A/N: Hey everyone I am finally back again with another chapter. Thank god! Work has been driving me insane as I nearly passed out from overworking myself several weeks ago. I'm alright but as you notice this is what two jobs can lead to. I am trying my very best to have time to type but work has been preventing me from doing so, especially with the holidays coming up next month and all (I hope you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well). You guys must understand the stuff going on in life right now and reasons for the long waits. As mentioned before, I will primarily focus on updating this story. I am NOT giving up on the other stories, rest assured.

Without further ado, let's continue the story with this new chapter. Oh and also, happy holidays everyone!

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ REMNANT OF DESIRES, READ IT BEFORE YOU START READING THIS STORY.

NOTE 2: RATING MAY CHANGE TO 'M' IN THE FUTURE

Third Person View

'Thought'

Greeed/Yummies

I relaxed under one of the trees that was between the main village and the Belladonna residence. The shade provides the cool air adding with the ocean breeze. It was relaxation.

Hearing footsteps against the dirt, I opened my eyes to see my girlfriend. She didn't seem happy, but frustrated. "Everything alright?" I asked. I knew it was a dumb question to ask but it wouldn't hurt to hear from her to allow her to say how she felt. I would have done the same to her.

Blake sighed as she sat beside me. "Things are not going so well," she said.

"Understatement of the year, Blake," I agreed.

"Ilia ruined everything. All dad was asking for was help but as soon as she spoke, everyone turned their backs."

"I don't blame them. Bigots never wanted to help them so they decided it was not worth helping people. Shit just happens."

"The White Fang was all about equality but people like Adam, Sienna, the Albain Brothers are turning it into a violent cult and nobody sees that. It's just..." Blake groaned. She wanted to scream out her frustration.

Glancing at my girlfriend, I said, "Come here." I gently moved Blake so she could rest her head on my lap. "How's that?" I gently rubbed her head.

"Feels nice," she purred.

The corner of my lips curled upward, glad to see her relaxed. I can understand she was frustrated with the recent events. No matter what Blake tried to do to convince everyone, Ilia was there to interfere and the people were hesitant to go against the White Fang.

Adding the incident with the Tora Yummies, it made things troublesome for us. We would have told the locals but they would probably not believe us, only assume the brothers were victims to a Greeed.

"You know, this reminds me how you did the same for me." I recalled. Blake moved her head slightly to allow herself to make brief eye contact. A thin smile curled her lips. Despite that moment occurring during the Greeedification incident, it gave me a form of relaxation and peace when I rested on Blake's lap in the past.

I continued to rub her head before moving my fingers behind her left cat ear. The rub made the cat Faunus involuntary shiver in delight to the touch.

"How's that now?"

"Even better."

I breathed out a chuckle and rested my head against the tree trunk. There are moments like this we deserve a chance to relax and push away our frustrations. This being one of those times.

Hearing the sound of soft breaths, I looked down to notice Blake was asleep. Looks like she fell asleep amidst the relaxation. My body eased in content, fully relaxed by the weather and the atmosphere. No wonder Blake fell asleep. It felt so calm here. Adding with the shade and weather, it was bliss.

My eyes slowly closed and allowed myself to join Blake in a nap.

Remnants of Desires: After the Fall

Chapter 10: Broken Heart, Attachment, Friends

My eyes slowly opened but had to blink a few times for my vision to adjust. I yawned silently and noticed it was still the afternoon. My eyes drift down to notice Blake fast asleep as well. Guess we both fell asleep from the peaceful atmosphere we shared. I gently brush my hand across her beautiful long hair before brushing a lock away from her human ear. "Blake, wake up."

"Mn." She mumbled, her brows furrowed from her sleep until her eyelids opened. Her amber eyes moved up tiredly and yawned softly, "I fell asleep?"

"We both did."

Blake lifted herself up and stretched. "How long?" She asked.

Reaching into the pocket of my coat, I checked the time on the Batta Candroid. "It's 4:58pm."

"Already?" She yawned.

"Guess we had a bit of a long nap." I pocketed the candroid as Blake stood up, brushing the dirt off the lower end of her coat and the right leg of her pants. I pushed myself off the ground and did the same to my outfit.

I stretched and then relaxed my muscles to ease myself.

