Chapter 33: Kraken High Travels.

"I assume your endeavor at the Schnee manor was a success." Salem asked. Making Pokey stop as he entered her throne room. Cinder was by her side as well, looking just a tad better than when he had last been here.

"They were going to leave the second they knew we knew." Pokey simply shrugged his shoulders. "You having me talk to the two of them wasn't exactly going to help make that."

"That is not why I wanted you to talk to Erick and Weiss." Salem replied, giving Pokey a dissatisfied frown. "How did Mrs. Schnee react about her new…predicament."

"Exactly the way I told you." Pokey replied curtly. "Apart from giving her insight that her family has more or less helped you since they started, nothing I said got any type of response. Those freaks are smart…they're going to keep her as close as possible in case her teammates try to become JNPR two."

Salem tapped her finger against her throne as Cinder just looked over at her. "Are you certain that you didn't just misread her?"

"Like I said," Pokey hissed back. "Erick already got to her about the intentions we'd have once we succeed. She knows that we'd want her to be exactly like them to keep her in check. They aren't going to hide that from her, they need her to trust them more than she trusts her own kind. After all, it'd be quite problematic for Erick's heartbound otherwise."

Salem simply sighed as she crossed her arms. "I suppose that, deep inside, she's terrified of the possibility. But the more our creations are honest with her, the better chance we have of getting to her when we win. Less crying from the inevitability of her transformation will make it all the more easier. Her love seems genuine from what I've seen."

"I'm telling you, you're heavily overestimating them." Pokey sneered back. "Thanks to the meddling of Erick's darkside, Moon, Sarah, and Sapphire now have to juggle us, but also Weiss's own personal feelings about her new situation. She's locked to them for the rest of her existence, so her being against them would be…problematic. They're going to make sure she can trust them, more than her own team."

Salem leered at him before standing up, "I suppose that she can have some benefits. If our research was correct, Sarah wouldn't be able to host the maiden powers in the unfortunate event Cinder perished. So having one from our world who CAN hold them would be useful."

"What about me?" Cinder asked. There was some satisfaction Pokey felt looking at Cinder's concerned reaction, Giygas had always talked fondly to him of the way that Salem had a particular method of dealing with humans who joined her cause. Fitting, given her origin.

"It is purely hypothetical, Cinder." Salem replied, "You've proven very…useful. For our cause, however, it is important that I consider any, and all, possibilities related to your demise and the transfer of multiple maiden powers. It is why I had you seek out that Emerald girl. In addition to her very useful semblance."

Before Cinder could retort, a bubbly pool of Grimm ooze developed in front of them, as a Seer Grimm emerged from the pool before it faded out. After a pause, the Grimm floated over to Salem and Watts developed in its glass head.

"Ah! It's been a bit, Arthur!" Salem gave a faint smile. Pokey grumbled as he and Cinder also approached the Seer.

Watts observed on his end more carefully. "I must say, I'm fascinated by your tinkering to develop such a natural communication species. Though, I must admit, the signal seems to need a bit of work." His finger tapped the glass on his end. "Cinder dear, can you hear me?"

"Unfortunately." Cinder grumbled.

Watts looked equally as disappointed to hear that response. "Great, talking again already." he mumbled. "Here I was hoping you were injured enough to be muted for a little longer."

Pokey watched the fall maiden's eyes twitch in frustration. Before Cinder could retort, Salem simply held her hand up to silence her.

"Now, Arthur, I presume our informant has been cooperating?"

"He has done well." Watts replied, fiddling with his mustache. "I've gotten confirmation that the Spring Maiden, is indeed hiding out in "The Uninhabitables" with Raven Branwen's nomad tribe of bandits. Once Adam locates her, we'll be able to proceed as planned."

"Perfect," Salem replied, "And with Tyrian, Hazel, Seiros, Mercury, and Emerald taking out almost all of Mistral's huntsmen and huntresses, we'll have no need to invade the city with the White Fang. Which should hopefully satisfy Adam and the others to keep them at a distance where they don't catch on to our true intentions."

"Speaking of Tyrian, I presume that the design I sent to Pokey to give him a new tail worked out just fine? Though he isn't an actual scorpion, unlike most Faunus, the tail is necessary for his survival in his demographic."

"It went smoothly. For having the entire tail basically disintegrated by the Mr. Saturn that rammed into him, the whole operation went about as well as it could. Your design was good enough to help him survive."

