Chapter 33


Blake looked to her right, seeing Sun. The monkey faunus was primed to fight, his staff already out.

To her left, was Adam. Adam Taurus, who had attacked Beacon, let Grimm into the school, and hurt her friends. And yet, here she was, working with him.

"The enemy of your enemy is your friend," Percy had once told her. And it definitely rang true here. As much as she didn't want to be caught dead near Adam Taurus, she had to work with him to take down Hazel Rainart.

Which was why Adam's sword was glowing bloodred with untapped power. They'd abused his semblance, sending bullets and punches and just attacking the katana in general. The kinetic energy that they had stored in it was saved, but there was a time limit to how long Adam could actually hold that energy.

Further to the left were Sienna Khan, Ilia, and the Fennec Brothers, who all had their weapons out. Khan looked resolute, her jaw set in a straight line. She turned her head, meeting Blake's amber eyes, as they both gave each other a nod.

At least they understood each other. Hazel Rainart needed to be taken down.

They had set the ambush on the path to the White Fang's headquarters, which weren't in the heart of Kuo Kuana, but actually off to the side of Kuo Kuana. To get there, one had to traverse a small path through some forest, which was where they had set up. Khan had ensured that the White Fang wouldn't get in the way of their fight.

"He's heading this way," Blake heard a White Fang scout's voice through the channel on the transceiver, "ETA: approximately two minutes."

"Well, I guess this is it," Sun commented rather uselessly.

"Thank you for your commentary, Sun," Blake deadpanned. Internally, she was grateful for it, though. Sometimes his dumb comments helped take her mind off things.

It let her know that Sun was just as nervous and anxious as she was, despite not having been a member of the White Fang before. Everyone got nerves before a battle, and Sun was a welcome reminder of her own fallibility.

They waited another minute, before they finally heard signs of the man approaching. His walk was heavy, as his boots crunched on the little leaves and twigs along the stone pathway.

Hazel Rainart.

True to his description, he was a giant of a man, standing at around eight feet, if Blake had to guess. He gave off an imposing aura, even from this far away.

He wore a long, brown and green cloak and had no visible weapons on him. Blake could see the bulge of dust crystals in his back pocket, though. His only weapons were his fists, it seemed like. They just had to take him out before he could use the dust crystals, right? He might have been a massive guy, but they could take him down.

The giant's back stiffened, seemingly alert, despite none of them having made any motions.

Before any of them gave the signal, Adam slashed downwards.

A red arc of power exploded outwards towards the giant, bloodred ash following as the ground shook. The explosion kicked up dust from the ground,

They all came out from the tree trunks they were hiding behind and tried to look for any sign of the giant. There was nothing there.

He couldn't have survived that attack, right? Maybe his corpse was ripped into pieces from the pure strength of the attack.

But part of Blake felt like something was terribly, terribly off. It was unsettling, not seeing the any sign of the giant.

She couldn't have been more right.

The giant of a man only calmly walked out from the dust cloud.

They gaped. How had he survived that? It didn't make any logical sense...

"So, I suppose this means that the White Fang is choosing to end its partnership with the Queen," the giant mused thoughtfully, as if they weren't right in front of him, ready to spring and attack him at a moment's notice.

"A shame," he intoned, "The White Fang will have to be eradicated, then."

The giant squared himself and his stance, his fists ready. He began running forward, at a pace that was far too fast for a several hundred-pound, eight foot man.

Immediately, all of them opened fire. They unleashed shots onto him, including dust bullets, but the bullets merely pinged off his arms and chest uselessly. He came after them, and they split, still firing the bullets.

Blake thinned her lips as she tried to survey the situation. Had Adam's attack really not done any damage at all? That didn't make any sense...

The bullets were pinging off his aura, but they had to be doing at least some kind of damage...

"Spread out!" Sun apparently had the same thought as she did, "We need to wear him down from range"

The others got his message, and one by one, they all dispersed into the trees. It was irritating for the giant, who could tank all the shots he wanted, but couldn't find any of them.

They continued the same strategy.

Guerilla warfare, Percy had called it. It was the exact same kind of warfare that the White Fang had waged against the SDC.

When faced with an unbeatable force, or a giant, hit and run, leaving them no chances to counterattack.

And then, the giant roared in pure anger, and pulled out two dust crystals. One red, one light blue- fire dust and hard light dust.

Blake's eyes widened. What was he going to do with them? She wasn't going to wait around to find out.

She squeezed off three shots from Gambol Shroud at the crystals, aiming to blow them up, but the giant shielded them with his body. The others fired at him too, but he only tanked it with ease.

