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Chapter 157: Ascension
They were complete.
They were singular, a lone entity and point of focus, a collapsing star and event horizon not only in the darkness, but of the darkness and drawing it deeper into themselves and at the same time they were many, they were multitudes beyond counting as their own mind reached and connected not only with others but also with the ephemeral potential of minds and instincts yet to be given form as they flickered around the edges of existence.
They were Gestalt-Prime and they had ascended.
Damascus Nero had tried with all their might to end them and he had failed, throwing his final moments away for nothing; his dying efforts not only being undone but turned against both him and the Kingdoms he had sought to protect as the Alpha Cyber-Grimm unmade the Megalodon and reformed the base components of the living war-machine into the new fortress which itself was simply an extension of their will. From from there Gestalt-Prime had unleashed their wrath upon the fleet gathered against them, dragging warships down and sacrificing souls by the hundred at the alter of their own re-imagining as steel, machinery and Grimm-flesh were sculpted into a single emergent titan.
Pantheon's throne room and command center had been amongst the first things to be redesigned; the Spawning Pit which had formed its' depths having been drained and relocated elsewhere for other purposes whilst flesh, bone and ominously glowing and pulsating crystal were joined by vast masses of metal and wiring to form a bleak and monstrous parody of a warships' command bridge; the design plucked from Gestalt-Prime's archived memories and stolen data before being suitably twisted to suit its' new purpose.
Faux-consoles formed armored cages to contain Synapse Grimm whose flimsy, gaseous forms had been bloated until they threatened to burst from the seams of their new housings and whose tentacles had been bound and woven to form thick masses of living cabling which phased erratically in and out of existence as they snaked towards the focal point of it all.
The throne and Gestalt-Prime themselves.
The twisted form of the throne had been shrunken and given a sense of order and uniformity; the twisted wreckage that served as its' basis being wrought into something distinct and granted various connection points so that its' user could more easily interface with the entirety of their domain through it. Gestalt-Prime themselves had remained unchanged, at least not since their last upgrade and recreation save for a series of small ports hidden beneath movable armor plates which allowed them to connect to their throne and through it their new creation and beyond.
The creation of new Synapse Grimm, the knowledge of their existence and design plucked from Pantheon' devoured carcass allowed Gestalt-Prime to connect with Spawning Pits all across Remnant and upon doing so the Alpha Cyber Grimm used the CCT connections of the various warships they had subsumed into their new creation, scouring the deepest and darkest recesses of the Kingdoms' artificial Hive-Mind for content of such depravity and raw negative emotion that it would fuel the Creatures of Grimm for an eternity. All whilst deep within the bowels of the new being the Megalodon's Forge, the facility from whence Cyber-Grimm came and Pantheon's own personal Spawning Pit with which they created new horrors were steadily merged.
Within their throne Gestalt-Prime's perceptions were altered, no longer were they subject to the endless screaming hunger of their lesser minions; instead knowledge of the Creatures of Grimm was refined, prioritized and given coherence before being superimposed ever their expanded senses; allowing them to toggle between their own form, the viewpoints of larger hosts of Grimm across Remnant, the inner workings of their new living fortress or to take charge of the body of the titanic form directly and experience it as if it were there own body.
They chose the latter.
The thing defied all sense of scale, a bipedal monster larger than the Kingdoms' skyscrapers and capable of both snatching their airships out of the sky with a lazy sweep of a limb or simply stepping over their defensive walls without breaking stride.
Its' design took inspiration not from Gestalt-Prime's current form but instead from some of their earlier iterations; boasting a body which was at once upright and yet undeniably lupine, as if it were some abominable Lycanthrope deity come to prevent the sunrise.
Its' legs were lost beneath the waves but if they could be seen an observer would find them to be digitigrade and bent like the hind legs of a dog, their exterior a combination of vast planes of sculpted obsidian muscle and metallic armor fused to living tissue and held in place by obelisks of bone piercing them like rivets whilst the tail of the titan; similarly lost beneath the surface of the water was a segmented length of armored and serpentine muscle wide enough even at its' narrowest point for a train to travel were it not for the fact that the tail moved endlessly, casting waves around it as it adjusted to keep the gargantuan body balanced.
These limbs leg to a narrow waist, as much machine as flesh with visible gears and pistons and other mechanisms writ large encased within structures of bone and flesh and a translucent, bloody-tinged layer of skin all in turn leading up to an enormous, even by such unfathomable standards, chest. The torso of the titanic beast was encased in armor drawn from several warships and given new form. Where Pantheon's Behemoth had sported crude living combustion engines within its' legs this monstrosity had taken the nacelles and wing struts of the various vessels it had consumed and merged them, producing vast skeletal propulsion systems which grew from the spine and fortified back of the thing and spewed Dust-made fire into the air in its' wake. The chest was even more monstrous, layers upon layers of interlocking armor encasing the heart of the beast whilst the point where its' lowest ribs should have been was instead lined with an array of thick, meaty tentacles lined with suction cups like those of a squid which were in turn filled with whirring and grinding machinery whilst the tip of each limb featured claws and more cruel implements at an unthinkable scale, each designed to scoop prey from the ground and feed them into a vast cavity within the things' torso.
Revealing that Gestalt-Prime had taken and refined the Megalodon's ability to process and refine Grimm tissue amongst other things by feeding them in the living cauldron within itself.
Above these were the arms of the creation, each limb a titanic mass. The right being a colossal mountain of flesh carpeted by a forest of bristling fur, with each movement causing arcs of crackling static to travel along the length of the limb and lightning to gather around the massive bone spikes and claws protruding from the adjoining fist. Its' left arm was a work of obscene machinery and writhing, shuddering nerves and viscera wherein the arsenals of the various warships had been combined into a single weapon whose fang-mawed muzzle gaped hungrily and revealed a dim crimson glow in its' depths.
Above it all sat the head of the thing, in which Gestalt-Prime's true body and their command bridge could be found; a wolf-like mass of steel and bone with a fused shut mouth and eyes that were at once an homage to Gestalt-Prime's own features but also their opposite, instead of a single optic hidden beneath a visor the skull of the titan was littered with hundreds upon hundreds of eyes arranged in a single thick band across its' snarling maw.
Through these eyes Gestalt-Prime studied the world around them, the world they would remake and the enemies they would lay low.
They were Gestalt-Prime and this was their Behemoth-Gestalt, the tool with which they would conquer Remnant for the Grimm.
With a single thought and a roar of propulsion systems the Behemoth-Gestalt began to advance.
Even with the Atlesian Warships torn from the sky and dragged to their destruction the pre-dawn gloom was ignited by searing lasers and the blossoming explosions of rockets as those who remained unleashed defiant opening salvos against Gestalt-Prime and their new, ultimate weapon.
Even in the face of the Behemoth-Gestalt's overwhelming power, scale and fortitude and the knowledge that they could do little, if anything against it the Hunters and their allies chose to stand and fight.
