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Chapter 29: Hide And Seek
It had taken a little over two hours for Team MARZ, accompanied by Wolfram Ironside and transported by Felix Xiao Long to reach their destination.
A little over two hours in which Astra was certain that they had never been more uncomfortable in their life.
Firstly their brothers' vintage and heavily modified muscle car, dubbed the Killer Bee had once been modified to accommodate Astra's antlers by the Deer Faunus's father, however those alterations had been made some years ago and the growth Astra had undergone since then left the tips of their antlers and Mohawk brushing annoyingly against the roof and in turn left the apologising profusely to Felix with each scraping noise that followed a bump in the road. Furthermore, Astra had spent the entire journey thus-far being subjected to what felt more like an interrogation or at the very least a thorough debriefing about their relationship with Wolfram, their fellow team leader being similarly grilled as he sat in the back seat of the Killer Bee flanked by Athena-Jade and Zirconia, the former of whom seemed to take the kind of innocent yet sadistic joy that only a younger sibling could by fidgeting and making herself comfortable as much as possible whilst Regalia trailed behind them all; riding Clunker which Felix was both impressed and somewhat miffed to see could keep up with his prized car so easily, the Racoon Faunus declaring that she was happy to give up her seat in the car to allow Wolfram to join them as it allowed her an excuse to put her jetbike through its' paces in a way that Port Alistair's traffic laws prevented.
The absence of their partner felt like yet another blow to Astra as Felix's probing continue.
"So have you told Myrtle and Redwood yet? What does your Old Man think of you two dating?" the blonde Lion Faunus asked in a tone far more conversational and seemingly uninterested that the teasing that had come before it, a tone which cemented in Astra's mind that their half-brother knew exactly what they were doing and precisely how big of a can of worms they were opening; for several moments they remained silent, brow furrowing and knuckles clenching as they stared dead ahead whilst thinking of an answer to the question only to be left grasping anything they could use to brace and support themselves when Felix, growing bored of waiting for an answer gave the steering wheel a short but violent jerk which sent the Killer Bee veering into a swerve that sprayed a cloud of brick red dust behind the car, paved roads having long since been abandoned.
"What the fuck man?" Wolfram snapped, seemingly forgetting himself and his place in the relative hierarchy for a split second, only to double down and lock eyes with Felix when the Lion Faunus glanced over his shoulder in the younger man's direction, tanned features that so closely resembled his siblings', making their relationship unmistakeable morphing into a toothy smile that bordered on feral.
"There a problem back there in the cheap seats?" now the Lion Faunus's teasing tone was back, though it was accompanied by something dangerous, a frosty edge that grated against Wolfram's nerves and had the young man half way to unfastening his seatbelt so that he could show the man before him that no matter who he might be and despite his reputation Wolfram Ironside was not someone that he could easily intimidate. Before the younger man could make any choices of the stupid and irreversible variety he felt the air be knocked from his lungs by the thumping impact of a forearm against his armoured chest whilst the voice of Athena-Jade, clearly annoyed and filled with a commanding aura came to Wolfram's defence, much to his surprise.
"Fluffy knock it off, you're being a dunderhead….Keep your eyes on the road"
"Alright, alright" Felix laughed turning around in his seat and abandoning his tormenting of both Astra and Wolfram to instead focus on the open space ahead "Dunderhead….that's a new one, usually I just suck. Aunt Weiss teach you that?"
"Aunt Winter" Athena-Jade replied sheepishly, squirming uncomfortably at her own choice of insult even as her friends mouthed their silent thanks to her.
"I can't repeat the stuff Aunt Winter uses most of the time in front of you kids" Felix laughed again, allowing the atmosphere within the car to relax for a moment before adding "Anyway, we're nearly here"
"Where are we….What the hell is that?" Astra mouthed out, barely above a whisper yet still clearly heard as they took in the sight of the building they were rapidly approaching. On closer inspection the word house did not fit the structure at all, firstly it was far too large and if asked Athena would likely have compared the scope of the thing to Schnee Manor though it was far less grandiose despite a baroque appearance which clearly aped a far older style; part of the reason for this lesser degree of extravagance was the simple and unmissable fact that the building was incomplete, it's construction having been approached in an oddly haphazard and almost lackadaisical manner that left a high-fenced outer perimeter wall only partially built whilst a driveway behind said wall led towards an enormous fountain styled to resemble some ferocious Grimm being wrestled to the ground by an armoured knight, though any water features if they had ever functioned had long since ceased to do so and greenish-black mould flecked the things' exterior. The manor itself was similarly discontinued and left with vast swathes of its' roof absent whilst patches of exterior walls seemed to have never been built at all despite the fact that the rooms behind them were plainly visible.
The sight of the unknown building was incongruous to say the least and would, in almost any circumstance be somewhat frightening or disturbing and was only prevented from being so here by the presence of Eagle Arc, the tall blonde woman in her pristine white armour rising from where she had been sat comfortably and eating a sandwich as the Killer Bee approached and extending her left arm so that the sizeable avian and yet distinctly mechanical for of Sentinel, the droid that doubled as her weapon could could land and perch itself before transforming into a shield with a series of chirps and beeps; revealing that the students had likely had previously unseen air support for at least some of the journey.
Astra's confusion quickly spread to the other students in the vehicle however and the moment the muscle car came to a halt, tires skidding unnecessarily they scrabbled out with the Deer Faunus coming face to face with their partner an instant later as Regalia brought Clunker to a similarly obnoxiously loud stop.
"Her weapon is awesome!" the Racoon Faunus gestured animatedly at Eagle before seeming to remember what she had intended to say in the first place and continuing with equal gusto "I have no memory of this place….Which is odd considering, but are you guys okay? What was that swerve for? I-"
"That was just Fluffy being a dick" Astra cast a glower in their brother's direction which only served to cause the Lion Faunus to give his sibling a mocking thumbs up in response as he leaned against his car and waited for Eagle to make her way over to them.
"Hey, is our perimeter clear?" Felix asked nonchalantly.
"No Grimm are going to be coming from the outside" she answered, several of the teens noting something odd about that choice of words until her freckled face morphed into something of a pout and she gave her partner of over a decade a playful punch on the shoulder "Were you picking on them?"
"I was just getting 'em properly riled up for their training" Felix attempted to affect an earnest and pleading tone, yet failed miserably as was proven by the answer that came unannounced from behind the group.
"You were being a cretin, so par for the course" the group turned as one, those unfamiliar with the speaker recoiling in surprise with Regalia letting out a quickly muffled sight of the Shark Faunus whose gaunt and pallid form stood at comfortably over six feet tall and whose flesh was tinged grey and littered with tribal tattoos that were largely hidden by his current attire which included an oversized black, hooded cloak which obscured his features and billowed dramatically around him in the slightest breeze.
Carcharodon Gore, leader of Team GORE, Captain of the Nemesis Kharybdis, leader of what little remained of the Frost River Tribe, former asset of the Atlas Specialists and advisor to Syneffo Nikos, representative of the Anima Diaspora.
"Oh! Hey Car" Athena-Jade tried her best to sound upbeat and unbothered, yet simply made it clear that she was trying far too hard "Are you too hot in that? Seriously, where you're from is almost as cold as Atlas, you've gotta be sweating under there-"
"Whelp, be silent" Carcharodon rasped, words a slow and sibilant hiss with a grating metallic edge to them that left the Bear Faunus' jaw closing with an audible click though Carcharodon did lower the hood of his cloak to reveal a mouth filled with sharp teeth which pulled into the slightest of smiles, an utterly hairless grey skull which bore yet more tribal markings, namely a stylised depiction of a shark which curled around his left cheek and temple to frame one of his bottomless, pitch black eyes.
