-Now-

Ami sat on a roof looking over the city. In the streets below people were walking about, enjoying the night life. The girl had to admit, city life looked enjoyable in some aspects, but it was to loud for her, preferring the quiet of Haven and the mountain valley. She took out a pair of electronic binoculars from her belt, the Defender now dressed in a black short sleeved battle suit. It was light but extremely strong, woven with stands of Arachnid webbing, which was a large spider like Grimm. She looked out at her target and observed, scanning from side to side. The building was a large tower called the CCT, or Cross Continental Transmit System. According to her Intel, it was responsible for communication with the other kingdoms, makng it the perfect target. She pulled the binos down and looked to her partner Hack, who was fiddiling with his gear behind her. "Target building in sight, you ready for this?"

Hack looked up from his work. "Wha? Oh, y-yeah. Im good."

Ami gave him a look. "You don't sound ready."

"I am, i-im just nervous.."

The girl rolled here eyes lightly and smiled. "Relax, this will be a piece of cake. Just go in, make the brodcast, then boom. We're out of there."

Hack nodded. "Right. in, and out. Easy.."

Beside them another figure stirred, a soft moan coming from them. "What about her?" Hack asked as he cleaned his glasses.

Ami smiled at him, her fang showing. "Once we get the call from our friend, ill take care of her. Any minute now." She looked back out over the city. "Soon the fun begins..."

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-Then-

Iolite stood on the balcony of her room, overlooking the crowd of people below her. Hundreds of men and woman had assembled themselves for the cause, each dressed in blue armor and armed with all manor of firearms as well as simpler weapons. She had been planning this day for a long time, and now that the moment was upon them she could bairly contain her determination. Her new handmaiden stood beside her, arms crossed in front of her lap. "They are ready for you Misstress."

Io nodded. "Thank you Leia." The leader stepped forward and raised her staff to quiet the crowd. She swallowed once and took a deep breath, starting her address.

"People of Haven. For months we have been working to fullfill our goal of peace. Due to our connectioon to the Grimm we were able to achieve this goal and lead a happy life here. But now, it is time we shared our ways with the rest of the world." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of purple liqued. "This Grimms blood is the key to our future. The key to our better world. And with it we will show all the world the way of the Grimm Walkers is the only way to prosper forever!"

The crowd cheered and Io raised her staff again. "Our spies have been waitiong in Vale for some time now, waitiong for this exact moment. We go forward into battle my brothers and sisters, and many will fall in the process. I thank you all for being willing to make that sacrifice, and with it we shall emerge victorious! Then, when Vale falls, the world will see that we are truly the strogest!"

Io raised her staff to show that she had ended her speech and the crowd cheered again, louder and with more vigor than before. Behind them, hundreds of Grimm roared and stomped, joining in on the battle cry. Io looked out over her people with pride, secretly wishing that Nix could be beside her. But his absence was one that she knew was nessisary, and she refused to let her sorrow show. "We march tonight! Everyone, move out!"

The army turned and began their march to the city, all manner of transports moving with them. The Grimm moved along with them, walking, crawling, or flying towards the city of Vale. Io watched them move and gripped her staff tightly.

"Beware Vale, your reckoning is coming."

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-Now-

Yang laughed as her and her team walked back toward Beacon, the group having a long awated girls night out. The blond haired girl felt her Scroll buzz and she took it out, a small smile coming to her face as she saw who it was. She stopped herself and broke from the group, her sister giving her a raised eyebrow.

"Whats up Yang? Not coming back with us?"

"Nah, you guys head back. Axel wants to get a drink real quick. Ill be home in about an hour."

THe girls shrugged but waved their goodbyes, Ruby giving her sister a quick hug. "Be safe OK?"

"I will, the bars right up the street. See you at the dorms."

The girls parted ways and Yang walked the few minuets to her usual bar, seeing Axel through the window. The bar was surprisingly empty at thiis hour, with only a small group of people sitting at another table, Yang unable to see their faces. Axel smiled as he saw her and she took a seat next to him, the bar quiet now.

"Hey, there she is. What's up?"

Yang smiled with a sigh as she leaned on the bar. "Not much, just tired. Lots of personal stuff recently. But, things are perking up."

Axel smiled. "Great. Sound like something worth drinking over." He grabbed a bottle from over the counter and poured two glasses. "Here's to improving the world."

The girl raised her glass with a small smile. "Odd toast, but whatever. Bottoms up." She knocked back her drink and coughed as it went down. "Ugh, that was really dry. What was that?"

Axel simply smiled. "It's a potent one, that's all. But nothing to fret about."

