"...Okay..."

It seemed that lives were on the line for the battery Sangue had to pick up. Blinking, the red-haired swordswoman looked around and quickly picked it up.

I have to... deliver this.

With the battery in her only hand, Sangue scampered over to the dumbwaiter and plopped the battery into it, just as Lauren told her to do so. She then activated the machine, her hand quickly hovering over her blade like usual as soon as her hand departed from the button. She walked next to Ivor in case something happened.

It seems getting the generators started would be the main issue. Indeed his pins should be able to conduct electricity, seeing as his Semblance gives off a small charge, it works by taking advantage of that. It seems Luke will be staying behind to defend while Jack would set up the pins, and Cian would jump start the generators with electric rounds. Before he could say anything she already snatched the few he took out of his sleeves from his hands, and they were on their way.

"Right then... Well they're not all copper, but they should do the job", he said after her. After awhile it seems his job now was to lead the survivors to the elevator.

"Huh, that's it for me? Well then, when these guys are safe I'll come back for you guys if I need to", he responded. With that he began leading them off, he kept his wits about him as he stepped down the path towards the elevator. Once the power starts up, hell is going to break loose, he can feel it. If only he had a stronger lightning in his semblance... It would be relatively simple. Still, they just have to make do with this.

The simple mention of food from Diamond made Oswald's body hurt. Could she please not remind him that good food was a thing that existed? He was fine eating crappy hospital food, but it had been a while since he'd had a nice, hearty meal. Yeah, I could go for that right about now, too. Although I'd probably need a smaller meal so I don't make my ribcage explode.

Looking down at the IV in his arm, Oswald sighed. This was hardly the first time he'd had one, but it was hard to get used to the feeling. The restriction of movement in his arm from the needle, the constant dull pain, it all worked to remind someone of the condition they were in. That they'd had a brush with death.

Wait, rare? Bloody, raw meat? That's disgusting Diamond. You freak. :P

Bianca Nuit - The Infirmary

Bianca took the thermos from Gratia’s hands and began to drink from it vehemently. She didn’t even respond to Gratia which was uncommon for her, she simply nodded. With a mouth full of piping hot soup she put the thermos down on her bedside table and immediately picked up the sandwich. She nabbed it and began eating with a large bite, her mouth still warm and wet from the soup.

She quickly downed both and before long and placed any remaining garbage eon her bedside table. She glanced at Gratia with eyes that were filled with an uneven sadness that seemed to spill over every few minutes. She found her hands wandering to where her…

She felt very much empty. Gratia was sitting beside her but she felt as though she was miles away. She felt as though she could hear Vitoria still. Her yelling, her cackling, her empty body hitting the floor of the car as she crumpled in on herself and the weight of her blood pooled out into the Dodici SUV.

But her thoughts were interrupted.

"Ah. Hi. I'm Kuhaku Shiro from Team Swansong. I-...I was just stopping by to visit friends of mine to see how they're doing. Did...you two need anything?"

Bianca shook her head slightly from side to side. The boy seemed to heat up, his cheeks flushed and his breathing caused his chest to fall much more quickly and deeply.

“No that’s quite alright, you don’t need to worry. They’re taking good care of me here.” Bianca replied to the nervous boy.

She glanced at Gratia and placed a hand on her upper arm. As if she was calling off an attack dog. She basically was.

“Anything I can do for you?” Bianca added before the boy would return to his usual tasks.

It seemed that for every problem they solved another appeared Cian thought to herself as they brought up having to get the generators running again which would prove to be a problem. She did have some dust not alot mind you but a bit that was able to be used in this situation. Though it would be a hard thing to do nodding her head at the pins she took from Jack she started to jury rigging it with her lightning dust rounds it wasn't the best but it would have to do for the moment. Getting into position she hefted Byakko as she carefully took aim she had limited shots best make them count after all. "I'm in position just give me the signal" she said as she waited slowing her breath as she gently started to place her finger on the trigger.

Good enough to take Cian on a date?

What did she mean by tha—

"Deus volt."

GGHRSFUNINJVG

His mind went blank as the charge entered his body, whatever train of thought he had going shattered as raw white heat filled the ensuing void. He should have known better, known to properly brace himself for what had come. He had just agreed to what was, in effect, being minorly struck by lightning more than being hit by a taser. To go into it without at least some form of self-steeling was incredibly stupid on his part.

And yet.

"RRRRRNGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

He could only hold it in for a moment, before letting loose a cry of pain.

