GOMU GOMU NO!~ Oh ma Gawd. This chapter was a doozy to write I'll say that much. Over 6,000 words, but I really didn't want to chop up this fight scene into two separate chapters. The next chapter after this one will probably be in submitted after a full four days, as I really pushed my limits with this one.

I hope this fight was enough to satisfy all the hype I was building up to. I'm not too familiar with describing fights and the like, so this chapter was a true test of my abilities as a writer.

Also! The results are in! I don't know why a bunch of people decided to PM about their choice of the next arc instead of writing it in the reviews, but oh well, any kind of communication with the community is appreciated. So after a couple more chapters, we're going to Menagerie folks, the haven for the Faunus populace. :3


"Miss Custard!" Called a soldier.

The majority of the mining equipment unloaded, a worker grunted as he positioned the last of the heavy loads on the ground. A temporary CCT tower erected, all scrolls had easy communication over the Vale network. Custard, however, was jumping for joy for her inevitable rematch.

"I'm going to scout the area for Grimm, you and your men should stay here and oversee the rest of the construction. The lives of the workers are in your hands general. I trust your judgment is sound." Custard's polite tone served as a mask for her true intentions.

She'd already tampered with Kuma's original instructions of being a mine worker, but no one other than her knew about it. Right on queue, the intimidating slave was released from his transport vehicle and led to the center of the site. The architect barked orders at the supposed Faunus as if he didn't have ears and needed an ear busting volume to hear anything.

Kuma did as he was told, in silent obedience, he picked up a stack of steel beams effortlessly and dragged his feet toward another man wearing a white construction helmet. Although, being a mindless puppet, Kuma had lost his gentle touch and dropped the load inches away from the impatient foreman.

"Watch it you stupid Faunus!" The foreman hollered.

"He still has most of his physical power, but he's obviously numb in the mind you stupid racists." Custard giggled as Kuma continued to unintentionally wreak havoc throughout the site.

Bags of concrete were spilled sending blinding clouds of dust into the nostrils and eyes of his superiors. Along with bundles of bricks and metal.

"Alright that's it, get this bumbling Faunus off my job site!" Screamed the manager. His suit and pride covered in dust and dirt, he screamed for his workers to take Kuma away.

Though being a staggering giant that dwarfed all those around him, even with ten burly men pulling on his chains, the former tyrant stood his ground. This was the opportunity Custard was waiting for, and she was not going to let it slip past her.

"Allow me, sir, I'll bring him with me as I neutralize the area of any threats." Custard shot a knowing look towards the Faunus, and to everyone's surprise, he obeyed.

"Are you sure we should allow Miss Custard to roam freely? I heard she was rather rebellious in her last meeting with Jacques, and she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would willingly obey orders." The engineer whispered to the manager as he adjusted his glasses.

"It's not our job to assume and judge, now gather your men and get those foundation pillars erected. We've lost several hours because of that stupid Faunus." The manager snarled.

With the mines underway, Custard and her 'subordinate' fled to the outskirts of the camp. Custard also turned off her scroll to not be traced but made sure to narrow in on Hawkins' location before shutting it down.

"So tyrant, are you prepared to reap another soul?" Custard flicked her gaze towards a few puffs of black smoke that erupted from the nearby ruins. The area was off-limits, but most of this was due to rumors concerning a 'ghost' haunting the premises.

Custard was used to seeing all sorts of miracles in the grande line and new world, but even she was skeptical. Even if there was a ghost, they weren't physically there so they couldn't hurt you even if they wanted to.

"Raven Branwen... Bounty 100,000,000 lien... Wanted dead..." Kuma murmured. His sights locking on a familiar head of long black hair, it matched the image in his databanks.

"What?" Custard's eyes snapped to her lackey. Picking up his feet, Kuma's body roared to life as his cracked glass eyes burned a bright and bloody red. His gaze narrowed on a set of blonde hair from afar, he let out a mighty roar and charged.

The gears and axles in Kuma's eternal mechanisms had been overhauled for his new job as a mining slave, allowing him to surge through the sand mounds with ease. Custard had difficulty keeping up and resorted to latching onto the tyrant's back until they arrived at the ruins. All the while with a malicious smirk plastered on her visage.


