WE NOW RETURN TO YOUR IRREGULARLY SCHEDULED REKTONING

[hider=Cobalt Chideta and Oswald Connoly- Ebbing Away] 

Missing the staff swing, the creature chuckled darkly. It's laughter was cut short as gunshots grazed its legs and diverted its attention. Stumbling from the damage, the creature whirled to stare down Cobalt and growled. Moving its pole staff to its back, it picked up the hammer head portion of its weapon by looping its fingers into some smoothed out holes as if it was some odd bowling ball. With a twisting motion, it unlocked and separated the massive chunk into two halves and shot towards Cobalt. Thanks to its feathered cloak-like hide, many of its movements would be difficult to read and confusing to look at. But deeming Cobalt to be the most severe threat at that point in time with his large firearm, it rocketed towards the Hunter in a serpentine pattern. Aiming to use its brick/hammer fist weapons to pulverize the boy. 

[b]”Make us whole again!”[/b]

The creature howled and laughed maniacally as it sprinted towards Cobalt.

As the monster began moving, Oswald gave chase. Weighed down by his assorted pieces of armor, however, he couldn’t match its rapid pace.

So he forced the situation. Appearing to the side of Cobalt once he was within range, Oswald took a step towards the creature, sword and shield ready to attack. “Aim for the legs. He’s faster than I am, and I’m not wasting Aura to constantly chase him down with my Semblance.” 

“That was the plan.” Cobalt jumped back and took aim at the Grimm’s legs once more. Or where the legs should be anyways. The weird cloak thing was making it a little hard to tell, but he got the gist of it really. Cobalt began firing on the Grimm, ready to move if it got past Oswald.

The air cracked loudly with each of Cobalt’s shots. Booming like thunder as the massive rounds broke through the sound barrier as they flew at the creature. Frighteningly agile, it narrowly dodged each shot as it moved in erratic and unpredictable patterns that would make it difficult for the Hunter to track. Made even more difficult thanks to its feathery hide concealing parts of its body. Even still, it refused to back off and continued its charge. But instead of going to Cobalt, it redirected its focus onto Oswald. Mainly, his shield.

[i]”Break the armor! Shatter the sword!”[/i]

Its body again glowing with that alien light, it closed the distance and swung hard with its hammer fists.
Aiming directly at Oswald’s shield for one reason or another.

Oswald was caught off-guard by the creature when it began to glow. It looked like it was extending its Aura outward. That was impossible, though: Grimm didn’t have Aura. 

Unable to react in time to this sudden turn of events, Oswald found himself taking the full force of the monster’s attack.

As the creature’s attack connected, an odd sensation would resonate throughout the shield and flow into Oswald’s body. The clearest indication of what was happening, was the fact that the face of Oswald’s shield seemed to take a bit more physical damage than usual. Enough to leave more than just a simple scratch and dent.

Cobalt cursed and took aim at the Grimm attacking Oswald. “Move!” Cobalt called out as he began to fire at the now stationary Grimm. Meanwhile Cobalt was thinking on this new development. [i]’What the hell is going on in this town?! Grimm don’t have Aura, yet here I have a Grimm with Aura!’[/i]

Jumping backwards in reaction to the damage to his shield, Oswald cursed. [i]Loudly[/i] “MotherFUCKER!” Snarling in anger, Oswald teleported behind the creature and unleashed a vicious stab, transforming his sword into Katar form. “Die, dammit!”

The creature stood its ground as Cobalt shot it nearly point blank. The shots clearly hit and connected, but the oddest thing about it all was that the rounds seem to ‘deflect’ off of its body. Almost like whenever Cobalt would be dueling with another Huntsman depending on their aura levels. Standing there and straight up tanking Cobalt’s attacks, the formidable foe continued its odd electronic maniacal cackle. Knowing it had angered Oswald, it predicted the Huntsmen’s next movement and turned around with a nasty right hook with the intention connecting its hammer fist with Oswald’s weapon to damage it even further. 

This time, Oswald was prepared for a counterattack. As the creature turned and unleashed a vicious punch, he snarled and pivoted his arm, swinging his sword under the beast’s hand and coming back up with a slice to its exposed arm.

The attack failed, partially due to the claw gauntlets it had on as armor and partially due to whatever invisible force was protecting it. Having missed its own swing, the momentum of it allowed the creature to whirl on the spot and follow through with another punch. This one aimed right at Oswald’s soon-to-be-maybe-not-as-pretty face.

Instead of preparing a counter-attack again, Oswald jumped backwards and to the side, a grimace on his face. “Damn thing’s too quick!” Normally, he’d have stood there and taken the hit, giving as much as he got, but even Dust rounds barely put a crack in this shield. Whatever the hell this thing was, it was capable of even more damage than that.

Cobalt noted that the bullets bounced off of the Grimm without actually touching it. [I]’That seals it. This Grimm has an aura. This is officially the worst day ever.’[/i] Cobalt ran towards the Grimm and slash at its right shoulder, hoping to create some sort of opening for Oswald. 

Laughing as it saw Cobalt rush, it smashed its hammer fists together and twisted to lock the two blocks of metal into one solid piece. Dropping the weighty hammerhead on the ground, the creature withdrew its staff and slammed it home into the hammerhead to reform it into its war hammer mode. Rearing back with the weapon, the creature intended to let Cobalt come in close so that he could pull off an upswing attack that would send the boy flying. 

Taking advantage of the creature’s maneuver, Oswald returned to its side, throwing his shield to the side and delivering another stab, this time with his remaining arm acting to block his arm from a counterattack. [i]Let’s see this thing take us both at once…[/i]

The creature had quite honestly forgotten Oswald in the moment and in that moment it blanked on what to do next. So, as Cobalt and Oswald closed in on it, it took a heavy blow from both of their strikes. No blood was drawn yet, so its protective energy was still running high. After it had taken both of their attacks head on, the creature hardly budged, it didn’t move. It just stood there for a second. The second passed and it broke out in yet another quiet snicker. The shaft of the warhammer it held slackened and broke into a sort of segmented chain. Flail mode. Now with the two of them that close, it shouldered off their weapons and swung hard. After a slight delay from dragging the head of the flail, the chain it was connected to threatened to whip around and tightly wrap around the two. The creature erupting into its energetic laugh again.