Really, how much could one expect a mental prep session to be able to contend against acting as an electircal conduit like this? It wasn't a question of the mind's fortitude—the scale was simply too different. Bracing for this sort of all-encompassing sensation of white-hot pins and needles was a fool's errand. It wouldn't have mattered.

And it didn't matter.

He felt his muscles contract still tighter as the grip he held upon the wires was no longer even his own. He'd read about this phenomenon once. It was called "passing the 'Let-Go Threshold'", where the amperage passing through the arm was great enough that involuntary contractions of it and the hand were too powerful to resist— and thusly leaving the shocked person unable to "let go".

That's fine, though.

Whether it was his aura bolstering itself in response to the new threat to the body, or simply an odd case of a sharp pain clearing the head, a thought managed to pass.

He didn't care which explanation allowed for it, just that it was there. Grabbing onto it with everything his screaming mind had, he forged on.

I can't let go.

I don't want to let go.

I won't let go.

If it weren't him, then it would be Lauren. Reason enough to grin and bear it. She may have been a tough girl, he never dared deny that, but this was a job he and his gifts were meant to take.

I would never want my sisters to feel this.

Little, or big.

I need to hold out here.

Easier said than done.

Gratia Mindaro - Infirmary

She had detected the feline boy's approach before he had even rounded the curtain, but that did not, in any way, stop Gratia Mindaro from immediately turning her piercing, onyx eyes upon him, an expression that was as utterly bereft of emotion as an icy tundra was of warmth. Her gaze did not falter a single inch. She recognised the Beacon student from their 'guided tour' weeks earlier; he was the inept fucktard whose foolish bumbling had nearly ruined their pizzas. What then, was the reason behind his visit to Nuit's bed? She would not tolerate any further nuisances to her teammate, especially if the irksome cat decided to reenact the pathetic flailing of a lobotomised lobster in the midst of an epileptic seizure.

A medical bay was no place for some retard to drop their spaghetti.

He's already redder than the fucking sauce.

It was immediately obvious to her that the state the feline Faunus was currently experiencing had likely been instigated by Bianca Nuit's appearance. The rapidly-reddening cheeks, increased heart rate, overly pronounced swallowing ... that was sufficient evidence for even the blind to realise that the Beacon student was, in some manner, attracted to her comrade, likely even if it had not been so utterly fucking obvious. It was not shyness at work; with the way his eyes were trapped by Nuit's own and the sheer amount of nervous energy present, there were only two possibilities: he had found a new emergency food supply, or he was pining like so many other inferior douchebags had been doing in the past.

Beauty and wealth combined were quite attractive prospects for suitors, after all.

The teenaged Huntress could have spoken up, but there was no reason for her to waste her breath. Nor did Nuit seem to want her to become involved. That wasn't a problem with her. As long as there was no bullshit being peddled by the cat, she didn't need to intervene. She would only watch Kuhaku Shiro impassively, her emotionless gaze never wavering from his body.

Nigga oh noooooo.

Nigga nigga nigga. Shit.

I'm gonna fucking kill Luke. Shit!

Lauren whipped off her sunglasses quickly and hung them by one temple from her sports bra, watching the martial artist with wide green eyes.

I'm supposed to present these sunglasses to Chatsworth this week! They can't have footage of Luke's death in the memory!

It looked like it was working - Luke's body was running the electricity along his arms and through the copper wires he stood parallel to, grip tightening by the second as the current pulsed through him and into the generator. Cian's occasional extra round of Dust only added to the juice flowing into the facility. It should have enough power to get Jack and the survivors onboard the lift and get it moving before the battery even got down, and that would be in no time. She'd agreed to tail them from behind and let Luke and Cian move on alone. They'd meet Sangue in no time and be fine. This was her plan...

But she hesitated.

She was used to putting Luke Schwarz through the funny kinds of pain. Trying to set him up on dates. Not wearing bras with tank tops - and wearing tank tops everywhere. Sexual gestures on his ahoge. Smacks on the ass. Roughhousing stuff. This...this...

Naive as it may have been...

Lauren hadn't been expecting to hear Luke scream.

Her muscles had all locked up on her. She felt electrocuted, too.

_"Luke..."

This wasn't hype. This wasn't hype at all.

"...Stay frosty, killer. I'm right behind you. W-Wallahi."

The sunglasses went back on. Seconds later, the power would be following suit. She had no time to be shaky.

