A/N: Alright, just gonna finish up this scene here and-

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Chapter 53: Smoke, Mirrors, and Shrapnel

Tenya would never claim to be an absolute master in the art of combat. Sure, he was highly skilled within his field, he would never deny that aspect of his life, but he knew firsthand that there were many people in the world who were far stronger than he was. Case in point: the fact that Momo and Weiss were currently kicking his metaphorical ass.

While he had indeed asked for this type of matchup; he figured it was only fair seeing as Weiss had asked him and Momo to do the same only yesterday; it didn't mean he enjoyed getting beaten all the same. He had pride in his fighting abilities, he was just better at keeping it under wraps than a certain explosive partner of his.

A counter kick to the base of Momo's formed staff left him open to a parting slash from Weiss, causing him to skid across the floor with a slight, tooth-baring smile making its way across his lips. He dug his left leg into the ground beneath him, the engine held within revving up to full power as his heavy caliber pistols were drawn at his sides.

As soon as he was sure the girls were ready for his prepared onslaught, Tenya charged forward with the might of his Recipro engines behind every step, flipping himself through the air as he aimed for a weak spot in Weiss' defense, something that they'd been trying to work on for the past several days. Fortunately, she seemed to have learned from the previous bouts, dodging the initial kick and attempting to counter with Myrtenaster.

Recipro's still active boost prevented this, however, causing the tip to just barely miss his thigh as he prepared a countering shot with his left pistol, taking care to aim at Momo with his right as he fired both pistols at once. Weiss, not quite gaining the skill to summon a full construct within the bounds of her control just yet, settled for the halfway point, instead bringing forth a massive gauntlet that honestly reminded him of Lancelot to block the bullet.

It was also at this time that he noticed Momo had quickly grown a wide sheet of metal to protect herself from the shot, a large indention appearing where it landed as she took the opportunity to fling another of her creations at him. It happened to be one of her favorites, and the one that he and Weiss were quite wary of: a large, target constricting capture net.

And what ho, the net just so happened to be doing its job well, catching Tenya by the ankle and quickly enveloping the rest of his body. Still, he wasn't about to give up so easily, and continued with his Recipro Burst until he finally managed to free himself and-

CLICK! CLICK! CLUNK!

And he was then reminded once more that his new legs were not his old ones, locking him in place as he finally let his heavy breaths leave his chest. When he turned to the clock in the room, he saw that it had been ten whole minutes since their spar had begun. Not quite as long as Weiss' two v one spar, which lasted for twelve, but it was a respectable time to hold nonetheless. Especially since these were two of the strongest people he had ever encountered.

"Break?" Weiss asked with a similar breathlessness. Though Momo didn't show it, both Weiss and Tenya knew that she was likely as tired as they were.

"Please," Tenya quickly replied with a slight smile on his face. Oh well. Even if he didn't quite have enough strength to walk or fight unimpeded quite yet, it was still quite an enjoyable experience, getting to spar once more. With the assistance of the two girls, he was eased back into his wheelchair once more, a satisfied, relieved sigh escaping his lips as he allowed his legs to rest.

"Okay, let's go over what worked and what needs improvement," Momo said, ever willing to further strengthen both her friends and herself. "I think we can all agree that my reaction time could be faster. Honestly, if I hadn't anticipated Tenya's attack, he probably would've hit me right in the forehead, thank Oum for Aura."

"True though that may be, your assessment of the situation was rather quick. You even managed to get that net out particularly fast," Tenya said.

"Well, it's a useful item. I try to keep one or two on hand, whenever the need for it arises," Momo said a bit sheepishly.

"I suppose it's my turn, now. I think my biggest problems right now are stamina and accuracy," Weiss said. "I had two glaringly large opportunities to get you and I managed to miss them both. And I'm still no good in a drawn-out battle. Hell, the only reason I managed to last longer than you last time was because of my summoning, if I can even call it that. I can barely bring out the arms of my knight."

"Speaking of which, how did you manage to use them in such a... bizarrely creative fashion?" Momo asked, referring to how Weiss had thought to split the armor up and use the connected pieces to extend her reach. The only reason they'd managed to win that day was that Tenya had managed to get a shot through a gap in her defense and Momo got a capture net around her before she could recover.

