As most of the Ace Ops and Evan chowed away at their lunches, the group saw Harriet enter the large mess hall.
Grabbing a tray of alfredo pasta and some toasted breadsticks, Harriet sat down at the table as she tried to shake off her own drowsiness.
"How you doin' Harriet?" Elm kindly asked.
"Decent, I guess? I'm not at 100%, but I'm not just going to collapse any second now. Let's just say I'm counting down the minutes till the day's end." Harriet explained as she used a metal fork to twirl up some pasta.
"Thanks again for doing that." Elm said as she reached down toward a bag next to her and pulled out a thermos.
"Here, consider it a small piece of my appreciation." Elm finished as she slid the thermos over toward Harriet.
Grabbing the metal cylinder, Harriet opened it up to find warm coffee waiting for her. Smelling the delicious scent, a smile formed across Harriet's face.
"Ahhh yeah, this…this is great." Harriet replied in a happy tone as she took a quick sip from it.
"You even got it just the way I like it." Harriet continued as went back for more.
"So, what's on the agenda today?" Harriet inquired as she looked toward Clover.
"The General gave us one major order today. We'll be heading out to an Atlesian outpost far outside the city limits in about an hour. With the surge of negative emotions created by the Argus refugees, an infestation of Sulfur Fish took over the place late last night." Clover explained as he put down his BLT sandwich.
"Sulfur fish? I don't think I've ever seen that type of Grimm before." Evan added.
"That's because they're pretty rare around these parts. They like to swarm their prey through sheer numbers. If that doesn't work, they'll retreat to find their brethren and combine into a larger, more powerful, form. Usually, it takes two to three groups of soldiers or huntsmen to thoroughly weed them out. But due to how strong we've gotten, it should be a cakewalk for the most part." Clover elaborated.
"Sounds like fun. Mind if I tag along?" Evan questioned Clover, causing Elm to lean forward with a concerned look on her face.
"Kid, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you need some…" Elm tried to say compassionately.
"I'm not asking to kick some butt. I just want to spend some time with you guys, and have a quiet place to think. Can't think of anyplace better than an outpost in the middle of nowhere." Evan quickly interjected.
"You swear you'll take it easy." Elm questioned the teen somewhat skeptically.
"I swear it." Evan promised, allowing the female Specialist to relax and let out a small sigh of relief.
"Ok. Then it's settled." Clover decided as he looked toward Evan.
"We'll be leaving at Landing Dock 3." Clover stated.
"I gotcha. Don't worry, I won't keep you guys waiting." Evan said as he reached for another bite from the juicy cheeseburger on his plate.
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As the group of six flew in from above and landed at the outpost, Evan took a glance at his surroundings. A large set of walls surrounded the base, providing partial protection from the tundra's harsh winds. Numerous tire tracks still ran deep in the snow and led toward a large gate that had been kept open.
Aside from a few steel watchtowers, most of the base consisted of various low to the ground structures that stretched past his field of vision.
"Ok. Here's the plan: Elm, Marrow, and myself will split up and search the buildings. Evan, you'll stay out here with Harriet and Vine. Just keep an eye out for any Grimm and alert Harriet and Vine when you do spot them. They'll deal with the stranglers and keep them from grouping up. If we're lucky we should be done before it gets dark out." Clover declared.
"You all ready for this?!" Clover asked, trying to hype everyone up.
"Absolutely." Harriet replied.
"Bring 'em on!" Elm cheered enthusiastically as she cracked her knuckles.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Marrow added in a somewhat awkward tone.
"Yeah." Evan added with a cheerful smile.
Vine, remaining silent, gave an affirmative nod.
Quickly, Evan watched as Clover, Marrow, and Elm split up and entered three separate buildings.
/-/
Running down the cold hallway, Elm raised her rocket hammer up as she spotted a collection of Sulfur Fish.
The creatures were small, only a bit larger than her own boots. Skittering around on six sharp legs, three on each side of its body, the group of Grimm stared at her angrily with a single glowing orange eye. Rushing forward at surprising speeds, the Sulfur Fish raised three small scorpion-like tails from their backs and prepared to strike.