But she couldn't leave him like this.

The heroic efforts of Benjamin saved him from an early death and even scored a few hits against the manticore before Goodwitch's spell made an impact. For the moment, the monstrous creature hesitated, its attention torn between the vulnerable target before it and the potentially dangerous one above. A peppering of lightning blasts from the hunter-in-training successfully prevented it from recuperating its focus. Finally, the creature made up its mind and pounced onto the building, ready to eviscerate the vulnerable human with terrifying claws.

At that moment a pillar of purple light crashed down into its back, like an wrathful beacon from heaven. The accompanying sound, which would be oddly sonorous were it not painfully loud, resounded throughout the whole complex. Awash in pain, the supposedly intelligent beast bellowed and changed targets, now fixed on annihilating whatever hurt it so badly. Despite the magnitude of Goodwitch's smite, however, the monster's motor functions did not seem conveniently impaired. Weirdly like a housecat begging for food, the gargantuan creature reared up onto its hind legs to try and swat the airship from the sky. Fortunately, the professor had not been so careless as to have her vehicle hover in clawing range, even if she expected her adversary to retreat. Its unexpected blind aggression, completely at odds with the bestial cunning shown earlier, elicited from Goodwitch an unappreciative frown. “Well, this makes it easy.” After a few words to the pilot in a raised tone, the airship began to move. It floated away from the distillery and over the marsh, discharging a hail of magic arrows every few seconds, and the Manticore ran after it. “We've got its attention. There's a chance of it jumping for us but as long as we keep moving it can't get a bead on us. Get everyone out of the building and into the distillery's courtyard, pronto!”

On the first floor, Ivor stood grimly, his former wry smile replaced by businesslike calm. One of his colleagues had revived, though still in an unpleasant condition, and between them they held the third man on their shoulders. They awaited the signal from Sangue, which she in turn would be receiving from Benjamin following his reception of Goodwitch's command. Down a short hall lay the open door to the distillery courtyard, the afternoon light a vision of hope but also one of peril as long as the manticore lurked nearby.



The survivors hung back, collectively quiet, during the dialogue between Lucas and Lauren. Knowing how far their lives lay on the line, they trusted their rescuers to do the right thing, and to tell them what to do quickly and succinctly when it was time to move. More than one of them worried that the stunt that Lauren planned would incapacitate if not kill Lucas, though. Soon enough, the preparations were complete -even if sending an ultra-casual video via phone seemed a little frivolous- and then the happening that could only be described as an experiment of fortitude began.

Electricity surged through Lucas, a ceaseless stream of pain that tore away his control over his body and then tried to tear away his mind. Without the regeneration of his semblance and the protection afforded by his aura, this act would have been suicidal self-sacrifice beyond the shadow of a doubt. Were they around, the survivors would be truly worried that he would not pull through. Yet the young hunter did not die, and the agonizing power flowing through him served its purpose.

Obligingly the dumbwaiter began to move. At first only creaks and groans heralded its migration, which were scarcely audible over Lucas' cries, but before long the device appeared from the chute. Inside lay a power cell, ripe for the taking. With it close at hand, the generator and then the lift would shortly follow—but at this instant, the hunter team needed to undo their setup and save Lucas before the current overwhelmed him. At the same time, the survivors had vanished up the vehicle bay lift, and would soon be on the surface.

@Lugubrious @NarayanK @Kaithas

I think I just shitposted at a Manticore.

Absurd though it was, that was the first thought to penetrate the fight-or-flight haze around his mind. It passed quickly, dispersed by a quick shake of his head, while Goodwitch's orders came through the radio. A quick jerk of his tonfa ejected the last spent shell, the few seconds he took to reload used to survey the roof. The Manticore had done a real number on it, but not enough to cause any harm to the survivors on the floor below. Thank God for small miracles. Now, though, he had to figure out how to get back down. The way he came up was still intact, but that'd require him climbing back down through the window to Millade's...

Millade. Ben's frown deepened, and his eyes moved back to the antennae assembly. They had arrived too late, much too late, to do anything for her but his first instinct was to bring her back with him. Daniel Lloyd, as shitty as he was, raised him to respect the dead. And no one deserved to be left behind in a forsaken place like this one. She'd given everything to make sure help would come, and she deserved that much respect. They weren't out of the woods yet, though. The living needed him and his team at a hundred percent if they were going to make it home alive, and failing to bring all the survivors back would only dishonor everything she'd done. If he had to guess she wouldn't have wanted that either. The antenna assembly was near the center of the roof, above the central hallway the floor below, so Ben crossed over to it in a few quick strides and crouched long enough to make sure her eyes were closed. That he could do.