And then, he stabbed the crystals into his shoulders.

Blake watched in horror as he roared to the heavens, his voice becoming distorted. Parts of his body's veins were lit up with different colors of the dust.

And then, Adam launched himself at him.

He sliced downwards, his katana leaving a trail of fire behind it, but the giant only blocked the blow with his forearm, not even flinching.

Adam's attack must have done damage, but if the giant felt any pain from it, he didn't show it on his face, only swinging his other fist around. Adam ducked under it, trying to thrust his katana, but the giant only grabbed his sword with his hand, not even flinching.

Sun ran forwards, firing his shotgun-staff relentlessly. Although the actual bullets didn't seem to do any damage, his firing had an effect of kicking up small dust clouds, blinding the giant.

There were shouts and grunts from inside the cloud, but, without any visuals, Blake didn't want to take the chance of accidentally shooting Sun... or Adam.

She could only wait with bated breath, even as Sun shouted in pain. Part of her wanted to desperately rush in, but the logical part of her mind said it would only do more harm than good at this point.

The Albain brothers pointed their dust weapons towards the cloud, and wind dust whipped up a small jet stream of gust, that blew away the dust cloud, revealing Adam, Sun, and Hazel still locked in fierce combat, Sun and Adam rapidly circling Hazel, trying to damage him as much as possible.

"Why didn't you do that earlier!?" Blake shouted angrily. Sun could have been hurt...

Blake didn't wait around for their response as she rushed in, firing Gambol Shroud relentlessly. And the bullets faithfully pinged off the man's back. Still, they had to be doing some kind of damage, even if the guy seemed like he couldn't feel it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Khan joining them, sending her whip at the giant. It curled around one of his arms, and Khan pulled, trying to restrain him.

On the other side, Adam and Sun distracted the hulking man with slashes, slashing quickly, then darting in for a counterattack.

Blake zigzagged towards her target, the dust crystals implanted in the giant's shoulders. She cloned twice, trying to throw the man's senses off, before she lunged for it.

Cyan hard light dust formed in front of her, and Blake had to clone again to avoid running face first into it.

She went around, before trying to lunge for it again. With lightning speed, the giant's hand shot out, and grabbed her around the neck.

Blake choked under the force, and the giant slammed her into Adam and Sun, tossing all three of them away.

Rainart tore Khan's chain whip off of his arm, and he opened his palm at all three of them, a fireball forming.

And suddenly, he paused, before closing his hand. The fireball went out, but even as the Albain brothers continued firing, the man only shrugged it off.

"Are you sure?" he asked out loud, to no one in particular.

There was a silence in the clearing, and Rainart only nodded once, confusing all of them.

Then he turned around and started walking away. They looked at him, stunned. Was he really running away?

Bullets pinged off his back, but he just ignored it, like it was only a nuisance. They were just that – nuisances to him. Nuisances to one of the agents of Salem.

"Hey! Come back here!" Sun called out angrily, "You can't just walk away like that!"

The giant stopped, his back still facing them, "But I can. Unless you want to stop me?"

There was an intense silence, one that permeated throughout the clearing, representing their own indecision.

Blake chewed her bottom lip uncertainly. On one hand, they could eliminate a powerful opponent, one that was almost certainly a part of Salem's inner circle, and that would rid them of one more enemy they would need to fight. On the other hand... could they even beat this guy? Was the risk even worth the reward?

No, she decided.

Khan and Adam, normally aggressive, didn't seem as eager as they had before. Sun looked as uncertain as she felt, and Ilia and the Fennec brothers seemed content to let him go.

"The Queen has commanded that I disengage. The White Fang will live to see another day."

The man said it casually, nonchalantly, as if he didn't care. The White Fang only lived because he let them.

And it was true. They only lived because he let them.

"Let him go," Khan said, putting an arm out to stop Adam from attacking. The bull faunus snarled, keeping his hand on the hilt of his weapon.

Rainart ignored everything that was happening, and the numerous gazes on his back as he just... walked away...


Ruby peeked from behind the tree, watching Jaune chop the wood they were going to use for the campfire. Technically, she was supposed to be gathering berries right now, but she'd already done it.

Berries were nowhere as good as cookies, she harrumphed. And that was final.

No matter how much Ren tried to convince her and Nora otherwise, with his disgusting green smoothie shakes...

Uncle Qrow had made them do everything they needed to do for living out in the wilderness, which included foraging and hunting for food. Once the cookie snacks ran out, there were no more cookies...

Jaune stood tall, a heavy axe in his hand. Ruby watched as he brought it down, grunting, making a noticeable dent. He brought it back up for another round, and slammed it home on top of the wood, splitting it cleanly in two. Both pieces fell to the side, and he was already bending down to get another block to hew.

