Chapter 3: Mountain Glenn

Huntsman Guildhouse, Mountain Glenn

The guildhouse was brand new, having only been competed less than a month ago. The red brick walls were all laid out in an even, pleasant-looking pattern, the woodplank floor was nice and smooth, and the whole place had the fresh scent of lavender. The large billboards on either side of the main hall were already covered with sheets of different colours, describing various requests for Huntsmen to accomplish for a profit. It was a lot more primitive than the high-tech mission boards at Beacon Academy, but there was something refreshing about it.

This place is really nice, Summer thought approvingly as she entered. A large assortment of chairs were laid out in the grand room for the lesson that was about to take place. Summer and co. made their way to one of the front rows, chatting about their training as they sat down.

"That Doc Merlot was one crazy guy," Tai muttered angrily, almost falling down into his seat. "I didn't think his stupid Dragoo-whatever would be that tough."

"He did warn, you though!" Regal pointed out. The albino was playing with one of his combat knives, throwing them into the air and catching them, sharp-end up, with one finger. "Punch like a madman, and anyone with a brain'll school you easily. Raven beat the thing because she was more careful."

"Ugh…please don't lecture me. You're just rubbing it in, aren't you?"

Raven slammed Shadow Mobius' sheath into the floor, almost denting the clean wood planks. "I BARELY won. If I have to go all out just to defeat one measly robot, how am I supposed to succeed as a Huntress?" she mumbled angrily.

"You'll have to step it up, Rae," Tai suggested jokingly. "Summer's catching up to you pre-tty quickly from what I've heard. Now, don't get me wrong-having TWO strong and very beautiful ladies on Team Taiyang is totally amazing, bu-"

"I went easy on her!" Raven snapped, raising her voice, causing Tai to lean back in his chair, arms raised in mock surrender. "It was because I wasn't used to her new weapon, and she'd learned to master it faster than I expected!"

"She's gonna hold that over you for the next three years, trust me," Qrow whispered to her from the chair beside her. "Just thought I'd warn you. Might want to stay 'way from her at the lunch table from now on."

"I'll keep that in mind," Summer whispered back, smiling sheepishly. Raven's probably right though-it WAS just a fluke. If Raven Branwen had really tried with all her skill, Summer highly doubted she would have won their duel.

"Herman did the best out of all of us, surprisingly," Torrence noted.

"Yes." Heather glanced at her partner, who was staring aimlessly at the ceiling, legs sprawled out. "Some special training you never told us about?" she asked, smiling.

"Uhh, not really?" Herman replied uncertainly. He scratched his ash blond hair, letting out a loud yawn. He twirled Vendetta around his hand nonchalantly. "Hrmm…I mean, I did go last out of everyone, so…uh…maybe the robot might've been worn out by then, and wasn't at full power…? I guess."

"Yes. That must be it." Raven agreed almost immediately after the words were out of the young man's mouth.

Fie walked up to the microphone that had been prepared for her in front of the audience. "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" she asked, poking the speaker, sending out a deafening screech that caused several students to yelp in pain.

"Oh! Sorry, kids. Didn't mean to scare you like that." The professor grinned mischievously. "Noooow then, I know you're all excited to explore 'round this beautiful city, so I'll make this lesson brief, alright?

"Right, so you all know that you'll become proper, official Huntsmen once you graduate. What some of you might not know is there's a Huntsman Ranking System. Sure, Huntsmen are meant to act as independent, unaffiliated forces, but it helps to…er, keep track of them in some way."

Summer fidgeted in her seat, trying to pay attention. This was all fairly new to her. Beside her, Qrow was already nodding off.

"Huntsmen are each assigned a rank from A to F, with A being the highest. There's teeeeechnically an A+ rank, but that's reserved for like, international heroes and stuff. All four Headmasters of the Academies are A+ rank, actually. Your rank won't be determined only by your strength though. Huntsmen take care of all sorts of weird jobs other than killing Grimm, so you'll be judged on your sociability, efficiency, how many different jobs you complete, et cetera. And your rank can go down if you're found lacking in any of these areas. The exact process of how the Association decides your rank is kinda iffy, but you get the idea."

"So do we all start out at E-rank when we graduate?" Tai inquired, listening intently.

