Chasing a White Rabbit to a Mad World

The bomb went off, creating a huge explosion that sent blast waves strong enough topple down nearby trees. The huge smoke cloud completely covered the upper half of the Jabberwocky and lingered for a while. Then as the smoke cleared, the group would see the Jabberwocky's mouth a flame with another pitch black fireball.

"That won't work!" Alice called out, "The Jabberwocky has been eating dust and energy for centuries! It's inside cannot be harmed from explosions! Aim for where there's no armor!"

The Jabberwocky let out a blazing black fireball covered in a mass of electric energy flying towards the group.

Caster scowled, lifting both hands in an arc motion and shouting "Ice shield!" A wall of ice covered them as Caster turned to the group, pushing Mirai and Alice behind Rayden just in case. "Sorry, I didn't really have anything clever for that one." he laughed softly, though there was an air of stress in his voice.

As the electricity covered fireball made impact with the ice shield, the ice immediately turned to steam. The remaining electrical energy discharged in the mist harmlessly and the group is safe. The thick steam obscured the group's sight on the Jabberwocky. Everything felt strangely hot all of a sudden. Then as the steam cleared, the group could see the mad grimm rear its head back, a ball of bright mass that was a strange combination of fire and energy was building up inside of its massive maw.

"It's about to breath plasma!" Alice shouted, "EVERYBODY RUN! YOU CAN'T BLOCK THAT!"

The Jabberwocky reared back its demonic head and unleash a blazing bursting stream of destruction. The plasma flew through the air seeking to bring death and obliteration to anybody and anything it hits. The blast was too big and too fast to run from it. Its destructive power alone was too much to block. The Jabberwocky's blast of plasma was about to send the group to the world beyond.

Suddenly two of a similar mass blew over the heads of the team and intercepted the plasma stream.

"Jabberwocky online."

"Jabberwocky Beta online."

When the group would turn around they'd see Rider standing on a cliff edge, his Jabberwocky repaired and breathing a burst of plasma from the head piece. Looming behind him was a massive mechanical creation that looked like the real Jabberwocky if it was made from bronze and clockwork gears. It made a whirring sound like a drill as its plasma stream intercepted the Grimm Jabberwocky's.

The three forces stopped their bursts at the same time. Rider's weapon slumped over, its body turning red as steam rose from it.

"Entering cooling mode," Rider's weapon announced.

The Grimm Jabberwocky snarled and reared its head back as another ball of lightning formed in its mouth.

"Leave them alone!" Rider roared. He suddenly ejected from his weapon, jumping into the air with a pair of shining white metal armor legs.

"Bandersnatch Online," a computerized voice announced.

"Beta! Attack!"

"Engaging target," the mechanical clockwork monster announced as it pounced at the real thing looking like a puppy attacking a doberman. It tackled the grimm, its weight enough to knock it from the air and into the ground. With a roar like a factory fool of power tools, the clockwork beast wrestled the Jabberwocky, grappling it furiously even as the scorpion tail jabbed into its back, sparks bursting from the gash in the plate.

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Rider yelled at the group as he soared through the air, the chainsaw attachments to his legs buzzing to life. "I'll holding it off! RUN!"

Rider kicked furiously at the grimm's head, jostling it a bit from the impact but he didn't so much as made a scratch on the armor. Then with a swing of its head, the Jabberwocky batted Rider like a gnat, knocking the faunus down falling to the ground. Angling his body, Rider landed on the ground with a thump but he landed on his feet. The impact against his heels caused the propulsion rounds to shoot down and rocketed him upwards.

The faunus looked ready to continue fighting while his clockwork Jabberwocky wrestled with the real thing when suddenly the scorpion tail lashed out from his left and swatted him back down, sending him slamming against the ground.

GAH!" Rider yelped as his ground slammed against the hard dirt. He was struggling to get back on his feet but the scorpion tail was coming back down, this time the point of its aimed to pierce right through him.

"RIDER!" Alice yelled.

"NO!" Mirai shouted.

