Sorry about the wait for the start of this fic; during my working on it, I discovered Air Crash Investigations and Seconds From Disaster on YouTube, as well as Precure. Without further ado, let us begin the quest to avenge Miyako, and prevent Xehanort from gaining another set of dark creatures.
THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries
StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment
Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto
Mahō Sensei Negima (characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu
Kingdom Hearts (characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix
Neon Genesis Evangelion (characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax
Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms
Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust
Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay
Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment
Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi
Digimon – Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise
Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media
Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA
Gears of War – Epic Games
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)
Mass Effect – Bioware
Metroid – Nintendo
Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT
The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo
Tōhō – ZUN
RWBY – Rooster Teeth
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-BOOK 25 START-
Dimension/Realm R38Y – Forever Fall Forest
One Day After Book 24's Ending Scene
A large Midchildan-style teleportation rune-circle appeared on the ground, disrupting some of the carpet of red leaves that covered the soil. Atop the circle, several people appeared: Teana, the six members of Group Madoka, Aqua, Sunset Shimmer (presently in human form), and Reisen Inaba, the latter two fresh from temporally-displaced training, with the rabbit Yōkai clad in a long hooded cloak that hid her ears and tail. They looked around at their locale as the teleport circle faded.
"I thought the scans showed it was summer in this hemisphere of the planet…" Sayaka said.
"This area is thick with magic" Reisen replied. "It's probably affecting the forest in some way to make it like this."
"Okay…" Teana said. "We need to find Beacon Academy. And watch out for those 'Grimm' things the intel warned us about."
"Where should we start looking?" Mami asked.
She received an answer in the form of a faint flare of magical energy sensed off in the distance, followed a second later by the echoing sound of weapon-fire. Immediately the group started moving, making chakra-powered leaps through the trees and heading in the direction that their ears and magical senses pointed them in. As they moved, however, they were attacked by a monstrous black bird, around the height of an Mgalekgolo with proportionately-sized wingspan and two claws sticking out from the front of each wing, as well as a white mask-like bone plate over its face. The huge bird dove at Aqua, letting out a shriek as it brought its armor-shredding talons to bear. Aqua promptly cast a Reflega spell around herself, and the shimmering barrier effortlessly bounced the attacker off, stunning it. Teana quickly fired a Crossfire Shot barrage, wounding the beast, and Aqua finished with a Strike Raid that beheaded it, sending it crashing to the ground below.
"And that was a Grimm, I'd guess" Sunset said. "If they're anything like the other dark creatures we deal with, they'll come in multiple types. …Or maybe they'll all be giant birds, I dunno."
The group kept moving, and before long they came upon the battle. Four teen girls were engaged with a sizable force of black, skull-masked creatures similar to the earlier bird; most looked like bipedal canids, with a minority like huge bears. The four girls each had rather unique weapons at their disposal. The smallest of the four, clad in a red and black dress complete with long red cape and with shoulder-length reddish-black hair, wielded a massive scythe which – judging by how she blasted a trio of wolf-types – had a high-powered rifle built into it. The second girl, dressed in white and with hair to match, wielded a rapier-like weapon; she waved it, and the observing DDF group sensed the burst of magic as she conjured a wave of seven white bolts that curved through the air and slew five more of the beasts. The third girl, clad in black with some white & purple, with mid-back black hair topped by a black bow, wielded a rather weird weapon – a combination of gun, sword, and reinforced ribbon that allowed for some quite unorthodox methods of attacks. The last of girls, a tall and busty blonde wearing an open brown jacket over a tight yellow shirt and super-short black shorts, had yellow-plated gauntlets on that apparently launched concussive Fire-magic blasts.
"Locals from Beacon?" Sunset asked.
"Most likely" Homura replied.
"Shall we jump in?" Aqua asked.
Teana nodded. "Pick your targets and let's make some friends. Go!"
