Chapter 10
Capture
Shaoran deftly drew a card with elaborate calligraphy from his robes, then placed the jufu against his sword. He called out to the thunder gods, "Raitai sho— uh!" The last part of the incantation wasn't quite correct, because he was jumping backwards to evade of a massive black paw. Evade it he did, but in the process he managed to trip over a curb and land on the sidewalk on his back.
He pulled his blade in front of him, to protect himself, but as he did, a wall of flame sliced the air in front of him, causing the beowolf to instinctively recoil. With the jets of the flame staying in place, he had a split second to consider that it was unlike Kero-chan's normal attack.
But then he saw the source of the magic, lit only by her own flames: a young woman in a cape with blue feathers attached to its clasp, and black thigh-high stockings had joined the fray. Oddly, it looked as if a small flame was burning out the side of her right eye. Shaoran wondered if that sort of magic hurt her face, as he pushed himself back onto his feet.
The woman ordered, "Trap it against that apartment building!" At first, the kids thought she was telling them what to do, until they saw her two companions at a full-tilt run towards the grimm. In the darkness, they couldn't see much of them, though by their silhouettes it was obvious that one was a man; the other, a woman. Still, her order seemed reasonable enough, so the kids each decided to work with the new arrivals to corner the monster.
The non-boss woman, Emerald, dashed out ahead to flank the beast, laying down cover fire with her twin revolvers. A couple shots hit, but from outside of point blank range they don't really damage a grimm all that much. It did steer it towards the wall, where it decided to take another pounce at Kerberos.
Kerberos was ready for it, though. He ducked under the beowolf's body at the last second, tucking his wings down. Then from beneath, he rolled beowolf on its side, tilting it towards the apartment that Cinder had pointed out. So it changed prey once again, switching to the man on its right.
Mercury gave the beowolf a roundhouse kick in the behind to try to trap it down, but it turned to pounce on him. He usually an empty handed fighter, but he happened to still be lugging around a weighty metal briefcase. So at the last minute he borrowed a simple move he had seen Coco Adel do, and whapped the grimm across the face with the metal suitcase. He didn't look as fashionable doing it as she would have, but the force knocked the grimm clear out into the street.
When it looked as if the beowolf might yet squeeze though their pincer, Sakura flipped a card out of her hand, calling it's name, "Earthy!" And almost immediately, pillars of sandstone jutted up out of the pavement, blocking the creature's escape. It punched at the solid rock, but to no avail.
Trapped in a box canyon, it sought to climb out of this new obstacle, but never got a chance. The blades shot out from the ends of Thief's Respite, trailing long chains, and embedded in the rock. Emerald yanked hard on the kusurigama she now held, and the taut chains held the grimm down. Cinder followed up by evoking a layer of ice on the ground to bind the grimm's legs. Sure, it wouldn't hold the massive paws for long, but it wouldn't have to.
Yue rushed forward to take a strike at the immobilized monster's neck, but cut his run short when the man of the other group shouted, "Stay back!" and walked up to face the grimm head on.
Mercury held the metallic briefcase out in front of himself, and pressed a button on the handle. Unlike a normal suitcase, the hinges were on the same side of the handle, so that as he pressed it, the contents of the suitcase expanded out in front of him. Pipes expanded outwards on both sides of the grimm, section after section clacking as they expanded to their full length, then met to encircle it from behind.
Then the tee-shaped junctions in each section of pipe expanded, with those at the top and bottom exploding across to cover the grimm in a metal frame. Meanwhile, half-pipes along the sides sprung down to latch into the pipe below, resounding as steel locked against steel to form a portable cage. In only twenty seconds, the grimm was trapped. It broke the ice on its feet, but could not break the heavy bars surrounding it.
With the beowolf alpha safely behind bars, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, as Kerberos cheered while jumping. It seemed uncharacteristically docile in the cage, but captivity is hard on grimm -- it saps the human fears upon which they would normally subsist.
Emerald gave Mercury five down low, and looked at the creature of grimm. She never quite get over her sense of unease around them, and the mission of capturing grimm gave her chills. But on the other hand, it was quite an achievement for her team; capture had to be about ten times harder than killing one outright.
"Alright! Let's get it back," Cinder ordered. She saw the girl with the camera poking her head above the bushes, but at this distance in the night, there really wasn't much to see. The op had gotten complicated enough — no reason to put themselves at more risk of being identified.
"Wait, where are you taking it?" Shaoran asked.
Mercury growled, "Mind your own business, kid."
Shaoran stood his ground. "No. That's too dangerous, it should be destroyed." He pointed to the grimm, "Can't you feel that? It's nothingness!"
"I said, back off!"
He did not back off. Instead, he withdrew a lightning jufu from his robe, and prepared to hit the cage where it would be a sitting duck.
Sakura backed him up, "I think he's right." And her other friends seemed to prepare for a conflict, too.
Cinder observed the little group for a moment, and could see how everyone circled around the little brown-haired girl like the queen bee. Even the tall, winged man -- whatever he is -- was deferential to his team leader. The same for the animal she guessed was a sphinx. She considered it curious, but perhaps not too surprising, given the girl's gift for magic. Magical girls like her could be powerful, but so very naïve.
The dark-haired woman spoke up, "Now, there's no need for that. Let me explain." Time for a change in plans.