"Ehh, not quite. You're not official Huntsmen, but all students at the academies are given an arbitrary rank of E-the second lowest. Depending on your academic performances, and how many missions you complete during your time here, you'll be assigned your proper rank on your graduation day."

"Wait, E-rank?" Regal raised his hand, looking confused. "If total newbies are in the second-lowest rank, who's in F-rank?"

"Normally, E would actually be the lowest you could go. F-rank's reserved for, ummm…special cases. Like, Huntsmen who've committed crimes, or people who for some reason or another are unable to take any work, ever. Since the Huntsmen Association is built on free will, we're not actually allowed to take away their Huntsman licences if they don't willingly resign. It's not really comfy to talk about, yeah, but the fact is a convicted killer could still, officially, be recognized as a Huntsman."

That's definitely creepy to think about. Summer shuddered. The concept of Huntsmen certainly wasn't as sunshine-and-rainbows heroic as one would think. Randomly, she remembered something Raven had once told her. "Good people-even Huntsmen-can do cruel things."

"Buuuut, on that note, I think I've wasted enough of your precious time. Just remember all of this when you go on your special excursion later this year," Fie grinned, clapping her hands together energetically. "Curfew starts at…uh, let's say ten o'clock. We'll all converge at the hotel then, 'kay? Alright kids, ciao!"

On that note, most of the students got out of their seats and made a beeline for the front entrance, practically shoving each other down as they rushed out, while yelling things like "I want to check out the new shopping centre!" and "Hey, hey, you think there are any cool nightclubs around here?"

Heather's team joined them. "We'll be at the blacksmith's to fix up our weapons. See you all later!" Heather smiled as they left. "I just wanna get to the nice, comfy hotel…" Herman complained as she dragged him out of the room.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Tai asked, stretching as he stood up. "I'm in the mood for some snacks, hear there are some nice restaurants nearby."

Qrow sighed. "I don't really care, honestly. Wherever we're goin', I'm game."

"Same with me," Summer agreed. Going anywhere in the district would be a nice experience, so it didn't matter much to her where they started. Ultimately, the four of them decided to just wander around for a while.

Mountain Glenn was something Summer could only really describe as 'comforting'. It had a refreshing warm atmosphere to it, what with the cleanly paved roads, large modern houses and buildings, and of course the great mountain itself, stretching far into the blue sky in the distance. A single building stood taller than the rest. It looked far more high-tech than the others, and a familiar logo was carved out of neon-green lights, on a sign above the top floor.

Merlot Industries, right? Summer thought. She'd thought the doctor's name had sounded familiar. She'd heard Merlot Industries was responsible for much of the technological advancements in Atlas, which was certainly impressive considering they were also operating out of a small district in Vale. But then Summer remembered the incident last year. They-or at least part of the company-also worked on Grimm experimentation…She did her best not to think much about it. Putting Merlot Industries firmly in the back of her mind, Summer focused on enjoying the rest of her day.

The district was small, but there were plenty of places to visit-shops, blacksmiths who forged weapons Summer was certain were impossible to wield with two hands, arcades that Qrow and Tai insisted on blowing all their money on in order to win a new game console (they did not), and bars which made Summer absentmindedly reflect on the fact that she'd be of legal drinking age in a few months. It all made for a pleasant afternoon.

It was evening when Team STRQ exited their last stop before dinner, a small gift shop. As Summer walked out, a strange figure bumped into her, knocking her new Grimm doll out of her hands. "Sorry miss," he muttered in a deep voice. He was covered head to toe in thick winter clothes, which Summer found odd. The man walked off down the road at a brisk pace.

As Summer reached down to pick up the doll, Qrow said: "Wait. Summer, check your pockets."

"Huh?" Summer reached into her white cloak, and her heart sank. Sure enough, her wallet was missing. "Oh, not again…" she muttered in frustration. "Hey you! Get back here! Give her back her wallet!" Tai yelled at the strange man, who picked up his pace and quickly vanished into the ground. "Damn it!"

"I'll go after him!" Qrow growled. In a flash, he activated his Semblance, and transformed into a small black bird. Cawing angrily, he flew in the robber's direction. Summer, Tai and Raven followed after him. "Brother, wait!" Raven snarled through gritted teeth.

When they caught up to Qrow, he was standing in the outskirts of the city, with no citizens in sight. Most of the buildings in the area were either small, in construction, or run-down. The boy was back in human form, glancing around in frustration. "Shit. I can't have lost him…he had to have come this way!"