With that, the DDF group leapt into the fray. The four locals got quite the shock as a large group of new people came in out of nowhere and started helping against the Grimm. Reisen, her cloak still in place, pulled out and activated two long plasma blades; it was like the typical double-pronged Sangheili plasma sword were split into two separate halves, with each 'plasma prong' attached to / being projected from a custom-made handle/projector, with the projecting part able to be adjusted forward & back and thus change the angle of the blade relative to the handle, enabling several different configurations, styles, and angles of attack. She used her new weapons, and the intense training she'd been given with them, to cut down a small pack of the wolf-type Grimm. Sunset kept her new weapon in reserve for now, opting instead to use modest Fire-magic blasts and pistol-fire to do her share. Sayaka used one of the two final 'gifts' Miyako had transferred to her, summoning and letting fly a wave of ice spears that skewered a pair of bear-types. Teana simply dove in, Mirage Longswords out, and started carving her way through the enemy.
"Who the heck are you guys?" 'Little Red' asked as she swung her scythe through a wolf-type's neck.
"Call us travelers" Aqua replied. "We can explain more when things are a little calmer."
The remaining Grimm were quickly dealt with, and the two groups came together.
"Thanks for the help" 'Little Red' said. "We came out here to fight some Grimm for training, but there were way more of them than we were told would be here."
"Okay, so…" the tall blonde started. "Who are you girls, exactly? And what brings you here?"
"It's a long story," Teana replied, "but suffice to say, we're hunting someone. I can give you more detailed info a little while from n-"
"Heeeeey!"
Four more people came jogging out through the trees a little ways away – two girls, one with short orange hair and carrying what looked like a white & pink grenade launcher, the other tall with red hair and carrying a spear, and two boys, the taller with black hair with a pink streak carrying a pair of green bladed pistols, the other blond & blue-eyed carrying a sword and shield. They all looked a bit harried.
"Jaune!" 'Little Red' called out.
"Ruby!" the blond boy responded, a little breathless. "Things! They attacked us! They're not Grimm!"
Just as Jaune said that, the shadows around them seemed to darken, as black creatures with gold-yellow eyes pulled themselves out. The DDF group readied themselves immediately.
"Damn it, the Heartless are already here!" Kyōko shifted her stance with her spear.
"The hell are these things?" the girl in white asked.
"We'll explain when they're dead" Teana replied. "Just hang tight."
There weren't very many Heartless compared to previous engagements, and they were mostly Shadows with Neoshadow support, so Aqua and Madoka were able to use their Keyblades and basic spells to clear them out quickly and without incident.
"Okay…" Teana said to the locals. "The long story is really long, but the short version is we're hunting a murderer. Also, our target's superior already has command over three different types of dark creatures, the Heartless being one of them, and we have reason to believe he's planning to forcibly assume control of the Grimm as a fourth. Our intel says that our prime target has gone to ground somewhere in the vicinity of 'Beacon Academy' or its bordering forest, and that Beacon's headmaster might be able to assist us in some way."
"If someone's trying to gain control of the Grimm," the black-haired girl with the bow said, "they'll either fail and end up accidentally strengthening or evolving the Grimm… or worse, they'll succeed and give them direction. We need to take this to Ozpin."
After a few seconds, Ruby nodded. "Come with us."
-SCENE BREAK-
Beacon Academy – Headmaster's Office
80 Minutes Later
The trip back to Beacon had been followed by being ushered into Professor/Headmaster Ozpin's office, where the DDF group had given an explanation regarding the Dimensional Defense Force and its enemies, as well as the fundamentals of things like magic and ki/chakra to Ozpin, Professor Glynda Goodwitch, and "Teams Ruby and Juniper".
"This is certainly a lot to take in" Ozpin said as he took a sip from his coffee. "But, with the proof you've shown us to substantiate your claims…"
"So mainly," Yang said, "we gotta stop this Xehanort guy from gaining control of the Grimm, right?"