"Wait here Jaune, I'm going to get Ms. Branwen. Should this girl try anything, do your best to keep her here. Understand?" Hawkins knew there was no need for such an arrangement, but having him soften Amaryllis' attitude was advantageous.

"Do I have to dad?" Jaune whined but clamped his mouth shut at the stern glare from his father.

Emerald also tried to follow Hawkins out of the room, but a firm headshake kept her beside Jaune. It was better to know where both of his children were at if something unexpected were to occur. Leaving his children in the care of each other, Hawkins made his way back to the Branwen group. Unaware of the trauma he was about to face.

"Hawkins!" Raven scowled. Jumping down from the broken rubble of a small tower, Raven grabbed Hawkins by his collar and forced him down to meet her eyes.

"You can't just go on your own without my order! Where did you go anyway?!"

"I found the teenager you were looking for. She's back with my kids in a hidden room among the debris." Hawkins said lamely.

"W-What?" Raven's fierce facade evaporated on the spot. She blinked rapidly, spinning on her heels to see where Hawkins was pointing.

"Come on, the girl agreed to speak with you, all you need to do is follow me-" The magician's speech was silenced by the presence of a looming shadow. Starting as nothing more than a small dot beneath his chin, the shadow soon encompassed both Hawkins and Raven completely.

Tilting his gaze upward, Hawkins couldn't make out the darkened figure due to the blinding sun, but he knew enough that he had to dodge immediately. His instincts taking hold of his body, Hawkins hugged Raven and jumped into a roll. He was able to protect Raven but bashed his head against a jagged rock in the process.

His vision blurred, Hawkins shook his head and stood himself up. The dust and sand cleared, and when Hawkins' mind registered what was before him, he wished he was born blind. His eyes bulged and his lungs palpitated, while his heart hammered against his ribcage at rates that exceeded the common man's limit. Sweat soaked his shirt, and it took all of Hawkins' willpower to not take a shit.

There, standing menacingly, was the same warlord responsible for the death of his crew and obliteration of his dreams. His hollow and glass eyes narrowing on the former pirate, Kuma announced his duties in an emotionless and robotic tone.

"Basil Hawkins... bounty 249,000,000... wanted dead."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the wittle magician?~" Another figure emerged from the sand clouds, her brown eyes and sickly sweet smile darting towards their prey, she sat atop the shoulder of the daunting warlord.

"It's nice to see you again Hawkins, but that's not a very welcoming face you have on for your guests is it?" Custard giggled.

"Aw, what's wrong? Is my present too great? I put in a lot of effort to bring you this memory Hawkins, so why don't you play with it for a while?" Custard leaped from her spot and plucked her scroll from her pocket.

"Alright tyrant, go and kill to your heart's content!" Skipping to the sidelined in glee, Custard clicked a button on her scroll and Kuma began his rampage.

"ANYTHING BUT THIS!" Hawkins cried. Streams of tears quickly matched the amount of sweat on his clothes, as he stood frozen in fear. The nerves in his body shot from the shock and flashing memories of PTSD, he took the full brunt of Kuma's charge and was sent crashing through several boulders and walls.

"H-Hawkins!" Raven was slow to come around, and her stalling would prove to be her doom.

"Don't worry about your blonde magician darling, he's going to get what he deserves, but that doesn't mean us ladies can't have a little fun right?~" Custard drew her blade and began her assault on the staggered ravenette.

In terms of swordplay, Raven managed to keep up, even when Custard tried to blitz her from behind Raven's reactions held strong and she parried the attacks one after another. However, the brunt delivery of each blow wore down the tribe leader's blade one after another. As Custard raised her sword for an overhead strike, Raven brought her's up in response, but Custard smiled at Raven's defensive option.

Coming down with both hands on her weapon's handle, Custard coated her steel in haki and snapped through Raven's blade. A deep gash left on her shoulder, Raven's aura took the majority of the blow, but the damage was evident. Stumbling to a knee, Raven scowled at the haughty smirk of Custard.

"Is that it?" Custard whistled a discontent sigh. "None of you hunters or huntresses hold a candle to Carmel or her fellow superiors. If this were the grande line or new world, you wouldn't last a week."

Her cold blade dripping with the ravenettes' blood, Custard raised it once more to finish the job.

