Hi everyone, welcome back to the show! I've got a special chapter for you as we enter the climax of the Grimm Eclipse arc with some special surprises and intense fights in store. What else is there that needs to be said other than let's get this party started?
The Grand Tour
Ozpin couldn't help but get a sense of déjà vu as he sat in his office with night having fallen over Beacon Academy, primarily in the fact that a certain general was pacing back-and-forth just like how he did when they awaited for the report from Mountain Glenn when Sonic and the others were looking for Eggman and the White Fang.
"James…"
"Don't, Oz." The general held up his hand as he stopped pacing. "Don't try and tell me 'it's going to be okay' when you don't know for certain."
"I wasn't going to say that." Ozpin retorted.
"It's been hours since we've lost contact with any of them! Your students are practically missing and you don't seem the least bit concerned?!" Ironwood questioned as he grasped Ozpins' desk.
"Of course, I am concerned." The headmaster of Beacon stood up. "But allowing yourself to be wound up like this is not helping."
"Why not send a search party? I can spare the ships." Ironwood suggested.
"Would you know even where to look? And if so, would you know what you were looking for?" Ozpin responded. "Even if it is a simple scouting party, they could simply be lost the same way Sonic, his friends, and our students would be, and we would have gained nothing."
"How can you be so calm, right now?" Ironwood questioned. "You've seen the reports! Mutated Grimm!? Someone using Merlot's old work?! What if we're playing into Eggman's hands by doing nothing?!"
"Because I have been paying attention, James." Ozpin replied as he slowly sat back down. "I've seen what Sonic and the others are capable of, having easily dealt with threats that even veteran Huntsmen would struggle with. And yes, I realize that the students with them can be considered green, but I'm also aware that they've forged meaningful bonds with Sonic and his friends, some have even demonstrated acts of teamwork and unity. I have a feeling they'll be able to look out for each other. And yes, I will admit, there is risk in us simply not doing anything, but without even a general direction of where to go, or an idea what to find, we'd be simply running around in circles and making no progress. All we can do is wait and have faith."
Ironwood sighed, understanding the logic in Ozpin's argument, aside from one thing. "Perhaps your students siding with Sonic might not be the best idea, Oz."
"I don't follow." Ozpin replied.
"You have to be aware that they are starting to suspect that we know something, something we have yet to tell them." Ironwood told him. "And if your students get involved with that, two of which happen to be Qrow's nieces, that could cause some friction with not only your students, but even our own inner circle, and we could fall apart, playing right into her hands."
"Do you believe we should tell them about her?" Ozpin asked.
"No." Ironwood said immediately. "Despite their powers, or their claims that they've fought beings like her or more powerful, that part I seriously doubt, they don't know her or what she can do. Eggman is one thing, but she is something else."
"So, what do you propose we do, James? Treat them as enemies?" Ozpin responded. "Given the positive impact they've had on some of our students, particularly Ruby and Yang as you have mentioned, that would only cause the friction you described."
"I'm not suggesting anything blunt like that." Ironwood said. "I'm not stupid, Oz…"
"I didn't say you were." Ozpin quickly said.
"Perhaps we could find a means to separate them." Ironwood offered. "Have Sonic and his friends go out on missions away from the academy, that would allow us to bring your students back in on our side of things."
"That sounds like manipulation, James." Ozpin commented.
"We have done similar things in the past." Ironwood reminded.
"Only when we have no other options." Ozpin replied. "And even if we did consider that an option, Sonic wouldn't go for it. Need I remind you that his primary target is Eggman, whom seems to have his sights set on the Vytal Festival, which is just around the corner. If we send them on a series of far-away missions within that timeframe, it will more-or-less confirm that we are aware they may be onto us."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Ironwood questioned in irritation, tired of this argument going in circles with no end in sight.
Ozpin gave a sigh. "I wish I had an answer, James. I really do. But there may be no easy answer to this. Perhaps Sonic will find out about her, no matter how much we try to stop that. We just need to watch our step, and ensure that we don't become his enemy as well."
Before Ironwood would even offer a response, there was an alert on the scroll built into Ozpin's desk. "What is it?" The general asked. "Is them?"
Ozpin couldn't see the caller ID, but it wasn't like anyone can just call him up on his own private line. "Let's find out." He answered the call, displaying a hologram from the table of a man that neither of them had expected to see.
"Hello, Ozpin. So nice to see you again." Dr. Merlot greeted in a polite manner.
"Merlot…" Ozpin's eyes narrowed.
"How… how is this possible…?" The shocked Ironwood questioned.
"Ah, James. I didn't expect to see you here. What a pleasant surprise?" Merlot acknowledged.
"We thought you had perished in the Mountain Glenn disaster, a tragedy you played no small part in." Ozpin said.
"It was a rather close call, but I survived. Well, mostly…" He showed his robotic arm. "But twas a mere speed bump on the superhighway of scientific research. You couldn't possibly imagine the ramifications of my latest research."
"It was you…" Ironwood's look of surprise into one of anger. "You're responsible for the mutated Grimm!"
"Indeed, though I cannot take all the credit." Merlot began. "While the mutants originated from my own research, some of the ideas were provided by our mutual acquittance of Doctor Eggman. He's provided me with such fascinating images and stories of the folklore from his world. Creatures that make even the Grimm look downright pleasant."
"You've allied yourself with Eggman?" Ozpin asked.
"Technically, he came to me, but yes." Merlot confirmed. "I'll tell you, it's been enjoyable to meet a fellow scientist who happens to share quite the ambition, not to mention he's easy to talk with, unlike the late Arthur Watts who insisted on rubbing his nose to flaunt his supposed superiority."
"He is a madman who seeks to dominate our world!" Ironwood exclaimed. "And, from all honesty, you seem no different."
"Trying to make the world a better place is wrong, James?" Merlot asked. "I would think someone who works as hard as you do for the same reason would understand my efforts, even if you aren't a scientist."
"You are experimenting with the Grimm and trying to make them even more dangerous than they already are!" Ironwood pointed out. "How is that making the world a better place?!"
"It's amazing that you even survived Mountain Glenn's collapse, Merlot." Ozpin said in a tone that seemed calm yet hid anger under the surface. "Was it sheer luck or part of your master plan?"
"Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't my fault?" Merlot replied.
"I believe you wouldn't take accountability for your actions." Ozpin responded.
"Allow me to respond to that by answering James' previous question." Merlot began. "I will admit that Mountain Glenn is something of a sore spot for me. I had captured a few Grimm in order to better study and learn about them, find a possible weakness that could allow humanity to overcome, perhaps even use them to further our own progress. But after Mountain Glenn's collapse, I came to realize something… perhaps it's not the Grimm we should be warry of, but what they are targeting."
"What are you getting at?" Ironwood questioned.
"Why is it that the Grimm are specifically targeting humanity, Faunus included?" Merlot continued. "They don't seem all that interested in animals, unless it's a territorial dispute, but the Grimm seem to view humanity as their primary prey above all else. There is a similar scenario that takes place inside the human body. When a person gets sick, the body releases antibodies to combat the disease, and I have come to believe that is what is happening here."
"Get to the point!" Ironwood demanded.
"Humanity has been the dominant species on Remnant for thousands of years and look at what has happened." Merlot went on. "Bigotry, conflict and war, which only succeeds in creating destruction. Take the Schnee Dust Company for instance, they were one of the primary parties that led to destruction of most of Vacuo's natural resources, turning what was once a beautiful oasis into a wasteland. Not to mention their ongoing conflict with the White Fang could lead into a full-blown human vs. Faunus war, with both sides determined to wipe the other out."
"Which has not happened, and never will." Ozpin said.
"Because the Grimm keep humanity in check, just as white blood cells keep the human body healthy." Merlot replied. "The Grimm are Remnant's natural defense system against the human infection. Please don't misunderstand, I don't hate humanity per say, and I'm not looking for the complete genocide of the human race. I just feel they need to be… contained. Properly managed. If I am able to further enhance the Grimm, humanity will be better controlled, and Remnant can enter a new era of prosperity."
"You're out of your damn mind!" Ironwood exclaimed. "The Grimm can't be controlled, that's impossible!"
"I think we both know that's not true." Merlot revealed, much to their surprise.
"What are you saying…?" Ozpin asked, having a bad feeling about this.
"Doctor Eggman has informed me that there is a force out there that is guiding the Grimm." Merlot answered. "He hasn't gone into the details, but I suspect it something equivalent to the sympathetic nervous system which controls the human body's immune system to fight off diseases."
"You have no idea what you are involving yourself in, Merlot." Ozpin warned.
"Let us agree to disagree." Merlot replied. "I'll say it has truly been a pleasure catching up with the both of you, but I have some guests to host. Farewell, gentlemen." The hologram vanished, ending the call.
It was silent for a few moments as Ozpin happened to cast a glance to Ironwood who kept his back turned. Even if Oz couldn't see his face, he knew the general long enough to tell that he was more than a little anxious.
"He knows about her…"
"More likely he is aware there is something hiding in the shadows, not her specifically." Ozpin commented.
"But this implies that Eggman is working with her!" Ironwood still kept his back turned.
"Or is at least knows of her presence." Ozpin replied.
"But what if they are?!" Ironwood exclaimed as he turned around so Ozpin could see the look of fear and anger on his face. "That makes her all the more dangerous! You yourself said it was a possibility, and this almost confirms it!"
"You are right, and I cannot deny the possibility any longer." Ozpin admitted. "But we cannot afford to act so recklessly."
"What if this leads to Sonic finding out about her?" Ironwood questioned.
"Then we will tell him, and his friends." Ozpin said. "But unless he learns it first, we say nothing. We are in a unknown territory, and the best way to approach that is to take it one step at a time, or even a few steps back to find an easier way."
"And sometimes all it takes is the will to push forward." Ironwood retorted.
"Unless you find yourself walking headfirst into a minefield." Ozpin replied. "And I believe we are heading in that direction."
Merlot Island
Having made their way deeper into the island, Teams Sonic, RWBY, Dark, and JNPR arrived at a series of pipelines that seemed to lead to a building deeper in. While the system of pipes was something of interest, the group seemed more interested in what was being pumped through the pipes.
"Ewww, this place smells terrible!" Ruby said as she plugged her nose.
"It smells worse than an outhouse!" Nora agreed as she too plugged her nose.
"It's probably whatever... this stuff is." Sonic gestured to one of the many puddles of a bubbling sickly green liquid that were scattered throughout the area.
"This place is clearly not up to appropriate sanitary standards." Weiss commented.
"Not important right now, princess. But totally agreed." Rogue said.
"What even is this stuff?" Jaune tried poking at a puddle with his sword, only for Shadow to grab him by the wrist, stopping him and firmly shake his head toward the blonde.
"Omega?" The black Hedgehog looked towards the former Badnik as he scanned a few puddles as well as the general area, with Tails doing the same as he sat in the Cyclone's walker mode.
"This substance is an unknown chemical that does not match any known element in the periodic table." Omega replied. "Though there is a highly mutable subject detected within its chemical makeup."
"So, wait… this is what Merlot's using to make those mutant Grimm?" Yang questioned.
"More like a raw component." Tails tried to explain as he looked at the data of the substance that he had scanned with his Miles Electric. "I think Merlot is on this island for this specific substance. These pipes extract it and transport it to his main facility where he has it properly processed to make his formula."
"But wouldn't that mean this is a natural phenomenon?" Pyrrha questioned.
"This place smells anything but natural." Ruby still kept her nose plugged.
"In our world, there are places where deadly chemicals can appear naturally under certain circumstances." Tails said. "I can't imagine Remnant being any different."
"Yeah, you'd be surprised what happens after a volcanic eruption." Knuckles added.
"But this stuff…" Blake looked towards one puddle with disgust. "I've… lived outside the kingdoms for most of my life… but I've never seen anything like this."
"Neither have I, and I've been all over Mistral growing up." Ren added.
"There isn't anything like this in Solitas either." Weiss also put in.
"It's probably only found here on this specific island; hence the reason Merlot built his operations here." Shadow assumed, kneeling toward one puddle to look at it closely. "Although, I can't help but wonder what sort of phenomena took place to produce a substance like this."
"Well then let's go find him and ask him ourselves." Sonic said.
Amy noticed Tails briefly deactivating his Cyclone before stepping down and walking toward a puddle of the substance. "Tails, what are you doing?"
"Collecting a sample." Tails answered as he pressed a button on the Miles Electric and aimed the device at a puddle. This produced a tiny needle from the top, which Tails used to poke the puddle to extract a microscopic sample, which would be enough for him. "Even if it's just a raw ingredient, if it can directly affect the Grimm, we may be able to make that Anti-Grimm weapon. Though it would also help if we had access to Merlot's complete formula."
"What about that Mimic-guy?" Jaune reminded as Tails got back into the Cyclone and powered it back up. "I mean… isn't it kinda risky going into unknown territory with a shapeshifter on the lose?"
"Then we just stick together." Yang said as if it were obvious.
"But we're too big a group. Merlot would see us coming easily." Weiss said.
"The guy already knows were here, it's not like we have the element of surprise." Nora argued.
"There is still a chance we can get separated, and Mimic can take advantage of that." Ren put in.
"But we've seen that he can't copy our powers. So, if we fight, we can figure it out whether or not the person we're fighting is an imposter." Knuckles offered.
"Or we can ask each other questions. Questions only we would know." Ruby said.
"And if the person in question is someone that you really don't know all that personally?" Shadow asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow, causing Ruby to sulk as that was actually a really good point.
