Arc 5From the Hunting Ground to Portland

Nick survived the Predator hunt, returned to Portland, and helped Hansen and Gracie prepare a food truck while investigating murders tied to the Primrose Paper Mill. Melissa Wickoft warned him about a threat from Vienna, and the arc ended with Nick killing Adalind after she attacked him and confronting Renard.

  • Nick and the survivors escaped the Predators’ hunting ground with help from Major Dutch and his companion, then Nick returned to Portland with Dahlia and recorded what he had learned about the Yautja.
  • Nick offered Hansen and Gracie a chance to run his food truck, and Labe finalized an agreement that could lead to their full ownership.
  • Nick investigated the deaths of Serena Dembrooke and Camilla Graypool, traced the killings to Bee Wesen connected to the Primrose Paper Mill, and learned that Melissa Wickoft had arranged them to warn him.
  • Melissa told Nick that Vienna posed the real threat and that she had also tested what kind of Grimm he was, then Nick urged her to leave the country.
  • Renard shelved the investigation after Melissa and the Primrose Bee Wesen vanished, and he assigned Nick and Hancock a case involving missing travelers.
  • Nick discussed Renard and the Royal Family with Dahlia, then found Renard and Adalind together in their apartment.
  • Adalind attacked Nick in her Hexenbiest form, and Nick shot her dead before taking Renard’s pistol and demanding a proper talk.
Chapters 104–128 Vol. 2 Read

Ch. 104Trap

After the group fought off the monsters, Nick suspected they were being hunted and used Edwin to expose a hidden threat. Mombasa and Dahlia spotted a cloaked Predator in the treetops, and the group opened fire as it appeared.

  • Nick killed a wounded monster and had the group reload and check their dwindling ammunition.
  • Nick concluded that the group and the caged creatures were being driven like prey, while Mombasa noticed Machete was missing.
  • The group found Machete apparently injured in a clearing, but his repeated cries for help sounded suspicious.
  • Nick provoked Edwin into testing the clearing, where an electrified trap sprang up; Edwin confessed to being a serial killer before a spear impaled him.
  • Mombasa spotted a hidden watcher in the treetops, and Dahlia's shot revealed a camouflaged Predator.
  • Nick ordered everyone to fire as the group began shooting at the Predator.

Ch. 105Tracking

After the Predator escaped, Nick led the group around a suspected trap and found evidence that the creature had been wounded. The group decided to pursue it as Nick explained the Predator’s history, while Dahlia climbed a tree to scout their surroundings.

  • Nikolai’s Gatling jammed, and the Predator vanished after evading the group’s gunfire.
  • Nick retrieved the spear, and Mombasa shot the kneeling Machete before the group heard the eerie cry for help again.
  • The group detoured to the Predator’s hiding place, where they found fluorescent green blood and a damaged metal bird drone.
  • Mombasa destroyed the drone, and the group agreed to pursue the wounded Predator despite Nick’s warning about the danger.
  • Nick told the group about Major Dutch’s encounter with a Predator in Guatemala and described its camouflage, infrared vision, and advanced equipment.
  • Nick noticed that the Predator’s bleeding had nearly stopped, and Dahlia climbed a tree to survey the area with her rifle scope.

Ch. 106Ambush

Nick and his companions ambushed a Predator camp, but multiple Predators counterattacked and forced the group to flee down a waterfall. They survived the river and regrouped downstream, while Nikolai suffered burns to his hands.

  • Nick, Stan, and Hanzo found a grisly Predator camp and discovered a helmetless Predator bound to a totem pole.
  • The bound Predator roared, and a second Predator appeared; Nick wounded it with a Combistick coated in Upas tree sap as the group fled.
  • Nikolai fired his Gatling at another Predator, but a third Predator blasted him and the group raced toward the river.
  • Nick fired his AA-12 as the group escaped over a waterfall, while a huge Predator watched them disappear and attacked the Alien Hounds.
  • The current carried Nick and the others downstream, where they reached shore and counted four Predators; Dahlia treated Nikolai's burned hands.

