to force their way in, blast down the walls, ram through them, anything. The Sphinx hung back, letting its packmates do the work for it.
Penny was quick to fly back over, and tapped her forehead. "Dad! Send in...the big guns!"
"On their way!" Pietro said over the radio. Her larger weapons were launched from Atlas Academy itself in a similar way to Beacon's lockers. One of the Manticores slammed its shoulder into the wall, trying to break in and now it was making progress. A dent formed in the stone wall, sending more fear into the civilians inside. The Grimm was about to try again, but before it could, Penny's big guns dropped on top of the Grimm and crushed it then and there. The body turned to ash as Penny's wires connected to the massive blades.
Penny detached two of her swords and linked them onto her larger blades. Ceres said she made some cool modifications and Penny could not wait to see 'em.
The other Manticores and the Sphinx turned their attention as soon as they heard the blades land. The Sphinx growled upon seeing Penny again, its serpent tail rearing up over its head and hissing. The other Manticores heard the hiss and, as if it was a command, turned their attention away from the people inside. Except for the Manticore that was still stuck in the broken window, its mane and horns were hindering that.
The heavy blades floated off the ground where the Manticore they crushed had once been, each one controlled by six wires each. The two free Manticores stalked towards the Protector of Mantle, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Penny made sure to keep both of them in view, watching their scorpion stingers for even the slightest twitch.
One of the hybrid monsters dug its claws into the pavement and pounced, extending its claws out with intent to rip this girl apart. Penny turned and brought the giant blade to bare, blocking and batting the massive lion back. Right after, the second Manticore charged and tried to skewer Penny from behind with its glowing scorpion tail. Some of Penny's free wires wrapped around the tail, stopping the stinger before it got close enough to be a threat. One swift motion pulled the wires taut and sliced the stinger off. The stinger-head hit the pavement and turned to bright yellow ash, leaving a trail of smoke-like blood to pour out of the severed tail.
The android girl's blades began to twirl around her before coming to a stop and crashing to the ground. Suddenly, arcs of lightning flew out and fried some Grimm that were flying in the air. Two of the more little blades flew forward and pierced the other Grimm's skulls as they came into contact with them.
The Sphinx leapt out of the way of the lightning, growling as it saw its pack being decimated. The one Manticore that was stuck in the window was shocked and disintegrated from the jolts. Smaller Nevermores fell from the sky thanks to Penny's storm. The swords that jabbed into the other two Manticores' skulls made them freeze up before the power symbol on the hilts of the weapons changed. Shifting from that familiar green to a dark orange and a bright red, the weapons unleashed Dust payloads into the Manticores' heads. The dark orange payload exploded into the skull, having rocky spikes erupt from within the body of the winged lion, tearing it apart from inside. As for the second, flames shot inside it, even to the point of flames shooting out of its eyes.
Now, it was just her and the Sphinx. The Dust color faded from Floating Array's smaller blades as Penny turned to face the leader of this back in a one-on-one.
"Second time today!" Penny beamed. Calculations began to whir around in her head, chemical formulas relating to Dust. A plan had formed in her head, even if she didn't remember thinking it up, but it was still a good one. On paper it was simple: ground the Sphinx, deal with its tail, and then finish it off. But this was Penny we're talking about. She wanted to see the upgrades Ceres put into these things! First, the Sphinx's wings. Two blades went into the larger blades in sequence, the first shifting to a pale green, followed by a hue of blue. That blade removed itself from the larger blade, which now sported an icy white color. The second blade slotted in and shifted to a dark orange coloration, combining the ice and earth Dust together. It was a bit experimental, but permafrost Dust should be effective here.
Penny slammed the blades together, and watched them morph into a giant cannon. Penny's eyes lit up with joy.
"Oooh! I wish Ruby was here to see this." Penny snapped her fingers. "Wait, I got it!"
She blinked a few times, and let her eyes start to record the scene. "Hmmm. There we go! Hey Ruby! Sending this to you when it's all over, but- check this out!"
The usual green energy was now a lighter shade of orange, like winsor orange almost. The energy built to a critical level before Penny took aim at the Sphinx. The feline Grimm growled and began to flap its wings, trying to take to the skies and use its aerial superiority to an advantage. The mechanical girl took note of that and decided, no, that wouldn't be happening. She adjusted the aim and fired off the laser, managing to engulf one of the wings in a giant beam of energy. The laser flew into the sky past the Sphinx like a massive firework before it faded. The Sphinx's wing had been encased in frozen earth, a literal permafrost prison, that forced it back to ground. It roared out as it fell, slamming into the ground hard enough to shatter its wing into permafrost chunks.