"Even if we do figure it out, I don't think we should underestimate the guy." Rouge said. "If Eggman is willing to send Mimic as back up for Merlot, he's gotta be dangerous."
"There is also Merlot's machines, and more mutated Grimm to be concerned with." Omega added. "We are entering a facility he has complete control over. Total destruction of the enemy will be difficult."
Blake's eyes widened. "I just thought of something… what if Merlot is Eggman's partner? The one that Ozpin and the others are worried about?"
"I don't think so." Amy shook her head. "Merlot's dangerous, but until now, everyone thought he was dead."
"And it seems like whoever else is involved is someone that Ozpin's group is currently fighting. It doesn't quite add up." Knuckles said.
"Again, we can find most if not all our answers when we find him and Mimic." Sonic said to everyone. "But yeah, we're going right into the lion's den so… let's try and stick together as best as we can, groups of two at minimum."
"Sounds like a plan." Pyrrha nodded in agreement.
"Then let's not keep them waiting." Ruby said as the group followed the pipeline system, figuring it would lead them right to Merlot's base.
Unknown to most of the group, the same, red-eyed raven that had been following them to the island still continued to tail them from a distance. It hadn't lost sight of them once and it wasn't planning on losing them now.
The heroes soon found themselves standing at what appeared to be the main entrance of the facility, which appeared to be built into a large hill, but there was no doubt a majority of it was extended underground.
"So, do we just blast our way in or…?" Yang mused, only to be interrupted as the large gateway slowly opened up to reveal the inside of the facility.
"That certainly saves the effort." Sonic said as they made their way into the facility, the students ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice, with the raven following them inside, but sticking close to the ceiling, perched on a tiny antenna that stuck out from an upper part of the wall. Shadow happened to notice the presence of the bird, glancing toward it with a somewhat suspicious glance before moving.
The group of fifteen stood as close together as possible as they looked around the inside of the large laboratory. It appeared as one would expect, being made entirely out of metal with pipes, vents, monitors, and cameras everywhere they looked, the floor underneath of them having hexagon shaped tiles that seemed large enough for a person to stand on. But this was only the entrance tunnel as there was another doorway at the end, but before anyone made a move to get any closer…
"Omega, can you see if there's anyone or anything on the other side?" Rouge asked.
"Scanning." Omega's optics shifted from x-ray to infrared and even ultraviolet before reporting back. "There are no hostiles on the other side of the door."
"Why does that make me feel even more nervous?" Weiss spoke for everyone as Tails move the Cyclone closer to the door, having spotted a control terminal near the side. He tried to hack into it remotely via his Miles Electric, but soon found himself having trouble.
"Aw nuts…"
"What is it?" Jaune asked.
"Tons of firewalls, I can't hack into his system remotely." Tails answered. "I may need to connect directly with a computer or something inside, but we gotta go deeper in."
"Can you get the door open?" Sonic asked.
"Already done." Tails was at least able to do that, opening the door big enough for the group to step in.
"Greetings, and welcome to Merlot Industries, where we're building a better tomorrow… today!" They heard Merlot's voice greet through a series of speakers around them, prompting many of the students to draw their weapons.
"Well this just keeps getting weirder." Ruby commented.
"Was that really him? Or one of those weird commercial entrance things?" Nora asked.
"I'd say fifty-fifty." Rouge assumed. "Guess this guy's something of an attention-hog, too."
"I wouldn't go that far." Merlot himself said as his face appeared on one of the monitors on the wall, getting all their attention. "I just happen to take pride in my work, as well as what it can achieve."
"You mean aside from destruction and death?" Knuckles questioned. "Why not come out and face us?!"
"I have a better idea." Merlot replied as a series of the hexagon-shaped tiles began to glow bright blue, specifically those that each of the heroes were standing on. Suddenly, a series of energy barriers appeared to trap each of them, one-by-one, much to their shock. Even Tails in the Cyclone was caught as that took a group of tiles to create a larger barrier. Before any of them had time to resist, the panels suddenly dropped as they were all pulled underground.
The black bird that had followed them inside tried to fly into the hole where Yang had previously stood, only for it close just as the bird made contact. It slammed into the hard metal briefly before flying back up to the nearest air vent in the wall near the ceiling.
Once it broke its way into the metal frame and made its way deeper inside, something happened that caused the bird to vanish… and a person to take its place.
The person in question was a woman, wearing a V-neck black and red style top with a black pleated skirt with black shorts underneath and some black beaded necklaces. She also wore a red orbi tied around her waist with red armored gauntlets and shoulder pads. The woman also had black mid-thigh heeled high boots with armor plating. She also happened to have a sheathed sword at her side. Her skin was pale with long black hair, though her face couldn't be seen due to the Grimm mask she wore, one could see a pair of red eyes underneath if they looked closely enough.
'Damn it.' The woman cursed internally. She wasn't fast enough. Though she was fortunate enough this air vent was here. Taking a hit in her bird form did make it harder to maintain it. If she happened to turn back right then and there, Merlot would have seen her and that would have caused a number of complications. But it seems that so far, her presence was unnoticed.
Though there was still the matter of the children, two in particular that she was most concerned with. Though she only had a connection with one of them, and she could use that to get to her, but that would reveal her presence to potentially everyone, which would only cause even more complications. There was also the matter of that shapeshifter as well as the aliens the kids seem to have taken a liking to, whom she still was unsure of at the moment. She can't afford to reveal her presence to any of them yet. So, for now, they're going to have to handle themselves, but that didn't mean she couldn't help in some way.
Merlot seems focused on them for now. So, she could track him down and go to him directly and force him to stop this insanity he was doing. That seemed like the best way to go about this.
Once she regained her senses and came up with her plan, the woman turned into the bird once again and flew deeper into the vents.
A hole had opened up in the floor of an unknown location as Sonic was sent upwards before landing. He looked around the large chamber he was suddenly in to find it was a completely enclosed space, though it was the size of a human-made racetrack for cars, in fact it even had a track that went around in a long loop.
"So much for sticking together." The blue blur muttered.
"Sonic the Hedgehog." Merlot's face appeared on a large monitor near the top of the chamber. "I'm quite honored to be in the presence of such a mighty hero. You appear to be so small and yet, you possess power that has defeated even the likes of deities. Truly marvelous."
"You can get in line for the autograph later, fanboy. Now where are my friends?" Sonic demanded.
"Unharmed for the moment." Merlot replied. "Your otherworldly companions are in chambers much like this one. The abilities you and your friends have are truly incredible, so much so that I would love for you to help me conduct an experiment or two so that I can better improve upon my Grimm experiments."
"Sorry pal, but I'm a hedgehog, not a guinea pig." Sonic said before his eyes narrowed. "Now where are my friends, and I mean all of them?"
"If you are speaking of those students, I'm leaving them in Mimic's care." That really seemed to irk Sonic, something Merlot noticed. "Perhaps you can channel that attitude into this little experiment. I would kindly appreciate it, because I created this specific Grimm with you in mind."
A large hatch opened in the very center of the chamber as an enormous creature, trapped within a larger glass cube, was revealed. It appeared to have the body of a Nevermore but was quite larger. It only had a single head with two wings, though it also had a pair of glowing green eyes which indicated that it was a mutant. But what really stood out about this beast was that its wings appeared to be on fire.
"Many of my mutants are based of creatures of myth and folklore from your world, provided by our mutual acquittance." Merlot explained, referring to Eggman. "This particular Nevermore has been enhanced with my mutagen, and I made sure to increase the power of its own speed so that it can match pace with you. Those flames on its wings are a result of Fire Dust that I've infused into it."
"You put Dust inside that thing?" Sonic questioned in surprise.
"Yes, it seems my formula also acts as an impressive binding agent between the Grimm and Dust if modified right. I call this ingenious creation, the Apollo." Merlot said as the glass cube opened, releasing the creature as it flew upwards with a roar. "I do hope you enjoy each other's company."
The mutated Nevermore, apparently known as the Apollo, spotted Sonic and gave a roar before it flung its wings to launch a series of flaming feathers his way.
"Whoa!" Sonic just barely dodged them before zooming away on the track with a trail of blue energy, but the second the feathers made contact, they exploded in a series of flames, though Sonic was already far enough away to not get caught in the explosion. The Apollo flew after Sonic, following him along the track with sufficient speed that it was able to catch up with him. "Alright, let's see what you can do!" He challenged the Nevermore directly as he picked up his speed.
Ruby gave a slight scream as she was dropped down from the ceiling and landed hard on the metallic ground. "Ow…" She pulled herself up to look around at her location. It seemed pretty empty for the most part. "Hey… where is everyone? Sonic! Yang! Weiss!" She tried to call out to her friends.
But then she heard another scream as a port on the ceiling opened and Pyrrha fell out, though she was quick to land on her feet and one hand, albeit somewhat shakily, but she seemed alright.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby was ready to come and help her but was startled when she saw the older girl point Milo at her in it's rifle-form.
"You look like Ruby, but how I can be sure you're the real one and not Mimic assuming her form again?" Pyrrha narrowed her eyes.
'Darn it.' Ruby cursed herself for forgetting that. Of course, they'd be worried about that after having been separated. She had to think of something to convince Pyrrha she was the real one, but how? Despite considering her a friend, she wasn't as close to Pyrrha as she was with her teammates, or even Jaune. Wait… Jaune! That was it!
"Back when Jaune was being bullied by Cardin… he was attacked by an Ursa in the Forever Fall Forest." Ruby began as she raised her hands. "You, me, Sonic, Weiss and Tails were all there. You used your Polarity to help him, but you also said that we shouldn't tell him that you helped. Maybe you wanted to help him build up some confidence, right?"
Pyrrha lowered her guard. "Yes, that's exactly what happened."
"Well… how do I know you're the real Pyrrha?" Ruby asked as she reached for Crescent Rose.
The older girl telekinetically lifted Milo and Akouo with her Polarity Semblance and spun them in the air for a moment before dropping them back into her hands. "Mimic can't copy our powers."
Ruby sighed in relief. "Sorry."
"No, it's alright." Pyrrha assured with a smile as she offered Ruby her hand to shake, which Ruby accepted with a smile of her own. "I'm glad you're alright, Ruby."
"You too. But where are we anyway? Do you know where everyone else is?" She asked.
"No, I suspect we were separated because it would be easier to deal with us than the whole group all at once." Pyrrha assumed.
"Bingo." The two girls turned around to see none other than Mimic (the real one and not one of his Bioids), sitting casually on a ledge near the ceiling. "When someone's greatest strength is their teamwork, it makes sense to split them up, don't you think?" He said as he dropped down to face the pair as they had their weapons drawn.
"Rather bold of you to show yourself." Pyrrha commented. "As opposed to trying to deceive us by assuming the form of our friends."
"You already figured out I can't copy powers, there'd be no point in going that route." Mimic replied. "I'll admit I got a little reckless before, probably should have gone after you kids before the Hedgehogs. But if you think shapeshifting is only good for tricking people, you're about to be proven dead wrong."
"How could you…?" Ruby muttered.
Mimic raised an eyebrow in partial confusion. "How could I take your shape? You're the youngest so…"
"No, how could you betray your team?!" Ruby questioned. "Shadow told us about the Diamond Cutters! You guys were heroes! You were protecting your world from Eggman! But you betrayed your friends, and now you're working with him! Why?!"
"Ah, so you're one of those." Mimic commented. "Thinking it's all about the good fight and being a hero." He smirked mockingly towards Ruby. "They weren't my friends; they weren't even my comrades. They were a means to an end. I was in it to reap the rewards, when their big crusade put my life on the line, it wasn't a difficult choice. Let this be an important lesson to you, kid: heroes become martyrs, professionals stay alive."
Ruby's eyes widened in shock. Did he seriously just brush off the death of his teammates like that!? A means to an end?! Not a difficult choice!? "What kind of monster…"
"Don't bother, Ruby. Some people can't be reasoned with." Pyrrha told her before narrowing her eyes at Mimic. "The best way to deal with cowards like him is to lock them away forever!"
"You can try, but we won't make it easy for ya." Mimic snapped his fingers, causing a series of doors to open around them.
Stepping out into the room were at least two dozen Merlot Industries robots. But unlike those that they encountered before when they first arrived on the island, these were bulkier, had white armor, and were armed with mini-guns and grenade launchers. Ruby and Pyrrha were forced to come back-to-back as they were surrounded.
"Alright kids, ready to have some fun?" Mimic grinned with sinister intention.
Knuckles scoffed in annoyance, having been dropped off in an area that seemed to be part of the underground the facility was built in, evident by the stone ground and walls, save for one that was attached to the metallic ceiling he was dropped in from.
"Splitting us up, huh?"
"You must be Knuckles the Echidna." Merlot's voice broadcasted from the speakers around him. "I've been told you're among the physically strongest of your team, with your power rivaling that of Sonic's own speed."
"Why don't you come out here and I'll give you a personal demonstration?" Knuckles challenged.
"Oh, I would love a demonstration of your herculean strength. But how about against a more worthy opponent?"
The only metal wall in the room opened up as a mutated Grimm stepped forward. It bore the appearance of a gorilla, a type of Grimm Knuckles had yet to see in person. It was incredibly large and appeared to walk on all fours. It's eyes glowed bright green with green spikes poking out of its back. Though it also appeared to be encased in armor that appeared to be made entirely out of stone.
"This type of Grimm is known as a Beringel, and it is among one of the physically strongest of the Creatures of Grimm, even more so than an Ursa." Merlot explained. "They're not necessarily native to Vale, but they do live on the same continent. In addition to my own formula further enhancing its already incredible strength, I've also equipped this one with Earth Dust to grant it some rather durable armor. I call this subject… Kong."