J-Jaune was shirtless!

Ruby unashamedly watched, as the tight muscles of his arms flexed and rippled with every grunt. With every forceful swing of the axe, muscles across his body rippled. Biceps, triceps, deltoids, pectorals.

In the morning sun, his sweat glistened on his skin. He set the head of the axe into the next chunk of wood, as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, perspiration dripping onto the ground.

Since when was Jaune lean and beefy, and almost tan? Noodles weren't supposed to be beefy, they were supposed to be limp and skinny! Beacon, and more specifically, Percy's and her dad's training routine, had done him nothing but favors.

"Hey Ruby."

Ruby would have 'eeped' if not for the hand muffling her mouth. She kicked and struggled for a few moments, but eventually gave up. She couldn't physically overpower Yang.

"So, whatcha looking at?" Yang whispered conspiratorially, "Ladykiller again?"

"What do you mean again?" Ruby whispered back furiously.

"Aww don't play coy~" her elder sister grinned, "You've been watching him for the past thirty minutes haven't you, you dirty little sister... Watching his muscles at work, dripping sweat~"

Ruby's face and ears turned red at the image her dirty mind conjured up.

"Yang!" she launched herself at her sister, tackling her into the brush, further from Jaune. Still, it only widened Yang's stupid grin. They grappled for a few short moments, before Yang came out on top, pinning Ruby beneath her.

"Alright, alright, I think it's interrogation time," Yang grinned.

Noooo-

"So, why do you like Jaune?"

"W-What do you mean?" Ruby played innocent.

Yang looked at her.

"Sis, you are the worst liar I've ever seen," Yang rolled her eyes, "Come on now, out with it."

"Okay, fine!" Ruby tried to throw her hands up in exasperation, but suddenly remembered that Yang had pinned them to her sides.

"I like him because he was there for me, okay? He was just like me. My first friend at Beacon."

Ruby could still remember when she blew up dust and made a crater, and he was there for me, offering her his hand. It made her feel fuzzy and warm inside, thinking of him. Appearing to her like her knight in shining armor, unafraid and unrelenting.

"We were two awkward dorks that had each others' backs. He's nice, and honest, and dorky, but that's what I like about him. He's clueless, and dorky, and a klutz, but all the little things he does are what I like about him. He told me about his tr-"

Ruby cut herself off abruptly, internally panicking. She couldn't betray Jaune's trust like that! No way! Not after he confided in her!

"He told me about his troubles," Ruby amended, mentally clapping herself on the back for the quick thinking, "He confided in me. He trusted me. He's honest, and caring, and kind. That's what I love about him."

Ruby finished, looking up at Yang hopefully.

The blonde had a massive grin on her face.

"I think someone's in love~"

Yang sobered up, "Okay, I approve. You like him for him. You can date him, but on one condition:"

Ruby didn't like this.

"No fooling around in the dark you know? We're all trying to sleep, so at least keep it quiet if you're too pent up, you know~"

Ruby moaned in distress.


Jaune brought the axe down on the wood, splitting it in half. Again, he started, hefting the axe above his head, and bringing it down. It was a mindless task, for an even more mindless purpose: to make a campfire.

Well, that was kind of unfair to the campfire, Jaune supposed. He mentally apologized to the campfire for insulting it.

A couple of months ago, he might have been struggling to even lift the axe. But Percy's training, and Ruby's dad's training had helped, a lot.

Ruby.

That was all that was on his mind these days, if it wasn't training, fighting Grimm, or hunting for food.

When he was with her, she made him feel all warm inside, pleasant feelings racing through him. They could talk for hours about anything; conversation flowed between them. Just the two of them, two dorks part of a mission to Haven Academy, to Mistral.

He didn't know what it was, but it made him happy.

That was all that mattered.

"What's up, Ladykiller?"

"Hey, Yang," Jaune sighed, tired. He rested his axe down, which now felt heavy in his hands, and he wiped his brow with the back of his free forearm.

"You like Ruby, don't you?"

Jaune sighed, ready for what seemed to be the shovel talk. He was resigned to it.

"Yeah," he admitted. He was ready for Yang to be angry, but she didn't seem all that angry. In fact, there was a hint of a coy smile that played on her face, indicating something amusing to her, but for the life of him, Jaune could not figure out what was so amusing.

"Why do you like her?" Yang instead asked.

"Spending time with her makes me feel all kinds of pleasant feelings inside," Jaune said, deciding to be honest and straightforward, "I like it when she geeks out over her weapons, when she freaks out over cookies, when she scatters rose petals everywhere... all the little things that she does..."