"Bang!" A bullet zipped past Custard's head and blasted her sword out of her hands. An annoyed wince crossing her features, Custard turned to meet the one responsible for the interference.

"Get away from my leader you bitch!" Brick thundered. His brass knuckles at the ready, he pounded his fist against Custard's skull.

Custard skidded backward on her heels, but thanks to coating her cheek in haki, she lessened the impact of Brick's assault and shrugged it off.

"B-Brick?!" Raven stuttered.

"I told you we should have retreated when we had the chance leader, you see what happens when you get too stubborn? Alright you lot, get ready to represent the Branwen tribe!" Brick roared. All of the other bandits behind him, they were armed to the teeth with spiteful glares of retribution aimed towards Custard.

"Looks like I get to have a little more fun." Custard frowned and clicked her tongue, she wanted to have a fair go at Hawkins while Kuma beat him to a pulp, but these peons in front of her would have to come first. Retrieving her sword, she dashed towards the angry mob of thugs, eager for blood.


"D-D-Demo-" Hawkins could barely manage his words as Kuma continued to mercilessly pummel his distraught body. Hawkins' back was thrown through jagged pillars, his head rammed against flat stone, and his spirit squandered to embers.

Memories... painful memories of his past failure at Sabaody archipelago coming full circle, Hawkins could only internally scream as his lips were too swollen to speak. His straw doll count long depleted, Hawkins was forced to depend on his physical strength which was leagues below his daunting enemy.

Clasping a clammy hand on his sword, Hawkins drew it in a last-ditch attempt to injure the giant tyrant. Kuma threw another punch, its target was Hawkins' head, and shockingly the magician accepted it without a second thought. His late-night practices outside the Branwen camp were paying off, instead of toppling to the ground in a broken state, Hawkins stiffened his muscles to protect whatever consciousness he had left.

Kuma's fist clanged against Hawkins' forehead. The sound produced was much like two blunt hammers colliding with each other. Hawkins' forehead dripped with blood after the impact, but he remained standing. Seeing this as his only opportunity, Hawkins brushed past Kuma's fist and thrust his blade deep into the tyrant's stomach. Or so he thought, beneath the tyrant's gray clothed exterior was a frame of impenetrable steel.

The life in his eyes fading, Kuma pounded Hawkins' skull into the earth, leaving behind a crater when he lifted his fist. As the tyrant continued to rack the magician's body with stone shattering punches, Hawkins could only mope in his depressed and shattered psyche.


"Boom!" With the sounds and vibrations of war ringing through the narrow passage, Jaune, Emerald, and Amaryllis stumbled to the floor.

"W-What the heck is going on up there?!" Jaune hugged Emerald to protect her from the falling stones and ordered Funkfreed to transform and protect Amaryllis.

"J-Jaune?!" Emerald squeaked. Her brother's embrace was shaky but firm.

"C-Come on Minty, we gotta check out the action that's happening on the ground floor, dad might be in trouble!" The rumbling from above never ceased, and Emerald clutched her brother by the back of his collar before he could scamper off.

"Think about what you're doing Jaune! If we go up there we could end up buried ten feet under!" Emerald's plea of conservation was brushed off by a surprisingly stern glare.

"You care about our family don't you Minty?!" Jaune shouted. "Sora the warrior would never abandon his comrades in their darkest hour, and neither will the Hawkins family!"

"B-But, I don't want my new dad and brother to die and leave me behind!" Emerald screamed back. Her eyes filled with tears, she tackled her brother to the ground refusing to let go unless he promised to stay with her.

"L-Let me go Minty! I have to help however I can!" Jaune begged.

"I'm not losing my only brother!" Emerald snapped.

"P-Pao..." Funkfreed watched as the siblings struggled to take action. He too wanted to remain in the hidden room, but a certain greenette had other ideas.

Amaryllis didn't know how the elephant came into the picture, but that didn't matter at the moment. Her talk with Jaune about the legendary tales of Sora and his motivations were enough to rile the former huntress into action. She owed it to these kids to protect them from harm, and Hawkins was probably telling her the truth seeing how kind his kids were.

"I'll go with you," Amaryllis announced and unsheathed Thief's Respite. It transformed into its sickle form and Jaune was most impressed.

"Man, that was cool!" He said while Emerald did her best to stay on his chest.