There was a cheeky smile behind Watts' mustache. "Excellent, when I was shown the X-ray, I wasn't really sure. Those little…things…from your world are quite fascinating. Their ability to destroy anything vital to defenses when thrown is an interesting ability for what otherwise looks like a harmless little squishball. Why not try and weaponize them?"

Pokey scoffed. "The Mr. Saturns prefer to remain peaceful. They don't see good or bad in anyone or anything unless you hurt them, and will gladly help anyone who simply asks politely. I've been double crossed by them before you know. Better to simply leave them be."

"Pokey is correct, Arthur." Salem replied calmly. "Though the capabilities of weaponizing the Mr. Saturns are interesting, they ultimately could prove more helpful if we need them by simply being polite. Like Pokey said, they don't see good or bad unless you hurt them."

"Hmph." The scientist grunted as he twisted his mustache. "Very well then, do you need me to stay here and keep watch over our informant? Or shall I begin making my way back to you?"

"Stay put for now." Salem replied. "But please go speak with our informant with me present, I would like to talk to them."

Watts simply nodded and closed communication as Salem turned back to Pokey and Cinder. "I wish for this conversation to be private, so don't follow me."

Once Salem's throne door had closed, Pokey simply shrugged his shoulders before he glanced out at the Grimm pool. It had been quite some time since he'd last seen it in person.

"She talks about Weiss like she's my replacement." Cinder grunted.

"Can you blame her?" Pokey snarled. "Now that Weiss is heartbound to Erick, she doesn't get to grow up, just like our creations. We'd be foolish to NOT put your maiden powers in her when the time comes. Unlike me and Seiros, you're still only mortal."

Cinder's amber eyes twitched. "After everything I've done for her, once I get the maiden powers, I'll have proven my competence to her, and you'll all help me."

Pokey simply snickered. "Good luck with that," he replied. "Granting immortality is quite a steep task, you know. Mine came from years of no protection when I was using the phase distorter. That's why I look like a Zombie, Seiros is an alien from another planet, her immortality is more of a result of her natural DNA in an unfamiliar environment. If she had a moral compass, she'd basically be a superhero."

Cinder's eyes flashed golden. "You know, before you and Seiros appeared here. Salem lamented about you all to us. About your time under Giygas, and those little freaks you all created in your alliance. I resent you and those children…all you've done is halt all the progress I've done to get her to appreciate me."

Pokey scoffed. "We created Team MESS to be everything Salem knows you can't be, the only disappointment she has is the understanding that Sarah can't hold the four maiden powers. But, now that Erick's darkside has provided us with a host who CAN, she's put in a much more advantageous situation. You, Cinder Bitchfall, are still a mortal. Salem has known us and the children far longer than she's known you."

He noted the Grimm arm attached to Cinder began to sizzle as her eyes glowed in frustration. Given that he knew Cinder wouldn't dare attack him, he simply turned away and began walking towards the door.

"If you really want to impress Salem," Pokey finished, not even turning to face her. "I'd say don't make such a fuss about the children and just stay in line. You aren't special, and you only work well when doing what's asked of you. If you're patient, eventually, you'll get what you want. Otherwise, you're no better than any of our minions who came before you."

Weiss swung her legs just slightly as she sat tight on one on the cargo ships used by the SDC. As Erick had predicted, Moon had understandably freaked out when he was told about their little meeting with Pokey. So, the two of them were out of Atlas.

Thankfully, sneaking out wasn't too hard for them. She'd always known ways to sneak around and out of the manor when she was younger to escape the wrath of her dad. Not that security was particularly tight…sure they had a bit of hired security around the outskirts of the manor, but that was mainly to ensure no White Fang individuals managed to sneak in. Which, given the tight security of Atlas being a floating city namely for wealthy and government officials, meant any Faunus who did show up at the manor was cleared by background of the government.

Not that they'd be allowed in…she couldn't recall a time a Faunus was ever allowed in the manor…well…known Faunus she should say. Even when they had more servants apart from Klein when she was younger, none were Faunus. Ironic given the fact her family was known for basically enslaving them.

She looked over at Erick, who was strangely calm sitting in the back of the cargo ship. Due to needing to basically be smuggled out, the two were forced into the back with all the cargo crates that would be shipped out to Argus. She noted him tinkering again with his laser gun. She had already seen him modify it to make use of Dust in the past, so she wasn't sure what else really needed to be done.

