Author's note: And we're starting with Nora again.
Nora was still in her wolf form, and ran through Vale's agricultural district to catch up to a pack of Grimm before they could reach the police officers. Just as she turned a corner, a large rock came flying her way, and she barely managed to turn back in time to block the hit. She slammed against a wall, and the rock crumbled.
"Ok, now I'm mad," Nora said, drew Magnhild and activated her Trump Card. She brought her hammer down as the Grimm charged, sending a wave of neon blue energy across the ground. Whenever it touched an enemy, it launched them into the air, with neon-colored sparks and blobs flying everywhere. In a single hit, the pack was wiped out.
"Interesting trick," Mercury said and jumped down from a nearby rooftop, and attacked Nora in one fluid motion, sending her into another wall. When he hit her, she released more sparks, which exploded and blinded Mercury.
"Why are you here?" Nora asked, "Just to ruin our lives again?" She charged at him before he fully regained his vision and tried to hit him with her hammer, but he jumped away.
"I'm just here on a job," Mercury answered and almost fumbled the landing, "I thought you'd understand." He jumped down again and kicked Nora, but she swung her hammer upwards to meet his foot, stopping his attack and sending a shock through his entire body, then kicked him into a wall.
"I understand that you want to destroy the world!" Nora shouted and swung her hammer again, sending a series of neon blue and pink blobs at him. Just as the attack hit, Trump Card wore off, breaking Nora's aura and leaving her defenseless against Mercury's next attack.
"I actually meant that we're both here on a mission," Mercury said and dusted off his clothes, "And I really don't care about the world, or what happens to those in it. I was raised and trained to kill, and that's what I'm doing. Not to mention that I owe Salem after she helped me get my semblance back."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nora asked and gripped her hammer tighter, ready for another attack.
"In short, my dad can steal people's semblances," Mercury answered, "When I unlocked mine, he took it for himself. Supposedly until I got strong enough. Then he had the gall to die before giving it back."
"But you have to realize that Salem is just using you," Nora said, "She doesn't care what happens to you. As soon as you're no longer useful, she'll just drop you, and that's that." Mercury started walking around Nora, and she turned to keep an eye on him.
"And how is that any different from Ironwood?" Mercury asked, "Last I heard, he had planned to cause a mass panic across the globe, just to have an excuse to make everyone follow his orders. And yet, you still helped him. Or am I wrong?"
"We helped him change," Nora answered, "I trusted Ruby, and she figured out a way to stop him before he went too far. But you're helping Salem destroy the world, and I won't allow that." She started backing away, and Mercury followed her.
"How can you say that when you don't even have aura left?" Mercury asked and said, "I could blow up your head with one kick if I wanted to, and that would be the end of it. But I have other orders." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a vial with black liquid. When Nora realized what the liquid was, her eyes widened in fear.
"No way," Nora said, turned around and ran away, dropping her hammer to reduce weight. Mercury threw the vial in front of her, and it shattered on a building, releasing the Rakshasa. Nora stopped in her tracks and stared at the black sludge seeping down from the wall, and took a step back.
"Don't worry, it's not even half bad," Mercury said, "For me, that is. You're going to hate it, though." The Rakshasa latched on to Nora and began to consume her, and she stumbled around as she tried to pry the Grimm off of her. Mercury watched with a confident smile as the black sludge covered more and more of Nora's body, until it finally enveloped her completely.
"Hunger," the Rakshasa growled and looked around. Two rows of three curved bone spikes protruded from its back, its face was a featureless bone mask, and its torso had four elongated, red eyes on the chest, with a mouth on the stomach.
"Yeah yeah, you're hungry," Mercury said and asked, "But what are they planning?" The Rakshasa stood around and looked into Nora's memories, then the corners of its eyes, which protruded slightly past its torso, dropped.
"No," the Rakshasa said, "No. No no no. Silence. Quiet. Mercy." Red lightning appeared around its back spikes, and it held its head while stumbling around the street. Mercury watched the spectacle, not sure what he was supposed to do.