Then he took two steps away, facing the cafeteria, and brought his foot down hard. Then again. And one more time. Hard enough to smash through to the floor below, creating an opening big enough for him to drop down through. He gestured for Amy to follow and dropped to the hallway below... A couple yards from Sangue and the survivors, the former of whom looked about ready to run him through. He waved.

"We're getting the fuck out of here. Let Lauren know and come on." Switching the radio on again while he headed back towards the stais to the ground floor, Ben started relaying Goodwitch's instructions to Jack; "Goodwitch says to get the survivors to the courtyard. Beastie up top's distracted. I've got Amy and Sangue and we're taking the survivors up here down now. You guys need any backup?"

@HereComesTheSnow @Suku @Lugubrious

As dangerous as Lauren's electroshock therapy idea was, she would have never suggested it without a good idea of how to handle electricity as a substance. She'd fucked around with enough alarms or electric cars in her day to have a good idea of what to do with it, but part of that experience came from mishaps - and there was little more dangerous than a bad date with high voltage. Which is why she ignored every gut instinct that screamed at her to pry her scruffy-headed protege off of the copper wire she'd sweet talked him into gripping, and why she instead began pulling off her boots.

There were two thought processes at work inside the boxer's head, one conscious, one subconscious. Consciously, she thought to herself that this was the only thing that Lauren and Cian had with no metal to conduct through Luke and wouldn't include them in the circuit. One good strike to the gut with both boots, swung wide and hard like a baseball bat, would do the trick and put Luke on his ass without breaking anything. He'd have the wind knocked out of him for a couple seconds, and he'd still feel like shit, but he'd be alive and his ribs wouldn't be rattling around like the insides of a little human maraca. That was worth the loss of any protection to her bare feet and calves.

Subconsciously?

I hope Cap's sunglasses ain't recording.

He'd be as hard as a calculus test all weekend if he saw her like this. And as great a guy as her best friend was, he must have been dropped on his head as a kid if he would delete that footage without a fight.

When her boots were both in her hand, Lauren decided to weaponize that image for some extra oomph.

It's not Luke at all. Luke isn't hurt. Luke is in his dorm watching lewd cartoons. This is Beacon. This is Ben's smirking face. He just used up all the hot water in the shower entertaining some sick fantasy about you and--

THOOMPH!

With one wide arc of her arms, Lauren sent Luke sprawling backwards, and had wrapped one arm around him before he hit the ground. She felt a jolt and quickly reeled back from him, but made sure he hit the ground carefully and without too much force. Shaking it off, she walked over to the battery Sangue had sent down and quickly began working on the installation process. It was just like what she'd done to get them in here. Just like what they'd done a thousand times.

"Cian, grab Luke," she said, hands performing the installation process through sheer muscle memory. "We're getting out of this shitheap."

They'd done it.

They'd really done it.

"Wa...llahi." he growled in response, trying to reassure the voice of the girl behind him. He could do this. He could take it. He was meant to take this kind of thing, unlike anyone else. He didn't like it, but...

I

Have

TO.

His eyes having long clenched tight from the pain, he now managed to pry one open in time to notice a fuzzy blur of motion directly in front of him. From the darker tones of what he assumed to be skin, it had to be Lauren, right? Was she preparing to take over for him? They had to be close, by now, right? It had felt like an eternity.

I can hold out long enough to see this through. You stay right there, Negasi.

Even though it was probably too imperceptible for any of the others to recognize, he stared the dark blur down through his dry, nearly-shut eyes.

I have to hold on.

If I give out here...

He dug deep.

I'll never...

_{"I'll never be able to take Ber}yl to the p— WOOOOOGH!"

His breathless cry of determination was roughly cut off by a massive impact to his midsection, one that flat-out tore him free of the wires and sent him staggering back groundwards. Was that... Lauren?

I felt footwear.

S-She kicks like April!

He found his voice, raw and dry even as he heard Lauren urge Cian to grab him and go. That only meant one thing had transpired.

He raised a hand to his brow, hearing a slight crackle from one of the pins as he did so.

Amazingly, he managed to laugh.

"Heheh...Mission complete, Ma'am."

