Howdy and welcome back to The Fallen. I've been somewhat iffy on this chapter as its Spooktober and I had thought about doing a Creepypasta fanfic instead for the month but decided against it for now but I may do it anyway. Anyway I'm happy with how the chapter went but I'm not too sure about the dialogue, I'll let you all decide on that one but I do hope you enjoy.
-OtherwiseR00K
Headmaster James Ironwood stood watching the sky surrounded by students standing at attention on the airship platform of Atlas Academy. He and the students were here to be the welcoming party for Special Operative Caroline Cordovin even though he only learned of this a few hours prior. It annoyed James to no end that Captain Slade would simply drop this on him without at least a days worth of preparation.
James wanted to give Cordovin a proper welcome after her decades long absence to defend and run Argus. Instead of soldiers of the Atlas Military he had gathered the 3rd years of the academy and had them wear their dress uniforms to greet the Special Operative. It would have to do.
James finally spotted an airship on approach. It proudly bore Argus' symbol on the front and came in to dock. James adjusted his tie and began walking forward to greet the Protector of Argus. As he walked the outer airship doors folded down into a ramp and once fully extended the inner door opened.
From what James had heard of the woman he had expected Cordovin to have been in her dress uniform. Instead James was greeted by a short woman with graying frazzled hair wearing her combat uniform. She looked stressed as she marched down the ramp with her guards behind her toward James.
Something was wrong.
"Sir!" Cordovin snapped a crisp salute, "I apologize for my state but we have a situation."
James frowned but nodded. He looked back toward the students who were now openly looking on in curiosity, "Cadets! Head back to the barracks, your dismissed." James said. The students nodded and saluted before heading off into the academy.
James turned and motioned for the older woman to follow as he began walking toward his office. The two along with her guards walked through Atlas Academy to his office. Once there Cordovin told the guards to stand outside, they obeyed and took up positions on each side of the door. Cordovin nodded and walked inside, followed by James who had allowed her in first.
"Report." James commanded as he entered. Cordovin, not one to waste time, immediately acquiesced.
"Someone had infiltrated my airship and is now in Mantel." Cordovin said. This made James pause. Someone had infiltrated an Atlas airship?
"Explain." It wasn't a question.
"Yes, sir. At 11:00 PM I had departed from Argus, my team did the usual routine and searched the ship from top to bottom but there was no sign of anyone having been onboard. I've trained my men to as close to perfection as I could get and I know they wouldn't have missed someone unless something else was afoot. They even had orders to double check the cargo bay and still didn't see him."
"Do you have footage of this infiltrator?" James was sure they did but he had a sneaking suspicion he knew who this infiltrator was. He only hoped he was wrong so he could have more time to prepare.
"Yes, sir." Cordovin removed a scroll from her coat pocket and walked over to the table in the middle of the room. She placed it down and the holographic display came to life. The display switched to the security footage James had asked for and both watched.
James watched as the footage rolled on with nothing but an empty cargo bay being visible to them. After a moment James finally noticed movement. From behind a crate walked out a man wearing a black overcoat with the hood up and a case strapped to his back. The man walked over to the door and reached for the cargo bay door release.
James and Cordovin watched as a soldier ran in and began firing on the infiltrator but it was simply too late as he jumped out. James registered that Cordovin seemed to complement her soldier but his mind was on the man who was now in Mantel. James was now resigned to the future of his kingdom being in the hands of the Wildcard.
Even though he was not happy about it.
-Robyn Hill-
Robyn sat silent among the hustle and bustle of the Mantel Police Station. She was sat in a hallway with an autopsy report in her hands. She'd already read it and was now just staring at the picture taken of the body on one of the slabs. The boy's lifless eyes stared at her, as if in condemnation.
The boy's name was Andy Popper and he was seventeen years old. He was the only child to a poor faunus family and his father was a miner for the SDC. Robyn could still hear the boy's mother wailing even though the woman had been led out by her husband hours ago. It was heart wrenching then and now thinking about it a weight had formed in her stomach.
The cause of death was a slashed throat, accompanied by the boys chest being carved open. The coroner had also found vaginal fluid on the boy and came to the conclusion that the boy was killed mid coitus. It boiled Robyn's blood hearng that.
What sort of monster took advantage of a teen's first steps into adulthood?
