MARZ Rising

by FandomPariah

It's been thirty years since Ruby Rose saved Remnant from Salem and almost a decade since it was saved again. Salem is gone yet the Creatures of Grimm remain and now a new generation of Hunters are ready to begin their story... By enrolling at the Breaktide Academy of Menagerie where they'll be trained by legends including Team CFVY and Ruby Rose herself. Part 5 of the Spiral-Verse

39. Maximum Insecurity

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 39: Maximum Insecurity

It was late on a Wednesday afternoon and classes at Breaktide Academy had concluded, which for Athena-Jade Slate meant that she was freed from the routine of lessons which had been less focused on physical exertion and displays of incredible prowess from teacher and student alike and instead been matters of precise focus and academic diligence, Dust Studies in particular proving troublesome for the pale and snowy haired Faunus despite her usual affinity for the subject.

Though in Athena's defence she had been distracted.

The question of what exactly had gotten into her became harder to ignore and harder still to find an adequate answer to seemingly every time she and Zirconia interacted, with Athena finding herself losing her train of thought mid-sentence at so much as the briefest of gentle smiles from her partner, staring after Zirconia until she was prodded, usually by Astra or Regalia and asked if she was okay or else tripping over her own feet and fumbling like an imbecile as she made to grab things for the Grasshopper Faunus whilst making every movement as needlessly overblown and showy as possible. This had been going on for far too long and by the time the final bell of the day rang Athena-Jade had resolved to figure things out, deciding to find some peace and solitude in which to do so and so, once she had showered and changed into something more comfortable than either her uniform or her combat gear with its' lightweight but still noticeable armour she had ventured onto the roof of the tower in which the dorms were located, realising only upon reaching her unconsciously chosen destination that her feet had carried her, of their own accord to the spot she and Zirconia often spent time together in. Rolling sapphire blue eyes at her own behaviour and noting that her partner was likely to be too preoccupied to join her for a while anyway, whilst adding the mix of feelings that realisation produced to the list of things she needed to try and figure out Athena simply sat and took a few moments to enjoy the setting sun, the truly beautiful appearance it gave to the skyline of Port Alistair where buildings designed in styles that evoked every corner of Remnant and more importantly the weather which, for a few hours would be neither insufferable heat nor the freezing and punishing cold that swept across the island Kingdom when darkness fell.

Athena had assured herself that she had been simply thinking, not brooding as that was Zirconia's thing and she would never pretend to be able to do it as well; only for her attempts at introspection to be interrupted by a scroll call which she had first considered ignoring, though upon fishing the device from her pocket had quickly answered upon seeing that it was a video call from one of the few people she would welcome such an intrusion from at that moment.

Namely her adopted younger sister.

"But look at it! It's cute as hell!" the Crab Faunus let out a giggle whose spirited girlishness was at odds with Coral Scylla's truly massive form and yet undeniably perfectly fit the girl with rose gold coloured hair and whose enormous chitinous pincers currently held both her scroll and a magazine article.

"Is Mum around?" Athena-Jade asked innocently, with a toothy smile that Coral should have known better than to trust.

"Somewhere else in the house, why?" she answered without thinking.

"Cos you fucking suck, pest" Athena shot back without missing a beat, using language more strong than her usual teasing of her friends and siblings in response to the content of the article Coral had clearly called to torment her about. Following the incident in the record store some days prior and the subsequent arrival of Astra and much of Team WULF to help diffuse what Athena would readily admit had become far more hostile than she had intended the group of friends and fellow students had, as Zirconia had suggested made their way to a karaoke bar somewhere in the city and over the course of the evening, long after any pretence of shame had been abandoned Athena and Zirconia had found themselves duetting a song, something cheesy and upbeat from their childhoods which had seen the pair sharing a microphone, passing it between one another as they remained far closer than was necessary.

Almost entirely predictably gossip rags across the Kingdoms had acquired both photographs and snippets of video footage and Athena had been cursing her own judgement and the entire bloodline and legacy of whoever had recorded her without her knowledge ever since.

"Oh come on! I'm only mostly teasing" Coral's voice had a whining note to it now and her features morphed into a pout that did little to sway her sister "I mean it's funny that it keeps happening and you keep denying that there's anything going on with you too….But it is cute"

"I'm not denying anything, because there's nothing to deny" Athena growled, grip tightening until her scroll's screen flickered dangerously as she clenched a little too tight and forced herself to relent, taking a moment to calm herself and keep from lashing out at the sister who had managed to press a particularly sensitive issue without realising it the Bear Faunus fiddled idly with the band-aid worn across the bridge of her nose; in this instance for good reason as she and Astra had engaged in a particularly heated sparring match only the previous evening as the Deer Faunus continued to push themselves harder than ever. Seeing the gesture Coral fidgeted awkwardly, voice dropping to something low and conspiratorial, the same voice the two of them had often used when discussing sneaking into the kitchen or into each others' rooms to watch Vytal Tournaments and other similar bouts between Hunters together when they should have been asleep or other childhood mischief.

"Okay so there's nothing to deny….But there's definitely something to talk about, so talk to me" Coral paused, pincers clacking in anxious irritability at the feeling of exclusion until she added with a whine "Come on AJ I'm not gonna call your partner and give her the scary big sister talk-"

"'Cos you're the little sister-"

"Yeah but I'm taller….By over a foot. Besides I got moved up a year at school, smart kid privileges" Coral countered without hesitation, leaving Athena flummoxed and forced to rely on a familiar retort, though it was offered with far less force than her previous biting comment.

"You suck, you suck so bad, you're the suckiest"

"Yeah but at least I'm not one of the people taking bets on when you and Zirconia stop denying that something's going on"

"WHAT!" Athena demanded, expression a perfect blend of shock and outrage as she was left sputtering incoherently "Who!….Arctus, that mother-"

"And all your old school friends" Coral added, almost timidly though she wore a devilish smile that told Athena that whilst her sister had not actively taken part in the betting she had still enjoyed the musings; with that the Bear Faunus flopped back down onto sun-warmed slates with a dramatic, growling huff and took a few moments to compose her thoughts before attempting to speak, her words measured but still stumbling.

"There isn't….I mean….I don't know if there's anything going on with me and Hops. If there is anything it's probably all in my head anyway, I don't know….I'm being dumb"

"Oh" Coral mouthed the word out slowly, pincers clacking as she took in the sight of her adopted older sister more nervous and more uncertain than she could remember her, even waiting for the results of her applications to the Hunter Academies had outwardly troubled her less than this.

"What?" Athena demanded, not looking at the screen of her scroll though the tittering from Coral assured her that the crab Faunus was still present.

"Did you….Did you just figure out you that you've got a crush on your partner?"

"I didn't say that" Athena defended with a slurred mumble as she pulled herself back into a sitting position, expression hardening as gave that particular accusation the attention it was due "I just said I don't know why I'm being an idiot around her….I mean she's my partner, we're great friends and she's cool, like really cool; you should see her fight or play or….I mean she's saved me from so much stuff already. I mean I'd hardly think I'm the strange one for appreciating someone who's smart, capable, fun to be around, funny; the fact she's actually really, really pretty as well is…..Oh"

"Uh huh" Coral nodded slowly, sticking her tongue out Athena who quickly realised that her sister had simply gotten her to start talking and promptly remained silent until the Bear Faunus figured out her own problems.

"Oh damn it all!" Athena-Jade gasped in a frantic and hushed whisper "I've got a crush on my partner, how the hell did this happen? This can't happen what do I do?"

"Uh, same thing Arctus did?" Coral offered with a bemused shrug "Or Aunt Blake and Aunt Yang….Or Uncle Rover and Aunt Missy, or-"

"No" Athena shook her head quickly and forcefully, waves of icy dread seeping into her and coalescing at the pit of her stomach.

"You don't want-"

"Yes!….No….I mean I don't know" Athena fought the urge to flail while still holding her scroll "I don't know what I want….Other than knowing I don't want to ruin things with my partner"

"I get that" Coral nodded her head sagely, despite a total lack of similar experiences.