Kuhaku Shiro - Infirmary

Shiro seemed to relax a little when the Owl Faunus said that she was being taken care of, relieved for one reason or another. His rigid body easing down as he scratched at the back of his head, still so awkward feeling and damned nervous. It was really starting to bother him. What was it? Maybe it was the headphones girl and her resemblance to his own team leader. Though, he never acted like this around Sapphire. Even still, that had to have been it. Sighing quietly, he grinned.

"I-I'm glad to hear that..!"
Shiro blinked when the girl offered her own help to him.
Thinking about it, she was possibly probing as to what he actually wanted.
Which, was really nothing more than to see his fellow classmates alive and well.
He got the feeling that he was unwelcome and intruding, an annoying stranger that invaded their privacy.
"O-oh? Well, nothing really...Just get better soon, okay?"
He grinned again, but his grin quickly vanished when he was finally able to tear his gaze away from the Owl faunus to see...

The glare.

The color drained from his face as his blood ran cold, his body freezing up again as he locked eye contact with the headphones girl.
Such anger in those steely eyes. Possibly even hatred? Geez, what had he done to her? Other than that pizza incident. Oh, right. The pizza incident. Looking between the two, he had to admit he was a little intimidated by the headphones girl's intense laser-focused stare. Reading her body language, Shiro noticed she didn't budge a centimeter as if she were some malice-filled stone statue. To him, that was a hostile stance. A predator preparing to spring her fangs and claws the moment he made a mistake or wrong move. He thought to take a step back, but stopped himself.

No. What could this girl do? Why did he supposedly fear her? Have some more courage in your body, boy! Undaunted, instead of fleeing the scene, he continued on. Maybe offer a gift to make amends? Oh, Shiro had the best idea for that.

"Oh, uhh.."
Shiro scratched at the back of his head again, looking at the ground for the right words.
Lest his throat be ripped out by the headphones girl.
In his head, he was bashing the face of his shield against another miniature and childish form of himself, seeking courage.
Looking back up, he picked up his usual smile.
"A-actually...Th-this...may sound a little silly. But, ah...I'm not sure if you two remember me but, I was the...guy that disrupted your lunch a few weeks back when y'all first arrived. I realize now that this is probably coming a bit late, but I want to apologize and maybe ask for a second chance at a better first impression?"
Shiro tilted his head, imperceptibly shrugging.
"I was thinking that maybe I can replace the pizza I f-...fell onto?"
Frowning, he shook his head and hands.
"N-not anything out of here, that is! Or the cafeteria!"
Looking up at the ceiling and scratching at his twitching ears, he continued.
"Wh-what I mean to ask is...Would you ladies maybe like some pizza ordered from out in town? My treat, of course. Anything you want on it, any size? A buddy of mine I checked on earlier complained about the food here and I figured that would be a neat way to...say 'sorry' for being such a clumsy fool."
He laughed at himself.
"That was...really rude of me to do that to y'all when you had just arrived. Running off after that even worse so. It'll eat at me until I can somehow make it up to you all...So, how does that sound? What do you say? D-don't feel bad about me paying for it either! My mission netted me some extra spending Lien so I've got it covered!"

Shiro chuckled nervously, his tail restlessly swaying from side to side. He had no idea he was going to be offering to pay for pizza to these two girls of whom he didn't know the names of yet. But, while he was here, might as well. Right? He wasn't hurting for anything at the moment. If anything Beacon provided most everything for him. The next issue was, if they accepted his offer, where the hell was a good pizza joint to offer some? Maybe the ladies had a place in mind. If not, he could always text Abel and Gren and ask.

@Crimmy @Write

As the elevator lurched to life, and the lights in the facility lit the dark corners, he knew the plan was in motion, and that every second longer they took, it was going to get more and more difficult to have everyone come out of this alive. As he rode the elevator up, he got a report from Benjamin. The Manticore up above was having it's attention drawn away, so he should move the survivors through as quickly as possible to the courtyard.

"Alright, when we reach the top, we're going to move quickly to the courtyard, no dawdling. There's a large Grimm up there but another team has it occupied, so we use this chance to get to safety. There will be a pick-up ready there", he said. The survivors seemed to understand.

