Checkmate

Checkmate

## Part 1:

*Grrrr....*

The low, inhuman growl could be heard when another group of students dashed through the trees, followed shortly by a pack of Beowolves right behind them.

"Out of the way!" The girls didn't take long to turn on their heels and ran off as well - heading straight to where the temple was suppose to be. The other group followed them close by - barely catching up with them. With a gasping voice, the person with raven haired shouted.

"Which way to the temple ?!"

"That way! I think!" Crystal shouted back, speeded up her flying. Another figure reached - and eventually passed the group as they reached a clearing, bumped into the raven haired person as he did.

"Ahh!" Tripped over on his own feet, Lacie fell down on his front moment before he could get out of the forest. Squeezed his eyes shut, the Faunus waited for the Grimm to prey on him - prayed that they'd make it as painless as possible. However, his ears caught the sound of air being sliced into two and turned over to see the swordman from earlier with his sword out, fending the Grimm off.

"Are you okay ?!" Tomy rushed over to help him up, and the Faunus smiled weakly at his gesture before he turned to the swordman. "Thank you..."

"Phoebus Thies' the name!" He grinned, extending a hand out, "Sorry bout earlier."

A large shadow forming on the ground around them got, and as the three boys quickly looked up to the source, "Guys... What's t-that...?" Monte pointed at the black figure slowly advancing from the forest behind the temple: It looked like a large deer, with large bone-like antlers extended all the way out from the top of its head. The Grimm was strolling rather gracefully through the forest without knocking any trees over, its eyes was gazing to the distance.

"Just stay hidden..." Whispered Tomy, and the small Faunus boy quietly nodded, continued to keep an eye at the Grimm: The deer was obvious didn't see them, yet, but the way it just...stood there and stared at nothingness unnerved them way more than being surrounded by normal Grimm. For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, they kept on looking at the large Grimm, and it wasn't until it screeched loudly that they were snapped out from their daze....

From deep inside the forest, there was another loud screech followed by the sound of ground shaking. As the group barely held onto something to keep themselves balanced, the forest was torn down - trees by trees, as another Grimm approached them, "Move!" Shouted Tomy just as a large tree collasped in front of him: From behind the scattering leaves, there stood a large gorilla-like Grimm standing on all four. It inhaled deeply, before roared at them and swung its fist at the nearest person - which was Phoebus.

"Ugh..." The raven haired boy was knocked back several feet away, covering his stomach in pain. Without giving him a chance to get up, the Grimm charged at him - attempting to knock the boy further, but was stopped when one of the marionettes leaped in and knocked it backward. Sighed in relief, Phoebus pushed himself up and reached for the sword on his belt and gave it a swing: A blue, semi-transparent cape appeared behind him as the boy took a stance...

Before the rest of them can even blink, Phoebus vanished on the spot before re-appeared in front ot the gorilla - sliced across its chest, "How did he...?!" Another swing of the sword pushed it back, before Phoebus turned to the group.

"Get the relic! Go! I'll hold it back!" Shouted the male, before he continued to swing his sword at the gorllia - only managed to leave thin cut on its skin. Nodded to each other, the rest of the group quickly rushed off to the temple: There were but a few relics remaining, and from the look of it, they were the last to arrived. However, before any of them could managed to grab the remaining relics, the Elk screeched out loud and charged at them...

"Tch...!" Clicked her tongue in annoyance, Sirce turned on her heels and drew an arrow from the pouch behind her back: The sword she was holding started shealthing into itself - the hilt extended out in the form of the crossbow, before the brunette attached the arrow to it. The ground started shaking violently as it approached them, before Sirce fired the arrow...

Upon making contact, there was a huge explosion and the entire Grimm's body was covered in ice. Without even wasting an second, the brunette quickly turned on her heels and rushed straight to the nearest relic in order to grab it - before muttered to her partner.

"Go. Now."

"You two as well!" Shouted at the two Faunus, Tomy drew out his weapon and readied it: The deer was frozen, but the gorilla was get closer to them - even with Phoebus holding it off. Lacie nodded, before grabbed Monte by the wrist and ran to the opposite direction after they both had picked up the relics.