"And what do you mean about 'hunting a murderer'?" Weiss asked.
"The details will be explained in the footage we discussed" Homura replied.
"So…" Sunset spoke up. "What little intel we have suggested a second sapient race on this world. Is that right?"
Pyrrha nodded. "The Faunus" she said. "They're near-humans who bear some animal traits – usually ears, a tail, or horns, though never more than one of each – say, a Faunus will have animal ears but no matching tail, or vice-versa."
"The Faunus have a complicated history with humanity" Blake picked up. "They were subjected to horrible mistreatment, treated as sub-human, brutalized and enslaved and forced into ghettos and… At one point, it finally boiled over when the Faunus did something that the humans never expected: they banded together, organized, and went to war against humanity. After nearly 40 years of horrible, bloody fighting, a peace treaty was signed. But oppression and institutionalized racism continued.
"Before long, an organization called the White Fang formed – Faunus dedicated to protecting their brethren, and staging peaceful protests and other nonviolent resistance calling for better treatment, legal protection, and such. But, around five years ago, an internal coup saw White Fang come under new leadership, and the organization rapidly devolved into terrorism, vandalism, and murder. This sudden shift to radicalism and violent action drew in many Faunus who'd wanted to strike back at the humans, and considered the old Fang's nonviolent methods as weak and ineffective. But many Faunus who'd been with the organization before the coup left in disgust, unwilling to take part in the violence. …The vast majority were then hunted down and killed by the new 'Bloody Fang', as it's been unofficially dubbed by the defectors, and their deaths were horrific; they were tortured in ways that would leave you unable to sleep well for the rest of your days if you witnessed it. The few who escaped live their lives in constant fear, always on the move, dreading the day they'll see that emblem appear out of the corner of their eyes…"
"Blake…" Yang placed a hand on her teammate's shoulder, looking at her with concern.
Blake looked around. From the looks of it, Ozpin, Ren, Homura, and Sunset had already figured out her secret. She let out a long breath, and then reached up and removed the bow atop her head, revealing the pair of cat ears it'd been hiding. Varying reactions of shock and surprise were shown by Goodwitch, Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha, which quickly shifted as they remembered what Blake had said about the lives of defectors, and understanding dawned. She turned to Ozpin and Goodwitch.
"I enrolled in Beacon partly to become a Huntress so I could help protect people from Grimm… and partly for protection from my former colleagues. If they catch me… One guy was hung drawn & quartered, another was thrown into a cremator oven and roasted alive with a special heat-resistant camera showing what was inside on a screen for 'spectators', one girl had her tail cut off and then used to strangle her, another was beaten and 'violated' until she could barely move, then bound and tossed into a big tank of water to drown…"
Ruby's, Weiss', Nora's, and Madoka's faces were pale with horror, and the others weren't much better. Wordlessly, Yang walked up to Blake and gave her a hug.
"We won't let the White Fang get near this academy" Ozpin said, deadly serious. "I will not allow such horror to be done to one of my students."
After a few quiet seconds, Ruby turned to Professor Goodwitch. "Aren't you gonna say something like Blake being 'too dangerous to keep at Beacon' and you wanna toss her out so the Fang won't damage the school trying to get her?" she asked, accusatory.
"What?-!" Glynda near-screeched. "How could you say that?-!"
"I wouldn't put it past you, to be honest" Lie Ren said.
The looks that the rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR gave her said it all.
"How… How dare you?-! You actually think I could ever be that horrible?-! How could you take sternness and misinterpret it as being a heartless monster?-!"
"Well, you haven't really ever said or done anything to hint at even the barest hint of concern over our safety!" Jaune blurted out. "It's all just the academy and rules and the 'greater good' to you!"
"You do frequently come off as ice-hearted, Glynda" Ozpin chimed in. "I know otherwise, but the students apparently do not. I didn't want to tell you, but your image among the students is fairly good in terms of teaching quality, but for personality and apparent concern for safety it's… well, horrendously poor. The students of Beacon seem to, for the most part, believe that you hold no concern for their individual well-being whatsoever."