"I... may have taken a few notes from Jaune and Lancelot," Weiss admitted with an embarrassed flush to her face. Considering her initially rocky relationship with the boy, Tenya didn't exactly blame her for acting embarrassed.

"Who's Jaune?" Momo asked.

"A fellow classmate and hunter in training. He and Weiss... didn't exactly hit it off right away," Tenya explained.

"We got better though! We never talked much, but we were on better terms," Weiss quickly interjected. This was... unexpected.

Tenya simply wrote it off and then gave his own thoughts, "In spite of your stamina problem, you're actually quite agile and fairly good at traps and misdirection. Not to mention your knowledge of Dust. If we work some more on your few weak points, you could well take on a few platoons without breaking a sweat."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Weiss replied.

"Alright. Well, I think we can all agree I'm the weakest link in this team," Tenya said. He knew that they would deny it, but he continued on anyways. "I have the most blatant and exploitable weakness in my radiators, and I'm still not up to my full strength yet. Not to mention the fact that I'm still getting used to this new style."

"That's... unfortunately accurate," Momo agreed with reluctance in her voice. "You certainly have both the strength and speed advantage, but until we can find a way to reduce the drawbacks of your legs, you'll have to use your full speed sparingly."

"Personally, I think that this change in combat styles will give you a lot more versatility," Weiss said. "It might not seem like much now, but if you're going to be an all range fighter, it will be a great help to you. If you keep at it, you'll probably be able to actually run circles around us. Might be a viable combat strategy..."

"Of course, there are plenty of ways to counter that," Momo said.

"True enough. Want to call it for today?" Tenya asked the others.

"Well, it would likely be for the best. Personally, I think you're all wasting your time, but who am I to judge?"

The group's attention was then drawn to the originator of that snide comment: Whitley, leaning against the frame of the doorway as though he couldn't care less. Tenya had hardly seen the boy in days, what with the constant 'lessons' he'd been receiving from his father. He seemed apathetic and jovially discontent, ready to stir up trouble at a moment's notice, but there was still that same concern and worry veiled behind his otherwise cold, merciless blue eyes.

"Whitley. How long have you been there?" Weiss asked as she stood.

"Long enough to know you really don't have a full grasp of the situation you're in," he replied. "If you three really think that father hasn't accounted for an escape attempt, you'd be sorely mistaken."

"... what do you mean?" Momo asked as she stood in turn, causing Tenya to fully turn his chair towards the conversation at hand.

Whitley then continued. "Apparently, he finally noticed that Weiss' rebellious streak isn't going to stop because of a stern talking to. So, he has taken it upon himself to hire a few independent contractors to... 'ensure her safety.'"

Of course, the three of them knew how to read between those lines. They were meant to keep them, specifically Weiss, in check, to make sure they stayed where he could see them.

"Why are you telling us this?" the former heiress in question asked. "You've... never even liked me. And you certainly never liked Winter."

A brief flash of hurt came to Whitley's eyes, disappearing as quickly as it came before he answered her. "I figured it would only be fair, seeing as you know so little as it is. Before you assume jealousy is the reason I don't like Winter... I've honestly never been jealous of either of you. Truth be told, I find all the fighting... barbaric, in a sense. Sure, it might be necessary in certain moments, but after that... what's even the point? And yes, there are many benevolent reasons for fighting out there, but there's a myriad of selfish and evil ones."

"Then we shall simply seek more good causes to fight for," Tenya said. "And if we cannot find one, we shall simply establish our own."

Whitely sighed and chuckled at his declaration. "I figured as much. You don't seem like one who would give up easily."

"What can I say? An old friend rubbed off on me," Tenya replied with a genuine smile, slight though it was.

"... well, I suppose I should leave you all to it, then," Whitley said as he began to exit the room.

"Wait a second!" Weiss said. "You specified Winter. Why her?"

A few moments of silence.