"You're going to make us lazier if this keeps up." Blake giggled in response.

"It's not like I am that lazy, Blake. Unlike a certain someone we know." I drawled at the recollection of a certain Monkey Faunus.

"I take that back then." She had to agree with who I was referring to. Yeah, Sun can be lazy at times but he still had to help around the residence. Her Scroll ringed, making her pat her pocket until she found it in her coat and checked the message. "It's from mom."

"What did she say?"

She tapped the screen of her device and read the message. "To grab some necessities for the house and-" She suddenly paused mid-sentence.

I glanced at her and noticed Blake's cheeks holding a pink hue. "And what?" I asked in confusion. What stopped her from finishing the answer?

"I-It's nothing. Just something that I'll need to talk to her about." The Faunus kunoichi quickly pocketed her scroll. "W-We should get the stuff, now."

I scratched my head and said, "Uh alright?" and followed the cat Faunus to the street market. The bustling area was always busy with the local Faunus buying the products they needed. It took some time for the both of us to find the listed items but we found everything we needed.

Blake looked over the list his mother sent to make sure everything was there. "Hmm… I think we got everything we need." Blake noted, making sure we didn't miss any item this time. She swiped the screen as we walked back to the residence. "This should be enough."

"Hopefully Gamel doesn't hog it all like last time. You were disappointed in not being able to have the meal I made" I hummed, earning a nudge to my arm. "Okay, I deserve that."

"You do." She huffed playfully.

Although it was true to my word. Gamel often hogged all the food much to Ghira's dismay. The Beast Greeed would eat a majority of the food they bought and Kali wouldn't mind it at all.

"I… wonder how Yang and the others are doing?" Blake murmured softly, as this whole ordeal is making her remind the Faunus of her friends as it began to worry her. "Are…. Are we sure that it'll be okay to see them? What if they still…"

I planted my hand on her shoulder. "Hey." She looked at me. "It will be okay. We just have to have faith."

"But… what if they don't want us back? What if… they don't want 'me' back…?" She questioned as once more, her doubt started to take her mind once again.

I stopped her and pulled her away from the crowd. I grabbed the bags she carried and set them down and grabbed her shoulders. "Blake, look at me." She chewed her lip before making eye contact. "Do you remember what we did several weeks ago?"

"The incident with Ilia…"

"A day after I woke up, I talked to Ruby and she asked if we were alright."

"R-Really?"

"She did." I firmly answered. "Does that sound like someone who doesn't want you back?" She shook her head slowly. "Blake, I know so much happened on that day, but if I learned anything from you on that day of the tournament, it was of forgiveness and trust. Trust in them just as you do for everyone who stands by you."

Blake sighed as she took a few shaky breaths. The Faunus kunoichi rested her forehead against me and whispered, "Promise me… that you won't leave me? Please…" her voice almost drowned away to the bitter memories of leaving the team.

"I won't. That I promise." When I make a promise, I mean to keep it to the very end. "If you need to talk about anything, just remember your family is here and the rest of Team ENBA. Though, I'm not sure about Ankh knowing him."

This made Blake stifle a small laugh. At least that brightened her mood, even if it was just a little. "You're too good for me, you know that?" Blake said.

"I believe that's the fifth time you mentioned that… or was it sixth?" I scratched my cheek to recall. I failed to recall how many times she made that comment to me.

Sending a small glance at Blake, a sly idea came to mind. The area here was quiet and no one was bothering us. I stood a bit close to Blake as she noticed how close I was to her. Her breathing hitched when I brushed my hand against her side and pulled her for a kiss, taking her by surprise.

Her eyes closed as I heard a small mewling of delight from her. It was always cute to see her reactions whenever I took her by surprise.

Parting from the kiss, Blake's cheeks were tinted with a pink hue.

"Can't have anyone notice us, right?" I asked with a sly grin.

"You can be daring at times you know that?"

I leaned to her ear and whispered, "Isn't that what you love about me?" I could feel her body shiver in delight, her fingers gripping the fabric of my shirt.

I kissed Blake again, the Faunus returning it as she slid her hands around me, keeping herself close. Blake melted into my lips, not wanting to let it go for anything. With the market alley being subtly quiet unlike the bustling street market itself, it gave us a chance to be affectionate for a bit in private.