As they reached the top, and everyone exit the elevator, he hit the switch to send it back down and was on his way to the courtyard with the survivors in tow. He could hear the fighting, but he was sure to choose a path that was not in the open to give whatever Grimm was out here a reason to notice them. They had wounded too, Priscilla, so they didn't need a reason to make this more difficult. As soon as that would be done, he intended to head back and make sure the rest of his team made it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsoLYWTzqSY

Beryl Harken-Calmer Waters

Beryl was forced to jump to the side as the crowd of Faunus streamed past. A flood of terrified and elated people that petered out after a few seconds, leaving scant few with the person who had come to rescue them. The otter girl did not mind though, there was something far more important before her.

Five children had been left behind.

Three girls, two boys and as a whole some of the skinniest and most ill treated kids that Beryl had ever seen. The two oldest girls were standing protectively in front of the rest. Their gazes defiant and terrified as they stared at her and the segmented sword in her hand.

It took all that Beryl had not to rush forward and gather them all up in a giant hug as she stared at the small group. She had seen faces like that before. It was the face of one who had no idea what was going on, only that they were scared and hungry. Too scared to cry, to hungry to run.

The stormy waters of Beryl's heart settled into a calm tide as she sheathed Stream and took a step towards the children. They shifted back and the two in front attempted to take up defensive stances. Beryl stopped, the five were terrified out of their minds and she did not want them bolting.

"Where are your parents?" She asked.

There was silence for almost a full minute before one of the children spoke up.

"Gone. Dunno where." One of the two boys mumbled, Beryl guessed that he was about eight.

Beryl looked them over. All five were rabbit Faunus and had similar facial features. If the young Huntress had to guess she would say that they were all part of the same family. Deciding to change the subject she pulled out a couple energy bars from her pocket and held them out. Even without their haggard looks she knew that growing children were always hungry.

"I was going to eat these later but you all look like you could use them more." They looked at her warily. With a sigh she unbuckled Stream and set it to one side. "I promise I don't bite" she said in a light voice.

The children slowly moved forward until they were within arms reach of the otter Faunus. Timidly they each took one...and then set into them like a pack of ravenous wolves. The bars were not all that big and were gone almost immediately, even though the older two had to help open a couple for the smallest children.

As they licked the remains of the energy bars off their fingers the oldest looking of the group stared at Beryl. It seemed like she wanted to say something but was hesitating. Beryl's curious look was enough to get the kid to speak up though.

"Ummm, thanks for the food. Who are you?"

It was a logical enough question, Beryl was just some random stranger to them.

"I'm Beryl, a Huntress. I came here to rescue people from the Dodici." Now that they seemed to trust her Beryl had a few questions of her own to ask. "Now do you have any family or guardian that I can bring you all to? I can hardly leave you here."

The girl she was talking to, ten or eleven at best, almost froze at that question. She just stood there, tears filling eyes that valiantly tried to blink them away. When she spoke it was with a voice choking on emotion.

"They're d...they're dead. Mom, Dad, Nuncle Jem, Aunt Mimi. Phill, Emmy, Gelb, Blue. The Grimm came and...and they...they ki-"

It was too much. Beryl leaned over and drew the young girl in. A hug filled with all the warmth and comfort she could give. A hug for a girl who had lost everything.

"It's alright." She said in a quiet voice as the girl sobbed into her shoulder. "I know a place you can go."

The power was back on. Against all odds, it had worked - and Luke was still in one piece, thinking like normal, trying to keep her buoyant. The relief she felt welling through her - and probably through him and Cian - jumpstarted her Semblance again.

"Sure is, kid. You did great."

Lauren, boots in one hand, bent down to touch Luke's head. She felt a vein pulse underneath her forehead, and when she touched his hair there was a painful jolt; she felt her arm tense at the brief discomfort, but the limb didn't retreat.

"You think I'd ever push you into a fight where I can't have your back?" she asked warmly. Her fingers bent slightly to ruffle his hair affectionately.

Ahoge and all.

"Now c'mon. We gotta get to the elevator and across that courtyard. Half of my team is still fighting fuck-knows-what up there and I don't like the idea of not being able to give 'em a hand."

They hung around only a second longer, to help Luke regain his footing, before the three set off, Cian supporting Luke with one arm and her gun underneath the other as Lauren took point, boots in one hand and other hand near her axe. Fortunately enough, they reached the elevator without incident. Jack must have already taken the survivors up.

The three sidled into the elevator and hit the switch, leaving the basement of the distillery behind.