Astra Mars watched, silenced by awe and disbelief as it began. From the cockpit of the Pearl they saw and heard as Penny Rose conversed and coordinated with her personal transports' onboard AI to seek out anything which might be a structural weak point before unleashing every weapon at her disposal, not in a single desperate gambit but in a series of calculating deliberate strikes. There had been survivors of Gestalt-Prime's act of violence, far too few to be sure but those who remained took heart and followed Penny's example. They had been aboard the last of the airships, those given enough warning to clamber into transports and fighters of their own by the sight of their comrades demise and now they formed a small swarm of battered and beleaguered souls determined to throw every ounce of anger and spiteful resistance they could muster into the face of their enemy.
Searing beams of cyan light erupted from a point just out of Astra's view to lance through the darkness and strike and flesh and armor which yielded nothing to the attack and the Deer Faunus's heart seemed to unclench, if only by a fraction within their chest as they followed the beams of light back to their source. Team FADE were alive, riding upon constructs of light and Aura summoned by Arctus Slate who was even now still firing; the four of them joined by Ruby Rose herself who hovered in the air surrounded by a swirling cloud of rose petals.
Just as Penny had promised.
Movement within the overcrowded cockpit reminded Astra that they were not alone, reminding them in turn of their duty.
"AJ what're you doing?" they demanded urgently as they turned as much as their cramped surroundings would allow, noting that Penny turned her attention away from her weapons in order to do the same and found that Athena-Jade was frantically pushing her way out of the cockpit and heading towards one of the transports' hatches.
"You know what I'm doing" she answered, voice heavy with tension and unwavering determination. Astra realized in an instant that they understood her intentions plainly. Gestalt-Prime was simply allowing their new colossus to absorb damage now to dishearten those who stood against them and to better take the measure of their creation but there would inevitably be a retaliation, likely in mere moments and Athena had realized that her brother and Astra's own were in the unenviable position of being the smallest and most easily crushed targets, whilst also being positioned beside a Silver-Eyed Warrior.
Making them easy objects of the Alpha Cyber-Grimm's ire.
"You're not doing it alone" Astra countered "I'm coming with you"
The Bear Faunus shot them a bright smile and before a single question or warning could be leveled against them the pair had charged their way through the press of bodies within the rear of the transport, forced open one of its' side hatches and then leapt out into the cool air. Athena-Jade created a path of glyphs, putting enough distance between herself and Penny's aircraft to ensure that an attack meant for one of them did not inadvertently strike the other and then, with Astra close behind her she readied Heartbreaker in its' laser cannon form and added her own beam of ethereal green light to the continuing assault with a familiar battle cry spilling from her lips.
"COME GET SOME!"
The Behemoth-Gestalt had begun to advance, wading through the open sea as though it were nothing more than a pond and with titanic footsteps which sent out waves capable of capsizing any ship they struck and in the face of such might the arrayed lasers and rockets were meaningless. Their attacks were doing nothing at all and upon realizing that the titanic Cyber-Grimm creation would soon draw close enough to simply Barge through the remaining aircraft without even needing to engage them Astra took action, nodding to Athena-Jade and conveying that they needed a large glyph upon which to stand.
They couldn't stop the Behemoth-Gestalt, but they could distract Gestalt-Prime.
"HEY! WE NEVER FINISHED OUR FIGHT! YOU SAID I WAS THERE AT THE BEGINNING RIGHT? I'M STILL HERE, YOU HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING YET! FINISH THIS FIGHT, YOU OWE ME A PROPER FIGHT!" as they yelled and screamed, forcing their voice to carry through the air until it cracked Astra also began to activate their Semblance; their Aura-form casting a fiery red glow as it expanded outwards. Astra knew that even at their uppermost limits they would not be able to rival the size of the Behemoth-Gestalt, that it was not even close however they refused to allow that knowledge to dissuade them. They were a Hunter after all and they had fought monsters larger than themselves dozens of times already.
In no time at all their distraction worked.
The skull of the Behemoth-Gestalt was adorned with a faux-visor, comprised of hundred upon hundred of eyes no larger than Astra's own arranged in a deliberate formation and set into a honeycomb of bone and steel and as Astra continued to challenge the Alpha Grimm within it they had the distinct impression that several of those eyes turned to face them.
Gestalt-Prime obliged them in brutal fashion a moment later, the forest of thick and fibrous fur which coated the Behemoth's right arm crackling with lightning which traced and surged its' way towards the things' spiked fist until the Behemoth-Gestalt flexed its' fingers with a sound that was at once a thunderclap and a high-pitched scream. Lightning flashed through the air and there was nothing either Astra or Athena-Jade could do to prevent it.
However they were not alone.
The air shifted and became solid, the lightning striking the plane of solid air and branching out across its' surface before the attack and the defense against it both gave out in the same moment, allowing Astra and Athena-Jade to both look, in utter disbelief towards Penny's transport where Wolfram Ironside was being held by Ursinia in the mouth of an open hatch; the Leader of Team WULF having used his Semblance to protect them and given so deeply that he had collapsed and lost consciousness.
"GO!" Astra yelled, allowing his Semblance to dissipate, returning to their normal size so that they and Athena could sprint back along the glyphs the Bear Faunus had created and return to relative safety.
Lightning ripped through several glyphs at once, this time with nothing to prevent it and before Athena-Jade could create more the two Hunters were falling, she and Astra left reaching out for one another so that each could protect the other as they sought to reorient themselves and prepare their landing strategies in the desperate hope that they might reach safety. Athena-Jade used her now-signature partial summoning technique to create Nevermore wings at her back and yet as her Aura visibly wavered and flickered around her it became clear that she had pushed herself too far, that she would expend the last of her reserves before she could carry herself and Astra upwards.
And yet even here the two of them were not alone.
"NOT YOUR BRIGHTEST MOVE KID!" the familiar voice of Felix Xiao Long thundered out as glowing, winged Grimm swooped low to catch the falling Hunters from below; Astra and Athena-Jade having the air knocking from their lungs as Team FADE dove and caught them before soaring upwards.
"But thanks for the assist" the Lion Faunus murmured as he reached out to playfully waggle Astra's head by gripping their antler "You did good work"
Astra allowed himself a moment of simple, blissful relief. They and Athena had saved Team FADE, they had distracted Gestalt-Prime for long enough for them to get to safety.
But Athena's voice sent chills through the leader of Team MARSZ with a single question.
"Where's Aunt Ruby?"
"Everyone's pulling back. We're heading for Neo Vale so we can regroup" Felix gestured around them, allowing Athena and Astra to see the gloom being illuminated by Dust-based propulsion systems, leaving glowing contrails all heading in a unified direction before answering the question more fully, in a way which only added to the mounting sense of dread that Ruby Rose's absence had begun.
"Aunt Ruby wants to stay behind. She thinks she can take that thing….Or at least buy us time."
Gestalt-Prime stared through the numberless eyes of their creation at their last remaining opponent, the one who would not flee and whose presence triggered something deep within their psyche, a visceral, primal fear that even now, at their moment of triumph pleaded at their more rational thoughts and insisted that they should turn tail and flee lest they be unmade.
A Silver-Eyed Warrior.