She stood up and walked over, sitting next to him, given they would be holed up here for a while, it wouldn't hurt to talk just a bit. "So…I never really asked you. But, what's the deal with your gun? Did you make it yourself?" She noted that, at the tip of the laser gun, where the laser developed, the orb was actually a weird version of a globe. Granted, she assumed this globe must be from his world, as it didn't look anything like Remnant's.

The genius looked up at her, blushing just slightly. "Technically, the version I'm using, yes. But this is not my own creation…the weapons Moon, Sarah, and I use were created specifically for us by Giygas, Pokey, the Nabateans, and Salem."

In hindsight, that made perfect sense…she was married to essentially a human weapon created by magical warriors…even if Erick had no powers, they'd probably want him to have a weapon.

"So Moon got a sword, Sarah got a Frying Pan, and you got…a Laser gun?" She asked. "And prior to coming here…it was just a standard laser gun…no elemental upgrades or anything?"

"Unlike your world, none of the Smash Multiverse has creatures like Grimm that require a plentiful resource like dust to defeat." Erick replied. "Sure, some worlds have hostile species of various random creatures. But, comparable to the Grimm, there's never a need to train people from birth to take care of them. My world barely has any enemies…occasionally some remnant aliens of Giygas' army will rear their ugly heads, but not often. A standard laser gun did the job, besides, if we needed elemental damage, Moon, Sarah, and Dyson did the job just fine."

"I see…" Weiss replied. "So…what's with the globe for your little…shooter tip?"

"Oh…well," Erick replied. "Our weapons, like yours, do have names that were crafted for each of us. I believe Moon was told by Saint Cichol that each of Giygas' inner circle underlyings gave us something native to their homeworld. Moon's sword, Saphria, is called The Sword of Darkness. Sarah's Frying Pan is called Freya, the Frying Pan of Love. Dyson's was called Lumiere, or The Sword of Kings. And my weapon is called Gaia, the Beam of Earth."

"I guess when you have 3 psychic teammates that can do everything from heal you to shoot meteors, I guess you really don't have to worry about…fighting." Weiss crossed her arms as she placed her legs across his. Making her new husband blush.

"Well…I do have my place on the team…" Erick replied. "I'm our tech expert, and thanks to Giygas' corruption, I'm able to hack almost anything and bend its rules…even magic stuff, and, as you probably noticed, I'm kind of an inventor."

"I've seen…what exactly is it that you…make?"

"A couple things." Erick replied. "Mainly stuff that helps counter foes from Giygas' army and keep Moon and Sarah's PSI powers at bay. I've got stuff like Shield Killers, Counter-PSI Units, and stat modifiers. Though…being out of our current environment makes these a bit less useful…which is why I've developed some to help us out here…just in case."

Weiss bit down on her lip, in hindsight, it shouldn't surprise her that Erick would want to take safety measures similar to the technology used on criminals here in Remnant. But even nullifier tech science here was limited to semblance dampening handcuffs, it was why criminals were usually locked in what were essentially insanely durable lockers with no windows. Given Erick's intellect, she wouldn't put it past him to find some way to make a way to mass turn them off.

"But…that's enough about me." Erick said, giving her a smile. "Why don't you tell me about Myrtenaster. What's the story with your rapier?"

"Oh?" Weiss felt her face flush just slightly. "It's not as…fate entwined as yours." She replied.

"That's alright." Erick replied, "Given how…interesting…people of your world make weapons, I'm curious about your decision. I mean, comparable to your teammates, and various students I saw at Beacon, your Rapier seems quite basic."

"Oh well, like most students who train to become a Hunter, you're actually given the option to forge your own weapon. Something about ensuring that your weapon is an extension of your character, you know your own strengths and abilities. Since our Aura and Semblances connect with our weapons, it's important we know what we think works best for us."

"Ah…so…due to your family's semblance being hereditary…I'd imagine you didn't really get a choice on what your weapon should be." Erick asked.

Weiss just sighed as she pulled Myrtenaster out of the holder in her sash, looking at it. "I mean…kind of…I still got to design it, obviously. But, everyone who has the semblance in my family has used a sword of some type since it's the closest we can get to a wand that would still hurt someone if our Aura gave out…I still remember the day Mother took me to the Atlas forge to explain all of that…those were simpler times." Weiss seemingly paused as she looked down, despite not removing her legs from his lap and arms from around his neck.