"Okay" Athena breathed out, forcing herself into some semblance of calmness "It's fine, this is fine because it has to be fine….It's a crush, that's all, just a stupid little crush. Crushes pass, I'll just have to wait this out and get over it, it's not like-"
"You're being dumb" Coral interjected with a huff very much like Athena's own.

"No, I'm being smart" the older sister shot back "Because I don't know what I want and even if I did, there's bigger things here than what I want….Besides I didn't come here to hook up with a partner"

"No you moved to Menagerie to prove that you could make it on your own and that you're more than the family name and prove a bunch of things that nobody ever even doubted in the first place" Coral's expression darkened with each word until it was a distinctly unwelcoming scowl which Athena could only feel guilty at, the toothy grin she offered in response being somewhat guilty.

"Hey….I miss you too sis"

"You better" Coral snorted "You suck….Now go talk to your partner, or at least stop brooding on a roof at sunset trying to look cool"

"Fine" Athena grumbled, adding a snort with her widening smile as she added softly "Hops does the whole 'Brooding rogue' thing better anyway"

"Oh this is adorable" Coral teased, her following volley of taunts and well-meaning but still ill-considered advice being silenced as Athena-Jade simply waved her goodbye with a cheeky wink and grin before ending the call and then flopping backwards to lay on the roof once more, content to lay there for the last few lingering hours of fading sunlight as the air steadily cooled; her mind racing as she began to dissect and examine the revelations that had come from her much-needed talk with her sister and the conundrums it had presented her with.

Athena sighed as she realised that whilst she had found the answers she had been looking for nothing at all had bee solved or made any less complicated.

---

Astra Mars collapsed into one of the seats which formed ascending rows around the sizeable outdoor training area towards the rear of Breaktide Academies' campus, a groan of pained exhaustion escaping the Deer Faunus as they wiped sweat from their brow with one hand and clutched at a stitch in their side with the other before fumbling for a water bottle they had brought with them only to discover that it was empty.

This evening was following what had become a pattern of late.

The leader of Team MARZ had all but entirely given themselves over to a training regimen that had become almost religious in its' fervour and frightening in its' demanding ferocity. Attending a karaoke bar the previous weekend with their boyfriend and friends following coming to Regalia's aid in Port Alistair had been the last moment of true relaxation that Astra had allowed themselves before beginning their quest to better themselves and unlock their Semblance anew with a relentless and single-minded hunger; they paid attention in class far more than they had once done and proceeded directly from lessons to either the outdoor training area or the gym without fail where would they would spend several hours pushing themselves to the point of collapse only to return to their teams' dormitory and attend to their assignments and study, researching other possible ways to achieve their goal before allowing themselves a few hours sleep to prepare themselves to start the cycle again.

Thus far Astra considered themselves both lucky and grateful that they had found themselves surrounded by people who were supportive of their goal, or else simply competitive enough to want to test themselves against the Deer Faunus as they seemed to return with fresh vigour and an almost visible improvement on a daily basis. Wolfram and Regalia had been in the former category, Astra's boyfriend and partner picking them up when their body would simply allow no more, Wolfram offering words of encouragement whilst Regalia urged caution with a concerned expression yet not stopped rooting for them; Athena-Jade and Diabla had been in the latter category, the pair more alike than either would care to admit in that they shared a competitive streak so pronounced that it had even allowed them to work together in helping Astra train on one occasion, their own grievances briefly forgotten.

And yet despite it all Astra felt themselves a failure.

Their Semblance continued to elude them and showed no signs of announcing itself in the spectacular explosion of undeniable grandeur that they had been hoping for and further to this, in an almost cruel turn of events Astra's dedication unlocking said elusive Semblance had failed to provide an adequate distraction from the other areas that they believed to be lacking in.

Thus far there had been no news regarding the fate or whereabouts of Major Grapeshot and Carmesi Hueso and now that time had been allowed to pass the true scope of Astra's mishandling of Team MARZ's mission was undeniable to them and the possibility that the rogue Hunters could have been brought to justice if things had gone differently ate at Astra to no end. Further to that the treachery of the first Hunters Team MARZ had accompanied, followed by the knowledge that the Alpha Geist they had grappled with had since become the speaking and intelligent monstrosity which had accosted Team WULF left the Deer Faunus doubting their previous victories no matter how many reassurances they had been given.

And then there was the matter of Felix.

Astra had not spoken to their half-brother since the fallout of their mission and the knowledge that they owed him an apology and that Felix had been right in each and every one of his criticisms had been at the very least rooted in facts did nothing to make the prospect of repairing their relationship any easier, Astra knew that they owed their brother an apology no matter how badly their own pride and feelings had been hurt yet the words remained just as hard to find as they key to Astra's own Semblance.

And so they spent their evenings as they were now, exhausted and soaked in sweat with their mind racing until the Deer Faunus was given the promise of respite in the form of their scroll vibrating to announce a video call from their mother in New Vale.

"Hey Mum" Astra managed a tired smile as they adjusted their position and angled the scroll so that the setting sun was no longer glaring through the translucent screen, allowing their mother a few moments to study their face and see the flushed cheeks and other telltale signs of exertion.

"Are you okay?" Myrtle asked, brow furrowing with motherly concern.

"Yeah, just caught me finishing a training session" Astra panted out, still slightly winded as days of endless effort slowed their ability to recover.

"Have you been pushing yourself too hard?" Their mother continued "I know that you can get an idea in your head and refuse to let go sometimes-"

"Mum I'm fine" Astra repeated gently "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just felt like it's been too long since I spoke to my youngest child" Myrtle offered a mildly affronted look in response to the question "How are you, how're your friends….Your boyfriend?"

"Everything's great Mum….I've just been really busy lately, I met Wolfram's Mum over the weekend but honestly other than that it's been non-stop work since my last mission-" Astra trailed off, seeing a sudden, subtle change in their mother's expression at the mention of the mission and deciding to tackle the matter head on "Mum, come on; something's bothering you?"

"I….Have you spoken to your brother lately? Felix is worried about you" Myrtle sighed, the fact that Felix had been adopted at a young age meant that he and Astra had been raised apart, only reconnecting when the Lion Faunus was in his late teens which had deprived Myrtle of the experience of raising siblings and all the drama it often entailed, a reality which was currently written on her face.

"What did he tell you?" Astra ground out, their exhaustion being pushed aside by a fire that ignited within them which they quickly strove to control as they had no intention of losing their temper with their mother.

"He didn't want to get into specifics" Myrtle answered "Just that his team took yours on a training mission and things didn't go as planned….that he had to give you a bad grade and that some things were said"

"That absolute prick!" the words were out of Astra's mouth before they could help themselves, quickly followed by a torrent of anger that spewed like an erupting geyser "Okay yeah, some things were said….neither of us came out of that looking great and I know I could have handled myself better. I would have talked it out with him eventually, I've been busy, I thought he was busy, he's supposed to have a job to do! Y'know what I didn't do though? I didn't come and tattle about it like a little-"

"Astra that's enough!" Myrtle snapped, the tone far sharper than she often used with Astra "That is enough! I understand that you might be upset, but I don't want you talking to me like that; not about family-"

"Upset?" Astra was galled at the smallness of the word "I'm pissed off-"

"That your brother, who regrets that things ended the way they did came to your mother, both of your mother and asked me to help patch things up or at least find out if you're okay?" Myrtle's tone was exasperated and disgruntled "That's what you're angry at Astra-"

"I'm angry that he went behind my back!" the Deer Faunus shot back, still struggling to control their anger "He has my contact details, he reports to the head of Breaktide and knows where my dorm is….Going to you instead and making it everyone else's business was out of line-"

"Are you upset that Felix spoke to me" Myrtle asked, voice soothing even as a knowing look formed on her lined features "Or are you just worried that he might have told me about things that you'd rather I didn't hear about….Things you're not proud of"

"That's not….I mean" Astra's sea-green eyes darted anywhere but at the screen as the words were dragged out of them in a barely coherent grumble, the teen beyond aggravated that they had been so easily read; only for that aggravation to erupt into something altogether more hostile with Myrtle's next words.

