Blake and Yang looked around, but they could not find Alice either. ”She was here just a minute ago” Yang said in a subdued voice so the Beowolves would not hear her. Suddenly they heard some electric crackle noises coming from the direction of the group of Beowolves and the three girls quickly turned their heads towards them. They saw a shadow rising from the ground between the Beowolves, where Alice’s dagger was. Slowly the shadow became Alice herself surrounded by electricity. The Grimm responded quickly and proceeded to attack her immediately, but Alice swiftly removed her dagger from the scabbard and rotated once around herself with the dagger in her hand with a stretched arm. The dagger lighted up as a lightning struck down in the group of Beowolves and they all collapsed, lifeless on the ground. Ruby and the others stared astonished at this scene, but quickly snapped out of it, when they heard more Grimm storming towards them, which was understandable considering the noise Alice’s attack created. Blake jumped up on a nearby roof to see which directions the Grimm were coming from. She paled when she saw the massive amount of blackness coming towards them and she rapidly looked around to find a safe path. A very solid building, which was only a street away, was the safest option. Blake rushed down to the others and guided them to this location. Upon arriving the door was locked, but Yang easily kicked the door open, let the others in and closed it tightly. She looked around for something to block the door and she quickly found some solid iron counters, which she threw in front of the door.
“Well, that was something..” Yang moaned as she leaned against one of the iron counters blocking the exit. Ruby looked over at Alice, who stood with her hand on a pillar while she caught her breath. “That.. was.. AWESOME, Alice!!” Ruby exclaimed with a very excited expression. Alice flinched “Ah, ehm, oh that.. that was nothing, really, heh, it was just.. a little-” She suddenly collapsed.
It was already night time when Alice finally regained consciousness. She laid on a very worn couch. Ruby and Yang were sleeping on chairs, while Blake was guarding by one of the windows. “Wh.. what happened?” Alice half whispered as she sat up. Blake glanced at Alice, but returned to look out the window. “I guess you used all of your energy on that attack in the alley.” Blake stepped away from the window and walked towards Alice, to give her some food. Yang woke up, when she heard Blake’s voice. She glared at Alice with very sleepy eyes “You ok?”. Alice laid her hand on her head “I feel a bit weak, b-but I’m fine”. Yang grinned a little “Eat up.. get some sleep..and get your… strength back, so you don’t… faint… again… zZzZzZ” Yang began to snore loudly. Ruby frowned slightly and tried to kick Yang to make her stop, but Yang snatched her foot and hugged it very tightly. Ruby whined a little, but went back to sleep quickly. Blake giggled a little, but looked back at Alice. “S-sorry if I’m trouble…” Alice said very subdued. Blake smiled “Don’t worry, you’re not. You just need to get your strength back, so relax.” Blake squeezed Alice’s hand softly and walked back to the window.
When morning arrived Ruby woke up the others, since she was the one on guard duty at the time. Alice looked a lot better and felt much more energized. While they ate breakfast, they discussed how to get to the centre of the city. Alice responded “But that place is just a big hole in the ground and it’s teeming with Grimm!” Yang looked curiously at her “You’ve been there?” Alice nodded “Yeah, when the attacks began three years ago, my family and I lived around that area. After that, I stayed there in hope of my family returning to get me, but they never showed up.” Ruby looked confused “Didn’t the person in the letter just say the path was blocked off by Grimm, the person didn’t say the place was a literal hole in the ground.” Yang nodded affirmatively and stood up “Whatever, we have to find the place anyway.” Alice’s eyes widened in excitement “If you want, I can show you a shortcut to the place. It goes through the sewer system. I used that path a lot, when I had to go to this part of the city.” And so, the plan was set. They finished their breakfast and started packing for the trip.