"... she raised you up, taught you to be better than our parents. I will always be grateful to her for that, if nothing else. It's... a shame, then, that she could not do the same for me. That she could not look past... my condition," Whitley said as he absentmindedly rubbed the palm of one of his hands, decorated only by a single, thin scar. "To this day, I wonder if the worst of our father's influence got through to her... or if she held those reservations long before he truly attempted to control her. I'm honestly not sure which is worse.

"The reason I don't like Winter, dear sister, was because she never even gave me a chance to try. To prove myself better. After all, what could a Fractured possibly do to help her?"

The silence after he left was only made more deafening by the echo of his heeled shoes against the cold marble floor as he walked away. That... Tenya knew Whitley had likely been through the wringer, but this... it seemed even Weiss didn't know that it led to this extent.

After a few more seconds of shocked silence, the former heiress' look of shock turned to determination as she turned heel and made her way to the center of the room, a determined echo to every step that she made towards her destination. She raised Myrtenaster in both hands and, with all the strength her dainty arms possessed, stabbed it into the floor, burying the blade halfway into the floor itself, causing a web of cracks of appear where the blow landed as a massive glyph flickered to life in front of it.

Emerging from that same glyph, larger than any of them had ever seen it, was the knight she'd told stories of defeating. The reason for the scar over her left eye. With armor shimmering in a ghostly mist, hands gripping a massive blade that only Lancelot could ever hope of matching, was that very same knight. And, with a royal humility, it knelt before its queen.

Unfortunately, Weiss could not return the gesture of respect, primarily because she was tired enough that she was actually taking in deep gulps of air. What Whitley had said, while not kind, had spurred her onward. For the first time, she had summoned consciously. If only for a few seconds.

As the knight disappeared into the same mist that had created it, Tenya and Momo made their way over to her, and got her to one of the nearby chairs so that she could rest for a while.

"... hey..." Weiss said with bated breath, still exhausted from the full summoning. "Do we... have room... for a slight change of plans?"

"... Weiss, it'll be hard enough to get just the three of us out of here," Momo said with sympathy in her voice. "Taking Whitley as well would simply be too much of a-"

"I don't care about that. I may not have really known him but... he's still my little brother. And I'd rather stay locked up here forever before I let him stay here, alone, and suffer in silence again," she responded. "I won't. I will not let myself make that mistake. Not again."

A brief flash of Tensei's kind and ever knowing smile flashed before Tenya's eyes, his eyes tinged with a protective edge.

"... it'll be difficult. We don't know if he'll even wish to come with us," he said, agreeing with her wishes, but cautious of the changes it would bring all the same.

"I know. But for once, I want him to know that I haven't given up on him. He deserves that," Weiss said. "I think I'll rest now. You should too. We'll be leaving in about a week or two, so be prepared."

(meanwhile, at Pyrrha's statue, Shoto's POV)

Shoto had to admit, whoever sculpted this piece had done a remarkable job in recreating Pyrrha's likeness. Even if it would never live up to the true image of their friend, it was still a comfort to know that so many people had loved her. Although...

"Are you sure those words are appropriate?" Shoto asked Jaune, referring to the final words on the plaque of her statue. "I know they mean 'Greatness from Small Beginnings,' but... it just doesn't seem to suit her, I guess."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. They're more of a family thing, though," Jaune answered.

"I'm sensing a story," Shoto predicted.

"That there is," Jaune said as he began the tale. "Apparently, one of Pyrrha's ancestors started out as nothing but a common beggar, without even a name to call his own. When the Great War came around, he sided with a part of Mistral that was pretty progressive for its time, small though it was at that point. He chose the name Leonidas, and bit by bit, fought and thought and tricked his way to a respectable position of power. He was even granted his family's name, Nikos. 'Victory for the people.' But he always stayed humble, and constantly repeated the motto 'Sic Parvus Magnum.' It was a mantra and a warning, to never forget where he, and the family he built, had come from."

"... damn. That's quite the story," Shoto said with a bit of shock in his voice. "Wait... are you talking about that Leonidas or-"

"Nah, it's just the name he chose when he signed up. Suited him, though," Jaune replied with a distant smile. "Definitely a military guy. The complete opposite of me. I'd probably crack within the first hour of training."