Yang looked pleased, and not angry.

It was so opposite of her that Jaune was taken aback so much that he didn't even know what to do.

He would have expected Yang to be punching his lights out about right now...

"Well, at least you're honest about it," Yang smirked, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"What?"

"Well, Ladykiller, you have my permission to go for her," Yang shrugged.

"You mean your blessing?" Jaune asked, confused.

Wasn't it normally blessings that were given out?

"No," Yang's shark-like grin was all teeth, "My permission. Otherwise, you may find yourself missing... a certain appendage."

Jaune gulped, Adam's apple bobbing, as he inched backwards from the wrath of one terrifying Yang Xiao-Long.

"Right..."


Nora snuck a glance at Ren, who was busy studying the plants again.

She sighed, wishing her childhood friend wouldn't be so oblivious.

He was withdrawn, and quiet, but that's what she liked about him. They complemented each other.

She knew she was boisterous, and loud, and overwhelming at times, but Ren drew her in like a fisherman drawing in a fish.

How could he not see it?

Was he blind?

They were childhood friends, and yet, he couldn't see the chemistry...

She watched Remnant's shattered moon in the darkening blue sky.

It reflected her mood, it ran her mood, but she couldn't stop thinking of him.

How they could be together-together, more than just together.

She knew the truth. She couldn't stop thinking of him. But, as she watched him, he didn't know. She watched him from an arm's length away, but really, the gap was so much wider.

He was so stoic that she couldn't tell what his feelings were towards her. She didn't know.

How much of this was she supposed to tolerate?

It was blatantly clear that she had to make the first move...

She wondered what fate lay in for them in the future. Did they defeat Salem? Could they start a family? Was there ever a happy-ever-after?


Ren bent down, placing another group of berries that he had picked into the basket. Thankfully, these were edible.

He and Nora had needed to forage as they survived. They had quickly learned which berries were poisonous and gave stomach cramps. They had to.

After... Kuroyuri. His semblance had been useful in keeping them undetected...

Just the two of them. Nora had been used to being an orphan, but he was a new one. They had helped each other through thick and thin...

Thankfully they had avoided... that place on their way to Mistral. Kuroyuri, that is.

It brought back too many unpleasant memories.

The thing. Nuckleavee. Limp, bent at unnatural angles, was the most he could recall of it.

He could remember it screeching. The people running. The town burning. Everything was burning.

The world was on fire.

It always had been.

His friends, his team knew him as the stoic Ren, who was uninfluenced by emotions.

That was his semblance.

To become passive; emotionless, that is.

The truth was, he used his semblance a little too much at times. To keep his emotions in check. Being calm in certain situations never hurt.

Nora and he had talked about it before.

The nuckleavee, that is.

Kuroyuri, too.

He tried to be there for her when they talked about it, but he could never resist using his semblance. He needed it.

But, if he ever found that... thing, again...

He would kill it.

Mercilessly.


He had anticipated this.

But that didn't mean he wanted it! Damn his luck.

Percycursed under his breath, pulling Riptide out from his pocket, as he shot up to his feet, Mercury and Neopolitan right behind him.

"Mercury, Neo, open up the doors!"

"You sure?" Mercury shouted back.

"Just do it!"

"Give me a count!" he ordered, shouting as he rushed to the cockpit.

"Yes sir!" the pilot snapped to attention, as he jerked the control wheel to the side. This time, they were ready for it, and none of them lost their balance.

"Seven unidentified aircraft rapidly gaining on us!" he called out.

The bullhead doors opened upwards on both sides, and Percy leaned out, feeling the cold Atlas wind on his face.

Immediately, bullets shot out at him, and he flicked his blade, Riptide leaving a golden arc in the air, deflecting them away.

"Watch for the gunfire!" he called out to Neo and Mercury, who were leaning out the other side of the bullhead.

He leaned out again, seeing the black bullheads still closing in on them. He could see the emblem of Vale on them. This wasn't just some random attack.

No, Percy was almost a hundred percent sure that this was a targeted assassination. From where, though?

From Vale? Or from someone trying to frame them?

He didn't know. He couldn't make any assumptions for now.

A ward shield stopped the rest of the bullets, and he fired back at them with an expel ward. The sea green ward pushed the bullheads back, but Percy hadn't put enough power in for it to deal any real damage.

He didn't want them to play keep-away, though. He couldn't let them onto the bullhead because they needed to protect the pilot.

Though, part of Apollyon just wanted to engage them.

Whether the pilot survived or not, wasn't Apollyon's job.