Alice led them through the sewers, where there were only a few smaller Grimm, which were easy to take out. Finally arriving near the square at the centre of the city, they found a staircase leading up to a higher ground, not very far from the sewer exit. This overview proved Alice’s statement as true – the square was packed with Grimm and the ground was completely demolished. They looked around the area to see if they could spot the shop mentioned in the letter, and to their big surprise it was relatively easy to find. Though, now the problem at hand was to get there without being overrun by Grimm. “Well, we have to get over there somehow.” Yang said pondering. Alice looked puzzled at the others “Why do you wish to go there, in the first place?” Ruby briefed Alice in on the letter and the mission as a whole. “So, you say you need this key card to enter the door in that store over there?” Ruby nodded confirming “Yeah, but how do we get past these Grimm? This is a problem..”. Alice giggled. “Wh-what are you laughing for?” Blake sneered. Alice stroke a confident pose “Have you already forgotten what my semblens is? I can become one with shadows and travel through them” she said tauntingly. She asked Ruby to stand close the edge of the rooftop. She then proceeded to stand on Ruby’s shadow and slowly sank into it. Ruby freaked out a little by the sight of Alice disappearing completely. Alice suddenly popped out from the neighbouring building and waved at them. She quickly returned to the others “If you lend the key card to me, I can open the door without getting noticed”. The others looked at each other and Yang nodded “Yeah, that might be our only option, but are you really ok with this, Alice?” None of them wanted to expose Alice to that kind of danger, but considering the circumstances they agreed on the plan. Yang inhaled vigorously and put her hands steadily on Alice’s shoulders “Take care of yourself! If you encounter any kind of danger, come back quickly!” Yang exhaled. She then gave Alice a very comforting hug “I-I will..” Alice stuttered with a blushing face. Yang let her go and Alice disappeared in the shadows again.
About a couple of minutes later Ruby, Yang and Blake could see her popping up by the shop. Luckily none of the Grimm detected her presence and she quickly used the key card on the door. A while went by where Alice didn’t move, she then suddenly disappeared into the shadows and soon after she appeared on the rooftop again. As soon as she appeared Yang tackled her with a big hug. Alice gazed in Ruby’s direction “Does she do that often?” Ruby scratched her neck and laughed nervously “It happens”. Yang stepped back from the hug hopping around very energetic “So, did you open the door?”. “Yeah, but it’s not a normal entrance it seems. When I used this key card, an elevator came up from under ground” Alice replied. Blake looked over at the Grimm “So we have to get over there”. Ruby sighed “It’s suicide…” Yang laid a hand on Ruby’s shoulder “I’ve got an idea, but you have to be prepared to run and pick me up on the way” Ruby starred puzzled at Yang “What do you have in mind?” “Do you remember what the old lady, who made our new clothes, told us how she had sown Dust into our clothes, but that it was unstable and should only be used in emergency situations, since it will drain all energy from the user? Well, this seems like that kind of emergency” Ruby frowned at this risky plan. Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby’s shoulders “Don’t worry, sis, I’ll be fine, just be sure to pick me up, when you run”. Yang looked around to find the tallest building near the city square and proceeded to climb up on the rooftop of that building. She breathed heavily, took a few steps back, positioned herself in a running position and ran off the building with a graceful jump. Whilst in mid-air her clothes began glowing in a pure reddish gold colour, which quickly formed a ball of fire around her. Yang grinned widely “Get ready to taste a piece of Yang!” She fired her gauntlets behind her to boost her speed downwards. The Grimm reacted to the gunshots from above, but before they could do anything, Yang hit the ground unleashing a massive crash and a shock wave of flames send most of the Grimm flying. Ruby, Blake and Alice prepared to run as soon as the smoke thinned out. They saw the Grimm from further away running towards the explosion and the gang quickly ran towards the shop. Blake carried Alice on her back for faster travel. Ruby could reach incredible speed using her semblens and she swiftly reached the location of the weakened Yang “Did..it..work..?”. Ruby nodded and quickly picked up Yang and carried her on her back and ran towards the elevator. She progressed a lot slower, though, because of the extra weight and the surrounding Grimm approached them very quickly.