"Come on Minty that's enough! We need to protect the people we care about no matter what would dad simply hide in a corner if we were in trouble?" Jaune stated.

His words bore through the troubled mind of his sister. Hawkins' comforting embrace when she was going to get her aura unlocked, it was a feeling she never wanted to lose.

"O-Okay Jaune..." Emerald whimpered.

"Alright!" Jaune forced Emerald off of him and jumped to his feet. "Come on Funkfreed, we've got some hero work to do!" Jaune grinned.

But oh how fast that toothy smile would fade once he witnessed the carnage being wrought overhead.


"Straw Sword! Straw Sword! Straw Sword!"

Hawkins lashed out his attacks one after another, each one pinging off the mighty tyrant's person like harmless ping pong balls. By unlucky chance, Kuma managed to snag Hawkins by his leg and twirl his body over his head like a pinwheel. Bashing the blonde magician through ten pillars in the process. With the rubble of the ruins littered the ground, Kuma threw Hawkins over his shoulder and straight into the ground. His bones giving in to the abuse, Hawkins felt paralyzed as Kuma's shadow loomed over him.

His despair growing by the second, Hawkins was ready to recite his vows as he could finally see the gates of death. The daunting presence of Kuma obscuring all hope Hawkins had left, he closed his eyes and performed his last prayer. That is until the booming voice of his son's attack registered in his ears.

"Ivory Dart!" The face of Funkfreed whizzing past Hawkins' bloody and bruised body his sharp trunk sword collided against Kuma's shoulder. Skidding across the sand, Kuma's back thudded against a stone column, but remained unharmed after Jaune's attack. Instead, he used Funkfreed's extended form as a rope and snagged his hands around Funkfreed's trunk.

"P-Pao?"

Hawkins snapped his gaze to a clearing of the ruins. There, standing atop the smoking rubble, was Jaune and Emerald with Amaryllis behind them.

"Don't worry dad we're here to-" Before Jaune could finish his dramatic rambling, Hawkins screeched in dismay.

"Jaune you blundering idiot! Get back in the ruins!" Hawkins gasped. He didn't want his children to pay the price for his weakness!

Then, an earth-shattering moment occurred. Kuma's attention seemed to veer from the former broken pirate and aimed his sights towards... his son and daughter. Yanking on Funkfreed's trunk, Jaune was foolish enough to hold onto his friend, Emerald too afraid to let go of her brother, was also dragged towards the ground level. Amaryllis, on the other hand, did her best to trail the kids on their decent and joined them as Jaune and Emerald bit the dust.

His glass eyes glowing red, Kuma uttered words that ripped Hawkins' soul from his person.

"Jaune F. Hawkins, bounty 30,000,000 lien. Emerald S. Hawkins, bounty 9,000,000 lien. Wanted... DEAD." Kuma's uttered his words excruciatingly slowly. No... Custard wouldn't have... not his children too!

Before Hawkins could do anything, all time seemed to freeze when Kuma opened his mouth. A yellow light flashed through the warlord's teeth and he fired a linear burning beam of absolute destruction.

"JAUUUUUUNE! EMERAAAAAALD!" Hawkins' throat reached a pitch he didn't think he was capable of. His stoic demeanor crumbling and replaced by one of absolute horror, Hawkins' crimson eyes witnessed the final blessings of his life evaporate before his very eyes.

"Jaune, Emerald, look out!" Amaryllis tackled the kids and rolled behind a few clumps of stone. Her effort, however, was for naught. The laser which fired through Kuma's lips tore through the dusty air and landed on target. A massive explosion erupted from the debris throwing boulders and dust all around the area in every which way.

The shrill, and what Hawkins assumed to be, the last cries of his children flying to the heavens above, all life seemed to leave the crippled magician. His blade dropped to the dirt, it's landing inaudible to the woeful ears of its owner. As Kuma turned around to finish his duty, he gazed upon Hawkins' tearful grimace with hollow emotion. Falling to his knees, Hawkins took the most pitiful stance of his career. Fully prostrated, Hawkins begged for his life. "P-Please, I have nothing left in this godforsaken planet..." His voice cracked. "P-Please Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma, finish me off swiftly and painlessly..."

"Basil Hawkins... bounty 249,000,000... wanted dead." The tyrant mumbled.

