"What the hell are those?!" Kris shrieked as she took a step away from the quickly approaching horde in the distance.
"Um..." Gritting her teeth, Kagami shook her head softly. "Will the answer Grimm suffice?"
"Definitely not!"
"Well then I don't have an answer!" She shot her a glare. The two of them were on a busy airbase. Exhaling, she let her shoulders fall. "If it's not one thing it's another..." She trailed off. The Leviathan had stopped blasting the city with its breath but it was still stepping on buildings as it pushed through the city. And now there was an army of Grimm spreading out across the city streets like a plague.
Around them, several people in uniform scattered. All of them heading towards some type of vehicle whether it was an airship or a truck.
"Why are you two still just standing around?!" Fleck's voice echoed behind them.
Glancing over her shoulder, the short redhead raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're yelling at us for not having one of your comms and not knowing what you said?"
Rolling her eyes, Kagami turned around ready. "What are we doing now, commander? What can we do?"
"We face one problem at a time, that's what we do! With that monster staggered we can set up borders along the Saikan and Kuhoto Districts to stop the smaller Grimm!" He kept his voice raised as he ushered them to follow him. He then jumped into the back of an armored truck. "Can't let those things go out any further!" He pointed between himself and the two girls. "We're going to go help hold the southern line. We'll figure out something else for the big guy later." He took a deep breath. "We have a long night ahead..."
"What is going on in the city?" With a confused and concerned look, Cheyenne stared off at the dark city as it was covered in a dark snow.
"I have no idea." Equally as confused, Eleanor walked over with her sleeves pushed up. "It looks like it's helping though. Sort of." She pointed towards the Leviathan that slowly stepped around. "It's not blasting anything anymore."
"But it's still trampling everything in its path." Elise mumbled as she leaned up against her mother.
With a small sigh, she reached her arm around her and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Take the small victories when you can. Trust me."
Eleanor then suddenly pulled away as her scroll went off. Pulling it out, she narrowed her eyes before answering. "What's going on?" She asked.
"Is something wrong?" Cheyenne quickly turned to face her. "Did something happen?"
She waved her off. "Okay. Okay." She nodded to herself while taking a deep breath.
"Is Kagami okay?" Elise stepped closer before being pushed back.
"Okay. We'll be there." The dirty blonde heavily sighed while putting her scroll away. Eyeing her daughter and her friend, she crossed her arms. "Come on. They need anyone who's able to fight in the city. There's an army of Grimm spreading out."
"Great." Her daughter rolled her eyes while clenching her jaw.
An hour before midnight, gun fire mixed with snarls echoed throughout the streets. Behind a barricade of sandbags, a wall of soldiers held their ground. When one needed to reload, another stepped up to take their place. The wave of Grimm was neither advancing nor disappearing. The front line of the horde stayed a block away but their numbers weren't dwindling. It was staying strong unlike Vytal's Defence Force ammunition reserves.
"Commander!" A woman shouted as she helped reload a turret with their last belt of bullets. "This isn't looking good for us! We're down to just magazines now!"
"Just keep it up the best you can!" He shouted back as he reloaded his rifle. Watching Kris take out a Sobki with each of her shots from her dual candy canes, he smiled. "Not bad, kid." He gave her a nod of approval before looking back over their cover and firing.
Seeing the dwindling ammo, Kagami took a deep breath. Taking out the empty magazine she had, she stared at it for a moment before sighing. "We're going to have to fight hand to hand sooner or later." She mumbled to herself. Setting the rifle down, she slipped her way through everyone. "Might as well let the better shots have my bullets."
Climbing up the side of a building, she hauled herself up onto the roof and sprinted across it. After jumping onto several other rooftops, she ran up onto the edge and jumped down. Drawing her sword, she let out a warrior's cry as she drove it into one of the many Sobki.
"Hey no!" Kris pushed her chest out as she saw her leader slicing Grimm in half. "That isn't fair! You gave no warning!"
"What? Worried I'll kill more than you?" She flashed a playful smile as she kept towards the further end of the street so she wouldn't be hit by any bullets.
"Hrmg." Groaning, the redhead spun her weapons around. Sending out one by a chain, she latched onto the side of a building and pulled. Hauling herself through the air, she smiled back. "Not a chance!"
"Hey!" Commander Fleck snapped as he straightened his spine. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Helping! Obviously!" Kris smiled back at him. Falling through the air, she extended the blades on her weapons. As she landed, she tucked and rolled before spinning around. A smoke of decaying Grimm rising up around her. Standing up straight, she eyed her leader with a grin.
Smiling back at her, the jadette held out her hand. Catching the curved edge of her weapon as it was extended by its chain, she tugged hard before nodding.
Nodding back, she leaned back a bit while bracing herself. Taking a deep breath, she began to spin her leader in a circle. As she did, Kagami let her blade slice through the endless sea of Grimm. They weren't very strong, aside from their jaws which everyone made sure to avoid, but their numbers and speed were the problem.