Ch. 107Digging holes

Nick and the five survivors dug concealed trenches and dugouts to shelter from the Predators after dark. As Nick and Dahlia took the first watch, they discussed whether they could survive the mission and he told her about the Predators’ brutality.

  • Nikolai, Hanzo, Mombasa, Dahlia, Stan, and Nick agreed that hiding in a cave was too risky and decided to dig underground shelters.
  • Nikolai and the others helped Stan and Nick finish a covered cross-shaped trench and three dugouts before nightfall.
  • Nick divided the group’s compressed rations among the six survivors, and they ate before settling into the shelters.
  • Nick volunteered to take the first watch with Dahlia while the others rested.
  • Nick warned Dahlia about the Predators’ violence and began telling her the story of a film starring “The Governor.”

Ch. 108Nolan appeared

Nick and his companions met Nolan, a human survivor who had been living on the Predator planet, and followed him from their exposed trench to shelter inside a crashed alien spacecraft. Nolan welcomed them to what seemed to be his hideout, where unseen companions were apparently present.

  • Dahlia woke beside Nick, promised to stay with him, and gave him grenades before they joined the others in the trench.
  • A cloaked figure appeared after the group splashed water around to reveal him, and Mombasa accidentally shot his helmet before Nick stopped him.
  • The figure removed his helmet, identified himself as Nolan, and led the group away from the Predator threat.
  • Nolan guided Nick and the others through streams and out of the jungle, where they saw numerous crashed alien spacecraft among the hills.
  • Nolan led the six into a wrecked ship, switched on its lights, and introduced them to Defoliant, Ronald, and Air Maker.

Ch. 109Abandoned spaceship (part one)

Nick and the others found Nolan living in a weapons-strewn compartment aboard an abandoned spaceship, where he described the Predators’ repeated hunts. The chapter ended with Nikolai explaining that the Predators learned and improved their combat skills from each hunt.

  • Nolan welcomed Nick, Stan, Dahlia, and Mombasa into his compartment and offered them food and warmth.
  • Nolan warned Stan not to touch a breastplate taken from a Predator and claimed it could withstand an energy bolt.
  • Nolan said the Predators brought new prey to the hunting ground each season and made their victims fight one another.
  • Nolan explained that the Predators adapted their tactics after every hunt, and Nikolai summarized that they honed their skills through repeated battles.

Ch. 110Abandoned spaceship (Part two)

Nick and the other captives sheltered in Nolan’s hideout while weighing whether to trust him and planning to free a Predator who might pilot them home. The chapter ended with Hanzō attacking Nolan after he trapped the group inside and filled the compartment with smoke.

  • Nolan explained that the Predators’ technology might have been inherited, then told the group to help themselves to his food and water before going to sleep.
  • Nick warned the others that Nolan’s survival and supplies were suspicious, but urged them to wait until daylight before confronting him.
  • Nick proposed rescuing the Predator held at the camp and asking it to take them back to Earth.
  • Hanzo identified a rusted katana as an antique, suggesting the Predators had abducted people from Earth for a long time.
  • Nolan disappeared, blocked the compartment entrance, and filled it with smoke while arguing with an imaginary friend about feeding the group.
  • At Nick’s command, Hanzō silently attacked Nolan with a flash of steel.

Ch. 111Hope

Nick and the others escaped the spaceship wreck after Nolan sacrificed himself to destroy the pursuing Predator. They found the captive Predator and struck a deal for it to take them back to Earth, leaving the group with a dangerous new ally.

  • Dahlia extinguished the fire, and Hanzō returned with Nolan alive but paralyzed after catching him outside the compartment.
  • Nick told the group to gather equipment and wait for daylight while an armored Predator rushed toward the spaceship after hearing an explosion.
  • Nolan detonated grenades and C4 beneath him, killing the Predator that had approached to investigate.
  • Nick and the others reached the Predator camp and offered to free the captive Predator in exchange for a ride back to Earth.
  • The captive Predator accepted Nick's proposal, and Hanzō cut through its chains.