"Hey, you alright?" Mercury asked and approached the Grimm. When he came close enough, it whirled around, and he had to jump back to avoid getting hit. The red lightnings intensified, and it shot a powerful bolt of them from its mouth, sending Mercury flying into a wall and breaking his aura on impact. The Rakshasa charged towards him, but triggered a crystal-dust Landmine, sending pink shrapnel everywhere and triggering Spectral Healing a dozen times. As the Grimm moved in continued mental agony, the crystal shards cut into its black gooey body, triggering the semblance over and over, until it decided to let go of Nora in favor of a nearby pigeon. Nora got up and the healing orbs recharged her aura, and she saw the Grimm's new form, a large bipedal bird with two sets of massive wings and a long, craning neck. Its large red eyes stared down at her, and she stared up at it.
"Oh no, we're not done yet," Nora said as the Grimm turned away from her, "You wanted this, and now we'll finish it." She coated herself in electricity, with the remaining healing orbs recharging her aura, and dashed over to pick up her weapon.
"Chaos. Confusion. Madness," the Rakshasa growled and began flying away. Nora grabbed her hammer in both hands and jumped up to the Grimm. She hit it with an upward swing to the head and followed up with a horizontal strike at its body, sending it into a nearby building. She landed again and walked towards the building, dragging her hammer on the ground to let the Grimm know how close she was. She kicked down the door and saw the Grimm under a pile of steel beams.
"I know I am, but what are you?" Nora asked and said, "No wait, I know. You're toast." She lifted her hammer, hit the handle on the ground and set up an Electric Terrain, then aimed her free hand at the Grimm and sent an Annihilation Field towards it. As the sphere appeared around the Grimm's head, setting off Spectral Assault with each small lightning bolt, Nora put her hammer away again and began freeing the Grimm, lifting the steel beams as if they were made from cardboard.
"What's wrong, your friends not coming to help?" Mercury asked and walked into the building, but stopped in his tracks when he saw how unreasonably strong Nora was.
"Not necessary," Nora answered, "Just watch." She removed one final steel beam, and as soon as the Grimm started to move again, it triggered an earth-dust Landmine, creating a small boulder that attracted Grimm.
"Did- did you guys plan all this? How?" Mercury asked, and started to freak out a little.
"Who knows," Nora answered with a grin, "I'm just here to hit stuff. Ruby's the one with the plans, so you gotta ask her." As if on cue, a pack of Beowolves, some Alpha Beowolves, a few Creeps and an Ursa came running into the building. When they came close to the Rakshasa, the lightning bolts from the Annihilation Field jumped over to the nearest Grimm, and harmed the entire mixed pack.
"You definitely know something about this," Mercury said, "There is no way the Rakshasa would let you go unless you had some kind of special training to resist its abilities."
"If that's what you want to believe," Nora said, "It's a free country, after all. And that freedom includes the freedom to be wrong."
"Don't get cocky," Mercury said, "I still have the advantage in numbers." A dark red King Taijitu came out of the ground and both its heads towered over Nora. She clenched her left fist, accumulated some electricity in her hand and fired a concentrated lightning bolt at the enemy, stunning one of its heads and making it fall onto the mixed pack of Grimm. She created series of javelins from her maiden powers and flung them at the enemies, then used them as reverse lightning rods to electrocute any nearby enemy, killing the entire pack, safe for the Rakshasa.
"Do you now?" Nora asked and said, "Sorry, I'm not good with numbers." Mercury gritted his teeth and stepped back. The Rakshasa continued to take damage, and eventually died as well, leaving only a very confused pigeon.
"This isn't over," Mercury said and kicked a steam-dust bullet at Nora, then ran away when she blocked it with her maiden powers. The pigeon flew away, and Nora looked around the destroyed building. The boulder was still attracting Grimm, and would continue to do so for quite a while, so she switched to Spectral Assault and set up a lightning-dust Aura Wall around the area, to harm any Grimm that approached.
~o~
Russel made his way through Vale's catacombs, accompanying a small police team to clear out any Grimm that might still be hiding in the tunnels under the city. Every once in a while, they ran into one or two of the skeletons that were created through Guardian's Gambit.
"It's really stuffy down here," one of the officers said and asked, "Are we sure this is safe?"
"Relax, Ruby said it's fine," Russel answered, "She took care of the biggest threats in advance, so now all we have to do is clean up the small fry."
"If you say so," the officer said. Russel pulled a glow stick out of his pocket, cracked it and threw it around a corner, then drew his second dagger and peeked into the tunnel. He waved one of the officers over, and officer Urzo walked around him and aimed his gun into the large corridor.
"Get back!" Russel called out when the light from the flashlight attachment fell into the corridor, revealing that the ground was covered with dark red Scavengers with spikes running along their spine, ending in a spiked club on the tip of their tail. He jumped out in front of officer Urzo and activated his Projectile Reflection semblance, right as the monsters threw their barbed javelins at them. When the javelins were about to make contact with Russel, they stopped moving, turned around and were flung back in the direction they had come from, hitting several of the monsters and killing some of them.
"What are those?" Officer Urzo asked and aimed his gun past Russel to provide more light, revealing that the monsters received spears from several holes in the wall, and handed them to those who didn't have any. When he took a closer look, Russel saw that only some monsters didn't have javelins, while another section of the horde got ready to throw.
"I have no idea, but they're not Grimm," Russel answered, "Still, we need to do something about them, and quick." The second attack ended a lot like the first, with the javelins being reflected and killing several dozen monsters, only for more to come out of holes in the walls and replacing their fallen brethren.
"Any idea how we should do that?" Officer Urzo asked as the monsters launched their third attack, with much the same results. Russel put one of his daggers away and pulled out his scroll to check his aura.
"Not quite," Russel answered, "But my aura won't last forever, and if it runs out before their reinforcements do, we're dead." The fourth attack also had no real effect on the huntsman in training, aside from reducing his aura even more.
"I can go and call for backup," one of the other officers suggested. Russel put his scroll away and drew his second dagger again, and the monsters launched their fifth futile attack. Russel thought for a moment, getting more and more agitated that he couldn't do anything despite being a huntsman in training.
"No, I've got this," Russel said, "I'll figure something out." He coated his weapons' blades in ice-dust and sent two aura arcs into the enemy horde, creating two rows of ice spikes and killing numerous enemies in one hit. The ice closest to him immediately started disintegrating, floating over to him as powdered snow and recharging his aura.
"Incredible," one of the officers said as she poked her head around the corner to see what was going on.
"Thanks," Russel said, "Just let me handle the main force, and you guys take care of any stragglers." He rushed into the corridor, slashing away at the enemies and sending the occasional aura arc to get more monsters in one strike, while the police officers filed into the corridor and opened fire. Everything was going well, until an ear-piercing scream cut through the sound of battle. Russel stopped and turned to look where the scream had come from, and saw that one of the officers got hit with a javelin through the shoulder.
"What do we do?" Officer Urzo asked and said, "At this rate, she'll bleed out." He held the woman, helping her sit upright, and inspected the javelin lodged into her shoulder. Her uniform was stained red, and every time she tried move her arm, she grimaced in pain. The world seemed to slow down around Russel, and he could feel his blood rushing through his body with every heartbeat.
"This sucks," Russel thought, "This sucks so much. I can't fight Grimm properly because I can only defend myself, and now I'm also useless as a shield for others. I have to do something. We need help. That's it."
"You, call for backup," Russel said and pointed at one of the officers, "You, help him carry her to the entrance. The rest make sure those two can get to safety. I'll deal with these and hold them off for as long as I can." Just as Officer Urzo and the other man wanted to help the woman onto her feet, even more enemies showed up and cornered the entire group.
"What do we do?" Officer Urzo asked as the monsters closed in on them. Russel looked around and panicked, when suddenly, a red portal opened next to him and a cluster of rose petals came out of it. Sirena appeared by the police officers and created several small Glyphs, shooting air-goo bullets from them. Whenever she hit an enemy, a small sphere of Cutting Winds appeared, tearing through any enemy that touched it.
