Pearls on a String

Volume 2

Chapter 24: Vigilantes

Somewhere Over Atlas

Monday Night

Unlike their flight from Beacon, the trip from the Schnee Manor to Malachite's base was fairly short. Their new ally, Frost Schnee, wasn't in much of a talkative mood, which was understandable considering the revelation she'd just received.

"So, her brother actually murdered their grandfather, just to take over the company early?" Beryl murmured to her girlfriend sitting next to her.

Evie nodded somberly. "Seems that way, sweetie."

"That's just so… awful. How could someone do that?"

"Oh, Beryl," the Cat Faunus sighed affectionately. "Even with everything going on, it's hard for you to see the bad in people, isn't it?"

The blue-haired girl shrugged slightly as she snuggled tighter into Evie's embrace. "I dunno… it's just hard to wrap my head around. Malachite, sure, he's away from the public eye and everything. But this Damian guy? He was running the whole company, right out in the open after what he did!" She sighed softly. "I just don't get it."

Evie leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "There's a lot of bad people out there," she whispered. "Not all monsters are Grimm. But that's why we're training to do what we do, right?"

"Yeah... You know I love you, right?"

"And I you, sweetie. More than anything on the face of Remnant."

They glanced up as Pip moved from the cockpit and into the flight deck, sealing the door behind her. "Okay, listen up everyone. They're gonna have to go refuel in Atlas after they drop us off. It's possible that they might get word about our… indiscretion while there and won't be coming back for us for awhile."

"Indiscretion?" Frost asked curiously.

Pip gave her a sheepish grin, touching the tips of her forefingers together. "Welllll… We might have kinda sorta skipped over the fact that we never got permission for this little outing…"

The white-haired huntress blinked her eyes slowly. "So… this is an unauthorized mission?"

"Um, yeah. Pretty much."

She turned to gaze briefly out of the window before turning back with a firm nod of her head. "Not any longer. I'm authorizing it. One moment, please."

She stood up and opened the door to the cockpit again, speaking intently with the pilot.

"Can I just say again, I'm so glad Lustre talked to her before Pip went all primal on her ass?" Evie quipped.

Pip rolled her eyes humorously. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in… But yes, thank you Lustre."

The silver-haired girl in question inclined her head gracefully. "Of course. Always happy to be the voice of calm reason within the team."

Pip glanced at the others wryly. "Why does it vaguely feel like the rest of us were just insulted?"

"You are imagining things, dear," Lustre smirked.

Frost poked her head back out. "Alright, let's get ready. Almost to the drop-off point."

The four team members nodded and stood, strapping on their gear.

"Why do I feel as if we've been doing this an awful lot lately?" the lanky blonde quipped.

"Probably because we have," Evie laughed. "This will be our third drop in two days. Oh, and our fourth battle."

"Yep," Beryl grinned. "We're badasses."

"Undoubtedly," Lustre added. "Pity we can't get extra credit for any of this."

"Babe," their team leader laughed. "We'll be lucky if we don't all get suspended after this is over with…"

Frost looked at the four girls, somewhat baffled at their easygoing demeanor before dropping into a combat situation, but shook her head and turned back to open the side door. "We are coming in quite low," she yelled over the wind.

"Yeah, that's so that Pip doesn't hurt herself," Beryl yelled back. "She's such a delicate flower and all."

Pip rolled her eyes. Fortunately they'd had a brief moment on the way to the Bulldog to explain her current situation, so that Frost was aware of her reduced combat capabilities.

And then they were soaring in over a clearing much like the others they'd infiltrated, though this one had a much larger steel door set into a small building, camouflaged from above by netting.

Wordlessly, the five of them dropped out of the transport and hit the ground running.

The double-wide doors were unlocked, and revealed a deserted room that had only a single platform with a control unit on it.

"Cargo elevator," Frost confirmed. "Let's get on and get inside. It won't be long before we're discovered."

They assumed defensive positions while the huntress began lowering the platform down. It moved through the darkness at a languid pace, made all the more nerve-wracking by the lack of any other sound aside from the machinery.

"Whelp," Beryl joked. "At least there's no elevator music."

"Thank Oum for small favors," Pip muttered.

The elevator came to rest in another room, this one wide and cavernous, almost like a warehouse. Crates and boxes were scattered about, with only another double-wide door to the far side exiting the chamber.

