148

Chapter 148:

"What's the plan?" asked Yang, before turning and dispatching a Beowolf with an uppercut.

"We need to get everyone off the Coliseum first," said Jaune, protecting a couple of children by holding an Ursa at bay with his shield, before running it through.

"But where do we send them?" asked Pyrrha, looking around. "The Grimm have emerged in several locations throughout the Kingdom. It's making establishing a secure perimeter impossible."

"We can't be sure which shelters are compromised," added Weiss.

"What about Beacon?" asked Blake.

"Let me check..." said Ren, already pulling out his scroll.

Thinking things over for a second, Ren paused to gun down a charging Creep, before calling Glynda.

"Mr. Ren...?" Glynda sounded a bit surprised. "What's going on?"

"Professor, do you have any word of the status of Beacon's campus?" asked Ren. "Have there been any Grimm incursions?"

"None so far," announced Glynda. "However, there are reports of increasing contacts approaching through the Emerald Forest. So it seems that quite a few are on their way."

"Do you believe we could evacuate the attendees in the Coliseum there?" asked Ren.

"That wouldn't be too difficult," said Glynda. "The faculty and students on-site should be up to holding the line. But the problem is the rest of the Kingdom."

"Does Professor Ozpin have any advice?" asked Ren.

Glynda was silent for a moment. "Ozpin is...preoccupied. I do not believe he is able to come up with anything at the present."

"I see..." Ren frowned. Considering what had just happened this evening, he could understand. Even if it was the furthest thing from helpful, given their current situation, he couldn't exactly blame Ozpin for being utterly incapacitated, after having so much that he had worked to keep secret broadcast to the entire world.

In the end, even everything he told us about Salem amounted to a mere portion of the truth, thought Ren, feeling a twinge of frustration. There was no question that it was maddening that Ozpin had kept so much from them, and important details at that. But, at the same time, much of that story had clearly been deeply personal to him.

What would it be like...to love someone, only for them to become your worst enemy? wondered Ren.

"Ren...?"

Glancing down, Ren saw that Nora was watching him worriedly. Unbidden, his mind flashed back to the story Jinn had told. Briefly, he imagined himself and Nora in Ozpin and Salem's place. He could scarcely even imagine such a bitter conflict between himself and the girl he loved. Just the mere notion was almost unbearably painful. Ozpin not only had to go through that, but repeatedly, both him and Salem locked into a conflict that seemed destined to be dragged out into perpetuity.

I can't fault him for not wanting to speak of that.

However, ruminating on such matters was not productive. What they needed now was a definitive plan of action. Getting the evacuees out of the coliseum, and to Beacon, was a start. But they needed a plan for the rest of the Kingdom, before it was overrun.

It was then that he noticed a different group of people heading for the exits. Sasame was leading Ruby's friends from the Mibu, along with Maria and Oscar, towards one of the exits, though Natsuki was not with them. Sasame, Setsuna, and Oscar were taking down any Grimm that came their way, as well as helping guide anyone who needed assistance, Sasame and Miyu treating the injured as they went.

"Let's meet up with them," said Ren to the others, gesturing to Sasame's group. "Whatever else, we have to get people out of the coliseum first. Then we can come up with something."

"Right!" shouted the others. They went to work cutting a swath through the Grimm.

Meeting up with Sasame's group, they worked together to continue securing a way for civilians to reach the landing pads for the airships, which were ferrying people down as fast as they were able. In the distance, Ren could see Nevermores and Griffons swarming over the skies of Vale. He could see the outlines of four warships, and the flash of their weapons.

Wait! Ironwood only brought three warships! What's the fourth one? In response to his unspoken question, Ren saw the fourth airship, somewhat smaller than the other three, fire upon one of the other three, its shots blowing holes in the hull of one of them. The Atlesian warship listed to the side, and began to fall to earth. It's an enemy!

Grimm were swarming about the four airships. However, their behavior around the smaller one was distinctly different from how they responded to the other three...or two now. The ones around the smaller warship were flying in circling patterns, one occasionally darting up to intercept an incoming shot with its body, sacrificing itself to protect the enemy vessel.

The conflict was too distant for Ren to really get an idea of what to do. Besides, that was a distant concern at the moment. They'd managed to clear out the spectator seating. All the Huntsmen and students in attendance at the coliseum were now guarding the air-docks, along with several squads of Knights that had been deployed throughout the building. However, the Grimm continued to surge out through the doorways, throwing themselves at the frightened people with wild abandon. The only upside to that was that their eager rush to get at the frightened civilians left them with little concern for their own protection, which was allowing the defenders to cut them down easily.

"This is weird," said Jaune, slashing down one.

"I agree," said Ren.

"I could understand if they were attacking from the outside," said Pyrrha, picking off monsters with well-placed shots from her rifle. "But this...it's almost as though they're coming from within the coliseum itself."

"No 'almost' about it," declared Weiss, sending a barrage of fiery Dust-bolts ripping through a crowd of approaching Grimm. "They are coming from somewhere inside the coliseum."

"How does that even work?" asked Yang incredulously. "Grimm don't just pop out of nowhere...do they?"

"They have to be coming from somewhere," commented Blake, firing off shots from her pistol. "We just need to figure out where."