At another barricade, Aero pushed half a dozen drawn waves towards the incoming Sobki. Once the waters consumed them, it froze. "Fire when you guys are ready!" She shouted as she dove out of the way.
"You heard her!" A woman in uniform shouted as she waved her arm. "Fire!"
Gunfire quickly erupted as the Grimm frozen in ice were turned into a misty smoke and shattered pieces of ice. It was almost beautiful.
Once the street cleared, the Huntress narrowed her eyes at the Grimm swarming behind. Glancing at her pallet, she let out an annoyed groan. She was out of ice Dust. "Water will still slow them down at least." She huffed before running out and drawing several more waves that she sent out. She was at least able to restock that thanks to Vytal's Defence Force. Though much to her surprise, when the water washed up the mass amount of Sobki it was frozen by an ice blast. "Huh?" She raised an eyebrow before blinking and running out of the way again.
"Let me guess," Eleanor shouted in a mocking tone. "You ran out of paint again?"
Quickly looking back, the bluette narrowed her eyes. "Don't mock me! This stuff takes time to make!"
With a small laugh, she smiled with her daughter beside her. Taking a deep breath, she held up her thumb towards Cheyenne who was on a rooftop.
Nodding back, the Faunus lowered her rifle before preparing for another large blast. "Whenever you're ready, Aero!" She called out.
"Who are they?" A soldier asked as the blue haired woman made several more waves.
"More Huntresses. Be grateful." The woman in charge gave a nod. Glancing over her shoulder, she held out her hands as Gurin appeared out of thin air with more ammo. "Let's keep this up."
Finally running out of ammo at his end, Commander Fleck bared his teeth. Setting his rifle down, he pulled out a large combat knife and vaulted over their wall of sandbags. "Don't let them pass!" He shouted. "Don't give in! Fight till your last breath!"
Charging straight ahead, he held his knife in a reverse grip. As a Sobki lunged at him, he dropped down and slid across the ground. Bringing his blade up, he sliced through its underbelly. With a sharp exhale, he jumped to his feet just as the creatures turned to smoke.
"I know he's being encouraging..." Kris grunted as she pulled her blade from one Grimm and shot at another. "But it's getting annoying. This is a losing fight."
"Well don't tell the people with guns that." Kagami jerked her left arm. The ballistic knife that shot from it flew back into its chamber. Turning around, she stabbed another Sobki in the mouth. "Though I know what you mean..." Even she sounded a bit defeated.
They weren't winning.
And dozens of soldiers were resorted to hand to hand.
They were losing.
Hearing a shout of pain, Kagami whipped her head around. Seeing Fleck taking a step back, she twisted her body around and darted towards him.
With heavy breathing, the commander swapped his knife to his left hand. Reaching up, he covered his right eye with his other hand. Blood immediately trailed between his fingers. "That... hurt!" He snapped. Lunging forward, he drove his blade deep into the neck of a Grimm that had blood stained teeth. "That really hurt!" He twisted the blade around before jerking it out as the creature turned to smoke. Spinning around, he drove the knife into another that jumped at him.
"Commander!" Kagami shouted. Holding out her gauntlet, she shot a knife out. As it sunk into a Sobki behind him, she jerked on her wrist as the blade flew back with a faint purple glow. The Grimm itself was pulled slightly towards her from this. Jumping up, she braced her feet against its body and pushed against it. As it was sent to the ground, she was sent higher into the air. Coming back down, she slashed at a small group of them.
"What?" Fleck shouted back as he spun around and stabbed another. He kept his right eyelid closed while red stained that side of his face.
"You... were hurt?" Her brow furrowed a bit. "You shouted in pain I was wor-"
"Oh no, no, no. DON'T give me that!" He waved his knife around before dodging out of the way. "It'll take a lot more than this to kill me, kid!"
Kagami went to retaliate only to bite her tongue and stay quiet. Going back to fending off the horde of Grimm, she couldn't help but notice the size of their no man's land was getting smaller and smaller. The Sobki would break their defenses soon.
Extending the blade on her gauntlet, she drove it into the head of one Sobki while blocking the teeth of another. She went to strike the second creature only to be tackled to the ground by a third. Bringing her sword around, she brought it up to block its sharp teeth. Its hot breath trailed across her skin as it snapped its jaw at her.
Baring her teeth, she struggled against it for a moment while getting herself in a better position to strike it. Before she could though, a hand reached out and grabbed it. Something was strange about the hand though.
The fingers were made of wood.
With the Grimm being yanked off her, Kagami sat up a bit and watched as it was pulled through the air. The hand that held onto it was connected to a rope that was retracting. Once the wooden hand reconnected with its wooden forearm, a ninjato blade drove through the body of the Sobki.