"So does anybody wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?" Wolfram demanded irritably "Cos it looks like we've been brought all the way out into the middle of nowhere, to….seriously is this Old Man Marble's house?"
"Oh you've heard of it?" Eagle answered brightly
"Yeah 'Old Man Marble who lost his marbles' but I didn't know it was real" Wolfram admitted, beginning to explain as he saw Team MARZ turning to him in silent questioning "Basically some old money Mistrali madman tried to move out to Menagerie in the early days of the settlement, wanted to make his own little community….Problem is that he had no idea how to do it, wanted his manor rebuilt here perfectly and kept interfering with the construction but he had the lien so he got away with it….Until he didn't"
"Grimm….Or bandits?" Regalia asked, clearly concerned that one of the nomad clans might be implicated.
"Nobody knows" Wolfram shrugged "Basically the construction crews got other jobs and quit but Old Man Marble refused to leave so he just lived in his half-finished mansion until something came and got him….so obviously people say this place is haunted but like I said, I thought the whole thing was just a story"
"Okay seriously?" Astra looked at their brother, utterly aghast "I rescheduled a date so you could have us go looking for a body, that's your idea of training?"
"Wait what?" Felix blinked in surprise a few times before mentally connecting the dots and promptly bursting out laughing "Nah, nah that's not the training, but I get why it looks messed up"
"We're going to be carrying on where the head to head training exercise that Professor Altan is putting the other teams through today left off" Eagle interjected, taking the lead "It's a mission to see if you can detain a rogue element. Carcharodon is going to set up inside the creepy abandoned house and you'll be working in pairs to apprehend him, he won't be going on the attack but he is allowed to evade-"
"So hide and seek?" Wolfram noted dispassionately, arms folding across his armoured chest "You brought us out here to play hide and seek, really?"
"Boy hold your tongue before I decide you no longer need it" Carcharodon's snarl was low and dangerous, any biting retort that the younger man intended to shoot back vanishing when he saw Felix and Eagle both step forward in case they needed to break things up, speaking volumes about just how prepared the Shark Faunus was to use violence as part of his attempts to educate.
"Okay so let's make it interesting then" Felix interrupted "Hundred lien to the winning team….But I only see five people, someone is gonna have to be the odd one out"
"Regalia" Astra breathed out, a guilty expression crossing their features as they shuffled uncomfortably and looked at their own scuffed sneakers rather than their partners' face "Would you mind if I-"
"Sure, heh it's fine, I get it, it's fine….No really" the words left the Racoon Faunus at a rapid fire pace as she lowered her goggles over her eyes once again, hiding much of her own expression from view in a display that filled the entire general vicinity with a heavy, oppressive sense of awkwardness which was somehow both simultaneously brushed away and at the same time magnified by Felix's next words.
"Questionable move there kid, hey Eagle did I ever abandon you on a mission-"
"Oh come on it's a training exercise, I'm not abandoning her on a mission!" Astra objected, arms waving in impotent outrage at the accusation whilst Athena-Jade winced, glancing over to Regalia to ensure that she was in fact okay and Wolfram glowered at Felix, rapidly growing irate at the Lion Faunus's attitude. Eventually however the tension was breached once again, this time by Carcharodon's disgruntled huff.
"Teenagers" the Shark Faunus muttered before departing to take this place within the abandoned manor house and in doing so showing Team MARZ and Wolfram exactly how he had appeared without warning behind them and why he was the one being tasked with evading the students, his Semblance allowed his body to melt into a liquid state and soak into the ground where it moved like a shadow attached to no physical object, streaking across the blasted and cracked earth and into the bowels of the building ahead.
"Impressive" Zirconia murmured, expression hardening as her mind raced and she turned to face the remaining veteran Hunters "But this almost seems too easy, what aren't you telling us?"
"Take it from someone who's had to try and track that guy down before, easy is the last thing it is" Felix grumbled, earning himself another playful swat from his partner.
"We'll give him five minutes to get set up, Regalia if you're sure you're going on your own then take my contact details in case you run into any trouble….I don't know what scroll reception is like here but at least it's something. Felix go get the cuffs, they'll need them to try and catch Car"
"Wait" Astra started "What trouble would she be running into?" the Deer watched, with sudden and unshakeable concern for their partner and a fresh wave of shame as Regalia rechecked her weapon out of habit whilst Athena-Jade and Zirconia partnered up without a single word needing to be exchanged between them.
"Well see, that's the catch" Felix noted as he flung heavy sets of what appeared to be decommissioned Aura dampening handcuffs to each of the teens "We actually didn't check the house when we were sweeping the area, so you kids are gonna have to keep your eyes open and your guard up"
"So it could be full of Grimm" Athena-Jade surmised.
"Exactly"
"What kind of Grimm can we expect to be dealing with?" the Bear Faunus fought back a grimace at the information, though she supposed she should have expected it.
"Absolutely no idea" Felix grinned "Now go have fun".
Whilst one half of the legendary Team FADE were currently attending to the education of the next generation of Hunters out in the wastelands of Menagerie it's remaining pair had found themselves in the capital city of Port Alistair, a relatively short distance from where the Nemesis Kharybdis, the ship that served as their home was still docked.
Arctus Slate had found himself in a marketplace that was both crowded and bustling, many workers from nearby dockyards and factories having finished their shifts early that Friday afternoon and chosen to attend to any shopping that they might need or simply enjoy a good meal and well deserved drinks in the sunlight which seemed to be a persistent facet of Menagerie's climate, even if its' current bright freshness was a far cry from the scorching and airless heat that had razed the city only a few short months prior; though Arctus as a native of Atlas would hardly complain about this. Casting pale sapphire eyes around cramped surroundings whilst also trying to hone and focus other senses that were equally heightened the towering and muscular Bear Faunus found himself stuck by just how unique Port Alistair truly was; to say it was far removed from the comfort and solitude of Schnee Manor was an understatement of cosmic proportions yet even several years living in New Vale and travelling across Remnant as a Hunter did not adequately prepare the man for the sights, sounds and smells that greeted him here, architecture, food, accents and people from all across Remnant gathered together in a single place that served as a more promising and hopeful example of what might be than gestures such as the Vytal Tournament.
And yet still it was plagued and soured by crime of the worst sort.
"Heads up Big Guy, we've got movement." Diamond's voice sounded slightly tinny in his ear, denoting that either the famously poor CCT reception of the island Kingdom was even worse than rumoured or possibly simply that the earpiece he was wearing was in need of replacement, it had after all gone several missions without being checked for damage.
Currently Diamond was somewhere out of sight, likely at a high vantage point achieved through the use of her Semblance from which she could observe Arctus and his interactions with those around him as part of their attempts to draw out the Grimm smugglers and the small army of other, lesser criminals likely in their employ within the city.
"I see 'em" Arctus murmured, voice dropping to little more than a whisper in an effort to not be heard by the group approaching him as he saw that more than one of their number was a Faunus with hearing likely comparable to his own; the group consisted of a little less than a dozen boys, most of them in their mid to late teens clad in hoodies and tracksuits with hats pulled low over their faces, a disorganised rabble at best yet still not a threat that could be entirely dismissed; hailing from one of Mistral's most dangerous cities Diamond would remind her husband that younger boys had committed murder and it did not take a great deal of training or experience to stab someone in the back.