"That ain't gonna be easy," said Nora, plugging away with her grenade launcher.

"We'll worry about it once the civilians are safe," Jaune decided.

"Agreed," said Ren.

Beside them, Setsuna and Oscar were fighting as well, the two boys using their kama to cut down swaths of Grimm. At one point, Setsuna fell back a pace, lowering his weapons slightly, Oscar moving to keep him covered. A flickering wave of black washed out from Setsuna. A second later, the Grimm in two circular sections in front of them were crushed down flat. As they dissolved, Oscar stepped forward, throwing one of his kama, the weapon scything down the wave of Grimm that followed.

Abruptly, the coliseum lurched violently, the entire floating structure tipping. Horrified, Jaune looked over, already preparing to leap to the assistance of anyone who looked like they might be about to fall. Someone had brought down the security field around Amity. While that had allowed the students to call in their rocket lockers, it also meant that the forcefields that protected people from pitching over the edge of the walkways suspended over empty space were nonfunctional too.

However, he was instead treated to the sight of an airship lifting off with the last load of civilian passengers, a few students even perched on top of it to make sure that any flying Grimm wouldn't reach it before it got to the safety of Beacon. Maria had also been on that airship, having assured the group that they didn't need an old crone like her around, slowing them down.

"Thank God," Jaune breathed.

"What the heck was that?" asked Nora, looking around worriedly.

Amity rocked again. This time, the motion was accompanied by a noise that they'd all come to be all too familiar with, the roaring boom of thunder.

"Sounds like the fight between Ruby and Adam is heating up," said Yang, pumping her arms to launch bolt after bolt into the crowd of Grimm, which continued to boil out from within the coliseum.

"They'll bring the entire thing down at this rate," commented Weiss.

"As long as the civilians aren't caught up in it, that's fine," said Pyrrha.

"We've still gotta figure out where these Grimm are coming from!" shouted Oscar, straining to be heard over the chorus of roars and howls.

Then another sound made itself heard over the cacophony. This wasn't thunder, or the roars of monsters. Instead, it was a low rumble, an ominous sound that sent chills down their spines. Looking down, Jaune found his eyes widening as he saw waves spreading across the bay around Vale, almost like ripples from a thrown stone. That implied that this sound was the product of some kind of earthborn vibration. Now what?

From the way the ripples were spreading, it looked as though the source of the vibration was from somewhere to the south. Suddenly, Jaune had an uneasy premonition. Lifting his eyes, he found himself staring at the top of a distant mountain, which was now illuminated by the flash of explosions across its peak. "Hey Ren...is that mountain...?"

"Mount Glenn," said Ren, getting a similar sinking feeling in his gut.

"Answer me, Ozpin!" shouted Ironwood, holding Beacon's Headmaster up by his jacket. "Why did you lie to us!?"

Ozpin had no response. His spectacles had fallen to the floor of the skybox, his eyes staring blankly off into space, tears still running down his cheeks.

"How many lives have you thrown away...all for nothing?" demanded Ironwood, shaking Ozpin.

Qrow looked on, torn between two extremes of feeling. On one hand, he wanted to stop Ironwood. On the other hand, he wanted slug Ozpin himself. He'd put everything he had into helping Ozpin's plans. He'd put so much on the line for the man, always driven by the unwavering belief that the Wizard knew best. But now, Jinn's revelations had completely changed everything.

It was all for nothing, thought Qrow. Salem can't be killed, not by us. And the only ones who might be able to kill her are held in check by someone worse than her. We were all just pawns to him; not just me, but Raven, Tai, and Summer. The revelation hit him like a hammer-blow. Summer died...for nothing. It was hopeless from the beginning.

Then it hit him again. If he and the rest of STRQ had been mere pawns, then what about RASP and RYNB? What about Ruby and Yang? Qrow's stomach twisted inside of him, a bitter question hitting him like a truck. Was Tai right all along?

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Glynda's roar completely jolted the two men out of their angry reveries. Ironwood and Qrow both turned to look at her. Glynda glared furiously at them, flexing her riding crop between her hands. "This is neither the time nor place for this," she said firmly. "Unless you two haven't noticed, Beacon and Vale are under attack. We have Grimm running rampant inside the coliseum. We can worry about things like that after we deal with the situation at hand. Now...are you going to continue throwing tantrums, or are the two of you going to do your goddamn jobs?"

Qrow grunted, then shook his head, sighing tiredly.

"Glynda...?" Ironwood stared at her incredulously. "How can you not be angry after-?"

"Oh, I'm furious, James," said Glynda, the leather of her weapon creaking in her grip. "But, I'm going to at least channel that anger in a positive direction. We have things that need to be done, then we can worry about more existential matters. Save Vale now, worry about Salem herself later.

"James, you need to start directing your forces. Qrow, I'm going to need you to get down to the city and start clearing out Grimm there. We'll need to establish a perimeter, and open up a safe space for the people."

Ironwood stared at Glynda's eyes for a second, before dropping Ozpin, who sank limply to his knees, still staring off into space. Bringing his fingers to his earpiece, Ironwood contacted his command staff. "Status report..."

Glynda opened up her scroll, going over to Qrow, so the two could confer on where to establish the safe-zone in Vale. However, they were cut off by Ironwood's shout. "WHAT?!"