Ch. 112Despair and a fight to the death

Nick and the others fought the Super Predator after it destroyed their spacecraft, leaving the group battered and near death. Nick survived the battle but lost his fingers, while Dahlia remained by his side as he recovered.

  • The Classic Predator showed the group Earth on its device, but the spacecraft exploded before they could reach it.
  • The Super Predator ambushed the group, wounded the Classic Predator, and fought off Nikolai, Mombasa, Hanzō, and Stan.
  • Dahlia shot the Super Predator, and Nick blew himself and the creature up with two Claymores, apparently killing it.
  • Nick woke to find Dahlia alive; she said everyone except Stan was still alive, though their condition was uncertain.
  • After sleeping for another day and night, Nick found that both his hands had lost all ten fingers.

Ch. 113Unexpected help

Nick survived the mine blast, but the mission left Stan dead and the other survivors badly wounded. A smaller Predator ship destroyed the vessel that had brought them to the planet, then Major Dutch and the Predator 2 detective rescued them and took them aboard.

  • Dahlia helped Nick sit up beside the injured survivors, while Stan lay dead and Nikolai and Mombasa remained badly hurt.
  • Nick and Dahlia watched a smaller Predator ship ambush and destroy the larger vessel that had been dropping prey onto the planet.
  • The smaller ship landed nearby, and its two Predator passengers captured the classic Predator that had been with Nick's group.
  • One newcomer removed his helmet and revealed himself as Major Dutch, then offered Nick and the others a ride home.
  • The other newcomer revealed the face of the Los Angeles detective from Predator 2, and the ship collected more survivors before leaving the planet.

Ch. 114Rewards and Unfinished Business

After returning from the Predator world with new equipment and a psionic skill, Nick recorded what he had learned and discovered an unexpected connection with Dahlia while meditating. The next evening, he visited Hansen and Gracie to discuss how they would use the money Inspector Raynard provided.

  • Nick and Dahlia returned to Portland with Predator-style weapons and pocket dimensions, and Nick recorded what he had learned about the Yautja and the Bad Bloods.
  • Nick sensed psionic energy and learned to meditate and build up a charge for the Magic Movie Ticket.
  • While Nick and Dahlia were together, his meditation drew her into his consciousness, and the experience lasted until the following evening.
  • Nick visited Hansen and Gracie at their motel and explained that Inspector Raynard's five-thousand-dollar check had to be spent under his supervision.
  • Hansen said he wanted to find a stable home and long-term work so Gracie could stay in school.

Ch. 115Nick's little business (part one)

Nick offered Hansen a chance to run a food truck so he could support Gracie’s education, and the siblings agreed to consider the demanding arrangement. After helping them prepare to leave homelessness, Nick asked Inspector Raynard for more leave, leaving the inspector questioning his commitment to the teenagers.

  • Hansen told Nick he wanted to use the money to put Gracie through school, while Gracie objected to his willingness to sacrifice himself for her.
  • Nick explained the financial risks and offered Hansen a partnership in a food truck business, with two weeks of training in his backyard.
  • Gracie accepted Nick’s offer, and Nick told the siblings to deposit the check and gave them a prepaid phone.
  • Nick returned to the police bureau and requested an extension of his leave from Inspector Raynard.
  • Raynard asked Nick why he was going so far to help two homeless teenagers.

Ch. 116Nick's Little Business (Part Two)

Nick framed his food truck plan for Hansen and Gracie as a tax-saving business investment, securing Renard’s approval for another week of leave. As the truck was modified and the siblings practiced cooking, Nick’s lawyer Frank Rabe reviewed the agreement and recognized that its restrictions were meant to keep them out of trouble.