As the monster’s weapon transformed into a flail, Oswald groaned and watched where its head was. This was going to be tough; if they got caught by that thing, it was game over. 

Knowing that he couldn’t come up with a plan in the time that Cobalt could with his Semblance, Oswald reacted based on instinct: take the attack head-on to keep the heat off his team. His Aura was strong enough to survive at least a few more hits from this thing, that much he knew. 

Stepping away from Cobalt and the creature, Oswald reached out with his free hand and grabbed the chain as it passed by him, yanking it towards himself and swinging into it with his own sword.

Cobalt activated his Semblance at the moment that the creature was hit and an eternity passed by in the space of a second. He watched as the creature began to snicker and turn his warhammer into a flail. Cobalt then smiled as he saw his own opportunity arise. He too swung at the chain in an effort to try and shatter the chain and effectively disable the weapon. “Disable the weapon! Then focus on the Grimm!” Cobalt yelled to Oswald, this thing was too dangerous with this weapon. It had more forms than Beacon Students had classes!

Cobalt’s attack succeeded, as did Oswald’s. Acting with an effective synergy, Cobalt’s attack broke a weak link in the chain which separated the lethal end from the user. Oswald’s attack connected with the lethal end to knock it a good distance away, but not before causing a good bit of damage to Oswald’s weapon. Though it was essentially a very special hammer, there was something about this creature that accelerated equipment wear and tear. Perhaps tied to some unique special ability.

Regardless, they both essentially defanged the creature. And as it stood there dumbfounded with a dangling chain in its claws, it grew angry from its confusion. Clearly unhappy with losing possession of its toy, it tightly gripped the chain in its hands and began to wildly scream and thrash about. Without the heavy hammer head attached to it, it now gained a different advantage. Unpredictable movements combined with speed. Attempt to flog the two boys and beat them to death, each hit that connected with the end of the chain caused increased damage to their weapons and armor, though to a lesser extent when compared to the hammer head strikes. 

That...was an outcome Oswald hadn’t anticipated. Nor was the rapidly-incurring damage to his weapon and armor, as a matter of fact. Being in such extreme proximity when the creature had begun its flailing meant that he necessarily had to take a few hits, though these were not nearly as destructive as the hammer had been. 

This thing was perfectly equipped to kill Huntsmen, it seemed...a disturbing thought, which had to be discarded in favor of not dying gruesomely. Rather than continue to suffer at the hands of the relentless chain assault, Oswald forced himself to retreat backwards, watching for a gap in its movements, a chink in its armor, anything he could use to even the odds.

Cobalt retreated as well, attempting to stay out of range of the high velocity chain while also taking potshots at the enraged Grimm. He got struck a few times, but nothing truly serious, just glancing blows. He moved next to Oswald and glanced at him to assess his condition. “You feelin alright? No injuries, not feeling tired?” He asked with a tinge of worry in his tone. Oswald had been going against this strange beast for a majority of the battle after all. “If you’re good, we should probably figure out a way to permanently down this monster.”

Chuckling at Cobalt’s worry for his safety, Oswald smirked cockily as he adjusted his sword. “I’ll be alright. I’m holding at maybe 75-80 percent Aura right now. Just load up whatever anti-personnel rounds you have. Preferably of the incendiary or explosive variety…”

“I’ve got a clip or two of incendiary. Would’ve had more if not for those damn Ratatosks.” Cobalt unloaded his current clip and loaded in a clip of incendiary bullets. “You think that we’ll get a mission upgrade?” He asked, making sure to keep an eye on the Grimm still throwing a tantrum.

Seeing the two back off, it took its chance. Forming its chain back into a broken off staff. Rushing straight at Cobalt and Oswald, still dodging and shrugging off Cobalt’s shots, at the last second it slammed the end of the staff into the ground and pole vaulted up and over the two. Launching itself and landing next to the hammer head. Looking back at Cobalt and Oswald, it let out a deep and menacing growl.

It didn’t get to take too long to try and intimidate the boys as Alex and Chase joined in the fight, having recovered enough. Chase kneeled in a firing position, while Alex stood directly behind him. The two of them doing their best to buy the two boys time and run interference. The creature was easily angered and refocused on the two mercenaries, rushing directly at them as it slung its staff onto its back and twisted apart its hammer head into its fist form. 

Alex and Chase lowered their rifles at the same time. Chase ducking under a left jab to position himself behind the creature with Alex in front. Dancing with the beast, the two of them manage to land a few body shots while evading the flustered and confused enemy. Not that the two of them were faster than it, but merely they were in a good spot to narrowly slip by its telegraphed and sluggish attacks.

Having enough of the peons, the beast recombined its hammerhead and lifted it above its head. Punching straight down, the creature cratered the earth and threw the two off balance. Dropping the hammerhead, it swept the legs of the two soldiers with its staff and in the same motion formed its warhammer. Lifting the massive weapon above its head, one of the mercenaries was seconds away from being pancaked as they raised their rifles trained to fight to the bitter end.

If the creature couldn’t get to the Huntsmen, it would use the weaker mercenaries as sacrificial lambs. With its unique abilities, would the boys let the mercs die or shoulder a heavier burden and work to keep them alive at their own expense? The thought brought about a certain dark joy in the monster, grinning ear to ear hidden underneath its skull/antler mask.

As the creature leapt over Oswald and Cobalt, changing its focus onto the two mercenaries, Oswald felt his blood run cold. The two of them wouldn’t last a minute against that thing, especially not after the crash they just survived. 

Breaking into a wild sprint, Oswald let out a battle cry as he approached the fighting trio, using his Semblance as soon as he was able to appear directly in front of the creature, tendrils of Aura thrashing about wildly on his body as he braced his arms to intercept the attack.

“[i]NO.[/i]”

Cobalt snarled as the Grimm went after the two soldiers, monster couldn’t even pick on someone it’s own size. He dashed forwards towards the Grimm, activating his Semblance and aiming carefully. When he pulled the trigger, fire encased bullets began flying straight past Oswald’s head and hopefully into the Grimm’s face. “Eat this!” He yelled as time resumed his normal flow and he awaited his results.