"Can I help you?" Arctus kept his voice even as the teens drew close and fought an impulse to reach over his shoulder and draw the oversized and black-bladed great-sword that was sheathed there that had become instinct after so many years of hunting Grimm.
"Holy shit it is him" the whisper rose above the droning buzz of mutterings that passed between the group until one of their number, a clear leader judging by his easy and swaggering confidence stepped forward and lowered his hood enough to reveal himself to be a dark-skinned feline Faunus with ears and hair decorated with a tortoiseshell pattern who could have been no older than sixteen.
"You're Arctus Slate right?" the boy asked cautious and yet hopeful.
"I am" Arctus nodded, keeping his weapon sheathed but also flexing his left hand and preparing to conjure a glyph in his palm in case this was a set up of some kind; his answer was received with more muttering which went some way to ease the veteran Hunter's mind as he began to realise what was happening.
"You uh….I mean it probably doesn't mean anything to you, it was probably just another job but you saved my sister's life a few years ago" the lead teen informed him "She was on a ship to Mistral for a job and Grimm forced it onto an island-"
"The intrepid, ran aground over six hours away from the shore and it took us three days to push the Grimm back enough for an evac….I remember that job" Arctus answered solemnly, he may not have remembered this boy's family specifically but he remembered the harrowed and terrified faces of those who thought their lives were about to be cut short until he had flung himself in front of the amphibious horrors that stalked them.
"Bro can we get a picture with your sword? I need that as a profile pic!" one of the other teens, a scrawny thing with a serpentine tail wrapped loosely around his waist called out.
"You couldn't even lift it" a human teen snorted.
"I'm not letting you handle Grimmiger-Henker, it's not a toy" Arctus answered bluntly, before letting out a sigh and adding what he knew he needed to "But if you want a picture…."
"Awesome" the feline who had approached him first gestured for his group of friends to close ranks around him and a moment later he produced his scroll so that he could snap several pictures of the group with the famous Huntsman, after several photographs Arctus decided that it was time for him to get back to work and so he quickly found the perfect sentence to put an end to the situation.
"So how come you're not at school today?" he asked, tapping one of the younger teens on the shoulder, the question being answered by a round of hasty and incoherent muttering before the group of boys quickly excused themselves, hoods and hats being pulled low over their faces once again as they attempted to retain at least some of their confidant image in their escape.
"Wow, they didn't even try and make an excuse….I would say AJ could have done better, but did she ever skip school, did you?" Diamond's voice had an unmistakeably amused edge to it as she commented on the situation and Arctus gave a brief grin as his eyes scanned the nearby rooftops, surreptitiously searching for his wife's current position but failing to find it.
"At the schools we went to? They'd notify our parents and have retired Hunters sent out to find us within ten minutes of us not turning up to class" he answered with a suppressed chuckle, meandering slowly through the marketplace once again as he added "Still, at least it didn't turn into a complete circus; we want people to see me but that would've been too much"
"Yeah but I think you're starting to enjoy it" Diamond teased.
"I don't mind people coming up to me and asking for photos and stuff like that when it's because of us being Hunters" Arctus sighed, understanding what she was getting at "I just never liked it growing up because it was always just because of the family name….any sign of anything yet"
"Let me take a look" Diamond murmured, quickly falling silent again as she began scanning the faces of the bustling crowd. Their plan had been a simple but hopefully effective one, the fame of Team FADE, their allies and the ship in which they travelled in made any amount of true stealth all but impossible and so a solution had been found, instead when the situation called for going unseen Team FADE would often send Arctus, easily the most recognisable of them into the most crowded area they could find and use the attention that he garnered to slip quietly into wherever they needed to be or, in cases like this simply sit back and watch as whoever it may be that they were tracking was forced to show their hand.
"Hey big guy, think I got something" Diamond warned "Behind you….Don't turn around, walk forwards, take the next left and double back"
"Okay, what am I looking at?" Arctus asked even as he did as instructed, trusting Diamond's advice without question.
"Small group, black overalls. They look like dockworkers but they've got weapons stashed on 'em"
"These are the guys we're looking for?" Arctus couldn't help but keep a hopeful note out of his voice, after so many days of feeling like a performing animal it seemed that their still unknown quarry was finally making a move.
"Looks like-Yeah this is them" Diamond quickly cut herself off "As soon as you were out of sight they turned back and ran for the docks, head after 'em but don't sprint and give it away"
"Got it" Arctus nodded, picking up his pace and doubling back in order to give chase "You still got eyes on 'em?"
"Looks like they're heading for the freight docks through some backstreets, I can keep tracking them without being seen" Diamond assured him.
"Good, I'll see you there" Arctus breathed out, mentally preparing himself for a confrontation with the lackeys of a criminal empire that clearly put even the ambitions of Rhodium Torchwick to shame.
Whatever happened, they would get answers today.
"This is fine" Regalia said to nobody in particular, grinning to herself as she did so when the image of a cartoon dog surrounded by flames came unbidden to her mind. The Racoon Faunus had harboured a love of all things relating to the Kingdoms that set her apart from her peers within Clan Aiktishaf since childhood, more notably every aspect of life as a Hunter and the movies that beggared belief and often left her in awe, however before coming to Port Alistair and spending time with people her own age raised in the Kingdoms the concept of memes had been an entirely foreign one to her, although with her pre-existing, if spotty knowledge of pop-culture she had been a quick study.
However, all of that was currently besides the point.
She had entered the unfinished mansion belonging to the presumably deceased 'Old Man Marble' alone, allowing Astra to work alongside Wolfram with whom her partner had originally intended to once again spend the entire day and was now currently prowling a seemingly endless maze of corridors whose destinations remained a mystery, leaving the nomadic wanderer unsure of whether the mind behind this place was an eccentric with a penchant for secret tunnels and passageways or simply a novice when it came to designing buildings. The innards of the mansion were much like its' exterior insofar as they were an image of faded glory, unrealised potential and the end result of far more lien than sense yet here Regalia could not help feel a shiver running down her spine with each empty room she searched no matter how hard she tried to ignore it or tell herself that she had watched one too many classic horror movies; the hallways of the mansion were dark, dusty and close, winding seemingly endlessly and without reason though this was not what unnerved her, Regalia was well acquainted with such things after growing up within the confines of the Aiktishaf, unlike her clan's massive and endlessly altered and repaired dune crawler however her current surroundings were filled with a silence and stillness that sat poorly with her.
Especially when she could not shake the feeling of being watched.
"Heh, it's okay" she forced herself to shrug dismissively and adjust her grip on her shotgun "Just gotta remember the rules, don't say that I'll be right back, don't do drugs, don't have sex with anybody….Pretty easy considering I'm on my own right?" her rambling to herself gave way to a long sigh of mild annoyance as she came a halt and lifted her goggles from her face, the dust in the air was already beginning to coat their lenses and the slight tint to them made it difficult to see in this darkness even for Faunus eyes; giving herself a moment to readjust she shifted Apex Scavenger into its' quarterstaff sized pickaxe form with a mechanical clanking that echoed uncomfortably loudly in the gloom and as she rested her weight on the weapon, which sunk into ruined wooden floorboards she first strained her ears to see if she could find any trace of where either Carcharodon Gore or any of her friends might be,
When that failed she decided to take a moment and simply think.