Ruby Rose shot through the air with a contrail of petals in her wake which faded out of existence a short distance away from her; the legendary Huntress accredited with saving Remnant from destruction at the hand of Salem herself on two separate occasions coming to a halt in mid-air directly ahead of the Behemoth-Gestalt to deliver what could only be interpreted as a challenge. Ruby hovered, standing in open air as though it were solid ground with petals swirling around her a respectable distance away from her foe, outside of the colossal monsters' reach and level with the multitude of eyes which quickly began to fixate upon her as she unfurled her signature weapon and twirled it with several flourishes in one hand before finally resting its' shaft across her back and shoulders with its' blade pointed downwards.
Her every movement triggered fresh concerns for Gestalt-Prime who experienced everything through the countless eyes of their gargantuan living weapon, every facet of the information then being filtered in turn through the lens of countless strategic programs and subroutines afforded to them by both their various expansions and modifications of their own form and also the additions taken from the defeated and consumed warships. Each twist and swing of Crescent Rose sent dozens of unbidden and unwelcome warnings across Gestalt-Prime's vision, alerting them to their opponents' destructive might and accompanying many of them with cross-referenced video footage plucked from the CCT.
Yet Gestalt-Prime was a Creature of Grimm, they were destruction incarnate and they would not bow to fear.
More than that they were the Alpha Cyber-Grimm, the harbinger of a new age for the Grimm species and the apex of a new order of creation and destruction. They had untold power at their disposal and with the very tools the Kingdoms had made they had allowed Gestalt-Prime to take the measure of their greatest defender.
The Behemoth-Gestalt struck first.
Pre-dawn gloom was once again pushed back by a flashing, blinding light accompanied by booming thunder and a deafening, wailing scream as the titanic monster flexed its' fingers once more; sending lightning coursing along its' fur-covered right arm and exploding from its' spiked digits.
Gestalt-Prime knew that Ruby had evaded the attack even before they saw her, vast torrents of information pouring into their mind and showing the Alpha Grimm countless times that the legendary Huntress had avoided similarly punishing assaults with speed which defied description; she reappeared soon enough however and Gestalt-Prime realized that his enemy was now high in the air above them and poised to attack a moment before Crescent Rose, now its' sniper rifle form fired a single round.
One of the Behemoth-Gestalt's eyes ruptured and a small spot, little more than a stain or smudge on Gestalt-Prime's vision appeared.
What followed however was a series of warnings and alerts, mental and logistical aspects accompanied by physical; something feverish rippling through the Alpha Cyber-Grimm's body and annoying them with itchy clamminess before they realized what had happened.
"Nanites and viruses" they chuckled, their voice confined to their own command bridge even as their countermeasures took effect. Flesh, metal and inner workings within the affected area were broken down and reformed in a matter of moments, the surface of the Behemoth-Gestalt's skull visibly warping and running like wet paint between its' eyes until the miniaturized machines, no doubt the work of Penny Polendina were destroyed and knowledge of them added to the vast wealth of data available to drawn on. Without waiting for Ruby to press her assault Gestalt-Prime raised their behemoth's arm and unleashed arcs and forks of lightning again, this time in a sustained assault which Ruby was forced to fly and weave through the air to avoid which in turn gave the Alpha Grimm firsthand knowledge of her to compare against the existing data.
She came flying at the Behemoth-Gestalt.
Sensing that she sought to land a devastating blow to literal belly of the beast and knowing that she could not be allowed to do so Gestalt-Prime raised the massive Grimm's claw and mining drill covered tendrils defensively and struck out with several of them at once.
Ruby Rose made no effort to avoid the attack.
Instead Gestalt-Prime was treated to a fleeting moment of confusion before the answer came to them in parts, firstly in the form of knowledge gathered across years which showed that Ruby's speed could reach such a degree that she was able to vibrate her very cells and phase through solid matter and secondly in the form of the damage being inflicted on the Behemoth-Gestalt from within. Ruby was a phantom, at once solid and ephemeral as she raced along the interior of the serpentine appendage and swung Crescent Rose as she went; slashing through flesh and mechanisms to leave Gestalt-Prime with the agonizing sensation of being devoured from within until they consciously retracted their senses from that particular tendril.
Ruby pressed her attack, rather than crashing and tearing tearing into the innards or the central spinal array of the Behemoth-Gestalt however she burst into view, emerging from within the now ruined tendril which leaked ebony viscera and sprayed sparks and instead surged upwards towards the skull of the massive Grimm. Crescent Rose tore through several dozen eyes in a flash and the sonic boom which followed in Ruby's wake ruptured several more, leaving the Behemoth-Gestalt partially blind and reeling with its' jerking backwards.
And yet she had not been as decisive as she could have been, nor as brutal as she should have.
Gestalt-Prime would make her pay for that mistake.
Shifting their behemoths' weight they sent tendrils sweeping through the air and with the use of propulsion systems ripped from the finest warships Atlas could fathom they threw the colossal thing into a spin which brought its' tail around in a crushing arc.
Every attack was countered in turn, with Ruby left once again hovering in the air before the Behemoth-Gestalt.
Gestalt-Prime's picture of her grew more clear with every passing moment as more and more eyes were regenerated and regrown whilst at the same time warnings and alerts screamed their way across the Alpha Grimm's senses as Ruby prepared her next attack.
Her remaining silver eye began to glow.
"NO!" at Gestalt-Prime's urging, a desire without form or intent behind it the Behemoth-Gestalt began to move in order to protect itself from the power of the Silver-Eyed Warrior. The machine-titan pivoting at the waist in order to raise its' left arm and bring the fang-mawed barrel of its' weapon up to its' skull like a boxer protecting their ears; the left arm of the Behemoth-Gestalt was almost entirely mechanical and boasted parts from each and every warship that had been destroyed during its' creation.
Including their shield-generators.
The Behemoth-Gestalt was simply too vast to be adequately protected all at once and so instead it had focused all of its' defenses into a single point; an expanding wall of hard-light which erupted out from the left forearm of the titan to protect its' skull, torso and portions of its' limbs.
The shield and Ruby's remaining silver eye exploded into life in the same instant, brilliant white meeting deep, hellish red in a crackling, world-cracking show of force which left Gestalt-Prime howling in pain within their throne as they felt parts of their greatest creation not protected by the shield begin to burn and evaporate, scoured down to their mechanical frames.
And then it stopped, the power of Ruby Rose's attack spent and Gestalt-Prime was still alive; their behemoth already draining protean Grimm-flesh from its' vast reserves to begin regrowing what had been immolated and scourged. Lowering the arm of the Behemoth-Gestalt and studying their enemy with countless eyes the Alpha Grimm saw that Ruby's eye still crackled with stored power and that she was by no means finished with her efforts to halt them.
But now their was a look of doubt on her scarred features.
Neo Vale's skyline, replete with its' numerous aerial platforms and enormous, monolithic Hive-towers whose exteriors were so thoroughly coated with billboards and neon that they cast the sky around them in a glow whose color shifted faintly and rhythmically should have been a welcoming site, a beacon for travelers, the heart of a Kingdom and a city where darkness was never truly allowed to encroach. Instead as those retreating from the battle against Gestalt-Prime and their Behemoth approached the coastline of New Vale's Capital city what they found was a city preparing for a battle of unthinkable proportions which might find its' way to their homes.