In the distillery's plaza there came to be a reunion. Three quarters of team BASL and a third of JCL came together, each with a retinue of survivors. Though the time spent in the place, be it second floor or basement, wasn't too much in the end, everyone here could agree that it felt like ages. Some nursed wounds, both fresh and old, or worried over the injuries of others; a few were rattled by what they'd seen or experienced, be it the primal, disturbing sensation of being hunted or an intense psychological reaction to witnessing dead bodies. Altogether, everyone felt fatigue, and not just in their muscles, but for this very place. In the wake of this tragedy, the entire complex seemed like little more than a monument of death—further proof, though nobody need it, of mankind's inability to dominate the wild.

Nobody got much time to think about any of this, though. By the time that Lucas, Lauren, and Cian were about halfway up the elevator, the familiar noise of jet engines washed over the ominously silent distillery once again. Everyone anxiously awaited the arrival of Goodwitch's airship, their souls poisoned by hope. All the same, many of them dreaded the vehicle for the living catastrophe that would surely follow. Sure enough, the airship zoomed out from above the thick, twisted forest and cruised toward the plaza, its ramp already down. Goodwitch beckoned to the assembled people before it even stopped moving. “Quickly! By my estimation we have twenty seconds!” The survivors needed no more impetus than that.

With Beacon's students on alert to either side of the ramp, the distillery works gushed into the vehicle, carrying Priscilla with them as gently as they in their fear-addled states could. The hairs on the backs of necks would rise and the eyes of hunters-in-training would harden at a series of rumbling crashes growing quickly and steadily louder. Goodwitch's tranquil expression transformed into a scowl, and through clenched teeth she shouted first to the students and then to the pilot, “Get on, now. Take off!” All hands held tight their purchases as the airship rose into the air, and not a moment too soon. The gargantuan Grimm tore out of the forest like a car through tall grass, zeroing in on the airship, which had yet to ascend out of reach, in an instant. With murder in its eyes it pounced straight for it.

Time seemed to slow down while the colossal, awful creature hurtled toward the human-laden airship. A single swipe from its paw, even if it didn't pierce the hull, would turn the flying vehicle into a steel deathtrap and extinguish every soul inside. Like a reaper's scythe that black limb descended: down, down down, and past the hull. The next instant, the ship was dozens of meters away and climbing, and with no small amount of occupants too scared to soil themselves. After a moment, it became clear what happened: the pilot had engaged the airship's afterburners to provide a burst of thrust, just enough to rocket out of the way of the threat. Of course, while it would have been a great joy to soar away into the sunset, the problems of Beacon's finest had only just begun.

On the ground, the garage elevator was just now reaching the top. The shapes of Lauren, Cian, and Lucas could be made out even from the sky. The manticore had yet to notice them, but since the airship had taken off those three were trapped in hell. Goodwitch narrowed her eyes, her mind clearly racing. “I know, I know,” she preemptively informed anyone who might berate her for 'abandoning' students. “We're not leaving them behind, but I'm in a poor position to cast at that thing. I can't take it down from here.” She turned to the students, eyes burning. “Can you all coordinate a way to either kill that thing or get rid of it long enough to save the others?”

It was one thing after another, a large Grimm decided to make it's appearance, but with the skill of the pilot they managed to avoid it. Jack was staying on ground though to make sure the rest of his team made it. Of course, priority went to getting those survivors out of here, they didn't quite have the skills to stay alive against Grimm. That said, it was now up to them to either defeat, or keep this manticore down... That might be a tall order, defeating it at least, plus it was known for it's tenacity, so keeping it down might even be difficult too. Team BASL were the ones who fought it just recently though...

"Team BASL, is there anything you can note off of the Manticore? Like maybe an injury or weak point we can exploit", if they can cripple it somehow, the rest may be a bit simpler.

Sapphire sat on the edge of a bed while the nurse did a standard examination to be sure she was alright. They took a bit of blood to test for toxins as well as a physical examination. Thankfully she'd been able to change into dry clothes before coming here. Honestly though Sapphire could have cared less about the whole thing, really all she wanted to do was collapse into a bed. Their mission had been exhausting, especially for her. She knew this was standard practice for anyone returning from a a grimm fight Sapphire still wanted it over with. She sat there in a haze for awhile thinking about what had transpired that day.

All in all the mission should have been called a success, they destroyed the target and a good number of other grimm and protected the town. The entrance to the cave had been blocked off by the locals to ensure another siren didn't move in and no member of Team Swansong had sustained any serious injuries. Yet Sapphire couldn't help but feel that the mission had been a complete failure. There was no sense of teamwork or cooperation to the battle. Though Abel and Sapphire had performed fairly well in tandem and Shiro and Gren had dealt with the Siren it had seemed to Sapphire that each of them was trying to fight their version of the battle separately without any thought or consideration for the actions of the other team members. All together all four of them had been reacting more than actually cooperating.

