Author's note: And now, more about Maria.
Maria and Winter rode on the former's new minion, scouring the tundra of Solitas for Grimm, though both of them felt a little weird riding this creature, as its soft body gave in a little under them. However, true to its ever-cheerful expression, the creature didn't seem to mind at all. When they flew over a ledge, they spotted a pack of Sabyr, and Maria made her minion land nearby. Both got off the creature and prepared to fight.
"And, ready?" Maria asked and drew her weapons, although she decided not to use the Ice Flame semblance she copied some time ago. Winter closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, showing they were purple.
"Of course," Winter answered, "But I'd also like to test something new I've worked on."
"Sounds good," Maria said, "I'll keep them off your back." She rushed into battle, drawing the enemies' attention to herself, while Winter manifested a small blob of light purple energy in her right hand. As her aura began to drop, Maria's minion fired a pale blue energy beam at Winter, increasing her aura regeneration and the potency of her semblance. Winter clenched her fist and surrounded it with the blob, then extended it up her arm, almost to her elbow. Finally, the energy solidified into a metallic silver substance taking the shape of a gauntlet.
"Alright, I got it," Winter said, "Let's see how they like this." Maria blocked a Sabyr's attack and kicked it over to Winter, who punched it with her silver gauntlet. However, due to poor form and no training, Winter was knocked back a fair bit.
"Winter!" Maria called out and hurried over to Winter, while her minion was already focusing on her, ready to help her again. While Maria helped Winter, the Sabyr got back up as well, and both saw a silver-white imprint where Winter had hit it, with cracks extending from it. The Grimm tried to walk, but buckled, and the cracks spread across its body, eating away at it.
"What… is happening?" Winter asked as the duo watched the Grimm disappear in front of them, not even emitting black smoke.
"It's being neutralized," Maria answered, "Silver is often attributed purifying properties in folklore, and it looks like your Holy Silver semblance backs that up."
"I see," Winter said and looked at her hands, "I think… I have an idea." She focused and created a bastard sword out of purple energy in her hands, then solidified it, turned around and charged the Grimm. Every Grimm Winter's Holy Silver sword so much as grazed began developing the same silver-white cracks from the wound, and was neutralized within ten seconds or less. However, Grimm that received lethal injuries still partially evaporated, forcing Winter to restrain herself at least somewhat. When the pack was dealt with, the duo got back onto Maria's minion and continued their mission.
~o~
By the time both returned to Atlas, Winter wore a complete silver plate armor, including a silver tiara as a head piece. The duo had also learned the hard way that the Ex Deo minion, true to its squishy body, was not suited for combat, as it was destroyed by a single attack from a Teryx and reverted back to a regular leaf.
"Winter, is that you?" Marrow asked when he saw Maria and Winter approach on the new minion, "Also, what are you guys riding?" The new minion was made from a strand of Winter's hair, meaning that its wings were covered in long hair, with some of the snow white strands billowing in the wind similar to the streamers on Winter's personal airship.
"Yes, it's me," Winter answered after she jumped off the minion, once it got close to the ground, before dispelling her armor and sword. Marrow took a few steps back from the minion, giving it space to land properly.
"Also, this is a new semblance I found out I copied a while back," Maria answered, "No idea when exactly, but it lets me make these cards, which turn any organic matter into minions like this one. They can't take a hit, but they can boost your aura regeneration for a while."
"I mean, not everyone needs to be good at fighting to be useful in a fight," Marrow said and asked, "Could I have some of those cards?" Winter pulled out her scroll and walked away, leaving Maria and Marrow to themselves.
"Sure, hold on," Maria answered and put her hands together, then manifested another card, "No idea what will happen to this one if you make one though, so it's probably best to try it now, so we're not surprised later."
"Definitely," Marrow said, "And thanks." He took the card and plucked a strand of his tail fur, then held the two together. The objects reacted, and Marrow tossed them away in a panic.
"Sorry, that tends to happen," Maria said with a chuckle. The card exploded in a large cloud of smoke, and when it dissipated, there was a minion similar to the other one, with an elongated, cream-colored body, four stubby legs and a pale blue diamond on its forehead. However, instead of the hairy wings like the one behind the duo, the new one had fluffy wings covered in short, dark gray fur. The duo looked back and forth between the minions, and saw no problem with the first one.
"Let's make another," Marrow said, and Maria handed him another card, while her minion fired another beam at her to boost her aura regeneration. Marrow plucked another strand of his fur and made a new minion, but as soon as the card erupted into smoke, his first minion disappeared.
"That's weird," Maria said, "I mean, summoning semblances often have either a time limit for the summons, or a limit on how many summons you can have at one time, but if the latter were the case, my minion should be the one that disappears, and not yours."
"Is this a summoning semblance, though?" Marrow asked and said, "Sure, it makes those minions, but it's actually the cards that do that. Maybe you should go and ask our scientists what they think. I'd love to help more, but I have to go on patrol now, sorry."