"Let me see this," Sirena said and touched the woman's shoulder, making her wince again, "Don't worry, I'll numb your pain and heal the wound. You'll be as good as new." The Glyphs disappeared and Sirena pulled the javelin out and gritted her teeth, then coated the woman in a green glow. All nearby officers stared as they watched gushing the wound close before them, but only Russel saw that Sirena herself seemed to be in a lot of pain, and a cut opened on her shoulder. As soon as the woman's shoulder was healed, the cut on Sirena's shoulder began closing as well.
"Thank you," the woman said and tested her arm, distracting the officers long enough that Sirena's copied Regeneration semblance could heal her own shoulder.
"You're welcome," Sirena said and walked over to Russel, who had no idea what she wanted from him.
"Hi," Russel said, trying to hide how nervous he was.
"She could have died today," Sirena said coldly, "Be better." She drew one of Cinder's swords and opened a portal back to Ruby, then left. The portal closed and Russel looked over to the police officers. His eyes met with the woman, whose bloodstained uniform served as stark reminder that he almost got someone in his care killed, if it hadn't been for Sirena's help. Defeated, he decided to call it a day, and the entire group left the catacombs. Everyone was more somber, and especially Russel really considered the dangers of the profession.
~o~
In the tundra of Solitas, Robyn shot a crossbow bolt into an Alpha Beowolf, causing it to stagger and letting the rest of the pack run over it. A second after hitting its mark, the bolt exploded, killing multiple Grimm and causing many more to stagger as well.
"My turn," Maria said and rushed into the enemy horde, her weapons engulfed in ice blue flames. She cut some limbs off of the Beowolves and Sabyr, engulfing them in the same flames for a few seconds, long enough to kill them. When the pack was dead, Maria reported back to the military and requested pickup. While they waited, a cyan bird flew up to them. Robyn held out her left hand for it to land on, and it landed.
"Sienna needs help," the bird said in Ruby's voice, then disappeared, leaving both women fairly confused.
"Sienna?" Robyn asked and looked over to Maria, "As in Sienna Khan, the high leader of the White Fang?"
"Must be," Maria answered and shrugged, "At least I don't know any other Sienna."
"What do you think she needs my help with?" Robyn asked, "And why didn't she ask me directly?"
"No idea," Maria answered, "But it seems urgent."
"I guess you're right," Robyn said, "I'll go and see what she needs." A Manta arrived to pick them up a few minutes later, and when they returned to the base, Robyn headed over to the one leaving to bring supplies to Argus, where she would take the morning train to Mistral.
~o~
Marcus looked at the new Grimm that Salem had made for him, a bipedal, bird-like creature with two large wings on its back, as well as two tiny arms, which each had three red whips growing out of them that it could extend or retract at will. Its long neck ended in a seven-pointed star shape, covered by a bone mask with red markings on it.
"I am expecting good results from this," Salem said as she walked past him.
"I won't disappoint you," Marcus said and grabbed one of the crystals he had made with Infection. He threw it at the Grimm, and it disappeared into its black feathery body. Marcus repeated the process with nine additional crystals, until the Grimm was too weak to stand and collapsed under its own weight. When the Grimm died, it turned into red sludge, which assumed a form similar to the original, except with dark red feathers, barbs on its wings, and bigger claws on its feet.
"Are you done?" Salem asked and said, "The sacrifices are waiting." She gestured at a massive pack of Beowolves behind her, which seemed eager to attack anything she told them to.
"I am, yes," Marcus answered, "For every hundred Grimm this thing kills, it will create one seed. Let me show you." He snapped his fingers and the dark red markings on the monster's face glowed, before it fired an energy beam that cut through the army of Grimm. Afterwards, it produced a small, dark purple seed that skittered around on four legs made from dark red energy.
"Well done," Salem said, "Continue." She walked away, and the entire pack of Grimm descended upon Marcus, who sent his new monster to protect him, slicing apart anything that came close with its whips, or decimating the horde with its laser beam.
Author's note: Should I feel bad for the Rakshasa? Nah.
But yeah, Nora's mind is literally too chaotic to be controlled.
Russel almost got someone killed. Good thing Ruby sent Sirena over to help.
The new Grimm is based on the man-eater from the first and second episode of the anime Heavenly Delusion. Honestly, I can't recommend that anime enough. Animation quality is like a movie, and the writing isn't far behind.