Erick bit down on his lip before asking. "You uh…I…I know you've answered me multiple times…but…are you sure you'll actually be okay leaving Remnant with me?" His newlywed wife looked up at him with a rather annoyed look. He hadn't really known Weiss very long, but he could tell from her face that he was asking a dumb question.

"I…I know you're going to assure me again that you have no issue leaving." He replied quickly, turning red. "It's just…I can't help but worry that you'll have some type of regrets if you do."

"And where could you have possibly gotten that idea from?" Weiss asked. "If you think it has to deal with my suspicion that Jacques murdered my mother, I'd never be able to prove it was possible, and even if Moon confirmed my suspicions with his telepathy, we'd never get a good case on just that…if anything, you'd all get thrown in prison for invasion of privacy."

Erick twiddled his hands, which his wife caught wind of before he could quickly move them to wrap around her. For the first time since the night he'd told her about the HeartBound, he saw that glint of red behind Weiss' ice blue eyes.

"What did HE say to you?" she asked, her tone was sharp. When he didn't respond she then added. "Don't make me ask for your dark side to tell me."

Erick felt sweat develop on his forehead, perhaps telling her that they didn't need to be as cautious about letting Dark Erick get close to her was a bad idea.

"Look, it's just, your father mentioned to me that being married to you would start to alter my appearance and genetics so that I would basically become a biological Schnee and take over the company instead of you, and Dr. Andonuts…the uh…the one from your world, he wanted me to abandon you and come to Atlas…and he said that his only wish was that, unlike Jacques and your mother, my love for you was genuine…and that I had no ulterior motive."

Weiss blinked in shock. She had known that her dad once worked with the people who went on to become the Atlas Elite. However, she had never known that they knew her mother prior to Jacques getting married to her. The way her mother used to talk about Jacques when she was little, she had known he married her for the company. However, she had been told that was not always the case. Based on what Dr. Andonuts said to Erick, however, that was not the case.

"Look…I know that you believe there's no way to prove that Jacques did all those terrible things to your Mother to authorities…and while you seem unsure yourself…I don't want you to feel like you have regrets when the time comes for us to leave." Erick replied. "I'm not going to pressure you or anything…but if you want…I can probably get you to Dr. Andonuts when we get back to Atlas to sort it out."

Weiss felt her face flush even more scarlet. However, before she could respond, the two jumped as a loud explosion could be heard from off somewhere. Before a buzzer started to blare.

"That…that can't be right." Weiss said, as she and Erick stood up. "We're taking the flight path to Argus over "The Uninhabitables." To avoid any confrontation with the Leviathan Grimm…and we shouldn't be anywhere near the middle of the sea just yet…"

Erick simply glanced out the only window in the back of the cargo jet, and his heart skipped a beat as a large black and red tentacle fin bashed into the side of the jet like a drill. Creating an opening hole that immediately began to launch the two of them out of the side of the jet.

Thinking quickly he grabbed onto Weiss and shot Gaia downwards with some Earth Dust, creating a large platform springing up from the sea as the two landed on top of it. Weiss coughed just slightly as she stood up. Both just in time to see the jet they were once on crash into the base of the cliff they were just on.

"What the hell was that?!" Weiss asked. "Our Cargo jets are made of some of the most durable material possible…no way any basic flying Grimm like a Nevermore was able to do that."

She turned to Erick, only to find him shooting some Ice dust From Gaia, connecting the now created ocean platform they were on to the mainland cliffside, the genius had a panicked expression on his face, and he quickly grabbed onto her, jumping down onto the makeshift slide, carrying her to the cliffside, just before a large smash landed on top of them.

As the two slid towards the mainland, she finally caught a look at the creature, making her flinch at the look.

It was nothing like any Grimm she had ever studied in the past. A weird makeshift sea serpent with one tentacle shifted into a drill like fin. It looked to be about 30 feet long, and the long serpent fin expanded to a large, bulbous head with razor sharp fangs and a greenish looking mohawk of scales.

"It's a Kraken!" Erick sounded just as in disbelief as she was.

A Kraken?! That couldn't even be close to correct. Yes, she was aware that sea Grimm species existed. But they were few and far between. Completely understandable since humans didn't live anywhere in the middle of an ocean. So what few Grimm lived in the sea were mainly around the Atlas Costal Colony of Argus, and the Faunus Island of Menagerie.