"What's going on?" asked Qrow, looking up at Ironwood, who turned to regard them, his face ashen.

"An unknown warship ambushed my ships," said Ironwood, sounding as though he could scarcely believe what he was saying. "Not only that, but the Grimm are actually fighting alongside it. One of our ships is down already. The others are taking serious damage."

"It's gotta be one of Salem's people," said Qrow. "Didn't figure them to have a warship, of all things."

"Something needs to be done," said Ironwood. "With the pressure on my air-force, they can't reinforce our people on the ground. Worse, if my ships go down, and the enemy airship is still aloft..."

"They could start bombarding the city," said Glynda, her eyes widening.

"We've got to take the enemy vessel down," said Ironwood.

Qrow closed his eyes for a second. "Leave it to me," he said.

"Are you sure?" asked Glynda.

Qrow gave her a wan smile. "Hey, getting into places I shouldn't be is my speciality," he pointed out. "I'll nip over there and take out that sucker from the inside."

"It's probably our best option at the moment," conceded Ironwood.

Glynda opened her mouth to speak, only for what she was about to say to die on her lips. Sweeping her riding crop through the air, she seized Ironwood, Qrow, and Ozpin in the grip of her telekinesis, pulling them over to her. She was just in time too. A flash of red blinded her for a second, then a crescent-shaped wave strobed through the skybox, cleaving straight through the reinforced alloys that made up the floor and ceiling. Her eyes hadn't even been able to follow the phenomenon. Instead, her years of experience as a Huntress had allowed her cultivated instincts to sense the incoming danger. Only that way had she been able to pull her friends out of the way, before they were cut down by the impossibly fast blow.

"What was-?" Ironwood began to ask, as he pushed himself back to his feet. However, he was cut off by a deafening clap of thunder, a bolt of lightning streaking down into the ring, the sound of its arrival enough to shatter more of the already-broken windows. The entire arena lurched violently.

"Damn! Ruby is getting serious down there," said Qrow, flicking his eyes down towards the ring. He couldn't see what was happening from this angle, but his heart shuddered at the thought of Ruby fighting against Adam Taurus...again, especially given how it seemed the guy had powered up something fierce since last time.

"Qrow! Go!" shouted Glynda. "Leave Ruby to her own fight!"

Qrow wasn't happy at that, but he nodded all the same. Turning, he took a running leap out the broken window of the skybox. He dropped out of sight. A second later, the black form of a crow flew up, winging its way out of the arena, and heading towards Vale.

A second later, the coliseum rocked violently again, this time from a trio of explosions. Glancing out, Glynda's jaw dropped as she saw a maelstrom of elemental energy swirling around a section of the spectator seating. The Maidens are fighting! she realized.

"I'm going to Vale," declared Ironwood, heading towards the exit of the skybox. "I'll take command of all military resources and establish a perimeter."

"Understood," said Glynda. "I'll start directing the Huntsmen and students to help you."

Ironwood nodded to her, then left. Now Glynda was alone with Ozpin. Turning, she regarded the man she'd worked with for so many years now. Taking a deep breath, she let out a tired sigh, walking over and kneeling in front of the nearly catatonic man. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears.

"Ozpin," said Glynda, her voice soft. "Come back to us, Ozpin."

Ozpin stared into space for a second longer, his eyes meeting hers, but not actually seeing her. Then he jolted slightly. "Glynda...?" he said, looking at her with an expression that was haunted...and lost.

In that moment, Glynda could see it, the weight of all those years, all those lifetimes, the impossible task he'd been given, the task he couldn't run away from, no matter how hard he tried. For centuries, if not millennia, all he'd been able to do was hold the line, to continuously push Salem back, fix what she broke, and then watch as she broke what he built all over again.

"I imagine you can't forgive me either," said Ozpin, the despair in his voice heart-wrenching for her to hear. "In the end, no matter how much changes, nothing ever really changes."

Glynda sighed again, then hardened her expression. Raising her hand, she slapped Ozpin across the face. His head snapped to the side, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I don't have time for your moping," said Glynda, using the same strict tone she used with her students. "What the Lamp revealed doesn't matter. Right now, we've got a job to do. We still need you."

Ozpin reached up, gently rubbing the reddened section of his cheek. A wry smile formed on his face. "You're taking this awfully well," he noted.

Glynda returned his smile. "I've spent most of my life cleaning up your messes by now," she said simply. "What's one more?"

Ozpin chuckled at that.

"We need to figure out what to do," said Glynda. "Grimm have appeared throughout the Kingdom. Kyo is gone. The Coliseum is evacuated, but we need to do something about Vale itself. Ironwood's forces are struggling against an enemy vessel."

"I see," said Ozpin, frowning. "Quite the difficult situation."

A low rumbling sound reached their ears, one that hadn't come from within the coliseum. They both flinched, their gazes meeting once more as they processed what they'd just heard. It was a sound they'd been dreading for years, ever since the failure of Mountain Glenn.

"Oh no..." Glynda whispered.

Mount Glenn...When the expeditionary planners from Vale had picked out the location of the extension, they had settled on the base of that mountain. With it at their backs, they would have a nice, defensible location from which to build their settlement. Thus, they had named the new extension Mountain Glenn, after the mountain itself, which they had looked upon as a mighty sentinel, standing guard over the new hope of their Kingdom. When the settlement had fallen, the mountain had changed in the view of the people. Instead of a guardian, it now stood over the ruined settlement like an ominous tombstone.