The five of them headed forward steadily, looking around for threats in the dark recesses and shadows of the room. Beryl paused halfway, her eyes straining as she peered back the way they had come.

"Sweetie?" Evie whispered, stopping by her side.

"I think… I saw something move," the blue-haired girl whispered, hefting Dahl in her hand.

The others had reached the door and stopped, looking back at the other two.

"Coming?" Pip whispered harshly.

"Yeah, I…" Suddenly Beryl rammed her shoulder into Evie, knocking her sideways as a blur of darkness, tinged on the edges by a white nimbus, flashed by where the Cat Faunus had stood. She caught the claws on her shield, managing to deflect the enhanced Beowolf as it sped back off into the darkness.

Pip and Lustre had their guns to their shoulders, searching for targets. "Where'd it go?" the blonde asked worriedly.

"Not sure," Beryl murmured. "Dammit. We can't leave it behind us to hit our backs…"

"We should keep moving," Frost stated levelly. "It won't be long before more guardians are called down on our heads."

"Go on," Beryl replied over her shoulder. "Evie and I got this, we'll catch up with you."

"Beryl, are you sure?"

"Go, Pip!"

With a growl of frustration, Pip slammed the door open and hurtled herself through. The handful of unfortunate android guards there were quickly disposed of, thanks to Lustre's staff, her sword, and Frost's rapier. The sounds of their departure soon faded, leaving the couple alone in the dim cavernous room.

"How long do we wait?" Evie whispered.

"Until we give up and follow? I say another minute," Beryl explained. "That Beowolf won't stay hidden for much-"

She cut off as the double doors slammed shut with a loud boom.

"Yeah, okay," the small girl muttered. "Suddenly not looking like such a great idea after all."

"What was your first clue?" a light, mocking voice called out from the darkness.

"Who's there?" Evie demanded, Dao held out in readiness as she spun around.

"Really? That's your first question? How cliche." The melodic giggling might have been considered charming were it not coming from seemingly everywhere, echoing off of the rafters and walls.

"Oookaaayyy…" Beryl drawled. "Creepy girl is creepy."

"You think I'm creepy?" the voice sounded again, the pout coming through audibly. "I'm hurt. Just for that, you get to play with my pets now."

"Pets?" Beryl asked, glancing over at Evie.

"Um, yep." The Cat Faunus gestured around them with her scimitar in a wide sweeping pattern. "Pets."

All around them, subtly glowing shadows formed. Many, many figures as they crowded in at the edge of light.

"That is a whole lot of pets," Beryl murmured.

The pair readied their weapons, faces set determinedly.

"Got my back, beautiful?" the blue-haired girl quipped.

"Always, gorgeous," Evie snarked back.

o o o

"I don't like leaving them behind," Pip panted as they raced along the corridor.

"Neither do I," Lustre replied calmly. "But they can handle themselves. And our mission is of import."

"Yeah, but-"

"I understand, dear," the silver-haired girl interrupted gently. "I worry for them too. But we must stop this madman."

"Right." The blonde sighed, clutching her sword tighter in her grip. "Frost, where do those plans say to go next?"

They'd come across a small security station where they quickly overcame several sentient and android guards. The huntress had deftly interfaced with the console there and pulled up the floor plans for the facility. Unfortunately, she was also able to determine that the entire complex was already aware of their presence.

"Straight down this corridor, then the first door on the right. In that room, the door just to the left will lead to another very long hallway, which after a couple of turns will take us to the main control room." Frost glanced over her shoulder, Myrtenaster held firmly in her grip. "No sign of pursuit so far."

"Alright," the blond mumbled to herself. "First door on the… Aha! On the right!"

Barely hesitating, she slammed her shoulder into the door and rolled into the room, both Lustre and Frost on her heels, only to come up short and stare incredulously.

"Oh, are you serious right now?" Pip exclaimed.

Standing calmly in the middle of the large open room, the size of a basketball court, was Leech, regarding the trio with barely restrained eagerness in his stance.

"Just… Argh!" the blonde screamed in frustration, stomping around in a circle. "Fucking… Fuck! Fuckity fuck fuck! Fuck!"

"That," Lustre murmured, "was an inordinate amount of 'fucks'."

"I take it the two of you have already faced Leech?" Frost asked calmly, her ice-blue eyes never leaving the gangly man.

"Yes, we have," Lustre replied over the sound of continued cursing from her leader. "It did not end well, and that was with the four of us."