The pilot probably had a family.

Maybe he had a steady income from the military, and a loving wife, and two wonderful kids, and maybe a nice little house up in Atlas.

Maybe he worked extra hours, and wanted to return home to his family.

But, although Percy knew he should have cared, that it was morally right to care...

Apollyon didn't.

It wasn't Apollyon's concern. Perhaps the pilot would survive.

Perhaps he wouldn't.

Apollyon shouldn't have to go out of his way, out of his mission, to save some innocents, when, in the grand scheme of things, the fight against Salem mattered far, far more.

In the end, the pilot was collateral damage, at worst.

Percy shook his head as he leaned back in.

Where had that just come from?

"Neo, distract them! Mercury, with me," he ordered, falling back into his role.

Thankfully, the two of them obeyed, as Percy could see the bullheads begin firing bullets into the air in the completely opposite direction.

And yet, almost immediately, they correct themselves. The seven bullheads put the jets on, and Percy cursed, watching as each of them fired out grappling hooks.

Bullets sunk into the bullhead, and the hooks lodged themselves into the metal of the bullhead. They all pulled, decreasing the distance, and causing the engine to strain and groan as it tried to keep going. They were closing the gap.

Percy nodded to Mercury as a signal, and they jumped onto a ward platform, Percy making sure that it had the same relative velocity so that they weren't going to be left behind.

They began crossing the distance, the chilly tundra of Solitas thousands of feet below.

It finally hit him that they were fighting in the air. He looked down for a moment.

A drop from this height would be fatal.

Another ward shield stopped the bullets from penetrating them, though, it didn't stop the wind on the side.

"Woahh!" Mercury barely stabilized himself, the winds whipping violently in their faces. Percy could feel his hair whip up in the violent gale, as he squinted, struggling to see.

"Careful there," Percy warned, holding onto his arm.

They were being peppered with bullets, but his ward shield held strong, as he pumped even more aura into the large, sea green shield.

They were almost there, about halfway.

Suddenly, a long, black tentacle whipped out at them with surprising speed.

Percy ducked, dropping himself to the ward, and Mercury followed. Still, the tentacle cut through the wind, allowing them to barely scrape by.

Mercury shouted something at him, but Percy couldn't hear him over the roaring wind. He could see him thinned his lips, and Mercury opened his mouth to try a second time.

"What the hell is on those bullheads!?" he yelled.

"Some kind of Grimm!" Percy shouted back, as he watched the bullheads warily. There was a lull in the fighting, and then it happened again.

More hooks sunk themselves into the bullhead's hull of metal, creating lines of rope.

Black, hooded figures began jumping from the bullheads, balancing themselves against the wind on the ropes.

Why did they look like people?

Where were the Grimm?

A mass of limbs, tentacles, and whips extended from their backs, shooting straight at them.

Oh.

Mercury began firing with his pistol, and Percy charged his ward as he fent off the tentacles.

It was a relentless barrage of strikes, but Percy kept up.

Riptide effortlessly carved through the air, the godly celestial bronze easily cutting through the thick Grimm limbs and hides.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Neo join them, misdirecting the enemy.

Unfortunately, her parasol's blade wasn't of much use against Grimm, but she could at least help distract them.

The three of them managed to at least lull the onslaught of blows, but the mass of entangled limbs and whips blocked their vision.

Suddenly, the mass opened, and a hooded figure rushed them, leaping across the gap to his ward.

Percy pushed Mercury, and the two of them jumped away from his ward, back towards their bullhead.

There was a moment of weightlessness, before a new ward formed beneath their feet.

The old ward disappeared, and the hooded figure almost fell.

Instead of falling, though, tentacles again launched from its back, latching back onto the ropes so that it was hanging.

The other bullheads closed the gap too, and more figures descended, as the mass of limbs and whips temporarily subsided.

But they weren't going for them.

Instead, the figures made their way for the bullhead, beelining towards it.

Percy cursed, realizing.

Tentacles whipped towards the bullhead, but a piercing ward stopped them.

"They're trying to kill the engines!" he shouted, not sure if they heard him.

Apparently they did, because they both nodded.

Sea green boosting wards appeared beneath their feet, and with practiced ease, they leapt the distance onto the bullhead. Once they landed, they began cutting the hooks, trying to free their bullhead.

Percy was thankful he had had the idea to practice fighting with Neo and Mercury. They were both skillful assassins to have in his arsenal, after all.

He pulled out Requiem, switching it to its stylus mode, as he prepared to make use of his semblance.

Some of the bullheads were pulling off slightly, and preparing to take a different angle.