"I… I don't believe this! All the work I've done to keep the academy and its students safe! All the safety measures and rules, the escort system, the improved health-care system, the emergency evacuation tunnels, all the countless things I implemented when we inherited this academy to improve safety! And the students think I'm some heartless witch who'll toss a girl out to a fate worse than death just to protect a bunch of old buildings?-!"
"…Did you ever make it publically known that you were responsible for the safety overhauls?" Teana asked.
"Seems like you try much too hard to keep a 'cool and professional' exterior," Homura said, "and thus come off as cold, ruthless, and unconcerned."
Goodwitch flopped down into a chair, holding her fingertips to her temples as her gaze turned down to the floor, trying to comprehend how her image amongst the students had gone so wrong. While this was happening, Reisen (her hood still up) walked around Blake, observing her.
"No tail…" the girl murmured. "Human ears along with cat ones… Definitely different from a Yōkai…"
"A what?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yōkai are a type of entity that we interact with once in a great while" Teana replied. "They're rather isolationist for the most part. They're partly-spiritual beings in nature, so they generally have lifespans in the centuries, at least, though Yōkai-human hybrids generally live shorter, closer to human lifespans. They also tend to vary by realm in how human-like they are in physical form. And some Yōkai are animal-types, with parts to match. Amongst the DDF, we have Kotarō, a young boy who's half human and half dog Yōkai, Setsuna, who's half crow Yōkai and has a pretty nice set of wings, and…"
The DDF's newest addition pulled back her hood, allowing her sizable ears to spring free.
"…Reisen, a full-blood rabbit Yōkai."
The girl in question used one hand to pull back her cloak to reveal her fuzzy fluff-puff tail, and the other to move her hair aside and show the smooth skin where a human's ears would be. The locals, particularly Blake, looked on with interest.
"Well, how 'bout that…" Nora murmured.
"Ears and tail," Pyrrha said, "and no human-type ears…"
"What's this?" Aqua called out from a table nearby, holding up a small blue crystal.
"That's called 'Dust'" Weiss replied. "It's-"
"Crystallized mana…" Aqua interrupted, sounding a bit awed. "It's planetary mana – magical energy – in solid, crystal form… How did you do this?"
"It's found that way naturally," Blake replied, "and mined as a power source."
"...Natural deposits of mana crystals…" Teana breathed out, sounding a little shocked. "This… This is big… The TSAB had determined that mana cannot crystallize naturally; it has to be forced to do so by magi-technological means, and can't occur in nature."
"It's been an important material for our civilization for centuries" Ozpin replied. "We assumed it was normal. But you say it doesn't occur naturally anywhere else in the universe?"
"As far as we're aware, no" Teana replied.
"There are those joint studies by the Bureau and the Cybertronians that suggest Energon might be a form of mana crystal" Aqua remembered. "They're still running tests."
Ozpin leaned forward, resting his chin atop his folded hands. "Alright…" he said. "We'll do what we can to help you track down your target, and… well, we definitely have a vested interest in stopping the Grimm from gaining an intelligent leader. Also, I'll increase security along the academy grounds' perimeters, keep a closer eye out for White Fang activity, and I'll have some of my contacts try to gather more info… and maybe find other former members like Miss Belladonna, so they can be protected. We'll try to stop them from catching & killing any more."
"Thank you, Headmaster" Blake replied, sounding a bit relieved.
"Now…" the man continued, turning to Teana and Aqua. "Let's see that 'footage', shall we?"
-CHAPTER END-
I almost had a "Grimm are Unversed" reveal/plotline thrown in as well, but I really have no idea if Rooster-Teeth might come out with a radically different origin for the Grimm, so I left that on the cutting room floor.
Next time, the hunt commences. Though, expect another delay as I continue watching stuff on YouTube and tackling other projects.