Unknown to anyone, someone watched the couple before vanishing into the crowd. A few teardrops being the only thing to fall onto the dirt from what the person witnessed.

Ilia Amitola was a complicated girl. All her life she wanted to fit in with humans. Her parents even sent her to a prep school in Atlas which they paid for by working in the mines. She adapted to the school's anti-faunus culture since she could pass off as a human, even claiming her markings to be freckles. She even teased her fellow faunus so her human friends could accept her. But then, when the mine her parents had worked at collapsed and they were listed as casualties, her 'friends' just laughed. That was when she furiously outed herself and ran away.

She realized how cruel humans were and that they needed to be taught a lesson. It was why she joined the White Fang.

She admired Blake for how strong her resolve was in helping faunus achieve the equality that they deserved. The White Fang would make them see that the faunus deserved their respect instead of scorn even if it had to be done by force.

However, Ilia's heart was broken when she learned that Blake had abandoned them - abandoned her. And now she was working alongside a team of humans. She was even in a relationship with one. That shattered her heart more when she first discovered the human and Blake being intimate near the street market.

She saw them kiss.

Why!? What could that human give Blake that she couldn't!? Why couldn't Blake look at her the same way!? WHY?!

"Hello."

Ilia gasped as Kazari approached. She knew who he was. He may look human but he wasn't - he had shown them what he was. Right now, he was working with them, but she did not trust him. He had his own agenda. However, he was considered an ally to the White Fang. A monster was what he was. She heard what he nearly did to Adam when he questioned Kazari.

It was a bad idea to get on this feline monster's bad side. Upsetting him could be fatal. Now, he was here to check on progress in Adam's place due to his condition for the time being.

"Kazari," Ilia greeted stiffly.

"I've heard you've been having trouble with an old friend," Kazari grinned.

"I'm working on it," Ilia defended.

The Feline Greeed tilted his head, his grin growing. "Hm, well, you're taking too long. Maybe your desire isn't strong enough or maybe you're just holding back." Kazari flipped a Cell Medal and made a coin slot appear in Ilia's forehead. "Let's see which is which." He flicked the medal into the slot.

He wasn't blind to notice the girl's desire. The oh so simplest of all desires.

Love.

Returning to the Belladonna residence, we made sure we didn't leave the bags behind after spending time together on the short date we shared.

… I think I just realized what Mrs. Belladonna intended to say in the message she sent to Blake earlier. I shook my head… but thankfully I managed to talk to Blake to keep her mind at ease.

"I hope your dad doesn't ask why it took us so long…" I shuddered at the thought of Ghira glaring at me again with a talk.

"With what has happened? I'm sure he wouldn't be as angry with you, like he is with Sun." Blake quipped.

"If you say so."

"The fact he didn't follow us or have someone follow us, says a lot." The Faunus catgirl said.

"Okay, fair point." I felt some relief. At least the rest of the day will be alright and-

I stopped and my eyes gained the violet hue upon sensing the Core Energy of a Yummy.

"Enrique?" She saw my eyes. "Another Yummy?"

Immediately, I turned around but said to Blake. "Go get Pyrrha! I'll hold off the Yummy!"

"Just stay safe." she said with a quick hug before she began to bolt back to the household.

Running to the source of Core Energy, I caught Ankh hopping off a branch and ran beside me. "You sensed it too?"

"Yeah. It's by the residential area." I answered before we skidded to a halt to see the Yummy. It trudged across the dirt grounds of the village as the locals ran away from the presence of the kaijin.

"Rid… Broken…" I heard it murmur somberly. It's wrapped bindings held a brief yellow glow before it noticed flowers. For a moment I assumed the Yummy was aiming to ease its pains but given it was possible a Yummy made by Kazari, it would act on one goal until the desires kill the host. Given the predicament here showed there wasn't a host, it made the problem less troubling.

However…

To my astonishment it raised its fist and smashed the cart of flowers. It roared in rage and the bindings finally fell off its body.

The Yummy was similar to the Lion-Jellyfish from the show. However it was themed after a panther instead of a lion as the head of the panther acted as the headdress.

"Great another Yummy…" I brandished the Medajalibur as the Yummy took notice of us until its eyes were set on me.

"Rid the one in her way!"