"Give yourself a bit more credit than that. I think you'd do fine, now," Shoto replied, remembering just how unprepared Jaune had been at the beginning of their year at Beacon.

"Maybe so, but I still don't think I'd take to the lifestyle too well. C'mon. We should get moving."

The half and half boy quickly complied and shrugged his bag more firmly onto his shoulders as they made their way toward the entrance of the statue's park, where the others had waited for them. It didn't take long for them to find the exit to the city and once more trek their way into the green, Grimm-infested lands of the Yuri Trail. Maybe they would even see Qrow. Only time could tell.

"Erm... hey, Shoto?" Ruby asked. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. What do you need?" he responded, slowing his pace to match with hers, though it wasn't much of an adjustment.

"I... I'm kinda scared," she admitted. "I know that's normal now, but I'm not scared of the Grimm. Haven't been since I first used Crescent Rose properly. I'm... worried about Yang and Izuku. I know that they'll probably be fine and I'm just being a worrywart at this point, but-"

"Ruby, it's okay to be worried about them. Honestly, I am too," Shoto said.

"That's not all I'm worried about," Ruby said. "What about that... secret that Izuku has? Qrow wouldn't tell us anything, so it's probably really personal, but... I'm scared that it'll change something. And that it'll drive a wedge between everyone, and we might start fighting and arguing and... I don't want to lose any more friends. Not now, not ever."

"... me too, Ruby," Shoto said in solemn understanding. "Me too."

(the previous night, Belladonna household, Sun's POV)

For just once in his life, Sun had actually begun to enjoy the peace and quiet the night brought with it. It wasn't total silence, which would've probably driven him insane, but the same could be said if the night were nothing but noise. This was a good balance of the both of them.

And then someone had tried to shoot him. The bullet had grazed off of his cheek and embedded itself in the wood with a smoking hole and a sharp impact, and the blood was still rolling down his cheek when he spotted the attacker and leapt after them.

It took him even less time to grab the suddenly scrambling person and pin them to the ground. They were a literal jump away from him, after all; the gun they used hadn't been of a particularly high caliber.

"Who are you?" Sun said, having neither the patience nor the time to be shocked by his aggressiveness. "Why are you here?"

The person, a winged faunus judging by the movement on their back, gave no reply to that and only struggled against his hold even more. The blonde monkey faunus further tightened his hold, and whispered in a tone that just barely held back seething rage, "Do not make me repeat myself."

A sharp click alerted him to another's presence. He reacted by standing with his foot firm on his captive's back and his gunchucks drawn. He kept the left trained on the person beneath his foot, and had the right raised as he scanned the surrounding foliage.

Then someone got in their head that it would be a good idea to attack him from above. Not a bad idea, honestly, but one that he quickly managed to subvert by ducking out of the way of their attempted attack, losing his leverage in the process.

"Could've done that sooner," the one he'd captured said to his rescuer, finally allowed to stretch the bat wings resting on his shoulder blades.

"Well, I was trying to knock him out. Seems blondie's more perceptive than I thought," said his rescuer, a woman with grey hair and unnaturally grey skin that faded in on her arms... wait, were those holes in her palms?

"Okay, I really didn't want to repeat myself, but who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Sun asked again. He doubted they'd give their real names, but the Grimm masks covering most of their identifying features were more than enough evidence to suggest allegiance to the White Fang. Oum, just saying their title at that point just pissed him off.

"You sure you want an answer to that question?" the woman asked.

"Would I have bothered asking if I didn't?" Sun asked rhetorically.

"No," someone else said as a point was suddenly pressed into his back. "But it did distract you."

Three. That's the same amount I saw earlier, but there could be more around here. Wouldn't be surprised at this point.

The increased pressure at his back gave the silent message to drop his weapons, to which he reluctantly complied. If they were in a fair fight, he could probably win, but he'd been so angered that he hadn't even gotten his Aura fully up. That and he was at least smart enough to not intentionally anger the person that was holding a blade directly against his spine.

Then the door to the Belladonna household burst open.