The mutated Beringel stood on its back and pounded on its chest before roaring at Knuckles. Though the red Echidna seemed unphased by both the creature's roar and Merlot's explanation.
"There's more to a fight than just raw strength. But I'll take on your beast and find my friends!" Knuckles raised his own fists as he stood ready to face the monster in front of him. "Let's go."
Weiss tried to use her Scroll to contact her friends and teammates, but all she got was static, causing her to groan in frustration. "Of course. I suppose I'll have to find them on my own."
"Perhaps I can help?"
She turned around to see a young woman who bore a strong resemblance towards herself, with fair skin, blue eyes, and long white hair tied back in a bun on the left side of the back of her head, along with bangs on the right side of her face. She wore a white and blue outfit resembling that of the Atlas military.
"Winter…?" Weiss was surprised at what appeared to be her older sister. "What are you doing here?"
"General Ironwood dispatched me here after he had lost contact with you and your friends." Winter explained. "I'm glad I at least I found you though." She said with a smile.
"You came here by yourself?" Weiss asked.
"There wasn't enough time to dispatch a squadron, so I volunteered to go on my own." Winter replied. "We should hurry and find your friends, they can't be that far away." When she was about to walk away, the tip of a blade appeared by the side of her face.
Weiss had drawn Myrtenaster and had it pointed close to Winter's neck, her eyes narrowed.
"Is there a problem, Weiss?"
"I have no doubt my sister would come and help me if I truly needed it, but there are two things about Winter that you need to be aware of…" Weiss began. "First, she is in Atlas. If she was going to arrive in Vale, she would have already informed me. There would be no time for her to fly all the way to this island. And second, she told me that she won't always be around to save me, so I've learned not to become too dependent on her in a combat situation. You'll have to better than this if you'll want to fool me… Mimic."
Though Weiss did see through the deception, she was unaware this wasn't the real Mimic, but a Bioid with his biodata. The fake Winter chuckled as she turned around, revealing her changed eyes to resemble that of Mimics before she spoke, still maintaining the face and voice of Winter.
"Well, aren't you a smart little princess?" The imposter taunted as Weiss kept her weapon trained on it. "Here I thought I could appeal to your emotions, but I guess you really are an ice queen."
"So I've been called. Now, if you would be so kind as to reveal your true form? I'd rather not have you sully my sister's face and voice." Weiss demanded.
"Well, I happen to like this pretty face?" The imposter taunted with a smirk. "But if you insist…" The Mimic-Bioid changed its form to reveal not Mimic, but middle-aged man with white hair and a mustache and a business suit. This was the form of Jacques Schnee. "How about this face?"
Weiss' eyes narrowed further. "This is getting ridiculous. I know you're an imposter, and I honestly have no issue in standing against my father."
"So, I've heard." Mimic-Jacques went on. "Eggman gave me the gist on you: a runaway heiress trying to redeem her family after dear old daddy ruined it. So, I'm guessing there's some domestic troubles too, right? Parental abuse?" When he saw the anger in Weiss' eyes, that all but confirmed it. "Well, in that case…" He swiftly shot under Myrtenaster and threw a punch to Weiss' throat with one hand while grabbing her sword-arm with the other and spun her around before throwing her way.
Though her Aura did protect her, Weiss was caught off guard by the sudden attack. But as she pulled herself up, she was even further surprised to see that her sword was no longer in her hands.
"…I imagine what's about to happen next, will be quite torturous." The Mimic-Bioid taunted, still maintain his appearance of Jacques while holding Myrtenaster in his hands.
Shadow gazed around at what appeared to be an inactive assembly line, no doubt for more of Merlot's robots as a series of unresponsive conveyer belts were lined across the long and large room.
"I've heard much about you, Shadow the Hedgehog." Merlot's voice was heard through the speakers. "You believe yourself to be the Ultimate Lifeform, the most powerful being on your world. How fascinating."
Shadow offered no response but simply leapt down to a lower belt, ignoring Merlot as he tried to find his own way out.
"Eggman also told me how you might be most rude out of your party, while I don't take offense that often, I do enjoy a good conversation." Merlot said, but once again, Shadow said nothing. "Well, if you won't talk to me, then how about you just show me what you're capable of."
The assembly line started to activate, all the conveyer belts began to move, something that had briefly stopped Shadow, but he paid it little mind.
"If you believe this is an ambush for my robots, you're mistaken. I'd actually like for you to test your mighty power against a very special test subject of mine."
A low growl came from the floor at the very bottom of the assembly line, all the way down to the floor as hatch began to open up. Something climbed its way out, something truly hideous as Shadow looked with disgust.
It was definitely a Grimm, and a mutated one at that. Its central body was that of a large skull the size of a car, with three sets of glowing green eyes and a pair of horns on its head. It also had a series of tentacles emerging from the skull, but what seemed the most disturbing was what was attached to said tentacles. They appeared to be different types of Grimm that had been infused with the tentacles. Four of them had the faces and claws of Beowolves, two more had the armored hides of Boarbatusks, two up near the front of the skull appeared to have merged together to fuse with the lower body of an Ursa. It even had a Death Stalker's Stinger on the back of its head.
The monstrosity climbed its way up from the hole, using the monster-attached tentacles as hands as it slowly made its way up to face the black Hedgehog.
"This particular breed of Grimm is known as a Kraken." Merlot revealed. "A rare subterranean breed that was discovered in Mountain Glenn. I'm sure you've noticed the other types of Grimm I fused with it via my mutagen, giving it a plethora of abilities. What's most striking is that each of these separate Grimm appear to have intendent thought apart from the main body. I call this specific creature, the Chimera. I'm sure such a mighty beast will be quite the challenge for you, Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Hey! Is anyone here?!" Jaune walked alone through a hallway of the underground facility. "Pyrrha! Nora! Ren! I'll even take Shadow or Rouge at this point!"
"Wow, you must be Mr. Popular at school, huh?" Turning to the side, Jaune saw Mimic (or rather one of Mimic's Bioids in his form) leaning against the wall and looking toward his hand nonchalantly. "Yeah, I know you're type. Insecure and wanting to prove himself, so you think hanging out with the big kids makes you a man, or at least gives you reason to want to man up, huh?"
Jaune drew his sword and shield. "Tell me where my friends are!"
"Are they your friends?" The Mimic-Bioid taunted. "I've seen how you fight compared to them and…" He tisked. "…It doesn't take a professional to see that you don't really know what you're doing. Half-baked combat skills, hell you're even shaking right now." He pointed towards Jaune's shaky hands. "You sure you're a Huntsman?"
"Like I'm gonna listen to a thing you say! A guy who sold out his own team!" Jaune tried to stand firm. "So, show me how to find my friends, or I'm gonna make you!"
"Make me, huh?" The Mimic-Bioid stood up straight before assuming the form of Jaune himself. "Give it your best shot."
Amy held her Piko-Piko out as she faced a mutated Creature of Grimm that Merlot had just released. This Grimm was a Beowolf, but it was certainly larger than any alpha, even bigger than an Ursa Major. In addition to the glowing green spikes on its back, a series of ice-spikes were present as well with claws appearing to be made out of ice. When the monster roared, it let loose a frosty breath towards Amy, who rolled out of the way before rushing towards its side to strike her hammer and push it back, but it stood its ground before slashing its icy claws at her, which she blocked with the pole of her Piko-Piko, but the force was enough to knock her back.
"Enjoying your time, Ms. Rose?" Merlot asked through the speakers.
"You should get this thing some shots!" Amy exclaimed as the icy mutant Beowolf lunged at her, but she had pounded her hammer into the ground to vault herself up and over the monster.
"Oh, but I did." Merlot explained. "I addition to my formula, I've also infused this Beowolf with Ice Dust. Based on a similar creature of myth from your world, I am calling this mighty hound… Garm. Now please play nice and feel free to give him a treat."
"How about disciplinary school, instead?" Amy said as she faced the icy mutant once more.
Yang had pulled herself up from the ground with an annoyed groan, having found herself alone in a hallway when she heard her name being called out.
"Yang!" She heard the voice of her sister from around the corner.
"Ruby?" The blonde seemed a little weary, not liking the sound of only hearing her sister's voice but not seeing her face.
"Yang! Help! Mimic's got…!" Ruby's voice was cut off by the sound of a gunshot.
"Keep your mouth shut, brat." Mimic's voice interrupted.
"Ruby!" Her big sister instincts kicking in, Yang rounded the corner, only to find herself getting shot multiple times, courtesy of Mimic (or rather another Bioid in his shape) holding a gun, and standing all alone, with nobody else in sight.
"You know I can change my shape, you didn't think I can't just do a voice?" Mimic questioned, while also speaking with Ruby's voice despite baring his true appearance before shooting at Yang again to knock her down. Despite her Aura protecting her, it still hurt a great deal. "The kid's your little sister, isn't she?" He asked, speaking in his natural voice as he walked over towards her while she was down. "That explains the recklessness. Friendship and familial love? All weakness. You're better off looking after yourself. Just like me when I ditched my team."
"You didn't ditch them, you killed them!" Yang exclaimed as she shot herself upward and prepared to punch him…
Only for the Mimic-Bioid to take the form of Ruby once again. "Yang! Please don't!" The fake Ruby held her arms out in front of her, causing Yang to stop herself on pure instinct, something the imposter took full advantage of as he grabbed her by the arm she was using to punch with before hauling her over to slam her on the ground.
"See?" The fake Ruby gloated with a condescending smirk, causing Yang to gnash her teeth with her eyes burning red. "Ah, I see someone's got a temper. Let's try and work on that, shall we?"
Rouge ducked and swerved under the strikes of a four-armed Mutant Ursa before leaping over to try and strike it in the back of its neck with a kick, but her kick didn't seem to penetrate much of the mutant's bone armor. Not only that, Rouge was blown away by a burst of electricity shot out by the mutant's body, which sent her flying backwards and crasing toward the wall.
"Shocking, don't you think, my dear?" Merlot teased.
"Really? Shock-puns with shock-powers?" Rouge questioned irritably as she pushed herself up, facing the Mutant Ursa once again as electricity surged around it.
"I'm sure you've noticed that I've infused this particular mutant with Lightning Dust." Merlot explained. "Though my intent was to increase Callisto's speed with it to match your own, but it seems to have adapted to act as a defensive mechanism if its armor were to be attacked. A surprise, but a welcome one. Please continue, I'm looking forward to seeing how this experiment further develop. I'm intrigued to see if the properties of Dust itself were to be mutated with my formula."
"Glad to be of help, doc." Rouge commented in obvious sarcasm as the Mutant Ursa, apparently named Callisto, charged at her, slashing its claws, all of which were charged with electricity, but Rouge slid under the beast's legs and drew her Purple Hearts, readying herself for battle.
Ren and Nora had been forced back-to-back, their weapons drawn, as three dozen heavy-duty Merlot Industry androids surrounded them, with a Mimic-Bioid leading the assault.
"You know, if I'm being honest, I'm kinda drawing a blank with you two." He said to the two students. "The others I already figured out based on friendly intel or what I've observed. But you two? A ninja kid and a hammer-swinging maniac. Kinda basic, easy to deal with, but not a whole lot of fun to mess with."
"Then why don't we mess with you? It could be fun for us!" Nora threatened.
The truth was, Mimic asked Merlot to put these two together because they were something of an X-factor to him for the same reasons. Eggman didn't have that much data on them, and he couldn't get much from what he saw himself, so they were something of a wild card. Best to eliminate them both together, though he did notice that they seem to be rather close, but that could work more in his favor.
"I didn't say I couldn't mess with you." The Mimic-Bioid grinned. "There's more than one way to mess with someone than just tricking them." He snapped his fingers, prompting the androids to open fire upon the pair.
A hole was blown open in the wall as Omega stepped out into the open hallway from a large chamber, dragging half of a heavy android behind him, and leaving the rest of the squad of androids completely decimated.
"These models may be improved over those seen before but are still inferior to me." The former Badnik scanned the head of the android he had in his grip to see if there was any way he could connect to the network like this. When he saw there was none, he crushed the head in his metallic grip and threw the remains to the ground.
"E-123 Omega. Built by Doctor Eggman as the last and strongest of his E-Series." Merlot observed from afar, speaking through the speakers as usual. "You truly are a magnificent creation. I am looking forward to studying you, and possibly replicating your design. Perhaps I may even find a way to cybernetically enhance my Grimm."
"Negative. Your only concern should be for your own safety." Omega replied. "Surrender. While I will not terminate you, as you possibly have important intel; if you fail to comply, I will remove most of your limbs. The organic ones to be specific."
"You could try that… or you could help me in testing this particular Grimm." A hatch opened to reveal a mutated Death Stalker, one that bore a striking resemblance to the Beowolf-Death Stalker hybrid found in Mountain Glenn, it even had the same kind of Beowolf upper body attached with scorpion pincers as opposed to its claws. But rather than have a stinger on its back, it had the slithering head of a Taijtu.
"Sonic and two of his companions had trouble dealing with a similar creature at Mountain Glenn." Merlot explained. "I've made some upgrades since then. I call this experiment… Scorpio. Please feel free to give it your all."
"Whatever modifications you have made to your mutants is irrelevant." Omega said as he readied all his weapons to face the roaring monstrosity. "It will still meet the same result: total destruction."