Yang coughed again and looked at him, suddenly noticing that his drink was still full. Yang felt a cold knot in her gut as she tried to stand, but her legs didn't seem to work. She looked at Axel again, her vision starting to go out of focus. "A..Axe..what did you do.."

"It's like I said, nothing to worry about. By the time you wake up the world will be much different, pity you won't be able to see the transformation. But, orders are orders." He gave the girl a shove and she fell to the floor, her glass shattering next to her. "Nighty night Goldilocks."

Yang opened her mouth to shout but was to tired, her body not listening to her anymore. Her eyes closed one more time and refused to open, the drug now fully putting her under. Axel stood and motioned for the others who came and lifted her up, taking her to the back room. Axel pulled out his Scroll and dialed, the other line soon picking up.

"Is it done?" A female voice asked."

"Yeah, girls out like a light. Her teams down too, so we can proceed."

"Perfect. Send your men to the hospital to take care of the brother, we'll move to the communication tower."

Axel smiled, his cool friendly one replaced by a more sinister look. "No problem. I'll take care of it. Axel out."

The man hung up and walked to the back room to where Yang was being held. She had been tied to a chair, her head dropped over in her slumber. Behind her say her team members, all in a similar state. He nodded to his men who were getting weapons ready. "It's time. Go to the hospital and take care of the kid. Ami is sending details to your Scrolls now. And remember, no witnesses."

The men nodded and moved out, leaving two behind to stay with Axel. The man went to the door and looked over the bar one last time, a part of him was going to miss this place. But that was a small price to pay for what was to come. With that in mind, he closed the door, a click coming from the lock being turned, and the bar went silent once more.

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Ami hit send on her Scroll as the details went to Axels men, giving them the exact location of Nix. She stood ant walked over to Hack, who was watching the city. "Time to go. Axels taken care of Nix's pals and his goons are moving to finish Nix off now."

Hack stood and grabbed his pack. "And our guest?"

"I'll handle this, just make sure you have your stuff ready to go." Ami walked over to where their hostage was laying and pulled the hood off of their head, the cat Fanus smirking at her victim. "Wakey wakey wittle wabbit."

Thumper blinked a few times and spat some blood onto the rooftop, her face bruised and cut. She struggled weakly to free herself from her bonds, her hands tied tightly behind her back. "Please...just let me go. I told you all I know.."

Ami knelt and stroked Thumpers ears. "Don't worry little rabbit, I'll let you go right now. I just need you to promise me something."

"W..what?"

"Can you be silent about this whole thing? Stone silent?"

Thumpers heart raced. This was her chance! She was a little surprised that they would be foolish enough to let her go, but she had to take the chance if she wanted to warn the others. "Y..yes. I promise."

Ami smirked wickedly at the girl, her tail twitching excitedly. "Great! Than this makes it a little easier." Ami pulled her hand back and her body started to glow, giving off a dull grey light as her semblance started to show. Thumpers eyes grew wide as she saw and went to scream but Ami clamped her hand over her mouth, the girls cries muffled. Suddenly Thumpers feet started to turn grey and solidify, the transformation moving up her body slowly. Thumper continued to scream through Amis hand as the grey reached her waist. Thumper knew what was going on but didn't feel a thing, her body just starting to loose feeling as the transformation moved through her. She looked at Ami with terrified eyes as the rest of her body turned solid, the the transformation completing itself in a matter of seconds. The last thing to change where her eyes, thumpers last sights being of Amis cold smirk.

Ami sighed and stood after the transformation was finished, Thumpers whole body now solid stone. Ami cocked her head as she looked at he work, Thumpers face now forever frozen in terror. "Like I said, silent as stone." She gave the statue a push with her foot and sent it off the edge of the roof, shattering it into a shower of pieces as it hit the pavement at ground level. "Promise kept."

The Fanus turned and walked back to her partner. "Alright, let's move. The sun will be up soon so we only have a little time to get this working."

Hack shouldered his bag and followed Ami towards the stairwell, looking at the broken statue below. "Man I never get used to that. That's really messed up."

Ami held the door for him. "Don't be such a baby. I've been doing it for a long time, it's not like I can't control who it turns." She wrapped her tail around Hacks waist as he went to move past her, pulling him close. "Although;" she purred in his ear. "You would make a handsome addition to my statue collection."

Hack shuddered at that, his cheeks flushing deeply. "Don't say that! You're being creepy."

The girl laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Whatever nerd, it's just fun to tease you." She let him go and moved down the stairs, Hack rubbing his cheek. "You're a bigger nerd.." The two of them exited the building and walked toward the CCT, the streets dark as they moved through the shadows. Soon the sun would rise, and with it dawn a new age for Vale.