"I can understand why you feel….betrayed is a strong word. Please Astra, understand that Felix was only acting with your best interests in mind, so can you please be the bigger person and-"

"The bigger person?" Astra spat, incredulous and enraged "The bigger person when I'm being constantly held back, undermined and treated like a fucking kid….How about Felix acts like the big man he's supposed to be and-"

"Astra I said that's enough!"

"No it isn't!" the Deer Faunus yelled "And if you really want to play favourites Mum then just don't call me!"

"I see" the sniffling and waver in their mother's voice broke something in Astra and left them feeling hollow, bile rising in their throat as waves of anger subsided.

"If that's how you feel then I'll give you some space" Myrtle continued, taking a slow and shaky breath "I'll be here when you calm down and want to talk; so will your father and your brother….We all love you Astra, we just worry about the person you're becoming"

With that the scroll call ended and Astra simply stared at the blank screen in numb silence as they tried to comprehend the depths of the mistake that their lack of self-control had caused and once again found themselves lacking any real answers as to how to fix the situation.

---

Regalia Russet was, simply put restless in a way that seemed to prevent anything that might normally hold her attention from doing so.

The Racoon Faunus had spent the last several days accompanying Astra in their endless endeavour to unlock their Semblance by subjecting themselves to the most punishing training regimen they could imagine with little care for the larger picture of their well-being, acting with a single-minded stubbornness far removed from the usually inspired quick thinking that she so admired in her partner. At this juncture however she could continue no longer, not only due to her own fatigue after several days of gruelling training but also because she was no longer willing to stand by and watch as Astra punished themselves for their perceived failings; she had tried to explain this to them earlier that day in a brief conversation between classes yet she had lacked both the words to make her point and the time to find them, resulting in the Deer Faunus simply shrugging her off and leaving her to her own devices which Regalia had struggled to pretend did not sting.

Which had led her to her current surroundings.

Needing some movement and escape from the confines of Team MARZ's dorm which felt far too small and enclosed at that moment Regalia had wandered throughout the campus of Breaktide Academy, largely aimless yet still avoiding the areas where Astra might be training in order to keep her word. She had first found herself traipsing slowly through the corridors and halls which doubled as a museum dedicated to the history of Hunters and their deeds, studying each small but detailed exhibit in an effort to distract herself yet her thoughts had refused to cooperate as they continued to scamper in all directions to such an extent that even her Semblance would be useless to her, she was so unsure of what she wanted at that moment that there would likely be nothing for Look-See to find.

With this first attempt at diverting her attentions failing Regalia had instead made her way to the garage, staring at the parked form of Clunker for several moments before deciding against taking the jetbike out into the city and risking yet more trouble with the local police as it became painfully obvious that the driving lessons she had received from older members of Clan Aiktishaf did not account for the many traffic laws of the Kingdoms. Instead the Racoon Faunus had spent several hours dutifully and lovingly maintaining her vehicle, removing outer panels and cleaning dust and grit from every nook and cranny of the machines' inner workings before polishing the entire jetbike to a gleaming finish.

And now she was bored again, draped from the saddle to the handlebars as she absently twiddled with the dials of the radio which she had recently reinstalled into controls; only to be caught so unawares by the sound of a familiar voice that she almost fell from the seat.

"Regalia, Regalia can you hear me?"

"Mum?" the Racoon Faunus sputtered out, catching herself and stopping both herself and Clunker from falling to the ground with an unfortunate clang before continuing "I'm here, are you okay?"

"I am well, I was worried about you….Your bikes' signal has been flickering in and out for several minutes now"

"Oh!" Regalia exclaimed softly as she realised what had happened "Sorry, I didn't realise that it was tuned on….I was polishing Clunker and….heh, I guess I got distracted and zoned out"

"I see" the voice of Helms-woman Swarf Russet, the one-armed nomad giant, Overseer and member of the Council of the Aiktishaf was as low and smokey as ever, the usual faint wheezing note given by her lingering injuries coloured with a faintly amused edge at her daughters' antics "Are you well….It's been too long since we truly spoke; you were almost inconsolable during our last conversation child"

"Yeah….that, heh" Regalia tried to shrug the matter off before halting herself, deciding that she would be a hypocrite if she acted the way Astra had been of late with her own mother "It was a bad day for all of us….Honestly, when I learned that the Hunters Team MARZ studied under had gone rogue….I wanted to come home Mum, I was ready to quit-"

"And you would have been welcomed back to the Aiktishaf as one of our greatest" Swarf's voice beamed with a pride that Regalia knew instinctively carried over to her scarred and lined face "The Aiktishaf have learned to appreciate you as they always should have in your absence….After meeting your friends many of the children talk of nothing but Hunters, imagining any scrap metal they find to be a weapon for felling Grimm; even if your travels never see you return to us Regalia you may have a legacy as a spiritual pathfinder for an entire generation of our people and I could not be more proud of you….Which is why I would urge you to stay at the Academy, as much as it pains me to not have my daughter beside me your future is the one you've made for yourself"

"Thank you" Regalia swallowed thickly, pale amethyst eyes filling with tears which she wiped with the sleeve of her mothers' old jacket "Thank you so much, I really needed that-"

"Anything for my odd little duck" Regalia managed a watery chuckle at her mothers' words before continuing.

"And you'll see me again, soon I promise….I'll visit the Aiktishaf over the summer" Regalia promised, features morphing into a fierce and determined smile "But you're right, I'm staying here. Team MARZ need me….Even if they don't realise it"

"Be safe child, I know you're more than capable; the wastelands claim those who are not….But I hear tales of strange monsters of late, Grimm that act in ways no Grimm should" Regalia heard a concerned note in her mothers' voice before it was promptly pushed aside "But enough of such things, what is this about your team not realising? I was not under the impression that any of them were fools?"

"Heh, it's nothing" Regalia's grin lingered a moment longer before she crumpled and draped her upper body over the handles of Clunker once again

"My partner….They're dealing with something personal and I'm trying to help them but they're not listening, it's like they've forgotten that we're supposed to be a team and they want to carry all of Remnant on their back. The only person they listen to is their boyfriend and he just tells Astra what they want to hear, that he'll watch and-"

"Is this what you learned in the Kingdoms child?" Swarf's voice was filled with good humour, but an undeniably hard edge was present beneath the surface "You venture out into the world to forge your own path….And these people teach you jealousy? Please don't forget where you come from-"

"I'M NOT JEALOUS!" Regalia's incredulous exclamation echoed off of the walls of the parking lot, though it was thankfully empty at that moment.

"It seems to me that your issue is that your partner regards another opinion higher than yours-"

"That's not it!" Regalia insisted, once again struggling to find words "I mean….I came here knowing that I was gonna be part of a team and hoping that we'd be close; like I'd be the new kid in town in one of those movies, maybe the Sand-Lot but without the sports heh….Anyway I can deal with things being different, I just don't want to be ignored and forgotten about….Not when all I'm trying to do is help, not here as well-"

"Oh" Swarf's voice wavered "My child I really did fail you didn't I?"

"No, what-"

"You never felt at home with our people and you always knew that you wander away from the Aiktishaf from the first time you saw a Hunter….But I should have done more to ensure that home felt like home while we had you. Forgive me for-"

"Mum there's nothing to forgive" Regalia fought to swallow another lump in her throat.

"I taught you to be kind and be helpful and to give….and you did, you did so well" Swarf's voice hardened "But I never taught you to take. I'm telling you now child if you feel that you're being made a fool of then strike with the fury of a desert sandstorm; nobody mistreats my daughter-"

"Thank you" Regalia's words were cautious yet firm as the younger Faunus found herself with an unmistakable sense that her mother would, if allowed to continue work herself into a frenzy which would see the Aiktishaf itself brought thundering towards Port Alistair with war drums beating.