The hammerhead impacted against Oswald, suffering the Huntsmen a heavy devastating blow. A second later, Cobalt’s shots hit home and caused the creature’s head to violently snap to the side. As flames shrouded its face, the creature stumbled and tripped, falling over. Howling and frantically swiping at its own head, pieces of its mask had shattered and were crumbling off.

Alex and Chase both nodded a silent thanks to Oswald and joined the fray in full. Getting back to their feet and flanking Oswald’s left and right, they presented their rifles and began to unload a hailstorm of incoming small arms gunfire at the wild thrashing beast. Snarling and roaring, the creature rolled about kicking and swinging. Screaming and punching as it stupidly attempted to remove its flaming mask from its own head. 

Groaning in pain at his arm, Oswald breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that the creature was flailing in its own misery. “Serves ya right, fuckin’ bastard.” Reluctant to attack with his right arm because of the hit he’d just taken, Oswald drew his sword in his left hand, stepping towards the creature and took a measured swing at its upper arm.

Meanwhile Cobalt moved slightly closer to the Grimm, taking more shots at the head to try and put it down for good. He was also keeping an eye on the two soldiers, he wasn't going to let the Grimm go after them again.

With a snarl, the creature was back in the fight in an instant as it looked up at Oswald and stopped his sword swing by grabbing the blade before it connected.. As its feathered hide burned away and gunshots continued to deflect off of its body, a shot from Cobalt hit its mask causing it to break away from its face as burning crimson eyes locked with Oswald’s. Clutching Oswald’s sword with a death grip, one could almost hear the metal groaning under the monster’s power. Rising to its feet, the creature took a step forward and threw a headbutt at Oswald’s nose. Following up with a swift and nasty jab at his throat before attempting to spartan kick his chest.

Eyes widening at the creature’s dextrous blocking of his attack, Oswald grunted in frustration and stared defiantly into its eyes. He only noticed the headbutt when it was too late, skulls colliding with a sickening [i]crunch[/i] and a splash of blood.. In what otherwise might have been a hilarious dose of irony, the headbutt knocked Oswald off balance enough to send him careening backwards, causing the follow-up attack to land, mostly harmlessly, on his forehead. It hurt, mind you, but not nearly as badly as it would have had the attack landed on his throat. 

As Oswald fell backwards, the kick passing over him as his head struck the ground, he realized that he had lost his sword in the struggle. 

He was completely disarmed now, only his armor and his Aura to protect him. “Fuck.”

Scrambling backwards and quickly regaining his footing, Oswald didn’t even bother to fix his nose or wipe the blood from his face: he was far too angry for that now. His eyes burned with a passion he hadn’t felt in years, and his Aura acted similarly, shadowy ethereal tendrils thrashing about wildly. 
Raising his arms into a loose combat stance, Oswald stepped toward his adversary and grunted derisively. 

Cobalt winced as the Grimm suddenly headbutted Oswald, sending him careening backwards. He rushed the Grimm from behind as it focused on Oswald, slicing at its midsection to draw it's attention away from Oswald for a bit. It was time for him to take some heat now.

The creature reacted with the same speed as it did when Oswald had swung at it and turned in time to block Cobalt’s attack with Oswald’s sword. Attention diverted to the ‘bigger threat’, The creature growled before her nostrils flared and she took a deep inhale. As she did so, the air seemed to vibrate as seemingly drained something from Cobalt’s teammate. Growing emboldened and empowered, the creature grinned with gleaming white teeth as it swung away at Cobalt’s weapon. Oswald’s sword becoming imbued with its strange special ability to rapidly degrade equipment. Then, it began a wild barrage of swings at Cobalt.

Alex and Chase had to lower their weapons. Due to the Hunters’ close proximity to the beast, they feared continuing with providing fire support. If they jumped into the fray, they would hurt more than help. Anything they did could possibly affect the boys, and they couldn't have that. Even still, they wouldn’t stand by and just watch. The two of them looked about to try and think of anything they could possibly do to provide aid. Through the treeline, they saw something that they could work on, sharing a silent look of understanding before the two of them vanished. Running off into the woods, the monster would be too preoccupied to give chase at this point, it wasn’t worried about them anyways.

Gritting his teeth as the creature started using his own weapon to fight his teammate, Oswald waited for a moment when the two were locked into their attacks and used it, teleporting behind the creature and unleashing a quick punch into its side. 

Letting out a cough as it was reminded that this was a 2v1 situation, the creature turned her head ever so slightly to look back at Oswald as she threw a sharp elbow back towards his face.

With the luxury of both plenty of breathing room and having expected the counterattack, Oswald lifted his arm to deflect the elbow from hitting him before loosing another punch into its back, a few inches below where he figured its ribcage was. 

Cobalt dodged as fast as he could while also throwing in some hits of his own. He quickly noted that hitting Oswald's sword seemed to damage his own, so he stopped doing that quickly. Things were getting tricky right up until Oswald rejoined the fray, once again making the fight a 2 on 1.  He grew emboldened by this, ready to go on the offensive when he got a chance.

A sharp pain shot through the creature’s body as Oswald successfully countered its rear elbow and struck hard, letting out another open-mouthed cough. Its face twisted in shock. Anger and frustration quickly getting the best of it, it sloppily tried to hold its ground against the two. Many if not all of its attacks missing by wide margins as the damage rapidly stacked up against it. Taking hits from all sides. Having enough, it attempted a desperation move. First chance it got, the creature ducked down as low as it could as suddenly as it could, to manage to avoid having its intentions telegraphed and predicted. Tossing its legs out, the creature went for a 360 degree leg sweep to throw the boys off balance and trip them up.

All it needed was one of the Huntsmen to fall. As it got into a crouching position, its claws shot out to tightly clutch at one of their ankles. Scrambling to its feet, the creature dragged whichever Huntsman along the ground and with its immense strength picked the boy up to lift and then slam their body down into the other as hard as it could. Growling, its body again glowed with light as it stabbed Oswald’s sword into the ground and clasped its hands together. 

Raising its balled up fist above its head, it struck the ground at the boys’ feet. Its strength combined with its special abilities ‘shattered’ the ground and erratically caused parts of it to collapse and crack making it difficult to stand on or move. Removing Oswald’s sword from the ground, it channeled its power through the blade as it pounced on the boys and started to bash the weapon viciously against them. Keep the Hunters together and attack them both at the same time, funnel them. That was its plan. Crush their armor. Shatter their weapons. Once they were defanged, the battle would belong to the creature.