Were they going to ram into them?

He drew a ward, and forced his aura into it relentlessly, instead of letting it naturally charge like he normally did. His aura dipped like crazy, but he made up for it by drawing moisture from the surrounding air, replenishing it.

Percy was forced on the backfoot, though, with everything that he was doing, and the hooded figures rushed him again, running at full speed on thin ropes.

He had to hold his ground here, otherwise they wouldn't even make it to Atlas.


That guy was absolutely batshit crazy. There was no question about it.

Here they were, thousands of feet above the ground, fighting on literal ropes. Even a single misstep would flatten him like a pancake. Mercury shook his head, bewildered at the situation.

Neo was next to him, creating illusions left and right and distracting them as he sliced his knife against the ropes, working to break them.

A bunch of Grimm humans jumped onto their bullhead, slipping by Percy. Mercury ducked under a tentacle, trying to slice it with his knife at the same time. It was too thick, though.

He spun, axe kicking the head down with force, denting the metal of the bullhead. He fired Talaria straight into the unarmored part of the skull, shattering the thing's aura.

He ducked under more tentacles and limbs, backhand springing as he fired blasts with Talaria, ending it with a tracer blast. He exposed his stomach for a brief moment, though, and a tentacle slammed into it.

Mercury went flying, the wind blown out of him. He slid on the bullhead's wing, but more things followed him. He fired Talaria's blasts into the air again.

The blasts created smoke in the air, obscuring their vision. He knew where they were, though. Years of training with his father had made sure of that.

Mercury felt the little disturbance in the mist, and he leaned left, just dodging a blow. He countered with Talaria, a roundhouse kick to the head, and an axe kick downwards to knock the guy out. He fired Talaria into the Grimm human's skull, killing it.

He jumped over the last Grimm thing's tentacles, firing Talaria down multiple times as he gained height. He fired again as he landed into a roll. The thing charged him, and he ducked.

Eight tentacles whipped up, and Mercury could only try to retreat, looking to Neo. The diminutive girl was busy with battles of her own, trying to fend the things off.

He cast a brief glance in Percy's direction, watching the guy continuing to fend off blows from the absolute monstrosity of tentacles, limbs, and whips with his own two hands. That sword of his relentlessly cleaved beautiful, deadly arcs in the air, like it was dancing.

He didn't even seem to be tiring, either. Even as the hooded figures continued to assault him, he easily knocked several of them off with wards, sending them to their screaming deaths.

Mercury wasn't so stupid as to believe in gods, or a higher power or anything so contrived like that, but by the gods did this guy come close to shattering that. And, for the first time in his life, Mercury understood why people prayed to the gods.

He'd definitely made the right decision in joining this guy.

A tentacle to the face brought him back to reality, and he couldn't do anything, as several more were slammed into his stomach. He doubled over, trying to kick upwards. The thing took the hit, but it had the same, solid durability with its white bone armor, and it only took it on the chin.

This one was one of the stronger ones, Mercury realized.

An armored, thick tree trunk of an arm slammed down onto him, and Mercury wisely chose to roll away. The impact dented the bullhead, and Mercury kicked up, firing tracer blasts at the thing.

The thing took the hits on its aura, and it spat something poisonous at him. He rolled away, firing blasts from Talaria to boost himself away. The poison landed on the metal of the bullhead, and it eroded away at it at a rapid pace, almost like it was... organic, or something.

The thing kept chasing after him, and Mercury evaded, trying to find the weak spots in the white bone armor. He ducked a wide swing, and jammed his knife into an area of unprotected flesh.

It roared in pain, and the eight tentacles came after him, as he frantically pulled his knife out and sprang backwards. He fired Talaria as he backflipped, creating distance. His knife cut through the unprotected tentacles. Once they were cut, he weaved inside the thing's guard, spotting the small piece of unprotected black flesh under the thing's chin.

He deflected a blow with Talaria, firing an air blast to distract it. He jerked backwards, avoiding the thick tree trunk of an arm, before thrusting his knife upwards.

It fit just between the two plates of white bone armor, and Mercury slammed it upwards, making sure that the knife went straight through the thing's head.

It roared in agony, futilely trying to swipe at him, but he wrenched the blade free, and hopped backwards. Still, it let out pained roars, writhing on the metal of the bullhead. Mercury could see its flesh dissolving in front of his eyes.

He didn't have time to watch it die, though. After firing a couple more shots into its vulnerable black flesh, he turned away, running over to the other side of the bullhead to continue cutting the ropes. He saw Neo out of the corner of his eye finished her own fight, pulling some kind of maneuver to send the thing falling to its death.