I paused for a moment and realized it was focused solely on me! "Wait, I'm its target?!" I exclaimed in surprise as I avoided the attack.

"Seems someone is unhappy with your presence here." Ankh frowned. "Typical."

"Oh, you think?!" I asked sarcastically.

I ducked from its claws but it used its other arm and lashed the tentacles at me. I dodged by a hair but I felt a shock to my arm. I held my limb, seeing the minor burns across the sleeve. Damn it, I totally forgot it also had traits of a jellyfish.

Rolling under its kick, I quickly placed the O-Driver on my waist with the medals in place. Once I grabbed the O-Scanner, I immediately scanned the nedals and said, "Henshin!"

TAKA!

TORA!

BATTA!

TA-TO-BA TATOBA TA-TO-BA!

The crests of the three animals appeared and aligned before colliding with my body to create the armor of OOO.

Twirling the O-Calibur, I held the blade in a reverse grip and swiftly brought the blade upward to strike its hide. It staggered while medals bleed off its skin. The Panther-Jellyfish snarled and slammed its clawed foot against my armored foot. I yelped before giving a harsh kick across my temple, sending me across the sand. I hopped while rubbing my foot with my aura removing the pain. "Damn that hurts!" The sting from the kick didn't help either. I'm just glad the armor protected my foot from being crushed.

The Panther-Jellyfish ran towards me before its Jellyfish tendril arms extended towards me. My eyes widened under my helmet to the electrical energy surging in it. I held my shoulder to the memory before I evaded at the last second.

The way it tried to lash at me. Where have I seen that before?"

"Pay… You will… Pay…." The Yummy hissed with venom in its words.

Raising my sword, I blocked the tendril attack but felt the small sparks dancing across the blade. I gritted my teeth before focusing on my Semblance to encase it in ice. Once it was shrouded in frozen water, I pulled the weapon aside and slammed it against the Yummy's chest.

I hate to admit, this fusion Yummy was stronger than the previous one Kazari made back in Vale. My train of thought was caught off when the Yummy pounced and pinned me to the ground. I grunted when it slammed my helmet a few times.

"Just die already! I won't let you take her from me!"

'Her?' I grunted before it raised its fist one last time. However a familiar black ribbon ensnared its arm, preventing it from landing the blow. It struggled before it was pulled and a shield hitting it away from me.

"You alright, Enrique?" Pyrrha asked, as she was already in her Proto-Birth armor, ready to brawl. She gripped my arm and pulled me up. "Yeah, thanks." I grunted.

"Another fusion Yummy?" Blake questioned with the Gambol Shroud in hand.

"Seems that way."

The Panther-Jellyfish paused upon noticing Proto-Birth and Blake but the reaction of seeing the latter made it rigid in movement. We heard the Yummy growl angrily in frustration.

"Why isn't it attacking?" The armored redhead wondered.

The only thing it did was harshly swerve around and bolted. "Hey!" I called out to the Yummy but it used its jellyfish tendrils and whiplashed me to the girls.

We groaned before sitting up, only to see our target already far from reach. "Damn it, the Yummy got away…" I pushed the buckle back to its original position, finding the kaijin out of our sights.

This situation just got complicated.

Gamel smiled as he carried a paper bag with fruit while munching on an apple. Kali had sent him to grab groceries but can't eat all the stuff since they needed it. He had to share so he obeyed.

Kali was nice, Pyrrha was nice, everyone was nice.

Ankh was still a meanie but Ankh was always a meanie.

As to OOO, he had always thought he was a meanie too but after seeing more and more of his kindness, the Beast Greeed realized the new OOO was nice too. The new OOO was better than the old king.

"Gamel."

Gamel stopped when he saw Kazari and he suddenly dropped the groceries. "Kazari!" The Beast Greeed shouted as he was about to assume his Greeed form.

"Mezool would be disappointed in you."

That was enough to make Gamel stop.

"Mezool?"

"Yes, Mezool? Remember? Or have you replaced her with OOO and his friends?"

The Beast Greeed furiously shook his head and said, "I have not forgotten Mezool. I did not replace her. I have new friends."

The yellow Greeed scoffed, "Please, do you really think they care about you? I knew you were dumb but never this dumb."

"I am not dumb!"