"I see." Frost inclined her head towards Leech, who returned it in kind. "Very well. You two proceed. I will deal with him."

Pip stopped in her ranting to regard the huntress skeptically. "Are you sure? He's, like, freaky-fast, and with that aura draining of his…"

"I am aware of his capabilities," the white-haired woman replied with a small smirk. "In my duties as a bodyguard, I made sure to assemble profiles on all of Malachite's henchmen."

"Oh. Well, then." Pip and Lustre shared a helpless glance.

"Just go," Frost repeated. "Take care of things and I shall follow once I am done."

"Alright. Good luck, Frost," Pip murmured. "Try not to die, okay?"

Frost shot her a tight grin as she held her rapier up in a guard position. "I shall do my best not to."

With that, the other pair raced through the door and down the hallway towards where they hoped to find Malachite.

Frost turned back towards Leech. "Shall we?" she invited courteously.

o o o

They'd gotten turned around a few times, and ran into more than their fair share of android guards, but soon enough Pip and Lustre entered into a large, circular chamber that was a good twelve feet high. Across the walls were several large monitors, all showing scenes from around Remnant of Grimm attacking villages and towns, of hunters fighting and dying to defend the people. Curiously most of the video feeds seemed to be from the perspective of the Grimm themselves.

To the side of the room was a long glass window that showed an attached room. It seemed to contain controls and communications and the like, with a small door adjacent to the window. And then, set into the back of the main room, was a single heavy metal door that seemed fairly familiar to the pair.

"That look like the door to his study, back in Vacuo?" Pip murmured.

"It does indeed," Lustre replied just as quietly. "Do we enter, or wait here?"

At that, the door opened on noiseless hinges to reveal the broad-shouldered, bearded man they'd come to find. His black three-piece suit was immaculate, and he tapped his cane at his feet as he came to a halt just outside of the door.

"Whelp, that answers that," the blonde breathed, trying not to show her nervousness.

"Back so soon?" Malachite asked, his pale green eyes glittering dangerously. "I would think you'd still be running, child."

"Well, yeah, I've always been a slow learner," Pip snarked. "Glutton for punishment and all that."

"I see. And you brought your friend with you, how marvelous." The suited man leered at Lustre. "I look forward to seeing what the procedure will do with you."

"I shall pass," Lustre replied grimly. "We are here to stop you."

"Stop me?" Malachite laughed heartedly. "Really? Oh, how very cute. Don't you know who I am?"

Pip snorted, gripping Odachi Dahlia tighter. "Just another asshole with delusions of grandeur."

"And a psychotic one, at that," Lustre added.

"Psychotic?" Malachite grinned widely, showing entirely too many teeth. "That is a three syllable word for any thought too big for little minds. What I am… is a visionary. I will bend this entire world to my knees. Starting right here, right now, this will become my legacy. My dynasty!"

"Yep," Pip intoned. "Crazy as fuck-all."

Chuckling, the man leaned his cane against the wall behind him. "I don't expect you to understand." He removed his jacket, carefully folded it and set it on the floor. "Small minds never do." He began to roll his sleeves up, one at a time, all the while looking at the pair of girls with a manic glint to his eyes. "You lack vision. You lack clarity."

He picked up his cane once more and faced them. "I must confess, it's been awhile since I've gotten my hands dirty, but I'm feeling positively effervescent today, my plans have gone so well. And so, you are in for a treat." He flicked the cane to the side, and it quickly transformed into a rather large, daunting obsidian greatsword larger than Pip's. "Before you die, of course."

"Well, Grimmshit," Pip breathed.

Lustre gave a wry nod. "Indeed."

o o o

Beryl and Evie had started out back to back, fending off the unending waves of speed-enhanced Beowolves, but eventually the shorter girl convinced her girlfriend to go on the offensive.

"Use your mobility," she grunted, flinging another Grimm away with her shield. "It's the only way we're gonna whittle their numbers down."

As an added bonus, by using her semblance to flicker around the room, Evie had managed to catch a glimpse of a petite figure, perhaps even shorter than Beryl and wearing dark colors. A flash of purple hair tied back in a ponytail was all she could catch as she tried to get close to the elusive girl before she'd have to dodge another attack from one or more of the Beowolves.

"Oh come now," the lilting voice mocked from the darkness. "Surely you can do better than that, little lost huntresses?"