On that note... what was up with those Grimm guys anyway? Mercury had definitely shot a few of them, but they had aura! No semblances though... Still, that didn't exactly make sense. They had Grimm tentacles coming out of their backs...

He shivered. It was a little creepy, but the adrenaline of fighting thousands of feet up in the air stopped that feeling.

Just as he was about to cut the final rope, someone tapped his shoulder.

He turned around to look at Neo, and she pointed towards the five bullheads speeding towards them.

The fuck? What were they doing? Were they trying to ram into them!?

His mind registered the panic a second later, and he looked at Neo, who only shrugged helplessly.

"Welp, we're fucked."

Next to him, Neo nodded in agreement.

And then Percy, not even looking at them, drew in the air something with his stylus, and he sent the largest expel ward Mercury had ever seen.

It was an ethereal sea green that exploded into a massive symbol, spanning the length of several bullheads. The celestial energy within swirled around, vibrating, and creating a harmonious epiphany of divine power as it grew and grew, seemingly engulfing the five bullheads in its own vortex.

It was beautiful.

Mercury and Neo's jaws dropped as the five bullheads reamed open, exploding. The resulting shockwave shook the sky, and their bullhead, as both of them stumbled slightly.

The debris from the collision shot towards the mass of Grimm, penetrating it. It knocked more than a few Grimm humans off, and they screamed as they plummeted to their deaths.

Not even batting an eye, Mercury mechashifted his knife into his semiautomatic pistol, and he fired off shots to help Percy.

They hit with pinpoint accuracy, squeezing through the small gaps in the mass of limbs and tentacles to find the bodies of the Grimm humans.

"Only a mile to Atlas! Just hang on!" he heard the pilot call out from the bullhead.

Tch, Mercury scoffed.

Hang on, he says. Easy for him to say from the safety of his cockpit.


Percy backed up, hearing the pilot call out from the bullhead. He boosted himself off his wards, landing on the bullhead.

A shield ward formed in front of him, as he crouched down, the cold, Atlesian wind still blowing his hair in his face. The ropes attaching the grappling hooks were extremely thick, but with a powerful slice of Riptide, he severed them all in one go.

Tentacles reached out, trying to latch onto their bullhead, but Percy played defense, warding off their futile attempts to attach themselves.

The Grimm humans fell screaming, but some of them latched onto the two remaining bullheads.

Percy's eyes glowed an ethereal sea green, as he summoned his power as the Stormbringer.

The clouds darkened, and water appeared out of thin air. Rain manifested over their heads, hail pelting the three bullheads in the sky above the tundra of Solitas. He made sure that their pilot could still, well, pilot, as he sent hundreds of gallons of water towards the two remaining bullheads.

The clouds above the two bullheads flickered, and suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed, splitting one of the bullheads in two.

It went up in flames, causing it to go down, and its passengers and crew along with it.

Percy panted, sweat running down his forehead. There was a flickering of electricity between his fingers, but it soon fizzled out.

Precisely summoning lightning bolts was a strange feeling, like a new power he hadn't fully mastered just yet. Normally, he only brought the storm, and let it dictate where lightning flashed. Controlling it himself was exhausting... as far back as he could remember, he'd never had the ability to control and direct it.

It was strange. He wasn't a son of Zeus...

The other one made one last desperate attempt to ram into them. Before Percy could summon another bolt, it was too close.

A ward kept Percy's feet glued to his bullhead, as he stretched his arms out. The other bullhead ran head first into his hands, pushing relentlessly.

Percy pushed back with the force of a demigod, panting. It was strong, but nothing compared to him holding up the sky. He managed to hold his ground against the turbine force of the engines. Tentacles reached out and around, trying to pry his hands off, but he was saved by Mercury and Neo.

He held the bullhead off, all while begging for lightning to strike, asking it to obey his will.

Finally, it seemed to acquiesce.

A bolt fell from the clouds, reaming the bullhead in two. A ward shield protected them from the shrapnel and debris.

Once the explosion was over, Percy took a step back, panting slightly, as his shoulders heaved. It was over. Sweat ran down his body, as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. The cold, Atlesian wind blew through his medium-length raven hair, as he looked to Remnant's sun that was rising in the East.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy thought he saw a dark shape. He turned towards it, narrowing his eyes, but if there was something, it wasn't there.

He allowed the mild storm to dissipate, and he motioned for Neo and Mercury to go back inside the bullhead.

Percy was about to go back inside himself, when he felt something rise up in his throat. He'd been feeling a little... off, recently. Not something that would hurt him in a fight, or anything, just random instances of coughing... but, demigods didn't get common diseases, and that included the common cold...