Oswald’s jump was too little, too late. His timing was a bit off, and being weighed down by as much gear as he carried was not conducive to jumping in a hurry, even to an experienced Aura user. Instead of clearing the leg sweep, Oswald’s foot was caught, tripping the fledgling Huntsman in mid-air and sending him slamming face-first into the ground. His groan of pain was barely finished before he was grabbed about the body and forcibly dragged, before being slammed down. 

Cobalt jumped into the air, not quite making enough air to clear the leg sweep, but he accounted for that. He pointed his gun at the ground and fired a few times, letting the massive knockback give him a couple of extra inches into the air. When he landed, he saw the Grimm swinging Oswald at him. Crap. Cobalt took the hit and tried to wrench Oswald out of the creature's grasp. Not that it mattered, it let go of Oswald and grabbed his sword, stabbing it into the ground. The Grimm shattered the ground, making combat much less predictable. 

Cobalt quickly got up after having been hit by Oswald, moving to avoid the Grimm's attacks. The battle was once again in the Grimm's favor, he needed a game changer and fast. 

[i]”Good!”[/i] the creature thought. It had bought itself time. Sticking Oswald’s sword back into the ground it buried its claws into the dirt. Ripping large, boulder-sized chunks out of the earth the creature tossed them at the boys in an attempt to crush and entomb them. Doing this two more times, it figured it gave itself enough time to make a mad dive for its cherished weapons. Taking Oswald’s sword with it, it dove towards where it last saw its equipment.

Bad move on its part. For some reason, this creature had yet to account for Oswald’s near-suicidal tendency to throw himself into the line of fire. And once more, he did so, launching a furious punch at the first chunk of earth to reach him, hoping to shatter it before it could harm him. His Aura was certainly hurting, but he had enough to take a few more hits at the very least. 

As the second of the boulders came towards him, Oswald let out a grunt while throwing himself to the side, avoiding the projectile completely. The third boulder came close enough for Oswald to feel the need for another crushing punch, though the feat cost him more Aura than he’d have liked. “Cobalt, this thing is hitting like a truck. Forty, fifty percent left at most.” 

[i]Meanwhile...[/i]

Alex and Chase had seen a nearby turret, deactivated but they knew that was a crock of shit. After a quick sweep of the area, they made sure the area was safe before proceeding. The creature had not followed after them, as hoped. Alex provided security overwatch while Chase worked.

[b]”Never thought I’d see those fuckers again.”[/b]
Chase said as he ripped open a control panel, exposing a plethora of cables and connections. 
[b]”They’d gone quiet since our last conflict. How many years ago was that, anyways?”[/b]
Alex stayed alert, rifle up and eyes focused as he constantly scanned around. 
[b]”I don’t know, it’s been a while. You know I don’t have the best memory.”[/b]
Chase dug around among the cables.
[b]”What exactly do you plan to do?”[/b] Alex asked.
[b]”Well, I’m not going to waste any time trying to access this shit and bang out some shoddy programming or coding.”[/b]
Chase activated the light on his helmet to help him see better.
[b]”So…?”[/b] Alex inquired again.
[b]”I figure these turrets are all connected to a network where they’re all controlled remotely. Whoever is fucking with us has total control of these things. Remove it from the network, and the turret can’t function normally or receive commands from wherever the central control station is.”[/b]
Alex remained silent, letting Chase talk.
[b]”If these turrets were built up to snuff and I would like to think they are, there’s probably some manual override, service mode, or functions test.”[/b]
Alex looked at him, still confused.
Chase sighed, dramatically ripping out two cables.
[b]”I’m going to turn it off and turn it on again.”[/b]
Alex shrugged and nodded, that was simple enough to comprehend.
Chase shook his head.
[b]”Gods and Goddesses above, and you’re a fuckin’ pilot? How the fuck did you manage to nab that with an open contract?”[/b]
Alex quipped back, [b]”Hey, I can do words good.”[/b] he laughed.
Chase reconnected one of the two cables he removed after letting 30 seconds pass and watched the little display on the control panel. Tapping the metal chassis impatiently. [b]”Come on, come on...That’s right, network disconnected. Failure to communicate with server...Ente-YES! Got it!”[/b] Reaching into the chassis of the turret, Chase tapped at the puny keypad. [b]”Troubleshooting/Repair mode….Here we go! This ought to turn things in our favor!”[/b] Chase watched as the turret hummed to life, the barrel raising and spinning up. Chase noticed something on the screen and couldn’t help but chuckle. [b]”Please troubleshoot and complete repairs before reconnecting to the network to prevent errors in operation? Pfft! Okay, now where are the controls for this thing…Oi! Alex! Head back to those Hunters and mark that bitch so I can get a bead on her. Let’s see how she likes taking a couple shots from this thing.”[/b]
Alex lowered his rifle as he looked at Chase.
[b]”We don’t separate, you know this.”[/b]
Chase sighed. [b]”Fuck, alright, alright.”[/b]
Pressing a button on his helmet, he turned up the output volume to act as a loudspeaker.
[b]”Oi! Hunters! You [i]might[/i] want to stay down!”[/b]
After a few seconds of tinkering with the controls, the barrel to the turret began to spin up rapidly. After sufficiently gaining speed the air thundered as Chase did a ‘test fire’ cutting down the trees that stood in their way.

Chase chuckled darkly, [b]”H’oohh baby…”[/b]

Cobalt looked towards the mercs and frowned. “What the fuck does that mean?” He asked himself, right before the sound he dreaded echoed through the clearing. “Oswald, get the fuck away from it now!” God damn it, those turrets kept fucking shit up everywhere he went. First the plane, now this! Fuck!

Dropping to the ground as the turret’s gunfire rang out, Oswald yelled in frustration. “Not this shit again!”

Just as the creature was reunited with its equipment, it turned its head to face where the two mercenaries had cut away at the treeline to expose it as a target. A look of desperation froze its features for a moment, before its instinctual ‘flight’ mode kicked in. As it grabbed its weapons, it sped off just as Chase locked the turrets’ barrels onto it, firing off another thunderous burst of gunfire that just barely missed it.

