William's body jerked back once more. The melee clashes between the two mechs had gone beyond anything he had ever seen before. The black modified mech was proving more than a match for the Manticore mech. Their fight had escalated to the point where the station could no longer hold up.
Thus, they ended up outside, where a war between his forces, Police, other gangs, Huntsmen from Beacon and the Branwen Vale branch mercenaries were taking place. And his men were losing, fast.
And to top it all off, his own clashes with Ryuko were absolutely pissing him off.
*BZZZZT!!*
William snapped his fingers, using his glove's Lightning Dust mode to fire large bolts of lightning at Ryuko. But every time he attacked, Ryuko's body gleamed with what he thought was her semblance before disappearing and reappearing near him and striking at his vital areas.
"Gh..!" William grunted as Ryuko kicked him in the ribs and made him tumble off the Manticore mech.
He righted his body just before impact with the ground and moved away from the several-tonne killing machines right as Ryuko hopped off.
"Why are you so persistent on bringing me down? With your capabilities, we could have easily taken Vale together. What did I ever do to you?" William asked, furiously glaring at the curvy redhead who playfully tilted her brimmed hat down with a smile.
Hearing no answer, he scowled and switched Dust elements. Both of his hands shot out as pseudo-gylphs formed above Ryuko and spread out to at least ten meters before fire and gravity Dust warped the area, creating an implosion before a large, fiery explosion rocked the area and obliterated much of the street.
William huffed, feeling a twinge of satisfaction before a gleam of light seen within the billowing smoke dashed it.
"How..?" William asked before Ryuko suddenly closed in on him and grabbed his hand before he could cast.
Only now did he notice she hadn't been armed with her custom revolvers and appeared to be unarmed. Until a pink, bladed umbrella appeared in her free hand. That's when he realized he wasn't facing Ryuko. He was facing Neo.
*RIIIP!*
William panicked as the blade was thrusted at his chest. Pulling back, he gasped as one of his Dust gloves tore off before he was struck in the chest.
Fighting melee and even ranged Huntsmen usually wasn't an issue for him. He was a mage type fighter. His gloves and use of Dust were great at dealing with those at a range. But Neo was slippery. She specialized in getting in close and dismantling her opponent before they could put up much of a fight.
Sadly for William, he was facing someone he was weak against. An assassin type opponent.
Neo smirked, still using Ryuko's image. Her arm thrusted out and rapidly stabbing at William with Hush. William backed up, trying to gain some distance but Neo wasn't letting up, constantly pressuring him.
*CRACK!*
Neo blocked a kick and grabbed his leg with Hush's hooked end. Then, she pulled and raised her legs and hit him in the face with both knees, taking him down with the full force of her weight.
*THWACK!*
William smashed into the ground before Neo's heel stomped on his remaining gloved hand before leveling the blade tip at his neck while his aura flashed dangerously.
"Wait.. Wait!" William grunted, glancing around to see if any of his men could help him.
But the mechs, which had been holding off a majority of the people attacking his forces were being obliterated. Shia, with her explosive hammer and Nora with her grenade launcher were each taking on a Mech.
Emerald and Ren were shooting down any fleeing or surrendering Atlesian with ruthless efficiency. Only the police or Huntsman teams were accepting surrenders.
"Who do you belong to..? I'll pay five times their rate if you work for me." William offered, seeing Shia, Emerald, Nora and Ren finish up and walk over to them.
"This offer goes to all of you! I'll pay you better. If you just-" Shia cleared her throat and cut William off.
"Yin. We belong to Yin. Do you think money's enough to win us over?" Shia asked while Ren put a few bullets into two Atlesian's heads.
Seeing as how nobody refuted her words, William felt his heart race. Neo's wrist tensed and he was forced into making a tough decision.
*BOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
His glove ignited with every Dust type. And given his hand was pinned beneath Neo's heel, the blast was contained within the tiny space between his palm and the ground.
Neo flew back as the Dust exploded with the force of a missile's explosion. Shia had slid back after getting in front of Ren, Nora and Emerald and taking the explosion.
"Gnnh.." Neo grunted quietly, her aura shattered from the Dust explosion.