Meeting the enemies head on, Elm used her innate Ki reserves to move at inhuman speeds, easily swinging her massive weapon repeatedly at the monsters. Crushing two or three with every strike, Elm was able to take down the small swarm without them ever landing a hit on her.
Lifting and leaning her weapon behind her shoulders, Elm looked on at her handiwork with a confident smirk.
"Too easy." Elm said aloud before sprinting down the corridor to continue her job.
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Opening a door, Marrow cautiously stepped into a large barracks. Walking through the middle of the room, the dog faunus looked at the various abandoned bunks on either side of him, their pillows and blankets thrown haphazardly on the floor beside each of them.
"Geez. This place just gives me the creeps." Marrow thought to himself as his dog tail stayed low by his legs.
Shaking his head, Marrow took a deep breath in.
"Relax, Marrow. I'm, like, way stronger than these monsters. If anyone should be scared it should be the…" Marrow contemplated.
Suddenly, bursting out of the air ducts came dozens upon dozens of Sulfur Fish.
"Grimm!" Marrow exclaimed internally.
Like a dark river, the Sulfur Fish surrounded Marrow on all sides as their insect-like mouths clicked and popped in glee.
Changing his weapon into its rifle mode Marrow unloaded multiple rounds into the nearest Sulfur Fish. With each Grimm that was instantly turned to dust, two more moved in to take their place.
"This isn't getting me anywhere?! I need to think more creatively!" Marrow thought to himself.
Lowering his weapon, Marrow closed his eyes as he began to channel his Ki into the space around him.
"Just like we practiced…" Marrow mumbled to himself as he concentrated further.
Listening to and feeling the world around him, Marrow waited patiently as the Grimm launched themselves forward toward Marrow's body.
Just as they were about to reach him, Marrow used his Ki creating a large circular barrier of green Ki around him, instantly burning the Sulfur Fish that were already mid-flight, and unable to change course, to ash.
As the Sulfur Fish looked in bewilderment and confusion, Marrow opened his eyes, smiling in satisfaction as he stared at the green barrier, and looked on at the Grimm.
"You thought I'd just surrender and let you chow down on me? Sorry, but this meal's got some bite to it." Marrow declared as he quickly expanded the barrier outward.
Immediately, the Sulfur Fish closest to Marrow turned around and started to skitter away, even climbing over their fellow Grimm behind them out of desperation. Moving too fast for them, the Ki barrier eviscerated more and more Grimm. After about a third of the Grimm in the room had been wiped out, the rest of the Sulfur Fish were quickly able to retreat back to the air ducts on either side of the room.
Changing his weapon into its boomerang mode, Marrow held out the weapon's bladed edge out like a sword as he dispelled the Ki barrier.
"Hey! You don't get to run away like that! Get back here!" Marrow shouted out.
"You attacked me! Finish the job like a real Grimm!" Marrow continued as he charged toward some of the Grimm.
/-/
As Harriet and Evan walked through the abandoned complex, Evan felt his scroll vibrate. Pulling it out, the teen saw that Ruby had sent him another picture. Swiping down through the message app, Evan glanced at some of the earlier pictures that she had sent him.
The first one was a picture of Ruby, Jaune, and Nora staring in awe at the tall futuristic city around them as various pedestrians were walking past them. The next photo was somewhat blurry. From what he could gather from it, Penny was excitedly dragging Ruby down the sidewalk, the robot girl pointing at something in the distance, as Nora and Yang ran after the two teens with big smiles on their faces.
The third picture showed the team in a book shop. Front and center was Jaune, who was holding up a comic book titled "X-Ray and Vav: Volume 0" with a special golden banner on the top that read: "LIMITED EDITION" to the camera. In the background, he could see a preoccupied Blake excitedly reading through a manga volume while Ren casually browsed a nearby shelf filled with more books.
The fourth one had Yang holding a collection of sticky grenades with a big smile on her face out to the camera with the immediate next photo showing Ruby excitedly turning one around in her hand, appreciating whatever small details that simply passed Evan by.
The most recent picture was a large group photo that had everyone from Team RWBY, Oscar, Ren, Jaune, Penny, and Nora all gathered around a big table inside some restaurant. Behind them was a large window that showed off some of the city.