The creature ducked behind the wreckage of the airship, small embers of flame still burning about. Panting heavily, the creature’s mind raced trying to think of how it would regain the upper hand. Off in the distance, it could hear other turrets going off and see an aircraft much like the one it hid behind zipping above the treeline. It could only be more reinforcements coming to save the day. Its thoughts were interrupted with another volley of gunfire that cut a large piece of the wreckage down just above its head, the aircraft pieces crumbling down with a calamitous clatter. Wincing and shutting its eyes tight, it began to panic. Two inexperienced Huntsmen. Two experienced mercenaries that seized control of a turret capable of shredding an entire airship to pieces. Countless more mercenaries and whatever else on their way to reinforce and outnumber it dramatically. As powerful as the creature knew she was, she knew her end was coming and so close to the completion of her mission. She couldn’t know the fruits of her companion’s labors, but only hoped she that she was successful as well. The creature still had one last trick up its sleeve. If it were just the two greenhorn Huntsmen, she could crush them easily. But having been divided from her partner and locked into this precarious situation sealed her fate from the beginning. Might as well go out with grandeur. It held out until nightfall, so that objective was complete. All that was left was to kill or draw blood, and she could manage that along with summoning her masters.

Pressing her back against the section of metal, she slid to her seat and swallowed dryly as she began to sweat. Opening her mouth wide, she carefully stuck her claws down her throat and forced herself to gag and dry heave. Coughing sickly, she searched her mouth with her tongue and located what she needed. Spitting it out and looking at it covered in saliva and mucus in her palm, she grinned uneasily. With the little purple pill she held in her hand, it spelled certain death for her once she used it which was of no import to her.

Taking a deep breath, hidden there in the flames and smoldering metal, the creature popped the pill back in its mouth and bit down on it. Crushing it with her back molars, her mouth filled with a disgusting bitter taste but she forced herself to gulp it down. Hacking and coughing, all she had to do now was wait. Less than a minute was all that was needed.

~~~

Alex cursed and punched Chase’s shoulder. [b]”You fuckin’ idiot, be careful!”[/b]
Chase threw up his hands and shouted back, [b]”-Fuck you mean, be careful!?”[/b]
Alex pointed at the wreckage and reminded his friend, [b]”Or did you already forget that Duckie and Ski Mask’s body is still in there somewhere? We already have to find all of Duckie’s pieces, or did you want to make that harder for us!”[/b]
Chase lowered his hands, [b]”Oh. Right.”[/b] how could he forget?
The two of them kept their eyes on alert to search for the creature, but couldn’t find it.
Alex was the first to ask, [b]”Well, where is it? Did you get it? I don’t see or hear anything.”[/b]
Chase grew agitated, [b]”I don’t fucking know, I see and hear what you see and hear.”[/b] He really hoped he didn’t desecrate his comrade’s corpses any further.

But, when they heard that familiar scream, their blood ran cold. The fight draining from their bodies as they froze to the spot. It was a sound they had never hoped to hear again. A sound they hadn’t heard for years and could live happily for the rest of their lives if they could go without ever being reminded of what that scream meant.

Chase weakly begged to whatever deities were watching over them from above as he shook his head, [b]”No...Please, no.”[/b]
Alex cursed, [b]”She fucking didn’t…”[/b]

~~~

If one could possibly describe how the creature’s scream sounded, it would be as this. Imagine a scream so animalistic, so primal that from its sheer volume immediately damaged one’s vocal cords and quite literally ruptured them to the point where they would bleed down into one’s throat and fill one’s lungs. Imagine that within that scream, it held every single bad memory or experience you had ever gone through in your life. Every dark and evil emotion that you had ever felt within your mind, heart, body, and soul. Core, basic, crude feelings, and thoughts all tightly compacted and compressed only to be abruptly set free all at once like an explosion of everything demonic that existed within a person’s spirit. That, would be the soul-shattering sound that the creature made and sustained for a good bit of time as the effects of her ‘ace’ took control.

Pain. Anger. Sorrow. Malice. Malevolent expressions all came flooding out and could be seen infecting and spreading throughout the environment around her, taking the form of what was obviously her dark and twisted Aura. She was on her knees, trying to hold herself together long enough and conscious enough so that she may do her masters’ bidding. Grasping at her head, threatening to tear out her own snow-white hair as her bleeding eyes struggled to focus on the ground. Black, tar-like oil oozed from her ears and nostrils as her own blood flooded out from her mouth as she continued to scream her lungs out. The veins on her face and head pulsed angrily as they visibly blackened making them stand out even more so against her near translucent-pale skin. Every nerve in her body flared painfully as it felt she were burning alive, her skin threatening to peel off of her as it cracked and bled, her brain feeling as though it were seconds from popping. It was maddening, unbearable, but it was all she had left. All for the sake of her masters’ and their shared mission. Her bones shook and rattled within her until she had no strength left to even kneel and bent over on all fours to violently retch, vomiting the same black tar-like oil substance out with a wet squelching sound.

The earth groaned and cracked and her surroundings appeared to bow and bend away from her, as if the very planet knew what a terrible abomination existed on its surface and feared it so heavily. Her scream fell silent. Panting, ragged heavy breaths she blinked. Sniffing and coughing, she survived. She was chosen. With an intense flooding sensation of absolute power, she stood. A small part of her thoughts to wipe away at the black blood that lined her face, but she dismissed them. She could feel it. She was closer to them. She was part of them. The Grimm. 

Her bleeding eyes looked to the side at her weapons, waiting for her. They begged to grind the bones of the pathetic humans into meal. Bending over to loop her fingers through the hammerhead, she separated them into their fist form and turned ever so slowly to where she last remembered the mercenaries stood by. Take care of the appetizers first, then move on to the main course and dessert. Casually striding from behind its cover, she stood out in the open as she stared down the mercenaries from however far off.

Alex and Chase didn’t have a chance to gasp as they saw the very image from their own nightmares reappear before their very eyes. The creature moved with such an enhanced speed that one would think it only took a single step before it stood a foot from them. It looked as though it only threw out two swift jabs, but in actuality it had given both Alex and Chase an uppercut to both of their abdomens. The strength of the creature shattered their battle armor and forced fragments of it into their own bodies, rupturing internal organs, cracking multiple ribs and from the sheer force punctured their lungs with a terrible combination of both armor fragments and their broken ribcages. The creature, in one fell swoop, essentially collapsed their entire torsos into themselves. The two mercenaries fell face forward onto the ground, blood and bodily fluids gushing out of their bodies rapidly as the laid there. Disgusting gurgling noises coming from their mouths as they fought for every second of life.