"This should not be this hard" she grumbled to herself, though her complaints were not about the training mission itself which she could complete with a simple use of her Semblance but was currently choosing not to out a sense of fairness that came with being raised in a communal environment where almost everything was scarce, an outlook that would not be changed just because her partner had managed to irk her. She understood that Astra and Wolfram were an item, she supported her partner wholeheartedly in that regard however, after so many years of feeling like an outcast within her closely knit clan she simply wished that she didn't have to trade her own happiness for that of the Deer Faunus; the sense of belonging that she'd found within Team MARZ had been a wonderful thing and now she could feel it beginning to slip away and she had no idea how to remedy the matter.
"They wouldn't understand" she sighed, dismissing the idea of simply asking or stating her complaints outright and rubbing her hands together absently as she considered that she might've been in a better position if she had been more insistent early on, telling her friends the inner workings of Clan Aiktishaf and what was expected of its' people only for expression to morph into one of supreme sadness as she remembered Team MARZ's troubled beginnings and how even then Astra had gravitated towards their other friends.
"Guess I'm always gonna be an odd little duck" she swallowed thickly, a weak and trembling smile forcing itself onto her face as she used one of her mother's nicknames for her before promptly forcing her mind to abandon such impractical lines of thinking and instead focus on the task at hand.
She was going to catch that Shark Faunus, give the lien to Astra and Wolfram for their date and then proceed to be insufferable about it.
"Heh, kill 'em with kindness" she grinned before pulling her weapon free from where it had sunk into the floor and beginning to once again prowl the length of the corridor at a hesitant pace until she saw a door that, rather than being simply poorly made had obviously been deliberately damaged.
"Okay, let's see what else is in here" she murmured, examining where the door had been torn apart by savage claws before kicking it open with a yell "I'M HERE TO KICK ASS AND CHEW BUBBLE GUM AND I'M ALL OUT OF GUM….Damn it, that would have worked better if it was still in shotgun mode….Okay "THIS IS MY BOOM STICK!"
Regalia was also forced to concede that her quip would have been more effective were it not delivered exclusively to an audience of statues.
"Heh….So super rich people really are weird, not just in the movies" Regalia muttered, resolving to ask Athena-Jade and Zirconia if their families' had any such peculiarities as she made her way into what might have been intended to be a bedroom, panning Apex Scavenger which was once again in its' ranged form across the width of the room as she did so yet finding nothing other what had first drawn her attention.
A collection of over a dozen, life-sized flamingo statues, each sculpted in what appeared to be marble; albeit with some unidentifiable shot through its' creamy off-white surface.
"Okay, time to go find the guy with the tribal tattoos" the Racoon Faunus said to herself after a while, bushy tail swishing behind her as she tapped the side of her weapon in lieu of any glass bottles to clink together whilst quoting another movie "Warriors, come out to play-ay! Warriors, come out to play!" with that she exited the room filled with statues that she could only assume had been intended to fill the corridor at some later date when the manor had been completed, briefly debating using her Semblance of 'Look-See' once again before deciding against it and instead trying to decide where she might hide if she had a Semblance like Carcharodon Gore's.
In her concentration she never saw the attack coming.
"What the heck?" she demanded as she was smashed forcefully into the opposite wall with a thumping crash and her Aura rippling out from the point where she had been struck in the back with the force and sudden shock of the assault knocking Apex Scavenger from her hand, the shotgun hitting the floor and clattering a few paces away. Gritting her teeth and realising that she was unharmed, though the relationship between Aura and body would likely leave her sore for some time the Racoon Faunus prepared to dart forwards and retrieve her weapon.
Only to be halted by her attackers' foot, decidedly not that of Carcharodon Gore to plant itself on the barrel, making it clear that Regalia would have to fight to reclaim it.
"Seriously?" she demanded, equally surprised and frankly offended as she realised exactly what had attacked her.
Life was going well for Rowan Oralie, as was confirmed by the smirk currently on her face which went far beyond her usual sneering display of control.
For several weeks now, since before her uncharacteristically brazen but ultimately necessary attempt to intimidate Major Grapeshot and Carmesi Hueso, or to at least be seen doing so by her own underlings the scarlet haired criminals' attempts to return things within Menagerie's criminal underworld to something their previous status quo had been making steady but noticeable headway. Naturally the most viable pathway to such a restoration would come from re-establishing contact with the former backers of the Desert Claw operation, or at least those amongst the group of moneyed and amoral elites who were at liberty to fund such an operation again and whilst Rowan's small and cautious attempts to make contact with those nameless and faceless figures with whom Persian Green had dealt had technically proven unsuccessful it was clear that her efforts had not gone unnoticed as certain gifts and boons had been delivered to her, through a convoluted web of connections with a cryptic but clear message that certain services and favours would be expected in order to make such generosity a more regular occurrence.
Thus emboldened by this gesture Rowan reached out to other criminal organisations whose trades were far removed from her own gruesome business but with whom she could find common ground and business opportunities, especially given her underlings' current control of smuggling in and out of the Kingdom's capital through the docks she had been forced to take up work at; from there the redhead had found herself with a ready supply of weapons, narcotics and other such illicit, counterfeit or stolen goods along with a greatly increasing number of avenues to distribute it which had led to her approaching her supposed handlers out in the wasteland, to either reach an agreement that could keep the still unknown benefactor looming over them all appeased or else simply murder the two rogue Hunters and install herself as the knew kingpin of Menagerie.
In giving her his, albeit unwilling blessing to resume her other illegal businesses on the condition that she still be available to attend to the benefactor's whims Major Grapeshot had, unwillingly started Rowan hoped would be the end of the Hunter's interference.
She was still working at the docks, however now she was free to abandon the pretence of being a lowly menial worker.
"Another busy day in the office" the sneering redhead chuckled to herself as she lounged comfortably in a larger and more comfortable seat than should have been the standard that had been added to the cab of a large, but currently decommissioned crane which rose high above the docks and the vast maze of shipping containers below that comprised it. The cab did indeed serve as her office, with the redhead spending several hours here most days conducting business through secure and encrypted CCT channels over a series of disposable scrolls and a laptop that could not be tied to her unless she was physically caught with it; this set up allowed her to maintain the illusion of having a legal source of income and, more importantly to conduct business without being bothered by the less capable of her underlings in person so regularly as the cab was only large enough for one person and even the dimmest of thugs understood that delivering bad news or complaining to Rowan whilst balancing precariously on the ladder leading to her cab would end badly for them.
Yet still bad news found ways to reach her.
"Now what?" she demanded with an aggravated huff as one of her scrolls vibrated, setting aside the last morsels of a seafood lunch from the nearby diner that she had been giving serious consideration to buying as a front business when her supremacy within Port Alistair was more certain. Checking the offending device her annoyance turned quickly to apprehension as she scanned the message she had received and realised that the time for a matter that was inevitable, despite her misgivings had come.
Team FADE had come looking for her crew.
Rowan had of course been aware of what Arctus Slate and his wife were doing for several days now, only a fool could have missed the obvious ruse of using the famous Bear Faunus as a decoy whilst Diamond Slate remained out of sight and the only reason it had gone on for as long as it had was because Rowan feared that reacting might spring a more elaborate trap, a not unfounded concern considering that several of the Hunters who allegedly shared the Nemesis Kharybdis were still unaccounted for.
However the message had come from one of her people had briefly, hurriedly explained that they had encountered the pair of famous Hunters at the nearby market and were certain that they were being tailed and were preparing to lay their own ambush to keep them from uncovering anything that would prove more incriminating than a simple assault charge.