Through the smoke she saw William's armless silhouette running away, toward one of Vale's many canals.
*SPLAAASH!*
The sound of something heavy hitting the water nearby made Shia run over to the canal. But by the time she got over, the canal had looked empty.
"Nora, shoot grenades downstream.." Shia ordered, watching the water quickly move downstream, toward Vale's sewer system.
Nora grinned and started shooting grenades into the stream, churning the water and blowing up some of the canal's structure while Shia turned back to Neo and helped her stand up.
"Are you okay? That explosion was no joke. You're lucky your aura was large enough.." Shia muttered, letting Neo lean on her as she caught her breath.
( ◥◣_◢◤ ) 'I'm fine.. Those shared sessions with the boss lady made for great endurance training! I'm just so pissed..' Neo huffed, giving a frustrated scowl toward the canal.
●︿● 'I should have just shattered his spine..'
Shia almost snickered at her almost absurdly disappointed expression she made using Ryuko's face while making violent gestures. She pat Neo's back and glanced at Roman, who was melting the Manticore mech with the Dragon mech's fire Dust breath.
"You should head out with Roman. The police and Huntsmen teams probably won't tolerate the other criminals very long after the Atlesians are handled.." Shia advised, receiving a grateful nod from Neo.
Neo saluted and ran over to the Dragon mech.
"Hey Neo. We're pretty much finished. I had some extra goons go grab the lien Willy was hiding. Come on." Roman reached out with the mech's arm and picked her up before quickly making their way out of the warzone.
"Well! We've wrapped up here so let's-" *RUUUUUMBLE!!*
Shia stopped and felt the ground tremble, as if a large explosion had shook the ground. The station started to crumble in on itself as the underground tunnel shook. Then, exploding from within the station came flame and lightning in three colors. Blue, yellow and crimson dying the warzone in bright colors.
Meanwhile..
"Yes.. YES!! You're perfect!" Carmilla screamed in excitement as blue and yellow flaming fists smashed into her hands and forced her back.
Her feet dragged deep grooves into the stone and metal rails before she leapt back and avoided a huge blue fireball. Seeing the twins in front of her, even she couldn't help but feel the pressure.
"Thanks. I like fighting too." Yin shrugged, her black tail swaying behind her as she tried not to look at Yang.
Carmilla laughed and shook her head, "Not just that. I can see now. How you killed that stupid brute."
Yang frowned and cracked her knuckles, intending to continue the fight and ignore Carmilla's words. Yin pat her shoulder to stop her and tilted her chin up while looking at the Grimm woman.
"You mean that guy who invaded Menagerie to kidnap me? He wasn't anything special."
Carmilla tilted her head and snorted in amusement.
"You mean that idiot? Amon was just a human. I'm speaking of Ifrit. I'm surprised you know it's me under all this Grimm though~. Did I leave an impression?" Carmilla asked, sounding oddly excited.
Yin shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe I just have really good eyes."
That part was true. When she saw Carmilla back during the bank heist, Yin noticed something off about her. Not that she wasn't human, she was. But there was something like a seed inside her soul. That seed radiated malice and darkness that reminded her of Grimm. Initially, she thought Carmilla was like Cinder, who served Salem. But now it was clear.
"You're a Mythic Class Grimm. How? I assumed they were all giant sized monsters who lived away from human civilization." Yin asked, slowly moving around Carmilla.
"That's not exactly wrong. But not entirely right. We call ourselves Demigods. For good reason, too. All of us have or had a human form. You can join us too. If you'll just be mine~." Carmilla offered, her mask's mouth stretching into a smirk.
"Hell no! Yin isn't yours and never will be." Yang cut in, her frustration boiling over after having been quiet till this point.
Yin shrugged helplessly, "You heard her. Besides, you have that boytoy of yours."
Carmilla sighed, clearly disappointed.
"I gave him up to a dear friend of mine. I got bored of him, you see. In exchange, she helped set up this little meeting. You can thank her for your little victory against William too. I'll introduce you after I kill the blonde and break your limbs and ravish you." Carmilla's tone shifted, becoming more predatory and malicious as her body released an absurd amount of red lightning magic.
