Looks at Conquest's bacteria

Thankfully, I didn’t need to draw nearer to accomplished what I desired. Focusing, I zeroed in on what I knew would be there, magnifying the dark splotch with my Clairvoyance and paying careful attention as it grew to consume my sight. I focused in until I could see the individual parts that made up the larger mass, magnifying it hundreds and hundreds of times over to see the truth within.

Most Grimm, for whatever reason, bore forms modelled after animals and other creatures. Some of them weren’t based on a single creature, but you could often see traces even then. The terror released by the Pandora Shells was no different in that regard—it just modelled itself after something very, very small. Underneath the microscope of my vision, I saw the black forms and their white, protective shells. Flagella twisted and pili clung to one another, allowing the countless creatures to both stand still and move within the dark fluid they seemed to create. I saw several of the bacteria-like Grimm close in on a plant cell, penetrating the cell wall and then darkening it from within. In moments, the green color of the chlorophyll had faded.

Through my other set of eyes, I could see what that meant on a larger scale. The small flower that the Grimm cells had surrounded, a remnant from someone’s garden that had miraculously survived the battle, quickly turned black as if rotting—but it didn’t die. No, just the opposite; it grew, rising from a tiny blossom to a plant perhaps three feet tall. One by one, its bright yellow petals fell off and a new bud began to grow into place, colored bone white and blood red. In moments, the new flower blossomed, spreading petals of bone as if to remind the world that nothing on this planet was safe from the Grimm.

If that had been Autumn…

I pushed the thought aside with sheer force of will and continued to watch. With amazing speed, the new plant began its work, making what I assumed passed for ‘pollen’ in its eyes—in truth, densely packed clumps of the Grimm cells sent off to find more hosts. That was this plant’s only purpose, I suppose; after all, everyone knew that the Grimm didn’t really focus on plants or animals, even though they were living things that had Aura. These cells were probably just taking advantage of an opportunity.

In the end, what they were after was…

I destroyed the corrupted plant with a blast from the White Tiger, burning it and its spreading pollen away with a scorching blast. I watched under my microscope as the Grimm cells stood up to the blast for far longer than they should have been able to before finally beginning to burst and die. I held the blast until I was sure they were gone and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.