Rowan was not naive enough to think that they would be successful, but it would give her time to think and it might even be amusing.
"Let's see these meatheads earn the lien I pay 'em" the redhead muttered as she used her laptop, a truly invaluable purchase to work her way into various security camera feeds in and around the docks; a feat done by simply intimidating the management of the docks that she had now effectively taken over rather than any masterful display of hacking. Quickly finding her employees Rowan was left utterly appalled at their display as she watched them be caught unaware and dispatched with calm efficiency despite nominally being the ones to spring the trap; a handful of goons charged stupidly at Arctus Slate only to run into the solid wall of glyphs that his Semblance created and promptly flung backwards, from there those that remained at least began to show the good sense to take cover only for them to be picked off by Diamond Slate who dropped into their midst and began hurling grown men and women around as if they weighed nothing, with her husband finishing matters by using his summoned Grimm to tackle and pin several thugs to the ground whilst the final member of the disorganised mob, upon daring to try and charge Diamond was simply picked up by the scruff of his neck by Arctus Slate and slammed face-first into the side of a shipping container with a blow that Rowan was sure would have made her wince if she had been able to hear it.
"Well shit" she breathed out, scowling and pursing her lips as she considered her next move. Her thugs had played their hand and proved beyond all doubt that the docks were still a criminal base of operation which would likely give Team FADE the justification they needed to search everything in sight, especially given that they were good friends with Headmistress and Councilwoman Coco Adel; with that in mind she realised that she would likely need to move much of her holdings and assets as, vast as the docks might be it was simply to risky to hope that the Hunters and police might overlook what was important.
"Gotta do everything my damn self" Rowan spat harshly as she resigned herself to the fact that it was time for another bout of uncharacteristically rash and brazen direct action, though she comforted herself with the knowledge that she would at least not be directly involved and had a measure of separation from the coming violence. Opening another program on her laptop she cracked her knuckles and flexed her fingers before activating one of the largest and most impressive of the gifts given to her by the former backers of the Grimm fight club; the product had clearly been intended for use in subduing larger monsters for when the Desert Claw returned to its' former glory however, when delivering it the representative of the wealthy cabal, like the proxy of another proxy had made it clear through their implications that the tool would also be most effective in dealing with other nuisances and threats to their operations.
It was clear that they had been referring to Grapeshot and Carmesi at the time but at that moment they were not the only Hunters intent on causing problems and so Rowan would have to give her new toy its' first trial run against the Slate family instead.
She allowed herself another, more sadistic sneer as the sound of mechanical clanking from somewhere far below her reached her ears.
"Am I the only one who thinks it's strange that we haven't really seen any Grimm?" Athena-Jade asked as she and Zirconia moved quietly, side by side through the corridors whose oppressive gloominess seemed to limit even their keen vision more than one might expect.
"Consider it fortunate….Who knows, Old Man Marble, if he really did build this house could have died of natural causes; maybe there's no Grimm here" Zirconia's words were slow and even, a carefully measured facsimile of reasonability that might have fooled somebody who did not spend almost every day by the Grasshopper Faunus's side as Athena-Jade did; as it was Zirconia's partner face scrunched into an expression of disbelief.
"Pfft nah"
"You're right, I'm being far far too hopeful….And with our luck and track record we should probably find somewhere safe before the house inevitably collapses" Zirconia's dry wit and deadpan delivery left Athena snorting out her laughter however a moment later she had gathered herself, the comment serving as impetus for her to check her surroundings, dimly lit as they were once again to try and get some sense of their bearings.
The pair had been several stories above the ground and likely still were, though they could not truthfully be certain after they had taken several detours that might eventually prove to shortcuts upon finding their entrances hanging open or otherwise unfinished, the narrow and winding paths slanting at angles that could have taken the partners to other floors of the vast manor and then from there they had ventured even further from what might have been an official layout by cutting through places where interior walls were either incomplete, damaged or entirely absent and clambering through holes that had been left where wooden floorboards had given way. Currently Athena and Zirconia had found themselves in another winding corridor lined with doors like countless others that they had encountered thus far, most of the doors were locked though it was entirely possible that Carcharodon Gore could have been behind any of them however neither teen had heard any traces of movement of breathing.
"So, how does this compare to Schnee Manor? Does your home have more secret passageways or less?" Zirconia asked, mismatched eyes studying Athena's expression and surmising that she was trying to make sense of their surroundings.
"This place has way more" Athena answered absently, blinking and giving her partner her full attention a moment later "We've got a couple hidden corridors and panic rooms that were added, I've never needed to use them but my parents made sure I knew where they were, this place is just excessive though, anyone living here would have got lost and caught before they made it to safety….What about your house?"
"My guardian and I live in an apartment" Zirconia pointed out delicately "It's a very nice apartment, penthouse, probably larger than several houses….But I live in Neo Vale, it's a Hive-City"
"Right, no room for mansions" Athena murmured, privately cursing herself for making a fool of herself whilst Zirconia, utterly unbothered by the comment and seemingly in an unusually talkative mood, perhaps in an act of defiance against a silence that even she found oppressive asked another question.
"Carcharodon Gore, fortunately the rules of this game don't involve fighting him….his Semblance seems like it might be able to counter my own" she paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant "You seemed scared of him, what's your impression of him?"
"It's complicated, kinda dumb" Athena admitted with a sigh and a shrug before continuing as she realised that her partner expected a more proper answer "Okay so everybody is on good terms now and Car's team actually worked for my Dad for a while but they uh, they used to be pretty scary people….Then there was one time where Car called my scroll to send a message to my Dad, this was before we'd met face to face; I heard that voice of his and I was only a kid, I spent half of the call trying to get him to eat chicken soup or get some medicine-"
"I can….imagine how he took that" Zirconia paused, exhaling slowly through her nose whilst beneath her scarf she bit down on the inside of her own mouth to stop herself from bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laugher.
"Yeah, he's never gonna let me forget that one" Athena replied, shuffling sheepishly as her features showed the battle between bashfulness and sheer chaotic glee "It's not my fault, I was a kid….and besides, look at him! He wears that cape and he talks like that-"
"I wear this scarf….and I have a raspy voice too" Zirconia pointed out slowly, words dropping to little more than a whisper whilst Athena visibly faltered and sputtered, her inner monologue being reduced to nothing but a frantic stream of curses as she sought to course correct her statement.
"Yeah but you're cool though!" she insisted urgently "Way cooler than Car, you actually make the whole brooding on rooftops thing work for you. Everything Car does is just blown out of proportion and done for show so much that even when he isn't trying to do anything it looks like he's trying to hard, he's an edge-lord….You're just natural, everything about you just seems to fit effortlessly….Am I making sense?"
"You're making assumptions" Zirconia answered, hoping that the playful edge to her reply would distract from how off guard she had been caught by Athena's rambling explanation "You think that I don't try to be cool?"
"Yes….No…." Athena trailed off and huffed "Is there any answer I can give here that's actually going to end well for me?"
"Almost certainly not" Zirconia beamed, pink and orange eyes shining in the gloom as she swept her singular curtain of ebony hair away from her face.