However, almost no one knew the truth. Had they, they might have realized that Mount Glenn had never been a guardian. Indeed, it would have been better to label it a portent of disaster. For within the mountain slumbered the very reason the settlement at its base had fallen. The Grimm that had besieged Mountain Glenn had been drawn by that which slept within the mountain, even more than any number of human feelings. Worse still, within the caverns that honeycombed the land beneath that monolith, slumbered its brood.

The settlement had fallen, its people overrun and devoured. Ever since then, Mount Glenn had stood as it had before, silent and still. But now that had changed. The angry light of multiple explosions bloomed out across the peak. The explosions opened up cracks and crevasses amongst the stone. From within the darkness revealed by the newly-opened crevasses, something red gleamed like an angry flame. The next rumble was accompanied by another sound, higher-pitched, yet still guttural, a snarl.

A final tremor rocked the mountaintop. Then, with a screeching roar, the entire peak shattered, revealing the source of that terrifying sound. Vast, bat-like wings spread outward, tossing fragments of stone away. Their blood-red membranes stretched, seeming to encompass the entire sky. A white-masked, draconic head rose up, crowned with backwards-sloping horns. Three sets of angry eyes, set along the line of its snout, narrowed as it regarded the Kingdom.

Rising up on its hind legs, the beast displayed a chest lined with visible ribs, their white standing out starkly against the black mass of its body. It arched its back, displaying the row of curved spines that ran along its backbone, with additional spikes protruding from its shoulders. Here and there, its black skin was dotted with smaller plates of bone-armor, like scales. The tail that lashed behind it forked near the end, splitting into three, with each tip sporting another curved spike.

The beast shook its head, casting aside still more stones that had lodged amongst its plates. Jerking its head about, it surveyed the region around it, before lifting its muzzle up to the heavens, revealing its most prominent, and disturbing, feature, spreading wide jaws, which opened past where they should have, revealing that the Grimm's mouth stretched along its neck, nearly all the way down its shoulders, letting out a shrieking roar.

Pushing off, the Wyvern executed a mighty downward stroke of its wings. Though those blood-colored membranes were tattered, even sporting a few holes, they still somehow managed to catch the air, lifting the beast's massive body as it swooped down, then rose up, its flight carrying it over the walls of Vale, its triumphant shriek echoing through the skies.

As it swept over the perimeter walls, the batteries lining them, as well as the soldiers stationed there, opened fire. Dust-bolts roared and crackled upward, riddling the beast's body with countless shots. However, where those shots hit, black ooze splashed out, any signs of impact disappearing almost immediately. The tar-like liquid that had blown off descended from above like a black rain. They splattered onto the ground, running together to form puddles.

From within those puddles, new forms rose up. The soldiers manning the wall looked around, horrified as they saw Ursai, Beowolves, and Creeps rise up all around them. The beasts wasted no time throwing themselves at their new prey. Gunshots, roars, and screams mingled together in an unholy chorus, while the Wyvern flew on, still more ooze dripping off its form, fresh packs of Grimm rising up all along its flight path.

"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse," muttered Yang, glaring out at the Wyvern, as it began to circle over Vale, more black liquid dripping off its body. It was hard to see from their position, but Yang caught a glimpse of that black substance pooling on the ground, and then... "Is that thing spawning more Grimm?"

She had to pause to uppercut a lunging Ursa to death.

Jaune paused, holding a snarling Beowolf at bay with his shield to look for himself. When he did, his eyes widened. "Wait! That liquid!"

"It spawns Grimm, of course!" declared Weiss, running one of the attacking monsters through with her rapier. "As if that thing's size wasn't bad enough."

"No!" protested Jaune. "If that liquid spawns Grimm, then what if..."

Ren was the first one to catch on. "What if some of that liquid was deposited inside the coliseum?" he guessed.

"Are you kidding me!?" exclaimed Yang, before unleashing a furious barrage of punches to take out her current opponent. "You mean that somebody basically brought in a Bottle of Instant Grimm and poured it out in the coliseum somewhere?"

"Not just here," said Blake, whipping her sickle about on the end of its ribbon. "Someone must have seeded more of that stuff in Vale. That's where those swarms came from."

"Then we need to find that stuff and deal with it," said Pyrrha.

"We're gonna have to fight our way through these guys," Nora pointed out, glaring at the Grimm that continued to swarm out from the exits.

"Then let's get to it," declared Oscar, bringing his kama together and brandishing the double-headed scythe they formed.

"In that case, please allow me..." said Sasame, stepping ahead of the group. Now that the civilians were away and out of danger, she was free to focus entirely upon the Grimm.

The air around her began to buzz, her tail dividing into nine, the appendages weaving through the air behind her. Her fingers curled tightly into fists. Then, with the sound of straining metal, she pushed off, her step actually leaving an impression of her foot in the alloyed plates she'd been standing on. Sasame flew towards the mass of Grimm like a missile, hitting them with destructive force that matched one. Their bodies practically exploded on contact with her fists, while others ran afoul of her tails, which whipped around her like heavy flails, snapping spines and crushing ribcages.