"So this is how the life of Basil Hawkins, a former member of the worst generation, would come to an end. A failure as a pirate, a failure as a leader, and most of all... a failure as a father. I'm sorry Faust." Hawkins laughed bitterly, unable to shed tears as all moisture in his body had been used for sweat and past grievances.

Opening his mouth, Kuma glimmered the same light which pierced Hawkins through the gut all those years ago. For some reason, Hawkins couldn't find any other finishing move suited for his demise. The lids of his eyes coming to a close, Hawkins drew his last breath. Awaiting his final meeting before he was sent to hell.


"Gaaah!" Brick fell for the tenth time in the battle. The wounded bodies of his fellow tribesmen littered around him, he snuck a faint glance at Raven, who was using every trick in her arsenal to push Custard back. Down to her last blade, Raven's breath hitched as another blow landed on her forearm.

"Come on wittle birdie, I've already chopped down six of your men and the rest are on their knees gasping for life. Why don't you make things easier for all of us and let me sever your head from your shoulders hm?~" Custard's taunting drew a twitch on Raven's forehead, but seeing her weapon was broken and aura depleted, she could do nothing but scowl at her predicament.

"Boom!" A thundering explosion rumbled the earth beneath all people in the ruins. Turning her head toward the disturbance, Raven witnessed the pitiful body of Hawkins as the towering Faunus readied his next attack.

"H-Hawkins..." Raven whispered under her panting breaths.

"I almost pity Hawkins." Custard flicked a few stray hairs behind her ear in a nonchalant manner. "But he brought it upon himself being a member of the worst generation and all. Hoisting his flag and getting drunk on his measly power in the first half of paradise. It's over now though, the legacy of the Hawkins pirates ends here as the head of its captain is removed from service."


"Oh, my head." Emerald winced as a patch of blood seeped through her green locks. However, the blood did not belong to her. As Emerald opened her eyelids, she was met with the sight of a bleeding Amaryllis.

"A-Amaryllis!" Emerald squeaked as the smoke and dust cleared.

"A-Are you and Jaune alright Emerald?" The greenette sighed.

Too shocked to speak, Emerald nodded. Jaune was beginning to come around, and so was Funkfreed. Though the elephant reverted to his blade form, for he was too injured and exhausted from the bear Faunus' earlier attack.

"I was never brave you know. I thought that after I inherited the strongest power Haven had to offer, I wouldn't have to worry about being scared. I liked the feeling of being important, and I genuinely wanted to protect the people I care about. Though once things got tough I quit the first chance I got." Amaryllis chuckled bitterly.

Emerald gasped, for a seared whole of burnt flesh had pierced the stomach of the gasping teenager.

"She must have shielded Jaune and me from that explosion." Emerald thought to herself.

"But, I was happy to have met you and Jaune in the final moments of my life. The two of you, while young and naive, have the bravery to do the things I couldn't. Heck, I probably would have fled lower into the ruins if Jaune hadn't riled me up." The life in her eyes growing weary, Amaryllis forced a genuine smile on her face.

"Please Emerald S. Hawkins, I can't bestow this power onto a male, and your the only one who I can think of right now. Please, be brave, if not for me, do it for your loved ones."

"W-What?" Emerald managed to sputter.

Succumbing to her wounds, Amaryllis wrapped her fingers around that of Emerald's and allowed the aura of the maidens to transfer from her body. A flowing mist of green aura seeping through her pores, it surrounded Emerald in a warm embrace and slowly merged with the young girl's being.

"You can have my weapon too. It's called Theif's Respite. Please take care of it, it was given to me by my mother and father before they passed." Her deed done with, Amaryllis closed her eyes and drew her last breath.

Emerald felt warm, even after the aura around her vanished. What was this new feeling that burned in her chest? She wanted to mourn the death of her new friend and contemplate the supposed power she inherited, but the urgency of her dying father came first.

"Minty are you okay?" Emerald nearly jumped at Jaune's raspy voice. The boy hugged his sister at the first chance he got, and Funkfreed was also by his side. Wrapping his trunk around the two siblings, Funkfreed offered whatever comforts he could.

"W-Wait Jaune, we have to help dad!" Emerald panicked. For once, Jaune shook his head. Gesturing to his right leg, Emerald's eyes widened in distress.