Evie blinked to Beryl's side momentarily, breathing heavily. "She's really starting to piss me off," the Faunus growled quietly.

"Don't let her get to you," Beryl advised, switching Dahl over to a carbine to snap a few quick shots off before reverting to a sword again. She thrust into the flank of a charging Grimm just as Evie slashed out and eviscerated another. "Concentrate on the Grimm, not her." Several bodies of the creatures were piled around them, disintegrating rapidly. "Also, I think these Beowolves work kinda like Lustre's semblance, quick bursts of speed, so try and catch them in between charges."

"Giving up already little kitty cat?" the voice giggled.

Evie let out an angry shout as she blasted a wave of concussive force out, knocking a few of the Beowolves sprawling. "I think she's controlling them somehow," she mentioned.

"Yay, give the wannabe a prize!"

"I'll give you a prize, you annoying little bitch," Evie growled.

"Evie…" Beryl warned, but the Cat Faunus was already off, blinking across the room in a blur of motion. She leapt from the back of a Grimm after plunging her scimitar into its skull, dropping into a roll and coming up swinging, slicing through the legs of another. Before she could get pinned in place, the Faunus girl sent herself up and into the rafters to try for another glimpse of her irritating tormenter.

She took a second to make sure Beryl was still holding her own, though just barely from what she could tell. The blue-haired girl was swinging around wildly, fending off attacks from all quarters with both her shield and sword. And then another Beowolf came soaring up at Evie, claws extended and mouth opened in a snarl.

She leapt off of the rafter, springing straight at the Grimm to neatly bisect it before spinning around feet-first. A quick teleport took her onto the back of another Beowolf, slicing its head off.

Evie landed in a roll, coming back to her feet and barely avoiding the blur of one of the beasts as it sped by. She felt the breeze of the claws as they passed overhead.

"Evie, how're you doing, love?"

"Getting tired," she admitted, starting to sprint back to her girlfriend. "Lemme guard your back and rest for a-"

She was cut off as something grabbed hold of her foot, sending her sprawling face-down on the hard concrete floor. Flipping around, she angrily regarded what looked to be a whip that had encircled her ankle, Holding the other end was the smirking girl, her amethyst eyes twinkling viciously.

"Why you little-"

Once again her words were bit off, but this time by the yellow jolt of electricity that arced down the length of the whip, shocking her almost senseless. Still, she managed to kick the end of the whip off of her and stumble back to her feet.

Just as she regained her footing, another dark blur raced by, but this time she was in no shape to avoid it.

Evie was spun about, a spray of blood trailing from the gash now down the side of her face as a scream was torn from her throat. She landed hard on her side, unmoving.

The tableau froze as if the entire room had paused to take its breath, but then the silence was shattered by a single anguished scream.

"EVIE!"

o o o

Frost had to give Leech credit. He was quite the nimble opponent.

She'd sparred with a number of hunters who were primarily hand-to-hand focused, but none had come close to the mastery that this man had. His armguards easily blocked even the strongest of her hits, also managing to absorb the ice shards she'd throw his way.

The huntress flung her glyphs about with abandon, some to entangle him, some to bounce him around. He'd managed to avoid most of them, though she did toss up a pair that sent him into the air and then her spinning through the room to slice into his flank.

Unfortunately, he managed to land a painful kick into her side at the same time, one which her aura just barely blocked but still left her ribs sore.

She stood apart from him, clutching her side and panting lightly as he paced on the other side of the room.

"Interesting arm guards of yours," she mentioned, stalling for time to build her aura back up.

"Indeed, Aegis is the culmination of my life's work," the gaunt man replied. "You aren't spent already, are you?"

"Of course not. Merely catching my breath."

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

With that he spun back onto the offensive, his limbs a whirl as tried to pin her down. Frost ducked and slid to the side, whipping Myrtenaster out to keep the dextrous man at bay, but her strike was easily caught by one of his armguards. The other hand came close enough to brush the sleeve of her jacket.

"I must say," he continued while backing her up further with vicious kicks and palm strikes that she just barely managed to stay ahead of. "I'm pleased to finally have a worthy single opponent. Of course, you will still lose."

"Don't count me out just yet," she growled, flinging another ice shard his way which he contemptuously batted aside.

"Oh, I've killed far more skilled hunters than yourself, my dear Frost." He spun in place, one hand batting aside her rapier while he landed a solid kick against her sternum, sending her flying back.