"Wait, isn't that him right there?" Tai asked, confused. They all looked in the direction he was pointing in. Sure enough, the heavily dressed man from before was climbing down a manhole not too far away. "The fuck?" Qrow spluttered, eyes bulging. "I swear he wasn't there a second ago!"

"Whatever! Let's just get my wallet back!" said Summer angrily as the thief disappeared into the sewers. The four of them ran over to the manhole. "Ugh. The sewers?" Tai wrinkled his nose in disgust. "That's a really crappy place to hide, if you ask me."

"Literally, in some cases," Qrow agreed. "C'mon. Before he gets outta our sight again." The four of them dropped down the hole, one by one. For a brief second, all was darkness as they fell, before they landed in a dimly lit underground area.

Summer was the last to hit the ground. She glanced around herself in confusion, taking in the surroundings. "What…?" she gasped.

This was no sewer. That was for sure. It was some sort of…laboratory. They'd landed in a large circular room, with strange mechanisms mounted near the walls, glowing with green energy and emitting a sinister whirr. Large black crates embroidered with the Merlot Industries symbol were stacked willy-nilly throughout the room. There was no sign of the strange man. "I knew it," Raven spoke all of a sudden. "This is a-"

Before she could finish, at steel door slammed shut, covering the hole in the ceiling that they'd fallen from. They were closed in. "…trap," she muttered.

Without warning, all of the crates swung open, and Grimm came dashing out. Instinctively, Summer and her team prepared for battle, killing several of them before they'd even moved a metre. Splitting her bow into two, Summer swiftly decapitated a Beowulf with Phoenix Heart's blades. Beside her, Tai slammed his fist into an Ursa's face, crushing its head in with a loud crunch. "That's the last of them," he announced.

The team all breathed sighs of relief as the Grimms' bodies began to fade. Suddenly, a voice broke the silence. "Hmm-hmmm, nicely done. I expected no less from such stellar subjects as yourselves." The man from before appeared before them, still covered in heavy garments that blocked out his physical features. Summer yelped as everyone took a step back. "Where'd he appear from?" Qrow asked, shocked.

"No…he was there the whole time, wasn't he?" Raven muttered, pointing Shadow Mobius at her enemy.

"Very perceptive!" The man laughed. "It's an invisibility device of sorts that can disguise one's presence-even Grimm can be trained to utilize it, with time. It's quite different from that teleportation technique your friend the rabbit has."

That got their attention. Summer tightened her grip on Phoenix Heart. "So you know Harriet…" she hissed, even as fear ran through her body. "Are you working with her? Who are you, anyway?"

"You're asking the wrong questions, dear." The man flung off his jacket. Summer gasped.

The 'man' was made of pure stainless steel, with muscular humanoid arms and legs, a sleek physique, and glowing green armor. The voice continued to flow from its speech projector: "As I'm sure you've figured out, I've summoned you all here for a little…ah, let's call it an experiment. You've already so generously aided me earlier today, so one more shouldn't hurt, eh?"

"I don't remember ever helping…whatever you are," Tai grumbled, making a battle pose. "Well, you don't even have a weapon, and you don't seem that strong. I can take you easily."

"Well now, let's agree to disagree," The robot cackled. In its hands, a large, translucent Dust cannon materialized. It fired a large energy ball that struck Taiyang in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He grunted in pain.

"What the hell?" snarled Qrow. "Where'd the gun come from?"

"Merlot Industries' holographic weapon generators…and you mentioned us 'helping' you…" Raven hissed, raising her sword in a defensive stance. "Can I guess that the one controlling this machine is you, Doctor Merlot?"

The robot's voice changed, becoming that of a familiar old man. "Indeed you can, Miss Branwen," Merlot said jovially. "I've been hard at work all afternoon applying the results of my most recent experiment. Thanks to the data I obtained from your fighting styles, I've finally been able to complete the first specimen of the Dragoon model's beta upgrade, the 0311-DRAKION. Let's see what this little monster can do, shall we?"

Qrow ran at the Drakion with Reaper's Gambit, but the robot dodged the swing and projected a pair of hunting daggers, allowing it to outmanoeuver the larger, slower blade. Summer fired several arrows at the robot, but it simply changed its projection to a large shield, blocking them. When Tai attempted to approach the Drakion, it kept him at bay with rounds from a machine gun.