"

<WIP FROM ABOVE>

-Rush-grab the relic

-Run to the cliffside

-PLTM got knocked off the cliff by monkey Grimm

-Freefall battle, spider web-formation

-CIST vs Elk, trying to not fall

-Attack it with everything they got in the order: Tianee > Sirce > Idina > Crystal

From deep inside the forest, there was another loud screech followed by the sound of something sliced cleanly through the trees. One by one, the trees start collapsing down, revealing two large birds behind it. They looked like a pair of large, albino peacocks with black beaks and feets, with blood red eyes staring threatening at the group.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Sirce shouted to the group, before running off to the direction of the temple. However, the purple haired heiress only chuckled, before taking a step forward. The peacocks glared at her, before they both charged forward at the same time. Everyone watched with bewildered expression when Idina skillfully dodged both of their sharp tails before unleashing a bolt of lightning at one of the Grimm - setting it on fire. The creature screeched out in pain and took a couple of steps back, shaking the flame out from its tail.

"Hate to break it to you, but you need to do more than that to kill a Grimm." Shouted Tianee before she held the trident up. Both Grimms screeched out again, before one of them spreaded its wings and charged at them again. Getting in a stance, the teal haired girl narrowed her eyes and waited for the peacock to charged at her - hands gripped tightly on her trident...

As soon as the bird Grimm was inches away from her, the antler hairclips Tianee was wearing glowed brightly in light blue - it started shifting into a different, larger pair of antlers, before the petite girl used it to block the Grimm's attack. The force was enough to knock it away, giving Tianee an opening to stab it in the throat. The other Grimm, upon the sight, quickly dashed forward to swing its large tail at her, knocking Tianee several feet back.

"Ahh!" Without stopping, both peacocks continued to charge forward, swinging it at the teal haired girl again. However, the cat marionette swooped in and clawed the Grimm away - a low hissing noise could be heard as it stood between Tianee and the Grimm. Tilted back, she noticed the young boy standing from afar was holding his arms out: Thin, string-like wires was connect between the tips of his fingers to the large robot, implying that he was controlling it.

"Get the relics! We'll fend it off!" Shouted Phoebus, stepping in with his sword in his hands...

## Part 2:

Without a warning, the large deer screeched out loud before sweeped its antlers at the trees in front of it, uprooting and send them toward the group running toward the temple.

"Watch out!" Shouted Lacie at the incoming trees, alerting the other. As the first tree came crashing down in front of them - blocking the path, they quickly turned on their heels to see more uprooted trees falling down. "Monte!!" The Faunus called out at the young boy lagging behind the ground, before rushing back to him - only to be blocked by another of the falling trees.

"Lacie!!" Monte cried out, holding his arms over his head as he continued to run as fast as he could to the group. A large branch barely missed him by an inch, and the small Faunus felt his heart skipped a beat when the shadow of the next branch covered his own...

A series of slashing sounds could be heard, and as Monte turned around, he saw a brunette standing in front of him with a large sword in her grasp. She was skillfully slicing through the large tree trunks - one by one, before turned on her heels to grab the boy by his shirt collar, "Run!" The small boy nodded fearfully, but looked back to see the remaining group behind him.

"W-what about them ?!"

"There's no time!" Sirce cut him off, shoving the boy away: The large deer started stomping its hoof on the ground, getting ready to attack again, "Go!"

"No!" Shouted Lacie as he rushed over, "We can't abandon them! I'm coming back!"

Sirce was taken back: The situation was dire as it is, and they weren't too far from their assigned goal, and the brunette wasn't plan on wasting time debating about it. However, half of them would be left behind, and could be killed if more Grimms showed up...

Without waiting for respond, Lacie immediately rushed past the girl with his arms extended out: Thin string of silk started wrapping themselves around his arms, forming a blade as he rushed through the stacked up trunk. As the second wave of uprooted trees rained down, the Faunus started slicing through it to make his way out. However, he was not alone...

"Lacie, over here!" Turned around, Lacie noticed Monte was catching up to him on top of the cat marionette - at the same time, controlling the large bird to fire off several bombs at the large Grimm to distract it. Sharply nodded, the spider Faunus grabbed onto Cheshire's tail - allowing it to throw him forward...