"Your friends do not see your value?" Swarf scoffed coldly "We are pathfinders child….Show them the way, make them see; or so help me I will do it myself"

"I'll talk to Astra" Regalia managed a bemused laugh that she was not sure that she would have had the courage for had she been standing before her mother in person "I just need to figure out what to say"

"I have every faith in you" Swarf's voice was filled with warmth as the fury began to subside from her words "I love you"

"Love you too Mum" with that Regalia turned off the two-way radio and took a deep breath, lingering on the seat of her jetbike a moment longer before pulling her mothers' old, cracked and worn leather jacket around herself and lowering her tinted goggles over her eyes out of habit as she activated her Semblance; humming the theme song to a clasic movie about an amateur boxer as she made her way towards the nearest stairs.

She now knew what she was looking for, it was simply a matter of how she was going to handle the situation when she found it.

---

For Rowan Oralie life within the Grauerstein Correctional Facility of Menagerie was going as well as could be expected.

The scarlet haired woman's imposing physical appearance, along with the cold and assured demeanour with which she carried herself and the infamy which came with the scale and sheer volume of her crimes had seen her left in relative peace thus far; with only one fellow prisoner acting as a potential upstart during the first few days of Rowan's time on the maximum security wing, whom she had beaten bloody with ease.

Something that had been worth the punishment it had resulted in.

Beyond that Rowan's time had become a monotonous blur without any more visits from highly decorated Huntresses attempting to buy her loyalty to distract her; for several weeks now she had spent her days largely in solitude by choice, making no effort to engage with the correctional system as it existed on Menagerie or with her fellow convicts and instead had spent her time in the cell she had been surprised and relieved to find was intended for single occupancy, exercising and reading anything she could lay her hands on in the way of news reports pertaining to her case and books or other documents relating to similar instances; though she could at least admit to herself that it was an entirely academic affair and that she had been caught red-handed which left little room for interpretation or leniency. With these pass-times available to her Rowan had only ventured out into the barely contained pandemonium that was the cell blocks' common area when required to for things such as inspections or to be escorted to and from the mess hall, a bare minimum amount of interaction with her fellow prisoners to confirm to the dangerous and violent individuals she had found herself surrounded by that she was neither a coward or the sort of deviant monster whose presence would not be tolerated and finally simply to observe the power dynamics at play without directly involving herself in them.

With the final reason about to be subject to change.

Rowan had been almost overjoyed, indeed far happier than she cared to admit to herself when the gossip that morning had included talk of a supposed prisoner transfer, some belligerent Faunus street punk had started a fight on a lower security wing and was being moved to the area designated for those criminals with unlocked Auras only for the offender in question to be ushered into the cell-block by armed guards and reveal themselves to be none other than one of Rowan's own entourage, a young canine Faunus who had been caught following the attack on Faunus Pride wherein the redhead and her underlings had earned themselves the epithet 'The Boiler Crew'; the presence of another member of her organisation, which she even now believed to exist on an entirely different strata to the criminals around her promised the beginnings of a shift in the status quo, allowing Rowan's green eyes to shine with malicious glee as she noted that if she was going to be detained for a long time then she should begin making herself comfortable.

Currently however Rowan had remained within her cell and alone, she had not greeted her former comrade with anything more than a brief nod of recognition upon the young man's entrance to the wing, in keeping with certain unspoken rules that she remembered from her time within the much harsher confines of a Vaccuan labour camp; the more senior prisoners who were both feared and respected enough to be the unofficial rulers and leaders of the cell-block would be the first to question the newcomer as they had questioned Rowan herself and, should any verification of the Faunus's identity or charges be needed the redhead would be summoned to vouch for them, if this was still unsatisfactory a test of character would be conducted which would no doubt include violence of some form.

The sound of raised, then quickly muffled voices followed by scuffling reached Rowan's ears and caused her immediately cast aside the tattered and stained book she had been reading.

"Shit!" she spat at the unmistakable sound of an altercation beginning somewhere beyond her cell; that it could be anything other than her old cohort being assaulted was almost laughable in its' unlikeness and so Rowan sprung to her feet, nerves suddenly alight. Briefly the idea of trying to barricade her cell door crossed her mind, if her co-defendant was being attacked then it was likely that she would be targeted next and she thought she might be able to form a somewhat defensible position and hold the line until the guards, wardens and Hunters who secured the prison intervened. Such ideas were dismissed as foolish cowardice a moment later, not because Rowan particularly liked or cared for her the group of hired guns she had gathered around herself but simply because it was logically unsound; if word that she had allowed her co-defendant to be attacked and hidden from the fight were allowed to spread then she would soon find herself targeted by any brazen thug with dreams of climbing the prisons' food chain, including former members of her own crew.

Leaving Rowan with only one course of action.

"Fuck it" she muttered under breath before tying her hair back into something harder to grab, deep green eyes narrowing as she prepared herself both mentally and physically for what was to come, the latter by arming herself with a makeshift weapon that she had created within the first few days of her confinement. Ripped rags of fabric taken from vests or bedsheets were used by prisoners for a variety of reasons, Rowan herself often used them as impromptu gloves when exercising in her cell, however by combining one such strip of fabric with rusty but still sharp screws of an impressive size that she had loosened from where they fixed her cells' furniture in place and empty toothpaste tube to secure the nails in place over her knuckles the redhead had been able to fashion crude, yet hopefully effective spiked gauntlet.

The sound of her heart hammering in her chest as she hastily forced the nails through the toothpaste tube and fabric before wrapping the creation tightly around her knuckles, wrist and forearm was so severe that Rowan almost did not notice the sound of footsteps rushing towards her cell door until it was too late, however years of violence had ingrained and entrenched a sense of awareness and lightning quick reactions so deep into her being that she was able to weave aside and angle herself so that her guard was raised in the direction of the intruders at the last possible moment.

"Open season on the Boiler Crew! Bitch!" a rough voice, filled with anger and hate bellowed as the heavy metal door was kicked open with force, allowing a hulking man whose entire upper body seemed to be covered in prison tattoos, including a skull tattoo etched into his face which incorporated his Faunus trait of ram horns to come charging into the cell brandishing a knife that had clearly been smuggled out of the kitchens.

Behind the man Rowan saw something that made bile rise in her throat and adrenaline flood into her already electrified mind, a wiry yet likely deceptively strong prisoner with some manner of insectoid wings gracing his back and an amphibious by the name of Legume, or simply 'legs' with whom Rowan had exchanged a few words were carrying a large container between them; the kind of cheap plastic basket or open box used for carrying laundry across the prison and from the container the redhead could see steam rising. Being no stranger to the horrific nature of prison violence Rowan knew that the container was filled with several litres of boiling water mixed with sugar which allow the water to both retain its' heat and stick to whoever it was poured on, along with this the smell of bleach began to sting the back of her eyes.

Making it clear that this was a revenge attack with some planning behind it.

"Come and fucking try mutts!" she spat venomously as she rushed forward, knowing that her options were swift and decisive action or an agonising death she weaved around the sloppy right cross of the ram Faunus and used the close quarters of her cell to her advantage, slamming a shoulder into his chest before seizing his wrist in her left hand and delivering several blows with her makeshift weapon to his inner forearm; the prisoners each wore Aura dampening collars and as such the man let out a pained howl as blood poured from deep tears in his flesh only for the screams to be tinged with terror as Rowan violently dragged the weapon back, leaving bloody gashes along her foes' wrist and losing several nails in the process before rearing back whilst still holding the man and headbutting him clean in the face and then delivering another punch, this one to her opponents' face which connected with his left eye in a fresh explosion of blood and screams.

Rowan cast him aside and pressed on without a second thought.

The two thugs holding the basket filled with a steaming concoction intended to strip flesh from her bones both locked eyes with one another in a frantic look of desperation, both trying to pass their cargo to the other until Rowan reached them both and crouched; taking the container by its' bottom end thrusting with all her might as she reared up to her full height.

The sounds and smells which filled the air were simply indescribable as the mixture was flung back onto those who had prepared it in a cascade of tortured shrieking, writhing and convulsing forms and steam which assaulted the senses as it clouded everything beyond the cell from vision.