She darted forward with Rosemary in hand, her heels skating along the ice she formed under her feet. She moved over in front of Rider and opened her parasol's shade as a shield in an attempt to shield Rider and herself from the scorpion tail. When it would come in contact, the tail would freeze as her semblance radiated to her weapon and cause it to frost.

The tail made contact with the parasol and bounced off, suddenly covered in ice and waved about wildly. The mad grimm continued to wrestle the mechanical clockwork clone, tearing off plates of metal from it.

"You fool," Rider grimaced as he struggled to pick himself up, "I told you to run. You shouldn't even be here. I told you it was too dangerous!"

Mirai looked as the Jabberwocky fought with the mecha, the latter already beginning to lose its end of the battle. As she listened to Rider, she charged another couple of flash bombs into the air in hopes to blind the Jabberwocky enough for the machine to get a better hand of things. She shot them into the air. She held the trigger in her left hand and turned to Rider.

"Well, I told you I wasn't going to sit around and do nothing," Mirai said. "I honestly would've gone alone, but that wasn't happening either. There's not much I care about in life and the team just happens to be one of them. Even if I have a mission, I'd die trying to save it and its members either way. Making sure they can smile."

As the flash bombs would come nearer the Jabberwocky's head, she'd pull the trigger in an attempt to blind it.

The flashes went off and with a horrendous screech, the Jabberwocky reared its head back and started lashing out wildly. The clockwork Jabberwocky blasted fire at its head but grimm showed little to no signs of it taking any effect. In its blinded state, the clockwork mech was able to start pushing the grimm back, but its metal hide was being quickly torn up and soon its inner mechanisms were getting jabbed at.

Rider stared at Mirai in disbelief. He gradually stood up and looked down at the little girl who barely came up to his chest now that he stood straight up.

"You..." Rider trailed off, "... Try to find an open. I'll hold it off."

With that, Rider jumped into the air and engaged the mad grimm.

Mirai sniffed at Rider's remark as he went away. She scowled her usual, disapproving scowl.

"One, I'm already trying to figure that out," Mirai said under her breath. "Two, I'm the leader. You don't tell me what to do, rabbit."

She scoffed before just before darting forward once again moving around the fighting Grimm and machine. Mirai scanned the thing up and down. The things unguarded included the wings, the shoulders, the hands and feet...and the belly. She knew for a fact that the hide itself was tough, but Alice had said to go for the unarmored parts. At the very least, the clockwork machine could do something. Running as close as she could to the scene and to Rider, she shouted.

"The belly's less guarded!" she said. "I don't know how tough it is, but at least it's not armored!"

She kept her bombs ready just in case she needed to do another flash bang or freeze any areas while the monsters were in battle.

All Rayden could hear was Rider telling them to run or hide or get away or something of that matter and Rayden had enough. With Caster nearby he made his way over to him. "Caster, though we are equal parts of this team it seems Mr. Blanc does not think us capable." Rayden heard Mirai's order to aim for the belly and without hesitation began to fire repulsion dust at the beast form Obiettivo. "How about we prove him wrong?"

Caster watched the machine and the Grimm clash, clenching his fist before looking at Rayden and nodding. "Agreed. There is enough room in this ring for four." Caster drew Alakazam and began to draw a large glyph angled at the creature's belly . "I have a plan."

"Are you apposed to getting messy?" Smirking, Caster took a step back. "It's probably going to take all my poor kinetic dust, but I'm going to launch you into it's belly. I'd do it myself, however I doubt I could hold your blade, sir knight."

Alakazam was raised into the air and Caster tried to keep a lighthearted air to his voice. "Please, my brave volunteer, step onto the glyph."

At Mirai's command, Rider stomped his heel against the ground, the propulsion dust rounds shooting from his heel and rocketing him upwards. With an agile spinning movement, Rider connected a roundhouse kick at the unexposed part of the Jabberwocky's stomach. His chain saw blades buzzing, the contact it made with the belly created sparks and as Rider jumped back, an underwhelming gash was made in the thick hide. Then following the mark made by its creator, the mech jabbed its tail into the spot and pierced the hide. Then in furry the Grimm chomped its massive mouth over the neck of the clockwork mech and tore the head off.