"Sun! Are you-" was all that Bakugo managed to get out before the bat faunus shot at him and the grey-haired female... shot webs from her hands? Huh. He'd actually never seen that type of faunus before.

But, this quick distraction gave him the opportunity to quickly flip around and kick the person behind him in the side of the head, echoing with a loud crack as she tumbled into the foliage once again.

Just as he was about to go over and ensure she wouldn't get back up for a while, he was quickly forced to turn and counter an attack from the bat faunus, who, in complete contrast to his marksmanship, was surprisingly adept at hand to hand combat. After his initial attack, the bat faunus let out a barrage of calculated blows that took all of the dexterity he possessed to counter.

Eventually, he'd been pushed back so far that the heel of his foot was in the grass. Sensing an opportunity, he baited the bat faunus into what should've been a knockout strike, only to dodge at the last second and letting him overextend his punch, letting Sun easily grab onto the extended appendage and slam him into the ground.

It was then that he realized the one who'd held a blade to his back, her mask currently cracked into tiny pieces, was leaping at him as he finished the throw, when he would be unable to recover from the motion. It was then that he was saved by the timely arrival of Blake. Specifically, her boot arriving precisely in the red-haired girl's cheek and sending her tumbling away. If nothing else he left himself feel bad for that. Getting kicked in the face twice, not to mention in the same spot, Aura or not, was going to hurt like hell.

Oh well. She was part of the Fang, and they were hunters in training. It was an occupational hazard.

Relieved of the pressure of fighting for long enough to pick up his weapons, Sun quickly made his way to where he last saw Bakugo, knowing that Blake's strength in combat was more than enough to match against anything that girl could throw at her. But, it would also seem that his help here was unneeded, as Bakugo had long since escaped his bonds and was currently roaring his lungs out as explosions cracked and ripped forth from his palms.

When the spider faunus tried to counter this, however, Neo made herself known by cracking Melodic Cudgel across the girl's face and then tripping her with a sliding sweep kick, lining her up perfectly for a follow through ax-head kick that broke the girl's Aura the moment she landed with a loud crack.

The bat faunus, who was a lot tougher than Sun had initially thought he was, suddenly got a strike in to the side of the monkey faunus' torso, though he managed to dodge the follow up and began a barrage not so dissimilar from the one that he had practiced that same morning, his arms whipping and thrashing about in tandem with his weapons as buckshot flew from the chambers with echoing blasts, stopping as he suddenly switched into the weapon's second form and cracking him once, twice, and many more times across his torso, arms, and legs, and finally delivered a morbidly satisfying downward strike to the crown of the bat faunus' head, sending him crashing into the dirt.

"Ilia?" Blake asked in surprise, recognizing the now neon colored girl, her once slightly tanned skin and dark red hair turning to shades of yellow and red respectively, the splatter of freckles across her face and body reflecting the same color that her hair now held.

"... this is not how I wanted this to go," she said as Bakugo leapt over with a wild strike, barely dodging as the smoke still plumed from the ashen blonde's palms. Using the opportunity this opened, she quickly made her way to Sun and unleashed the full force of her whip-rapier, forcing him to split his weapons into gunchucks once more in order to counter them properly.

He would've called for a bit of backup, but that was when he noticed that the Fang's cavalry had arrived. Ten more grunts, armed to the teeth, had shown up on the scene, and they were actually keeping the others fairly busy as they tried to dispatch of them.

That was also when Sun noticed that there were an additional two grunts trying to get the bat and spider faunus' out of the crossfire, to which he had to respectfully disagree. If they managed to capture even one of them, the information they could provide would prove invaluable.

And so, with a massive dual blast from his gunchucks, Sun spun around and launched himself into a wide kick, catching both of the rescuers off guard as they were sent flying into the forest. Now that that was taken-

SHINK!

Time seemed to slow as Sun looked down at the wound in his shoulder, barely able to register it as he heard the hollow click of a trigger. The pain that he felt suddenly erupted from the wound and quickly spread to the rest of his body. He would've thought he'd been paralyzed were it not for the fact that he was barely keeping himself from falling into a heap on the ground. He might've heard someone calling out his name, but he couldn't tell with the ringing in his ears that accompanied the pain. Someone ese, he was guessing it was this 'Ilia,' had harshly told Sun to stay down.