Before the steam could clear and allow Rowan to brave venturing out into the common area a roar from behind her caused her to wheel around and turn her attention back to the interior of her own cell.

A moment too late.

The tattooed juggernaut she had believed dealt with had risen to his feet despite severe injuries that left blood streaming down his face and ruined right arm, retrieving his knife and carrying it in his left he crossed the cell and plunged the blade into Rowan's left shoulder, glancing and slashing through her upper arm as she turned.

"Bastard!" she screamed out, hindered by the same lack of access to her own Aura and Semblance yet her half-blind enemy, acting on simple berserk instinct at this point was beyond caring about mere words; instead he released his grip on his knife and closing a meaty hand around Rowan's neck and lower face.

Rowan too was reduced to base instinct at this.

Screams once again filled the air as the redhead bit down on her opponents' hand tearing away the skin between index finger and thumb before ripping the knife free from her own shoulder and watching as the man's eyes widened and the air and fight left him in an instant when the blade ruptured his gut; not content to leave things to chance again Rowan thrust the weapon twice more before sweeping at her attackers' legs and throwing him to ground, ensuring that he landed face down in the spilled acid and still smoking mixture intended for her, the man's screams as the liquid made contact with his ruined eye confirming that he was still alive and conscious for the moment. Ripping her makeshift gauntlet from her hand Rowan used the fabric to stem the bleeding from her injured shoulder as much as possible before leaping over the shuddering forms of her beaten opponents and out into the cell-block common room.

Finding herself in a war-zone.

Her former comrade was dead, of that there was no uncertainty; blood had spattered on a wall and could be seen trickling out from an open cell where the redhead could see the vague shape of a pair of legs lying twisted and unmoving within. This detail was however rendered instantly unimportant in comparison to two other details, firstly that her fellow criminals had begun barricading the cell block doors in preparation for the inevitable and likely imminent arrival of the guards and Hunters stationed at the prison and secondly that every single prisoner not engaged in this act had readied themselves with a makeshift weapon of their own and was now sizing Rowan up like an animal stalking its' prey.

"So?" Rowan hissed through gritted teeth as she rolled her shoulders back and readied the knife she had taken "Business or pleasure?" the question was intended to find out if this was a simple revenge attack or, if the sheer volume of people willing to risk several years being added to their sentences would suggest, something else was afoot. Her answer came in the form of an individual stepping forward, a Squid Faunus whose lower face was covered by a t-shirt worn as a loose cowl; an individual whose presence caused Rowan to curse herself at the realisation that this was none other than the leader of the 'Pink Soldiers' street gang whom her attack on Faunus Pride had been a ruse to draw out.

"Can't it be both?" the Squid Faunus laughed coldly "Your old boss says hi by the way….well actually no; they said goodbye"

With that Rowan charged and a small army of prisoners charged to meet her.

---

Zirconia Shadowmoon, following the end of the days' lessons had contented herself by first attending to any outstanding assignments and rereading her work to ensure that it was of an acceptable quality to her and then handling a number of small tasks that required her attention, largely domestic and maintained work which she could handle from the comfort of the dormitory rather than venture down into the campus workshops.

To this end the Grasshopper Faunus had found herself sat on Athena-Jade's bunk, her partner having the bottom bunk which allowed ease of access to tools she might need; clad in shorts and an oversized t-shirt whilst her signature cape-like scarf had been removed and the true volume of her naturally spiky black hair was revealed as it had been untied and allowed to spill freely over her back and shoulders. With a comfortable position secured Zirconia had begun polishing and cleaning the outer casing of Sunriser Cain and the various metallic parts of her attire, including the armour plating of her leather gloves and the stylized shoulder armour which resembled the head of an insectoid Grimm; the entire time swaying slightly in time to the music blaring from her scroll until a fresh distraction had come in the form of a text message.

Hearing from Damascus Nero took precedence over all else and naturally Zirconia had stopped what she had been doing to reply, the conversation had begun with the usual familiar caring questions and assurances from both parties before the young woman's legal guardian had steered the topic towards more pressing and private matters that caused the insectoid Faunus's mismatched gaze to become far more sharply focused as she silenced her scroll and paid more close attention.

Which was how Regalia found her upon barging hurriedly into the dorm.

"Heh, sorry….didn't mean to startle you" the Raccoon Faunus flashed a nervous smile in Zirconia's direction, flicking her long lions' tail of hair from where it had fallen over her shoulder and missing the way that, in her moment of stunned surprise Zirconia instinctively hid her scroll from view.

"No problem at all" the darker haired girl answered quietly, seeing the look on her friends' face and adding "Can I help you with something?"

"I don't want this to sound rude" Regalia gestured with her hands to show that her request could be refused without issue "But Astra's gonna be back in a minute and I kinda wanna talk to them about things….so-"

"You need privacy?" Zirconia surmised, seeing Regalia nod the Grasshopper Faunus nodded silently before gathering a blanket around herself and making her way towards the window; opening it and leaping out with the blanket trailing behind her as her cloak so often did whilst she used a feature hidden within her prosthetic limbs to scale the vertical wall and make her way up to her usual haunt on the roof where she hoped and expected to find Athena.

"Heh, just like Ninja Assassin" Regalia murmured to herself before focusing on the matter at hand, namely what exactly she was going to say to Astra when they arrived. Taking her mother's advice the Raccoon Faunus had resolved to raise several issues with her partner, largely revolving around the fact that she was beginning to feel as though she was being forgotten and left behind, or at the very least unappreciated yet she wanted to be careful, realising that of late Astra's mood had been quick to sour and not wanting to worsen the situation.

Those thoughts were brought screeching to a halt a moment later when Astra arrived.

"Are you okay?" Regalia asked cautiously, her Semblance had brought her to the dorm and so it had been obvious to her that she would encounter her partner soon enough but as always Look-See only provided the vaguest of information, telling nothing about what physical or mental state Astra would be in when she found them. The Deer Faunus looked exhausted, though that was something of a recurring theme lately as they continued to push themselves to breaking point and worried Regalia less than the redness of her partners' eyes or the detached and distant look they wore, as though Astra was carrying themselves onward with a grim resolve and steadfast refusal to feel.

Everything about it seemed to ooze wrongness in Regalia's mind.

"I'm fine" Astra's words were stilted and blunt, immediately belied by the way the Deer Faunus slumped against the frame of the bunk-beds the two of them shared and sliding down to sit on the floor in what could only be described as a crumpled heap.

"Astra you can talk to me" Regalia urged, trying not to sound as though she were goading them whilst still pressing for answers.

"I'm talking, I said I'm fine" something in the Raccoon Faunus felt as though it had caught fire at that moment and before she had realised that she was in motion she had stalked towards their bunks to take a pillow which she proceeded to throw at her partner with more force than such a soft object should have been able to generate; as Astra glared at her whilst removing the offending pillow from where it had landed, balancing on one of their antlers at a gravity defying angle Regalia closed the distance between them and dropped into a squatting position so that their faces were level.

"Look at me!" she urged, voice never raising to a yell but becoming more forceful with every frustrated word "Actually look at me and-"

"Regalia, today is really not the day to-" Astra low snarl was quickly interrupted.

"Really, 'cos I thought you were fine, I mean you just told me you were fine?" Regalia made no effort to keep a taunting edge from those words, though she quickly became more earnest "I'm worried about you….We're all worried about you!"

"I kinda wish people would stop worrying about me" Astra breathed out, their annoyance being swallowed by a look of utter dejection as they seemed to collapse in on themselves "It's not going well for anybody"

"What happened?" Regalia asked, finally sitting beside her partner and letting out a sigh; realising that she was at the cusp of realising what had caused her partners' current foul mood.

"I….Family stuff" Astra finally ground out and Regalia winced before giving a wry chuckle.

"Heh, tell me about it….That's the thing living on the Aiktishaf where everyone is a family, there's always family drama" her expression softened "But no really, tell me about it"

"I don't want to talk about it" Astra breathed out, holding up a hand to silence their partners' imminent objection "I don't wanna talk about it, I wanna fix it but I don't know how….Feels like I don't know how to do anything right lately"

"Well now you're just being dumb" Regalia's hand flew to her mouth as her lilac eyes widened, certain that she would never have been so brash before making friends with her team and wondering exactly when the change had occurred; Astra simply glowered and let out a wordless sound of annoyance before speaking again.