The mecha sputtered and sparked before falling to the ground with a loud thud. Just when it seemed the Jabberwocky was finally wounded, before everyone's eyes, the gash in its stomach was already closing.

"Impossible," Rider murmured in shock, "Rapid cellular regeneration?"

((Think Godzilla))

"Regeneration?" Rayden removed his shield and stuck it into the ground next to Caster. "Caster if you to use this." He stood on the glyph and readied himself for launch. "Even a small prick over time can be quite a distraction." Rayden grasped Chevalier in both hands and set his eyes on the beasts belly. "I very much hope this does something."

"You and me both." Caster laughed nervously, taking a deep breath before making a swift downward motion with Alakazam. The glyph launched Rayden at the Jabberwocky's exposed belly, though with not nearly enough force for all the weight.

In a fluent motion Caster put Alakazam back into his jacket, pushing his hand up in the air and shouting in a sing-songy tone "Up and away! Whit a snicker-snack, as Rider would say!" Kinetic dust basted from Caster's palms, forcing Rayden higher and higher until with a blast the gloves ran out of dust.

"I'm all out! Get it while you can!" Caster shouted up at Rayden, though unsure if he could even be heard.

At first Rayden felt completely unsteady, the kinetic dust's movement was off putting for Rayden who was used to solid ground. After a short moment Rayden steadied himself and had grown accustomed to it. Rayden looked toward the Jabberwocky as he approached it watching as it seemed to grow bigger. Before he hit the beast Rayden pressed the triangular button on Chevalier and his weapon began to change into a kusarigama. With the sickle in his right and the chain in his left Rayden met the Jabberwocky in full force, digging the sickle into belly. Taking a quick look around him Rayden noticed the beast's ribs were relatively close to him and he grabbed on with his left releasing his chain. He looked up and saw the distance to the beasts back wasn't too far and began to climb. I hope I don't worry the others.

"Rayden, stop!" Rider yelled from below. "Get down from there! It's too dangerous!"

The Jabberwocky swiped at Rayden, slamming its clawed hand and the spot over Rayden attempting to smash him and brush him off like a fly.

"Rayden, what the heck are you doing!?" Mirai screamed at the top of her lungs.

She clenched her teeth and shot another flash bomb into the air and at the Jabberwocky's face hoping it would distract him and that Rayden with his back turned, wouldn't become blinded at it and fall off.

"Is there no beating this thing?" she said to herself between her teeth. It's armor was almost impenetrable and its skin itself was thick. It was huge and it could heal itself. Attacking it from the inside did nothing either. The only option was to take it on the outside, but with the healing...

"Rider," Mirai suddenly addressed the faunus. "The only way that thing can be killed is if we take off its head, isn't it? But that in itself is an ordeal. It's huge none of our weapons are large enough to single-handedly behead it. We'd at the very least need to contain it..."

Mirai paused for a moment.

"How long do you think it will stay down under ice if we freeze it's wings, head and body with as much ice as we got? And will it be long enough to take off it's head?"

Before Rider could answer the flash went off and suddenly the Jabberwocky went wild. It writhed and sputtered about angrily as the flash blinded it, slamming against rocks and trees. Rayden himself would find himself crushed into rocks constantly if he didn't let go.

"The Jabberwocky is going wild," Rider murmured, "We have to scatter. It's going to start attacking without thought or reason. Move!"

Rider revved off, wheeling away just when a fireball blasted the ground where he was standing. The Jabberwocky started blasting balls of fire rapidly everywhere. Alice hid behind a rock, covering her head as the infernos rained down. The rest of Team MNRC needed to find their own ways to defend themselves quickly.

Mirai leapt from where she was as the fireballs headed her way, keeping Rosemary to shield her she moved to another nearby rock in close proximity to Alice. Mirai shot ice bombs in the air to try and counter as many fire balls as she could if not at the very least to stop them from directly hitting her.