Blake placed her hand against a nearby wall to rest, catching a breather from having destroyed a group of heavy androids, their broken and sparking parts behind her as she held Gambol Shroud in her free hand. But she didn't have much time to rest as one more robot appeared in front of her and was ready to gun her down. Blake readied herself to fight back…
Only for someone to grab the head from behind and snap it with a twist, causing the robot to topple over and reveal a certain someone that Blake didn't expect to see.
"I see you've been keeping busy." Adam said in a seemingly friendly tone. "Hello Blake…" Immediately, the Faunus girl aimed Gambol Shroud in it's gun form at him. But he was quick to raise his hands. "Easy, easy, I'm not here to hurt you. I know you don't trust me right now Blake but, I'm not with the White Fang anymore."
"I doubt that. But even if that were the case, how do I know I'm really speaking to the real Adam?" She didn't take her eyes off him for a second.
Adam sighed before smiling as he responded. "After a mission… where I killed a human… one of many missions that ended the same way… I told you it was an accident. You asked me how many more there would be, and I said I wouldn't know. But then I brought up your parents, and that was wrong of me." Blake's eyes began to waver as her hand shook, despite still keeping her gun trained on him. "We were the only ones there that night, and I never spoke of that to anyone, and I know you didn't either. You know me…"
"Adam…" Blake seemed convince it was the real one, but that didn't mean she would lower her guard around him. Even as he slowly reached forward to gently grab her hand and lower her weapon.
"I promise… I'm here to help you. Something I should have done a long time ago."
Tails had flown around a special chamber that seemed to be designed for a specific purpose. Multiple hovering blocks and bridges continued to move in various directions, up and down, left and right. When Tails had arrived with the Cyclone, he had trouble converting it into its plane mode to keep it from crashing and damaging it even further, but he was able to pull it off. Currently, his prized invention was sitting at the floor of the large chamber, cloaked under a Hard Light Dust shield he invented as he would let it sit to recharge it's weapons while he looked for a way out.
"Why do I have a feeling this room was built for me?" Tails assumed.
"Because that was the case, young Mr. Prower." Merlot's face appeared on a monitor directly in front of him. "But before we get into that, I was hoping the two of us could have proper discussion, one brilliant mind to another."
"I have nothing to say to you." Tails stated.
"Why the hostility? I understand if you feel wary because of my alliance with Eggman, but I hold no animosity towards you or your friends. Rather, I'm fascinated by you." Merlot said. "You are among the smartest of your group, honestly one of the most intelligent minds I've met, if anything from what Eggman has told me is any indication. Not to mention your unique vehicle. Not even Atlas has developed transformable machines like that. And yet, you're so young. Truly, you are one of a kind."
"Gee, don't I feel flattered." Tails said with sarcasm. "Well, since you went off about me, how about I say what I know about you. You're every bit as crazy as Eggman is! Messing with something outside you're control, making it even more dangerous than before?! Why are you even experimenting with the Grimm in the first place!? If you have something that can directly affect them, why not use it to help fight them and save lives?!"
"An understandable question, for which I have an answer." Merlot replied. "The Creatures of Grimm, while indeed dangerous, are this planet's natural defense system against the virus that is humanity. But just as I've told Ozpin and James, I harbor no hatred towards humanity, and I speak of the Faunus as well. I just find that their ongoing flaws, such as their greed and hatred, will inevitably lead to Remnant's destruction."
"Let me guess, you wanna use the Grimm as weapons to put humanity under your heel." Tails narrowed his eyes.
"I don't intend to rule humanity, more so… observe and make sure they don't cause any more trouble." Merlot explained. "Though I feel a culling is in order, to ensure that humanity's numbers reach a more manageable quantity. They'll be free to act as they see fit, just as long as they don't try to overpopulate and continue to deplete Remnant's resources."
"I could spend all night going over all the details of why that plan of yours is not only morally wrong, but also logically flawed and doomed to fail, but I'd rather not waste my breath." Tails said. "I'd rather find the rest of my friends and put a stop to you."
Merlot signed in disappointment. "A shame. I had hoped I would find some common ground with another brilliant mind. But your response was not completely unexpected. That said, you can still help me as I test another of my creations."
A hatch at the top of the ceiling opened as a Mutated Grimm fell down for a brief moment, before it extended its wings to keep it afloat. This monster appeared to be something of a cross between a Nevermore and a Taijtu as it had the body and wings of the former, while also having four heads of the latter, two being black and two being white.
"I'm sure someone as knowledgeable as you would see the resemblance of the mythological beast, I based this specimen off: the Hydra." Merlot introduced. "Now, let us test not only your survival skills, but your intelligence. Try to survive."
As the screen shut down, the Hydra roared all four of its heads towards Tails as it flew directly at him, prompting him fly away as fast as he could.
Meanwhile, Sonic continued to run in continuous loops on the track that Merlot had built specifically for him, feeling like a hamster on a wheel as the monster known as the Apollo continued to fly in pursuit of him. It certainly proved fast enough to keep up with the Blue Blur, even throwing a series of flaming feathers in his direction, but that was no different from dodging missiles or any other form of projectile as he simply shifted from one side to another, avoiding the resulting explosions.
"Alright, I think I've had enough of this boss." Sonic decided to stop playing defense as he kicked up his speed even further, zooming all the way around the track and coming up from behind at the Apollo. Before it even had a chance to turn around, Sonic leapt into the air and delivered a Homing Attack towards one of its talons, grabbing onto it with one hand as he drew Caliburn in the other.
The Apollo attempted to shake Sonic off as it flew randomly throughout the large chamber, even attempting to ram it's underbelly into a nearby wall, but Sonic had already leapt from it before it crashed and ran on the wall itself, running at an even faster speed to avoid falling off as he made his way around the chamber. He noticed, the sizeable dent made in the wall and that's when an idea came to him.
"Hey, Kentucky Fried Chicken!" The blue Hedgehog called out to the Apollo, drawing its attention as he continued to round the walls. "Is that all you got!? As far as I can tell, you're just like any other Tweety I've taken out!"
That definitely angered the mutant, enough that it flapped its wings to send more of its flaming feathers his way, with Sonic making sure that he was at the wall where the Apollo had previously crashed in. He leapt from the wall just as the feathers made contact and exploded. Using the explosion to further propel him to the hovering mutant, Sonic had Caliburn drawn as he performed another Homing Attack, going straight for the joint of the right wing as he not only struck it, but also slashed it with his sword to dislodge the wing, almost completely severing it.
As the Apollo roared in pain, Sonic plunged Caliburn into the back of its neck while wrapping his arm around the beast's head, making sure to steer it toward the wall that was further damaged by the mutant's ranged attack. It crashed in hard, and Sonic pulled Caliburn up, slicing up from the neck and the back of its head before performing a Spin Dash to further tear up the head and make sure it was totally obliterated before kicking off.
The second he landed on the ground with his feet and one hand, the Apollo exploded in glorious and dramatic fashion.
"Unlike normal Grimm, these mutants explode when they die." Sonic said aloud as he turned around to see the large and gaping hole that led out of the chamber. "Fill it up with something like Fiery Dust, and you got an even bigger bang. Thanks for the exit." With a smirk, the fastest thing alive leapt out the hole before running in the adjacent hallway outside to find the rest of his friends.
Ruby used her speed to dodge past the gun-fire from the androids that shot at her before zooming in to close the gap between three of them, where she quickly drew Crescent Rose and gave a downward slice to tear through the front of the one in the middle, and once the blade touched the ground, Ruby spun around on the pole of her weapon to deal double-kicks to knock the other two down.
Pyrrha had also closed the distance between herself and four robots, using her shield to block their gunfire before she lunged Milo to pierce the throat of one and swung to decapitate the other. Two tried to strike her with the blunt of their heavy duty guns while a fourth put itself in a position to shoot at her, but Pyrrha was able to use her Polarity to pull one of them in front of her to tank the fire while using Akouo to block the blunt-strike of the other robot and slid around while slicing at its legs with Milo before throwing it in its javelin form to take out the robot at a distance while bringing her shield down to decapitate the robot that was down.
"Pyrrha, behind you!" She heard Ruby's voice warn her as she called her weapon back with Polarity.
"Wait, Pyrrha! That's not me!" The real Ruby warned her, but it was too late as a robot had already snuck up on her, which revealed itself as Mimic as he had drawn a knife to slash at her side. She tried to swing her sword at him, but he had ducked under the strike as he dealt a kick to her feet to trip her up before performing a flip kick to her jaw. Though Pyrrha was quick to recover, she lost sight of Mimic as he disappeared behind a group of four more androids that had advanced their way toward her.
Ruby herself was surrounded by six robots as she shot with Crescent Rose in its rifle formation to take down one robot, prompting the other five to shoot at her. Ruby was forced to retreat with her Petal Burst, moving through the gap made by the robot she shot down.
"Ruby, take my hand!" She heard Pyrrha and saw what appeared to be her reaching out toward her.
Caught in the heat of the battle, Ruby had reached forward to grab her hand…
"Gotcha." Mimic sneered, still adopting Pyrrha's face, but revealing his true voice and eyes, much to Ruby's shock before he struck a knee to her gut and performed a roundhouse to her face to knock her back down. She tried to push herself back up, only to see Mimic was gone as four robots advanced on her and fired their weapons at her.
As Ruby backed away, she felt she had backed into someone. Acting on instinct, Ruby swung Crescent Rose backwards, only to find it blocked by a certain shield as she had backed into Pyrrha, who brought Milo close to Ruby's throat. Their eyes widened at each other for a brief moment.
"Are you Pyrrha, or Mimic?" Ruby questioned.
"I… but you…?" Pyrrha herself questioned at the same time.
But that moment of hesitation proved to be the perfect opening for Mimic to rush in and deliver a double-kick to Ruby's back and knock her into Pyrrha, knocking both girls down.
"Must be hard to fight while tripping over an unreliable partner." Mimic sneered as he went towards Pyrrha as she tried to get up. He kicked her in the back of the head to push her face down onto the floor. "And all that moving metal's gotta be a strain on your powers, huh?" While he seemed to have Pyrrha down, Ruby had recovered to swing Crescent Rose at him, but he ducked under the slice and moved in to slug her across the face before grabbing her by the shoulders and pushed her down while leaping over her to disappear behind a group of robots. The two Huntresses-in-training pulled themselves up as they were surrounded once more.
'I see what he's doing.' Pyrrha thought. 'Ruby and I aren't accustomed to working together, so we're uncoordinated, and he's taking full advantage of that, using his shapeshifting to trip us up. And all these metal robots are making it difficult to focus, I have to use my Polarity to protect myself, but since he's metal… Damn.'
"Ruby… I think we're in trouble." Pyrrha said to her.
"Yeah… me too." The younger girl agreed as the robots opened fire on them once more.
Amy swung the Piko-Piko to parry the clawed strike from the mutant named Garm before rushing at its underbelly to perform a Tornado Hammer move to send it flying upwards to land flat on its back. While it was down, Amy jumped to land on its belly and struck her hammer multiple times at it's face. However, Garm opened its mouth to blast a frosty breath attack, the force of it was enough to knock the pink Hedgehog back.
She had landed on her side and pushed herself up, looking towards her hammer to see that it was partially frosted over. She also saw Garm push itself back up to see the damage that had been previously dealt to it was now healing.
"Right… mutant healing." Amy muttered in frustration. "And it has ice breath too." Garm slowly advanced itself toward her and Amy was soon backed against the wall, but that's when she got an idea. She couldn't beat this thing in such a compact space, it was time to get some air, and possibly some help.
"Hey Garm, over here! You wanna go for a walk?" Amy whistled. "Come on, let's go for a walk!"
Garm roared in response as it shot another frosty breath attack towards her, but Amy was able to roll out of the way and saw the wall was frozen over. When Garm moved in to try and get at Amy with its claws, she swung the Piko-Piko to the side of its face to knock the beast into the frozen wall. She then proceeded to perform her own spindash attack, with the Piko-Piko hung outward for extra power and pummeled her way through the side of Garm while he was still at the wall. Using all the strength she could muster, Amy smashed her way through Garm's body, and used Garm's own weight on the frozen and weakened wall, causing it to crack more and more until finally…
She had broken through the wall, as well as Garm's whole body. The two stumbled and rolled outside into the hallway. Now was not the time to rest, however. Amy turned to see Garm was weakly pulling itself up, despite having a huge chunk of its body, including its right arm, eviscerated by that attack.
Deciding to finish the job, Amy rushed Garm before it could regenerate and struck the right side of its head, which appeared to be its vulnerable spot right now. The attack was enough to knock it down, where she went on to pound the Piko-Piko repeatedly in that exact same spot until she bluntly broke off the head entirety. Amy had leapt back in time to avoid the resulting icy explosion upon Garm's destruction.
Taking a deep breath, Amy fell to her knees in exhaustion. "Normally I love dogs… but that was a bad boy." She joked mostly to herself as she allowed herself to catch her breath before she would pick herself back up to try and find everyone else.
Shadow leapt from one conveyer belt to another as the Chimera climbed in pursuit, the four Beowolf-tentacles serving as a means to climb throughout the assembly line and catch up with the fleeing black Hedgehog. It tried to bring one of the Boarbatusk tentacles down onto it, but Shadow retaliated with a Chaos Spear to knock it back before leaping up towards another belt.
When the Chimera caught up to him, Shadow had drawn Arondight and dashed for one of the Beowolf tentacles that tried to strike at him, only for the Ultimate Lifeform to slice off said tentacle and land on the belt behind the monster. He glanced behind to see what would happen now.
The Chimera itself appeared to have another tentacle regrown in the place of the one severed, only that one didn't have the body of another Grimm. When Shadow looked down to see the tentacle that had already been severed, the Beowolf attached to it still appeared to be alive, albeit it struggled to move with its lower body only being a severed tentacle.