Kazari's face contorted with a small scowl. "You've turned against our own kind! Like Ankh! And remember what happened when we trusted him? He turned on us and they will turn on you too."

Gamel took a step back at the possible assumption. He refused to believe his new friends would do that. "N-no. T-They wouldn do that! They're nice!"

"They only tolerate you for your power. But once I and Uva are gone then they'll lock you away, forever, in the dark."

Kazari walked away after planting seeds of doubt in Gamel's simple mind.

I yelped when I felt the sting slowly vanishing as Blake applied medicine. My Aura healed the bruises but the Yummy's jellyfish traits sure stung like hell in the armor. Pyrrha was lucky since as a homunculus, she couldn't get any ailments.

"Any ideas about that Yummy?" Pyrrha asked Ankh.

"Given Kazari still has a Core of Mezool, it is obvious that Yummy holds a trait of a jellyfish while the other half is a panther."

"It is a freaky Yummy." Sun cringed, rubbing his jaw due to the punch it gave. "I mean, that's what could happen if you guys have another's Core?"

"Yes."

"But who's the host?" Blake asked.

"Here's your hints: It saw Enrique as a threat. It wants to get rid of him to keep you for 'herself'. And then, the scent that Yummy gave came from a certain camouflage girl."

"Camouflage girl...?" We all realized who Ankh was referring to. "Oh no…"

Ilia was the host.

"The Yummy spawned from her desires. With her heart broken, that Yummy will break his heart, literally." Ankh snorted, his claw drumming the table. "Love is the most basic desire from you humans and Faunus."

"S-So then..." Blake realized why Ilia was the host.

"Seems witnessing her role model being with a human caused her to snap." The red Greeed craned his palm. "The mind of both Humans and Faunus have limits. It takes time to expand and control what is within but given the discrimination, Faunus' emotions snap due to their mistreatments. Regarding the lizard girl, her emotions of admiration (and love) to kitty cat only lead to shattering her heart the moment your girlfriend left the White Fang and then breaking it into more pieces when the lizard girl saw you two together. That itself merely served as a catalyst and now? Kazari saw it as one to make a hybrid Yummy. To take back Blake and lashing out at you. Her desire of love mixed with growing jealousy and hatred."

"It explains the hybrid." Pyrrha recalled my previous encounter of a hybrid Yummy made by Kazari. "One desire with two reasons that led to it; just like the Yummy Uva made back then split into two."

"Precisely."

"So what can we do? We have to save her." Blake said, showing concern.

"Only way to do that is to draw the Yummy out which will be tricky." Ankh informed, crossing his legs and tossed the now empty popsicle stick aside. "This is a Yummy with traits made from Kazari's Core and Mezool's own."

"Was… that why you didn't want Gamel to be in this room?" Pyrrha realized.

The red Greeed scoffed. "The last thing we need is the idiot to run off to get Mezool's core. It is best he doesn't get involved with anything involving Mezool now that he is sticking with us. Is that what you idiots want?"

Pyrrha bit her lip. "N-No…"

Reluctantly, I had to agree with Ankh. We can't have Gamel run off now that he is helping us. I rubbed my arm as Blake applied the last of the ointment. "Any bright ideas then?" I asked dryly.

"I thought you had an idea?"

"Oh I don't know, how about you since the way you have been explaining this makes it sound like you have an idea." I snarked.

The blonde Greeed's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Why you little…" the fingers of his Greeed curled.

"Okay, let's not start a fight here." The red-haired member of Team ENBA got between us. "Let's all formulate a plan we can work with, together."

"Chee… fine. But I demand a dozen icy treats." Ankh demanded.

We rolled our eyes at his demand. This was just his way of saying he will help.

Ilia mulled over the incident she witnessed earlier but there was a small part of her that felt satisfaction upon seeing the Yummy fight back. It was strange to this feeling ever since Kazari made a Yummy from her.

"Just a bit more… then he'll pay for what he did to Blake." Ilia muttered only to frown, "But… won't she be mad at me? Will… she hate me even more? I don't know what to do..."

It all felt so conflicting to her. Was this really the right thing to get Blake to change her mind? To make the fellow Faunus see what had to be done?

No, no. This was the right decision. She had to make Blake see the mistakes and what had to be done for the Faunus to gain the equality they deserve.