Penny now had an opportunity to strike this thing down where it stood. With a flick of her wrist, she ejected the swords from her wires. The two massive swords shifted again, transforming into a giant missile-esqe blade. The blades suddenly flew forward, stabbing right through the Sphinx and stopping before it ran into a building or a person. The two halves of the Sphinx fell to the ground, before fading away into nothingness.
"There we go," Penny huffed, still smiling though. She heard the sounds of distant gunfire, signs of Atlesian security forces definitely needing some backup.
"The Protector's work is never done!" Penny said, rocketing off to the next fight. This was going to be a long night, but she could handle it!
Streamline Pros, despite being a pretty small business in the grand scheme of things, still had a warehouse used for storing its catches, a pretty standard fishery type place. The Manta stopped and hovered above one of the loading areas for the fishery. The airship's doors opened and, once again, the suspected traitor took charge here. He leapt from the airship and performed a superhero landing, his armor taking most of the shock.
"God, I've always wanted to do that," Felix chuckled as he righted himself, pulling an assault rifle off the magnetic clamps on the back of his armor, "Alright, kids! Don't stray too far from the group here."
"Are...you really treating this like a field trip for us?" Weiss asked as she landed on the ground with some aid from her glyphs.
"And you all don't? Like I told '10 back there, I've read all the reports where you guys were involved with. You're like me. Rules are more like guidelines, you can bend 'em a bit."
"A bit, he says." Kylie rolled her eyes. Felix ignored that.
"Ok, so, here's the plan," Felix said, "Ice Queen, Rootin' Shootin', you got the right. 10 and Little Red, you guys got the left. I take the middle. If it turns out these guys are armed, try to disarm, but if you can't, you have full permission to kill."
"Rootin' Shootin?!" Kylie frowned, before shaking her head. "Fine, got it. But, uh, we're probably NOT gonna kill these guys."
"Suit yourself," Felix shrugged.
Weiss and Kylie shared a look. Felix was way too willing to just gun these guys down.
"Alright, get going. More time we waste, the longer the ginger nutcracker's gonna be fighting out there!" the elite soldier said.
Ginger nutcracker? Ruby said. This guy has WEIRD nicknames for everyone...how has he killed people?
With that last thought though, the team split up and followed Felix's orders. If he really was a turncoat, he wasn't doing any favors for himself, going in alone. But it was hard to tell if that was actually to keep eyes off him...or if he just liked stealing the glory. Felix didn't have any sort of stealth in mind here, walking right up to the loading bay of the fishery and stepping in. He got a few glances of worry from some workers, while others were carefully watching.
Yeah, what I thought. Gotta let them make the first move though, otherwise it's just a slaughter and nobody wants that, Felix thought to himself.
"Excuse me!" Felix called out to one worker, "Surprise inspection. You wouldn't happen to know where the boss around here is, would you?"
"Um n-no? But if you're an inspector...why are you-?" the worker stammered.
"I never said who the inspection was for. Now, you sure you don't know? C'mon, Mister, uh..." the Atlesian soldier scanned for some sort of name tag on the worker's body as he put away his rifle. He needed to be friendly with this guy. That stammer at the start told him everything he needed to know. The guy was in on it, but not by choice. Probably press-ganged into it by a friend or the boss himself. Hell, he probably didn't even know anything important, just a disposable grunt in Fiefstone's eyes.
Ben hesitated as he watched Felix approach. I can't tell what this guy is gonna do. He's a serious wild card...and I need to make sure he doesn't do anything crazy again.
"Hey, Ruby." Ben whispered. "You don't mind picking up some of my slack, do you?"
"If it means making sure this dude doesn't pull anything shady, then no." Ruby frowned. Ben ducked back, and activated the watch. He scrolled to Nanomech's icon, and slapped down the Omnitrix.
"Ok, no name tag," Feli continued, "So what's your name?"
"Um...Vissen?" the man said. The man did sport Faunus fins by his ears as his animal trait.
"Wait...wait, wait, wait, they have a fish Faunus working at a fishery? Please tell me you say how fucked up that is."
"B-believe me, I know. But...it was the only job I could get and I needed the money."