The creature turned, walking away with bland disinterest before something caught its foot. Looking down, it saw the hand of one of the mercenaries and followed it to meet eyes with the dying soldiers. At both of their sides were discarded syringes of some dubious concoction they had apparently injected into themselves. Chase was attempting to hold the creature back by grabbing at its feet. Alex somehow had his sidearm in hand, pointing it unsteadily at the creature’s body.

The creature scoffed. [i]Admirable.[/i] It thought. But without a second to waste, she turned back around and walked away. Leaving Alex and Chase to wallow in their filth together, pathetically. Now, the Huntsmen. Facing Oswald, it moved with the same speed that dared to rival the Hunter’s Semblance leaving behind false illusions as it sprinted straight at him. Disorienting afterimages concealing its movements as it instantly began to swing at Oswald with its fist weapons, each strike containing the same power that shut down the mercenaries. 

Oswald’s face fell in recognition of the sound of the creature’s horrific screaming. It was a cry of pure evil, of something that existed for a single, obscene purpose: the annihilation of all Human life. It was the cry of the Creatures of Grimm. And not any ordinary Grimm, this cry drove existential dread through the souls of all but the sturdiest, most bullheaded men and women. The type of people who would punch a boulder in the face, so to speak. Oswald only felt hatred at the sound of the cry, a kind of primal, instinctive disgust that drove animals to slaughter their enemies.

The air clear of bullets, Oswald broke into a sprint towards Alex and Chase, skidding to a halt as he witnessed their brutal defeat at the monster’s hands. Until then, his Aura had manifested itself as relatively short, translucent black tentacles, writhing and thrashing in throes of passion. 

Now, Oswald seemed to be concealed by a rampaging vine bush, opaque tendrils of life force jerking about erratically. His figure was nearly completely obscured by the visage of his fury as he stared directly at the charging Grimm. 

Reacting on a nearly inhuman level, Oswald vanished behind the Grimm, unleashing a savage punch at its back in a repeat of his previous attack. Unlike before, however, Oswald continued punching, hooks and jabs and crosses flying from his arms faster than his body would typically allow. Tendons stretched and ligaments groaned in protest at the adrenaline-fueled lengths Oswald put them through, but until one of the opponents could no longer fight, there would be no cessation of the salvo of blows Oswald rained on his enemy.

Cobalt felt his heart skip a beat at the scream, no, the roar that reverberated through his body. It was the roar of a truly pissed off animal who was willing to do anything to kill. The Grimm was so fast, he didn't even have time to activate his Semblance to think before the monster dismantled the mercs. Cobalt wanted to run. He wanted to save himself and run as far away as possible. Then Oswald jumped into the fray once more. His Aura was going insane, whipping around everywhere in his own uncontrolled rage.

Cobalt activated his Semblance just as Oswald threw the first punch and began to think. He thought long and hard about what he was going to do. Battle scenarios ran through his head and were thrown out just as soon as they were finished. This thing was seemingly invincible. Were there any visible weak points? Then Cobalt zoomed in on it. Bleeding eyes.

His Semblance deactivated and Cobalt charged into battle once more. If Oswald could he brave enough to fight a seemingly invincible monster, than he had to be as well. Oh god this was a bad idea, but it was his only one to be honest. Oswald attacked from the back, and Cobalt moved in front of the Grimm. He barely bothered aiming at this point, he just pointed in the general direction of its head and began firing.

Oswald was mostly predictable with his usage of his Semblance. At this point the creature already knew all it needed to combat the Hunter, with only Cobalt’s Semblance being unclear to it. None of that truly mattered at this point, when one fell the other would be next. Turning at the exact moment Oswald had warped behind it, the two immediately became locked in a fist fight. Trading blows and both standing their ground, unwilling to give. Unfortunately for Oswald, the odds were stacked against his favor. As powerful as Oswald was, able to match its own base physical power, the fledgling Hunter failed to reign in his emotions. If something wasn’t done soon, Oswald would seal his fate.

The creature fed on Oswald’s anger, growing more and more in power as the fist fight continued. Gaining more and more speed as it gorged on the food Oswald gave it, with Cobalt’s fear contributing even more to the feast. As it only grew more, Oswald’s power would diminish. Combined with its unique ability, every hit that connected would only serve to weaken the Hunter further. Cobalt’s erratic fire to its back did nothing to slow it down, the creature having near omniscient perception. All it took was a simple nanosecond glance back and it was able to accurately predict Cobalt’s next shot. Evading his gunshots with slight change in angle or movement. If anything, Oswald was more threatened by Cobalt’s assistance. He was hurting more than helping.

Knuckle to knuckle strikes. Facial hits. Body blows. The creature attacked every sloppy opening Oswald gave it. It would only be a matter of time before the Hunter’s aura would be depleted and the blood would be spilled, bones being broken. Its own toxic aura exuded outward and infected, seeding a small but terrifying thought in the team leader’s mind.

[i]”You’ll be next.”[/i]

~~~

[i]At the currently sealed cave entrance…[/i]

Night had fallen and they had woken. Now aware of their current fate, the horde of Grievers within the cave sleeping worked tirelessly to dig and burrow through the rock and rubble. One of their kin had called out to them on the other side. They had to answer its call. With their sheer number, it would only be a matter of time before they cleared the entrance enough to escape. To begin the swarm. To destroy and kill. One of their kind had cried out to them on the other side. They had to answer its call.

~~~~~

After trading blows with the Grimm-thing for nearly a minute, Oswald’s rage-addled mind could tell only one thing: [i]this isn’t working[/i]. Normally, it would only take a few punches to stun or wound even the grandest of Ursae, given how hard Oswald was exerting himself.

This creature had hardly budged after taking more than a dozen. 

Meanwhile Cobalt was still internally freaking out. Then a random thought occured in his mind. [I]’I'll be next.[/I] What a strange thought. He looked at Oswald and steeped his will. [I]’No. I'll be first if it comes to that.’[/I] Cobalt thought as he mentally slapped himself. First things first, time to calm down. Being afraid did nothing for his mental state and Grimm feed off of negative emotions if he recalled correctly. Next, make a battle plan with Oswald.