Robyn wouldn't rest until whoever had been responsible for this had been wrapped in chains and dragged to the station. The fire of justice had been lit in the Mantel native and it was hungry for fuel.
Robyn was broken from her thoughts by the sound of three sets of boots stopping in front of her. She looked up to see Fiona and the rest of the Happy Huntresses behind her. May Marigold was a woman with blue hair and a seemingly always present frown, she was the team's stealth specialist and tracker due to her semblance allowing her to turn the people and objects within a certain radius invisible.
Johanna Greenleaf was a tall and muscular woman with dark hair and a similarly ever present frown though Robyn could confirm it was simply her resting face unlike May's. She was the teams heavy fighter with a strength that kept the team grounded.
"You alright, Robyn?" May asked, her frown softening at Robyn. Robyn didn't answer and instead stood up.
"Team, we have a mission." Robyn said, presenting the file in her hands, "Several hours ago I found the body of a seventeen year old faunus boy…"
Robyn had gone on to explain everything to May and Johanna and why they had to find these monsters. She was impassioned and had ordered her team to help search the Mantel police records. She hadn't thought it would be so hard to find them.
Then Robyn and The Happy Huntresses took a dive into a rabbit hole.
It had been hours since they had begun their search and they were now in an unused office space on the third floor. Papers were scattered around with evidence bags strung around and boxes filled with more files sat open on the tables. It had been exhausting.
It hadn't been fruitless though.
The Happy Huntresses had found records dating back decades of similar killings. The records were kept in a separate part of the evidence room and had seemed abandoned with the dust covering them. When asked why, the Police Chief explained that they were private investigation notes from the previous Chief and his staff. He explained they were left alone as they had been cold for years.
The more they looked the more the Mantel native team began realizing that this went deeper than one boy. It had been ongoing for years with different victims both human and faunus. It was always sporadic but there was a spike a few years prior which ended after the deaths of the previous Police Chief. It was suspicious.
"How has nobody noticed this?" May asks from her spot on the floor. She was sitting with her legs folded with papers surrounding her. She was staring at a photo of an older victim, "People should have noticed this."
"I think the previous chief wanted this kept quiet." Fiona said from her perch on the table. She was looking over a folder which has confidential printed in bold red letters on the front, "Imagine the negativity that would arise from that knowledge. The Grimm would think we were setting up a buffet."
May looked away frustrated but with no answer. Fiona had a good point and it wasn't like the Kingdoms didn't keep certain events under wraps to keep negativity as low as possible. It seemed this was one Mantel was keeping.
"Then why didn't they deal with this before it could continue?" May asked.
"Manpower." Johanna answered from the desk she was sitting at, "Mantel has always struggled with a lack of people willing to protect it."
"Atlas certainly doesn't help." May says frustrated.
Johanna turns in her seat toward her blue haired teammate, "May, we will stop these people. There will be no more victims to these monsters. We can focus on Atlas afterward."
"I don't think it'll be that easy girls." Robyn says from her place at the board, she was trying to piece things together, "As May mentioned, people should have noticed this. It looks like the previous chief did and was trying to investigate them. It seems they may have not liked that."
May looked over, her eyes narrowing, "We're huntresses, Robyn. These bastards wouldn't stand a chance."
"Maybe. I don't know." Robyn admits while looking over the board, "It seems like they've been very careful with how they operate. Everything we've found points to them being incredibly secretive and selective of who they kill."
"What about those killings a few years back?" Fiona asks, picking up the bagged murder weapon. It was a jagged ritual knife with red inscribing on it with a white guard and handle but a jet black blade.
"No, doesn't fit." May is quick to shoot down, "Besides they cornered Callows at the mines remember. It collapsed on top of him."
The lamb faunus nodded before she placed the bagged weapon down. The conversation died there as the huntress team continued searching through the files. Soon though Robyn nodded at her board and turned to her team.
"Alright girls, I think I've gotten a general idea of what we're up against." Robyn says. The rest of her team stop what their doing and look toward their leader. She is standing in front of a cork board with pictures pinned to it as well as reports, "We all know that a shadowy organization has taken root within Mantel, that we can be utterly sure of. They practice sick rituals and these involve both human and faunus sacrifices." Robyn sighed as the image of that faunus boy entered her mind, "We also know they have been around for a long time. That means they likely know Mantel far better than any of us which means we'll have to be careful."