"Life in Mantle not treating you well?"
"Not...exactly, no."
"Ok...well, here's the deal. Your boss. I really need to talk with him, very important. In case you couldn't hear outside, there's a bit of a problem," the soldier motioned with his head to back outside, "And we think, the cause of that problem is here."
"W-wait what?! But I-!" the worker panicked.
"Ah ah ah, I know you're innocent. But not everyone in here is, so you take me to the boss, I try and take him down as quietly as I can, you bolt away from here, and the tin man upstairs never has to hear about this. Even hook you up with a new job. Heard Snowshoe Shipping's hiring. Not the most glamorous job, but anything beats here, right?"
"How did he...?" Weiss whispered in surprise.
"Wait...are they-?" Kylie asked in return.
"Yes. This place is another SDC subsidiary that's been trying to cut down on automation lately."
"Maybe he just has some military inside knowledge," Kylie said. "Security purposes maybe?"
"Or there's another secret he's keeping."
"O-okay, fine. The boss is in his office." Vissen said. "J-just follow me."
"Thanks," Felix patted the guy on the back and let him take the lead. So not only was this guy a skilled enough fighter to be considered for the Ace-Ops, but he was also able to just talk his way into an enemy base. Maybe that's why Ironwood never suspected him, his silver tongued speeches.
Vissen led Felix through the fishery, past a few more workers who seemed way too calm about this whole thing. There were Grimm in the streets, sure they were on the other side of the city but you'd think there'd be some more panic! The other duos were following close behind, making sure to keep an eye on both the workers and Felix. Ben was keeping an especially close eye on the latter, buzzing around in the air. To the other workers, he was just another fly drawn in by the dead catches.
"He's up here," Vissen said, bringing Felix up to the second floor and down a hallway. The boss' office was certainly bigger and more organized than the one at the ironworks. No way there'd be plans just lying around on the desk here.
Ben secretly followed behind the duo and was using his most silent mode of transportation- stealth bomber wings.
I really underestimate how versatile Nanomech is. Ben thought, as he zipped into the room before the two could.
The guy in charge of the fishery was just some ordinary guy from the looks of it. Nothing stood out to him as villainous or anything like that.
"Hey there," Felix saluted once he stepped in. The appearance of the soldier scared the boss in question.
"W-whatever it is you think-!" the man began.
"I just said 'hello' and you immediately start thinking I'm here to arrest you?" Felix asked, "Wow, you guys are terrible at this. You sure this was a good idea on your end?"
"On...our...?"
"Hanlon Fiefstone," the soldier said with a more stern voice, "Your business is part of his union, right?"
"E-er...w-well, yes...b-but I don't-" the boss said, avoiding eye contact with Felix.
"He sent something to you, didn't he? Something he said not to open, or touch, or whatever. Talked about it like it was the next best thing, right?" Felix continued on.
"Y-yes."
"So. Where is it then?" Felix asked, leaning in over the guy's desk.
"I-i...I can't say."
"You can't say, huh? Riiiight, right, right..." Felix nodded a bit before slamming his fist down on the desk, "Then I guess you don't hear what's going on outside right now, huh? If you do, guess what? Fiefstone fucking played you and the thing he put here is what's drawing in the Grimm!"
Ben landed on a nearby bookshelf and watched the scene unfold. The second he tries to draw a gun, I'm stopping him. We just need to take the guy in.
"L-look, seriously! I can't say! Hanlon said-" The boss sputtered.
"He's DEAD! I don't give a shit what he said! Come on, spit it out!" Felix grabbed the guy by his shirt collar.
"Gah! O-ok! Ok! It's in one of the cold storage lockers!" the boss confessed. Felix actually eased up before dropping him back into his chair. The boss was terrified now, gripping his chest as it felt like his heart was burst out of him.
"Good. Letting you off easy here. I thought you were in on it...but you got forced into this too, huh?" Felix asked.
"...y-yeah..."
"Good! Then you better not be lying! Otherwise, I'll be back! And I have knives."
Ben made a face. Okay, a bit intense...but I don't think that's enough proof. Maybe I was wrong. Ben thought. He was about to turn and leave...
When it happened.
"O-ok...ok..." the boss sighed, "Some...some general Ironwood is if he orders his men to do this..."