"Seems you saw what was unleashed from your desires." Ilia swiftly raised her head to notice Kazari looking at the knuckles of his left hand, perched on a tree like a panther of the night. "Satisfied with the results so far?"

The chameleon Faunus chewed her lower lip. The yellow Greeed could smell the girl's desires growing after becoming the host. Guess her love for the cat faunus and hatred was the right choice to create the hybrid Yummy.

"Was this right?" The girl blurted out.

"Hm?"

"I… I know I wanted Blake to see me more than… but…" She grasped her head in frustration, her eyes glimmering blue and yellow from her desires. "Why… why does it have to be so complicated right now!"

She wanted to hate Blake but couldn't due to her attraction to the fellow Faunus. All she could do was direct her hatred at the human for not just being here but for being with Blake. That bastard who had no right to meddle with their goal.

Kazari sighed and hopped off the perch to approach the Faunus. Once he was in front of her, he gave a grin. That grin of his always unsettled her.

"If you want that girl to be with you so bad, then isn't it better to get rid or what is in your way?" Kazari questioned. "How else would the Yummy see him as something to kill?"

"I…"

"Let your desire fuel the Yummy. Allow it to become stronger so you could have her to yourself." Kazari gave his parting and walked. "Just ask yourself, if you can't convince her, how will it go for you in the end."

With Kazari gone, Ilia's eyes looked at the ground and her fingers digging into her palms. Her jealousy and hate led to it. Was she glad to have something to deal with the human?

She wasn't sure how she felt but… it was that human's fault. That OOO who took Blake away from her. Her heart for Blake being shattered no thanks to that human.

The mindset briefly allowed her eyes to gain a blue and yellow hue.

Her hatred towards that human only grew. Her mind grasped the reality of the things that never met her agreement. She always thought Blake would look at her with affection but instead, she had to put her eyes on that human. Ilia remembered the kiss Blake and her human boyfriend shared.

That had only fueled her growing jealousy and hatred more. She couldn't convince Blake to think of returning to the White Fang. She… will do just that once more. This time, she wants to make sure that man doesn't get in the way.

That drive alone had fueled the Yummy, slowly but surely granting it more medals for strength. Her desires give it the motivation to finish what it was born to do.

The Yummy's goal now is more focused in its mind.

To rid the one in her way.

After a long argument, we had finally created a plan to not only draw the Yummy out but to stop it for good. Well, somewhat anyway given one idea was something that was crazy.

Being bait.

Ankh had to point out the Yummy's desire was to rid the one in Ilia's way which was obviously me. Yeah it was risky but it was the best option.

"Right...how long am I going to wait?" I complained.

"Until the Yummy shows up so quit complaining!" I heard Ankh's voice from the Batta Candroid in my hand.

"I got that…" I groaned further.

"At least this plan will do smoothly, right?" Sun asked.

"You try being bait, Sun."

"Nah, that's more of your expertise." The Monkey Faunus quipped until a slap echoed from the can. A slap I knew from a certain Faunus. "I deserve that."

"Thank you Blake." I smiled.

"You're welcome."

I watched carefully as I walked across the wooden planks of the district. While it had the motif of a panther, it also contained traits of a jellyfish so being between land and ocean was the best place for it to hide. I whistled calmly to pass the time before I focused on my Cores. My eyes gained the violet hie and felt the essence of Core Energy…

Right below me.

"Okay, now it appears." I quickly jumped back as the planks burst, revealing the Panther-Jellyfish Yummy who landed and roared.

Quickly planting the O-Driver on my waist, the King Combo was already in place for me to scan them.

"Henshin!"

TAKA!

TORA!

BATTA!

TA-TO-BA TATOBA TA-TO-BA!

The crests of the three animals appeared and aligned before colliding with my body to create the armor of OOO.

"Come and get me you hybrid freak!" I taunted and jumped back again before I bolted, forcing it to give chase.

Looking behind me, it was still giving chase. Giving a glance to the rooftops of the buildings we ran by, I could see three people following. The plan was now set into motion.

Sliding across the dirt, I made a right turn until I saw the plaza of the village. We had already told the guards earlier to clear the area and now will serve as the trap. Once I was at the center, I saw the Yummy in range thus I swiftly slammed my fist into the ground with the focus of my semblance. The barrels of cold water and the air around it between each pathway burst and froze into ice, allowing me to conjure walls of ice.

