Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Meanwhile, At Mistral
"I can't take this anymore…"
Leo threw everything he needed in a suitcase, hastily closing it.
"I got to get out of here!"
He quickly grabbed the suitcase and ran out the door, hoping nobody would see him. Thankfully, everyone was fast asleep in their dorms.
He couldn't take it anymore.
Several Days Earlier…
Leo looked up in the sky, seeing the Death Egg high in the sky. He had just received news that Argus had been nuked recently.
He desperately waved toward the Death Egg, hoping he would be seen. Surely, he'd be spared from this. Surely, Eggman would be far better than Salem.
"Now what are you waving around like an idiot for?"
Leo froze, knowing full well who that voice belonged to. A Seer slowly approached behind him.
"I was… waving at the Death Egg."
"Why?"
"For… reasons."
"Come now, Leo. You know that Eggman wouldn't care for someone like you. You'd be destroyed just like everyone else by the time the Death Egg fires its laser."
"If it means being away from this Hell, then so be it…"
"Hmph. You say that working with me is a bad thing."
"I didn't want it to be this way! I never asked for this!"
"Funny, I seem to recall you being desperate once upon a time…"
"That was before I knew what I was up against…"
Salem chuckled from within the Seer. "Leo, I would like you to do something for me."
"What is it…"
"I've been… experimenting-"
"No! Enough with your experiments! I refuse to send any more of my huntsmen and huntresses to their own deaths! The dinosaur Grimm were bad enough!"
"Oh, but Leo, this one is not a mere dinosaur."
Leo relaxed a little. "That's a relief… the last thing we need is Mistral to be a Jurassic Par- what the hell?!" He yelled in surprise as a Deathstalker approached him, but it also had a King Taijitu in place of its stinger. "Is that…"
"A Deathstalker with a King Taijitu on its tail. Yes. I don't have a name for it yet, but I think this will be perfect to test out on some huntsman, wouldn't you say?"
"You're out of your mind, woman! I won't let you harm any more Mistralians!"
"You cannot get out of this. After all… your precious moon base is falling as we speak."
"Huh?" Leo turned around, seeing the Death Egg falling toward the planet. His heart sunk as it disappeared in the horizon before a resounding earthquake shook Mistral, knocking him off his feet.
"Hmm, any larger and that would have turned Remnant into space dust…" Salem mused. "Anywho, where do you think I should send this beautiful specimen? Perhaps a neighborhood? Oh, but maybe a playground filled with children. Anywhere on Mistral would do… perhaps an orphanage would suffice-"
"No! Not here… not Mistral."
"So where would you like it then? We can't send it to Atlas, I believe it's currently underwater."
Leo closed his eyes, clenching his fists.
"I'm waiting, Leo. This monster is not the most patie-"
"The Mushroom Kingdom!" He said quickly.
"The Mushroom Kingdom, you say? They have enough problems as is." Salem mused before chuckling. "What's one more?"
The Deathstalker disappeared into the woods.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Leo."
The Seer also disappeared as well, leaving Leo to growl, clenching his fists in frustration. "Forgive me, Mushroom Kingdom… I am nothing but a coward…"
Back in the present…
"If I can just get away from here… away from this nightmare!" He said, running through the woods. "A ticket out of here, a new life! Maybe I'll start a new life in the Mushroom Kingdom! Yeah! I'll be free! Mistral had a good run but I'm sure they'll find another professor to fill in for my absence!"
He immediately got out of the forest and into town where some folks were minding their business. He took a deep breath and casually walked through town, hoping no one would spot him or ask him what he was up to.
After he crossed through the town, he quickly made a run for it again. "If I can just make it to a port town… I'll be free!"
As he was running, he spotted a beggar child up ahead next to a bench. He slowly went to a walk as he passed by the child. The child sniffed and sobbed, causing him to stop. He sighed and backed up.
"What's wrong, little one?" He asked, kneeling down gently with a caring smile.
"I… I have no money to return home to… I'm lost and need food…"
"Oh, don't worry… I got some money for you right here." He said, digging into his pocket and dropping some lien into a can.
"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much…!" The beggar child hugged him.
…Before she smirked.