The dockyards, ports and airship terminals of Neo Vale had the appearance of a vast triage for battered machinery, scores of ships, both airborne and seafaring being docked with cranes, smaller aircraft and hundreds of workers flitting over and around them to frantically repair what could be repaired, transform other vessels into stationary weapon emplacements and in other cases simply salvage everything of value before having the emptied husk of a ruined ship taken to an area beyond the cities' limits known simply as 'The broken coast', the fact that smoke still billowed from many of the vessels truly highlighting how little time had passed since the initial ill-fated assault on Pantheon's fortress. Team MARSZ were amongst those who had peered down at the city as the collection of aircraft soared into the cities' airspace, seeing as they did so that preparations were continuing deeper into Neo Vale; shelters were not actively being used but were clearly being readied whilst at the same time armored personnel carriers and groups of soldiers could be seen moving through the city and positioning themselves around key areas whose protection had been decreed to be of utmost importance, defensive weapon batteries were brought into full readiness and enormous blast doors intended to seal off individual districts of the city and create choke-points in the event of a Grimm incursion were given final checks.
There were even individual Hunters and teams visible amongst the cities' defenders; a sight which might once have seen a much younger Astra Mars excitedly trying to identify and point out particular famous figures or gaping at the outlandish weapons.
Now however it was simply not what they had wanted to see upon their return home.
They, along with the rest of Team MARSZ had stepped out of Penny's personal transport and into a sea of bodies, one of many landing pads located within an airship terminal whose space and resources had been commandeered where dozens of Hunters, soldiers and other officials were gathering and yet there seemed to be nobody willing or prepared to take Team MARSZ somewhere to begin an official debriefing process.
There were clearly far greater priorities right now.
Instead Astra was left adrift and rudderless breath misting before them as they wandered aimlessly through the crowd with their friends and team-mates clustering around them, the Deer Faunus shocked and numb to their core as they searched for somewhere to be or something that they could contribute to in an effort to feel less hopeless until finally, after several minutes Stygian's voice pierced the fog which had settled over Astra's senses.
"Astra, where're we going man….What's the plan here?" the question was simple and without any hint of accusation in it, yet Astra's shoulders sagged and their entire body seemed to crumble and deflate as became painfully apparent that they had no answer. Silence lingered between Team MARSZ for a few moments as Astra studied their team, from a hopeful and expectant looking Stygian to Athena-Jade who was currently devoting her attention to Zirconia who was simply a silent and broken shell of herself and then finally Regalia, whose scarred features were pulled into a weak and weary smile as she reached out and took Astra's hands.
Any words of comfort she might have offered were interrupted, though it was a double-edged sword as it allowed Astra a moment longer to think.
"Guys!" the familiar, commanding voice of Wolfram Ironside cut through the ambient noise around them and was followed quickly by the arrival of Team WULF in their entirety "Have you guys seen, Professor Penny is already heading out?"
"What" Athena-Jade's surprised and deeply worried voice rang out before Astra could offer an answer and the Deer Faunus simply followed the direction Wolfram was pointing along with their team-mates in order to watch the very same aircraft that had brought them to Neo Vale as it rose in to the air and sped away once more.
"She must be going to get Aunt Ruby" the Bear Faunus continued nervously, allowing Astra to ponder in silence and attempt to gather themselves for a few moments longer before Wolfram once again intruded upon their disjointed thoughts.
"Yo Astra I know this probably sounds like a dumb question but….My team are starving and this is your home turf, do you know anywhere we can decent food this early in the morning?" Astra's ex-boyfriend and fellow team leader gave an uncommonly sheepish look as he followed up his request "Honestly I've wanted to see this city since I was a kid, I'm gonna have a look around. I just wish it was under better circumstances….Don't worry about us though, not if you were planning on going home"
The word home produced a single choked sob from behind Astra, the pained and strangled sound followed by a single, warbling note as Zirconia buried herself in Athena-Jade's embrace and sobbed openly. Astra looked from their team-mate back to Team WULF and saw that the four of them were regarding the Grasshopper Faunus with a cold indifference and quiet suspicion; the Deer Faunus realizing that their old friends had simply not been present for many important events and details.
"She's with us" Astra said quietly, an explanation and warning both "And she doesn't have a home to go to, not any more"
"Oh darlin'….Poor thing" Ursinia gasped in sudden comprehension, removing her hat in a display of respect for the fallen no matter how she might have detested everything Damascus Nero had done and standing with her stinger twitching uncomfortably as she fought the urge to pull Zirconia into a crushing hug, keeping herself from doing so simply out an unwillingness to intrude on a private moment.
"Fuck" Wolfram breathed out, the young man finding direct apologies as difficult as ever but still offering the sentiment in the best way he could; seeing that Zirconia was in no state to hear him he instead spoke to Astra "Tell her my….well not my condolences, but my sympathies y'know? I know what losing a Dad feels like"
"Yeah, I will" Astra nodded before an idea occurred to them "Give me your scroll, I'm gonna give your directions for a cafe, when you get their ask for Myrtle and if she's not there leave a message for her….It's my Mum, let my parents know I'm safe and that I'm back in the city"
"You got it" the exchange took only a little while longer, Team WULF giving murmured and exhausted goodbyes and promises to find one another later, before whatever came next and disappearing into the mass of moving bodies and out of view. Once again Astra, along with Team MARSZ were left without a goal in mind.
"Are we not going to your parents' place?" Regalia asked as she leaned tiredly against them.
"Eventually, hopefully" Astra murmured, words slurring with their own sudden exhaustion "Right now I just don't have the energy for all of the explanations and it's gonna be too crowded and-wait, FLUFFY! FELIX!"
Astra had spotted their older brother and the rest of Team FADE in the crowd, their presence alone enough to reassure many of the gathered soldiers and city garrison members who seemed not to know the specifics of what was happening, but understood that something was approaching and that it was dangerous enough that the whole Kingdom of New Vale should be worried and alert. Hearing his name be called out Felix Xiao Long's eyes darted around until he found Astra and promptly made his way over whilst gesturing for the rest of Team FADE to wait close by.
"Hey kid" he pulled Astra to a loose hug "The hell are you still doing here?"
"Not sure where else to be" Astra admitted to a weak chuckle, the answer getting a slow nod and thoughtful expression from their half-brother who paused and considered for a moment before answering.
"The Nemesis Kharybdis was damaged but everyone's okay. Uncle Qrow is still aboard coordinating things. Helios and Corvid are still there, Hellion is still there so my team are gonna head to the ship" the knowledge that Team FADE wanted to be close to their wives, partners and family at such a time was unsurprising and Astra simply nodded along "There's almost certainly gonna be a strategy meeting soon, depending on what Aunt Ruby does. You're welcome to join us, in the meantime get on a flight to Halo Academy and I'll tell Professor Ren to expect you….You need medical anyway"
"Sure" Astra continued nodding even as their mind tried to race and whirl despite their tiredness but succeeded only in chugging and grinding "Would team MARSZ actually be allowed to be part of that meeting?"