They were barely holding off: The two Grimm were attacking in unison, covering each other's weakness as they forced the group backward. "A little help over here, please!" Shouted Tianee - using her weapon to block the sharp tail feathers from cutting her as she backed away slowly.

"On it!" Tomy shouted back, going into a stance: Several mirrors appeared around the area, glowing brightly in white. The blonde inhaled deeply before jumped backward into the mirror behind him - completely vanished,before re-appeared on the other side. At the same times, one of the peacocks was hit on the head and knocked back slightly, only to be smacked on the head again, "Now!"

The sound of thunder roaring could be heard from miles away as Idina leaped down from above, unleashing a large bolt of lightning at the Grimms. Both of them managed to dodge her, but the lightning bounced off at every directions from where she landed, zapping the two Grimms - as well as destroying the mirrors around them. The force knocked Tomy backward, but a black shadow leaped forward to catch him. Turned around, the blonde noticed Monte was on top of the marionette, while Lacie charged right forward with his arms extended out.

The blades on his arms clashed against their beaks, but before Lacie could aim for the throat, the twin Grimm spreaded their tails and gave it a wide swing in unison - creating a strong gust that pushed the Faunus back. Another strong gust knocked Lacie off his feet and sent him flying backward.

"Lacie, hold on!" He felt the air was knocked out of his chest when Phoebus reached out to grab onto him with one hand, the other one gripped tightly on his sword. The peacocks continued to swing their tails one after another, pushing the group further back - knocked both Tianee and Idina away...

"Eep!" Yelped out Crystal when she dodged another tree trunks the deer sent at them. It was impossible for her to get any closer to the temple - the Grimm clearly knew what they were trying to do, and was preventing them from doing so.

"Watch out!" Blue eyes widen at the sight of her partner being knocked backward in the air, and Crystal quickly flew forward to catch her in her arms - only to be knocked back from the impact as well. They both crashed downward, with Idina on top of the redhead girl.

"Ugh..." The heiress groaned and tilted her head only to see her partner was unconscious from the impact, "Seriously ?" Shrugged, Idina pushed herself up to take a better look at her surrounding: They were cornered with stacks of wood behind them, and as the deer leaped forward, the girls found themselves surrounded...

## Part 3:

"Any ideas to take them down ?" Shouted Tomy as he shielded Lacie from another strong gust. Gritted on his teeth, Phoebus glanced at the two Grimms advancing at them: They kept moving forward and paid little to no attention their surrounding - other than the tree trunk that got in their way...

"Lure them to the forest!" The male shouted, before turning to his partner, "And don't get tangled up in there~" Winked at the Faunus, Phoebus took a stance with his sword raising high. Lacie, said nothing, nodded before turned to the fellow Faunus boy - who returned it by raising both his arms up: Instantly, both marionettes reacted to Monte's movement and charged forward - with Lacie followed closely behind. Grabbing Cheshire's tail, the raven haired flunged himself up on top of the cat, and it leaped over the Grimm before disappearing into the forest.

"Don't let them follow Lacie!" Ordered Phoebus, before charging at the distracted peacocks and slashed at it. The blade cleanly sliced its tail off with a large swing. The other one, taken off by surprise, screeched loudly before it leaped forward and knocked the male away, "Now!"

Rain of projectiles was showered upon the Grimm from above, and the three boys quickly ran away into the forest - with Phoebus carrying Monte over his shoulder...

"We need to get past it!"

"Don't you think I know that ?"

"Will both of you shut up ?!"

Woken up by the sound of bickering, Crystal blinked slowly before pushing herself up: She saw her partner was arguing with the other two girls, before turned to the temple and noticed the deer Grimm was tapping its hoof on the ground. Blue eyes widen when it charged straight at them, and the redhead quickly got up on her feet to swing her arm in a wide arc - a giant wall of ice formed in front of them and shielded the girls from getting rammed by the large Grimm.

The impact startled them and as they turned their attention to it, the Grimm screeched out loud. "Way to piss it off!" Tianee yelled at her - quickly ran away moment before it stomped on the ice. Dashed away from the spot, the three girls glared at Crystal, before focusing at the Grimm, "What's the plan ?"

"Buy me some times...!" Mumbled under her breath, Sirce turned on her heels and started running off in the opposite direction. Nodded at her words, Tianee turned to the purple haired girl