Team SWRZ Volume 2 - Chapter 11 - Recovery!

The chase was on. Blane desperately dashed through the forest, hindered only by the darkness and the two Faunus children secured under his arms. He long gagged and taped their mouths shut to prevent them from giving away his position to his pursuers and the occasional Grimm that wandered. Why couldn't missions go more smoothly? If he made it to the base, he'd demand triple the amount of the discussed payment.

He went above and beyond what was required of him to acquire these "special" children. Blane didn't see the value in them since he's only heard them cry and moan the entire time. But he knew better than to question the orders of his superiors. He would deliver them without question if they wanted the children so badly.

"Damn it! Where is she? Those kids should be dead by now!" Blane complained. He looked over his shoulder and hoped to spot Prim catching up to him. But he saw nothing but trees and darkness.

The muffled cries of the children returned his attention to in front of him, where a stray Beowolf Grimm saw its incoming meal. The beast bared its fangs and lunged.

"Get out of the way!" Blane raised his leg and delivered a fierce kick to the Beowolf's face. A red light shined from Blane's body before the Grimm got launched into a nearby tree, spinning furiously before making contact.

"I think I heard something coming from over here!" Blane sharply turned in the direction of a woman's yell. He immediately recognized it as Rowan's. If the students were that close to him, then it meant that Prim had lost. "Are you kidding me?" He growled and hid behind the nearest tree.

The minor strokes of luck showed a spot underneath the tree to stash away the children. He hid them away and carefully looked from around the tree to see if the students had completely caught up with him. Both Schwartz and Rowan arrived soon enough, finding the fading body of the Beowolf Grimm.

"Okay, we're moving in the right direction, at least," Schwartz noted as he looked around the area. The Grimm was freshly defeated, so it meant that their prey couldn't have gone too far, especially while carrying two children.

"You're right. Not far at all," Rowan agreed as she retrieved her dual pistols, [Double-Dealing], from the mechanisms in her sleeves. Unlike her unreliable partner, she could see just fine in the darkness--when she spotted a glimpse of the man peering at them from behind the safety of the tree. She lifted her guns and open-fired.

"She can see me?!" Blane inwardly shouted as he took cover behind the tree. He rounded the tree when the bullets stopped, only to catch a kick in the face from the ever eager Schwartz.

"Found. You." Schwartz teased as he slowly unsheathed his twin swords [Bark & Bite]. With his opponent down, he saw it fit to keep them down. He approached with a dangerous glint in his eyes, raising his swords with the intent to impale.

"Wait! Please don't kill him! We don't know where the kids are!" Rowan desperately called out. She couldn't have her loose cannon of a team leader killing anyone before they could get valuable information out of him.

"I wasn't gonna--" Schwartz got cut off once Blane landed a surprise kick to his stomach. He leaned over and stumbled into another strike, knocking him down to the ground.

Unlike Schwartz, Blane had no reservations about killing a downed enemy. The students had been a thorn in his side for long enough. It was time to end their lives before they could cause him any more trouble. He lifted his leg with the full intention of crushing Schwartz's skull, but Rowan's intervention saved the young student's life.

Rowan open-fired and forced Blane to retreat behind the trees again. "We don't give a damn about you, Blane! Give us the twins, and then we'll let you leave!"

"You kids have no idea what you're up against here! I'm the one that should be giving out the ultimatum's!" Blane barked from the safety of the tree. "If you two leave right now, I'll pretend this never happened, and I'll let you go back to school! But if you keep this up, I promise your dreams of becoming Huntsmen die here!"

Schwartz and Rowan smirked. The poor guy had no idea who he was dealing with. Neither of the students gave a damn about becoming Huntsmen, and his pathetic attempt to threaten them did nothing to deter them from their mission. And since the moron was so stupid enough to give away his position to them, the duo rounded the tree and aimed their weapons at him from both sides.

Or, so they thought. The students lowered their weapons in confusion to find the man was gone. How could he disappear like that without any of them noticing? The answer quickly dawned on them, and they looked upward, but it was too late.