"Am I though?" they demanded "I fucked up our last mission, Grapeshot and Carmesi are out there working for the Grimm Smugglers and nobody knows who they are yet, we're not doing anything to actually help….All because I still haven't managed to unlock my Semblance….I'm holding you all back"

"No" Regalia shook her head "Nobody thinks that….We're just worried that you're pushing yourself too hard"

"I'm not pushing myself hard enough" Astra's answer was delivered with such utter conviction that Regalia was unsure of how to answer, remaining silent for several seconds before finally deciding that it was time to simply be honest.

"You're not gonna listen to me at all are you?" she asked sadly

"I'm listening" Astra assured her, trying their hardest to force some feeling into their words despite their numbness; a flicker of the old Astra rising to the surface and giving the Raccoon Faunus the faintest glimmer of hope as they seemed to realise exactly what needed to be said "I really am….I don't want you to feel like I'm ignoring you, I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you away; you're my partner and my friend….But I'm a leader, I've got to keep pushing myself, I've got to be the version of me that you all need"

"We need the version of you that can still stand up Astra" Regalia pointed out bluntly, only for retort to be clearly taken as a joke by her partner who, with some effort dragged themselves back to their feet and staggered towards where their textbooks had been left; the Deer Faunus clearly intended to take on more assignments, though at this point it seemed likely that they were simply a distraction from everything else troubling them.

"I appreciate you looking out for me Regalia, I really do" Astra huffed eventually "But I'd appreciate it more if you helped me so I can do what I need to"

"I….heh, sure" Regalia nodded, forcing herself to see this as her partner asking her for help and a sign that Astra could still be reached; though in truth the Raccoon found herself privately grappling with a realisation that made her stomach plummet.

Her partner and friend had changed, Team MARZ's mission had brought the extent of the change to light and now that it could no longer be ignored Regalia was not certain she liked the person Astra was becoming.

---

If Rowan's enemies had been foolish enough to attack her all at once, tripping over one another and interfering with each others' attacks in a disorganised press, or if Rowan herself had access to her Aura then the fight within the cell-block would have been a formality, ending with her standing victorious.

As it was however the former hired gun was in trouble.

Those seeking to kill her were a group of hardened criminals, each having been of a similar calibre of fighter to the redhead herself despite her pretensions the contrary and despite outnumbering her several dozen to one the inmates had thus far attacked in small groups; allowing them to maintain the advantage of numbers without overcrowding one another and at the same time continue to try and hold their crude barricade and prevent any aid from coming. Rowan herself was coated with a sheen of sweat, blood soaking through the makeshift bandage wrapped beneath her left shoulder whilst her muscles burned in protest against exertion that she was only able to force herself continue through sheer determined willpower borne of a lack of alternatives; the knife she had taken was slick with the blood of men and women whose motionless forms were strewn on the floor around her, the weapon already unsuitable for such a fight even before it had become so soaked that it threatened to slip through her fingers and its' blade had begun to bend under the forces involved in repeatedly stabbing a man in the chest.

Yet still she persisted, a primal refusal to die carrying her forward.

"WHEN THEY TAKE ME TO THE HOLE I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR HEAD WITH ME!" she screamed as she charged towards the Squid Faunus who had clearly orchestrated this attack at the behest of her own former benefactor; a frightening thought that she was mercifully in no state to consider as her own heartbeat thundered in her ears, almost drowning out the yells of frenzied attackers and the sound of a battering ram being used against the blocked entrance to the cell-block yet despite her furious effort Rowan never reached her target; instead she was lifted from the ground as a woman larger than herself tackled her from the right, dropping under Rowan's guard and seizing her by the legs whilst continuing to drive onwards carrying the redhead across the common area and slamming her painfully into a steel table.

"FUCK YOU!" the yell was one of desperate frustration as Rowan, back pulsing with pain at every motion jammed her knife into her attackers arm and caused the other woman to recoil enough for the redhead to deliver a kick to the face that resulted in a satisfying crunch.

The victory was brief as a group of three more attackers seized the opportunity to rush at Rowan before she could properly recover; two women, one wielding a wooden broom handle like a staff and the other using a makeshift knife fashioned from a toothbrush and razor blade and a man carrying another blade between his knuckles much like Rowan's own discarded gauntlet, this weapon using a shaped and sharpened bedspring as its' source material all came charging and as hardened and experienced as she might have been the former sell-sword could not react fast enough.

Her face exploded into white-hot pain as a razor blade was dragged across the surface of her cheek, from her left ear to the bridge of her nose.

"BITCH!" Rowan tried to thrash and kick away even as hot blood poured over her face with its' coppery tang spilling into her mouth, still partially leaned backward over the steel table she was forced to try and roll to the side in an effort to regain her footing only to present an opening to the woman wielding a broken broom-handle; this new attacker capitalised mercilessly and swung her weapon at the back of Rowan's skull with enough force to leave her seeing stars as she staggered with a second swing, this time aimed at her knee leaving her crying out in pain as she collapsed to the ground.

Where her nose was promptly broken, in a fresh outpouring of blood by a kick to the face from her third attacker.

"Hold her! Hold her!" one of her assailants yelled and Rowan found herself being roughly grabbed in an instant, several blows raining down on her to keep her attempts to struggle from succeeding before she was dragged back towards the steel table where he head was slammed down on into its' surface, leaving her neck exposed for a killing blow which the woman who had tackled her, now standing again and clutching the bent kitchen knife prepared to deliver.

Rowan's body moved of its' own accord, rational thought entirely beyond her in that moment.

Her first target was the woman now using a broom handle to help pin her in place, throwing herself back Rowan managed to force herself into a standing position and deliver a kick to her opponents' knee as she turned to face her, from there she reached out and grabbed the broom handle before slamming her head into her enemies' face, following up by wresting the broom from her grasp and leaping backwards, up onto the table as she swung.

Wood splintered and bone cracked, the woman fell to the ground with a dull thud that went unheard as the fight raged on.

The next attack came from the man with a crude spike as he delivered a punch to Rowan's calf, cruelly wrenching the weapon as he tore it free in a move that soaked the leg of the redheads' prison uniform with dark blood, Rowan was equally vicious in her retort however and she promptly reduced the man to shrieks of agony as she took the shattered remains of the broom she had taken from her last attacker and from her higher position stabbed downwards, directly into the mans' eye.

Only for her two remaining attackers to pounce and pull her legs out from under her and send Rowan crashing down onto the table with an impact that bruised and cracked ribs.

Yet still the redhead persisted, lashing out at the woman with the weaponised toothbrush that had slashed her face; managing to avoid a wild swing at her unblemished cheek and counter with a savage left hook to the throat which stunned her opponent before taking the arm which held the weapon by the wrist and forearm and driving her knee into the limb with bone-breaking force which in turn allowed her to steal with improvised blade.

The third assailants' eyes widened in shock and silent terror as she clutched at her throat a moment later, deep crimson spilling through her fingers as she let out choking gasps and gurgles before succumbing to her gruesome injuries.

The last of the current wave of attackers, the woman who had initially tackled her and whose own nose was as bloodied and broken as Rowan's remained; and was still holding a knife.

"I'm gonna fucking gut you for what you did!" the lager woman roared as she rushed at Rowan again, yet this time the redhead saw the attack coming and, despite her injuries was ready to fight back. As the two ran at one another Rowan, seeing her opponent preparing to stab her did something unexpected; she discarded her weapon completely. The larger woman thrust her knife at Rowan's gut and Rowan side-stepped expertly, delivering a devastating punch to the face as her opponent passed her which was followed by swiftly positioning herself behind her opponent, wrapping an arm around her neck and slamming a fist into the other woman's kidneys until she was forced to drop her weapon.