We need to overwhelm it, Summer decided. It couldn't adapt to all of their different weapons and tactics at once. Tai and Qrow had a similar idea, as they were ganging up on the Drakion, attacking from different sides. "Heeey now, that's hardly fair," Merlot's voice growled, as the robot projected a simple two-handed sword. It was still holding off both its opponents fairly well, but it was clearly having more difficulty.

"This is for embarrassing me a couple hours ago! Though, uh, technically it was a different robot!" Tai grunted as he landed a solid punch on the Drakion's metal face.

Summer turned to Raven, holding up her bow and making a circular motion with her other hand. The dark-haired Huntress seemed to get the signal, and nodded.

"Eat this!" Summer yelled as loud as she could, firing an explosive arrow in the Drakion's direction. "Silly girl," Merlot's voice grunted, as his robot swatted aside Tai and Qrow with a single swing. It held out its shield to block the impact.

Raven swung Shadow Mobius, creating a black-red portal in front of the Drakion. The arrow disappeared into it. "Hrmmm?" Merlot murmured in confusion. "What in-"

From behind him, the bomb arrow flew out of another portal, detonating on the robot's exposed backside. The Drakion stumbled, and before it could recover, all four Huntsmen were beating it down with all their might. Finally, Qrow plunged Reaper's Gambit straight into the Drakion's chest. Sparks flew from its broken wires.

"Bah…" Merlot's voice sighed. "It seems I have to take a few more trials before I can truly complete the data. Oh well. A loss is a loss, I suppose."

Summer lowed her bow. She had plenty of questions for the old doctor running around in her mind. "Alright, doctor," she began. "You mentioned Harriet a moment ago, but how do you know her? And why did you lure us into this trap?"

"Oh my. You are a curious one, aren't you? I admire that trait in students. However, my lips are sealed, I'm afraid. And the fact that you four have seen one of my laboratories is somewhat unfortunate as well…for me. So I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline this little Q & A session. Farewell!" There was a brief bout of static, and his voice disappeared.

Immediately, the lab began to rumble and shake. "He's rigged the room to explode!" Raven yelled. She swung Shadow Mobius, creating a large portal. "We need to get out, now!"

The four of them ran through the vortex, panicking and trying not to shove, finding them back above ground. A muffled explosion came from below, causing the ground to shake, causing some of the nearby old houses to collapse. A wave of smoke rose out of the manhole behind them.

"Well…" Tai panted, hands on his knees. "That sure was something." He spat onto his palms. "Ugh…I knew there was something shady about that Merlot guy. I wonder how he's related to Harriet…?"

"He was keepin' Grimm in those crates. That shouldn't be possible-Grimm die in captivity…" Qrow muttered.

"We need to tell someone about what just happened," Summer suggested anxiously.

Raven scowled. "I don't know if anyone at Beacon would believe us. Besides, that lab is likely completely destroyed, which means we have no evidence."

"We have to try," Summer insisted. "Maybe Professor Forrester could-"

Something fell from the sky onto her head. "Ow," she muttered as she picked up the object. It was her wallet, the reason they'd fallen into this trap.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Qrow asked incredulously.

Summer glanced at the stupid thing she'd nearly gotten killed trying to retrieve. She felt a sudden rush of irritation. "Another little mystery, but I can let it slide for now," she grumbled. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's get to the hotel."

Merlot Industries Building, Mountain Glenn

It was midnight, and the majority of citizens in the quiet district of Mountain Glenn were sleeping in their beds. The night was lit up by Dust-powered lightposts scattered across the streets, and the bright, modern neon lights of Merlot Industries' building towering above it all. On the balcony of the top floor, Doctor Merlot stood, observing the city with a large smile on his face.

"Alas, despite the riveting events of today, I still can't find any satisfaction," he sighed to himself. "Oh, the tragedy of being a man of science. And I still have robots to rebuild, and specimens to experiment on…indeed, it seems I've got a long way to go before I achieve my heart's content."

"God, you're such a stereotype," a boy's voice came from behind. Merlot turned around, and saw a short, scowling young man with sleek black hair. The light of the moon reflected off his glasses, giving off a sinister glint.

"You certainly took your time showing up," Merlot smiled.

"That's my line, you old shit," grumbled Rok. "I have no idea where the hell you've been for months and all of a sudden, boom! You're back in Vale and messing around with the local students for some stupid god-knows-what project of yours. Y'know, for a guy who's supposed to be one of the great scientific geniuses of our time, you sure can be an unreliable ass when you want to be."

"Come now, Rok. You of all people can understand the value of scientific discovery. Why else would you agree to aid dear Onyx's little scheme? Surely for the same reasons as I, no?"

Rok snorted. "Okay, ignoring the fact that you even bothered to compare the two of us in ANY capacity, I'd like it if you didn't make any, uh, 'implications' about my motives. And now that you're finally back in action, I'm afraid you're gonna have a lot of work on your hands soon."

"Work is what we live for, boy. It is the fuel that sustains the fires of our lives and passions," said Merlot. "Speaking of which…I have heard. The artifact…is it true that we have obtained it?"

"Sure have," Rok grinned. "The Black Yin…one of the jewels of life and death and everything in between, or some shit like that. Its ability to draw out endless amounts of Aura…gotta admit, it's some useful stuff. It used to be in the hands of some no-good terrorists, believe it or not. But now it's in the hands of…well, even-worse terrorists, so I'd say it's high time we put it to good use."

Merlot chuckled. "How very fascinating. So they DO exist after all. And if all goes to plan, their true nature will become apparent very soon…and then, I can finally witness the potential of humanity unfold before my very eyes. Hmm-hmmm…I do so look forward to it!"

Rok said nothing. He was glancing over the balcony, eyes squinted in scrutiny as he looked around Mountain Glenn. Everything was deathly quiet-but in total silence, the simplest of disturbances can raise suspicion. Something-or someone-had caught his eye. "Hmmm, a fly on the wall, huh..." he muttered under his breath. "Or maybe…a shadow?"

"Hmm? What did you say?" Dr. Merlot asked absentmindedly.

Suddenly, Rok's body stiffened. His face broke out into an enormous grin, and his eyes glowed with a predatory gleam. "THERE you are," he hissed. He held out his arm, and a large, pitch-black scythe nearly twice his size materialized out of nothingness into his hand. Rok swung it with all his might, generating a powerful blast of wind that blew downward towards the city. The blast struck a nearby building, cutting clean through its steel supports and sending it crumbling to the ground in large fragments.

"W-what was that?!" spluttered Dr. Merlot, nearly falling over the balcony in shock.

Rok took a deep breath, then shrugged his shoulders. "Thought I sensed something. Someone spying on something they shouldn't be hearing. Or maybe it was a squirrel." He grinned at the wreckage he'd just made. "Ah well, whatever it was, they're probably dead now."

Merlot scowled. "Hrmm…do as you like, Rok, but I'd prefer if you did not cause any…permanent damage. Mountain Glenn is far more useful to my research when intact."

Rok just laughed. "Well, don't you worry about that, old man. Harriet and the others still have quite a bit in mind for this little cesspool. Now if you'll excuse me…" The boy raised his scythe, and a soup of black smog surrounded him. When they cleared, Rok was gone. "…Insufferable little child," Merlot muttered to himself angrily, and went inside.

From within the wrecked building, a single figure crawled out of the rubble. "Son of a bitch…" he muttered to himself. He certainly hadn't expected to be discovered like that. He'd thought hiding behind a window would be enough during the night, but clearly he'd been wrong. It's been a while since I've come so close to death, hasn't it…?

He looked through the scope on his weapon again. The balcony of Merlot Industries' building was clear. The two figures who'd been there before were nowhere to be found. "Dammit," he grumbled. Well, no use crying over spilled milk, I guess. He pressed a switch, and the sniper rifle retracted back into its base form-a harpoon.

"Almost got killed for a stupid scouting mission," Herman Whitehead sighed bitterly. "Of course THIS is the kind of job he'd dump on me…"

He glanced at the rubble. Choosing a currently unoccupied condo to hide out in was the right call, it seemed. He shuddered to wonder what would have happened if it had been an occupied building that had been destroyed. The idea of civilian casualties certainly wouldn't deter his enemies.

"What monsters…" Herman muttered. "Just what are these people planning…?"

Note: This story will be going on a bit of a hiatus after this chapter. I kinda want to shift my focus to other things at the moment, but don't worry, I'll get back to writing Stark eventually.