As a warm smile crossed his face, Evan quickly stowed the device back in his pocket at the sound of dozens of tiny legs skittering through the snow. Getting behind a large truck, Evan leaned over and spotted a decent sized group of Sulfur Fish, about 25 in total from what he could estimate, moving about as they emerged from behind a nearby building.
Putting a hand up to his ear, Evan activates his communicator.
"Hey Harriet, can you hear me?" Evan whispered into the device's speaker.
"Yeah. You've spotted some Sulfur Fish?" Harriet questioned.
"Seems like it. I'm over by the east wall." Evan explained as he looked around his environment, spotting a second albeit toppled over truck.
"There's two abandoned trucks right next to 'em." Evan continued in a hushed tone.
"Got it. I'll be right over." Harriet stated as Evan turned the communicator off.
In the distance, causally leaping from rooftop to rooftop at immense speeds, was Harriet. Landing next to the Grimm, Harriet activated her semblance. Combining her super speed semblance in addition to her enhanced speed from her Ki training, Evan was barely able to follow Harriet's movements as she easily wiped out the Sulfur Fish with a series of punches and kicks.
Stomping the last one with her foot, Harriet brushed the Grimm dust off her hands as she noticed Evan emerging from his hiding spot.
"Thanks for the callout." Harriet said in a pleasant and chipper voice.
"No problem." Evan replied back with a small smile before turning away, as both his smile and shoulders lowered slightly.
"Everything alright?" Harriet asked as she noticed the shift in Evan's mood.
"…Not really. I'll be alright though. You don't have to worry about me." Evan explained in a deflecting tone.
"Well someone's got to do the worrying. Elm's been doin' it full time, so maybe it's time I punched in my card." Harriet joked as she approached the Saiyan.
"Whatever it is that's bugging you, I'm willing to lend an ear. A shoulder too, if you need it." Harriet added as she looked at her friend compassionately.
"It's just…I need some time to process some things. I'm sorry." Evan said as he lowered his head apologetically
"Hey, don't sweat it. I won't press you if you're feeling uncomfortable." Harriet replied back.
"Just know that I'm always here if you need me." Harriet continued in a kind and understanding manner.
"Thanks Harri-" Evan answered back before the sound of a large pipe bursting open in the distance echoed throughout the quiet base, quickly followed by the noises of numerous Sulfur Fish.
Rushing toward the sound of the noise, Evan and Harriet listened as the Sulfur Fish let out a deafening screech as hundreds of other Sulfur Fish burst out from the nearby buildings as they scuttled over toward the main horde of Grimm. Arriving at the source of the noise, the duo saw that Marrow and Vine were already present as they watched the scene in front of them.
At first, the Sulfur Fish were just a gigantic pile of writhing white limbs, tails, and piercing orange eyes. But in a matter of seconds, the Grimm had climbed on top of each and combined together into one imposing entity. Consisting of a headless torso with over a dozen eyes staring out from its chest, the creature had a set of two hands and two feet that each connected back to the main body by tying together their flexible orange tails and using them as the beast's limbs. At the same time, the Grimm kept their bodies close together, creating incredibly bulky yet sharp looking appendages.
Letting out a roar, the amalgamation of monsters charged forward like a gorilla. As the creature launched its right hand forward, the group watched as Clover had sprinted past them and launched his own fist at the monster. Briefly clashing, Clover overpowered the assembled menace, as the Grimm that consisted of the hand were either instantly wiped out or scattered about the area around them.
"Marrow, Elm, and I got the main guy here. You three deal with the stranglers! We can't let any get away!" Clover ordered out as the group turned to see Elm standing close by.
Nodding along, Vine pulled out his weapon and proceeded to throw it an arc, killing a few Grimm in the process while Harriet rushed toward a couple still disoriented Sulfur Fish.
"Stay!" Marrow yelled out as he activated his semblance, freezing the Grimm in place.
"He's all yours!" Marrow announced as he turned toward Elm, who proceeded to change her weapon into its rocket launcher form.