Teleporting straight down to the ground with the struggling beast, Shadow had used Arondight to decapitate that Beowolf before stepping back to watch it explode.
'Each appendage can function independent.' Shadow glanced upwards to see the Chimera climb its way down toward him. 'This would be a challenge for most others… but not me. I can't afford to drag this out. Time to end it.'
The monster landed on the ground in front of him and had lashed out its three Beowolf tentacles, two Boarbatusk tentacles, and conjoined Ursa tentacle for a combined attack. But Shadow had already drawn the green Chaos Emerald.
"Chaos Control!"
Time stopped as all six of the beastly tentacles were just about to bare down on him. Using his own superior speed, and the sword in hand, Shadow moved in to decapitate the Ursa and three Beowolves. The Boarbatusks seemed heavily armored, so Shadow wouldn't waste his limited time-stop on them and decided to eliminate them and the Chimera's main body in one fell swoop.
He leapt towards one of the conveyer belts that hung over the Chimera and threw two Chaos Spears towards each end to dislodge it before repeating the process with the belts above him, over and over. He had already dislodged seven belts by the time he reached the top and time resumed its flow.
The dislodged belts all fell down toward the ground and landed hard on the Chimera, pilling on top of it and slowly crushing it under the combined weight. Deciding to make sure it was down for good, Shadow performed a spindash as he shot himself straight downward and smashed into the pile of debris. When he slid to a stop, whatever was left of the Chimera had exploded behind him, signaling its defeat.
Shadow briefly turned back to see the destruction he had left as he kicked a piece of debris. "What a waste of potential." He commented. But he was never the type to waste time himself either.
Deciding to regroup with the others, Shadow threw another Chaos Spear at a wall to blast his way out before escaping.
Tails flew up and around the floating blocks and bridges, being careful not to hit any of them. The flying monster known as the Hydra on the other hand, wasn't so subtle. Its enormous and larger body was able to break through each obstacle with little effort, which gave the flying fox little sanctuary. The Hydra tried to close the gap with its lower white head that moved to snap at him, but Tails swerved out of the way but stopped flying to avoid the upper black head that snapped at him. Tails let himself fall to avoid the heads before spinning his tails again to resume his flight with the monster once again giving chase.
"I can't overpower that thing… I need a new plan of attack." Tails tried to think as he glanced back to see all four heads stretching forward to lash out and bite at him. Just one of those heads looked big enough to swallow him whole. "No… I can't waste any time. I gotta be smart about this." He flew all the way up towards the ceiling and kicked off it to charge at the Hydra, when it looked like all four of its heads were about to snap at him, Tails performed his own spindash to zoom past all four heads and strike at the conjoined area where the necks met the body to disorient it.
Tails flew around its enormous body and made his way straight towards the ground, where he remembered to park the invisible Cyclone. Pulling out a remote, Tails quickly deactivated the Hardlight Dust shield that had it cloaked and protected and got in its seat to turn it on.
Taking a brief look at the Miles Electric, he saw that its weapon systems were back online for the most part, save for the Power Laser. Using that thing again would damage the Cyclone and he can't afford to waste any power without knowing what else was lurking down here.
"Time to go." Tails fired a pair of Gravity Dust missiles at the wall in front of him. The resulting explosion and gravitational pulse were able to blow a hole into the wall.
The Hydra roared as it made its way down toward him, but Tails had already converted the Cyclone into its cart mode and drove out the hole just as the mutant monster landed.
Making his way into the hallway on the other side, Tails heard the Hydra roaring on the other side. "Hate to leave that thing, but we might have a better chance taking it down as a group." He drove away into the hallway, leaving the roaring monster behind.
Weiss dodged and ducked under the slice of the stolen Myrtenaster that was currently being wielded by the Mimic-Bioid, who still had assumed the form of Jacques Schnee. He swiped his feet to trip her up and knock her to the ground, where he proceeded to lunge the blade at her, but she quickly erected a Glyph to shield herself as she rolled along the floor to gain some distance. But the imposter Jacques swung Myrtenaster to generate a wave of flames from the stored Fire Dust along the ground, which Weiss couldn't avoid and was blown back by the resulting explosion.
"Hmm, not a bad weapon." Mimic-Jacques commented as he looked at the sword. "Might give it a few mods, but I think I'll keep it."
The Schnee Heiress pulled herself up and look more than a little frustrated. She had never been in a fight without her weapon before, and it made it more difficult to use her Semblance, as she had often used her sword as something of a controller to properly aim Glyphs, so control in that regard was somewhat difficult. But even that wasn't the worst of it. No, it was the fact that this imposter had taken the form of her father! She knew that it really wasn't Jacques, but seeing his face and hearing his voice like this as he had her on the defensive was really getting to her. And judging by the smirk on his face, that was precisely Mimic's intent.
"You seem to depend on your weapon too much." Mimic-Jacques commented as he playfully tossed Myrtenaster in his hands like a baseball. "I mean, with it you can handle your own pretty well. Without it?" He waved his hand as a sign of mediocrity. "I could give you some pointers on hand-to-hand combat if you want."
"I don't need or want any advice from you!" Weiss exclaimed as she thrusted her hand to try and erect a Glyph underneath him, but Mimic-Jacques had seen that move coming and was already rushing her before she had a chance to counter as he swung Myrtenaster at her again to knock her down. She tried to get back up for a punch, but he easily caught her by the wrist and pulled her into a knee to her stomach before spinning around to send her rolling across the ground.
"What's wrong? Don't want any advice from dear old Daddy?" He continued to taunt as he advanced his way towards her.
"You're not my father!" Weiss shouted. She tried to conjure another Glyph with her hands, but he had already leapt into the air and landed on her, slamming his feet into her to kick her to the ground hard. He then pressed one foot on her throat as he loomed in with a sinister smile.
"You're really not living up to your family name, little princess."
Knuckles gave a yell while the Kong beast roared at him, both pounding their fists at one another as they each struck their face, sending both of them skidding back quite a bit aways before they charged at one another again. As the Kong closed in, it raised its fists up high and tried to smash them on Knuckles, but he moved in close enough so that not only did the crushing blow miss him, Knuckles had jumped up to deliver a powerful uppercut to the mutant's jaw with enough force to haul it into the air. While airborne, Knuckles threw out another powerful punch to send it crashing to the ground hard.
The red Echidna landed on his feet to glare at where the beast had landed, but was caught off guard to see that the Kong had already quickly recovered and rushed Knuckles with such speed that he couldn't react in time to the mutant's shoulder striking him and sending him flying all the way to the metal wall. But the monster didn't stop there, it grabbed Knuckles with one hand and lifted him up with a roar before smashing him into the ground, where it then proceeded to pound him repeatedly with multiple strikes from its rocky-armored fists, either one at a time, or even both. It would pound him repeatedly until he was nothing but a pile of mush.
That is until when the Kong threw one fist forward, Knuckles was able to reach out and catch it with his own hand. Despite being pounded into the ground, and appearing stuck in an impression, he glared with intense ferocity as he pushed himself up to deliver a punch directly to the Kong's face.
With the mutated Beringel disoriented, Knuckles went on the offensive as he punched the monster with such speed that it seemed like his fists were a blur. He pounded so fast and so hard that the Kong was unable to counter, even as Knuckles pulled back both his fists and slammed them into the monster's armored belly to send it crashing all the way on the other side of the chamber, right into a stone wall and breaking it down, leaving a large hole that led deeper underground.
Knuckles narrowed his eyes, keeping his fists up defensively as he saw the Kong recover. Though he seemed more focused on the cracks on its stone armor.
"That Earth Dust is pretty durable, but it's not indestructible. And now that I've figured that out…" He drew his dual Galatine blades. "It's time to end this. As much as I'd love to go a few more rounds with you, my mission and my friends' safety takes priority."
The Kong roared as it charged at Knuckles once more, who charged at the mutated beast in return. But when he appeared close enough, Knuckles jumped straight forward with Galantine pointing outward before spinning his body around like a corkscrew and drilled into the armored belly of the Kong, specifically the one spot that was cracked. With all the strength and power he could muster, Knuckles was able to break through the stone armor and drill through the Kong's whole body, emerging out from its back.
"Heh. I've been digging holes all my life. Drilling through solid rock is child's play for me." Knuckles commented as he saw the Kong tumble down on its back. "Now to make sure you stay down." He jumped into the air once again, coming straight over the Kong's face before performing another spinning-drill-attack with Galantine and dug into the monster's face. It didn't even take a few seconds before he completely obliterated its head. Once that was done, Knuckles spun and kicked himself off the ground to avoid the resulting explosion of green energy that also sent rock fragments in multiple directions.
The red Echidna dusted his shoulders. "Now with that done…" He noticed the large dent in the metal wall where the Kong had previously rammed him in. He repeated the same spinning-drill-attack on the already weakened metal wall. Though digging through metal was not the same as doing the same through earth, but Knuckles' own strength was enough to break through and given him a means to escape.
Ren swung one StormFlower at the throat of a nearby robot before wielding the other to shoot precise shots at the face of the second to take it down. Nora swung Magnhild into the side and eviscerate one robot but was quickly blown back by two more heavy androids that fired their rockets at her feet.
"Nora!" Ren was about to rush and assist his partner and friend, only to find what appeared to be Nora in front of him.
"Yes?" The fake Nora, who was a Mimic-Bioid, smiled before punching Ren in the face. Though he quickly recovered and backflipped to gain some distance, he ended up backing into two heavy androids that tried to smash their weapons at him, but he ducked and swerved under their strikes right as he sliced the blades of StormFlower into the joints of one of the robots to literally disarm it, only to find himself surrounded by six more as they all aimed their guns at him before firing.
Nora had managed to pull herself up for the most part, but felt a hand grab her by the arm and was surprised by who she thought was Ren pulling her up.
"That's a cute face you got. Let's see if we can fix that." He had punched her in the jawline. Seeing a backstabber like Mimic take the form of her oldest friend really did a number for her temper. Nora then swung Magnhild at him, only for the Mimic-Ren to not only leap over the large hammer, but even grab it by the pole and spun himself around to slam both his feet into her face, sending her towards several more robots.
Ren ran to dodge the gunfire of the many heavy androids shot at him as he quickly found cover behind a metal pillar, but it wouldn't keep him safe forever.
'He's trying to separate us.' Ren thought, appearing to figure out the enemy's strategy. 'Mimic doesn't know us personally, but he probably figured out that Nora and I work best as a team, and he's attacking our teamwork. Isolating us while having these robots wear us down. We can't fight him like this, we need to fall back, maybe even regroup with the others.'
Just as the robots attempted to surround him as they came around the pillar, Ren jumped to land his right foot on the robot on his left and proceeded to run and jump on their faces before trying to get back to his partner.
"Nora! We have to get out of here!" He called to her. Even if Mimic could replicate their voices, he had hoped that she would recognize the situation they were in and realize they needed to retreat.
She did indeed hear him call, and as much as she hated the tactical retreat, she knew that's exactly what they needed. "Heads up, I'm making things go boom!" Nora converted Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and fired directly at the ground below her, which not only blew away the robots that had surrounded her, but also sent her flying into the air, despite the damage it did to her Aura.
Ren saw her fly up and quickly fired the grappler of StormFlower into a nearby vent on the wall, close to the ceiling, pulling him upwards and closer to the wall, which he ran on to catch up with Nora as she proceeded to fall before jumping toward her to catch her in his arms and land on his feet. The two quickly made a break for it now that they were away from the remaining androids.
"What was the name of the village where we met?" Nora asked him, wanting to make sure it was the real Ren, even as they ran away.
"Kuroyuri, in Mistral. It's where I was born." Ren answered, seeing where Nora was going with this before asking a question of his own to be sure. "When did I first use my Semblance?"
"When we were kids. The Grimm attacked your home and the two of us hid under a building and you held me close." Nora replied. "Your Semblance activated, and we were able to hide from the Grimm."
Ren nodded before he and Nora shared smiles as they turned one corner and ran into an adjacent hallway.
The Mimic-Bioid changed its appearance to resemble the original Mimic, scoffing in annoyance as he saw his enemy flee. "Clever brats." He knew they'd be something of an X-factor given what limited information he had on them, but that didn't make them any less of a headache. He looked around him to see he still had ten robots. "After them!" He ordered, prompting the robots to give chase with the Mimic-Bioid running in the middle of the pack before shifting his form to resemble an android and blend in.
"I don't understand… What are you doing here?" Blake asked Adam.
"I came to help. You were right… the White Fang is out of control." He answered. "Eggman's basically taken over."
"They're taking orders from a human now…?" Blake seemed rather skeptical.
"You've seen what that maniac can do! The weapons at his disposal!" Adam argued. "They don't care if he's human, just that he gives them what they want, the means to conquer Remnant and instill Faunus supremacy!"
"And that's exactly what you wanted!" Blake shouted. "How many people did you kill or let die just because they were human?! I know humanity has treated us badly, but you're acting every bit as bad as them if not worse!"
"You're right!" Adam admitted.
Blake had to double-take, her widened eyes blinking twice, not sure if she heard that right. Did Adam just admit that she was right?
"I… I took things too far." Adam began, speaking in a sincere tone. "I thought it was necessary, but all it did was stir the hornet's nest. That's what drew Eggman to us. Even if the White Fang are aiming for Faunus supremacy, we both know he's only using them, using us! He'd sooner throw us to the Grimm than give us any sort of rule in his new world!"
"Then why not try to stop him?" Blake questioned.