"One day Hops" Athena muttered as she turned away "One day I'll figure you out"
"In the meantime we have another edgy Faunus to catch" Zirconia replied, the playful and teasing edge still at the forefront; which Athena chose to blame for the colour that had almost certainly darkened her cheeks as the two of them continued onwards along the winding corridor. As they progressed Athena found herself suddenly aware of how narrow a space it truly was, noticing the way that the back of Zirconia's hand, clad in an armoured glove as it was brushed against her own every few steps and the slight muffling of her partners' already quietened breathing by the faded black garment covering her face whilst at the same time the Bear Faunus found herself listening to a surprisingly rapid heartbeat, unsure of it was her partners' or her own and if it were the latter equally baffled as to why.
It was not as though she were scared of what might happen here, she had her partner with her after all.
"Open door to the left, we should search the room" Zirconia whispered, snapping Athena's thoughts back to more practical and immediate matters.
"Take point, I'll cover you" the snowy haired and paler of the two murmured back, readying Mould-Breaker in its' under-slung ranged form, the reassuring thrumming of the weapon echoing heinously loud in the darkness as it began to charge and prime causing her to wince however with nothing more to be said or done Athena and Zirconia nodded to one another and, with Sunriser Cain in hand the Grasshopper Faunus darted through the open doorway.
"Clear" she called from within "But….strange, come and look" without hesitation, albeit without lowering her weapon Athena strode into the room, eyes panning across it for any threats that her partner had missed before she took in the sight that had clearly caught Zirconia's attention.
"Flamingo statues?" she asked quizzically "I don't get it?"
"Nor do I" Zirconia admitted, a slight smile colouring her words "I would hardly judge someone's personal tastes….But a dozen marble flamingos does seem a little-"
A scrabbling, scraping sound of stone against stone silenced their talk and had both Faunus whirling around with weapons aimed and ready; only for them to find nothing.
"What the-" another sound again from behind them, where the statues had been had the girls once again whip around and prepare to open fire only to find nothing; both of them left staring at the statues with an inexplicable suspicion and deepening, sickly sense of dread until both of them saw, at opposite sides of the room, movement from the very corners of their eye.
"Athena" Zirconia spoke slowly, once again measuring her words to mask any sense of emotion "I want you to retreat slowly out of them room-"
"What?" the more burly of the two young woman demanded, words and emotions far less restrained.
"I have an idea of what's happening here….I think we both do" Zirconia breathed out "I need you to step back out of the range of my Semblance and then fire into it"
"Hops, if ends up like when we fought Team BASL-"
"It won't" Zirconia stated matter of factly "You won't hit me. I have a better understanding of my Semblance and we have a better understanding of each other….I trust you" those final words, the simple and unadorned admission that they contained silenced any doubts or disputes Athena might have had, any questions left in her mind were now entirely about her own ability to do what was needed, her faith in her partner as absolute. It took her a few moments to pluck up the courage to decide that she was certain of herself before nodding, sapphire blue eyes locking with mismatched and pale pink and orange.
"Okay, on three?" she finally before levelling her weapon at chest height and taking the first, cautious step backwards; retreating without ever taking her eyes off of her partner.
Astra and Wolfram's search had already resulted in more than one discovery of the monstrous and ravenous variety, though thankfully the few Creatures of Grimm that they had encountered thus far had been lone Creeps, likely a single nest that had spread and ventured through the abandoned mansion which rendered the relatively weak beasts simple enough to overwhelm without a sound, giving them no chance to alert either other Grimm or Carcharodon Gore that there were Hunters nearby.
However following that the pair had promptly allowed themselves to become distracted.
"Was this supposed to be a kitchen? What the hell is it doing in the basement?" Wolfram demanded as he perched himself on the counter that formed an island in the centre of the room which seemed far closer to completion than many that the pair had passed through, heedless of the thick layer of dust that coated it.
"I'm guessing Old Man Marble wasn't planning on cooking his own meals" Astra shrugged as they sat beside their boyfriend "I'm guessing that he had the help for that"
"Y'know I've never heard someone make the word 'Help' sound like 'Fuck you' before" Wolfram noted with a smirk "And I'm on a team with Diabla"
"Yeah well my Mum's a waitress, I've seen how people talk to their staff….Besides, with this much old lien I'm guessing Old Man Marble was human, I know it's a Kingdom for everyone now but the idea of some rich old human coming to the Faunus homeland and hiring us as 'the help'-"
"I get it" Wolfram murmured, understanding the issue even though he lacked the heritage that made it so personal to Astra and as he draped an arm over their shoulder his smirk softened into something more gentle "You're something else when you're fired up y'know-"
"Seriously?" Astra drawled the word out slowly, sea green eyes making a lazy half-roll as they realised what Wolfram was attempting "You're not slick"
"Never tried to be, I'm just honest" he retorted without missing a beat "Getting to see you stop second guessing yourself and just do or say what you're thinking is fun, especially when it's about something you care about….That's why I don't get why you were letting your brother talk to you like that earlier"
"Fluffy?"
"Seriously, his nickname is fluffy and you let him talk to you like you're six….You should've dropped him the second we got out the car" Wolfram's steel grey eyes shined with his own fierce anger at the way the Lion Faunus had so casually overstepped boundaries and inserted himself into other peoples' business, belittling Astra to his face and openly dismissing Wolfram's taking exception to the situation.
"I didn't see you take a shot at him" Astra noted quietly, but pointedly and Wolfram was left looking away, remaining silent for a moment as he realised that he had put his foot in his mouth and was left seeking a way to quickly extract it.
"Yeah well, he's your older brother" he muttered "I'm not trying to tell you what to do….I get it, he's family, my Mum says stuff to me that nobody else could get away with-"
"Mommy's boy-"
"You're cute but fuck you" Wolfram snorted at the playful interjection "It's just me and Mum, she's the only family I've got so maybe it's different with brothers and sisters but….I just don't like the way he was talking to you, it's not my business to get involved in though so if you're cool with it then I'll deal with it"
"I guess I'm still a kid in his head" Astra sighed ruefully "I love him but we only really see each other a handful of times every year because of how busy Team FADE are and I get it, they're the team everybody wants on the job but yeah, it kinda feels like he's still not really used to the idea of me being a team leader just like him now, I'd just never really noticed it"
"Well he's gonna have to learn" Wolfram chuckled, arm sliding from Astra's shoulder to around their waist in a move that Wolfram himself considered more than a little daring whilst Astra merely gave a small smile at how predictable it was whilst still allowing it to continue.
"Thanks for being in my corner" the Deer Faunus murmured as they leaned into their boyfriends' shoulder as much as antlers and a spiky Mohawk would allow.
"Anytime" Wolfram assured them, his own attempts to get physically closer to Astra halting briefly as a thought relating to the current training exercise occurred to him "So your brother really is as good as people say he is right?….What about this Car guy that we're supposed to be looking for, I think I've heard of his team but I can't remember details"
"Yeah Car likes to keep away from the media and let his record speak for itself" Astra answered "Put it this way, the fact that we're not fighting him today is entirely for our benefit, not his. He would kick all of our asses"
"Damn" Wolfram said simply, forced to concede that the notion was in fact believable "So, got one of your insane plans for how to beat him?"
"Honestly" Astra trailed off, gesturing broadly to empty space before huffing and giving a smile that was almost apologetic "I think we're gonna have to be ass-holes and let the others find him first and then use them to corral him towards us"
"We're gonna….herd him?" Wolfram mouthed the words out carefully "Is that, I dunno racist?"
