Coco unleashed another hail of bullets from her minigun into a small pack of charging beowulfs, shredding through them with ease. The dust-enhanced lead caught fire upon contact with their flesh, leaving gaping, burning holes that soon expanded and turned the beasts to ash as they ran… until suddenly the spinning barrel of the gun failed to produce anything at all. With one last annoyed pull of the trigger, Coco fruitlessly spun the barrel once again before dropping the weapon down to the snow-covered grass and running forward. The huntress let out an impassioned cry as the last beowulf leapt for her ad she and threw out a haymaker, crashing her fist into the side of the beast's opening jaw. A sickening crack rang out as she shattered the bone entirely, sending the midair beast careening off to one side to roll across the ground before bursting into a plume of ash.
"Holy shit," Neptune remarked from a few feet away, where he had stopped to stare at his partner. "How… just how…?"
"Caffeine," Coco answered nonchalantly as she shook out her hand and stooped to pick up her gun once again. "I drank a lot of coffee before coming down here. For the next hour or so, I might as well have pneumatic pistons for limbs. All good."
Neptune paused to watch as Coco unslung the large backpack from her shoulders down into the snow and opened it, revealing several folded belts of ammunition inside. A few dust crystals were secured by little straps inside, as well as a few bottles of dark liquid that the boy didn't immediately recognize.
"…what are those?" Neptune asked, pointing to the bottles as Coco took out a belt of ammo and knelt down to begin feeding it into her weapon.
"Hm? Oh, cold brew," Coco replied as she looked up at the boy.
Neptune couldn't help but smirk as Coco slammed the gun shut once again and stood up, hefting the weapon with ease. She closed the backpack and secured it around her shoulders once again, looking every bit ready to get back into the fight. The entire display, along with her attitude, gave Neptune a thought he hadn't considered before- she was perhaps the hottest thing he'd ever seen.
It was a thought he definitely planned to keep to himself.
"Of course it is," Neptune agreed as he did a quick turn and looked at the area around them. Charred trees, swirling ash and snow, and an overall feeling of dread were the only things in the area. Brief flashes of gunfire and the occasional explosion from elsewhere in the park broke up the foreboding silence, but the grimm seemed to have been effectively thinned out from the immediate area. "What next?"
"Good question," Coco acknowledged as she cracked her neck to one side. "I say we keep pushing to the perimeter of the park and scout out any potential threats nearby. Maybe climb through a tall building to be able to see what's around us."
"Sounds good to me," Neptune agreed. "Let's get going, then. And, uh, Coco?"
"Hm?" the huntress asked as she began to march forward through the light snow.
"…glad I got paired up with you. You definitely earned your status at Beacon," Neptune praised as he moved to follow along.
Coco let out a little laugh, looking to be in better spirits than she had been in days.
"Damned right I did. Let's move."
Cardin took a moment to himself, pausing in the middle of the battlefield as he kept a death grip upon his oversized mace. The fragments of his armor that had been fused into his chest ached in the cold and made it painful to swing his weapon, but he wasn't about to stop or complain. Despite the relative silence of the area around him out in the park, there were still grimm to kill. There was still more to do.
He could still see the faces of his former teammates every time he closed his eyes.
"Immediate area clear," came a sudden feminine voice in the young huntsman's earpiece. It was a familiar voice, and one he hadn't expected to ever hear again before making the sudden journey to Atlas. "Coming your way."
Cardin looked up just in time to see a figure wreathed in green energy flying across the darkened sky. Penny came in hot, braking suddenly in midair and lowering herself down into the snow before Cardin, the emerald jets from her boots making a wide circle in the snow as she touched down.
"Greetings, Cardin Winchester."
"…hey," the boy said somewhat breathlessly, a little hiss in his tone as he found it a bit difficult to breathe. "What's our next move? The Academy kids on the ground yet?"
"You are still an 'Academy kid'," Penny reminded, a bit more sass in her tone than Cardin was used to. "Additionally- yes. The full military force is still in the process of deploying, but the majority are now on the ground. You do not seem well."
"I'm fine," Cardin snapped. "Let's press forward. We don't have any direct orders, s-"
"There is nowhere nearby to press," Penny interrupted. "You are not fine. I believe you have never been fine. We are alone now, Cardin, and everyone around me seems to be keeping secrets, holding in their problems, and complicating things by keeping to themselves. You may speak to me confidentially. Seize this opportunity while we still have it."
Cardin let out a snort and let the head of his mace crash down into the snow to relieve himself of the burden.
"What are you, my therapist? Penny, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern or whatever, but we need to get moving. We need t-"
"We do not, and that is my point," Penny insisted again. "Your apology is even more suspicious. You are outputting more carbon dioxide than would be normal for someone of your build, your stance in battle is typical of one compensating for pain, and your speech patterns have changed significantly. I expect that you are wracked by guilt and physical trauma. Is part of this about Jaune?"