"NOW!"
"Huh?!" Leo yelped as he was suddenly ambushed and had his arms held in place by two men.
"Hmhmhmhmhm~"
The beggar child took off their hoodie, revealing to be Aria.
"Ah, that was too easy."
"Was it something I've done to you in the past, child?"
"Pffft, please." Aria rolled her eyes as she pulled out a spray can and started spraying herself.
"I… see that you're a germaphobe. It happens to the best of us."
"Germs? Oh please, I'm fine with that. I just can't stand touching a skinwalker. Blegh."
"Oh… I… see you were not raised well."
Aria smiled. "Lady Salem had a feeling you'd bail with your tail between your legs."
"Lady Sale-... you work with her?!"
"Yup!" Aria giggled mischievously. "Put him in, boys." She ordered as the boys, who happened to be Jellal and Numa, threw him into a box.
"Let me go! Let me go! Get me out of here!"
SPLASH!
"Mmmph! What…?!" Leo wondered as he saw water was filling into his prison fast. "No… no no no no! What is this?!"
Outside, the trio heard Leo scream and pound the box for help as Aria casually leaned against the railing with a smile on her face.
"Aaaah, I love a squirming skinwalker."
"...With all due respect, "m'lady", perhaps we should let him live." Jellal said.
"I agree." Numa nodded.
"Meh. you go pick him up. I'd rather not get a splinter." She said, casually sitting down on a bench and filed her nails as the guys rolled their eyes and jumped into the water, pulling him out and dropping the box to the ground.
"Come on, let's head back to the office." Aria said. "Oh, and can one of you carry me? My legs are tired…"
Jellal groaned. "Donovan might be on to something by calling you lazy." He mumbled, giving Aria a piggy back ride.
"That's his problem, not mine. Besides, I'm not the one who lost parts of his body or turned himself into a freak."
Later…
"Alright, put it down." Aria said as Numa was about to gently put him down. "Don't gingerly put the skinwalker down! Throw it!"
"As you wish." Numa said, tossing the box into the ground where it smashed into the ground as Leo sprawled out.
"Uuungh…" He groaned as Aria planted her heel on his stomach.
"You're such a coward… and a full blown idiot!" Aria smirked. "Did you really think Lady Salem would let you leave? After all… you're indebted to her."
"How… would you know…!"
"Simple, I asked her why we keep you around. Apparently you were desperate for money because your school was low on funds, so you reached out to Arthur Watts… and that's when Salem caught wind of this and decided to make a deal with you. Do you remember that deal?"
"She… sends funds to Haven Academy… promising protection… and in exchange, I send students out for slaughter for her Grimm…"
"That's right~ And you wouldn't want dear ol' Haven Academy to… burn up, would you~?" She smirked devilishly. "It's amazing what desperation does to somebody… you really should've been smarter than that~"
Aria kicked Leo to the side. "And just to make sure you behave~" She giggled, pulling out a dagger and grabbing his tail.
"Wh-what are you- AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" He cried out in agony as Aria sliced off his tail.
"Here, you can play "Pin the tail on the cowardly jackass"." Aria said, tossing his tail to the ground. "This time, it's your tail. Next time… it's your throat. Do we understand one another?"
"Y-Yes…" Leo groaned as blood poured out of his body.
"Glad we understand one another~" She smiled as Leo looked up, seeing that Numa and Jellal were giving Leo looks of sympathy.
Aria walked away. "Now clean up this mess, would ya? I got places to be." She said as she walked to the doors. "Oh, and skinwalker?" She turned her head. "Lady Salem looks forward to you sending more huntsman and huntresses to the slaughter. She has more ideas after her first experiment~"
She turned around with a hum. "I'd get that surgically repaired if I were you. Or don't. You look better without it anyway. Have a great day~!"
Aria skipped out with Jellal and Numa following her.
Leo held on to his tail, tears rolling down his cheeks as he was silently sobbing.
"Please… get me out of this hellhole…"
A rather short and sweet one this go around. Credit to both Log and DarkRebellion for this one!
Ibuki: Yeesh...
Deadpool: The man's back is against the wall and he can't do a thing about it...