"Go!" shouted Ren, immediately following after her. The rest joined him, charging in Sasame's wake, using their own weapons to take down the Grimm out of her immediate reach, thinning their numbers further. Sasame pushed into one of the exits, but the Grimm were still emerging from other ones, now closing in from behind and surrounding them.

Setsuna and Oscar turned back, the two boys wielding their kama deftly, cutting down the Grimm that tried to catch the group from behind. Ren assisted them, dropping more Grimm with deft bursts of shots from his pistols. Blake shored up the group even further, moving to stand beside the boys, using Gambol Shroud in its katana-form, while simultaneously using its rectangular, cleaver-like sheath in her left hand. Together, the four of them kept the Grimm from overrunning them from behind.

Sasame's charge led the group into one of the coliseum's atrium sections, her momentum petering out, now that the Grimm were no longer coming from directly ahead, but now from the sides.

"Which way?" asked Yang, snapping her head around, trying to figure out how they could determine the location of the source.

"I'm thinking that way," said Jaune, pointing to the left of where they'd entered. "The Grimm are a lot heavier that way."

True to his words, there were nearly twice as many Grimm coming from their left as their right. Granted, the coliseum was a giant set of rings, all stacked on top of each other, so they could have worked their way around from the other direction, and still ended up in the right place, presumably. But the shorter the route, the sooner they could get this mess cleaned up.

"Then let's open it up," said Yang, smacking her gauntlets together. Her eyes turned bright-red, and her hair began to glow with a golden shine, bright motes drifting up off it.

"I'm with you!" agreed Nora, hefting her hammer with a grin.

"I have an idea," said Weiss, moving to flank Nora with a smirk. "Remember our first sparring match?"

Nora's eyes widened, as did her grin. "Oh...yeah!"

Weiss lightly jabbed Myrtenaster's tip between Nora's shoulder blades, its chambers rotating. Pulling the trigger, Weiss sent a stream of yellow electricity running down the sword's length, and straight into Nora's body. The yellow color of the lightning changed into purple, and was absorbed into Nora's skin, a pink shine beginning to outline her body.

"We can still do better," declared Miyu, gliding up behind Nora. "Jaune-kun..."

"Gotcha," said Jaune, moving behind Yang.

Miyu braced her right arm, gripping it with her left hand around her wrist, while she rested her right hand against Nora's back, Weiss withdrawing her rapier to allow Miyu to take her place. Jaune reached out with his left hand, letting go of his shield's strap and letting it slide a little farther back along his arm, pressing his hand into Yang's back. Miyu and Jaune sent their respective Auras streaming into their chosen subjects, their Auras merging with Nora and Yang's respectively, enhancing their strength even more.

With a roar, Yang surged forward, unleashing the heaviest punch she was capable of, channeling the entirety of her Semblance and the power of Ember Celica's shotguns into the attack. Beside her, Nora did the same, the entire atrium echoing with her shout. Shockwaves of gold and pink merged together into a single, mighty blast, which obliterated the first ranks of Grimm it encountered. Their bodies did practically nothing to ablate its force. Nora and Yang's combined blows pressed onward, smashing some Grimm, scattering the rest. When it finally dissipated, it had all but completely opened up a path into the hallway beyond.

"Let's go!" shouted Pyrrha, surging ahead of the group, cutting down any stragglers that had survived the unbelievable combo attack. The others followed behind her, the group maintaining a careful formation, allowing them to hold off the Grimm trying to bring them down from behind, even as fresh reinforcements spilled out ahead of them.

Fortunately, the combo-attack had bought them some badly-needed breathing room. Even if more Grimm still appeared to replace those that had fallen, they were able to make considerable progress. As they continued, they realized they were getting closer to the source. The pressure of the Grimm behind them lessened considerably, while the numbers ahead of them thickened. They fought doggedly, pushing through. Finally, they reached a point where the hallway branched, with the branch in question running away at a right angle, leading into the arena. The Grimm were now spilling almost exclusively from this hallway.

Looking down the hallway, Jaune's eyes widened as he saw that the Grimm were merging from the remains of a doorway to one of the coliseum's maintenance hallways. The door had been ripped off its hinges, and the opening torn open wider to allow some of the larger Grimm specimens to emerge. Even now, the monsters were tearing the opening wider still, their numbers packing the smaller passageway to the point of almost becoming a single solid object.

Several hard-fought minutes later, the remaining members of RYNB, RASP, and MNPS found themselves looking at the source of the Grimm that had overrun the coliseum.

A pool of pitch-black liquid had spread over the floor of a janitor's closet. The door that had once been there had been completely shredded. The fluid now spilled out across the hallway, its surface undulating as clawed limbs reached up, finding purchase and hauling out the body of another Beowolf. Staring at the puddle, it boggled the mind to imagine how something that size could have come out of a pool of liquid that was a few millimeters deep, at best. Yet the bodies of Grimm emerged as though it were completely bottomless.

"How do we deal with this?" asked Yang, staring at the puddle in disbelief, even as Nora brought her hammer down on the rising Beowolf.

"How about fire?" suggested Weiss. Extending Myrtenaster, she sent out a jet of flame, hosing it across the liquid, which hissed, bubbled, and then emitted high-pitched keening noises, as though something living was suffering intense pain.