"I did try, but he already turned the rest of the White Fang against me." He replied. "I guess he was always planning on throwing me to curb." He gave a slight chuckle. "I suppose I should be used to that by now."
"Adam…" She looked in sympathy.
"I know I screwed up… not just with the White Fang, but with you too." Adam went on. "I… I pushed you away. I don't have any excuses… but I am sorry." He offered his hand to her. "Please… let me help you. We can stop Merlot right now and then… I'll turn myself in."
"Y-you'd really do that…?" Blake asked in a surprised yet hopeful tone.
"Yes. I'll take responsibility and tell them everything I know. Maybe you and your new friends can use that to stop Eggman before things get out of control. I'll even tell you where they're hiding." He still kept his hand held out to her. "Blake… I want to make things better. Really, I do…"
Blake saw the smile and felt that it was sincere. A part of her felt uncomfortable with this, but another part seemed hopeful that he really wanted to atone and set things right. And if her new friends were willing to give her a chance despite her own past, then maybe he deserved one too.
She took his hand. "Alright… but about… us… I'm… I'm not quite ready for that. I… I don't think I want to go back to that again."
"That's alright, Blake. Whatever you want." While his right hand was still clasped with hers, his left was out of her field of vision as he let a knife slip down into his palm….
…Something a certain pink Hedgehog noticed as she rounded one corner of the hallway.
"Blake, watch out!" Amy shouted in warning.
The Faunus girl was caught off guard by Amy's warning, but nothing prepared her for Adam pulling her in close as he prepared to lunge his knife into her.
Fortunately, Amy had sprinted forward with as much speed as she could to swing the Piko-Piko at him, knocking him away before he even got a chance to hurt her.
But the second her hammer struck, Adam's form changed to reveal that Adam Taurus was never really there… but Mimic in disguise. Or more specifically, a Mimic-Bioid. That caused Blake's pupils to shrink as her face went pale.
"Cheap shot!" He scowled.
"A taste of your own medicine, creep!" Amy went on the attack, swinging the Piko-Piko at him. He swerved to the left to avoid the hammer smash that left a sizeable dent on the floor before rushing her to the side with his knife, though she pulled back her head to avoid her face getting slashed, he kicked her feet to trip her up before stomping on her hand that held the Piko-Piko forcing her to let it go. With her down, the Mimic-Bioid had drawn his knife and was ready to cut her down…
Only to get shot in the back repeatedly. The Mimic-Bioid rolled off Amy, sparks coming out from the bullet holes in his back as he looked to see who had shot him.
It was Blake, holding out Gambol Shroud in its gun configuration. Her face filled to the brim with pure ire and rage. Her eyes wide with fury as her teeth gnashed, her cat ears poked up high underneath her bow, and one could practically hear her growling if they listened closely enough.
With a yell of fury, Blake was already on the Mimic-Bioid as she stabbed it with the blade of her weapon and proceeded to stab over-and-over with no signs of stopping. Even when the holographic appearance of Mimic vanished, revealing the skeletal robot underneath that was no longer operable, Blake didn't stop.
It wasn't until Amy gripped her arm firmly that she stopped, causing her to turn her look of feral rage towards her, where she saw a look of sympathy and concern.
"Blake, it's over. You got him." She spoke in a soothing and gentle tone. Hearing Amy speak like that, and seeing the look in her eyes seemed to calm Blake down slightly, but the look of anger was still there, along with her heavy breathing. "Take a deep breath." It didn't seem like she was listening. "Blake, I want you to take a deep breath. Inhale." Amy performed the action herself for demonstration.
After a few seconds, Blake took a deep breath.
"Hold it in for about three seconds." Amy instructed and Blake did just that. "Now exhale." Amy exhaled herself to show her, prompting Blake to let her breath out as well. "Again. Breathe in…" Blake inhaled once again. "Now breathe out." Blake exhaled as Amy had told her. "Again, in and hold for three seconds, then out." After that, it seemed Blake had calmed down for the most part. But as the anger vanished, there was only pain and grief in her eyes as she slowly stood up with Amy by her side.
"So… I'm guessing that was Adam… or that's what he looks like." Amy assumed.
"Yeah…" Blake confirmed. Her fists clenched. "He told him…" She muttered, causing Amy to look in confusion. "He told him things…about me… things I shared only with him… I trusted him… to keep them private… but he went and…." She sounded like she was on the verge of crying.
Amy couldn't help but look in sympathy towards Blake, not only that, but she also felt a strong sense of anger as well. It seemed that Blake was once close with Adam, more so than how she previously described. She may not know exactly what their relationship was like, but she could take a guess. They were at least close enough to share personal and sensitive information. And yet, with Blake apparently left the White Fang, Adam must have told Mimic those things, all probably just to spite her. That thought alone really made her mad. But she pushed back her anger to focus more on the friend who needed her help right now.
"I won't ask for details…" Amy began as she slowly and gently grasped Blake's hand to extend some comfort. "But I can tell that he really hurt you… maybe even before you left… You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But if you do… I'm here. I'll listen to everything you have to say and I promise I won't judge you." Amy smiled. "Because that's what a real friend would do."
Blake slowly turned to face Amy with an emotional look on her face. She felt her eyes water, but she rubbed them out with her arm to try and calm herself down.
"We should… find the others." Blake got back to what was at hand. "We need to stop Merlot."
"Absolutely. Let's go." Amy was about to move ahead, but she still felt her hand being held, somewhat tighter than before, but not painful. She turned back to see Blake giving a smile as some emotions came back to the surface.
"Thank you… Amy."
The pink Hedgehog smiled back. "Anytime. Oh, and for the record, if the real Adam ever gives you anymore trouble, you just let me know." She gave an eager smirk as she held the Piko-Piko up over her shoulder. "I'll show him that Hell hath no fury like an angry woman with a hammer."
Blake had to push back a chuckle before nodding in appreciation. With that out of the way, the two friends then proceeded to run onward.
Pyrrha was literally backed against the wall as the remaining eight androids continued to advance on her. She and Ruby had fought their hardest, but between Mimic constantly using hit and run attacks and assuming their respective forms to keep them confused, as well as the overwhelming force of the robots themselves, it seemed to be a losing battle. Pyrrha had taxed herself with her Semblance, which may have been Mimic's intent with all these robots, not to mention all the damage she sustained from the robots and Mimic meant that her Aura was dangerously low.
But despite being cornered, the young Huntress refused to give up. She held up Milo and Akouo as she looked determined to keep fighting, despite her exhaustion.
"Pyrrha…!" Ruby was about to rush and help her, but Mimic appeared behind her to use his tentacles to bind her feet together and trip her up. While she was down, he was quick to snatch Crescent Rose from her with one hand while using the other to pin her arms against her back, while also having his tentacles wrap around her face and keep her from shouting.
"Remember what I said about heroes becoming martyrs, kid?" Mimic taunted as he pulled Ruby's head up and brought the scythe-blade of Crescent Rose close to her neck, all while forcing her to watch as Pyrrha was about to be overwhelmed. "This is the price you pay for having a hero complex."
Suddenly, a trail of red energy had zipped past all the robots, before transforming into a black tornado to send them up in the air as a certain black Hedgehog appeared above them had arrived before firing the gun that was built into his sword while also throwing out a Chaos Spear at all the airborne androids, catching them in an explosion that reduced them to scrap.
"Shadow!" Pyrrha looked with surprise and relief to see him as he landed on the ground, while Mimic was shocked by his sudden arrival. So much so that it left him open for Shadow to zoom at him with a punch that knocked him off Ruby. Right when it seemed like Shadow was about to advance further for another beatdown…
Mimic had changed his shape once again. This time into the form of a young girl with blonde hair and dark blue eyes.
"You wouldn't hurt me, would you Shadow?"
This caused the Ultimate Lifeform hesitated slightly at the sight of his first and oldest friend. But the imposter still held Crescent Rose behind them and was prepared to strike fast in that moment of hesitation.
Only for that hesitation to turn into pure rage as Shadow swung his arm to throw several Chaos Spears at the imposter, sending Mimic flying and crashing against the ground, dropping the stolen scythe, as he turned back to his normal form.
"Y-You… You'd attack your own friend…?!" Mimic stuttered, not expecting his enemy to act so ruthlessly.
"Maria Robotnik is dead. That's a fact." Shadow growled lividly. "And you… you have the gall to dare invoke her image…!? You must have a death wish!" He was more than ready to rip Mimic to pieces, only for the shapeshifter to pull out a flash grenade from his robe and throw it to the ground. This caused a flash of light to blind not only Shadow, but the two students behind him. When the light faded, Mimic was gone without a trace. "Damn it."
Pyrrha had managed to help Ruby to her feet. "Are you alright, Ruby?"
"Yeah… I'm okay. What about you?" She asked.
"I'll be fine…" Pyrrha assured. "Shadow… thank you."
There was only a grunt of acknowledgement, but Ruby couldn't help but look with concern. She had seen Mimic take the form of that girl. She didn't look like anyone Ruby had seen before, and yet when Shadow saw her… he stopped for a second before going into a rage. Even if it was briefly, that anger was unlike anything she'd seen before, even more so than when Yang would lose her temper.
"Um Shadow… who was that girl…? I think her name was… Maria…?"
"No one you need to be concerned about." He replied, still keeping his back turned.
"Are you sure…? I mean Mimic…" Ruby tried.
"Drop it." Shadow said in a low growl.
"But I…" Ruby stepped forward slightly.
"I said drop it!" He turned towards her, flashing a fierce glare with his red eyes. The tone and look in his eyes was enough to startle Ruby as she stepped back in a fright. The second he saw the flash of fear in her eyes though, he tried to calm himself. "Are the two of you still able to fight, or do you need time to recover?"
"We'll be fine." Pyrrha stepped forward, though she too was startled by Shadow's exclamation, she also decided to focus on the matter at hand. "Our Aura should recover soon, assuming we don't get involved in any large fights till then."
"Then stick close. We need to find the others as soon as possible." He instructed before walking off, with the two students trailing behind him.
Though Ruby walked a bit of a distance away, looking down wondering if she did something to provoke Shadow. Pyrrha happened to notice Ruby's distress as she went to pick up Crescent Rose, and decided to address it, speaking in a slight whisper so that Shadow wouldn't hear.
"Whatever the situation is between him and that… person, it's clearly a sensitive subject for him." She told the younger girl. "I know you probably didn't mean any harm, Ruby. But not everyone is so ready to confess their troubles to others."
"I… I didn't mean to upset him." Ruby muttered.
"I know." Pyrrha confirmed. "But we can't force any issues out into the open. It's best to just let him be. If he decides to talk to us on his own, that's fine. If not, then we need to respect that."
"Okay…" Ruby seemed to accept that.
Shadow couldn't tell what exactly they were saying, but he had a pretty good guess what they were whispering about it. He mentally reprimanded himself for directing his anger towards Ruby, she didn't know anything about that, and she did seem the curious type. Though he had long since accepted Maria's death, Mimic assuming her form wasn't what really angered him. The only way Mimic could have known about her was either had that he had done extensive research, or Eggman had told him about her. That possibility is really what made Shadow angry. Despite the Doctor's claims of trying to respect his grandfather, the idea that he would talk about Maria, his own cousin, in a way that would be of strategic advantage against his enemies, really makes him feel that Eggman doesn't respect his grandfather at all. If he did, he would have left the memory of Maria, someone that Gerald loved more than anything, alone out of respect. For Eggman's sake, that had better not be the case, or else Shadow will show no mercy the next time he sees him.
Jaune was thrown against the wall, he quickly pulled up his shield to block the strike from his own sword that his imposter stole from him, but Mimic-Jaune swiped his feet to knock the real one down. He tried to bring his sword down onto him, but the true Jaune used his shield to block it again. Mimic-Jaune reached down to grab the real Jaune by the hair and force him up before dealing a kick to his knee, bringing him down enough to leave him open for Mimic-Jaune to strike him in his open side with his own sword.
"I gotta admit… this is a good sword." Mimic-Jaune commented as he held Crocea Mors. "Sucks though its wasted with a novice like you."
The real Jaune growled as he tried to push himself up and held his shield, ready to fight back while his doppelganger looked more amused than anything else and rushed Jaune, bringing sword to shield but swerved around it to grab Jaune by the shoulder and spin him around to deliver a kick to his back and knock him face-first to the ground, the shield bouncing out of his hands.
It had been like this ever since the fight started. Jaune couldn't land so much as a single hit on the Mimic Bioid that had assumed his own form. The fact that he took his own image really seemed to make it all the more frustrating. When he tried to reach for his shield again, Mimic-Jaune stomped onto his hand, causing him to grunt in pain as he picked up the shield.
"You know, I have to say that I'm rather disappointed." Mimic-Jaune began. "Your moves are amateur at best. You don't really have any fancy powers as far as I can see, otherwise you would have used it. And I don't think you're the genius type like that fox kid either. So what's a loser like you even doing with these people anyway?"
"None of your business… Ugh!" Jaune groaned as his doppelgänger stomped down harder on his hand.
"I'm thinking… that if you hang out with strong people… you'll get stronger like them, right?" Mimic-Jaune continued. "Sorry kid, but that's not how the world works. Thought it makes me wonder why they even kept you on. Probably for some comedy relief to ease any tensions, because you clearly don't belong here. Can't handle yourself without your so-called friends watching your back?"
"Like I'm gonna take advice from the guy who sold out his own team…" Jaune's response was interrupted as Mimic-Jaune kicked him in the jaw, causing him to roll over on his back. Mimic-Jaune then stepped down onto his chest with one foot to keep him pinned.