"I think anyone who says otherwise at this point is an idiot. You've earned that right. You've proven yourself and you were always meant to be part of this….No matter how much I tried to protect you"
With that Astra pulled their brother into another hug before wearily leading Team MARSZ away for whatever respite they could find.
The Behemoth-Gestalt would not die.
Ruby Rose continued to alternate between surging through the air as the sun steadily began to emerge from the horizon, her body an indistinct streak as she moved too quickly to be tracked or stopped and hovering in the air, breath reduced to ragged desperate panting which caused her chest and shoulders to heave and her arms to tremble even as she maintained her grip on Crescent Rose, her expression resolute and her iconic, albeit tattered cape billowing out behind her to create a perfect image of heroism. She had phased her body into the depths of colossal thing and decimated sections of its' inner workings, she had wielded her famous weapon in both of its' modes with an unparalleled skill to shoot out eyes and slice through bone, flesh and corrupted metal, her speed alone had allowed her to crumple parts of the Behemoth's armor and controlled bursts of her true power; carefully moderated to keep her in the fight for longer had burned away even more of its' nightmarish form.
And yet it was not enough.
The Behemoth-Gestalt seemed to have an endless reserved of untapped, formless Grimm-matter from which to draw upon which spilled outwards to repair and replace any amount of damage Ruby could inflict. Vast works of sinew were spilling into the ruined mess and creaking, groaning framework she had reduced the things legs to and knitting themselves together, enormous serpentine masses of muscle and flesh which moved as though conscious and deliberate latching onto corrupted and twisted metal where they promptly oozed and flattened themselves to not only begin taking their proper form but also to undo the damage Ruby had inflicted to the machine components of the legs and repair them entirely. The claw-tipped and grinding, drill-sucker lined tentacle which Ruby had eviscerated from within was already beginning to twitch and writhe with the first erratic signs of new life, taunting Ruby as she did so.
"OH COME ON!" Ruby's frustrated yell was accompanied by the muffled snap of her firing Crescent Rose half a dozen times in rapid succession before reloaded, urgently searching for rounds that might be able to inflict more lasting damage. The Behemoth-Gestalt simple absorbed the gunfire without even attempting to defend itself, Gestalt-Prime having learned by now that there was no need and instead reserving their war-machine Grimm's shield for more meaningful attacks.
For blocking Ruby's silver eye.
Never, in all of her time as a Huntress had Ruby encountered a Grimm that could defend against her power, even Salem herself had only been able to endure and weather it and if she were not running on pure adrenaline and desperation in that moment, if she were more able to truly consider the implications of what she had witnessed she would likely be terrified to her core. She had been holding back to be sure but the knowledge that she had larger attacks to unleash was less comforting than it ought to be, primarily because of how difficult it would be to actually unleash such and attack right now; they were fighting above open waters that were almost certainly infested with Grimm and to throw everything that she had into a single burst of power would cost Ruby both her flight and likely her consciousness.
However the idea of letting the Behemoth-Gestalt reach land was unthinkable.
The titans' next assault came and pushed all thought aside entirely in the next moment, forcing Ruby to react with a speed and skill that few others possessed. The Behemoth-Gestalt's right arm raised and lightning once again traveled along its' fur to the spikes of its' knuckles before being expelled from its' fingers only for Ruby to prevent herself from being reduced to charred remains by firing a volley of specially treated Magnetic Dust rounds; it was not the first time she had encountered a foe capable of wielding lightning as a weapon and she had her answer ready. The highly conductive rounds pattered against the armor of the Behemoth-Gestalt and its' own attack arced back through the air to strike it square in the chest.
Forcing it back a single step.
The things' body smoked and the tendrils lining its' bottom rib spasmed violently in the wake of the most meaningful landed against it thus far and yet Ruby was quickly forced to understand the realities of just how intelligent and capable Gestalt-Prime was as the hybrid Alpha changed their approach; raising the left arm of their titan instead.
The arm which consisted largely of machinery and housed both its' shield generators and more importantly in that moment a cannon whose barrel alone could consume a house.
The Behemoth-Gestalt fired.
For Ruby it felt as though reality had been unmade around her and she had been cast wholly into an oblivion of the Grimm's imagining. The sunrise was painted a bloody red, the sheer intensity of the light stripping away everything else while the noise of the blast defied description; a howling wing accompanied by a ringing, pulsing scream and a bass note which parted the water below; all of it leaving the air pressurized and ionized in its' wake and making breathing more difficult.
Despite the force of the onslaught Ruby saw her moment, whilst the Behemoth-Gestalt's weapon arm was firing its' shield was unable to effectively cover its' face and so she seized the opportunity it provided; hurtling through the air her feet found the surface of the enormous mechanical arm and she raced along its' surface and the further upwards in pursuit of her goal. Ruby had needed a solid platform upon which to stand in order to use her remaining silver eye to its' fullest extent and now she had one.
The snout of the Behemoth-Gestalt itself.
Treating Gestalt-Prime to a final, triumphant smile Ruby allowed her eye to consumed from within by brilliant white and unleashed every ounce of power at her disposal.
The skull of the titanic war-machine Grimm shifted under the catastrophic might unleashed against it, eyes being evaporated and massive steel plates of amour shifting as the flesh and bone beneath them warped and gave way; burning and searing through the Behemoth-Gestalt until its' skull was slowly torn open and its' last protections stripped from it so that Ruby could glimpse briefly at its' interior and begin directing her attack and Gestalt-Prime directly.
Her efforts to aim causing her to hesitate for a moment too long, giving the Alpha Cyber-Grimm withing all the time they needed to respond.
The enormous mechanical left arm of their Behemoth had ceased its' devastating assault and instead the limb was bent at the elbow and tucked as close as possible against the titans' body as it shifted its' posture, jutting its' skull forward. The shield generators were activated and Ruby felt her Aura ripple and fluctuate, her cybernetic eye overwhelmed and her focus broken as a wall of solid light exploded into being so close that it brushed her skin, creating a barrier between herself and her foe and at the same time toppling towards the waves below as the snout of the Behemoth-Gestalt fell with her.
Gestalt-Prime had cut off the things' nose to spite her, secure in the knowledge that it would regrow.
Ruby was falling, her Aura flickering and her Semblance coming to her only in short, fitful bursts that would keep her aloft for only a few moments longer however salvation and a fresh source of inspiration came to her in the same moment as explosions and lasers rocked the titanic beast she was fighting, a familiar transport coming soaring into view.
Penny had come to rescue her.
In an instant Ruby had all the drive she needed, her Semblance and Aura answering her willpower and allowing her to race through the air towards an open and waiting hatch; it was no longer about her own victory or escape and instead all that mattered to Ruby was getting her wife out of the firing line of the Behemoth-Gestalt's weapons.
She hurtled into the rear of the Pearl and slammed against the opposite wall with a jarring, clanging thud.