Sapphire had the distinct impression that if they'd been going up against something more formidable or clever than a siren they could very easily have gotten seriously wounded or even killed. The worst part was that Sapphire had no idea how she could rectify the matter. Abel she felt confident would follow her instruction but he seemed to lack the follow through to make definitive decisions on his own. Shiro was so impulsive that she wouldn't even have time to tell him to do something before he was eight feet away putting himself in twelve kinds of danger. Those things she hoped could be rectified with time, the real problem was Gren, he was so busy trying to prove she was an inept leader and trying to consolidate control for himself that he could easily get someone killed because he was focused more on the politics of the team than their actual function. The bottom line was that they didn't trust each other, didn't listen to each other and didn't take stock of the others.

Their team dynamic was fractured and Sapphire didn't see any way to repair it. She could get the job done, she could complete the missions assigned and she would ensure that all of them made it home alive even at her own expense but that didn't seem to be enough for Shiro or Gren. What they wanted from her she couldn't give them. To her friendship was a contract, something sacred. It meant that you would take a bullet for someone, be willing to put your life on the line for them and knowing without question that they would do the same for you. It wasn't a word you used to describe someone that you'd had a friendly conversation with like Shiro seemed to think and it didn't mean that you were always nice, accommodating, and friendly like Gren seemed to believe. It meant when shit hit the fan these would be the people standing by your side through everything and if she was being completely honest with herself that wasn't a definition she could apply to any of her teammates.

The nurse came back to inform her that she had a mild caustic burn to her throat from the stomach acid she'd coughed up, her voice might be a bit hoarse for a couple of days but otherwise she was in good health. The nurse recommended a good nights sleep before relieving her. Sapphire thanked the woman and got up wanting to be out of the Infirmary as quickly as possible. Though it may not have quite looked it the Beacon Infirmary still had that antiseptic smell that reminded Sapphire of too many trips to the hospital. It was a smell she associated with pain and loss and she'd just as soon be anywhere else.

However before she could get to the exit Sapphire had to pass by a number of beds occupied by Beacon students in various states of disrepair from the missions they'd recently returned from. Some had closed curtains, while others were less private, displaying the injured for everyone to see. One of these beds Sapphire saw was occupied by Oswald. She wouldn't have exactly called him a friend, they had after all only known each other for two weeks but they were friendly. Enough that she'd invited him to her Uncle's bar last weekend. She hadn't been exactly pleased that he'd invited friends of his own but still it would be rude not to say hi. Especially considering he looked like he'd just been run over by an armored car.

Sapphire didn't on the whole want to spend more time in the infirmary but Oswald looked to be stuck here, possibly for the entire weekend so if a few minutes of discomfort for her would give him something else to think about it was worth it. Besides, it wasn't like she had any other plans today. The azure haired girl grabbed one of the chairs sitting by the wall and swung it around to face Oswald's bed. She sat herself down and crossed her legs. "You look bored. You know I find counting the cracks in the ceiling really helps." she said with a playfully sarcastic smile on her face.
@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

By this point, Oswald knew better than to laugh at Sapphire's joke. His body was sore enough without him putting it under any more strain. Still, he curled his lip into a smile and nodded in greeting. "Well, I was chatting a bit with Diamond, but she's probably off stuffing her face now that she's got the all-clear to go do her own thing." Awkwardly forcing himself into a half-laying, half-sitting position, Oswald shrugged. "It's just as well. Our mission only went marginally better than the last one did. Shiro was asking about it just before, actually."

Remembering Shiro's appearance also reminded Oswald of their failed attempt to retrieve Sapphire's daggers from the lake below Beacon. It was a shame they'd been unable to get them, though he was sure the daggers would still be in...passable condition...if the two were to make another attempt. That wasn't important at the moment, though.

"From the lack of your teammates confined to their beds here, I take it your mission went swimmingly." Ooof, a pun. He hadn't even intended it when he started the sentence, but the damage was done. "Ours was...less of a failure than you might think. Technically." Much like the mission he went on with MODA, CODE's mission was a success in that its objective was completed, but weighed on Oswald as yet another failure due to his inability to avoid another bloodbath.

"Less of a bloodbath than the last one, at least..."