"...Ironwood?" Felix asked, "You think Ironwood orders me to act like this? See...unlike my partner and those other Ace-Op 'star pupils' of his, I got a mind of my own. I'm not just some robot. For example...Ironwood's hardliners wouldn't do this!"
In one swift motion, Felix drew a knife from a sheathe on his belt and threw it right at the boss' head.
Ben's eyes widened as he stumbled backwards, covering his mouth. HOLY SHIT! Ben thought. Yes, his girlfriend literally decapitated a yeti or whatever, and there was a WEIRD ethical debate (for some reason) about cutting off Tyrian's tail, but those were done in self defense! They worked with Salem!
This...there was no reason! That was an off handed comment!
"Woah! What the hell, Vissen? Why would you do that?" Felix faked surprise.
"W-wait what?! I didn't do that!" Vissen yelled.
"Another associate of Fiefstone, fighting to the bitter end. Tragic," Felix didn't even hesitate, pulling his pistol and shooting the fish Faunus in the throat.
Ben shook with disgust. "H-he just killed them both!" Ben said. "This dude's deranged." He had to get back to the others and-
Click.
Ben turned to see Felix, pointing the gun where Ben was hiding.
"Heya, bug boy. Whatcha doing up there?" Felix teased.
Oh crap, Ben thought.
"C'mon. I know you're there," Felix smirked.
Ben frowned as he backed away slowly. Maybe I pretend nothing happened, he'll just feel crazy. Ben thought.
Ben shrank down again, to his smallest size. Ben morphed his wings into a stealth bomber build, and flew away.
"Huh...maybe not," Felix said, smacking his helmet on the side before radioing in to the others, "Alright guys, cold storage locker. Our orb's in there. Find it and fucking smash it. I'm on my way."
The psychotic soldier made his way out of the hallway and the moment he stepped outside, a gunfight erupted. Some of the fishery workers just pulled out pistols or compact SMGs and started spraying lead in Felix's direction. The soldier dove for the nearest bit of cover, pulling out his assault rifle as bullets sparked against the metal around him.
"Wow, didn't see that fucking coming," Felix rolled his eyes, "Ok, new plan. 10, L'il Red, you find the Grimm's goddamn beacon! Ice Queen, Rootin' Shootin', time to put down a worker riot!"
"...you do realize-" Weiss hissed over the radio.
"You try thinking up a good one-liner when you're getting shot at! Would love to hear it!"
Ben tapped into his radio signal and acted like nothing was wrong. "Y-yeah! Got it! Come on, Rue!"
Ruby knew Ben would only call her 'Rue' if they were alone, or if something was up. She tightened her grip on Crescent Rose, before she took off to find the beacon.
"Going for knock outs, right?" Kylie asked, loading True Rebel full of lightning Dust rounds.
"Definitely," Weiss said, snapping Myrtenaster's chamber closed, "I distract, you shoot!" With one quick flip of the blades, Weiss jabbed the rapier blade to the pavement, creating a summoning Glyph before her. She went for a different approach this time around. Instead of a giant armored gauntlet emerging, a pair of insectoid wings emerged, as if they had just burst free from a chrysalis.
Felix took some shots from behind cover, though he wasn't really looking where he was aiming. None of the shots because of that, but it did force some of Fiefstone's loyalists to take cover. Before one was able to take another shot, one of the warehouse's windows shattered as a giant, glowing white wasp flew in.
"What the fuck?!" a worker shouted, "A Queen Lancer?!"
Weiss was riding atop it, firing out 'arrows' of ice and various other dusts near the workers to throw them off balance. Kylie was quick to fire, hitting her targets with pinpoint accuracy. One! Two! Three! Three workers fell to the ground, twitching from the surge of energy.
"Over there!" one of them said, taking aim at Kylie and firing off a few shots as well. She turned to mist and quickly took cover, reloading the next few bullets needed for this. With their fire distracted, Felix emerged from behind cover and fired off a few bursts of assault rifle fire. Two more workers fell as they caught bullets in the chest and neck, respectively.
"Nice going there!" Felix shouted as he charged into the fight.
Kylie didn't say anything. She just quickly began firing again. Where's that worker he was with from earlier? Kylie wondered. I'm sure he would've come running. Unless...
More bullets came Kylie's way, snapping her out of that train of thought. One of the shooters was tackled by Felix, with the Atlas elite quickly slamming the butt of his rifle into the worker's face.