The flames of Weiss' weapon were enough to sear away the puddle, acrid smoke rising, leaving scorched metal in its wake. Weiss expended her entire chamber of Dust, just to make sure she burned away the entire thing. Finally, she lowered it, watching carefully. Everyone tensed, waiting for any sign that still more Grimm might emerge.

But the roars were gone. As far as the cries of the monstrous beasts were concerned, the arena was silent. However, there were still plenty of other sources of noise, namely the rumble of thunder, and the roars of explosions.

"Well, we know where those Grimm running around the Kingdom are coming from," said Jaune.

"We need to find the other pools of liquid," said Ren. "If we can take them out, we'll at least keep the Grimm from spawning more reinforcements within Vale's perimeter."

"It's pretty much a moot point though, isn't it?" asked Blake bitterly. "With Kyo gone, and the negativity all this has stirred up, there are going to be plenty more than the perimeter defenses can handle."

"We've still gotta do it," said Jaune. "If we can take out the Grimm inside the Kingdom, then we can at least carve out a protected space where the civilians can be defended."

"There's still the big one to worry about though," said Setsuna. "If that thing keeps flying around, we'll still have more Grimm appearing inside the walls."

"Let's come back to that one later," said Pyrrha.

"That being the case, Miyu-chan and I will help establish a safe-zone," said Sasame. "That way we'll have easy access to treat the wounded."

"Should I help?" asked Jaune.

Sasame looked at him and shook her head. "You've come quite far, Jaune-kun. But I think you are not quite up to this level of work yet. Instead, you should help the others deal with the more immediate threat."

"I guess I'll stay with Miyu and Sasame," said Oscar. He would've liked to go with the others, but he was definitely beginning to feel his limits. Talented or not, a year of training could only do so much, when it came to his stamina. On top of that, as strong as Sasame was, it was best if someone with combat ability stayed with the healers to look after them. As strong as she was, Sasame would be preoccupied, and her own reserves were best put to work helping the people who'd been hurt.

"Sounds like a plan for now," said Jaune. "Now let's figure out where those other pools are, and get to work."

"I'll contact Professor Goodwitch again," said Ren, pulling out his scroll. "She might have access to information that will allow us to pinpoint their locations."

"She'll also be able to hook us up with some transport," added Yang, "seeing as the airships kinda left us here."

"Let's be careful though," said Jaune. "The fact that this pool was here means that someone put it here. Salem's people are still out there. So the Grimm aren't the only things we need to worry about."

Beneath the ring that served as the center of Amity Coliseum lay the cavernous under-level. This was where the unused biomes and spare components of the arena above were kept, ready to be deployed as the need arose.

The interior wall of this space exploded inwards. The figure of Arthur Watts emerged from the freshly-opened hole in the wall, leaping backwards. He hung in empty space for a few seconds. With his present arc, he would have fallen into the yawning space between inactive biome sections. However, his foot stepped down on a hexagonal plane of blue light, the shield serving as a foothold, allowing him to jump back farther, reaching one of the spares of the inner-ring that hovered at the center of the arena.

Team CPPR and Winter were only a beat behind him, leaping out and spreading through the air, each finding their own way to bridge the gap. Winter used a Glyph to propel herself to reach the platform. Behind her, Piper directed four of her orbs, which formed an orbiting circle that her foot stepped on, then repelled off of, serving in the same manner as Watts' hard-light shield. Rain was next, his shield sliding up onto his back, its plates then splitting out and sliding along his outstretched arms and legs; the green, wind-Dust impregnated; membrane connecting them transforming his weapon into a wing-suit, easily carrying him across. Behind him were Penny and Ciel, Penny clamping her hands on Ciel's waist, six of her Floating Array moving into their jet-formation, allowing her to carry her partner across with her.

"Ah, much better," said Watts. "That room was certainly cramped."

Winter and CPPR quickly moved, Winter standing directly in front of Watts, while the students quickly spread out to surround him.

Watts smirked, holding his revolver out, keeping it trained on Winter, while he also extended his left hand out, fingers slightly bent, the rings that decorated them glowing readily. In front of him, Winter readied her saber in her right hand, as well as the shorter blade in her left hand. Abruptly, she stopped, her eyes widening as a report from Ironwood reached her through her earpiece.

"What!?" she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about the man in front of her.

"What is it?" asked Ciel worriedly.

"A Wyvern has appeared and is attacking the Kingdom," said Penny, picking up the same report through her internal communications systems. "The warships are occupied with an enemy vessel."

"My my," said Watts, chuckling dryly. "Things are progressing more quickly than I thought. I'm glad to hear that Morgan is doing her part."

Winter scowled at him. "That woman is still alive?"

"Thankfully, yes," said Watts. "She's one of the few who truly appreciates my genius."

Winter watched him warily, the gears turning in her head. Ironwood had just informed her that she needed to help establish a safe-zone in Vale for the civilians. However, there was no way she could just walk away from Arthur Watts.

"Specialist, please leave this to us," said Ciel, meeting Winter's gaze with a firm one of her own. "Do what you need to. We'll handle things here."

Again, Watts chuckled. "My my, that's quite an arrogant attitude to take, little girl. If I were you, Winter, I wouldn't trust these dull children with even the simplest of tasks."

Winter held Ciel's gaze, before rising out of her crouch, and sheathing her weapons. "Understood. I will leave it to you, Ciel. Make sure not to disappoint me." She rested a hand on Ciel's shoulder. "More importantly though, make sure you come back alive."

"Yes, Ma'am," said Ciel.

Winter turned and ran for a nearby exit.

Watts frowned. "As much as I would appreciate a reduction in the number of opponents, I cannot allow you to turn your back on me so easily, Ms. Schnee."

Raising his revolver, he took aim at Winter's retreating back. However, the shot fired by his weapon was intercepted by the shield, which detached from Rain's arm, its plates spreading to reveal the green membrane between them. The wind-Dust propelled the kite shield, allowing it to intercept Watts' shot.

Pulling deftly on the string, Rain adjusted the shield's movement, sending it swooping back towards Watts, who dodged out of the way of its edge. As he fell back, Piper rushed at his back, her fingers guiding the movements of her black orbs, which swooped around to converge on Watts from different directions. Just as they were about to make contact, three hexagonal shields appeared in the air around Watts' body, perfectly poised to intercept all eight of Piper's weapons, Watts able to calculate their trajectories to intercept them with the fewest number of shields he could deploy.

At the same time, he turned, aiming his revolver at Piper, who leaned back out of the way of a sizzling, blue-white bolt of energy that nearly took her in the chin. She dodged into a backflip, pushing off the floor with her hands, then using her fingers to direct Pulsar's orbs. Four of them swooped around to intercept the next few shots that Watts fired. However, the other four swept around behind him.

In the meantime, Rain directed his kite through a tight loop, which brought it diving down on Watts from almost directly above. The man was forced to abandon his attempts to shoot Piper, dodging to the side. One of Piper's orbs intercepted Rain's shield though, striking it in the side to alter its course, and send it chasing after Watts. With an irritated grunt, the man brought up another hard-light shield, bouncing Rain's weapon away.

However, Watts' dodge brought him right into a combined attack from Ciel and Penny. Ciel led the way, diving straight in with Gram Vajra extended, slashing her sword in from the side. Watts brought up another hard-light shield to intercept Ciel's slash. However, the blade of Ciel's sword shined white and, much to Watts' surprise, cleaved through his shield effortlessly. He was forced to block with the barrel of his revolver, grimacing as the force of Ciel's blow jolted his body.

Then Penny's swords swept in from all directions. Jumping back away from Ciel, Watts was able to disengage. Two more shields appeared, these ones deflecting a few of Penny's blades. Another one appeared beneath his upraised foot, allowing him to use it as a platform to step up over the low sweep of another of Penny's swords, before pushing off into a leap that carried him clear of her attack entirely.

Using the Interference Principle, Watts thought, his eyes narrowing as he regarded Ciel. She's more clever than she looks.

Hard-light Dust had been both developed and perfected in Atlas. In fact, said development was something that Watts had had a substantial hand in. Hard-light shields were considered the pinnacle of defensive technology. The strength of one was dependent on its efficiency and the amount of Dust used. Watts' own shield generators were easily two or three generations ahead of anything the Atlesian Military had access to, which meant that the power required to break through such a defense had to be all the greater.

However, the Interference Principle turned that logic on its head. If two hard-light fields occupied the same space, then they would cancel one another out, both shields being destroyed. However, executing that as an attack to break through one's shield required incredible timing, and an incredibly refined technology for deploying the hard-light field on the attacking end.

Her weapon is extraordinarily advanced for something being used by a student, he thought, and her timing is impeccable.

He wished he had the time to afford the luxury of pondering just where Ciel had gotten such an excellent weapon, and the training to use it so brilliantly. Unfortunately, Team CPPR clearly understood that giving a man as crafty as him time to think was an unacceptable risk, as demonstrated when Penny's swords converted into guns, and opened fire on him.

Watts brought up more shields to intercept the green bolts fired by Penny's weapons, while taking aim with his revolver and firing several shots at Ciel, who deflected them off the blade of her sword as she charged after him. At the same time, Piper and Rain closed in on him from behind. Growling in frustration, Watts brought up two more shields to intercept Piper's orbs. Then he bent his left index finger sharply downwards.

The metal surface of the ring beneath them suddenly lurched, the entire structure tilting sharply. Both Rain and Piper yelped as they were suddenly catapulted upwards, while Penny and Ciel made similar sounds as the ring abruptly dropped from beneath their feet. Aiming up, Watts fired a bolt of fire-Dust up at Piper, who'd been sent flying over his head. However, Rain launched his shield off his arm, sending it flying across to intercept the shot before it could land.

Even though his attack had been thwarted, Watts didn't waste any time making his next move. Deploying shields beneath his feet, he used them as stepping stones to reach one of the unused biome sections. The blue waters and white sands of the ocean biome that had been used for the match between NDGO and MNPS were his destination. As he dropped down on it from above, he fired another shot from his revolver, which struck the surface of the water, freezing it solid and creating a platform for him to stand on.