Her words effectively pissed both sisters off however. Yang's draconic features emerged and Yin's smirk faded into a stoic, serious expression.
*RUUUUUMBLE!!*
Yang and Yin's fists blurred along with their bodies before they struck Carmilla's raised arms. Carmilla flew down the tunnel as she laughed and pivoted her body to avoid Yin's and Yang's punches. Her body glowed as her semblance activated, becoming lightning itself to pass through their onslaught of attacks.
Once she got enough distance away, she reformed and threw a truck-sized bolt of lightning at Yang.
*CRACKLE!*
Yang was forced to a stop, her body bending backward as the lightning bolt flew above her face and exploded behind her, destroying more of tunnel behind them. While Yin used 'Mana hike' to jump up and inhale before unleashing her dragon's breath right onto Carmilla.
▂▂▃▃▄▄▄▄▅▅▅▅!!
Carmilla's eyes widened briefly before she activated her semblance again and retreated further down the tunnel.
"Yang." Yin called out as they ran after Carmilla.
"Yeah I feel it. Like a bigger, more malicious version.." Yang replied, feeling an intense presence at the end of the tunnel.
"I'll leave her to you. We won't be fighting in a tunnel for much longer." Yin stated, looking at her sister and holding her arms down, as if she were ready to receive a volleyball serve.
Yang grinned and activated 'Luminous Mana claws' while jumping toward Yin. Yin tensed as Yang leapt over, then, using her full strength, propelled Yang forward like a ballistic missile.
*KSSSHHHHH!!*
"AAAAAGH!!!" Carmilla screamed in pain, feeling a large gash in her waist as Yang flipped herself in the air and forced herself to stop ten meters in front of her.
Her light mana managed to cut into aura and carved straight through her Grimm flesh. Carmilla held her side, her flesh bubbling and sizzling from the light magic. It was entirely thanks to her durability and quick reflexes that she wasn't cut in half right then and there. She grunted and scowled hatefully at Yang as Yin passed them both.
"That.. was a mistake. I'm going to enjoy bleeding you dry and bathing in your blood, you bitch!" Carmilla grunted, her red eyes glowing as she prepared to attack again.
But then..
"Are you struggling, my dear Niece?" Her Uncle called out, his deep, gravelly voice echoing from within the tunnel.
Carmilla snorted, "Uncle.. You've seen what they're capable of. It's enough, isn't it?"
There was a long pause, then a deep chuckle shook the tunnel.
"You haven't even gotten started yet and you're telling me it's enough to judge? They're more capable than the Huntsmen I slaughtered here. But that's not a high bar." The voice answered.
"But.. she did kill Ifrit. Maybe a warm up then."
The tunnel shook as if an earthquake hit it. Yin, standing in front of Yang and Carmilla suddenly crossed her arms in front of her as her eyes widened.
*CRAAAAAAAAASH!!!*
Before she could properly register what was happening, she found herself flying out of the tunnel. Her arms nearly numb from what was probably the strongest hit she ever took in her life. Her aura reserves immediately dropped to half.
Yin spread her wings and looked down, seeing a five meter wolf Grimm with crimson, lightning bolt shaped eye slots over an all white mask. His white armored body covered in tribal tattoos and black fur. He looked like some kind of Werewolf king fused with a Grimm.
"Heh.. You actually held up alright!" He practically cheered from below, stepping out of the ruins of the tunnel system, into the barren ruins of Mountain Glenn's failed city.
He looked up at Yin with a smile that could best be described as 'feral'.
There was no magical aura to him at all, unlike Carmilla. Instead, he radiated an unrivaled aura of a beast. One of purely physical power.
"Oh! I guess I should introduce myself now, since you didn't die in one hit. I'm Garmr." He introduced, sounding more carefree and nonchalant than he had earlier.
"Yin."
"Good! I'll remember it if you give me a few good scars. Or I won't, if I kill ya too easily or you kill me." Garmr laughed before crouching his legs and looking up at Yin.
Yin nodded and dove straight down, pushing her mana out in full force.
The two met in the air and..
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!*
Shook the ruined city with nothing held back.