As she landed, he charged forward to press his advantage. Frost quickly threw a black glyph down right in his path to immobilise him, but he dismissed it with a simple swipe of an armguard.

The shock of seeing one of her glyphs actually be broken caused her to hesitate, which allowed him to spin in close once more, this time kicking her rapier out of her grasp.

Myrtenaster skidded across the floor as he loomed over her prone form with an arm outstretched.

"And now," he grinned, the skin on his skeletal face pulling back hideously, "it's time to sleep, young one. Forever."

o o o

Only a few seconds into their fight, Pip and Lustre came to the realization that they were far outclassed.

They had been able to land a number of hits against the burly man, but each one seemed to be effortlessly absorbed by him, shrugged off as no more than irritants. And then, as if he were building up that kinetic energy, he would pause in his own attacks to slam his giant sword into the ground, causing a shock wave that would send the two girls sprawling backwards.

The first time that happened, Lustre was saved from certain decapitation only by her semblance, which allowed her to dart out of the way at literally the last second. After that they learned to quickly regain their equilibrium before he would be upon them again, swinging that massive sword with an agility that belied its size.

Pip had, unfortunately, taken the brunt of his attacks as she was the slower target. Lustre would dash in with her staff spinning to deflect what she could, but even so she was feeling battered and bruised, her aura certainly approaching the red. The blonde gamely kept up her attacks, parrying what she could of the onslaught, but she was cognizant that this was a losing battle unless something changed.

"This isn't working!" the blonde team leader called out to her teammate across the room.

"I am open to suggestions!" Lustre replied heatedly before racing in once more to land another series of strikes against their imperturbable opponent.

None of this is fazing him in the slightest! If only… If only I could access my semblance, maybe I could damage him with a strike from my sword when it's heated!

It was no use, however. She'd taken her aura blocker earlier that morning, but still it was keeping her from her semblance. She was too tired and worn down from the lack of sleep and constant battling to even muster up the little heat she was able to with Damian Schnee.

As she wracked her brain for a solution, she desperately ran in towards Malachite once more, only to be met by an unexpected slam of the man's sword. That close, she bore the brunt of it, and while Odachi Dahlia was sent careening towards the other side of the room, she sailed through the window in a flurry of shattered glass to slam into a console in the attached office.

As the tinkling of falling glass subsided, Lustre circled Malachite warily, who let out a dark, soft chuckle as she did so, turning to keep her within his view. "You have no hope at all of defeating me, my dear child. I am a God."

"No," she retorted levelly. "Merely a man. And I shall prove it."

She moved in a blur, trying to knock his feet out from under him, but he was evidently expecting the attack and slammed his sword down once more. Lustre barely registered the shock of the unexpected blast, belatedly realizing that even though he had paced out the ground strikes that didn't mean that he needed to do so.

The silver-haired girl flew backwards to slam into the concrete wall next to the entrance, stunned.

Malachite chuckled wickedly as she slid to the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. "And now, dear child, I have such exquisite plans for you and my Subject Two Dash Two…"

A/N: And yes, I leave you with not one, not two, but three cliffhangers! Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh… And all the more evil for only updating once a week or so now. I am sorry about that last bit, though. Just having too much fun with A Thorny Tangled Triangle… I'll see if I can't work on the next chapter over the weekend to keep you from too much suspense. (Who lives? Who dies? How will our heroines get out of this? Did anyone notice the badass weapon I gave Whisper?) Combat will wrap up the next chapter, after that a pair of aftermath-style chapters to tie things up to end Volume 2. And then, following a brief hiatus, we'll take the plunge into Volume 3! (Which, by the way, will be alluded to in Chapter 27.)

Martin Hooper1: I read your PM about history repeating itself, and hoping for no loss of limbs… then I looked at what I had planned for Evie… and I just couldn't bring myself to answer you. So, sorry about that. And please don't hurt me. (Also, what is it with you people getting ahold of my story notes before I post the chapters?) I do hope Frost's appearance satisfies. And as far as the continuation of this story goes - by no means does it end after the next few chapters, just Volume 2 drawing to a close. I still have Volume 3 and Volume 4 planned out, so it's gonna be going for some time still…

DustGremlin: Age of Ultron would be a good reference for a decent robot-scrapping. And yeah, I kinda planned on this being a non-issue with Frost, once she could see the error of her ways. Despite Pip's best efforts.

Stay shiny!