“Oswald, calm down and think! We can get angry later, now is not the time!” Alright, message conveyed to Oswald. Step three, ??? Step three was to come up with an actual step three. Cobalt slowed down time and began to think. What could possibly hurt this thing? It had evaded so many bullets with just a glance, how could he hit it? Observation of surroundings: helicopter scrap, dead bodies, turret that produced helicopter scrap. Bingo.

Time resumed its normal flow. Here's hoping he could figure out how to use the turret before the Grimm killed Oswald. Cobalt began moving towards the turret, ignoring the dead bodies, and looked at it's controls. This seemed simple enough. Kinda like a joypad almost. He moved the barrel around a bit and looked towards Oswald. “Teleport as far away as possible!” He yelled as loudly as he could, right when the turret locked on to the Grimm. Then the turret let loose a storm of metal.

Oswald’s fury-driven stated proved to be more than Cobalt’s few words could break. In fact, Oswald barely registered words, mostly just the fact that Cobalt was talking. The words ‘as far away as possible’ registered as a hail of gunfire erupted in his direction. 

And then he saw red. A burst of pain flew through his body as his Aura vanished in a single fell swoop, his body being propelled forward, off to the side, and to the ground rapidly. He could tell that he was bruised from the sheer force of the launching and the landing, even if his Aura saved him from being torn into meaty chunks. 

Red faded to black slowly but surely, for not even sheer force of will could prevent such trauma from draining consciousness out of Oswald’s body. After a few moments, his body went slack as he passed out.

The deadlocked fight ceased, halted in its tracks by gunfire that shook the ground and ripped apart the air itself. One moment, the creature was battering the Hunter into the ground to flatten him and the next she felt an ungodly force slam into her sides and sent her flying in a similar direction to Oswald. Impacting the ground ungracefully, skidding and sliding, it was in the second after she regained consciousness that she realized what had happened.

When she executed the two mercenaries, somehow she had forgotten to disable the accursed turret that was possibly the largest threat to itself. No matter. It wouldn’t allow the turret or its gunner to do much else for long. Her Aura levels had been near its highest point when she took the burst of gunfire so she fared better than the Hunter. Looking across the way, her blood streaked face coughing, she grinned when she saw Oswald out cold. She had to fight the urge to walk over and finish him off then and there, but she had other arrangements to take care of first.

With her source of ‘food’ unable to produce much more to keep itself at peak condition, her aura levels teetered at their halfway mark. But, it was more than enough to crush the other Hunter. Other than his weapon, she perceived him as weak. In mind, body, and spirit. Standing to her feet, she punched her fist weapons together and locked them. Following the motion by dropping the combined hammer head to the ground and shoving her staff into its slot, she spun once and transformed the weapon into its flail mode straight at the barrels of the turret mid swing. Though Cobalt could duck to the side to evade it, the turret was stationary. After just firing, the metal was was warm and easily warped. When the hammer head impacted against it the turret barrels crumpled, immediately becoming dysfunctional. Recalling her weapon, she removed the staff and transformed the hammer head back into their fist form.

Licking her lips, she eyed Cobalt with a dark hunger.
Exploding into a straight sprint at the remaining Hunter, she wasted no time in fiercely swinging at Cobalt.

“Shit.” Cobalt uttered simply as he accidentally knocked Oswald out in the middle of the fight. He was sorta hoping that Oswald would get out of the way in time, but that didn't work out very well. The turret was then immediately rendered unusable and the situation rapidly went from bad to worse. But now was not the time to panic. Now was the time to stall in hopes of rescue.

The Grimm charged Cobalt and he slowed down time to determine what it's plan was. It was swinging viciously at Cobalt, trying to destroy his armor with its strange decaying aura. Cobalt let time resume it's normal flow and he began dodging the punches instead of blocking. He really liked his weapon, so he wasn't just going to let it be destroyed. Cobalt made sure that he wasn't bumping into anything through quick glances at the shadows on the ground as he backed away from the vicious assault, but that was quickly becoming an unviable option as they backed into the forest.

Cobalt finally backed into a tree and was faced with a vicious punch coming straight for him. He jumped straight up, firing at the ground to let the recoil of his gun propel him to a sturdyish branch. The branch quickly snapped and Cobalt jumped behind the Grimm. He was quickly coming to regret his turret idea.

What was going on? As fast as she was, every swing this Hunter was able to narrowly but effectively dodge. It quickly grew irritating, no matter what sort of attack or weapon combination she tried, the Hunter was able to stay just out of range. Did it have something to do with his Semblance? What exactly were the details of his abilities, and how long could he keep it up? Regardless, the creature refused to give up, keeping up the pressure until she would able to land a hit. All it would take was one misstep, one good attack and she could end him. How sorely she underestimated him, not having known what secrets Cobalt hid up his sleeve.

~~~

[i]In the skies above, Skyhawk-2’s cockpit…[/i]

The pilot and copilot silently listened to the garbled radio chatter coming across their channel. Keeping an eye on the location of the other gunship every so often.

[i]”One turret, down.”
“Turret #2, down.
Pulled the plug on #3.
EMP on turret four.
Turret five, shut down.”[/i]

The chatter continued, the turrets that endangered the two gunships getting disabled by the Abyss Walkers on the ground. It seemed like very little time had passed by, the team working quickly and finishing.

[i]”Skyhawk-2, Skyhawk-2, this is-”[/i] The team leader of the ground troops hailed the gunship.
Static interference muddied and distorted the signal.
[i]”...This is Skyhawk-2, you’re coming in broken but readable. Send your traffic.”[/i] The pilot of the gunship responded.
[i]”All anti-aircraft guns have been disabled. I say again, all anti-aircraft guns have been disabled. Stand by for green star cluster pop up. All troops rally on me at the designated muster point.”[/i]

Various voices in a particular order responded to the order to regroup. The voices belonging to the Abyss Walkers on the ground. 
The pilot and copilot shared a look and nodded, looking over their control panels.

[i]”---This is Skyhawk-2, we read you Lima Charlie. Standing by for star cluster.”[/i]

As the mercenaries all hoofed it through the dark forest to gather up, the pilot of the gunship had the craft hover in the skies. The copilot hailing the craft that held the Huntresses onboard the other ship.

[i]”Skyhawk-3, this is Skyhawk-2 radio check.”[/i]
[i]”Roger, Skyhawk-2 we read you Lima Charlie. How me?”[/i]
[i]”We read you same/same. Skyhawk-3, we are approximately three mikes until extraction. You are all cleared for landing.”[/i]
[i]”Roger, solid copy. Tango.”[/i]

Seconds after the radio channels fell silent, a green flare was shot into the sky and the hovering aircraft dove in to quickly extract the ground team of Abyss Walkers. After just a minute, the ship was well on its way, flying back over the defensive perimeter and towards the town. Once the airspace had cleared, Skyhawk-3 broke out of its circular flight path and lurched forward.

The woman from earlier who was addressed as Sam poked her head out from the cockpit and spoke to the mercenaries and Huntresses in the cargo hold.

[b]”Gear up and get ready. We’re practically right there.”[/b]

Esther looked at Sam and then to Emerald fast asleep in her arms. Slowly pulling herself away from the girl, she gathered up her things and walked to the back of the hold. Reaching up and holding onto a handle, she stared out the back of the off ramp as it began to lower. Largely ignoring Diamond who stood across from her and the rest of the mercenaries as they also stood and readied themselves.