"Open wide!" Elm exclaimed with a wide smile as she activated her semblance, causing multiple glowing roots to emerge from the ground and wrap around her feet.
Firing off the powerful weapon, Elm felt the recoil of the attack shake through her body, as the newly created roots made sure to keep her from getting sent flying and keep her in one place. Soaring through the air, the rocket made contact with the creature's body, killing all of the Grimm upon impact.
With Marrow's semblance still up, Elm turned her semblance off as both she and Clover took out the remaining hand and limbs of the amalgamation, which now remained floating in the air.
Picking up a Sulfur Fish in each hand, Evan tossed them into the air.
"Vine! Head's up!" Evan shouted out as he kicked another one into the sky.
Catching his weapon, Vine calculated the trajectory before expertly throwing the massive throwing star as it took out all three Grimm in one go.
Launching a few well placed Ki blasts, Harriet wiped out the remaining Sulfur Fish as the group watched as the dust of Grimm faded away into the arctic winds.
"This isn't how I expected for things to go down here, but at least it's over. Good work everyone!" Clover announced.
"Let's do one last quick sweep and then head on out of here!" Clover declared to the group as everyone nodded in agreement.
/-/
As the group navigated through the moonlit city streets of Mantle, Evan looked down at his scroll.
"You sure you know where you're going?" Marrow questioned as he looked past Evan's shoulder to catch a glance at the scroll's directions.
"As sure as this scroll's gps." Evan stated as he lightly tapped the device's screen trying to get it to load properly.
Currently, Evan and the others had swapped out their mission attire for more casual wear.
Evan was wearing a set of black sweatpants, a thick white sweatshirt and a white wool hat, while Marrow had picked out a tan long sleeve shirt, thick gray pants, along with red mittens and a red wool hat.
Elm had chosen a thick brown jacket with fur along the collar and jeans, and Clover was wearing a green long sleeve shirt and coat, along with a set of khaki pants.
Harriet decided to wear a red sweater and pants combo with a purple scarf wrapped around her neck and mouth, while Vine had strangely chosen a simple white shirt and black shorts. How his body was staying warm was still a mystery to the young Saiyan.
"Well, I hope this surprise of yours is worth it. We've been walking around for 20 minutes." Harriet pondered aloud as she stared up into the sky and the massive underside of the floating city of Atlas.
"Hey, it's not my fault the gps decided to reroute us to 3 different times." Evan replied back, raising his voice in irritation over the device.
Looking down at the scroll, Evan let out a sigh of relief as it finally showed the destination only a couple dozen feet down the road.
"Ok, the gps says that we'll reach the place in about 2 minutes from now." Evan explained.
Soon, the group had the location in view. From the outside, the large pub was situated in between two other buildings with large glass windows showing off the happy patrons inside. Hanging above the large wooden and glass door hung a painted sign which had the words: The Humble Hearth written on them with a picture of a fireplace behind the letters.
"Taking us out to a bar?" Harriet said aloud as a cheerful grin began to fill her face.
"Maybe I should let you think up more surprises in the future." Harriet continued as she looked at Evan with approval as the group entered the building.
From what Evan could tell, the pub consisted of two rooms, a main room with many tables, TVs, and dozens of chatting customers along with a room hidden from view aside from a set of batwing doors where servers walked in and out of with plates of piping hot food. The pub was warmly lit and gave off an inviting atmosphere. Throughout the establishment, the group could smell delicious, greasy food wafting through the air. On the far end of the room's left side was the bar, which had a wide assortment of glass bottles standing on a collection of shelves behind the bartender along with multiple occupied bar stools.
As Evan removed his hat, showing off his spiky hair, some of the patrons started staring and pointing to their nearby friends as the pub went briefly silent, aside from the sound of the TVs and the noise coming from the kitchen.
"As I live and breathe…" One of the patrons, a man with a thick gray beard and a blue winter coat, muttered out with a surprised look on his face.
"You're…you're telling me…If the guy could drink, why the hell did it…did it take him so long to come and share a pint with the rest of us!" Another, albeit much more drunken, patron shouted out as he raised his glass of beer up and into the air.