Felix shot her a thumbs up, but Kylie spun around and rapid fired at a bunch of workers that were about to attack from behind. Kylie's quick trigger finger was enough to even put Felix to shame.
Ben acted like nothing happened on comms- but for some reason, I don't believe that, Kylie said, side-eying Felix. He must've done something!
"Ice Queen, on your six!" Felix called out, tossing a knife into the chest of a worker behind Weiss. It was a good thing, too, since he was about to shoot Weiss in the back.
The heiress looked over her shoulder to see the fallen worker, but she didn't say thanks; she just went right back to her work.
"...well that's rude," Felix shrugged.
What's with these kids today? They're acting like I just killed someone. Felix frowned.
...
Oh, yeah. I did. But they're not PISSED about that, are they? Did 10 seriously spy on me?
"Hey, 10, where are you?" Felix radioed in, shooting another worker with his pistol, "Still in a firefight out here, but thought I should check in!"
"We're almost to the cold storage locker!" Ben yelled, just now regrouping with Ruby. "We'll check in with you later!"
"Well get a move on!" Felix shouted.
Ben went back to his regular size and removed his head gear. Before addressing Ruby, he double-checked all of his communication gadgets and switched them off. "He...he killed them both."
"What!? Why'd he do it this time?" Ruby said.
"They insulted him!" Ben shrugged.
"That...that's it? An insult and he went right to murder?!" Ruby yelled, also making sure her comms were off.
"Yeah! Something about being one of 'Ironwood's lackeys,'" Ben recounted.
"Jeez. He's...unhinged. Like, really unhinged." Ruby frowned.
"Report it to Ironwood later." Ben frowned. "Take care of the orb now!"
"On it!' Ruby said, grabbing a hold of Ben, "No time to change forms! We need speed!"
"Hey, what are you-WOAHHHHHHHH-" Ruby pulled Ben into her slipstream, and began bolting and twisting around every corner. They soon arrived at their destination- the locker.
Ruby landed holding Ben bridal style. Ben was breathing heavily, and a bit flustered. "I...am not used to that." He admitted.
"I figured," Ruby winked, letting him down before drawing Crescent Rose, "You wanna bust the door down or me?"
"All yours," Ben said.
Ruby smirked and first tried kicking the locker door open. When it didn't budge, she flourished Crescent Rose and, with the energy blade activated, she cut through the door's lock and then kicked it open. The locker doors slammed into the frost-covered walls, fish stacked in packages filled most of the room. Ruby shivered a bit as she stepped inside, but she tried to ignore the cold and simply find the orb. Where could it be hidden in here?
Ben readjusted his mask and began scanning the area for any anomalous patterns of energy signatures. Almost immediately, he focused on something. He pointed to a box that was not far away. "That's what we want."
Ruby grinned. "Way to go, Nanomech."
With that, Ruby made her way over to the box and, without a moment's hesitation, she brought the scythe blade down and cut the box in half. The pieces of the orb clattered to the ground as a cloud of raw fear "mist" rose up from the remains.
Ruby made a face. "Ugh. I can't believe that was powering these things...but why's it affecting the Omnitrix?"
Ben paused to think. "Call me crazy, but...I think the Omnitrix's self defense mechanism is responding to the 'vibes'. It's selecting the best aliens for the job, based on the mix of emotions. Or, something. That's my theory."
"Raw emotions would be something the watch wouldn't know how to deal with...especially like this," Ruby gestured to the remnants of the mist.
"I need to maybe 'repower' the core or something. As...soon as I figure out how to do that. Or maybe Ceres can. I kinda miss having access to all the fellas." Ben sighed.
"You'll get 'em back, don't worry," Ruby reassured.
"I just wanna go Toepick and scare the daylights out of Felix. Is that too much to ask?" Ben sighed.
"Hmmm...Toepick might be off the table for now," Ruby hummed, "but you can still humiliate him in other ways."
"I guess." Ben said, as he 'reverted' back from Nanomech (the suit just went back into the Omnitrix). "But still...how do we deal with him from here?"
"Obviously report him to Ironwood at the first chance we get, but...nothing's outing him as a traitor yet," Ruby hummed.
"He's just sorta. Mentally unhinged. And call me crazy, but dude's like that SHOULDN'T be holding guns." Ben said.
"Tyrian found a way to get guns and he's just like Felix, just...a different kind of unhinged," Ruby sighed, "Here's hoping the other team's doing better."