Blane dropped down from the tree, landing perfectly in the middle of them. He outstretched his arms and landed swift and precise body blows against them. Red lights emitted from his fists, and his Semblance activated. Schwartz and Rowan spun uncontrollably before launching into nearby trees.

"That should do it," Blane arrogantly claimed as he watched the kids slump down to the ground. It was a perfect ambush strike. Not many people could recover from that blow, especially children playing Huntsmen. But to his surprise, both of them stood up again. Schwartz was the first, and Rowan took a moment to recover.

"What the hell was that?!" Schwartz exclaimed.

"His Semblance, you moron," Rowan replied.

"Oh, thanks, Rowan! I had no idea!" Schwartz sarcastically responded.

Were these kids mocking him? How could they be perfectly fine after taking a blast from his Semblance? And they had the gall to argue right in front of him? There's only so much disrespect he could take in one day.

"You kids are something else," Blane noted. Maybe, just maybe, these kids could be more beneficial to him alive than dead. If he beat them and turned them in along with the twins, perhaps he'd get more money and a promotion. "Let's see if you're worth all this trouble."

"That's the spirit," Schwartz licked his lips and prepared to engage the man in combat again. It's always a pleasure when the opponent gets into the moment as much as he does. It makes the battle all the more enjoyable.

"Don't let him touch you again," Rowan warned while she kept her guns trained on Blane. She wouldn't be stupid enough to try close-quarters combat against him again. His Semblance required physical contact to work, and she didn't feel like being taken on another ride like that a second time.

"I won't!" Schwartz kicked off the ground and lunged at Blane with his swords at the ready.

Blane reached his glowing hand out again, aiming directly for Schwartz's torso. But the wild student twisted his body around to avoid the hand and followed up with a knee strike to the man's face. Blane recoiled from the blow but quickly recovered, only to get bombarded with Fire Dust rounds from Rowan.

Blane's aura shielded him from the damage, but it certainly took its toll. It flickered wildly with each hit he suffered. When Rowan stopped firing to reload, Schwartz took over for her. He circled Blane and aimed for the man's ankles with his swords.

The man jumped and performed a spinning back fist, striking Schwartz's face. That light tap against his face was enough to send him flying back again with his Semblance. Schwartz flew into the air, spinning uncontrollably again. When he felt the Semblance's effects wear off, he recovered in mid-air and landed safely on the ground next to Rowan.

"So much for not letting him touch you again," Rowan snidely commented after reloading her pistols.

"Oh shut up," Schwartz rubbed his wounded cheek. "His Semblance lets him spin things, I guess. If I didn't rotate in the direction he hit me, my head would've detached from my shoulders."

"If only we'd be so lucky," Rowan aimed her guns at Blane again and fired more shots, which the man promptly avoided.

While the battle raged on, Brulee and Maple continued to struggle out of their restraints. It was their best chance to escape, and they couldn't afford to miss out on the prime opportunity. Just when it seemed like they'd get somewhere, a roaming Beowolf Grimm came by and sniffed around, picking up on the scent of their panic, their fear.

The Beowolf's eyes shined crimson red as it locked eyes with the children. It snarled, baring its fangs as it drew closer. The twins moved as far back as they could to avoid its claws. Maple closed her eyes shut and prayed for the monster to go away while Brulee stared right into the beast's eyes.

If she was going to die, then she was going to die doing the right thing--keeping her sister safe. A beige light lined her body before pulsing outward, alerting more Grimm from miles away. The creatures of destruction felt the pulse of energy and charged in their direction.

"What the hell was that?!" Blane stopped fighting after feeling the energy course through his body. He looked over his shoulder and spotted the Beowolf Grimm clawing at the tree. He rushed over and dispatched it immediately.

"Heh, we know where the kids are," Schwartz smirked. He planned to rush the man until Rowan held her arm out to stop him. "What's your problem?"

"We're in trouble," Rowan warned her teammate. "Grimm are coming. Lots of them."

Right on cue, multiple Grimm came out from the woodwork and attacked the Huntsmen. Rowan ducked down to avoid the claws of an Ursa, allowing Schwartz to whip around and slice its throat with his sword. Rowan followed up by unloading several rounds into its body.

"See?! This is what I'm talking about!" Schwartz laughed maniacally, slaying Grimm left and right with pure delight. Rowan didn't share his enthusiasm as battle just wasn't her thing. But as long as her teammate kept up the pace and slaughtered all of them, then it was no skin off her nose.

Blane looked on in bewilderment. Just who were these kids? How could they make Grimm extermination look so easy? Regardless, he thought it was the best time to take her out with her back now turned to him. But more Grimm crowded the area, shifting his priorities to saving himself first.

The Grimm would take care of the Huntsmen while he snuck off with the twins. It was the perfect escape plan he could come up with on such short notice. Rowan looked away from the approaching monsters for a quick second, spotting Blane trying to get away with the kids. She called out to Schwartz but left herself open to a Grimm attack.

Schwartz rushed over to Rowan and saved her from the approaching Beowolf, quickly decapitating it with his sword.

"Thanks," Rowan sighed in relief.

"No problem, can't have you dying on me yet," Schwartz retrieved his sword and aided her in taking down the rest. They finished the Grimm extermination just in time to catch Blane trying to sneak away with Brulee and Maple again. "Not so fast," Schwartz transformed his swords into their gun form and aimed.

"Drop them," Rowan demanded.

"You're in no position to order me around!" Blane tightened his grip on the Faunus twins. He couldn't lose his only meal ticket. Not when he's this close. "Both of you lower your weapons and come with me, or else I'll use my Semblance and snap their necks. I doubt they'll survive it like you two."

Rowan looked into the eyes of the twins. Those poor kids shouldn't be here, getting roped up into this nonsense. It's not fair to any of them. She couldn't risk putting them into more danger than they're already in. She reluctantly lowered her guns, looking to her teammate to do the same.

But Schwartz had other plans in mind. What did he care about the kids? If they died, then they died. It didn't matter much to him since he wanted the fight to continue. The kids were a means to an end for him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't act too recklessly now that the circumstances had changed. So, he decided to take a different approach. "Go ahead."

"Huh?" Blane and Rowan's eyes widened in shock mixed with confusion.

"Go ahead," Schwartz repeated. "You came all this way to kill those kids, right? Go ahead and do it. But once you do, you won't have any leverage to save yourself from us. We came all this way to save them. So, if you kill them, you're as good as dead."

"If you're here to rescue them, then you should do everything you possibly can to keep them alive for as long as possible! If you don't back off, they die here and now!" Blane shouted. What was with this kid? Didn't he understand the situation? He's supposed to obey his commands when hostages are involved! What are they teaching these kids at Haven?

"What are you doing? Put your guns down!" Rowan harshly whispered at Schwartz. Was this moron about to get the kids killed? She couldn't let that happen!

"Trust me," Schwartz quietly responded and kept his eyes trained on Brulee. A small light from her aura outlined her body before sending another pulse of energy outward. Roars from nearby Grimm resounded in the forest, frightening Blane.

"What the hell?! That was your doing?!" Blane exclaimed, looking to Brulee in bewilderment.

"The way I see it, you have two choices!" Schwartz called out to the man. "You can let the kids go and escape before the Grimm come back, or you can keep hold of them and die. Either way, the kids are coming with us."

"You're crazy! You have no idea--" Blane got cut off once a Beowolf Grimm got him from behind. It sank its teeth into his neck and dragged him into the forest. More Grimm crowded the man and feasted on him.

Rowan activated her Semblance and slowed everything down around her when that happened. She hurried to the twins and brought them back with her to Schwartz, where'd they stay safe. She deactivated her Semblance and covered their ears to drown out the noise of Blane getting devoured by the Grimm.

Schwartz put his weapons away when he spotted the twins next to him. Good, Rowan managed to do her job. "Okay, we got the kids! Let's get back to the others!" He ushered the group out of the immediate area. They returned to where they last saw Edward and found the man surrounded by the rest of the group.

Judging by the furious expression on Professor Hale's face, it was safe to say that they were in for a world of trouble. But Schwartz and Rowan didn't mind for the most part. They completed their objectives, and the children were safe. So, it was overall mission success.