From there Rowan slammed her opponents' face down onto the metallic surface of the table that had served as a focal point for this skirmish and left her foe barely clinging to consciousness, yet this too was deemed to be insufficient and the redhead, bloodied and beaten as she was decided that it was time to make an example in the form of extreme brutality.

She took a moment to line her dazed enemies mouth against the edge of the table, teeth against its' surface before taking several steps back then delivering a running kick to the back of the head.

The results were horrific.

"I'M GONNA CUT YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT!" Rowan's word, bellowed out with a force and intensity that sent blood spraying out to fleck everything around her, were directed at the Squid Faunus who had organised this attempt on her life. With her green eyes crazed and gleaming with murderous intent she sought the gang leader out and found him a moment later, alone and unprotected as almost all of the remaining prisoners were devoted to halting the efforts of the guards to enter the cell-block which, judging by the booming impacts against the crude attempts to bar them would be successful in a matter of moments.

Meaning Rowan would have to act quickly.

She burst into motion and her quarry began to flee with equal urgency yet whilst the Squid Faunus who led a street gang had only ever fought their fellow criminals Rowan had done battle with the Creatures of Grimm and trained Hunters, leaving any comparison of their relative fitness a farce. Rowan caught the man, whose covered face did nothing to mask his fear, only a short way across the common area and immediately slammed him against the nearest wall which happened to be lined with land-line scroll equivalents which prisoners would vie for the use of and were separated by clear plastic barriers to create small booths. Rowan smashed her enemies' face into the plastic in her attack, holding the man by the neck as she pinned him to the wall and upon realising that she was still unarmed reached for the nearest suitable tool, namely the receiver of the land-line which she began to slam into the mans' face with all the strength she could muster; the blood seeping through the t-shirt he used to cover much of his face assuring her that teeth and bones were being pulverised under her assault.

"I was gonna take this fucking city!" she spat, continuing to bludgeon her foe as she raged "I was gonna take the city and make it something, everybody would have eaten! We wouldn't need favours and hand-outs from these rich fucks that pay us all off but no! This is what you get instead!-"

An explosion of thundering force behind her alerted Rowan that the cell-block had been breached and in a display of instinct that flew in the face of reason she made the mistake of turning to look over her shoulder, taking her eyes off of her opponent for just long enough for the man whose face had been reduced to a sodden pulp to reach for one of the fragments of broken plastic which had been a barrier only moments ago.

Rowan let out a wheezing gasp of surprise as she was stabbed in the flank, looking down to see blood darkening her white tank-top just beneath her bottom rib.

The Squid Faunus kicked her back yet was too wounded and discombobulated to properly take advantage of the redheads' stunned state; however there were now other factors at play and as Rowan and her foe locked eyes, both bleeding profusely and pushing themselves onwards through hate, desperation and sheer mind-numbing adrenaline that prevented them from feeling the full extent of their injuries the situation was capitalised on nonetheless, with the sound of heavy booted footfalls rushing toward her given her only the briefest moment of warning in which to turn and see an oncoming tide of men and women in heavy-duty tactical armour, the figure at the lead raising a weighty baton which crackling with the effects of lightning Dust and preparing to swing.

The impact and sensation of her cheekbone shattering was the last thing Rowan felt before everything faded to black.

---

It was time.

Gestalt-Prime had spent days exerting their will to the point of almost shattering their own mind as they forced their designs and intentions upon the resources now at their disposal and the time to reap the rewards had finally come.

With the means to produce enough Grimm tissue to stabilise their form and keep their higher intellect from being subsumed as they took on more mechanical components and sought to integrate themselves into the preys' synthetic hive-mind, that which they called the CCT secured and along with it the means to both replenish and bolster their forces the hybrid Alpha's plans had moved into their next phase, namely scouting out potential targets.

Creatures of Grimm had been dispatched in all directions by land, air and sea; with the possibility of the latter a new addition to Gestalt-Prime's arsenal and the information that these various packs, flocks and swarms had gathered was cross-referenced against the intelligence plucked from the aircraft they had added to their form, settlements where the prey congregated had been sought out and their defences tested for weaknesses in a series of small attacks which had revealed to the monstrous amalgamation of flesh and steel directing the lesser monsters that the city the prey referred to as 'Port Alistair' was too large to be tackled with the forces currently available to them as various data points regarding defences and countermeasures became for less hypothetical when they had been turned against Gestalt-Prime's scouting parties, exterminating the airborne and aquatic Grimm that had prowled along the islands' coastline to the edge of the preys' territory.

However Port Alistair was far from the only possible target.

A small but steadily expanding town had been found further inland, the information available to Gestalt-Prime informing the hybrid Alpha that the settlement had begun its' existence as a fuelling station which had slowly grown and developed outwards to include several factories and warehouses, using raw materials shipped from other Kingdoms and through ports to manufacture goods and take advantage of a largely central position on Menagerie to distribute their wares outwards; none of this was of importance to Gestalt-Prime however and the Cyclopean horror instead focused its' hungering mind on the more relevant facts that the towns' state of near constant but always slow expansion had left with defences which were piecemeal at best, the preliminary scouting packs that had been sent finding several buildings entirely outside of perimeter walls and, more promising still, that the settlement boasted a CCT uplink tower which allowed its' people to communicate effectively with the rest of Remnant, a necessity given the towns' beginnings as a fuelling and trading post.

It was the perfect opportunity for Gestalt-Prime to both put their plans into action and at the same time properly test the abilities of the new breed of Grimm they had spawned.

"Maintain formation!" the hybrid Alpha shrieked over their shoulder, voice rising over the sound of their own flaming wing-mounted thrusters as they soared over the blasted wastelands below; land-based Creatures of Grimm bounding and slithering into position whilst the subject of Gestalt-Prime's command flew behind them in a tight and organised configuration which alone served to prove that these were not the mindless beasts which usually stalked the islands' skies.

The flock was several dozen strong, a test batch of Gestalt-Prime's creation; each of them a lesser approximation of the Alpha itself, roughly eight feet in height when stood upright and largely lupine with snarling, fanged maws and wiry, rangy musculature pierced with swept back jutting spires of bone. Each of these mutated and modified Beowolves was also unique in that they sported an additional pair of limbs, namely a pair of vast, bat-like and membranous wings whose taut-stretched skin was translucent and deep crimson in places; along with opposable thumbs gracing their forelimbs and a sail like fin, similar to their wings in design gracing their backs in place of the expected tufts of fur or bone spikes to give the creatures a more sleek and aerodynamic form. Each of the winged wolves held a malevolent intelligence in their gaze and as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and their target became illuminated as the lights of dozens upon dozens of homes shone in the spreading darkness Gestalt-Prime, filled with an almost alien sense of pride at their craftsmanship shrieked out another order to their creations which was quickly acted on.

"Let's get this bread!" Gestalt-Prime cut the power to their wings and hurtled into a dive, their winged wolves folding their own wings flat against their bodies and howling in a terrifying chorus as they dove alongside the Alpha.