  • Nick explained how food-truck expenses and losses could reduce his taxes, and Renard approved an extra week of leave.
  • Frank Rabe arrived at Nick’s house, where he and Monroe briefly transformed into their Wesen forms before greeting each other peacefully.
  • Rabe reviewed the food-truck transfer agreement and learned that Nick was helping Hansen and Gracie after their family’s troubles.
  • Nick showed Rabe the backyard, where Monroe, Hancock, and Dahlia worked on the truck while Hansen practiced cooking under Gracie’s guidance.
  • Nick demonstrated how to make egg fried rice, and Rabe, Hansen, and Gracie later enjoyed Nick’s food at dinner.

Ch. 117The Bear Wesen Lawyer's Private Calculations

Bear Wesen lawyer Labe reflected on Nick’s fair treatment of Wesen and the food-truck agreement he had drafted for Nick, Hansen, and Gracie. On his way home, Labe met Melissa, who asked him about the rumored Grimm in the area.

  • Labe recalled that Nick had treated him as an equal and asked for his help with a legal matter.
  • Labe finalized an agreement giving Hansen and Gracie a path to take full ownership of Nick’s food truck if they followed its rules and kept it profitable.
  • Labe drove to his estate and found Melissa waiting beside the road.
  • Labe offered Melissa help after her paper mill closed, but she said she had come to ask about the Grimm rumored to be nearby.
  • Labe questioned why Melissa, who maintained friendly relations with the Grimm family, did not already know more about Nick.

Ch. 118The dead woman on the streetcar

Nick and Hancock investigated Serena Dembrooke’s death on a streetcar and found a suspicious puncture wound despite her body resembling an extreme allergic reaction. They reviewed footage showing a flash mob aboard the streetcar and began searching for its participants as witnesses.

  • Melissa told Labe that Hexenbiests had targeted her group and disappeared into the woods, intent on fighting back.
  • Nick prepared to open a food truck with Hansen and Gracie, while Labe witnessed their business agreement and offered Gracie a future job.
  • Nick and Hancock arrived at a streetcar where Serena Dembrooke had died with severe facial swelling.
  • Nick found a puncture wound behind Serena’s ear, prompting him to order an autopsy and ask Wu to obtain surveillance footage.
  • Wu showed Nick footage of a flash mob on the streetcar, and Nick decided they needed to locate its participants.

Ch. 119Bee venom

Nick and Hancock investigated Selena’s death, learning that she had been killed by a massive dose of bee venom injected into her neck during the streetcar chaos. They went to her law firm to question her colleague Camilla Graypool and were left heading to meet Harrison Berman.

  • Inspector Renard told Nick to focus on the streetcar homicide and warned that the victim’s law firm owner wanted an explanation.
  • Harper determined Selena died of anaphylactic shock after receiving at least fifty milligrams of bee venom and sent a sample to the local beekeepers’ association.
  • Hancock proposed that the killer used the streetcar passengers’ strange dancing as cover to inject Selena, and Nick took him to her law firm.
  • Camilla Graypool told Nick and Hancock that she and Selena had been close colleagues and that Selena had no boyfriend or fiancé.
  • Camilla led the detectives to Harrison Berman’s office on the top floor.

Ch. 120The secret of the key

Nick and Dahlia discovered that the key was one of seven keys linked to a treasure stolen during the Fourth Crusade, and that someone from the Wesen Royal Family was hunting it. The revelation answered why Aunt Mary had been targeted but left Nick questioning the Royal Family’s motives and whether Grimm descendants were involved.

  • Nick and Hancock questioned Harrison Berman, who agreed to send them Serena Dembrooke’s case files, and Nick suspected Berman was frightened rather than angry.
  • Nick warned Hancock that the case would require overtime because the Police Inspector was monitoring their progress.
  • Dahlia translated the scorched parchment and explained that seven Grimm Knights had each held a key connected to a treasure from Constantinople.
  • Nick learned that the knights had hidden the treasure after betraying the Wesen Royal Family, which had allegedly orchestrated the Fourth Crusade to obtain it.
  • Nick concluded that the Royal Family was likely behind the hunt for Aunt Mary’s key, but wondered why its agents killed her instead of capturing her and whether other Grimms were involved.
  • Dahlia questioned whether Nick was overthinking the mystery.