"Do you have a plan, Robyn?" Joanna asked.
"Bits and pieces of one. Something I'm sure of at least is their based somewhere around the Crater." Robyn gestures toward a photo of the shanty town in the Crater, "Most of the deaths were within, around, or only a few blocks from the Crater with only a few exceptions."
"So are we changing our patrol routes?" May asks.
"Yes. For the foreseeable future we will be patrolling around that area. The hope is we'll learn something or see something suspicious so we can find where these people lay their heads."
Joanna and May nodded, fully on board with this plan. Fiona on the other hand looked conflicted as she chewed on her finger nail, "What if we can't take them?" Fiona finally spoke.
The three other members turned toward the lone faunus, the question on their faces obvious.
"I-I mean we don't know what their manpower is like." Fiona continued, "We also don't know if they have anyone huntsmen trained within their ranks. What if we're not enough?"
While May and Joanna didn't look so concerned Robyn's mind had already went to work. She believed in her team, they were one of the best teams to graduate from the academy in recent memory but Fiona still had a point. They just didn't know enough.
Robyn did have one idea though.
"Ironwood," Robyn murmured to herself.
"Excuse me?" May asked, her eyes narrowing at her leader.
"Ironwood." Robyn repeated, more firm in her statement. "If we can't take them or if we really think we need backup, we'll call Ironwood."
May balked at Robyn before she stood up from her spot on the floor, "Ironwood? Why would we call him for backup, this is a Mantel problem. We don't need-" May began but was interrupted by Fiona speaking up.
"Its not a bad idea May. Out of all the Captains of Atlas, we know Ironwood the best." Fiona said, giving her piece.
May rounded on her teammate, "That doesn't matter! This is an issue that we can solve we don't need Atlas." The blue haired woman growled.
"We know Ironwood, May." Joanna spoke up, "I'm with you in saying this a Mantel issue but I'm also with Robyn in that he can help."
Before May could say anything Robyn spoke up, "May. I understand not wanting Atlas in Mantel's problems but this could be something Mantel doesn't have the resources to deal with. We don't know anything besides some general info about this group, there's a chance this could be bigger than Mantel."
May glared at Robyn, who simply stared back. The two continued their staring contest until May finally backed down, "I don't like this." May murrmured.
"I'm aware. Do remember though that calling Ironwood is the last thing any of us want to do but can you really tell me you don't think he wouldn't help?" Robyn challenged.
May glared at the floor, "No, he'd come running." She knew James Ironwood would jump from Atlas feet first if it meant helping his old students. She hated Atlas but she had some respect for her old Headmaster.
"Exactly. Now, we hav-."
"Um, did someone grab the knife?" Fiona spoke up, interrupting Robyn. The other three women looked over at their faunus teammate and saw she was looking at the desk in confusion.
"No, did you place it on the table?" Joanna began walking over to look for the knife.
"Yeah, I picked it up for moment but put it back down." Fiona crouched down and looked under the desk to see if it may have fallen off the desk. It wasn't there.
"Maybe you sat it down somewhere else?"
"No, I haven't even moved." Fiona looked confused as she kept looking at the desk.
Robyn watched as two of her teammates looked around the desk and then she noticed something in the corner of her eye. She looked over and noticed one of the windows was open, revealing the nightlife of Mantel. She furrowed her brows, "Did one of you open the window?" Robyn asked as she slowly readied her crossbow.
The rest of the Happy Huntresses looked over and then back to Robyn before copying her movements and readying their own weapons. They looked around the room and May moved over to the door, she looked outside and then closed the door. Joanna moved over to the window and looked out before closing it. The team moved throughout the room but they wouldn't find anyone as they had already left.
-Shirou Emiya-
Shirou scolded himself for doing something so stupid. He was currently overlooking the Mantel Police Station which he'd just stolen evidence from. In his hand sat the ritual knife used by the Cult of the Grimm Goddess to kill their newest victim. A young faunus teen.
Shirou didn't need the knife though. With just a glance through the window he had the entire knife's history and the location of the Mantel Chapter. He didn't need the weapon itself so why did he take it?
Shirou wasn't sure. He just moved on autopilot after seeing that teen's death.