"I mean when you say it like that" Astra visibly winced "Just don't say it front of him….Sweet fucking Oum, don't say it front of Fluffy, Blake will find out and my life will be over"
"Relax I won't say anything" Wolfram laughed, using the motion to lace his fingers through Astra and pull the Deer Faunus a little closer "But this plan of yours, it's gonna involve a lot of waiting by the looks of things….Anything you wanna do in the meantime"
"Well I would ask what you have in mind" Astra turned to face their boyfriend with an almost feral grin "But I think we both know what you're thinking"
And with that Astra pounced.
Their lips met quickly and messily and for all the stumbling uncertainty it had taken for the couple to get to this point the both acted without hesitation now, Wolfram's teeth grazing Astra's lips whilst his hands worked under the sleeveless black gi that covered his torso and drew a low whine from the leaner of the pair as they trailed over defined muscles. Astra, still eager and ready straddled Wolfram's waist and pushed the larger teen back, forcing him to move his hands away from the Deer Faunus to balance himself as Astra began searching for the fastenings of his armour.
Only for the moment to be ruined and forced to an end as soon as it had begun.
"What the hell is-" the noise that previously only Astra had been able to hear exploded out into a deafening cacophony of destruction, coming from somewhere above them and including sounds that could only be those of walls collapsing and the shrieking of slain monsters yet it was still the initial sound that had Astra deeply concerned, the low warping note that changed pitch as it reached a crescendo that signified Athena-Jade's weapon being unleashed at full power; something entirely at odds with the parameters they had been given.
"COME ON, LET'S GO!" they yelled leaping from the counter and unfurling Buckshot Ares without a thought, a dull thump behind them assuring them that Wolfram had leapt to the ground and was following which was confirmed a fraction of a second later by the sound of Berserker being readied in its' axe and shield form.
"Back the way we came!" the leader of Team WULF Growled, slipping effortlessly into a commanding tone of voice as he reasoned that trying to find or create a more direct route would, counter-intuitively waste more time than it saved; following his logic Astra sprinted in the direction of the corridor and staircase that had brought them to the basement kitchen where they had first hoped to find Carcharodon hiding beneath the students. Almost the instant they stepped out into the dark and dingy corridor that they had traversed only a short while earlier the pair were brought skidding to a halt, weapons ready as they took in the sight of something inexplicably foreboding.
Namely the appearance of a pair of motionless, statuesque flamingos blocking the way which had certainly not been there previously.
Carcharodon Gore had been meditating.
The gaunt and imposing Shark Faunus had been raised as a warrior long before assuming the guise of student and then Hunter, a circumstance that had changed the course of his life and those of the few remaining members of his tribe almost as much as the violent tragedy that had preceded it. The severity of this training, administered at the hands of a Master at Arms aboard a vessel of the piratical Frost River Tribe had left impressions in Carcharodon's mind that would likely never fade, manifesting themselves most noticeably as the stern and reserved way in which he often conducted himself but also, at that current moment as the source of the calm disinterest he had for both his surroundings and the task he had committed himself to as a whole.
It was clear to him that Breaktide Academy, like each of the other schools was far too soft on the whelps it produced.
Within the tribe it had been custom for children far younger than even those who attended the preparatory schools which fed students to the academies to be trained in all manner of combat and warfare, without the luxury of controlled environments, debates and discussion, safety precautions such as dulled weapons or any other form of coddling that Carcharodon couldn't help but sneer at the sight of and as such he found the teens that had greeted him today to be much like those he encountered every time he ventured onto the floating campus of New Vale's Halo Academy to report to Qrow Branwen; namely carefree and insolent cretins whose blithe and flippant attitudes would have to be beaten out of them so that they could be forged into something more worthwhile, an act of mercy to prevent them being harrowed and cut down by the terrors that lurked beyond the walls those born within the Kingdoms cowered behind.
Carcharodon lamented the fact Felix had instructed him to act with a level of restraint which left the entire exercise bordering on meaninglessness in his mind however, despite his captaincy of the ship that Teams FADE and GORE called home the Shark Faunus had relented; willing to accept that the ways of his people were not for everyone no matter how much he wished to educate the bright-eyed teens for their own good and more pointedly that this was a team made of extended family members, something which meant any heavy-handedness on his part would be railed against.
With all of this in mind Carcharodon had simply sought out a place to centre himself and wait for the eventual approach of the first year students, knowing that their arrival would come only after they had bored and exhausted themselves with whatever foolery they could find for themselves despite Felix's attempt at bribery. Eventually the Shark Faunus had found a suitable refuge, one that showed just how little the students currently searching for him understood him; he had not sequestered himself in some shadowy corner that could only be reached through a labyrinth of hidden passageways, nor was he skulking in the deepest reaches of the abandoned mansions' basements, he was Carcharodon Gore and he would meet his challengers head on which was why he had positioned himself in the very centre of the manor in a vast and open chamber which he assumed was intended to host the dances which the gentry of the Kingdoms loved so much.
Upon finding the ballroom he had paused only to snarl in open derision at the flamingo statues lining its' edge before dropping into a trance like state with practised ease.
Currently Carcharodon sat, cross-legged with his ragged black hood pulled low over features that whilst still ferocious and intimidating in the extreme seemed far more at peace now that the Faunus was largely detached from his physical surroundings; those surroundings being open and spacious, a largely circular room whose scant furnishings had been covered with sheets that were now thick with dust whilst sections of its' walls were cracked and crumbling and its' floor was littered with criss-crossing scratches though none of this managed to draw attention away from the aforementioned, life-sized statues of flightless and long neck birds that formed a loose circle around the perimeter of the ballroom, facing inwards with an odd sort of deliberate intent about them.
After an amount of time that he had not thought it pertinent to keep track of, instead turning his mind entirely inwards to muse over matters such as philosophy and politics; tools for a time of peace that he had never expected to find himself living in the Faunus was rocked from his contemplation by the force of an impact shuddering through the mansion as a whole and his midnight black eyes shot open as lithe, powerful muscles coiled and his weapons; a pair of double-edged and serrated forearm mounted blades named 'The Red Waves' were deployed with a metallic shriek.
Something stirred behind him.
"Show yourself coward" Carcharodon hissed, dismissing the idea of talking only a moment later and instead letting out a low, rasping hiss as the sound of combat continued from elsewhere in the mansion. The students were fighting elsewhere which meant that his current would be aggressor was someone or something else and as his gaze turned downwards, picking out the scratches littering the floor the experienced Hunter and consummate warrior realised what was happening and cursed himself for the arrogant hubris which had allowed him to find himself surrounded.
A scraping of stone against stone confirming his suspicions and sent him surging into motion.
Carcharodon dropped into a crouch and activated his Semblance without hesitation, his body liquefying with all of the familiar icy, rushing sensations and melting into the scarred floorboards to travel along them like a shadow and promptly reform at the entrance to the ballroom, the warrior readying himself and giving a savage grin of satisfaction upon seeing the changes wrought on the place.
The statues had moved and more importantly they were no longer statues.
Each and every one of them was a Creature of Grimm, the black veined marble of their exterior retracting and fading to form an unusually thick and craggy, skeletal structure that was a discoloured stone-grey rather than the usual shade of bone common to most of the monsters. Their overall appearance was largely reminiscent of the birds that they had aped, albeit a featherless and overall more saurian and bestial interpretation; a sloping and almost pear shaped body with loose and rippling obsidian flesh visible beneath its' armoured hide, lined with slicked-back rows of spines with a pair of atrophied and feeble wings that had become little more than twisted nubs of jagged and stony chitin that were largely amalgamated with the things' torsos, all held aloft by a pair of overlong and spindly legs with joints that appeared to be all at once exactly where they should be and yet entirely wrong on a visceral level, each ending in a three toed claw boasting a wicked talon. The necks of the Grimm were long and segmented extensions of their spines, littered with random spikes jutting out at odd angles and leading to an oversized skull which seemed too large to be supported by such a slender appendage, featuring a cruel hooked beak with the appearance of a knife intended for skinning and gutting and a pair of beady, glowing blood red eyes.