~~~

The creature halted its attack when it saw a ball of green light shoot up into the sky off in the distance. Panting and absolutely seething, it still hadn’t managed to land a single hit on Cobalt. Time was running out. Giving up, the creature decided it best to focus its efforts elsewhere. Bolting, the creature weaved through the forest and emerged from the treeline to where the unconscious Oswald lay. Standing over his body, the creature reached down and grabbed the boy’s neck after dropping its weapons to the ground. With its one arm, the creature’s strength allowed it to lift Oswald’s entire body weight by his neck. With its free arm, it flexed its claws as it prepared to plunge its hand into the Hunter’s abdomen. 

The effects of the pill it had taken were starting to wane and wear off, it didn’t have long now. It could hear the roar of what sounded like engines fast approaching, though off in the opposite direction it could sense that its masters had freed themselves and were on their way as well. Gritting its teeth, the creature shot its free hand forward. 

Groaning as the sudden movement and the sound of engines woke him, Oswald opened his eyes to meet the creature’s. He was about to die. Barring a last moment rescue from Cobalt, he was on his own. Pain racked his entire left side, and he could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. 

As the creature’s hand moved backwards in preparation to impale him, Oswald did the only thing he could think to do: go for the eyes. His upper body lurching forward, his hands shot out, thumbs aiming to gouge the monster’s eyeballs from their sockets. 

Cobalt ran after the Grimm as it headed back towards Oswald, it was either going for a hostage or trying to take one person out before it died. Both options were pretty bad. He burst onto the clearing just as the Grimm grabbed Oswald by the neck. Time slowed and he pulled up his gun for one shot. He shot at the hand that was going for Oswald's abdomen and let time resume normal flow.

At the last second, Cobalt’s shot knocked away its hand and saved Oswald from being eviscerated for the time being. Unfortunately for the creature, Oswald had awoken and still held an admirable spirit to fight to the very bitter end. As the boy’s thumbs painfully dug into its eyes, the creature let out an angered roar baring its fangs. Tightening its grip on the Oswald’s neck, it then decided to kill the Hunter by crushing his neck. Digging its claws into the sides of Oswald’s neck, it slowly tried to claw its way to his carotid arteries for good measure. Puncturing the skin to begin drawing blood, with its other hand it reached up to grab one of Oswald’s thumbs and violently jerked it away, snapping it.

With one open watering eye, the creature stared at Oswald’s face. Panting, with ragged breath as its grip on his neck increased in pressure and strength it spoke.

[i]”You...smell….like us. Your scent, is very similar.”[/i]

The creature ignored Oswald’s other thumb, what was the sacrifice of one eye when compared to the life of another Hunter? The gains outweighed the costs and even still, it knew it wouldn’t be alive for much longer. Better yet, it could scar Cobalt forever. How would he feel knowing that as a leader he allowed the death of another Hunter to occur in front of him? A shameful, dishonorable display. 

Gurgling and coughing as the monster in front of him rapidly started choking the life from him, Oswald knew this was it: do or die. He had a few seconds left, at most. His broken thumb felt like it was on fire, but between the pain in his hand and his impending death, Oswald wasn’t deterred. 

Pulling both hands from its face, Oswald slammed one arm out, into the inside of his enemy’s elbow, trying to force its arm to bend and break its hold. At the same time, his mangled hand swung directly at the creature’s nose, intent on returning the favor for breaking his own earlier. 

Cobalt ran towards the Grimm as he pressed his advantage, running through several options in regards to freeing Oswald. Finally he came up with the one that was most likely to get it to let go, as he rapidly approached the Grimm he dove forward into a slide directly into its legs. 

[i]”Detestable heretical Huntsmen..”[/i] The creature thought, as yet again the tide of the battle was turned and thrown into chaos. Oswald’s downward strike did cause its grip to weaken and loosen ever so slightly, but it was the blow across its face and Cobalt’s slide that broke its hold. The three slamming and bumping into one another in a tangled mess of bodies and limbs.

Fed up, the creature quickly got to its feet and grabbed at whatever part of Oswald it could. With the intent of dragging him across the ground and throwing the Hunter like he was a shot put at the nearest tree with the hopes of snapping his spine against it. Or, at the very least damage some vertebrae. Scooping up its fist weapons, the creature threw its body on top of Cobalt and straddled him in a mount. Thinking that from such close proximity, there was no way the sly bastard could evade hits from this range as it proceeded to swing at the boy’s face. Wanting nothing more but to bash his skull and brain matter into a bloody pulp.

This time, Oswald had no clever trick or retaliatory attack, instead being bodily thrown into a nearby tree, his body landing with a loud [i]THUD[/i]. Whether or not they were before, a few of his ribs were certainly broken now. His only saving grace had been the brigandine protecting his torso, but even that could only offer so much safety. His entire body ached, and it took a good few moments for Oswald to catch his breath as he turned to the fight going on nearby. 

[/hider]