Ch. 121The beekeeper

Nick and Hancock investigated the beekeeper Professor Spinella after Harper received results from a bee-venom sample, while Andrew Wu began screening witnesses from the flash mob. Professor Spinella confirmed the venom was not artificially synthesized, but the detectives had yet to learn more.

  • Nick and Hancock went to investigate the beekeeper after Hancock reported news from Harper’s contact.
  • They found Andrew Wu screening twenty-two flash mob witnesses and asked him to identify people of interest in exchange for food-truck lunch coupons.
  • Nick and Hancock visited the Beekeepers Association in Portland’s Rose Garden, where a queen bee landed on Nick’s hand.
  • Professor Spinella returned the queen bee to its hive and told the detectives the bee venom had not been artificially synthesized.

Ch. 122The paper mill

Nick investigated the bee-venom murder, grew suspicious of Professor Spinella and flash mob participant Doug Shallow, then followed Doug to the abandoned Primrose Paper Mill. There, Nick and Wu found Doug speaking with John Coleman and waited to see who else would arrive.

  • Professor Spinella said the venom came from a nonnative bee species and claimed he had been at a beekeepers conference in Salem, so Nick asked Hancock to check his alibi and keep him under surveillance.
  • Wu reported that flash mob participants gave nearly identical accounts, identified Doug Shallow and John Coleman near Selena, and found that the organizer’s Twitter account used a proxy IP.
  • Nick questioned Doug, whose changing account about Selena raised suspicion, and saw him transform into a Bee Wesen before quickly returning to human form.
  • Unable to detain Doug based on the available evidence, Nick enlisted Wu to follow him after learning the Twitter organizer was difficult to trace.
  • Nick and Wu followed Doug to the abandoned Primrose Paper Mill, where they saw him meet John Coleman, and Nick stopped Wu when he sensed another person was present.

Ch. 123Unlucky Wu

Nick and Wu were chased by a swarm of bees while investigating the Streetcar victim’s suspected Bee Wesen killers, and Wu was badly stung. After getting Wu treated, Nick went home and searched Grimm’s Journal with Dahlia, who questioned why Bee Wesen would kill someone.

  • Nick and Wu watched three suspects meet inside the factory, but a swarm of bees suddenly drove the suspects away and chased them.
  • Nick pulled Wu into a workroom, where the swarm dispersed after Wu was stung repeatedly while Nick remained unharmed.
  • Nick took Wu to the hospital to have the stingers removed, then drove him home.
  • Nick returned home and searched Grimm’s Journal while Dahlia explained that Bee Wesen were usually on good terms with Grimms and asked why they would kill the Streetcar victim.

Ch. 124Another visit to the paper mill

Nick investigated whether Serena Dembrooke’s murder was connected to Bee Wesen and searched for the Bee Wesen Queen, Melissa Wickoft, while considering a possible motive tied to the closure of Primrose Paper Mill. Before he could verify whether Serena was a Hexenbiest, Wu reported another murder connected to a “Flash Mob.”

  • Dahlia told Nick that Hexenbiests had a heart-shaped mark beneath their tongues and suggested the Bee Wesen Queen might be friendlier to him than other Wesen.
  • Nick asked Monroe about Bee Wesen, and Monroe explained that they alerted local Wesen to danger and often opposed Hexenbiests.
  • Monroe tracked the strongest scent at Primrose Paper Mill to the CEO’s office, where Nick found Melissa Wickoft’s name and address.
  • Nick and Monroe visited Melissa Wickoft’s deserted villa and found an abandoned beehive in the attic.
  • Nick told Hancock that Serena had led the legal case against Primrose Paper Mill before its hostile takeover and bankruptcy, and that Doug Shallow and John Coleman had worked there.
  • Wu called Nick to report another murder connected to a “Flash Mob” in Chapman Square.

