Out at sea, a fishing boat gently bobbed up and down. The men working on it all began to pull out a large net from the water. But when it was tossed onto the deck, there wasn't even a single fish inside it.
"What the hell?" One of the men groaned as he wiped sweat from his forehead. "We've been put here all damn day and nothing. Absolutely nothing. Where are all the fish?"
"I don't know." Another exhaled while setting his end of the net down. "I really don't know. This is getting ridiculous."
"Reminds me of an old story my great grandfather would tell me." Walking up, a man chuckled while pushing his sleeves up. "He'd always talk about a Grimm in the sea that would eat fish. And whenever there wasn't any fish left, it would come up onto land and devour every human it found. It really scared me when I was younger."
"Ridiculous." The second man shook his head. Hearing a loud boom, he grabbed the railing to balance himself and quickly looked around. "What was that?!"
With a wave rocking the ship, the entire crew looked over. A nearby Dust rig was falling into the sea.
"Shit." A fisherman reached up to rub the back of his head. "I guess they finally mined too deep. Damn..." He watched as the burning facility disappeared under the surface of the water. There were obviously no survivors.
Suddenly, a large ripple shot through the water. Noticing this, a few men looked over the edge. "What the hell was that?" One asked as the ripple went off again.
"I don't-" One went to speak but stopped as a beam of energy shot up from out of the water at an angle and struck a power plant on the west coast of Vytal. The building immediately lit up in flames as the city began to grow dark from loss of power.
Silence fell upon the fishing boat for a moment. The crew was at a complete loss for words. As a few of them went to bow their heads and pray, something suddenly bumped against the boat. Everyone was sent stumbling around until the entire ship was suddenly pulled deep underneath the surface of the water.
Out of all the people on the rig, in the power plant and on the boat, not a single one had time to scream. Everything had happened too fast. None of them even had the chance to process their inevitable fates.
Coming up to the shore, the ungodly giant Grimm placed a single foot down. The ground beneath it sank while everywhere around it trembled. Breathing in, its nostrils flared as the Dust infused spikes on its back grew brighter momentarily. Hearing sirens and terrified screams, it scanned the city for a moment before breathing in deeply again. This time, its red eyes grew bright. It opened its mouth wide. Its teeth were the size of ten or more men. A second later, a beam of energy shot from its mouth and straight into one of the many tall buildings on the island.
Watching the building light up in flames, Kagami's eyes grew wide with horror. Even after the beam of energy disappeared, the hole it left behind remained bright. Soon enough, the structure of the building gave away and it caved in and collapsed. A mix of dust and debris quickly filled the streets of running and screaming citizens.
Seeing the monster turn its attention to another tall building, the jadette took a shaky step back. Swallowing hard, she balled her hands into tight fists and turned around. "We need to focus on evacuations right now. Getting everyone out of buildings." Despite the determination in her voice, raw terror filled her eyes. She had never seen a Grimm so big. She didn't even know anyone who had seen a Grimm this big.
Reaching out, Baren snatched her by the arm and pulled slightly. The two of them locked eyes for a moment. Both of them looked scared but both knew what was going to happen next.
Reluctantly, the old warrior let go.
"What is getting people out of buildings going to do?!" Kris raised her voice as she braced herself. The ground trembled again as the Leviathan roared and fired another beam.
"Right now, buy them time." Kagami narrowed her eyes as she went to grab her sword. "And if we buy them time, we buy them hope. That's what's most important."
Gulping, Elise glanced outside as smoke began to rise from Vytal. Taking a deep breath, she nodded before rushing to get her rifle.
Looking over at the short redhead, Cheyenne breathed out to calm herself before nodding. After a moment of thinking to herself, Kris nodded back and both of them followed suit.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Midori got to her feet while holding out her hands. "We should stay inside and wait for-"
"We are who people wait for." Aero got off the couch as she snatched up her paintbrush and pallet. "Now, if you excuse me," She pointed towards the window. "There's an alarmingly giant Grimm outside. People have already died. And people have been hurt. I have a license. And I have taken an oath. So I am going out there with anyone else who cares to join me can." She held out her hands. Without another word, she turned around and darted out of the house.
Standing up, Eleanor remained quiet. She and her daughter made eye contact for a moment before the four girls quickly rushed out. Closing her eyes, she took a few breaths. Looking outside, her brow furrowed at the nightmare that was happening. Sighing, she ran to the back of the house to grab her weapons. Aero had convinced her to bring them. Why? She didn't know. But she was grateful.
"Eleanor!" Midori held out her hand. "What are you doing?"
"What I should be doing!" The dirty blonde came running back out. Her dual ice picks in her hands.
"Eleanor!" Her voice cracked.
Stumbling a little as the ground shook, Kuro grabbed onto his little sister. "Come on! We gotta find somewhere safe!"
Staring up at her mother, Gurin pulled away from her brother. "You're really not going to help them... are you?"