"At least I know how to handle myself. But can you say the same? I don't think so." Mimic-Jaune kicked him in the face twice. "Even if you don't want it, I'm still gonna give it. Throw in the towel. These heroes got no need for a wimpy sidekick who can't even hold his own weapons." He held up the stolen Crocea Mors for emphasis.
Hearing this freak speak with his own voice and say all those things brought up Jaune's insecurities. It felt like that part of him that disagreed with everything he did since he cheated into Beacon. That nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that he didn't belong there. That he was only going to get himself killed. That everyone else was better off without him. And now, those same thoughts were coming back to the surface yet again as Jaune couldn't even offer up a reply to the imposter that had him pinned down.
"You've been fun to toy with, but I'm done with you now." Mimic-Jaune said as he aimed the stolen sword close to the real Jaune's neck. "But not your shape. This should let me get close enough to pick off a few more of your friends. Don't worry, I'll tell them all you said hi…"
A blue blur struck the imposter in the side in the form of a homing attack that knocked the imposter off the genuine article.
"Alright, tell me 'hi'." Sonic said before he dealt another homing attack as the Mimic-Bioid turned back into its Mimic form. He instinctively brought up the stolen shield to protect himself, but the blunt force still pushed him back. Sonic followed through by using his speed to zoom around and kick his enemy in the back before slicing at his hands with Caliburn to knock away the sword and shield of Crocea Mors before delivering a final homing attack to smash the Bioid into the wall, revealing that it was only a robot and nothing more.
"So, he's got robot-clones, huh? As if this guy wasn't enough of a pain." Sonic commented before walking over to Jaune, who was on his knees. He offered him a hand with a smile. "You okay, man?"
Jaune offered no response and simply looked away. It seems that Mimic's words have had a clear affect on him.
"Hey Jaune, listen…" Sonic began. "The thing about being a hero, is that you're gonna fight bad guys who are gonna try to get in your head, make you feel worthless or less than what you really are. Best to just ignore people like that."
"… but he's not wrong." Jaune muttered. "I still don't have my Semblance and… on my own… I'm nowhere near as good as you or anyone else. I'm not smart like Tails, or anything… Am I really cut out to be a Huntsman?"
"Just because you can't break the sound barrier or lift a car or solve advanced calculus doesn't mean your worthless." Sonic continued. "Maybe you're not the best fighter on your team, but everyone has their strengths as well as their weaknesses. You seem to be a good leader for your team. And even if you need some help fighting on your own, then work on that. Nobody starts off perfect, which only means we can get stronger. So, what do you say? Wanna get stronger? Cause I think you got what it takes." He offered his hand and a genuine smile once more.
Jaune looked Sonic in his eyes and could tell that he meant every word. Just as his doubts and insecurities were brought back to the surface, he once again thought about the words of Pyrrha, Tails, and even Shadow, reminded him of the lesson they all taught him in their own way. How it's alright to start off weak, so long as you want to make yourself stronger and are willing to seek out help for it.
So, with a smile of his own, Jaune accepted Sonic's hand as he was helped up, and quickly reclaimed Crocea Mors.
"Let's go find our friends." The Huntsman-in-training declared.
"Took the words out of my mouth." Sonic grinned.
Rouge practically danced around the electrical clawed strikes of the Callisto monster. She backed up to avoid one and when it looked like the beast was about to advance and bite down on her, Rouge slid under its legs and appeared behind it to toss one of her Purple Hearts towards its back. Her heart-shaped boomerang returned to her hand just as she saw an electrical pulse emit from the mutant's body with Rouge flying upwards to avoid the surge.
"So, any contact triggers it, eh?" Rouge smirked. She focused her hearing for the sound of air coming into this specific room, and was able to locate the source, a small air vent that was built near the ceiling of the wall she was closest to. That was her way out and she already had a means to escape.
When the white bat landed gracefully in front of the wall, the Callisto turned towards her while she bowed mockingly. "Well, you gonna come and get me or what?"
The mutant Ursa roared as it charged for Rouge, and right when it was about to get to her, she flexed her wings to shoot herself straight up right as the Callisto rammed into the wall, creating a sizable dent. The second it hit the wall, it's electrical pulse exploded outward to further damage the wall.
"I had wanted to do this more elegantly, but I suppose brute force works for a brute like you." Rouge said as she flew down to strike a double kick to back of the mutant's head to knock it into the wall again and set loose another electrical surge and weaken the wall even further. One more strike by throwing out Purple Hearts to slash at its back again and ignite another surge that ultimately broke the wall down.
The Callisto fell flat on the floor of the hallway outside the testing chamber. It tried to pull itself up, only to feel something get stuffed into its jaw.
"Thanks for the help, big guy. The lady appreciates it." Rouge taunted before casually walking away, leaving the heart-shaped bomb stuck in its mouth for a few more seconds before it exploded. The head was destroyed, and the rest of the mutant exploded afterwards in a flash of green and lightning behind the walking bat.
"Glad to see you're as ruthless as ever." Rouge turned to see Knuckles having just arrived himself.
"Ruthless with hints of style and class." She replied with her usual amount of confidence. "So, where's everyone else?"
"Can't find them. You're the first one I ran into." Knuckles said. "But if we keep running around in circles like this, we're not gonna get anywhere."
"Then let's try and get Merlot and Mimic to play at our pace." Rouge gestured up to a nearby air vent. "Think you're up for a bit of stealth, Knucklehead?"
The Taijtu-head of the Scorpio had lunged itself at Omega, which he caught using his metallic grip. He used his boosters with enough power to keep himself from being pushed back. But the Scorpio advanced further with its main body as its lower and larger pincers went to snap at him. Fortunately, Omega increased the power of his boosters to shoot straight up and above the mutated Grimm. While airborne, Omega launched a volley of missiles that exploded all over its body. The former Badnik landed behind where the creature stood with the resulting smoke.
Omega's optics were able to see through the smoke to see that the mutant Grimm hybrid had already recovered and was prepared to attack again, prompting Omega to switch over to his Dust rounds, firing a beam of Lightning Dust into the smoke and strike the side of the Beowolf body of the Scorpio. The monster roared as it's Taijtu-head lunged at him once again, forcing Omega to halt his fire as he braced himself with his metal arms. The thrust of the lunge was enough to push the robot towards the wall where the Scorpio quickly advanced on him.
"Observation, each of the mutant's body parts appear to function independently." Omega noted as the Scorpio brought its lower pincers towards him again, with Omega grabbing and pushing against them with his hands. His own strength seemed enough to hold it back, but this left him open for the attached Beowolf and Taijtu-head to strike at him repeatedly, rendering him unable to defend himself.
"Standard methods of neutralization are ineffective. Solution, release an all-encompassing attack." Omega determined as he was repeatedly assaulted. Even his own titanium shell can only take so much damage. "Rerouting all Ice Dust from munitions to exhaust. Igniting via outward surge of Lightning Dust. Commencing attack, now!"
Omega's arms opened to reveal their exhaust ports where all the Ice Dust had been redirected before he fired off the Lightning Dust from his hands in the form of another beam. This did blast through the head of the Taijtu and even sever it completely from the tail, but that was only the start. The resulting use of electricity sparked into the stored Ice Dust within Omega's exhaust ports, which then unleashed an enormous cluster of ice spikes that shot out in various directions and piercing through most of the Scorpio's body. The force of the sudden burst was enough to send it upwards and crashed hard against the ground.
Omega waved his arms to break off the ice that was stuck to him as he moved closer to inspect the damage done to his mutant enemy. The Taijtu-head was now deceased, it's form already exploded. The rest of the Scorpio looked really worse for wear with most of its bone-armor cracked open, and the Beowolf-body appeared to have taken the worst of it as multiple large ice-spikes had pierced through it, but it still appeared to be barely clinging to life. Something Omega solved as he grabbed the Beowolf's head and crushed it in his grip.
All that was left was the main body of the Scorpio, the Death Stalker part. He grabbed it by the face and with his strength, he ripped it open to expose its insides before stuffing both his arms into it and igniting his flame throwers at maximum power, courtesy of the Fire Dust he had. It didn't take long for the monster to be burnt alive from the inside out. Omega stepped backwards, detecting the imminent detonation of the mutant's body right as it exploded.
"Mutant target identified as Scorpio, completely destroyed." Omega declared.
"Omega!" He heard his name being called and turned around to see Tails quickly drive towards him in the Cyclone's cart mode. "I heard an explosion, I figured it was either you, Shadow, or even Yang."
"I have just terminated a Mutant Grimm unleashed by Doctor Merlot." Omega reported. "Query, are you not suspicious that I am Mimic in disguise."
Tails gave a slight scoff. "You kidding? Only you would leave that much collateral damage." He gestured to hallway that had been torn up in the battle. "What about me? How do you know I'm not Mimic?"
"I have scanned you the moment you arrived. Your biometrics do not match his." Omega reported. "Even if his shape is changed, he cannot change his internal biodata."
"Good to know." Tails replied. "I didn't see any of the others on the way here though, we need to find them."
"Suggestion, hack into Merlot's network as you intended earlier." Omega suggested. "We are deeper into his facility, direct contact with a power line should be sufficient for you."
"Yeah, great idea. Just need to find one." Tails said.
"Power line already located." Omega's scanners had already surveyed the walls, ceiling, and floor of the hallway. He turned towards a wall on his side before firing a single missile to blow a hole in the wall and expose a powerline that ran vertically up the wall, it even sparked as it too had taken damage. "Access granted. The damage to the power line should make it easier for you to tap into."
"Thanks." Tails smiled as he drove closer before stepping out with the Miles Electric. "Can you keep me covered, just in case we get unwanted company?"
"Request approved." Omega confirmed as he moved into guard Tails, who got to work immediately. "Possible suggestion for the future, build yourself a weapon. Your skills in combat combined with your tactical thinking are impressive, but you must also adapt to this new world we are in. Do not become too dependent on the Cyclone as it can be destroyed."
Tails thought for a moment and realized Omega was right. If he had a smaller weapon on hand, one he can easily carry, he might have thought of a way to take down that Hydra mutant that he had retreated from.
"You're right. I'll work on something when we get back to Beacon. But first things first…" Tails acknowledged.
Yang gave a roar of fury as she repeatedly tried to punch the Mimic-Bioid that continued to have the same appearance as her younger sister, but he easily dodged each of her blows before striking his own, such as a punch to the gut.
"Sloppy, predictable." Mimic-Ruby chastised. When Yang tried to punch again, Mimic Ruby ducked under the punch and grabbed her by the arm, using her own momentum to haul her over and send her crashing to the wall, where he then proceeded to shoot her again with his gun, each hit landing and damaging her Aura even further. "Tell me, how does it feel being so utterly humiliated by your baby sister?"
"Stop it…" Yang growled as she tried to pick herself back up.
"Stop what?" Mimic-Ruby went on as he shot her again, this time in the gut, before advancing closer. "Stop speaking the truth?" He shot again. "Stop wiping the floor with you?" He got close enough that he rushed her to deliver a knee to her jaw before grabbing her by her hair. "You haven't landed a single hit on me. Is it because of this pretty face?" He caressed his own cheek. "Can't bear to hurt you precious widdle sister?" He continued to mock, which only made her angrier as her eyes were flashing a bright red. "Oooh scary eyes." He kicked her to the side of her face to knock her down once again. "You don't seem all that scary to me."
Yang's temper was reaching its limit. She wanted more than anything to rip this bastard to pieces! Every word he spoke to her, the fact she hadn't hit him even once, even using her own sister's voice and face just to spite her… that was already adding more fuel to the fire that was her repressed anger that had been building up since her sparing match with Knuckles, which she desperately tried to forget.
The Mimic-Bioid on the other hand had also managed to figure something out. This girl didn't even bother dodging most, if not all, his blows. From what he's seen, she was fast enough on her own that she could dodge them, or even use her own strength to at least try and block it, but no, she took the attack. Why? Was it because of whatever power she had? That must be it. Everything he's dealt to her is undoubtedly being used to fuel up some kind of surprise attack. He smirked, still adorning Ruby's face.
"You're building yourself up for some big attack, aren't you?" That caused Yang to look up in genuine surprise, while Mimic-Ruby shook his head with a laugh. "Wow, you are such an amateur, you practically announced that to me when you were tanking all my hits. All that stuff is probably being stored up for one big super punch, right?" Yang's eyes narrowed with a feral growl.
"Did you guys hear something?"
"It came from further down the hall."
Mimic-Ruby heard those voices coming from the adjacent hallway, he stepped back a few feet into the intersection to glance around the corner and spot Ruby, Pyrrha, and Shadow. Though they didn't seem to notice him just yet as he quickly ducked his head back. Though there was still a chance Shadow might have seen him, but he might have a way to use that to his advantage.
"Well, come on then?" Mimic-Ruby challenged Yang.
"What…?"
"Show me your big attack." Mimic-Ruby said, still baring a taunting smirk. "I mean, if it's anything like how you've been doing, it's probably no big deal. Unless you really can't find it in yourself to hurt widdle Ruby?" He taunted. "Are you really just that failure of a sister?" He laughed.
That was it. Yang's fury exploded as her hair lit on fire. She gave a mighty yell, one that drew the attention of the approaching group, particularly the real Ruby as she recognized her sister's voice.
"Yang!" Ruby zoomed forward with her Semblance as fast as she could.
"Ruby, wait…!" Pyrrha tried to stop her, but she was already moving in. And just as she was…
Yang had launched herself forward, pulling back a punch that channeled all the built up energy she gathered from the hits Mimic dealt her, with the intent to smash the imposter's face in once and for all.