He gave up on trying to hold it back, and coughed once, but it wasn't enough, and he coughed again, feeling something splatter onto his hand.

Opening his eyes, he saw blood on his hand, and froze.

Was it just him... or were there more gold flecks in his blood than last time, after the Fall of Beacon?

Demigods didn't have gold flecks of blood at all, right?

He shook his head, ignoring it, as he flicked it off.

It was probably nothing, he thought, as he went back inside.

They neared the perimeter of Atlas. The pilot requested that they be let in, and received an affirmative in response.

Still, what was that? What were those Grimm humans? Why did they have aura?

His number one suspicion was that it was an attack by Salem herself...

Unfortunately, he didn't save any of them for any interrogation.

He had to do some thinking.


From the moment she saw him, she knew she had to have him. She was excited!

She deserved him, for all of the hard work she had done for her Goddess! He was the One, she was so sure of it!

"Ohh you'll be all mine soon~" she whispered under her breath, giggling uncontrollably.

No one else could have him but her.

He was even more beautiful in person.

What a handsome little thing he was, with his broad shoulders, his pretty face, those sea green eyes, that messy, silky black hair that she just wanted to run her hands through... She had to have him.

She wanted to ravage him... to make him cry her name out in ecstasy, for him to be hers, and hers only. She wanted to break him, to have him collared, kneeling at her feet...

And when he split their helicopter in half with that ethereal bolt of lightning from the heavens... He hadn't known it at the time, but his sea green eyes had stared straight into hers! Like it was meant to be... She couldn't remember any other time when her heart had pounded, ever...

She shuddered uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking, her mouth hanging half-open, a tingling between her legs... It was beautiful, divine! An epiphany! She had to-

"L-Lower Apostle Two!"

"What is it?" she smiled widely, grinning down at her subordinate, who was kneeling in front of her submissively.

"I- are you alright? You seem... strange..."

She stared at her subordinate, who trembled under the force of her eyes.

He was one of those useless henchmen, hopelessly trying to please her, his superior, and trying to get promoted so that he could be closer to the Goddess Salem. Yet, the way she saw it, she was fit to deny this... thing. He wasn't worthy enough. Promotion should be earned through good deeds, advancing the Will of the Goddess, and not simply trying to cater to a superior's orders.

"Of course!" she finally responded.

She smiled again, her red lips just a little too wide, "You could become my friend instead of my subordinate, you know? If you simply let me cut off a finger of yours for every insolent word you said, you would repent your sins, and you could become my friend!" she smiled at the thought, giggling, "How's that? I want everyone to be my friend, you know?"

Her subordinate trembled.

She could see his leg muscles tense through the fabric of his clothing, instinctually preparing to run, but she stopped him.

One moment he was physically able to run, and the next, he couldn't. Not anymore. How unfortunate.

"So, what do you say? Wanna become my friend?" her unnatural grin stretched across her face, as her eyes widened.

"L-Lower Apostle Two, I beg you for forgiveness! I will become your f-friend! Please relieve me of my sin!" the man begged, sobbing pathetically onto the floor.

What a pitiful creature.

She should relieve him of his pain. She needed to save him.

He was shaking and shivering, even the tentacles on his back unable to move under her power.

She could almost taste it in the air, as she savored the delicious smell of it. Fear was her favorite type of seasoning, and many Grimm loved it too. Some loved to hang around their captive, making them paranoid, and angry, and fear them, before devouring them. Hate in general made things tasty, but she liked fear more than anger, because fear was more common, and, in her opinion, tastier as a seasoning.

Some of her fellow Apostles loved it too, especially when eating them boosted their power. Fear didn't make things more nutritious, but it made them much tastier, and that was what mattered.

She was one of them. It was like humans making a steak instead of eating the meat raw or letting wine age.

Fear aged like fine wine.

"I-If it's too much to ask, c-could you do it p-painlessly?" the man dared to ask, even as tears ran down his face. So much fear, even in her own subordinates. It was... delicious. The smell, that is.

The perfect storm of spice.

She had to save him from his suffering.

She smiled, "Gladly."

The man's severed head hit the floor a second later. From the neck, blood leaked onto the floor, slowly covering the ground.

The Lower Apostle Two frowned, knowing it would need to be cleaned. What a nuisance.

A black limb whipped out from her back, grabbing the body, and lifting it to her dark red lips.

She took a whiff of it.

Delicious.

Her mouth opened, revealing a pair of salivating, sharp fangs.

And she bit down.


AN: So, that was terrifying. We have a new player on the board!

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'til next time!

-thann3