Ch. 125Bending the law

Nick investigated Camilla Graypool’s murder, linked it to the Primrose Paper Mill bankruptcy case, and privately confronted Labe about Melissa Wickoft. He asked Labe to warn Melissa that her identity would soon be exposed and to arrange a meeting before she left the country.

  • Wu told Nick and Hancock that witnesses saw Camilla Graypool doing yoga when she was killed, while a crowd obscured the killer on surveillance footage.
  • Hancock linked the murders of Serena Dembrooke and Camilla to their work as attorneys in the Primrose Paper Mill bankruptcy case, and Nick named Adalind Shade to redirect Renard’s attention.
  • Nick visited Labe and asked about his relationship with Melissa Wickoft, whom he suspected of seeking revenge against the lawyers who drove her mill into bankruptcy.
  • Labe admitted he had realized something was happening after the streetcar victim was identified and explained that Melissa was an old friend whose honey he loved.
  • Nick asked Labe to warn Melissa that her identity would soon be exposed, urge her to stop and leave the country, and arrange a meeting before she left.
  • Labe suggested Melissa was using the murders to warn Nick as a Grimm, and Nick angrily told him to tell her to get her head examined.

Ch. 126Meeting the Hexenbiest again

Nick confirmed that the two murdered women had matching marks on their tongues and recognized Adalind Shade as the Hexenbiest who had tried to kill Aunt Mary. He confronted her about the murders while Inspector Renard ordered him to protect her, and Nick left Adalind’s protection to Hancock until the case was closed.

  • Nick examined the victims’ tongues with Harper and found identical heart-shaped brands, then left to return to the station.
  • Hancock told Nick that Adalind Shade had been brought in, and Renard introduced her to Nick and Hancock as a possible victim who could help the investigation.
  • Renard urged Nick to share anything he knew about Adalind and ordered him to keep her safe; Nick claimed he had only seen her outside a coffee shop before.
  • During Adalind’s interview, Nick challenged her account of the business dispute with Melissa Wickoft, while Adalind denied knowing anything about the murders.
  • Nick told Hancock that Adalind had posed as a nurse and tried to kill Aunt Mary, then asked Hancock to keep her under close protection until the case closed.

Ch. 127Queen Bee

Nick met Queen Bee Melissa Wickoft, who explained why she had staged public killings to warn him about threats surrounding him. He urged her to leave the country and returned home, where Dahlia quietly comforted him as he pondered what he had learned.

  • Nick met Melissa Wickoft and asked why she had not contacted him directly after detecting the Hexenbiests.
  • Melissa warned Nick that the real threat came from Vienna, while Sean Renard also wanted to use him.
  • Melissa explained that her bee companions could convey only vague information, so she had arranged the killings and exposed a subordinate to put Nick on guard.
  • Nick learned that Melissa had also wanted to test what kind of Grimm he was, and he urged her to leave the country after their long conversation.
  • Nick returned home, and Dahlia brought him a beer and sat with him as he thought; he absentmindedly lifted her legs onto his lap and kneaded them until she blushed.

Ch. 128A show of strength

Nick considered how to use Renard’s ambitions against the Royal Family while maintaining their uneasy alliance, then confronted Renard and Adalind in their apartment. After Adalind attacked him and was killed by a seemingly automatic shot, Nick prepared to question Renard.

  • Nick and Dahlia discussed Renard’s ties to the Royal Family and the possibility of using his ambitions to trouble them.
  • Hancock reported that Melissa Wickoft and the Primrose Paper Mill’s Bee Wesen had vanished, and Renard shelved the investigation while assigning the detectives a case involving missing travelers.
  • Nick told Hancock that he would reveal a new world to him after the food truck’s opening party.
  • Renard and Adalind argued about Nick and their past, then began to reconcile before Nick revealed himself in their apartment.
  • Adalind attacked Nick in her Hexenbiest form and was shot dead; Nick retrieved Renard’s pistol and ordered him to dress for a proper talk.
Arc 5 of 9