Jaune's shin was snapped in two, bent in an awkward position, it was broken, thus crippling him for the rest of the fight. He also pointed to his throat, which was burned from the bear Faunus' attack.

"You have to save dad Minty, I'm sorry to put all the pressure on you, but I can't do anything in my condition." Jaune croaked.

Her bewildered gaze landing on Hawkins, Emerald somehow managed to hear her father's final words of self-deprecation. Oddly enough, she wasn't sad. Instead, she was terrified, and... angry?


"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING, FATHER?!"

That voice... it couldn't be... Emerald?

Hawkins forced his bruised and bloody muscles to turn his head toward the fleeting voice of his daughter. Emerald was the only one on her feet. Her eyes burned with passion with tears of remorse soaking her bloody cheeks.

"You promised me you'd be my dad! That you'd protect me no matter what! So why are you giving up on me and Jaune?! Do we mean nothing to you at all?!" Emerald wailed.

"E-Emerald," Hawkins said as a single tear rolled down a swollen and blackened eye.

"I don't want to be alone anymore! I want you to read me stories, to eat with me around a happy table!" Emerald continued to shout, and Hawkins mustered all his strength to hear every decibel that erupted from his daughter's sore throat.

"I DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO BE MY DAD!"

"Bang!" For a moment all was still. Hawkins blinked slowly. No, that was definitely Emerald, lying on the floor as Funkfreed panicked around her. His trunk blaring cries of worry, blood dripped from Emerald's shoulder and formed a puddle of blood that she promptly fell onto.

"Damn brat doesn't know when to shut up." Custard hissed. "That was my last bullet too."

Hawkins snapped all his attention to the violet-clad mercenary. Now standing beside Kuma, she had a pistol in hand and blew out the smoke that puffed from its muzzle.

"Kuma, can you please get rid of this nuisance already? I've already defeated the Branwen tribe." Custard sighed. Though a malicious grin bloomed on her face as she observed the pitiful state of the blonde magician.

Peering behind Custard, Hawkins could see countless bodies lying among the rubble of the ruins. Most notably, Brick and Raven were down for the count, and while they were both breathing, Hawkins assumed it wouldn't be long until their lives were claimed.

"Ms. Branwen," Hawkins mumbled. He squinted his hazy gaze, there was an odd familiarity between her and memory from Patch. Yes, that blonde tyke with the pigtails. When Hawkins looked at the disheveled hair and torn clothes of the tribe leader as she lay in the dirt, he couldn't help but feel a storm of emotions strike in his feeble heart.

"No final words Hawkins? Usually, pirates like you have something to say. No matter, I'm not in a rush to head back to the construction site anyway, go on Kuma, obliterate this eyesore in the slowest way possible." Custard giggled.

As the tyrant raised a clenched fist, Custard uttered one last taunt before the magician's existence would be swiped from Remnant's history.

"Oh, and don't worry about your kids Hawkins, I'll be sure to give your stupid kids the same treatment once you're gone." She cackled.

SNAP! That was the final straw. Hawkins didn't care about his former legacy as an ambitious pirate anymore, the words of Custard made it crystal clear where his responsibilities now resided.

"Ktang!" Custard stepped back and her eyes widened. In the span of a second, Hawkins stomped to his feet and met Kuma's fist with one of his own. Despite his cracked bones and torn muscles, Hawkins had managed to block the same fist that sent him through boulders and he didn't budge a single millimeter. Even more shocking, was the fact that Kuma's massive body skidded back from the impact. The trails of the warlord's heels dug deep in the dirt when he stopped several feet from Hawkins.

Then Custard realized something.

"N-No, it can't be, this weakling never showed any signs of haki before!" She screamed.

Indeed, glistening under the boiling sun, Hawkins' entire fist up to his shoulder was clad in a polished obsidian coating. His stoic visage regaining its ferocity, Hawkin's demonic glare toward Custard sent shivers down her spine. Jumping back to safety, Custard landed beside Kuma, but the magician's tenacity had only scraped through the surface.

In his own commanding shout of absolute authority, Hawkins' voice was the only thing anyone could hear. His eyes kindled with new passions as he picked up his broken blade. A purple aura taking form, Hawkins' tarot cards seemed to flutter out all on their own and dispersed themselves before him in even rows.