Immediately, the rest of the pub cheered out in agreement as the establishment was filled once more with happy customers chatting and friendly arguments.
Finding a wide table for the Ace Ops and Evan to sit down in, Evan removed his sweatshirt, revealing a blue shirt underneath.
"Didn't think I'd get a greeting like that tonight…" Evan said aloud as he looked toward Elm.
"Some time may have passed since you defended the city from all those Grimm, but Mantle's people are not a forgetful bunch." Clover informed the young Saiyan as a waitress came on by.
"How you all doing tonight? Any drinks that I could get you started with?" The waitress asked the group.
"Pretty good, I'd say. Let me think…I'll get a whiskey on the rocks." Clover replied with a smile as he took off his coat and hung it on the chair he was using.
"I guess I'll have a small glass of Limen." Marrow suggested as he removed his hat and mittens.
"A strawberry sunrise is fine with me." Harriet asked causally while she took off her scarf.
"A-A water…will-." Vine barely stuttered out.
"He'll do a shot of gin." Harriet quickly interjected.
"Alright, and how about you two?" The waitress inquired as she turned toward Elm and Evan, ignoring the pleading and horrified looks from Vine.
"I'll have a glass of Igove light if you have any. The kid will just have a sod-" Elm stated.
"I'll have what she's having." Evan said calmly.
"Ok. I'll get the drinks out in a few minutes. You all get nice and comfy." The waitress replied as she turned and left the table.
"Evan! You're, like, way too young for that kind of hard stuff." Elm chided Evan, who remained pretty happy as he stared at a TV showing a football game.
"So it is hard alcohol? Sweet." Evan stood up slightly upon hearing the news before relaxing once again, much to Elm's horror.
Noticing Elm's distraught look, like a parent after finding out their innocent kid was hanging out with the local school's bullies, Evan faced his worried friend.
"Relax, you think this is the first time I've had a drink before." Evan added.
"Back on…" Evan began to explain, only to stop himself as he noticed the large crowds around them.
"Back in my village, it was pretty common for warriors to chill out at the bars around town after a successful mission, regardless of age. When you're doing dangerous work, like I was up to, you never knew if the mission you were assigned that week would be your last." Evan elaborated.
"Now that doesn't mean the kids were given free range on drinks. The older teens in the group and the bartender kept an eye on how much they could handle and would cut them off pretty early." Evan continued as Elm eased up slightly.
"You should have seen Toma. Guy had an iron gut, I tell ya. Despite his age, he was able to outdrink half the guys at the bars we frequented. It certainly made a lot of guys there respect him." Evan said as he recalled the events nostalgically.
Quickly, the waitress returned with the drinks as she handed them out along with some menus to the six friends.
"I'll have two orders of the fried pickles with some ranch dip to go with it." Harriet stated hungrily.
"Beowolf Burger, no tomatoes, please." Elm said to the waitress.
"Salad." Vine replied blankly as he stared at the single shot of gin.
"This Bacon Chicken sandwich sounds great! And could I get…these Foundation Fries with them too!" Evan explained happily as he looked at his menu.
"I'll have the fish and chips. Never steered me wrong before!" Marrow added confidently.
"Just the Mistral Onion soup for me." Clover said as the waitress collected the menus up.
"Alright, it should take a bit to cook all that up, but I'll let you know how it's going." The waitress explained as she began to turn away.
"Hey wait!" Evan shouted out, causing the waitress to stop in her tracks.
"How much for all that? I should have more than enough in here…" Evan added as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a wallet full of lien.
"Keep it." The waitress simply stated.
"What?" Evan replied with a confused look.
"The owner says it's all on the house. Same thing goes for the rest of you." The waitress continued as she addressed the rest of the group.
"You do good work out there. Fighting hard for all of us. He just wants you to know that all of it doesn't go unnoticed." The waitress said with a smile and a wink before leaving the group and returning back toward the kitchen.
"You picked a good place Evan! My parents used to take me here like once a month for a night on the town back when I was a kid."
"Didn't know you were an avid alcoholic at age 7." Harriet joked.
"Not like that kind of "night on the town"! Come on, get your head out of the gutter!" Marrow shouted before ending with a grumble.