No that wasn't true, Shirou knew exactly why he took the blade. Shirou saw what had happened to the teen, the promise, the minutes before, the young woman, and finally the terror as the knife fell. The method reminded him of someone.
It reminded him of-
-"Fufufu, oh Emiya Shirou~ How so very delicious of you to show up~" A busty woman wearing a risque nun uniform purred-
-her.
Shirou couldn't allow this woman to live. If she was anything like her then she had to die. He looked at the knife again and squeezed the handle. Shirou supposed this would be karmic justice. The very knife that she used to kill her victim returned to take her own life.
Yeah, that would do.
-James Ironwood-
James sighed deeply as he stared at the holographic table no longer showing the footage of the cargo bay of Cordovin's airship. Instead it now showed a map of Mantel which had spots highlighted where the cult's base in Mantel could be. James himself suspected it was likely in the crater Atlas rose from but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Though on the subject of Cordovin, her immediate recommendation was to allow her to find the intruder. James immediately shut down that idea and had to explain to her how things had gone with Mantel. She wasn't happy about it but understood the importance of not aggravating the division between Atlas and Mantel. James had told her the situation was out of their hands and to an extent he had not lied.
James could send a team of specialists down, he did have a team ready, but he wasn't positive if he should. One wrong move from the team and the Wildcard's presence wouldn't be the only issue James would be dealing with. He needed help.
"Sir?" The voice of his secretary squeaked through the speaker on his desk.
James pressed a button on his holographic desk to connect the call to it, "Yes, Miss Jamel?" he answered.
"Miss Fria is here and uhh-."
"Go ahead and send her in-" James was cut off as his door opened. An older woman marched through the door, a modified Atlas combat uniform adorned her form with patch on her shoulder of an artistic rendition of a mountain tipped with a snowflake. Suddenly James was reminded of the fact that the Winter Maiden wasn't someone who liked to wait, "Nevermind Miss Jamel." The line cut as James turned to greet his guest.
"James, what am I here for? And I swear to the Brothers if you only called me up here to check on me, I will not be blamed for what I do to you." Fria says, her arms folded and her brow furrowed.
"No, Fria I did send for you to check up on you. I'm fully aware you can take care of yourself, I only worry for how much longer." As if to back up his words, a small tremor began in Fria's arm. She glared at it accusingly before looking back to Ironwood.
James sighed, "I need advice on what I should do."
"So you need my experience then?" James nodded, "Alright, what is it you need?"
"You remember me telling you about our Wildcard, correct?" At Fria's nod James continued, "I've just found out that he has finally made it to Mantel and I'm worried about the aftermath."
"Let me guess you're worried about the friction between Atlas and Mantel?" James nodded, Fria was quiet for a moment, "Personally I would go down there myself and sort this nonsense out, I'm aware that's not something you want so the only thing I can tell you is to try and get ahead of whatever effects this man's actions will have as its become obvious they do not care about them."
"Yes, that is what I'm most worried about. With all the tension between us and Mantel I don't think I'll be able to pull off something similar to Leo." James said.
"Yes, but I admit Mistral is far more put together. You'd think a kingdom so divided would have such flimsy walls but ironically enough it's that very division that keeps Mistral the height of commerce that it is." James nodded at Fria's words. It lined with his own thoughts but even though he had been at this for the last four years he still felt the need to fact check.
"I need eyes down there." James finally decides, "Thank you Fria, you've been a great help tonight."
Fria simply nodded, "Don't hesitate to ask for my help, James." With that the Winter Maiden walked out of the Headmaster's office.
James pulled out his scroll and began scrolling through his specialists. He picked out a specific group of four individuals and put them all on a conference call. Jame wanted this done as discreetly as possible and as quickly as possible. The only team he could think of that could accomplish that were his Ace Operatives.
James only hoped this didn't blow up in his face.
Don't have much to say about this chapter as this one is more of a set up chapter for the next. The Happy Huntresses dive into a conspiracy and learn more than they thought while James tries to figure out what to do and comes to conclusion, thanks to Fria, that he needs to send someone down to try and mitigate any damage. I'm hoping to get a very long chapter out for the next one but I have a feeling I'll disappoint myself but besides that I would like to know how the chapter was and if anything was off. Well until next time everyone.
-OtherwiseR00K