What's this? Why are the tarot cards glowing purple all of a sudden? In an instant all made sense. Three cards, in particular, drifted towards another, all upright they pushed the other cards aside.

"The Magician's card. Willpower, desire, creation, manifestation."

"The Five Swords card. Unbridled ambition, win at all costs, cunning."

"The Wheel Of Fortune card. Change, cycles, inevitable fate."

Hawkins hadn't pulled any of these in his reading for a long time. And as they came together to form a new image, one that surpassed his Demon Face form by several folds. Hawkins felt his lips stretch into his most mischievous smile to date.

"W-What are you doing just standing there you stupid warlord?! Go and kill that stupid blonde failure before he gets any ideas!" Custard shrieked. For she was hesitant to approach the now smirking magician.

Too late, the clouds above darkened for the mood, swirling in uncontrollable masses as they blocked out the sun and sky. Taking a large breath, Hawkins felt his lungs pop at the roar that exploded from his withered throat.

"STRAW! MAN! BRAAAANWEN!"

Raising his half-broken sword to the sky, its chunks of steel morphed into straw that poured into the air with the ferocity of a raging waterfall. The mass dwarfing the size of even the mighty Kuma, Custard could only stare in absolute horror as the powers of the straw-straw fruit manifested. The earth trembled under the magician's heels, as winds circled him and cleared the area of its dust and small debris.

"Urgh..." Raven's senses were roused from Hawkins' outburst. Brick, along with the other bandits, the ones who were still alive at least, locked all their attention on Hawkins' creation.

"Holy fucking shit!" Brick yelped. All jaws of the Branwen tribe smacking the ground, they felt their eyes bulge out of their sockets but were quick to start cheering for Hawkins' powerful performance.

None, however, were more surprised than Raven. Though, her thoughts on the situation differed slightly from her subordinates.

"Hawkins named his new technique after my tribe..." Raven said with a faint blush and thin smile. "Now go get that violette-haired bitch Hawkins and pummel that giant bear Faunus while you're at it."

The bundle of straw in the air reaching its peak, it severed its connection with Hawkins' sword and began to take its true form. Draped in a pale teal robe with dark green cuffs and lime-colored bands, the shape of a head emerged through the swarming clumps with a Japanese styled straw hat atop it. Pale white hair spewed from underneath the hat and throwing it off its person. The hair spiked off in several directions, with a few strands tying themselves together to form four ponytails tied with red bands at the end of them.

Two red beaded necklaces wrapped themselves around the neck and shoulders of Hawkins' creation, with a pair of rectangular paper streamers that reached past its base. To end off its body, a rounded and orange charm bearing the same emblem on Hawkins' chest placed itself underneath the crook of its neck with a dangling bob of orange straw protruding from it.

Now for the face and hands. Surging through the sleeves of its robe, ten fingers wrapped onto hovering nails as long spears as armbands created its palms. The sound of snapping bark peering through its molding face, the straw cracked and elongated itself to form a jaw and squared teeth. Breaking through the upper corners of its lips, two long ivory fangs protruded, giving every indication that Hawkins' creation was a demon at heart.

It's shrill laugh sending the essence of fear into Custard's soul. The glowing and narrowed eyes of the straw man locked onto the one responsible for its master's stress, and let out a shrieking cackle.

"Kyokyokyokyooo!" Reaching within its robes for a weapon, the straw man retrieved a giant spike-covered club and swayed it back and forth as the straw man awaited its master's orders.

"K-K-Kuma!" Custard yelped.

In an act of defiance, the warlord fired another laser towards the demonic mass of straw. Finding strength he never knew he had, Hawkins swung his sword and the straw man mimicked his movements. Unknown to the magician, due to his spirit finding a new flame, his spiritual power had shot past its crippling boundaries.

The straw man mirrored Hawkins' actions and also coated its club in haki, swatting the incoming laser toward the sky, it burst through the clouds and opened an eye for the sun to seep through. The warm rays basking Hawkins and his renewed spirits, Hawkins took in a few ragged breaths before all hell broke loose.

"Kyokyokyokyooo!" Cackled the straw man.

"D-Don't be so full of yourself! It's just s-straw you stupid blondie!" Custard cried. She held her blade with shaking hands as her legs buckled in fear.