Author's Notes:

Well this was definitely a fun chapter for me to write all round, we had feels of many flavours, an extra crunchy fight scene and some Grimm related horror; that's what we're all here for right?
Three chapters in and we haven't actually caught up with all of the villains yet….The Benefactor did tell them to lay low but we'll finally get to see Carmesi and Grapeshot again next chapter.
Also the title….Look I wanted to name the chapter after a prison film but I couldn't think of one that fit, so this half arsed attempt at a pun is what we got; I'm not proud of it either but in my defence I was hungover and hungry….Also, come on Maximum Insecurity is just Astra's character at this point (Although AJ & Regalia have their own issues).
ON ANOTHER NOTE: According to Ao3 this is the chapter that's gonna push this story over the half a million words marker, not even at the end of the first year arc...This might honestly end up being a bigger story than FADE at this rate.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Huh, it's oddly rare for a chapter to take place mid-week.
Yeah AJ is being needlessly extra, using glyphs and back-flips to get things down from shelves for Zirconia.
She lets her feet carry her somewhere without thinking and instinctively ends up at her and Zirconia's hangout spot….Cute.
I could have had the scene be about AJ trying to figure things out on her own and be angsty….But letting her little sister tease her into not being dumb any more was too fun.
So the Karaoke "Not date" happened and the press naturally got a hold of it.
If you deny it then there's something to deny – Sibling rules, only children won't get it.
As someone who has a younger sibling who's taller than them writing Coral is probably more therapeutic tha it should be.
The youngest sibling is always a snitch.
And finally, after months of being denser than the heart of a star AJ, by using her sister as a rubber-duck is actually figuring out that she likes Hops.
Okay in context the fact that AJ is freaking out about having a crush on her partner is really funny, for the reason Coral listed….That's like half your families' marriages.
I mean AJ is making a mature choice….But not for the mature reasons she's giving, let's be real she's just scared.
"No you moved to Menagerie to prove that you could make it on your own and that you're more than the family name and prove a bunch of things that nobody ever even doubted in the first place" are your siblings ever more honest than when they're calling you out?
And now onto somebody with a far less healthy relationship with….Well, pretty much everyone at this point.
So basically Astra is becoming obsessed, that ego to cover up insecurities is really starting to manifest itself as a complex.
Okay see….I can almost defend or justify Astra up to a point here because Felix probably should have taken the matter up with them directly, it was meant with the best of intentions but Astra was always gonna take going to their Mum as going behind their back; does not excuse the response though.
Then again Myrtle could probably have approached it differently as well, see she knows Astra well enough to know just how much they like to put up an image and how insecure they are….Directly calling it out while they're already upset was always gonna get a reaction.
That kid is really gonna start running out of people to push away soon.
Regalia has a Semblance that's a literal objective marker and is the character I usually get the sense of her feeling completely lost when writing.
Dangerous driving is the only driving she knows.
Called home by accident because she was fiddling with the two-way radio….Now that's on par with AJ's auto-wandering.
Been two long since we heard from Swarf Russet, I can promise you though that she's gonna have more to do later in Vol.03; I've got plans.
See now that is the kind of uplifting talk Regalia needed, proof that someone actually appreciates her.
I know you're more than capable; the wastelands claim those who are not….Arrakis is Arrakis and the desert takes the weak; my desert, my Arrakis, my Dune.
So Swarf has heard some talk about Gestalt-Prime or their packs through the smaller settlements, travellers or other clans that have been attacked.
What is this about your team not realising? I was not under the impression that any of them were fools? Ah mama Russet is fun to write.
Getting read to filth by your Mum….Partner things, Regalia is definitely a little jealous.
Y'know the Sand-Lot really isn't a cult favourite film over here in the UK, mainly cos we don't play Baseball and I saw it for the first time in 2019.
Now the prep talk might not be exactly the one Regalia needed….But it's the one that stopped her from hanging out in an empty car park on a school night so it's a win.
And now for the grisly part of the chapter.
For someone who's served time before Rowan is making an amateur mistake….Always find a hustle or get onto an education program, it makes the time go faster; also always make sure to show face in the common areas.
Getting paper-checked on entrance to a new wing is absolutely real and the consequences of failing that are potentially fatal.
Prison engineering is some of the most resourceful shit you will ever see and the examples I gave are all entirely workable.
Getting Kettled/Nuked/Jugged/Swilled or whatever else they call these days is absolutely real and the results are horrifying, even if they just use the sugar and water without the bleach….Also heard of people microwaving baby oil….Also it's exactly the kind of retribution that would be handed out for the acid attacks Rowan's people pulled at Faunus Pride.
Yeah, when I started Downward Spiral back in 2016 I wanted to make it clear that violence between people with Aura and without were two entirely different things, it's comparing a Shounen Anime to the Raid….This is that same principle but ramped up, I wanted everything to make you wince.
So the co-defendant, actually one of the crew she was with at Faunus Pride….If you read it back they were someone reluctant to be there, just got shanked and the whole thing has been organised by the gang leader who took over the docks that the entire attack was a smokescreen for an attack on….Yes a Squid Faunus leading a gang called the Pink Soldiers is a reference to exactly what you think.
Admit it "Your old boss says hi by the way….well actually no; they said goodbye" was bad-ass.
Honestly could have wrote the chapter without having Zirconia in it at all, but wanted to show her at least a little.
Now why does she get so cagey whenever she gets a message from home, always hiding her Scroll?
Also, that's how she gets up onto the roof….her robot legs are tricked out and she can actually run up walls….Might be relevant later.
Yeah Astra came in still shell-shocked at their own stupidity.
They're also lucky that it was only a pillow Regalia threw at them, AJ would have thrown a whole slab of Dust….Or her hammer.
"Look at me! Actually look at me" Nope, no jealousy issues at all….None, whatsoever.
And here we have a continuation of something from a couple of chapters ago, Astra wanting to be the 'Version of themselves who gets shit done'.
….Astra is honestly taking a route than Vol.01 Jaune could have gone down if his partner had been anyone other than Pyrrha and it's sad that they're not trying to be a dick, they're really just trying to be better but going about it wrong.
And now almost nobody likes the person they're turning into.
….But back to the utter carnage and, well….I'm only kinda sorry if this is hard to read.
People who've been in fights know that jumping someone more than three or four on one is counterproductive, you end up getting in your own way.
Also yeah, kitchen knives are really not the best thing for stabbing people with; anything with a blade that flexible is only gonna get a couple of good hits on any body part with bones in it before it starts to get misshapen.
Two razor blades, parallel and less than an inch apart knocked into a heated up toothbrush handle….We call that a 'Mars Bar' in the UK.
Should have just killed her while she was on the floor to be honest.
Yes I am absolutely phobic about anything going in or around my eyes, why do you ask?
And you thought the throat-cutting, biting and eye rupturing was bad….then we get to the table; now if you don't already know what the term "Curb-Stomping" actually means and what it will do to someone's face I would honestly suggest you don't look it up, but yeah Rowan curb stomped someone on a table.
The guards trying to break in and the prisoners barricading the door was honestly a way of making this at least somewhat plausible, because otherwise Rowan would absolutely be dead.
Getting beaten with the prison phone is absolutely something that happens.
And now we end the scene with a Dues Ex Machina in the form of the guards arriving at just the right moment….With what is quite possibly the best fade to black in the story so far.
Anything that starts with "It was time" is gonna be ominous.
The thinking Grimm is moving onto the next stage of its' plans.
Okay so Gestalt-Prime isn't attacking Port Alistair right now, but at the same time that wording is definitely leaving room for things to change.
Yeah, no point beating around the bush Gestalt-Prime is going to absolutely wreck a settlement.
Their plans involve using the CCT to basically make the Grimm self-perpetuating, same as before so naturally trading posts that have a CCT connection are prime targets.
….But they've also got some new toys to test out.
This is what they were working on last chapter after taking the Spawning Pit, winged wolves….I could have given them feathered wings but honestly the bat-wings give them a more coherent feel, mainly because they're entirely mammal.
Yes I'm having too much fun with Gestalt-Prime's speech.

Thank you to Lurkweed and SumoSnipe for their reviews on the last chapter.
Yeah Wolfram Tungsten….Which is actually basically Wolfram Wolfram, so you could jokingly say that he's the Moon Moon of the story, is pretty much the home-town hero of his village; it's a small place and he's honestly probably one of, or the first person to go off and become a Hunter since it was settled by Mistral.
Astra can absolutely fight (And anyone under six feet tall should know how to deal with bigger people) it's just the 'everything else' they're struggling with lately.
Gestalt-Prime has military knowledge, which includes the adage about "Never interrupt the enemy when he is making a mistake" and preparing your death-ray when fighting something armed with a high powered weapon of its' own, that's big enough to fit inside your high powered weapon is asking for a mishap.
See now the song you suggested for Regalia has the right 'feel' but at the same I feel like it's vibes would honestly probably fit Team GORE more.
Also, with how much they like Power Metal I was gonna make that a potential shipname for Astra and Regalia...However, considering how much Astra love fighting and Regalia being from nomad clan riding around in a Mad-Max dune crawler...How about "Scrap Metal"

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