"Salutations wife Ruby" there was a dead-pan delivery there, something that had emerged in Penny's personality as she had developed and continued to become more undeniably human; it was a quality that Ruby had often joked was a product of Penny truly being Atlesian at her core and one that usually amused her however now was simply not the time.
"We need to retreat!" she yelled, even as she collapsed backwards into a seat with her heart thundering and vision blurry as her head spun "We need-we need to tell Uncle Qrow, we need to tell everyone"
"Understood" Penny nodded once and brought the Pearl into a steep banking maneuver before blasting through the air back in the direction she had come from.
Behind them the Behemoth-Gestalt was motionless, arms handing limp at its' sides and its' severely mutilated cranium tipped forward, halted but not defeated and forming a towering and monstrous monument which cast a shadow across Remnant as the sun rose behind it.
Ruby Rose, the Hero of Remnant had given her all and yet even now the Behemoth-Gestalt was healing and repairing itself with Gestalt-Prime nestled safely somewhere within.
Truly the Creatures of Grimm had evolved and that reality was terrifying.
Astra had, as promised flown to Halo Academy with the rest of Team MARSZ where they had been given a post-deployment medical debriefing. The Deer Faunus had almost felt the familiarity of the procedure, intrusive and uncomfortable as it was to be somehow calming even if any true sense of normalcy, however fleeting it might have been was kept from them by the undercurrent of urgency which saw the whole affair hurried along. The head nurse of Halo Academy had been no less thorough or attentive in her work however it had been undeniable that she had other, more important matters to attend to once it had become clear that none of Team MARSZ were suffering any physical injuries that could not be solved with an Aura stimulant, painkillers and sleep; the academies' entire medical staff and facility seemingly in the process of being cleared out prepared to act as an emergency triage for a coming battle.
Though Astra had noticed several shocked double-takes and sorrowful, sympathetic glances cast in their teams' direction as the head nurse saw each of the new scars and injuries the five Hunters had accrued in the months since they had last been at Halo Academy.
Following that there had been a brief period of rest, Team MARSZ hunkering down in an empty dormitory and telling no one within the campus or its' attached orphanage of their presence; a decision which had been hard for Stygian to agree with even if he had been able to understand the logic. Those who were able to however had at least contacted their families to ensure their parents that they were alive and as well as could be expected given the circumstances and from there the five of them had attempted, with a pitiable lack of success to rest and at least begin to recover their strength before whatever came next.
What had come next, it transpired was a summons.
It was informal, a request more than a demand offered as promised by Felix Xiao Long and Team MARSZ had eagerly taken a flight to Neo Vale's coastline and docks where forces were being mustered and where the Nemesis Kharybdis had managed to limp to safety, its' prow and upper deck torn away. Upon their arrival Athena-Jade had sought out her brother and sister in law, dragging both of her partners along with her and Astra had watched lovingly as Regalia immediately made herself both at home and uncommonly useful; helping Carcharodon Gore with preliminary repairs to the ship.
Until Felix had approached Astra and led them away.
Now the Deer Faunus sat in numb silence, part of a meeting between some of the most powerful figures on Remnant wherein those they had studied under previously now seemed to be far more than the professors Astra had known them as, as though Astra was properly recognizing them as the veteran Hunters they truly were for the first time.
The meeting was being held within a conference room or something close to one within the bowels of the damaged ship, with Astra remaining silent as they joined not only Felix but also Qrow Branwen and then, via a series of interconnected video calls Headmistress of Breaktide Academy, Professor Coco Adel who looked as though she might have choice words for Astra at some point in the near future, General Winter Schnee of Atlas, Headmaster Ren of Halo Academy, a pair of blacked out screens and audio only channels to represent the respective heads of Haven and Shade which left Astra uncertain of whether or not the two heads were actually present or if the call was just being recorded for their benefit and finally Antonia Mars the head of Poly-Tech, one of Remnant's largest technology companies and an advisor to Winter Schnee.
With the sound of a door slamming open mere feet away from them jerking Astra to life and revealing that the final two members of the group had arrived.
"Aunt Ruby, Aunt Penny! You're okay?" Felix uttered the words with more genuine relief than Astra had ever heard before though even this was not enough to divert their gaze from the two veteran Huntresses themselves. Ruby Rose seemed in that moment to be an entirely separate entity from the jovial teacher the Deer Faunus was used to, this was a battle-weary living legend who had slain more monsters that Astra could fathom.
That she leaned against her wife for support and was visibly drained of energy, sinking into an offered seat and allowing her eye to drift shut as she took several slow breaths seemed to bode poorly.
Though Astra's concerns and musings were sharply interrupted by the voice of Coco Adel.
"You two are both fucking fired! When this over and done with clean out your offices-In fact no, sell up and get the fuck off of Menagerie altogether! Forget your jobs, I want our head-"
"Is now really the best time Adel?" Qrow growled.
"Yes! Because this is serious Branwen, we all know how serious it is!" Coco spat "Which is why I want to know what the fuck these two were thinking when they took our-no MY students into the middle of it!"
"Friend Coco" Penny sighed, visibly upset "We were doing what we felt was needed to protect the students we brought with us. If we had not there was a very real chance that they would simply have taken matters into their own hands and acted reckless-
"More reckless than what you two did?" Coco spat "I expect this from Ruby, of course she doesn't see a problem with sending students to save Remnant but I expected better from you-"
"That's enough Coco" Antonia Arc snapped, she had worked alongside the later Professor Polendina and had for years considered Penny simply another of her many siblings. Coco was not quite done with her tirade however and continued on, with more and more voices interjecting and cut across one another until the entire senseless cacophony was silenced by a single thunderous yell.
"ENOUGH!" Winter ordered, hand slamming against her desk with such force that the video feed she was joining the conversation through shuddered worryingly.
"If you were my men I'd have you all shot" she added with an annoyed sigh.
"Jimmy would be proud" Qrow snorted only to fall silent at the sight of the General's glare.
"No jokes Branwen, not today. Not when I've so many good people over the last few days" she massaged her temples for a moment, allowing a heavy and shame-faced silence to settle over her peers before finally asking "Can someone please explain, in brief what the hell happened?"
"Team MARSZ were there. We saw it" Astra volunteered, seeing all eyes focus on them they squared their shoulders and continued resolutely "When we heard that Carmesi Hueso was still alive and had Project Inertia we headed for Pantheon's fortress to stop him getting it back to Nero, when we got there Pantheon's fortress had been changed into a giant Grimm-"
"I'm aware of that much" Winter informed them, albeit not unkindly.
"Gestalt-Prime arrived ahead of Nero's airship and they engaged Pantheon" Astra continued, turning to Felix for a moment only for their brother to gesture for them to carry on "Carmesi was killed by Grimm, I saw it happen. That allowed to retrieve Project Inertia and try to use it, it made more sense than letting either Gestalt-Prime or Pantheon win"
"Strategically sound" Winter nodded.