The Kraken Grimm hissed at the two of them before opening its mouth, unleashing a heavy blast of fire at the cliffside. Weiss quickly took Myrtenaster out of her sash and waved it around, summoning her mural to fire back with a few glassy shards that didn't do much as bounce off the thick, black skin of the Kraken as the flames from its mouth pushed her back just slightly.

Erick quickly took Gaia out of its holster and fired an ice beam at the Kraken. The beam of ice struck the large fin and made a solid chunk, with Weiss quickly slashing Myrtenaster to shoot a beam of fire, making the ice explode as the Kraken retreated backwards.

The Grimm then dove down below the cliffside and began spinning its fin just like a drill. Impressively, a whirlpool began to form and rise from the depths.

Weiss flew over to Erick using her platform glyphs and grabbed onto him as she jabbed the tip of Myrtenaster in the ground. A wall of rocks sprung around them as the gusts of wind petered out, unable to suck the two of them into the whirlpool.

The shadow of the Kraken head towered over the rock. It let out a screech as a lightning bolt struck down, blowing the two of them apart.

Weiss grunted as she landed on the ground, feeling her Aura flash just slightly. She twirled Myrtenaster and flung a path of platforms out across the cliffside surrounding the Kraken. She rotated the dust compartment in Myrtenaster as she began her glide across. The Grimm Kraken leered down at her and breathed a heavy amount of fire. However, her movements on the platforms were far greater as she began to rotate around.

Pointing her rapier at the Grimm she then spun the dust compartment rapidly as many different beams of dust began to fire from its tip as she flew around the Kraken. Each blast of dust only seemed to make the Grimm even more furious as she observed which types of Dust seemed to harm it most. However, maybe due to the extreme circles she was running around the Kraken with, she couldn't seem to pinpoint anything as barrages of Fire, Ice, Electricity, Water, and Wind dust struck the thick skin of the Kraken Grimm.

She felt another rush of wind pass her ear as a Bottle Rocket flew past her and into the head of the Grimm. Exploding on contact as the Kraken let out a massive screech. Three more lightning bolts erupted from the sky and struck down on her platform leverage. She quickly maneuvered herself and jumped off the final platform.

Unfortunately, the Grimm was more than ready for that as the thick tail fin struck her quickly, spiking her back onto the cliffside. She coughed out a bit of dust as she felt her Aura glow around her body. Her legs shook a little as she stood up, clutching Myrtenaster.

A shadow of the Kraken's tentacle fin hovered over her and went to slam. However, her body suddenly glowed as she felt her body get lighter, and pulled towards Erick as the tentacle smashed against the ground.

As she landed next to Erick, she noted he looked relatively fine, compared to her at least, and the Grimm Kraken was struggling to remove its fin from the rocks it smashed into.

"Look, I know you probably have it figured out," Erick said quickly. "But I think Salem created us in a way where Grimm doesn't see us. It seems like elemental damage from us isn't going to cut it, it'll be difficult for you to strike it with Myrtenaster, but I have an idea."

He handed her a small yellow and black badge with an interesting holographic globe design and lightning bolt across the center.

When she gave him a dumbfounded look he just sighed and pinned it on her. "Just trust me, do what you did last time and aim for the head."

She nodded her head and quickly pushed Erick back as the tentacle smashed into the ground again. This time, quickly withdrawing from its strike.

Weiss got up and quickly summoned another string of platforms, which she then began her barrage storm of elemental dust around as she glided past it.

Once again, the Kraken hissed as it began to breathe fire at her. However, her rapid movement around with her platforms of light prevented the fire from striking her.

"HEADS UP!" She ducked quickly as another bottle rocket flew over her head and exploded into the Krakens head.

Using her timing, she leapt off her platforms and positioned Myrtenaster's point above the Kraken's head as she began her dive towards it.

The Grimm Kraken looked up and noticed her, and let out a massive hiss as she felt another lightning bolt strike her. However, amazingly, the bolt didn't give her any pain, and instead seemed to surround her as she jabbed Myrtenaster into the skull as the lightning bolt blasted the Kraken as well.

The Kraken let out a massive screech as it began to dissolve. Sending her down the cliffside, as she fell, she felt Erick's gravity beam grab onto her, and pulled her back to the cliffside, she he simply put her in his arms due to her awkward falling position.

Weiss coughed a little as Erick set her down, once she had processed herself, she looked down at the badge Erick pinned on her, which was now glowing yellow.