Unfortunately, his body was beginning to comply, his arms losing more and more of their strength as he was suddenly a hair's breadth from the ground. Damnit, he wasn't supposed to... wasn't... supposed...

A pillar of stone in a mountain glade, cracking open to reveal a stone sphere.

The sphere rising above to the shifting blades of grass as it too split itself open.

A golden band, made to fit the head of any who would dare bare the burden.

A massive red pillar with golden dragons engraved into it, suddenly shrinking to the size of a staff.

An urn that was only associated with pain and fury.

And the flames of a ruined city all around him as he tried so desperately to save someone. And failed all the same.

A fist was suddenly formed in his panic, slamming into the earth beneath him, bringing him out of his shock. As fast as the pain would let him, he reached across and gripped the tail of the whip in one hand and suddenly wrenched it towards him. That caused Ilia to lurch forwards and giving him ample opportunity to deliver a body strike so hard that she literally flew into a palm tree, a crack and sizzle queuing the break of her Aura.

And with that, he was spent, wasting no time in dropping to the ground after his final display of strength. The last he heard was someone large landing from the balcony above them, standing, and giving a roar so loud and base that he could feel it reverberate through his chest.

And then came the darkness of unconsciousness.

(meanwhile, somewhere in Anima, Oscar's POV)

The menial labor of the day had just been finished up, the freckled boy giving a satisfied sigh as he wiped his brow of sweat. This was good. The scarecrow was back up, and seedlings were starting to sprout, and if everything stayed smooth, they'd be looking at a plentiful harvest within the next few months.

"I must admit, completing a hard day's work often feels satisfying," he heard a certain headmaster say within the confines of his mind. "Just don't let it get away from you, alright?"

Oscar rolled his eyes as he responded, I know, I know. Right now, I just want to go inside, have a nice, long bath in silence, and sleep. After dinner's done.

"I do wonder how much you'll eat this time..."

I'm a growing guy! I get really hungry.

"I'm not teasing you. I'm legitimately curious."

I'll believe that when you finally drop the sarcastic tone.

"I was often told I had resting sarcasm voice."

Apparently, this had not been a 'sleep it off' kind of deal. As soon as he'd woken up the day after meeting the mysterious man, Ozpin had greeted him the same way a parent would a waking child. The man then proceeded to accompany and observe him as the days went on, offering advice here and there that Oscar would reluctantly try and often succeed with.

That wasn't to say they didn't have their problems. He could count the number of times he'd accidentally responded verbally to Ozpin's advice within the last few days on two sets of hands. It had caused a lot of confusion and he was fairly sure that his aunts were thinking of sending him to a therapist.

Either way, he was stuck with this voice inside of his head, whether he liked it or not.

But that was neither here nor there. Oscar slung his hoe over his shoulder, as he had so many times before, and started making his way to the barn.

"Stop."

Oscar immediately complied. In the few days that he'd known Ozpin, the man had never sounded this serious. That was when he heard a low growl from a nearby oak tree. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see the black and bone white visage of a Beowolf, an unholy smoke draped over it like a shroud. He wanted to be a hunter, but right now? He was just a kid. And that Grimm was terrifying.

What the hell do I do-

"First, we remain calm. Second... I believe you'll need to be running to your homestead within the next four seconds."

From what?!

"You'll see. And whatever happens, do not drop that tool. You may need it."

As if on queue, an Alpha Beowolf came barreling on front of the scout and started charging him, giving him all the motivation he needed to follow Ozpin's advice as he sprinted for the homestead with all the speed his legs possessed.

"Bank left," Ozpin aid when they were only halfway to their destination, to which Oscar quickly obliged, almost sliding as he turned sharply just before their field. The Beowolf from before saw this and quickly followed, being lighter than its Alpha and able to adjust its course more easily.

"When its close enough, swing that thing with everything you have," Ozpin said as Oscar continued to run, the Grimm practically biting at his heels as he turned and smacked the thing across its bone mask with as much strength as his admittedly spindly arms could muster.