"It's fine," Maria said, "And maybe I will go to the scientists about this. Thanks, and stay safe out there." She created another card and handed it to him, then Marrow climbed onto his minion and had it fly away, while he used his predator to locate any nearby Grimm. Maria looked at her minion, and it made a cheerful and supportive noise. She walked away, heading straight for the military's laboratories, to have someone who actually knew how this stuff worked take a look at the new semblance.
~o~
Harriet walked through Mantle, her fists clenched and her whole body tense for some reason. She had no idea why, but the entire situation was frustrating. Her punishment for interfering with Ren's squadron was long over, and yet she still felt restless, and wanted to punch someone. Officially, she was on patrol to quell any fights that might break out, and in a sense, she was keeping her eyes open for anyone trying to start a fight in the city.
"Hey, watch it," a construction worker repairing a water pipe called out when his coworker bumped into him. A third man sat nearby, taking a smoke break. All three were quite heavy, with toned muscles due to the years of intense physical labor, and had several tools that could be used as bludgeoning weapons in a pinch.
"Calm down, it wasn't on purpose," the other man said, visibly agitated, "Let's just hurry and get this thing fixed so we can reopen the road." Suddenly, Preflexes told Harriet that the man on break was in danger. Without thinking, she activated Super Speed and tackled him aside, just a split second before the port-a-potty next to him exploded. The white lid was launched into the air by a fireball, and the entire plastic casing caught fire.
"Wha- I mean, thanks," the man said and got back up. Harriet heard the sound of metal hitting the ground and turned around, only to see the other two men looking at the one next to her. She also noticed a horrid stench filling the air, although the nearby fan sucked most of it away.
"See, Brick, this is exactly why we always tell you to be careful," one of the men said, "Now we have to replace this, and the smell will never wash out. Our boss will be mad, the people living here will be mad, and the military will demand compensation for the ruined uniform."
"No, it's fine," Harriet said.
"You stay out of this," the man barked, then turned back to Brick, "We've been lenient with your smoking habit so far, because Clay and I can handle the extra workload for five minutes, and because you stay away from us, but we told you to be careful not to damage anything. Especially hazardous material."
"Look, I'm sorry," Brick said, "Besides, I went three minutes ago, and before lighting my cigarette."
"Since when do you know about hazardous materials, Alroy?" Clay asked.
"My old man used to work in a sewage plant," Alroy answered, "He showed me a lot of pictures, so I know that this stuff is no joke. Which is exactly why I'm not letting you off the hook this time, Brick. If these things weren't designed to prevent the containment tank from catching fire, we'd all be in trouble."
"Come on guys, stay calm," Harriet said, although only because the protocol required her to try and deescalate before using physical force. Even though she didn't know why, she really wanted the situation to escalate, so she could let off some steam again.
"I thought I told you to stay out of this," Alroy said while climbing out of the hole in the road, before he walked towards Brick with clenched fists.
"Come on Al, let's talk this out," Brick said, putting his hands up defensively and backing away.
"We tried talking several times," Alroy said, "We tried getting you to stop smoking, because my wife asked if I started smoking. So we agreed that you would take a single break, and further away from us. We told you to be careful after you got some ash on the boss' car, and you promised that you would. But apparently, that means nothing to you. So now, I'll beat the lesson into your thick skull, and see if that works." Alroy threw a right hook, aiming for Brick's head.
"Both of you, stop it," Harriet said, positioning herself between the two men, who were noticeably bigger than her, while Brick recovered from the blow. She spread out her arms and deployed her weapons, going slightly off the protocol.
"What do you mean by both?" Brick asked and said, "I haven't done anything." Harriet tried to ignore him and stare down Alroy, even though it had little effect.
"Probably one of those zero tolerance rules," Clay said, having climbed out of the hole as well, "If one throws a punch, we're all done. Makes no sense, but is less work for them."
"Well in that case," Brick said and grabbed the blond portions of Harriet's hair, "Stay out of this!" Before she knew what was happening, Harriet was yanked off the ground thrown down the road. She caught herself and landed on all fours, sliding a good bit before stopping. She got back up and looked at the trio, who picked up a large wrench, a sledgehammer, and a large chisel.
"Looks like we'll do this the hard way after all," Harriet said, being surprisingly happy about this development. She charged the men, and Brick swung his wrench when she got close. Harriet leaned back and dodged under the attack, but saw Clay with his chisel.
"Gotcha," Clay said and brought the chisel down like a spear, but Harriet quickly got back up and dodged the attack as well. When Clay drove the chisel into the ground, the road cracked and Harriet's foot caught in the crack, causing her to stumble and fly straight into a wall. Before she could fully recover, Clay hurled the chisel at her, and she had to dodge. Alroy charged at her with the wrench, and Brick with the sledgehammer, while Clay picked up a heavy steel chain.
"I knew you military types were more pomp than power," Brick said and swung his hammer again. Harriet blocked the downward blow with her arms and pushed Brick away. Alroy exploited the opening and sent her flying into the wall again.