Capture
Shaoran deftly drew a card with elaborate calligraphy from his robes, then placed the jufu against his sword. He called out to the thunder gods, "Raitai sho— uh!" The last part of the incantation wasn't quite correct, because he was jumping backwards to evade of a massive black paw. Evade it he did, but in the process he managed to trip over a curb and land on the sidewalk on his back.
He pulled his blade in front of him, to protect himself, but as he did, a wall of flame sliced the air in front of him, causing the beowolf to instinctively recoil. With the jets of the flame staying in place, he had a split second to consider that it was unlike Kero-chan's normal attack.
But then he saw the source of the magic, lit only by her own flames: a young woman in a cape with blue feathers attached to its clasp, and black thigh-high stockings had joined the fray. Oddly, it looked as if a small flame was burning out the side of her right eye. Shaoran wondered if that sort of magic hurt her face, as he pushed himself back onto his feet.
The woman ordered, "Trap it against that apartment building!" At first, the kids thought she was telling them what to do, until they saw her two companions at a full-tilt run towards the grimm. In the darkness, they couldn't see much of them, though by their silhouettes it was obvious that one was a man; the other, a woman. Still, her order seemed reasonable enough, so the kids each decided to work with the new arrivals to corner the monster.
The non-boss woman, Emerald, dashed out ahead to flank the beast, laying down cover fire with her twin revolvers. A couple shots hit, but from outside of point blank range they don't really damage a grimm all that much. It did steer it towards the wall, where it decided to take another pounce at Kerberos.
Kerberos was ready for it, though. He ducked under the beowolf's body at the last second, tucking his wings down. Then from beneath, he rolled beowolf on its side, tilting it towards the apartment that Cinder had pointed out. So it changed prey once again, switching to the man on its right.
Mercury gave the beowolf a roundhouse kick in the behind to try to trap it down, but it turned to pounce on him. He usually an empty handed fighter, but he happened to still be lugging around a weighty metal briefcase. So at the last minute he borrowed a simple move he had seen Coco Adel do, and whapped the grimm across the face with the metal suitcase. He didn't look as fashionable doing it as she would have, but the force knocked the grimm clear out into the street.
When it looked as if the beowolf might yet squeeze though their pincer, Sakura flipped a card out of her hand, calling it's name, "Earthy!" And almost immediately, pillars of sandstone jutted up out of the pavement, blocking the creature's escape. It punched at the solid rock, but to no avail.
Trapped in a box canyon, it sought to climb out of this new obstacle, but never got a chance. The blades shot out from the ends of Thief's Respite, trailing long chains, and embedded in the rock. Emerald yanked hard on the kusurigama she now held, and the taut chains held the grimm down. Cinder followed up by evoking a layer of ice on the ground to bind the grimm's legs. Sure, it wouldn't hold the massive paws for long, but it wouldn't have to.
Yue rushed forward to take a strike at the immobilized monster's neck, but cut his run short when the man of the other group shouted, "Stay back!" and walked up to face the grimm head on.
Mercury held the metallic briefcase out in front of himself, and pressed a button on the handle. Unlike a normal suitcase, the hinges were on the same side of the handle, so that as he pressed it, the contents of the suitcase expanded out in front of him. Pipes expanded outwards on both sides of the grimm, section after section clacking as they expanded to their full length, then met to encircle it from behind.
Then the tee-shaped junctions in each section of pipe expanded, with those at the top and bottom exploding across to cover the grimm in a metal frame. Meanwhile, half-pipes along the sides sprung down to latch into the pipe below, resounding as steel locked against steel to form a portable cage. In only twenty seconds, the grimm was trapped. It broke the ice on its feet, but could not break the heavy bars surrounding it.
With the beowolf alpha safely behind bars, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, as Kerberos cheered while jumping. It seemed uncharacteristically docile in the cage, but captivity is hard on grimm -- it saps the human fears upon which they would normally subsist.
Emerald gave Mercury five down low, and looked at the creature of grimm. She never quite get over her sense of unease around them, and the mission of capturing grimm gave her chills. But on the other hand, it was quite an achievement for her team; capture had to be about ten times harder than killing one outright.
"Alright! Let's get it back," Cinder ordered. She saw the girl with the camera poking her head above the bushes, but at this distance in the night, there really wasn't much to see. The op had gotten complicated enough — no reason to put themselves at more risk of being identified.
"Wait, where are you taking it?" Shaoran asked.
Mercury growled, "Mind your own business, kid."
Shaoran stood his ground. "No. That's too dangerous, it should be destroyed." He pointed to the grimm, "Can't you feel that? It's nothingness!"
"I said, back off!"
He did not back off. Instead, he withdrew a lightning jufu from his robe, and prepared to hit the cage where it would be a sitting duck.
Sakura backed him up, "I think he's right." And her other friends seemed to prepare for a conflict, too.
Cinder observed the little group for a moment, and could see how everyone circled around the little brown-haired girl like the queen bee. Even the tall, winged man -- whatever he is -- was deferential to his team leader. The same for the animal she guessed was a sphinx. She considered it curious, but perhaps not too surprising, given the girl's gift for magic. Magical girls like her could be powerful, but so very naïve.
The dark-haired woman spoke up, "Now, there's no need for that. Let me explain." Time for a change in plans.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto