"So, what do we do now?" Tohka asked as her grip tightened on Sandalphon, her purple eyes glancing towards Kurumi.
"Now..." Kurumi spoke. "Now we try to kill it." She raised her flintlock pistol up as she brought her musket forward, pointing towards The Hound. "We need to be quick though."
Mukuro nodded lightly. "Of course, we don't know how long our powers will hold it in place."
Thunder and lightning crashed in the sky, lighting up the entire area. The rain poured down harder, wind blowing and whistling. Another flash of lightning struck the sky as it displayed the shadows inside the hotel. The lights flickered inside, the raging storm was making it harder for the hotel to keep its power on. The three spirits stood outside, watching and waiting.
Then, with another booming sound of thunder and a bright flash of lightning, The Hound was gone.
"It just....no, that's not..." Tohka muttered. "There's no way it could've moved...not when you both halted its movements."
Mukuro scoffed under her breath, she bit her lower lip. Kurumi cursed under her breath, she kept her eyes peeled. The sound of the storm was blasting in their ears. Which was making it hard for them to hear out for The Hound.
Suddenly, the shrieking sound and howl of The Hound filled the air, the sound was high-pitched enough to make the glass windows of the Ryokan shiver. It was still there, somewhere near or inside, or perhaps...
Before the three could even take in the moment of planning their next move. The Hound lunged out of the Darkness, jaws distorting and stretching grotesquely toward Mukuro's head. But Tohka was quick, she swung Sandalphon between it and Mukuro. But The Hound dodged, it was adapting to the attacks and when a strike from one of them were to come. It began ignoring the closer attacks, lunging at Mukuro once more, whatever clone Kurumi had sent to slow it down. The Hound would tear through them like a hot knife against butter.
"It's playing with us." Tohka spoke.
Kurumi shook her head. "No. It's learning...it's adapting to our movements, when to avoid and dodge our attacks."
Mukuro jumped back, away from The Hound's grasp, she floated in the sky for a moment before speaking. "Then lets teach it the meaning of fear."
The Hound roared in fury, the sound carrying far over the storm — far enough, perhaps, for the Grimm in Tengu City to take notice.
~~~
Back at the shelter under Raizen High, Kotori froze. Not just her, everyone else froze as well, Kotori trying to process what she just heard.
"Did you hear that?" Kotori finally spoke.
Origami who was standing off to the side, glanced up at the flickering light above them. "It's too far, but it's faint. Whatever did that. It didn't sound pretty..."
"It was a Grimm call....almost Alpha like." Reine spoke. "My guess is it came from Arubi Island, that is further out. But if that call was loud enough to reach all the way here."
"Then Kurumi must be fighting whatever did that." Natsumi spoke as she was now in her ferret form, being held by Marigold as she had promised.
Marigold looked down, she nuzzled the fur of Natsumi's ferret form. "Mama...." Those words from her sent a heart-aching feeling through everyone.
"Hey, cheer up kiddo." Yoshinon spoke. "Your mother is one of the toughest spirits out there, well....aside from Tohka of course. But look at it this way. Kurumi might be fighting along side Tohka and Mukuro as we speak. That may explain why haven't heard or seen Tohka."
Marigold glanced up at the puppet. "You think so?"
"I know so." Yoshinon spoke.
Reine rubbed her chin a little. "Yoshinon might be onto something..." She turned to face everyone, crossing her arms soon after. "If we take into note where we all were after the outbreak. We had to recover after the first wave."
"Then the second wave happened. But once we were fully recovered, we were split up." Shido muttered. "Into a search and rescue team."
"Right, and I believe that Tohka mentioned she would go search for Ai, Mai and Mii." Kaguya spoke. "But there hasn't been any word from her since."
Miku nodded lightly. "Right, and the third wave began. Which is now." She paced back and forth, her heels clicking against the floor. "If Tohka is with Kurumi and if Mukuro is with them as well."
"Then we can ask Tohka about the whereabouts of Ai, Mai and Mii." Mana spoke.
~~~
The wave crashed so violently against the nearby cliff that seawater sprayed over the outer wall of the ryokan. The timbers shuddered under the wind's howl, the storm's force making the whole structure groan with each gust. Lightning flared in the black sky, illuminating the jagged teeth of rock below — and for a moment, The Hound retreated into the rain, pacing with slow, predatory circles.