Team CPPR were quickly moving in pursuit. Penny used her jets to fly, while Rain transformed his weapon into its wingsuit mode, using that to carry him across. In a manner similar to the way Watts used his shields, Piper used Pulsar to create gravity fields that served as footholds for her. Ciel, on the other had, had simply executed a powerful leap, barely managing to make to the edge of the biome. Upon landing, she immediately pushed off, lunging for Watts, leading with a slash of her gauntlet-sword.

Watts jumped back, again using a shield as a platform. As he did, he took aim with his revolver, not at Ciel, but at the ice beneath her feet. A bolt of flame from the gun melted the ice, prompting Ciel to sink into water up to her shins. With a smirk, Watts rotated the chambers of his weapon, and fired another shot, this one a crackling bolt of lightning, simply aiming for the water in Ciel's vicinity.

Ciel screamed as electricity crackled through her body, her limbs spasming. In the meantime, Watts landed at the base of the beached ship that decorated the ocean biome. Up above, Rain detached his shield from his back, whipping it around on the end of its string, wrapping the string around the spar extending out from the mast. The Dust-impregnated string cut through the wood easily, severing the spar and causing it to drop towards Watts. At the same time, Piper sent Pulsar, four of the orbs moving to orbit around the extended end of the spar, tipping it downwards, while the other four gathered at the severed end, orbiting in a tight circle. The gravity field created by her weapon sent the chunk of wood flying down like a descending lance, directly towards Watts' head. However, the improvised weapon merely shattered against the hard-light shield that appeared directly above him, surrounding Watts with a rain of splinters.

Still smirking, Watts aimed his revolver down at the water again. Not far away, Penny had abandoned her attack to pull a stunned Ciel out of the water, moving her to one of the sandy islands. However, electrifying the water again wasn't Watts' intention. Instead, another bolt of fire-Dust emerged from his weapon. The water in his immediate vicinity exploded into steam.

Penny quickly moved to stand protectively over Ciel. Piper and Rain also dropped down on the island, prepared to defend, if Watts tried to take advantage of Ciel's currently vulnerable state. However, as the steam cleared they realized that Watts had vanished. The only clue to his whereabouts was the flickering image of a dissipating shield, which disappeared in the air just outside the nearby urban biome. Watts had disappeared within the miniature maze of ruined buildings that made it up.

"I'll be all right," said Ciel, already feeling her limbs coming back under her control. "Go after him. Don't let him get away."

Her friends were reluctant, especially Rain. But they moved to obey her orders all the same. Using their distinct means, they made their way across the gap to the urban Biome. There, Penny used her sensors to sweep for any sign of Watts, but found nothing. However, the fact that someone as savvy in electronic warfare as him would be able to hide from her sensors was no great surprise.

"He must want us to split up to look for him," said Rain.

"Well, he's not gonna get what he wants, right Penny?" asked Piper, grinning at Penny.

Penny grinned back, deploying her weapons in their gun-mode. They moved into the cylindrical formation that allowed her to fire her most powerful beam attack, cupping her hands around the crackling orb of emerald energy that was forming, before launching the beam into the largest of the buildings that made up the biome. She swept her beam back and forth, making sure to obliterate all the structures and destroy every last vestige of cover.

The three of them surveyed the cloud of dust that had been raised by Penny's attack and the collapsing buildings. However, when it cleared, they saw no sign of Watts.

"Was it just a misdirection?" wondered Rain, casting a worried look back towards where Ciel was recuperating, worried that Watts might have lured them to this platform, in order to give him the chance to eliminate Ciel instead.

"Let's make sure," said Penny, already moving to inspect the rubble. Piper and Rain did the same, the three of them advancing cautiously, spreading out to inspect the area.

As they moved amongst the piles of rubble, Penny heard something shift to the side of her. Suddenly, a pile of shattered masonry to her left exploded apart, eight shields moving away from one another to disperse the pile, freeing Watts from his confinement. Right as Penny had launched her attack, he'd holstered his revolver, and deployed all the shields at his disposal, completely encasing his body and protecting him from the collapsing building. And now, he lunged at Penny, both hands outstretched

Before she could even begin to counter, Penny found Watts' fingers clamping down on her face. With a hum, his rings lit up, and Penny's eyes widened as she screamed.

"Penny!" yelled Piper and Rain in unison, their shout echoed by Ciel, who was looking on in horror from the other platform.

"What did you do to her, you bastard?" shouted Piper, sending Pulsar flying at Watts.

However, the black orbs were knocked away by the swords of Penny's Floating Array. Her arms hung limp at her sides, and there was something off about Penny's movements and posture as she turned to face her teammates. For the first time in their association with her, they found her movements and behavior truly robotic. Penny faced them, her eyes no longer that cheerful shade of green, but an angry electric-yellow. Her face was vacant, devoid of expression.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," said Watts, coming to stand beside Penny. "Even though he knew that I helped to develop her code, I must say that I didn't expect Pietro to be this incompetent with her security protocols."

"Penny!" shouted Ciel, stopping at the edge of the ocean biome, not having a way to get across the gap at the moment.

"Even if you lot are mere students," commented Watts, "I still feel that four-on-one is a little unfair. To that end, I've decided to even things out. Now then...Penny...kill your friends."

Penny gave no sign that she acknowledged his orders. However, her swords moved as though they had a will of their own. Their tips oriented on Piper and Rain like compass needles, before launching at the pair like missiles.