"Jaune?" Cardin asked, taken aback as he scanned the horizon for something, anything that could be considered a threat to help get him out of the situation. "What? I haven't even thought about Jaune in… we didn't really talk while he was here at all. Maybe I should have made more of an effort, but… what's going on right now has nothing to do with that. That feels like a lifetime ago, Penny. I can… I can fix it when this is all over."
"For me, it was a lifetime ago," Penny agreed. "As was the entire era in which you were unpleasant to everyone at Beacon. That is why I am offering a proverbial olive branch now and showing concern. We are partners. You are not well. Do you need to fall back?"
Cardin let out a weary sigh, his breath manifesting as a large, translucent cloud in the cold of the park.
"…Penny. I appreciate it, but I'm good. Just stop asking questions, get your head… or your servos, or whatever in the game, and let's find something to do. I'm hurting, yeah, but it's not a big deal. I can still fight. I'm… I'm not about to give up over some old wounds. I won't stop until I can't move. If that happens… you can carry me back to base. Alright?"
Penny raised a brow, looking unimpressed by the declaration.
"…if that is what you wish. As for Jaune, I can put you in contact w-"
"Forget about Jaune," Cardin snapped. "I'll… maybe later, alright? Things have changed. I doubt he's even thinking about the old days anymore. And as for you, I'm sorry for whatever I may have said or done at Beacon that might have made your life harder. That's not who I am anymore."
"I am aware," Penny agreed. "I can tell. Many people here have changed significantly. Some for the better, others for worse. Shall I give you a lift to find our next target?"
Cardin paused for a moment, thinking the offer over. While he could go for getting off his feet… the indignity of being carried while he could still walk was just too much to bear.
"…no. Take to the air and find us something to kill. W-"
"Everyone in the initial drop squad, return to base!" came a call from Marrow through Cardin's earpiece. "We've got a situation! Goliaths incoming!"
Cardin and Penny exchanged a brief look before the android sprouted an array of thrusters from her back.
"Cardin Winchester, it will be much faster if you allow m-"
"I know, I know!" Cardin agreed as he hefted his mace once again and offered Penny a hand. "Fly me!"
"As you wish," Penny acknowledged. With a firm grip, she seized Cardin's hand and began to hover, the noise of her thrusters breaking the silence of the park as she gained elevation. "Hold on tight! Here we go!"
Without another word, the girl took off in the direction of the base camp, soaring over the park while Cardin kept a firm grip around her wrist.
"36!" Elm called proudly as she watched a smaller grimm explode from one of her rockets. The woman lowered the launcher from her shoulder and quickly converted it back into hammer form, looking smugly at her companion. "And you?"
Marrow lowered his fingers from his earpiece and looked over at Elm, not nearly in as good of a mood.
"…gonna be honest, I lost count a while ago. Let's just say you win. This is about to get serious," the faunus warned as he used a pair of binoculars to eye up the pack of elephantine grimm that was rapidly approaching from outside the park. "We just started setting up our main operating base. We can't afford to let it get trampled."
"I hear you," Elm agreed as she looked up to see another airship dropping off Atlas Academy students. "Any word from the crew at Aurora's Cradle?"
"Not since they left," Marrow lamented as he did a quick check of his assault rifle. "They won't be headed here, anyway. This is all us. I'm ready. Are you?"
"Always," Elm reassured. "Marrow, you don't sound like yourself right now. You good?"
Marrow flicked his gaze over to Elm for a brief moment before returning it to the goliaths. They were far enough out that they could be intercepted by a force of decent size before reaching the camp, but the Atlesian forces would need to act with haste.
"…I don't know. I think… the burden of leading just hit me all at once. I'll be okay. Let's just get moving. Please don't worry about me, I'll b-"
Elm, however, wasn't listening to him as he spoke. Instead, she was activating her own earpiece, patching Marrow in on a call.
"Hello? You there?"
"I'm here," came Weiss' reply. "Are you safe?"
Marrow blinked in surprise as Elm gave him a meaningful look, and he offered her a nod.
"…we're safe. Just… checking in. Most of the park is clean, but we've got big grimm incoming. Can we get a drop of stone dust? We can probably handle them without it, but being able to put up some extra walls would make this a lot easier."
"Of course, I'll send a drone," came Weiss' reply. "Don't strain yourself, Marrow… and call whenever you can. I love you."
"I love you, too," Marrow echoed. "And I won't. Thanks for the assist. See you soon, I hope."
The call disconnected and Marrow heaved a sigh while he gave Elm a guilty look.
"…thanks for that. We didn't really need anything, but…"
"You did," Elm finished. "I could tell. Sometimes all it takes is one voice of reassurance. I have your back, Marrow, like you've always had mine. Even when I kept trying to push you away."
"It's cool. We all get moody from time to time," Marrow reassured. "But we can talk about this more later on. For now, we've got a job to do."
"We do," Elm agreed. "Lead on, Marrow. No one else I'd rather be following."
Marrow let out a small chuckle before signaling for them to move.
"Let's go."
Author's Note:
Next time- a check-in with a pair that hasn't had a new development in quite a while…
-RD