"Kyooo!" The straw man moved to begin its assault, its iron coated club slamming against the fists of the warlord, Kuma was forced slightly back and into the ground with every hit.

The tremors of their duel shaking the already questionable foundations of the ruins, stones danced in the carnage, breaking into clusters as they rolled from their positions.

Custard tried to break away from the scene and attack Hawkins directly, but the magician's senses had sharpened considerably over the past few minutes, and he knew better than to let Custard roam freely.

"Kyaaa!" The straw man broke off from its scuffle with Kuma for a few seconds, and blindsided Custard with its club, and sent the violette-haired woman spiraling through a thick wall of stone. Its attention forced back to the weakened warlord, Hawkins held his sword over his head with both arms.

"Hah!" His blade coming down with great frustration, the impact of the straw man's club against Kuma's raised guard sent the warlord into a crater. When the smoke cleared, all that was visible of Kuma was his bleeding head and cracked glass eyes. Which seemed to die down in their desire for bloodlust after receiving a heavy lump to the skull.

"Urgh, damn that stupid magician." Custard winced as she pushed over the rubble atop her. Standing herself straight, she instantly lurched back against a wall when Hawkins appeared a few mere inches from her face. His colossal straw manifestation behind him.

"I am Basil Hawkins, a former member of the worst generation and now the proud father of Jaune Faust Hawkins and Emerald Sustrai Hawkins!" He announced with a beaming smile. Though a scowl replaced his happy features when he narrowed his sights on Custard.

"But to you Custard, I am the winner of this game... AND YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!"

"KYOOO!" Jumping out of harm's way, the magician allowed his straw man to swing its club with all of Hawkin's emotions imbued within it.

Custard could do nothing but bite her lip as her eyes bulged as wide as saucers. Crossing her arms, she pushed her haki to its limits and coated her body completely. Heh, little good that did, as the sheer impact of Hawkins' attack flattened her face, broke several teeth, depleted her lungs of all their oxygen, and sent her flying through the stone wall.

"Gyaaaa!" Custard's high pitched scream was music to Hawkins' ears. The image of the violet clad woman fading by the second, where she would land was anyone's guess. Unless you were in Vacuo that is.


Sipping a mug of afternoon coffee, all was well in Theodore's office. He'd replaced the portrait of Lionheart with a new one and was content with the elaborate frame Ms. Rumpole had picked for it. Yes, all things were falling in place and the headmaster was even able to convince a few veteran hunters to join him on his mission to find Hawkins.

"KROOOSH!" The northern walls shattering from the impact of a flying object, Theodore jumped behind his desk but made sure to save his coffee in the process.

"Alert to all staff and students! We are under attack! I repeat we are under attack!" Slamming the button of the microphone on his desk, he shouted the announcement across the entire school.

When the dust and smoke cleared, however, Theodore ceased his panicked rambling immediately and peeked over his desk. That... it couldn't be... no she's supposed to be in the northern parts of Vacuo for Jacques mining expedition right? Treading careful steps, Theodore inched his way toward the unconscious violette. Nope, that was Custard alright. Her face swollen, mouth missing a few teeth, her uniform torn apart, Theodore could only tilt his head as he pondered at the frazzled woman who lay upon the debris of his broken wall.

Theodore quickly spun around to make sure no one was looking. He didn't want to touch Custard in case she was dead, but he had to confirm her status before the professors and staff arrived. Seeing he'd drank the majority of his coffee, Theodore poured the remains of his bitter drink on Custard's face.

"U-Urgh..." She groaned.

His test completed, Theodore pulled out his scroll.

"Ah, hello James, I know you're busy and all, but could you contact Mr. Schnee for me?"

"..."

"Well, the matter regards his mercenary. She's in my office as we speak."

"..."

"Um, she can't talk at the moment, and she'll be in the hospital for a few weeks at least even with aura."

"..."

"Thank you, James, I'll be sure to send you any news on the dust transports for Atlas."

Ending the call, Theodore turned his attention back to the knocked out woman in his office and the wall she crashed through. Said wall faced the north, but how did Custard end up here? No Grimm possessed the power to throw something that far, not that Theodore knew anyway, so what could have caused this? If given the time to ease his hammering heart and jolted nerves, Theodore might have noticed a thin piece of straw tucked in Custard's disheveled hair...

*Vacuo Arc Ends.*