A hollow crack was the result as the Grimm was flung onto its back, surprising both the Grimm and especially the boy who'd just done the deed. When the Beowolf got itself back up, a web of cracks had formed where he had struck it, and a chunk of flesh was missing as well. But the price for that small victory was the fury of a Beowolf who looked as though it was going to enjoy consuming him far more than it rightly should.

What do I do, what do I do, what-

"Be calm, my boy. Everything is going to be okay."

But-

Before the frightened boy could finish his thought, however, a distinctly female roar filled the space, and the crack of buckshot could be heard for at least half a mile. That was quickly followed by the howling of the wind and the sound of steel passing through flesh. And then, the Grimm were dead, fading to ash on the very same ground which they'd planned to stain with his blood.

In front of him were two hunters, one with a mane of long golden hair with matching bracers and vivid violet eyes, and one with a messy mop of green and black, his cloak settling around him as his he tried to lift himself from the grass littered ground with his blade.

Oscar quickly went over to catch him before he fell and called for his aunts, only to see that he needn't have bothered. Beth was armed with her shotgun and quickly scanned the area for any more Grimm, while Shino, her arm still bound in a cast, assisted him in carrying them into the house and preparing them for treatment.

And then, when they had been placed on the two largest tables they had, Oscar finally recognized them. Izuku Midoriya and Yang Xiao Long. Finalists in the Vytal Tournament and two of the strongest hunters in training that he had ever seen. But that begged another question.

How in the hell did Ozpin know they were coming?

A/N: And that's a wrap on this one! These are taking longer than I'd like to get out, but I should hopefully have the next one ready in shorter order. And now:

Review Responses:

Thunder Dragon: Yeah, and that was a very powerful scene, but I wanted to try something a bit different when we eventually get there. Plus, I kinda had to compromise since I already said she lived in Athens, which is in the southern part of Mistral, but she still trained in Argos, which is in the northern part of Mistral. I thought it would make sense if they also built a similar statue of her in Athens, since it's where she was born in this story. So, that's basically a long way of me explaining why that particular scene is so much earlier than it was in the show.

Odin's Eye: It's... well, you'll find out soon, but I'll warn you now, it's kinda dark.

Enku: Thank you! I liked the idea of Sun meeting another hunter who'd lost something, and that shopping scene was the perfect chance for me to put it in.

Kaiser Dragon: Well, it's not like she'll have to drag Sun across the finish line. Sun may need a bit of an initial push, but he'll get through this. And I promise I'll make that scene as heartwarming as I can.

KongKing94: I thought a bit of conversational backstory would be entertaining. Hope you liked it!

Uruk-Hai: Thank you! Sun's always been one of my favorites, and I thought this could be a good road to travel down. Story-wise, I mean, maybe not so much for his mental health.

King Ceasar Jr: Well, they weren't expecting the attack, but once Ghira shows up... well, let's just say that his version of pacifism doesn't discourage self-defense or the defense of others.

Leviathan's Heir: Here it is! Hope you liked it.

Gojifreak: Got that for ya!

Black Fang: Indeed!

Mecha Manda: The possibility is certainly there, and will get stronger with time, but for the moment they're just oddly comfortable friends.

DD Lore Nerd: Well... I mean, it's not going to be a total dry well in terms of pairs, but they're not all going to get together all at once. Though I do promise that one of them will get together within the next... three to four-ish chapters or so.

Guest 1: Well, it seemed a bit too ridiculous to actually happen. Even if it was absolutely hilarious.

CaptainBorisson: Thanks! I always kinda wanted to try something like this, so, here's the start of this particular rabbit hole I will be going down. And yes, I've always wanted to do a variation on that joke, and I saw to perfect opportunity.

Phoenix Wizard: That they have. And yes, you are right to be worried.

Also, Uruk-Hai! I think his suggestion could actually be pretty cool. Do you think we could put this in without messing stuff up?

Madmagusmax: That all really depends on how things turn out.

Guest 2: I actually had that thought in mind, and explained why it was there at all as best I could.

Next Chapter: Jul. 12th

Seeya in the next one!