"We couldn't do it" Astra shook their head in dismay "We were too late, we got there just in time to see Gestalt-Prime finish Pantheon off and take control of the Grimm-fortress. They destroyed Project Inertia and we were forced to retreat"
"I see" Winter answered tonelessly, though even her most minute change in expression gave away how devastating the blow was.
"Ruby and I arrived on the scene shortly after" Penny added "Damascus Nero used his own vessel and sacrificed himself in a failed attempt at slowing the Grimm however after we extracted Teams MARSZ and FADE the Grimm resurfaced, destroying several airships and adding them along with Nero's Megalodon to itself in a manner congruent with Gestalt-Prime's known abilities….I can provide visual evidence"
The profound silence which hung in the air at the news of Nero's death and his ultimate failure to control the forces he had meddled with lasted for several moments, ending only when Winter gave Penny a nod; prompting the copper-haired android to send several images to those present.
Prompting a flurry of curses and muttering as all of them saw what awaited them.
"Winter" Antonia chimed in unexpectedly "It may be of note that this….Things' location has been has been flagged as a hot spot of CCT activity-"
"Uploads?" Winter demanded.
"Downloads" Antonia answered "Massive amounts of data"
"When Gestalt-Prime attacked Port Alistair they aimed for the CCT tower" Coco noted suspiciously.
"And they talk about evolving the Grimm" Astra added, mind racing as they pieced together parts "Take that with what Nero was offering, at least the general idea of it-"
"And you get a Grimm that isn't constrained any more" Qrow grunted "They don't need to worry about humans providing them food, they've got all the fear and misery they'll ever need….Which means they can expand indefinitely; they can aim for total extinction"
"That's….Frighteningly plausible" Ren added "The question now is what do we do, how do we combat it?"
"Ruby, you fought against this thing?" Winter gestured for the Silver-Eyed warrior to offer up any information she had.
"Firstly Gestalt-Prime isn't merged with it, they're piloting it. When I opened the things' skull up it was like a cockpit in there" she informed them "I managed to immobilize it and buy us some time, I don't know how much but it won't be long….I think the only thing we can do is throw every Hunter and weapon at it, if and when it starts moving again we figure out where it's headed and put every single Hunter on Remnant in its' path….I don't know if even that will be enough"
"What about silver eyes?" Felix asked hopefully "I you need help I can talk to Helios, his sister-"
"I tired" Ruby cut him off "I threw everything I had at it….It has shields, I attacked it with something that's supposed to destroy Grimm every single time and it blocked me"
It felt as though the air had been snatched from the whole world, Astra's senses left numb and pervaded by a ringing silence only to be consumed by a wave of utter despair by the Hero of Remnant's next words.
"This is something completely new. Even Salem couldn't counter me like that….We have to try and fight it, but I'm not sure if we can"
Gestalt-Prime had left the command center of their Behemoth-Gestalt, venturing deeper into the bowels of the colossal war-machine Grimm and totally secure in the knowledge that would continue to heal and repair itself until it was ready to fight and conquer and destroy once again.
They could see the process beginning at it's source.
Within the heavily armored chest cavity of their greatest weapon, the Forge, the means by which Cyber-Grimm could be created and all of its' attendant mechanisms had been reworked and merged with Pantheon's personal Spawning Pit, that which allowed the Grimm General to shape new monsters to be unleashed across Remnant had been merged into a single monstrous whole. Gestalt-Prime was yet to name this new creation but it's purpose was both clear and in the process of being tested.
"Perfect" the Grimm-General murmured, an uncommon softness and introspection about their voice as they stalked around the vast space on all fours; still learning the minutia of their new body and using the knuckles of their over-sized arms to support their weight like an ape.
The space existed within an impossibly thick and well-protected bunker, the entire torso of the Behemoth-Gestalt formed to protect it and beneath those massive armor plates and layers of bone were walls of living tissue and a floor of mucus-covered steel to frame a place that was equal parts production facility, nightmarish pit of darkness and mustering point for forces to gather. There was no Spawning Pit in the traditional sense, simply vast fleshy sacs which hung overhead; each of them the size of a house and bubbling with roiling, putrid Grimm-flesh like monstrous cauldrons which were in turn feeding, through a series of intestine-like tubes and valves into castings of flesh and bone around which production lines and mechanical armatures operated ceaselessly.
Gestalt-Prime watched as the first Cyber-Grimm to be spawned by their new creation came into being.
It was of the standard variety, hulking and Cyclopean and emitting a chattering, grinding shriek like a chainsaw meeting solid stone and yet as it approached Gestalt-Prime saw some differences about the thing which existed beneath the simply physical. It was keener, more alert and self-possessed; drawing close to Gestalt-Prime and studying them in turn as they studied it and inspiring new feelings of pride and achievement in the new ruler of the Grimm by right of conquest.
"Beautiful" Gestalt-Prime breathed out, pausing to consider for a moment before nodding their lupine skull "My Alpha"
Their Cyber-Grimm would be different, unbound from the limitations Nero and his ilk had placed on them. Each new Cyber-Grimm would be a fully fledged monster in its' right and have no need for an operator or outside control which reduced it to little more than an intricate doll and beyond that their innate predatory instincts would be enhanced by intelligence from the moment of their spawning as the vast amount of data provided information, knowledge and raw emotion for the new Grimm to grow and evolve even before their first battle against a Hunter.
The new wave of Cyber-Grimm would raze Remnant to the ground and build Gestalt-Prime's Kingdom atop the ashes.
"Of course the implementation will be small at first" the hybrid monster, no longer thinking of themselves as a mere Alpha Grimm mused aloud "I can create Grimm from other Spawning Pits but it would be wasteful….Better to wait until I can have my Cyber-Grimm build new facilities, transform every Spawning Pit on Remnant into a Forge and unleash my new Cyber-Grimm, truly evolved Grimm on my enemies from all angles"
Gestalt-Prime dismissed their new Standard Variant Alpha with a wave, watching as it rocketed into the distance and a burst of flames and sought out somewhere to nestle itself until called upon before finally turning away and stalking across the expanse of their domain to address the captive audience of their musings. The walls of the place were flesh and bone and a portion of that obsidian surface, high enough to be at Gestalt-Prime's eye-level was serving as a makeshift snare, bone bindings encasing limbs and flesh subsuming part of the torso and extremities of a single figure.
None other than Carmesi Hueso.
The Komodo Dragon Faunus was silenced by a viscous, formless mass of pulpy Grimm tissue which had clung to and partially fused itself with the lower half of his face and through its' translucent form Gestalt-Prime could see that their old foes' lips were tinged with blue, that whatever oxygen the thing clamped over his face was providing him with was insufficient. When the Behemoth-Gestalt had been forming Gestalt-Prime had been monitoring the titanic surfaces as they took shape and in doing so had found their current prisoner trapped between melting and shifting armor plates of bone and drowning in a mixture of seawater and liquid Grimm tissue.
Gestalt-Prime had considered letting Carmesi drown and perish in the darkness but had decided ultimately that there were far more fitting endings to be had for Nero's attack dog.
Judging by his muffled yells and screaming Carmesi knew it too.