"How am I supposed to help them!?" The former Huntress gestured towards herself. "We need to get the two of you somewhere safe. I'm not a Huntress. I'm your mother. And THAT'S my job."
Narrowing her eyes, the small girl tugged on the sleeve's of Kagami's hoodie that she still wore. "If you're not going to help them. I will." She huffed before disappearing in a blink of an eye.
"Gurin!" Midori's eyes widened. Hearing rummaging coming from her room, she quickly ran through the house. Skidding to a stop at the door, she took several rapid breaths as she saw her youngest daughter kneeling on the floor next to a wooden box. "GURIN!"
"If you won't help. I will." Grabbing a pair of katanas from the box, she let the green fabric wrapped around them slowly fall off.
"GURIN!!!" She lunged towards her daughter with wide eyes. Reaching out, her hand touched nothing but air. Falling to her knees, Midori stared with teary eyes at the fabric on the ground that she wrapped her weapons in years ago.
"Mom!" Kuro shouted as the house shook. Stumbling inside her room, he knelt down beside her. "What are we supposed to do?!"
She didn't answer.
"Both of you get the hell up!" Aza shouted. Stepping in, he pulled his son to his feet before doing the same to his wife. In his left hand, he held onto a large meat cleaver. "We have to move! I don't think this house is fit for earthquakes!"
Standing in the living room, Baren stared at her feet as the ground shook. Slowly breathing in and out, she turned her head to stare out the window at the monster terrorizing the island. She then narrowed her eyes and sharply breathed in. Turning around, she took several heavy steps towards the door then paused.
Fear did one of two things; it either brought someone to their knees or it made them stronger than ever before. She had no plans of kneeling. Not now, not ever.
She then suddenly moved away from the door and stepped into the shadows of the dining room.
She would never kneel.
Now completely alone in the living room, Kit let out a very quiet whimper. Everyone had gotten so distracted by the situation they all seemed to have forgotten about her. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she hugged her legs tight. The house once again shook. She could hear every creek and straining piece of wood. Being alone in the forest sounded better than here right now. She wanted Kris. She wanted her friend, Gurin. With her breathing growing uneven, she closed her eyes. She could feel herself growing more and more overwhelmed and she knew what would happen next. Her semblance would take over and-
She jumped as someone's right hand gently grabbed her shoulder.
At the entrance of a building in the center of Vytal, Kagami quickly ushered people out. The Leviathan had fully walked onto land at this point. The coast where it came up on had been completely wrecked. Everything had been stepped on and crushed. And if it was lucky enough to avoid that fate, it was ablaze.
Feeling the energy in the air shift, she jerked her head up to look at the monsters. The blue Dust spikes on its back were glowing again. Its gaze locked on the building she was by.
"Crap!" Her eyes widened as it opened its mouth. Turning back around, she braced her feet. "Everyone out! Faster!" She shouted just as a loud crackling boom was heard. Looking up, her shoulders dropped as she stared at the beam of energy that dispersed and left a gaping hole in the building.
With shattered glass falling all around, the red hot metal began to warp before giving in with a loud snap. Seeing as the structure began to collapse, Kagami made one last desperate attempt.
Rushing inside the entrance, she slid between a few people who ran out. Noticing a woman being shoved out of the way and falling, she lunged towards her with her hand out.
With the rumbling of the falling building growing louder, part of the frame fell between the two of them. Skidding to a stop, the jadette's eyes widened. She could hear the desperate cries to live coming from the woman and the countless people behind her. Baring her teeth, she closed both her eyes and sprinted back out.
Feeling the ground heavily shake, she stumbled as she made it outside. A swarm of dust and smoke encased her as she kept running ahead. Completely blinded, she coughed several times. Her lungs felt like they were on fire from irritations.
Suddenly, the air around her felt cleaner. After taking a few breaths, she glanced around. She wasn't running anymore and was in a different part of the city.
"Don't do that!" A quiet voice came from behind her.
Raising an eyebrow, Kagami looked over her shoulder. With a small smile, she exhaled.
Standing there, Gurin struggled to catch her breath. Both her hands on her knees. Behind her, the woman who's terrified expression that was etched into Kagami's mind sat on the ground with several others behind her.
The older sister then noticed the dual katanas that were loosely tied to the girl's back. It matched with the oversized hoodie rather well.
"Wait a minute." She crossed her arms. "Are you trying to scold me? I'm the older sibling, remember?"
"Well don't almost get crushed by a falling building and I won't." Gurin huffed back. Breathing deeply in, she stood up straight before disappearing.
Smiling more, Kagami nodded a bit before she felt the same shift in energy as before. Looking up, she watched as the Grimm took aim at a different building on the other side of the island. This time though, she noticed the glint of moonlight against the windows before they were destroyed. "Light...?" She thought to herself before her eyes widened. "Light!" Turning around, she quickly sprinted down the road.