"Alright, looks like I have to get serious," Harriet thought as she got back up again. She activated her semblance and charged Clay, punching him in the gut. She followed up with a backflip kick, sending him to the ground, then turned around. She charged past Brick, jumped up and punched him in the face, then kicked Alroy in the face, knocking both men down in one move. She turned off her semblance and looked around, breathing heavily, and only then realized what had happened. Suddenly, her scroll rang and she got a message.
"Grimm sensors are currently offline," the support staff wrote, "All units, remain on high alert until the cause can be determined and the damage undone." Harriet looked at the message, and heard shuffling and scratching nearby. She looked up and saw several Scavengers emerge from the sewers, led by a child-sized Grimm resembling a bipedal reptile with a single horn growing out of the back of its head, the tip of its tail possessed a very faint red shimmer, as if there was a flame inside it. Harriet pressed a button on her scroll to contact the base.
"This is special operative Bree," Harriet said, "Requesting immediate backup and civilian evacuation." The new Grimm, which had been named Shimmertail for obvious reasons when the first one appeared, walked towards Harriet while the Scavengers remained behind and prepared their javelins. Harriet checked her aura, then put her scroll away and switched from Spectral Assault to Spectral Healing. She engaged her disk launchers, preparing special disks, and used Homing to make them home in on the Scavengers. As soon as the Shimmertail lunged at her with its right arm outstretched, she jumped back and fired two of her disks, but made sure to keep herself between the Grimm and the three men until help arrived. She stumbled a bit due to a sting in her stomach from when she was beaten around, and the Shimmertail prepared to unleash a stream of fire from its mouth.
"Watch out!" Vine called out and swung by, using his right-hand Vine to hold on to a windowsill and grabbing her and the men with the left-hand one. All four got out of the way of the attack in time, although Vine flunked the landing due to the men's weight. The disks bounced around among the Scavengers, dealing some damage and filling the road with fourteen Healing Orbs.
"Thanks, beanstalk," Clay said while he and the others got back up, surprising Harriet and Vine.
"Isn't that your cousin?" Brick asked.
"Nah, Bean's tougher than this guy," Clay answered.
"Wait, I thought I knocked you out," Harriet said and tilted her head, and the guys laughed, which made her even more angry than it normally would.
"As if," Alroy said, "We're way tougher than this." He emitted an orange-red glow as he walked over to a fire hydrant, then put his hand on the metal, and his skin turned the same shade of red.
"What?" Harriet asked, staring in disbelief.
"Ever since I was a boy, I can absorb all kinds of metal to become tougher," Alroy explained in a metallic voice, "Also, this thing needs maintenance." He clenched his fist, and it morphed into a hammer head. The Grimm came around the corner and set their sights on the group. Brick activated his equally orange-red aura and touched a nearby wall, and his skin turned the same texture and color as the stones.
"In any case, I need to get to those white orbs," Harriet said. Before she could react, Clay took her hand and walked towards a wall, easily dragging her along.
"Do not let go," Clay said and activated his dark red aura, before he walked into the wall. Harriet felt herself disappear into the concrete, and felt as if she moved through a particularly thick and chunky honey. After a few seconds, they came out of the wall, and the Healing Orbs recharged Harriet's aura, though some also went for Clay.
"What… was that?" Harriet asked and looked down at herself, as if to make sure she hadn't turned into stone during the journey.
"My semblance," Clay answered, "It lets me walk through stone and metal, but only those two. Also, some materials are harder to walk through than others, so you'll notice it when there is a steel beam in a concrete wall, for example." A Scavenger flew by in front of the duo, accompanied by the sound of metal hitting something, and they rejoined the fight. Harriet charged two special disks and made them home in on the Scavengers, then rushed behind the Grimm and fired the disks. Several Scavengers threw their javelins at Alroy, but they bounced off of his steel body.
"Nice try," Alroy said and charged in, plowing through the Grimm. Vine summoned two small Vines from his hands and sent them through the horde as aura arcs. Brick slammed down his hammer fists, sending a shockwave through the ground. Harriet kept firing homing special disks, but decided to alternate, so that at least one would always be around. The Shimmertail charged Clay, its left claw glowing red, and Clay sidestepped the Grimm, then grabbed its horn.
"Not so fast," Clay said and hurled the Grimm into a nearby wall with enough force to kick up a cloud of debris. Black smoke rose from the debris, and when the debris settled, the Grimm was gone. Vine used his Vines to grab all the Scavengers and threw them onto a pile, and Alroy and Brick crushed the Grimm between themselves. A transport aircraft landed nearby, and Harriet quickly explained that she was too quick to judge when calling for evacuation.
~o~
In the outskirts of Mantle, the Shimmertail clawed its way out of the ground and looked around. It fell to all fours and arched its back for a bit, then stood back up. The heat from the nearby radiator was warm, almost like the fiery rage of an abusive alcoholic, so it laid down and recovered from the last battle.
Author's note: Bonus Harriet segment.
Also, just like Ex Machina, Ex Deo has a limit of one minion per person, unless the person who made the cards allows someone to make more. However, since Maria has no experience with this semblance, she is also limited to just one, and therefore can't let others make more.