"Did you think that this was all I had? That I would be cursed by limitations and resigned to merely wandering a ruined Remnant in my Behemoth after my victories?" Gestalt-Prime taunted as they drew close "Nero died and in his death he failed….I watched as the life left his feeble shell, gone in an instant and then, when none of you could halt me I took the Megalodon and it's pars….But more than that Carmesi, I took it's information, information Nero fought so hard to keep from me"
Gestalt-Prime could see the horror in Carmesi's face, could heart his heart hammering and sense every other indication of the man's terror as he continued.
"I have Albion's knowledge, I can upload it into my Cyber-Grimm Carmesi….Imagine, each Cyber-Grimm a scientist and a builder at my disposal. I can give them strategy, the ability to learn all of your Kingdoms' knowledge….I already know where every shelter in every Kingdom is" they dragged that particular threat out with a low, rumbling purr before delivering the crushing blow "And I have all of Aefen Cruor's knowledge, all of it Carmesi….She will be remembered as the most useful human when I am done"
The fear in Carmesi's remaining eye was exquisite, enough to sustain any Creature of Grimm for some time and yet Gestalt-Prime was not truly finished, this was a moment they had waited for and they intended to savor it and squeeze every drop of horror and despair from their enemy.
"But you will be useful too Carmesi" they chuckled darkly "Remember the things you did to me, you and your masters? The way you tortured answers out of my flesh, the way you kept me as a slave….It's only right that one of you should witness what comes next"
They leaned in closer, barely an inch from Carmesi's muffled, screaming face.
"A new age is here Carmesi….And I have plans for you"
Author's Notes:
And that, ladies, gentlemen and esteemed others is the end of Volume 09.
Which means, that were are entering the ending.
Vol.10 is gonna be twelve chapters and an epilogue, which means Chapter 170 is the end of MARZ and the end of the Spiral-Verse. I'm expecting to end the story in its' entirety in June/July 2024
Also, it feels worth noting that I'm writing this in December 2023.
But anyway, let's summarize shall we?:
Gestalt-Prime had pretty much won at this point, Nero's gone, they're the undisputed ruler of the Grimm and they have the means to truly evolve the Grimm species and separate them from the need for humanity, the cycle of creation and destruction has been broken.
They have Synapse Grimm now, they've stolen the design from Pantheon but they're literally integrating them into part of a console.
The Behemoth-Gestalt's design is simple but effective, it's a giant mecha-Grimm bipedal wolf with a more serpentine tail, tendrils, a Gundam style set of thruster wings on its' back and a giant cannon for a left arm.
Yeah those little lasers weren't gonna do shit.
Oh come on, someone from Team MARSZ had to take a shot….AJ hasn't had a "Come get some" moment for a while.
Yes, Astra really did try to offer Gestalt-Prime a 1V1.
It knows Thunder Punch.
And once again Team FADE come with the save.
And now for Ruby Vs Gestalt-Prime.
I love the idea that being connected to Remnant's equivalent of the internet and constantly taking information from it is a double-edged sword in a way; every time Gestalt-Prime looks at Ruby they see a highlight real of her cutting through Grimm.
Yeah Ruby has had nanobot rounds since "Our Happy Ever After", they were never gonna work well against a Grimm that can just absorb the machinery….In fact what actually happened was Gestalt-Prime basically using the moment to give themselves a vaccination.
At no point in the story has Gestalt-Prime actually been subjected to Silver-Eyes and I've found various reasons to keep it that way just so we could get a moment like this near the end, where the Grimm has found a counter to the thing specifically meant to stop them.
Yeah Neo Vale is prepping for an attack and has the advantage of that being where people fell back to after the attack on Pantheon, but is it really gonna be enough?
Yeah the kids are allowed to feel a little lost right now.
Wolfram's appearance was mainly just to set up that Team WULF will be here for the ending, so will Tiger Santara, Stygian's original partner and her new team including her twin brother.
Yeah Zirconia is going through it.
Team WULF don't actually know what's happened since Team MARS left Breaktide so they were giving Hops the side eye, which is frankly understandable.
So yeah, a little bit of recovery time and then the preparations are beginning.
Of course it regenerates it has two full Spawning Pits worth of material to work with.
Ruby can't go all out when she's flying, if she runs out of juice for that eye then she won't be able to fly any more which would put her in a situation.
Turning its' own attack on it was nasty and proved that it can be hurt and damaged….But the retaliation from that cannon is insane.
So the last attack from Ruby is proof that the Behemoth-Gestalt is not unstoppable, she managed to get a look inside the cockpit which means that getting inside is possible.
But also cut its' own face off just to hit Ruby with a fully charged forcefield.
Yay for the Nuts & Dolts save.
Sunrise from behind the Behemoth-Gestalt, yay symbolism.
So quick run through what Team MARSZ have been doing….Also, the looks from the nurse when she saw all the new scars that the students have gotten, they were Transfer Students at Halo less than six months ago.
Just Astra in the room because if the rest of Team MARSZ were there it would be too much.
Also some acknowledgment of the other two academies' heads, because they might not be part of the cabal proper they still need to know about this.
Okay look, nobody wants to see Ruby and Penny get chewed out and as third year students Team WULF are all 19/20 years old and capable of making their own choices….But at the same time Coco has a responsibility to her students and what Ruby did by taking them with her is, no matter how she justifies it a criminal level of reckless endangerment.
But it's also what you'd expect from someone who's been saving the world since she was 15.
If there was ever a time for Winter to channel Ironwood with the line about having someone shot it's here.
Astra speaking, to justify why they were present and also to make sure that there's no dispute, everyone is on the same page now.
Well that twice Carmesi has been "Killed".
They've all figured out what Gestalt-Prime's plan is and what they're doing now.
The fear is real, at this point Gestalt-Prime is more dangerous than Salem.
Of course their mobile fortress-Grimm has its' own Cyber-Grimm production facility built into it.
And the Cyber-Grimm themselves have evolved, they're not limited by handlers and programming now and because they're being fed a steady diet of human misery via the CCT the first one was basically an Alpha from the start.
Gestalt-Prime's thinking out loud makes an interesting point, they can't make Cyber-Grimm everywhere yet; they'd have to build new forges on other Spawning Pits….But they have the designs and can make Cyber-Grimm builders and engineers, kinda like Pantheon's living glow-sticks.
But also yeah Carmesi Hueso….Because Gestalt-Prime is far too vindictive to let him die and frankly being alive and forced to be part of the Grimm's vision of the future is a fate worse than death for someone like Carmesi….We all know what's gonna happen to him don't we, Aefen's name wasn't mentioned for no reason.
Nero's dead though, he never had an Aura so there was no way he survived that crash….Also in true RWBY fashion a big heroic sacrifice achieved nothing.
Thank you to Kyran_Kandosa and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Well, you guessed it.
Final gambit in a sense, but Gestalt-Prime still has a few really fun tricks up their sleeve.
Yeah Nero is gone; this is not the time to be having multiple sides in the story. We're too near to the end.
And I understand your position, I lost my Granddad a couple years ago; take all the time you need obviously and my messages are open if you want to talk.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favorite and review.