"That's a Franklin badge." Erick explained. "They're rare equipment from our world that ancient PSI users have to reflect lightning."

Weiss frowned. "If you had this…why wouldn't you wear it all the time."

She noted Erick's forehead developed some sweat. "Well…it's not like any creatures up until now in your world had access to lightning summoning powers…and I'm more than trusting that you'd never shoot me with lightning dust."

He made a very good point, however, that did make her think. "Grimm…shouldn't have access to stuff like that." she said, looking out at the sea. "We do have some with Flame Breath…and I've heard an old tale of one near Menagerie that had an electrical charge. But I've never seen a Grimm having both fire and lightning. Nor has there ever been a reported instance of a Grimm like that."

"That's…probably because this isn't a creature from your world." Erick replied. "I think that it's a Grimmified version of ours."

She blinked in disbelief, almost questioning if she had heard that correctly. "A Grimmified enemy from…from your world?"

"I believe so…" Erick said. "I know Giygas has spread his influence and minions across all corners of the Multiverse…but…usually the creatures native to our world under his control have remained put."

"What…what exactly does that imply?" Weiss asked. Feeling her heart flutter just slightly.

"I…I think it means that…" Her husband sounded unusually doubtful. "I think it means that Giygas likely brought more than just Pokey to try and experiment with…The Kraken is probably just one of many…" he looked down at her, noticing her flashing blue aura, good thing he had given her the Franklin Badge, otherwise there was no telling what could've happened to her.

"We should probably get to the jet's crash site…" Erick said, "You don't look to be in the best of shape…and we aren't in a place where Moon could just teleport and get us. Once you're feeling rested, we can try and figure out what to do, hopefully there's a map or something."

Before she could respond, a giant whoosh of rustling plant life alerted the two of them to a now group of individuals.

They weren't White Fang grunts, given the lack of any visible Faunus traits on the 12 people that now surrounded them. But that certainly didn't make Weiss feel any better by the revolvers pointed at them.

The one positioned directly in front of them was a young woman with tan skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She wore a variety of brown and maroon clothing that gave her the look of a homeless individual, not helped by the large bird tattoo sat on top a black rose, and torn pant leg that was covered by a calf guard.

The woman studied the two of them closely, though Weiss noted that she had a particular fixation on her specifically. After a moment, the woman's lip curled into a small, sinister smile.

"Ma'am, you're gonna wanna see this."

Both of them looked as an older woman who looked eerily similar to Yang stepped out from the woods behind the younger one. She had bushy black hair that was tied into a ponytail by a red bandana, with bloody red eyes similar to that of the dark sides.

She wore a V-neck black and red wrap style top with a black pleated skirt that had black shorts underneath, with a series of beaded necklaces. She also wore a red obi sash around her waist alongside a red tassel wrapped around her waist that carried her weapon's sheath. Attached to it was a long black object that was either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material hanging from behind her. Her forearms bore armored gauntlets that protruded outwards and black fingerless gloves. She wore black mid-thigh high boots that had armor plating with red splatter patterns and black heels.

Much like the tanned woman who called her, this woman also kept her eyesight focused on Weiss as she studied her looks carefully. After a moment, the woman also curled into a smile.

"Well well well tribe. Looks like today is a very lucky day for us." The woman said. "I thought the appearance of an SDC cargo jet was already a stroke of good luck considering the blockade. But it seems we also got the heiress and her new husband stowing away as well."

Erick glanced over at Weiss and saw her aura was still flashing, she was in no position to try and fight their way out of this.

"Let's make this easy on yourselves." The woman drew a red-longsword with a black hilt that bared a slight resemblance to the dust mechanisms in Myrtenaster. "Put your weapons away, and let us kidnap you without resistance, and you won't injure yourselves more than the Kraken has already. You both aren't in any position to fight us with the way we've got you surrounded."

"So you can do what?" Weiss asked sarcastically. "Ransom us back to Atlas for money? I don't think father will be willing to give you anything when the two of us have eloped."

The black-haired woman looked unamused, and didn't lower her blade. "It's for the better if you just come with us willingly. Even if I was the type of person to let you go kindly, you wouldn't last a day out here anyway, Schnee. This place is crawling with Grimm, and…" The woman's face turned more cruel. "Certain members of a Particular organization that I'm confident would be more than willing to kill you in a second should they spot you and your husband here."