"Speaking of which, what's with him? Should I be worried?" Evan asked Clover as he looked toward Vine, who still continued to stare at the untouched glass of gin.
"Oh he's fine. Vine's the absolute definition of a lightweight. Dude used to get crazy tipsy over even the smallest amounts of alcohol. We've been helping him get better at holding his liquor. Now, it takes at least two shots before he starts singing random haikus." Clover said as gave Vine a friendly slap on the back.
"You can do this man! Show that shot who's boss." Elm added encouragingly.
"Yeah! Go Vine!" Marrow cheered out.
"O-Ok. I…I can do this!" Vine responded as he tried to hype himself up.
Raising the shot glass up to his lips, Vine downed the shot in one go as the rest of the Ace Ops, along with Evan, cheered in approval as they started drinking their own beverages and spirits.
Taking a hearty sip from his glass, Evan shook his head as he felt his cheeks start to grow warm.
"That's the good stuff!" Evan said happily.
Then, coming from the front door, were two more individuals, Penny and Winter. Spotting the group, the two ladies pulled out two wooden chairs and sat down.
"What are you two doing here?" Evan questioned the duo in a surprised but happy tone as he turned toward Penny.
"I thought you were hanging out with Ruby and the others." Evan continued.
"I was, but my father called me and told me all about your plans, and I immediately asked him where you were heading to. I explained the situation to Ruby and the others, and they were understanding and let me leave early. Last I remember, they were heading to a bowling alley from what I recall." Penny explained cheerfully.
"As for me, I had just recently returned from a mission in Argus, and the General was generous enough to give me the rest of today and tomorrow off to relax. Before long, Penny had contacted me, and I decided to tag along." Winter elaborated as the waitress returned with plates of food carefully balanced in her arms.
"Oh my! Every time I come back, there just seems to be more and more of ya!" The waitress exclaimed as she started passing the food to Evan and the Ace Ops.
"Don't worry, I think this should be everyone." Evan replied back.
"What would you like then?" The waitress asked Winter.
"A glass of Chardonnay, if you have any left." Winter inquired.
"Not a problem. And what would the Protector of Mantle be up for?" The waitress turned to face Penny with an appreciative tone.
"Just water for me!" Penny replied with a big smile.
"Ok. Simple enough!" The waitress nodded as she wrote the orders down on a small notepad before leaving the table.
"Protector of Mantle?" Evan asked curiously as the other Ace Ops started eating their food.
"D-Do you like it? Just after you left for Argus, my father had finished building my new body and uploaded my consciousness to it. He told me all about your brave efforts to protect Mantle from the Grimm, and it filled me with so much joy that you were able to finally show the world what you could do! It…it inspired me to try and do the same, albeit on a much smaller scale. With not as much Grimm around, I started assisting the kind people of Mantle and stopping crime throughout the city. After some time, I guess the name kind of stuck." Penny explained to the teen.
"That's awesome Penny! I'm so proud of you!" Evan shouted as Penny grew bashful.
As the waitress brought the drinks to Winter and Penny, Evan raised a glass up.
"I wanted to say something real quick." Evan began as he raised his voice for everyone around the table to hear.
"Back in Argus, I…pushed myself. I pushed myself to the brink of exhaustion, trying to make up for everything in my past. It got to the point where if it wasn't for Ruby and her friends coming in to assist me, a lot of bad stuff would have gone down." Evan said apologetically.
"But no more!" Evan declared.
"From here on out, I'm going to live my life, and not have my past be a ball and chain that drags me down for the rest of my days! But that's not going to stop me from doing good though! I'm to keep fighting the good fight, and do my best to help defend this world and the friends I love spending time with!" Evan said earnestly as he looked around the table.
"I'll drink to that! To the great kingdom of Atlas that we call home!" Elm shouted out as she raised her half emptied glass.
"To the strong city of Mantle and its people!" Marrow said proudly as he raised his own glass.
"To…to…you guys are the best!" Vine said in a somewhat drunk and abrupt manner while waving around the emptied shot glass as everyone chuckled in response.
"Cheers!" Everyone exclaimed as the group raised each of their glasses and clinked them together.
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