"What?!" It looked at the ice walls in shock.

"Heh." I chuckled. "You fell for it, big time."

The Yummy saw Blake, Proto-Birth, and Sun leap off the rooftops and landed within the makeshift arena. Ankh was perched on one rooftop, medal book in hand while observing the fight.

"Let's beat this thing!" Sun declared.

Coming to an agreement, we brandished our respective weapons and set our sights on the Yummy. The four of us took charge and unleashed our respective assault on the kaijin.

The Yummy evaded Blake's weapon and my sword but wasn't able to dodge Sun's staff and Proto-Birth's javelin. Both of their weapons jabbed into the Yummy's hide, staggering it from the blows it received.

It tried to attack but the fellow Rider used her shield to stop it, allowing Sun, Blake, and myself to damage it again. The three attacks pushed it back again much to its ire as it was finally losing its chance of victory.

"Now we will have a chance to end this."

With the Yummy finally cornered, we had the upper hand with victory being imminent. Or so we thought. It roared as it began to unleash dozens of jellyfish across the area. Each one hovered around us before sending several stings.

"Hey! Ow!" Sun swatted a few of the Jellyfish with his gunchucks. "These things are like bees with a bunch of stingers!"

"Stop that main Yummy so that it won't produce any more!" I avoided more of the jellyfishes, while using my Semblance to freeze more of the incoming jellyfish using Ice Dust.

"Ow!" Proto-Birth used her shield as cover but yelped when she got a shock from behind. She kicked it away but more and more jellyfish began to swarm each of us much to our ire. "That's easier said than done!"

Blake used her Gambol Shroud's kusarigama function to slice away the Jellyfish spawns but the numbers kept rising. "There's too many of these things!"

I held my tongue in frustration. We are biting off more than we can chew. I pondered before recalling a similar situation like this was seem when I watched the series in the past.

That's it!

"Ankh! I need your Core Medals!" I shouted, evading a jellyfish.

"Right now?!"

"No, later! Yes now!" I argued sarcastically. Ankh clicked his tongue in annoyance as he brought them out from his arm.

"Fine, then here!" Ankh threw the Medals at me as I caught them in my hand. With the Full combo prepared, I inserted the Red Medals into my Driver and scanned them.

TAKA!

KUJAKU!

CONDOL!

TA~JA~DOL!

The familiar red blaze burst, destroying a few jellyfish around me and revealing the majestic TaJaDol form as a blazing aura burst from my body,

The Taka Head helmet had turned into the Taka Head Brave with a more detailed design on the helmet to resemble a bird's head with the yellow beak being a gemstone. The wing-like attachments to my helmet had become bigger and the eyes had turned red.

My shoulder armour was bright red and came in three layers, making them appear spiked and feather-like. My gauntlets had a similar appearance at the elbows with more red feather-like armour. Red feather-like bands ran down to my wrists which were circled with gold wristbands. The backs of my hands were decorated with more red armour, completing the arms at least.

The sides of my thighs were decorated with crimson fabric which held the image of feathers when looked upon. The shin armour spread out just below my knees in more wing-like decoration. My feet though had a single yellow blade rising from the red armour over my feet with two similar blades coming from either side of my ankles. The O-Lung Circle crest was surrounded by a golden ring which sported a red emblem that resembled a phoenix by combining the images on the red Core Medals.

I had my arms crossed as I focused on the Yummy and its spawns. Spreading my arms, the wings fan out from behind before becoming projectiles the moment the feathers detached from the armor.

I thrust my arms, commanding the projectiles to target the swarm of jellyfish. Each sharpened feather pierced the jellyfish, creating miniature explosions as the numbers rapidly decimated from a swarm to zero, leaving the Yummy as the last one standing.

Good.

Then the familiar red wings appeared on my back as I flew into the air, and then the symbol on my chest lit up as I brought my right arm in front of my body as a disk like shield appeared on my arm which had the same symbol on my chest. With the Taka-Spinner materialized, I fired several fireballs at the Yummy, damaging its fur.

When it lashed its tendrils at me, I used the wings to evade the swing and slammed my knee against its abdomen. It lurched forward before the kaijin was launched into the crates. The Panther-Jellyfish Yummy roared angrily and went for a shoulder tackle but missed when I used the wings to once again dodge.