With so many things headed for his current position Rayden knew he had to move. He let go of the rib and Chevalier which was still dug into the beasts skin. He quickly dropped from his position and grabbed onto Chevalier's chain as he fell. "Fortaleza!" Rayden activated his semblance increasing his density and his durability while he held onto the chain, the added weight from his body pulled on the blade still stuck in the beast's hide and pulled it downward cutting at the skin even more. Rayden continued to fall until the hides durability was too much for the blade and stopped its cutting power but left him in a new position closer to its legs. Once his semblance wore off Rayden was able to speak. "I seem to be fine and this makes for a good distraction!"

Caster jumped out of the way, raising a hand at the fireballs and shouting "Emergency extinguish!" A spray of ice dust shot from his palm, though he hoped he was far enough from the impact zone just in case.

'Damn it, I'm going to run out of ice dust if I keep this up. Let's make the most of what I've got.' Caster thought, raising his other hand towards the Jabberwocky's underside and waiting for a moment no fire was in the way of his attack.

"Blizzard! Get down here, you stupid bird!" he shouted angrily, making sure to empty his ice dust onto the Grimm's underbelly and limbs. "First I'm going to burn your eyes out, then Rayden is going to chop your ugly head off, and after that Rider can keep the spare parts after Mirai blows you to bits!"

Already regaining its vision, the Jabberwocky bellowed, blowing a massive stream of molten fire at the frost storm, countering it dead in its tracks, although some of the freezing winds got through, heading towards Rayden. Its eyes started glowing, shining a mad red color, glaring at the group.

"Everyone watch out!" Alice screamed. "It's about to do something dangerous!"

"Caster, get out of there!" Mirai said as she darted and grabbed his wrist. "We need to get to cover!"

She dragged Caster out of the open area and behind a rock before shooting out two more flash bombs just to see if it would be enough to stop it from doing what it wanted to do.

Caster ducked down, his face a bit red as he watched the Jabberwocky. "You stupid winged little... You dust wasting... You ugly ass... I don't like you!" he yelled at the Grimm, clinching his fist.

Noticing the freezing wind coming toward him Rayden knew he had to act quickly. Noticing the bone running down the beasts mid line Rayden grabbed hold of it with his left hand and pulled his weapon free with the other. Rayden frantically searched for what he could use to move away from his spot and noticed the arm had bone protrusions that he could snag Chevalier on. With a quick spin of his chain Rayden launched Chevalier's blade toward the arm's protrusions and snagged on. Once he was secure he started to pull himself up onto the arm.

The flash bombs went off but the Jabberwocky seemed indifferent for once as both its eyes shine a blinding crimson glow. Then it let out a deafening roar and a a strange transparent force blasted from his mouth. It hits the ground and exploded, a shimmering wave spreading through out the area. Suddenly everyone would feel themselves getting heavier and literally fixed in place.

"Gah!" Rider gasped as he struggled to stay standing, the engines in his armored legs straining to keep him up. "Kinetic energy... We can't move..."

The Jabberwocky roared then notices Rayden who should be fixed in position on its arm. The Jabberwocky swung its arm and slammed its arm against the side of the mountain, the rocks smashed underneath its force.

Upon reaching the beasts arm Rayden saw that it was preparing to slam him against the wall. Not wanting to be smashed to bits, Rayden grabbed hold of the beast's hide and used his other arm to free Chevalier's hook. Once he was free to move again Rayden let go of the hide and simply let himself fall. After a quick repositioning of his body into a more favorable position Rayden activated his semblance and landed on the ground with a thud. Pain shot through his body but he kept his composure and simply waited for the his semblance to wear off. The moment it did Rayden would race off toward his shield to seek protection.

The kinetic dust bore Mirai down to quickly and soon she was struggling just to keep her head lifted up to see what was going on. Her eyes widened as she saw Rayden land and though she wanted to distract the Jabberwocky, she wasn't going to be able to do so.

"Rayden..." she muttered. And then taking in a large breath and yelling, "You idiot! Get out of there now!!"

She gritted her teeth, angry and scared at the same time, her mind racing.

This...this is all my fault...we...we don't stand a chance...