"It's stalking for an opening." Kurumi panted, her hand pressed against a shallow cut along her ribs. Her crimson eye glimmered even in the gloom. "It's… learning. Getting better at reading our moves."
Tohka scoffed once more, she looked towards the two and then over at the edge of the cliff. "What if we make it follow us?"
Mukuro and Kurumi glanced towards the edge, getting the idea of what Tohka was hinting at. The idea seemed ridiculous, but it just might work.
"It might work, the raging sea as it is now, could swallow whole ships. But if we put it to the test with The Hound." Kurumi spoke.
Tohka nodded. "We need to provoke it though. To get it to chase us."
"Looks like we have no choice but to play our last resort card." Mukuro spoke.
Tohka nodded. "Right, Tenka." Tohka took a moment to think of something negative or something that would help do it quicker.
"Think of this." Kurumi said, stepping closer despite her injury. "Think of Shido being taken from you… stolen away. Imagine him beyond your reach, far from your voice, your touch… He never comes back. Days… months… years without him."
"Wait, what about regaining your time?" Mukuro asked.
Kurumi shook her head a little, she wanted Tohka to focus on her words and nothing else.
Kurumi's words sliced into Tohka's mind like a blade. Shido… gone. Stolen away. Forever out of reach. The thought was poison. A cold, suffocating rage began to coil around her heart. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms hard enough to hurt. Even through the roar of the sea, she could hear the pounding in her head—every beat urging her to let go.
Lightning split the sky, turning the ocean to molten silver for a heartbeat. In that brief blaze, Tohka's expression shifted—soft features hardening, eyes darkening into something deeper, sharper. The pounding of the waves below almost seemed to echo the pounding in her chest.
The storm didn't relent—it encouraged. Rain became daggers against her skin, wind a scream in her ears. The heat of her grief twisted into a cold resolve. She felt it—like the pull of a different gravity—her power changing texture, her aura sharpening as shadows curled around her.
Tohka's aura flared violently, the air itself shuddering under the pressure. Her breath came slower now, and when she opened her eyes again, they shone with Tenka's ruthless light.
Kurumi and Mukuro felt it immediately—the air grew heavier, as though the storm itself bowed to her mood. This negativity drew more Grimm inwards, but it drew the attention of The Hound, it snarled and prowled and rushed towards Tenka.
Tenka smirked, her cocky demeanor playing. "Come on you ugly sonuvabitch!" Her hair blew in the dangerous wind as she watched The Hound charge towards them. Her smirk became wider, her eyes showing no mercy or fear.
The Hound noticed the change. Its pace quickened, growl deepening into a rumbling snarl that carried even over the roar of the elements. It leapt through the rain, claws gouging into the earth, closing the gap.
Tenka backed up, so did Kurumi and Mukuro. Then Tenka did the unthinkable, she rammed her sword through The Hound, and flung it over her shoulder. The Hound flying off Tenka's sword. Mukuro saw this opportunity as she used her Angel and her key blade, opening hole near The Hound and another near the edge of the cliff.
The Hound fell through the hole before it was spat out the other end, falling down to the sharp rocks below. A giant wave of raging seawater crashed against the rocks and engulfed The Hound.
"It's done." Mukuro said, the hole near the cliff side closed up after the conflict.
Kurumi nodded, though doubt lingered in her eyes. "Sharp rocks down there… even something like that wouldn't—"
Then, the wind whistled overhead.
Kurumi's words cut off as a shadow swept over them. A horrifying realization struck—they hadn't even considered the possibility.
From the blackness above, wings unfolded. Like a dark fallen evil angel.
The Hound came down like a predator hawk. Its stab wound was fully stitched back together, The Hound was faster than thought. Its claws struck Mukuro before she could react, lifting her bodily into the air. Her cry was snatched away by the storm. Which caused Mukuro to drop her key blade, her figure disappearing into the night sky as the wings of The Hound beat once, twice, carrying her toward darkness.
The spirits key blade fell from high above over head, landing right smack dab between Tenka and Kurumi.
Tenka stepped backwards to avoid getting turned into a kabob, the rage in her eyes now volcanic. "It isn't over! It can fuckin fly!"
The storm swallowed their voices, and the chase began again. Kurumi, in all her life had forgotten that if Scarlet could sprout wings of her own and fly, then so could another. She felt stupid, she felt like all that knowledge she had on Grimm had....vanished.