With a punch from my left arm, I used the Taka-Spinner to provide extra damage to release a fireball as a deadly combination. The ball of fire created a spill of cell medals, sending the monster staggering.

Diving under the next swing, I delivered the next set of punches that damaged the Yummy more until it was on its last stand. With it weakened, I was now able to execute the finisher.

I drew my O-Scanner out and scanned the Medals on my Driver.

SCANNING CHARGE!

I aimed my legs at the Yummy as the armor around the leg armor changed into talons as flames surrounded the limbs, before the sharp kick landed on the Yummy. When the attack pierced through, arcs of energy danced across its body before the kaijin roared in agony and exploded in a rain of Cell Medals.

Ankh immediately took whatever medals were in reach while Pyrrha used the Crane Arm to gather as many as she could for herself and the remaining medals for Gamel.

I landed back on the ground as I changed out of my armor, breathing out a sense of relief. The hybrid Yummy was no longer a problem.

"Is everyone alright?"

"We're good!" Sun rubbed his arm. "That's enough jellyfish stings for one day."

"No kidding." Blake agreed, having her fair share of stings. "I'm going back to get this treated. But...Ilia still..."

"I know…" I sighed. "This won't end until we have to confront her directly. The White Fang won't stop at this level either."

This serves as a reminder for us. We need to stop their plans or else more casualties could emerge.

Both the White Fang, Kazari..and the other Greeed.

With the Yummy gone, Ilia was able to recover and her senses put back together after the monster was destroyed. She wasn't sure how she felt after the Yummy was gone. Disappointed? Satisfied? Upset? Her mind's a complete mess of emotions.

It frustrated her but right now, she has to relay to the brothers. Entering their chambers, she kneeled to hid her mask of emotions she felt. "I was told the monster was destroyed." Ilia reported.

She didn't see it but the brothers were disappointed. Why can't they realize just how dangerous the schemes Kazari plans are? The risks? That irritated her deep down.

"A shame. But this was a step forward for us." Fennec stated.

Ilia hid a grimace. To work with an ancient monster wouldn't count as a step forward. It felt wrong but Kazari had the pieces in hand.

"Where did Kazari leave off to?" Corsac inquired.

"He said he had other matters to take care of so he left Menagerie not too long ago after his… creation was slain." Ilia replied, not revealing the Yummy was born from her.

"Good." The brothers were glad to see the scheming Greeed depart from Menagerie. "You may leave now, Sister Ilia."

The girl stood up and nodded before leaving the chambers. Once the Chameleon Faunus was away, Fennec spoke. "With Kazari now handling matters outside of Menagerie, we can progress with our own matters."

"Agreed." Corsac nodded.

Now they can begin the next step of their plan.

CURRENT MEDALS:

Blazing: Taka (x2), Kujaku (x1), Condor (x1)

Scorching: Lion (x1), Tora (x2), Cheetah (x1)

Strongest: Kuwagata (x1), Kamakiri (x1), Batta (x1)

Legendary: Kobura (x1), Kame (x1), Wani (x1)

Water: Shachi (x1), Tako (x1), Unagi (x1)

Gravity: Sai (x3), Gorilla (x1), Zou (x2)

Invincible: Ptera (x1), Tricera (x1), Tyranno (x1)

Ultimate King: Super Taka (x1), Super Tora (x1), Super Batta (x1)

(NEXT TIME)

"Poison all of them." Poseidon commanded darkly.

I frantically moved myself to my knees, carefully grasping Blake's hand. "Blake!"

"I ran because I was scared. Scared of losing my family again. I was afraid of making the same mistakes I did in the past. I ran from who I was… but…" I lifted my head, glaring at the Yummy.

Next Time: The Spider, Testing the Bond, Cure

A/N: It seems things are going to make a turn for the worse as the Faunus Brothers have something planned now that Kazari won't bother them for the time being. With this chapter concluded, we will get to see what happens in the next chapter from the preview. Alas, more of it will be revealed in the next chapter. PLEASE be patient on the updates. I have important things going on in real life and trying to keep myself stable and healthy.

Don't forget to leave a review for this chapter, favorite and follow the story! Stay in the shadows everyone and stay well!