The timing appeared to be perfect because just as Yang was about to strike, the Bioid had dropped Ruby's form and assumed Mimic's as the real Ruby rounded around the corner. All time seemed to slow to a crawl as Ruby slowly craned her head to see not only Yang's look of fury, but also her fist being pulled back. That image caused Ruby to stop as her sliver eyes became so wide like saucers.
Suddenly… Shadow had teleported in-between them, pushed Ruby down with one hand, while grabbing Yang's punch by the wrist with the other and forced it to the ground. What came next was a powerful shockwave that not only blasted a hole in the metal floor, but even pushed everyone back with Ruby being sent flying and crashing against the wall, Yang rolling backwards, and even Shadow sliding back on his feet slightly.
Yang took a series of deep breaths as she tried to push herself up. She spotted Ruby against the wall across from her, and with her temper still raging despite all her stored up power being spent, she rushed her with a yell, much to Ruby's shock…
Only for Pyrrha to quickly come in and grab the blonde. "Yang! Stop! That's Ruby!" Pyrrha told her as she put Yang in a nelson hold.
"It's Mimic! Let me go!" Yang struggled with a snarl.
"Mimic is behind you! That's the real Ruby!" Pyrrha forced her to turn around to see that Shadow was already on the Mimic-Bioid. Arondight was already drawn as Shadow slashed at his legs to keep him from running away. But he ended up cutting off the legs of not Mimic as he thought, but the robot that had assumed his form, evident by holographic form of the shapeshifter vanishing to reveal the metal skeletal frame underneath.
The second she saw that, Yang's eyes widened in absolute shock. She turned her gaze as best as she could to see Ruby. Feeling that she's seen enough, Pyrrha had let her go, which allowed Yang to turn and see the real Ruby, who still looked in the same manner of shock as before. Yang then happened to glance behind her to see the large hole in the metallic floor that she had made.
She… She almost did that to Ruby… the real Ruby… her own sister.
All her anger vanished in an instant as Yang fell to her knees, the exhaustion taking hold, but that was nothing compared to the internal horror she had felt.
Pyrrha couldn't help but look in sympathy, wondering what emotional turmoil Yang was going through. She turned to spot Shadow approaching them when she spotted the Bioid's remains behind him.
"How did you know that was a robot?"
"I didn't." Shadow responded. "Either Eggman or Merlot supplied him with these machines that can assume his form and his ability to shapeshift."
"Could the one Ruby and I have been fighting have also been a machine?" Pyrrha wondered. "And if so, how many more are there?"
"I do not have an answer to either of those. But that could also mean the real Mimic isn't even here." Shadow scoffed in annoyance. He then spotted the down Yang as well as Ruby who had picked herself up as she slowly made her way to her older sister.
"Yang…?" Ruby tried to get her attention, but she didn't respond. "Yang…" After another failed response, Ruby moved to her sister's side and kneeled down to nudge her by the shoulder. "Yang… are you… okay…?"
"I… I…" She didn't respond, she couldn't even look at her own sister. The thought of what she almost did rendered her unable to think or even process anything.
"Get up." They heard Shadow's demand as he stepped forward. "You were tricked, but there's no time to dwell on that. We have a job, and the only way to finish it is to move forward. Now on your feet."
"Shadow… She… she's not…" Ruby tried to defend her but was quickly interrupted.
"Not what? Not ready? Do you believe Merlot or Mimic are going to sit by and just wait for her to recover? No, they won't." Shadow stated firmly. "Either she gets up on her own, or I'll drag her to her feet. We won't leave anyone behind, but we don't need dead weight right now."
"She's not dead weight! She's…"
"No… Ruby… he's right…" Yang tried to push herself back up, albeit shakily, which prompted Ruby and even Pyrrha to come to her sides and help her to stand. "We… we have to focus. I… I'm alright."
"Yang…" Ruby wanted to say something.
"What happened was…" Pyrrha tried to find the right way to phrase it. "It's something that we need to talk about… but now is neither the time nor place. For now, let us focus on finding everyone else so we can put an end this madness."
Ruby hated to admit it, but she knew deep down that they were right, even if she didn't like the way Shadow phrased it. Merlot and Mimic had to be stopped and that came first. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to forget about this. When this mission was over, she was going to talk with Yang. And while she had every intent of consoling and helping her, it may also be time for her to have that talk with her that Knuckles had suggested back at Mountain Glenn.
"Let's go." Ruby said as the group of five made their way down the hallway, with Yang slightly dragging behind, though Ruby made the effort to stay by her side the entire time.
Weiss gave a yell in pain as she was brought down by a slash from Myrtenaster, still being wielded by Mimic-Jacques. Despite having the appearance of her father, Mimic's own skills and speed far surpassed his own so it was only natural that he'd be the better fighter. Weiss was hoisted up by the arm as Mimic-Jacques repeatedly slashed her with her own blade, and kicked her at the same time, all while maintain a firm grip on her arm to keep her from running away.
But it wasn't just Mimic's hold that kept Weiss from retreating or even fighting back. It was the way she was being beaten down repeatedly… and the face of who was doing… it all brought up many harsh memories for her. All the times that her real father yelled at her, scolded her, and even struck her. All that came back in spades, even as Mimic-Jacques thrusted Myrtenaster at her to send her to the ground, her Aura flickering, looking like it was about to shatter any second.
She tried to push herself up, but as she saw the smirking imposter approaching her as he causally carried her own weapon over his shoulders, she almost thought it was really her father taking away her weapon and about to force her to come back to him.
"Stop… please…" She pleaded, tears in her eyes.
"Hmmm, nope. I think I'd rather keep going." He kneeled down and yanked her up by the hair, causing her to scream. "This must bring back memories for you. Domestic abuse can leave quite the mark." He toyed with her hair with the tip of the blade when he noticed the scar down her eyes. "Did Daddy do that to you? Must have. How'd you like a few more?" He poked the blade on her cheek, causing her to whimper as she was ready to scream and cry. "Come on little princess… why not scream for Daddy?"
He raised the blade and brough it down toward her…
Only for a blue blur to zoom in and when the sword touched the ground, Weiss was no longer there. He turned to the side to see the glaring Sonic as he carried Weiss bridal style, who's eyes widened in surprise and awe at seeing him come to her rescue.
Jaune then charged in from the side with a yell to swing Crocea Mors at Mimic-Jacques, who blocked it with Myrtenaster before spinning the stolen sword the push Jaune back. He was about to fight back, only for Sonic to zoom in and deliver a speedy kick to the back of his head, having set Weiss down, which sent him tumbling into Jaune, who thrusted his sword to stab him.
But just like their previous encounter, he only ran through a robot as the holographic covering flickered between Jacques and Mimic before disappearing as the robot went limp. But neither of them were concerned about that right now as they ran towards their friend.
"Weiss… are you okay?" Jaune asked.
She appeared to be in a state of shock as she sat on the ground. While her heart was telling her that it was over and she was safe, her mind was still racing, not quite over what had been happening to her. What was probably only a few minutes between her and the imposter felt like an eternity. It wasn't until Sonic kneeled to her level and placed a gentle yet firm grip on her shoulder that her attention was drawn to him.
"Weiss… it's over." He said in a serious yet understanding tone.
The second she saw those free-spirited and compassionate green eyes, she leapt at him in a hug. Her eyes watered as tears flowed down her face, clinging to Sonic as if she was afraid to let him go or he might vanish. Or she herself would be taken away.
As she continued to sob, Sonic's look softened as he patted her on the back with one hand and let her get it all out. A part of Jaune wanted to hug her too, but he felt that may have been too much right now, but he still wanted to give what comfort he could. So he kneeled closer to Weiss' level as well and put a hand on her shoulder. He and Sonic made eye-contact as he gave a single nod.
"Please… don't let me go…" Weiss sobbed. "I don't want to go back to him… I want to stay with you… Please…"
Sonic had a good idea of who she was talking about, and it wasn't Mimic. "Sure thing." He consoled with a smile. "You don't have to go anywhere. Stay with us as long as you want. And if he tries anything… he's gonna have to get past me first, and we all know that's impossible."
Despite still crying, Weiss couldn't help but laugh.
Meanwhile, Doctor Merlot sat in what appeared to be on observatory room as multiple holographic screens hung above the control console in front of him to show what has been happening in his facility. He had seen all the fights with Sonic and his companions against his specially made experiments, as well as the students' encounters with Mimic and his robots.
"A shame… I put so much effort into those mutants." Merlot mused. "They could have at least gone on a bit more. Though I will give them credit for using my creations abilities to their own advantage, and at least the Hydra still lives. And Mimic… yesh, who knew he could be so ruthless? I heard he could play mind games, and his opponents were children, but still… very impressive. It's little wonder Doctor Eggman hired him. But… it seems I've lost track of the echidna and the bat, and… I can't seem to find young Mr. Prower and that robot. Most peculiar."
His musings were cut off by a small sound of something metal dropping to the floor behind him, causing him to turn around where he had seen the cover for a nearby air vent having just fallen on the floor.
Before he knew it, a red, single-edged sword, was brought to up to his neck.
"Turn around and you're dead." Someone threatened him from behind. This was the same masked woman that had snuck into his facility and followed the heroes here, in the form of a bird.
"Oh my… it seems I've overlooked a guest." Merlot raised his hands to show his cooperation. "How were you able to sneak into my facility? I don't remember seeing anyone else besides those students and Sonic's group."
"Shut it down."
"I beg your pardon?" Merlot requested.
"This whole place. Your mutants, your robots, shut it all down." The woman demanded as she brought her blade closer to his throat. "I won't say it again."
"I can deactivate my facility and my androids, but not my Grimm." Merlot replied. "They are not machines. And even if I do shut down everything, that will only set loose all my mutants. You must at least care for the safety of the students and Sonic's friends, so would you risk I let loose all my creations? Because I guarantee there is at least one left… one that is my most powerful of all. Believe me… you do not want that one free."
"Then kill them." The woman insisted. "Someone as smart as you has to have some kind of failsafe, just in case, right? So, kill the mutants, then shut it all down."
"Indeed, I have a failsafe, so if you would allow me… I'm not currently in a position to utilize it." Merlot requested. The blade was slowly moved away from his neck, but the woman grabbed him by the back of his head so that he couldn't turn around to see her and forced him to the console. He then began to type away. "A specific failsafe…" Merlot went on before pressing a single button that opened a door behind him. "One to deal with intruders that happen to enter my observatory chamber."
Suddenly, a large tentacle was shot out of the door and quickly ensnare the woman, catching her by surprise as she was pulled out of the room and into a much larger one.
This was a cylindrical room with a ceiling over a hundred feet over the floor, and a large cylinder in the center that acted something of a pillar. But the masked woman wasn't focused on any of that. Instead, she was focused on the tentacled mutant Grimm that was clinging to the wall above the door that had just sealed itself shut.
"I had a spare Mutant Kraken just for such an occasion." Merlot's voice relayed through the speakers. "It's not quite a hybrid like many of my other mutants, but it's unique mutation should make it quite the challenge for you, my dear. Please do enjoy yourself."
The woman cursed herself for not thinking about this sooner. But now, she had no choice but to fight this monster. She held her sword firmly before the Mutant Kraken shot more of its tentacles at her.
Merlot chuckled as he saw the ensuing fight between the unknown intruder and the Mutant Kraken before turning his attention to his other guests.
"As I said, in addition to my other mutants that I have stored here, there is one specific mutant I have yet to unleash. My most powerful creation." Merlot brought up a holographic screen of a darkened chamber that was probably at the very bottom of his facility where he saw six pairs of glowing green eyes. "And I'm looking forward to letting it loose."
Done.
Note: The Kraken is the name I gave to the Tentacle Grimm that while hasn't been seen in the canon show as if yet, has appeared in the manga as well as the Justice League/RWBY comic crossover. Yet it's only identified as "Tentacle Grimm" and is not given a name. So I decided to give it one myself, and Kraken seems to fit.
Well, this chapter turned out to be longer than I thought. But with so many fights happening at once, it only made sense. And there's quite a bit to take away from this chapter.
Sonic and his friends have managed to deal with most of the mutants Merlot had unleashed on them, save for the Hydra that Tails had fought, and that will show up again in the next chapter. Tails and Omega are working to hack into Merlot's network, while Knuckles and Rouge have their own plan that's a bit more, outside the box.
Though Teams RWBY and JNPR have had a hard time against Mimic and his Bioids as we see just how good the former Diamond Cutter is at playing mind games. He put Ruby and Pyrrha in a tough situation as they don't have any experience fighting as a duo and used their abilities and lack of coordination to his advantage. He tried to do something similar to Ren and Nora, having little-to-no background information on them due to their status as orphans and survivors (make do with what you got). But he really had fun with Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jaune, discovering their own insecurities and past trauma and taking full advantage of that. We even got to see Yang's growing anger since the start of this arc reach its boiling point and it could have ended very badly if it weren't for Shadow. Yeah… that's definitely going to have an impact on Yang going forward.
And of course, a certain birdy has made her official debut. Though she's now stuck in a difficult situation herself. Trust me, I've got special plans for her, not just with this arc but the story in general, and I'm sure you'll like what I have in store.
But the villains aren't done yet. Mimic is still out there with at least one Bioid left. The Hydra is also still alive, and Merlot has plenty more mutants at his disposal, including one that he claims to be the strongest one of all. Can the heroes regroup together and overcome this challenge? The final battle of the Grimm Eclipse arc is coming, and you won't want to miss it!
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.