That shut her up real quick as Erick caught notice of the more panicked expression in her eye. Granted, as he looked at the two women, and the 12 or so henchmen that surrounded them. He really didn't want to just surrender to a group of bandits living out here that had shot the jet down and alerted the Kraken to them. But it wasn't like they had an alternative.

The black-haired woman studied his expression, though he did note that she seemed a bit more concerned than her tough demeanor let on. As the red blade she had pointed at the two of them seemed to shake just ever so slightly, almost giving him the impression that she was concerned the two of them would actually fight back. He swore looking into those bloody red eyes she had that he could see someone who would actually back down if he could say the right thing to scare her. Unfortunately, he had no possible clue what she thought he knew that would make them all back off instantly.

Instead, he simply deactivated Gaia and put her back in his holster. He went to turn to Weiss to convince her to do the same, only to find she had already followed his lead, though he could tell she wasn't thrilled about it.

The smug expression the black-haired woman gave them made him instantly regret that decision as she twirled her blade fancily before sheathing it. "Wise choice, never would've expected a Schnee to give up their pride." She then turned her back to them and looked over at the younger women who summoned them.

"Vernal dear, knock them both out while I get the rest of the tribe to loot the dust from the jet."

Another Month, another chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it!

I'm going to be really honest with you all. When I was looking at the list of Grimm to use in this chapter for the fight, I was surprised to see that RWBY didn't already have a Kraken Grimm in any capacity. It seems like such an obvious choice for a sea-based Grimm creature. I know that they have that Sea Feilong thing that Blake and Sun and fight in Volume 4, but I had issues trying to translate that since, while it technically dwells in the ocean...it also functions more like The Immaculate One that Seiros provides...and probably wouldn't make sense for the very ambiguous location Weiss and Erick needed to end up in so Raven can appear.

So, in its place, I've brought over a Grimmified Kraken from the EarthBound series. I actually did want to try and incorporate a few more EarthBound enemies into Grimm for this story. A couple of people have actually requested to me privately that Salem should use Grimmified enemies from multiple different franchises in Smash, as they think it would help make Salem's alliance with the Cult of Giygas feel more multi-sided with her studying creatures from other Universes to turn into creatures of her own.

I hear that sentiment, and I will confirm that I am looking into that. However, I should disclose that I'd need to be careful with what original Grimm versions of enemies I do create to not risk breaking canon rules in RWBY's own universe. I know that RWBY barely follows its own established lore at times, but Grimm designs have remained consistent in terms of being either mythologically based or more directly terrifying. Thankfully, the 3 EarthBound games do have a nice amount of whacky mythological enemies to go alongside the more grounded in realism enemies. I could see getting Grimm versions. I can't say the same for other Smash Franchises. But if you want to drop any suggestions, I'd be more than willing to hear them out.

There's also the direct issue in regard to Weiss' summoning, which I have kept intact. Albeit a much more neutered version; I don't need every fight turning into a situation where MESS and RBY just play distracting defense so she can summon an instant delete button. Granted, several fights in this show could've been solved if Weiss was able to summon properly. But Weiss is more than just summoner after all.

I have been keeping her summoning abilities more at bay as I tried to figure out a suitable nerf to them that would explain why she can't summon at all times she would be able too. As I tend to try, and approach fight scenes with the understanding that a character should use all of the resources available to them as an audience is aware that a better option exists. In my personal opinion, if a viewer can finish a fight using a resource provided by the source material that the writing didn't address, then the fight scene is objectively terrible. It's what makes my criticism of more speedy based powers like Ruby's semblance a bit more irritating.

As you'll soon see when I discuss later chapters and highlight certain changes I make. You'll understand that Ruby's semblance and Silver Eyes will REALLY start to get on your nerves after a while when you notice the inconsistencies used to approach fight scenes with her in later volumes despite establishing something else.

Now, that's not to say I'm perfect of this, I'm sure if I looked back, I'd see that Team MESS is guilty of not using their fullest power to solve a problem in a situation that they could have with no threat. But it is why I established that discovering what their powers REALLY are could create mass hysteria in Remnant from the understanding that the Smash Brothers do exist out there.

After all, if everyone in a world knows who someone like Ganondorf is, what he's done, and what he can do. I'm pretty sure confirmation that he does exist and could just casually arrive at any moment would not be news a world like this would take lightly.

Anyway, that's about all for this month's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you have any thoughts or criticism, you can feel free to let me know, I always take what you say to heart and respond.

See you all, next time!