Carcharodon smiled as he studied the Flamingo Grimm who had managed to disguise themselves so completely, his expression becoming one of violent glee as he realised that he may find himself with a rare challenge after all; praising his ancestors for guiding him to the Faunus homeland where it seemed there were discoveries to be made beyond the cultural.
"Well" he rasped out, fangs bared "These are new"
Author's Notes:
Nothing to say really so let's get straight into it, shall we?:
Is the fact that Astra doesn't fit comfortably in their brother's car some sort of symbolism about a change in their relationship….Maybe.
The older sibling interrogation, I have been that older sibling and I have followed the protocol as written.
People who read FADE know why Felix was asking about Astra's dad, we'll get into that.
Okay swerving the car was a dick move, but it was meant more of a prank than anything; I've been in the car when friends did to wake up everyone who'd passed out after a session.
Wolfram was about three seconds a way from the kind of beating that can be classed as an education.
AJ saying Dunderhead was an Aunt Winter insult, because Winter and Scout from Nomad of Nowhere have the same VA.
A half-finished mansion out in the middle of nowhere, because of course Menagerie has some Resident Evil shit like that going on.
Of course Regalia went with a Gandalf quote, she hasn't been using enough movie lines lately.
Enter Carcharodon Gore, with his typical bad-ass entrance being immediately undercut by AJ's "Hey Car".
Okay so Menagerie has been re-settled for give or take twenty years, meaning Wolfram is actually of the first generation of kids to be born on the island since the first great war; so he's the first generation to be exposed to a new set of folk-tales that have sprung up around failed construction and settlement projects.
Is Astra a bit of a dick for failing to adhere to the bro code, yes. Is Felix a bit of a dick for the way he pointed it out in front of everybody, also yes. Is Astra dumb as bricks for forgetting Regalia's Semblance….Absolutely.
Callback to early FADE: Legacy with the comment about tracking and capturing Carcharodon.
And whilst the kids are distracted the real work is being done.
The Slate kids grew up relatively sheltered, not as much as Weiss did but still enough to be blown away by the reality of big cities and even now Arctus still has that sense of wonder.
Hunters develop paranoia out of necessity, however unlike police officers Arctus did not draw his weapon on the unarmed teenagers.
Speaking as someone who used to skip school quite regularly, yeah that'll do it.
And this was the whole plan, use Arctus's public profile to force Rowan's people to make a move that they can take advantage of.
Regalia learning meme culture was an idea that occurred to me at work and blew my mind for five whole minutes.
We've seen where Regalia grew up, she's fine with dark and confined spaces….She just prefers having company.
Scary movie survival rules.
Seriously though Regalia could have won this game in five minutes but chose not to.
Regalia needs better friends, she's a lonely little Racoon Faunus.
Now I'm hoping that at least one of my readers didn't actually question the flamingo statues, because whilst Chekov's gun is a thing, the super rich really are just fucking weird.
I cannot tell you the joy that Regalia quoting The Warriors gives me.
I wanted to keep the suspense of exactly what had attacked Regalia going for some time and gradually build up to the reveal.
Rowan's scene was actually supposed to come after AJ and Zirconia's but I changed them because I liked this flow and pacing better.
So Rowan is actually making some headway, the backers that still haven't been caught have sent her a few care packages on the understanding that she prepares for a turf war against 'The Benefactor' and Grapeshot gave her the green light to get her own funding again….The only question now is what could possibly go wrong.
Crane office, for when you can't afford a penthouse yet.
So the meatheads aren't completely useless, they knew that they were being watched and tailed so they had the good sense to try and direct Arctus and Diamond away from where the important stashes are.
Hired goons however are not smarter or tougher than Hunters.
So, time to fire up one of the new toys that she was given to capture Grimm and deal with other problems….It's a mech, we all know it's a mech, the question is how're Arctus and Diamond gonna deal with it.
AJ jinxed it, blame her.
Ah the banter between these two is so much fun to write.
If you read Downward Spiral then you know why the panic rooms were added.
That call actually happened in FADE Legacy, third year.
Ah the comparisons between Car and Zirconia, on the surface they fit into the same archetype and naturally that's gonna make her a little self conscious….Que AJ tripping over herself and bumbling like an idiot.
Ah the mysterious Zirconia Shadowmoon persists.
Oh my fucking god these oblivious fucking dorks.
I think we both do….And I think you did too my dear readers.
Zirconia trusting Athena-Jade to fire her weapon into the area of effect of Phantasmagoria, knowing that they won't be able to see or communicate with each other….
Of course the team leaders got to show off for each other with some low tier Grimm.
The comment about Diabla….I mean come on, it literally took an airship collapsing on her for her to ask for help.
Now I have to be careful as a white guy how I approach issues allegories to and issues regarding race, but y'all know exactly what I was getting at here.
See, from a certain perspective it looks like Wolfram is trying drive a wedge between Astra and Felix here but he really doesn't have the capacity to be that kind of manipulative, he just has a low tolerance for people's attitudes, an attitude of his own and blunt responses to most things.
….He is also absolutely a Mommy's boy, but come on his Dad died when he was a kid.
Astra believing he's on Felix's level; there's that habit of believing his own hype and getting a little too cocky again.
There are definitely certain turns of phrase you cannot use in a room full of Faunus.
Oh come on, you're not really a ship until you've had your make-out session interrupted in one of my stories, that's the rules.
And more flamingos….Surely you all got it by now.
A Car scene, just to reveal the beasties and also because he's a character that I've missed writing.
He really will be cruel to be kind and will literally beat common sense into any student he has to deal with.
Yeah, if he'd choked AJ out he'd have Arctus and Diamond on his on his back….And god help him when Weiss and Gangrel find out.
Carcharodon hiding away? Really?
That Semblance saved his ass.
And here we have our Flamingo Grimm, as yet unnamed and inspired by the lawn flamingo SCP, the Weeping Angels, Velociraptors and the statue monsters from the 95 Power Rangers movie; these were on my list of concepts for Grimm right after the Axolotl and Sugar Glider just for the 'Okay but I can I make this nasty' factor.
Thank you to SumoSnipe and MajorBrony95 for their review on the last chapter.
I hooked the Hell-Hound into shipping discourse and reality TV.
See on the one hand, yeah Coral would absolutely be dapper and I feel like having her hair and accessories done by AJ would have been a big part of their bonding, 'cos y'know Coral doesn't have hands but also…..The first people to buy Coral Scylla new clothes were the Cult of Taurus; yay trauma.
The only people left not shipping those two dorks are the dorks in question themselves because they're completely dense.
Astra and Felix's changing relationship is gonna be fun to work out.
The Major made a tactical choice that may or may not pay off for one party or another in unexpected ways.
The ships' cat…..Funny thing, the whole Schnee/Slate family are dog people remember?
Well, you got Eagle and Car.
Oh wait til Rowan shows off her new toy.
And as for the Hell-Hound, you won't see it for a couple chapers yet but, to quote Lord Freiza "This isn't even my final form"
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.