Oscuro Academy - 8 AM

"Alright! Today is a special day. You and your teams are to be taken out beyond the academy into the far reaches of the desert. Your goal is to get back here within two days! If you fail, you will be permanently expelled! Everyone understand?!"

"Yes sir!" come the cries of 5 sets of 4 huntsmen and huntresses. They are used to this kind of thing, as this is the third mission of this type this year. None know this more than third-year team BRNZ, who is at the top of the class. And the reward for being on top? …Being sent on more missions.

This is how it's done in Vacuo. You are pushed to your limit again and again, and in the end, you are supposed to come out as a premiere huntsman. It works… most of the time. But sometimes it doesn't and people get lost along the way. They are quickly replaced, however, as there is no room for mourning around here. The cemetery, if you would call it that, are just a collection of bodies that are barely concealed by sand, no gravestone or anything.

Hopefully no one gets added to that collection on this go-around. BRNZ has had several brushes with death before, but that doesn't really help too much. Not with all the crazy shit that could go down in the desert. As they ride on a bullhead to an undisclosed location, they stand together, as tight-knit as one can be in these parts.

But this does not mean they are merely generic beings with no face. Brawnz Ni, the leader of this ragtag group, is a very popular student in Oscuro. He even has a claim to fame from single-handedly fighting off a Lancer during his second year.
Roy Stallion and Nolan Porfirio are also accomplished in their own right.

But none quite reach the heights of May Zedong. Her ability with a sniper is the stuff of legends, rumored to be able to collapse an entire building with one shot. But what really makes her special is her persona. She is extremely lovable, especially with that beanie resting over her head, hiding the left of her twin bluish eyes. It's not like she lost it either, she just likes it that way. And that self-confidence, combined with her status as a top fighter before even getting a chance to enter Shade, makes her one of the most popular figures in all of Vacuo.

She occupies a special place in Vacuan hearts, with many people watching her progress, cheering her on from their own homes. Some go much, much wilder than that, with shrines dedicated to her, and even a countdown until she tu-
Oh! The bullhead has finally stopped in the desert. That's too bad, because I really wanted to explain in graphic detail about all of thos-

"WOAAAAAAH!"

They all get flung out of the bullhead in random directions. They better have Aura for this, as there is no one with a javelin coming to save you if you don't.

*oomph*

That's May, now stuck in the sand. She quickly works her way out of it with a nice, satisfying *POP*, and the first thing she does is scan around for something, anything other than the monotonous orange of sand grains. But nothing is there. She walks around for a few minutes and finds a peculiar rock formation, with rocks aligned in a circle, except with one piece missing. It would make a decent spot (by desert standards) for cover, and definitely would make it easier to see if someone with the power of flight comes around…

She hunts for the last rock, just to complete this circle. She barely makes it 20 feet away before her left foot hits a rather hard edge. That's gotta be it! She dusts the area off, and yep, that rock looks perfectly sized for this little demonstration. Rock in tow, she sets it down, completing the circle. Success! Now to properly get some bearings, and maybe a sense of direction. She looks around, and just begins to see a flash of grey before the sand falls out from under her.

May falls for a while. A really long while. After almost 30 minutes of being trapped under the embrace of gravity, it suddenly gets ungracefully terminated. She blacks out, for now just a lifeless bag of meat in the middle of an unknown land. A mysterious figure notices this bag, and is stuck on what to do. Her jacket is two-toned, red and white. The red is a perfect match for the star that is on the hat of this figure. With that fact presumably in the back of his mind, he decides against just leaving her. The man lifts her up completely flat, and carries her away from the outside, quickly disappearing into a large building.

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Beijing, People's Republic of China - September 9, 1976

(A/N: The Chinese that will be shown here is merely the English text thrown through Google Translate. With few exceptions, only spoken words will be shown in Chinese. I make no guarantees as to its accuracy. If someone who knows Chinese notices a mistake, I will be glad to correct it.)

Many of the highest ranking officials in the CCP are currently in an agonizing wait. Chairman Mao's health has been on the decline for years, but this most recent incident is the worst one yet. This heart attack has rendered him bedridden, and even his personal physician, Li Zhisui, expressed an abnormal level of concern. Now he is in the hospital, where he has been since noon yesterday. Li left with Mao at that time, and has not returned. It's now past 3 AM, and no one in the room dares to sleep, lest they miss important news about his condition. Even if they wanted to, the thoughts of both Mao and the future of China are so loud inside their brains that sleep could never come.

A knock is heard on the door. It is opened by one of the official guardsmen, and its Li! This is the moment everyone has been waiting for!

关于毛主席的消息吗？(Any news on Chairman Mao?)

…

回答我，李。(Answer me, Li.)
他死了。 (He's dead.)

Everyone in the room is in shock. They really shouldn't be, because Mao is bedridden and in very bad health, but that seems to mean nothing to the people in the room.

...谢谢你，李。 (...Thank you, Li.)

The person turns to one of the other officials in the room.

华国锋，你现在是董事长。 您有责任在接下来的几天内进行官方州事件。(Hua Guofeng, you are now chairman. You are responsible for carrying out the proceedings during these next few days.)

The official returns to his normal position. Most people are either neutral, or still in shock at the news, but four particular ones have an annoyed look on their face…

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?️?️?️?, Vacuo

Brawnz Ni has reunited with his other team members. It has been several hours since they were cast away in this desert, and night is soon going to fall. He and his team members desperately search around for her. They've been over countless sand dunes, many, many miles of flat ground, and even fought off several Grimm that have been waddling around trying to surprise people. But the sniper still does not reveal herself.

"May! Can you hear me!"

As with the last 12 times, there is no answer.

He comes across a rock formation that is a perfect circle. In a fit of rage, he kicks at one of the rocks, knocking it out of place. It scurries several feet before settling itself inside the sand, with only the very tippy top of it peeking out into the reddening sky.

"We have to set up camp Brawnz! It's getting too late!"
"No! We have to find her!"

Roy could be offended at that huge dismissal, but he isn't. It pained him to say those words. He misses her just as much as anyone.

"I know! And we will. But we have to stop eventually! You can't stay up all night searching for her, you'll die out here."

Brawnz knows he is right. But his instincts as leader yearn for him to keep searching until he finds her, no matter what it takes.
He turns to go search some more, but Roy forcefully grabs his arm.

"We'll search for her tomorrow. Let's go, Nolan and I already set up camp."

Brawnz can see in his eyes that he wants to search for her too. But the soul-crushing reality of life in the desert forces their hand.

"...Alright. Lead the way, Roy!"

Roy drags them over toward camp. He really, really hops that May is just camping out somewhere they hadn't looked, or, better yet, playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek. Those thoughts and the thoughts of the forthcoming sleep battle in his mind as they both slowly make their way through the sand...

Yes, this crossover is real. Yang is the main protagonist, but I gotta do some setup first. If you have something to say, leave a review! I feed off reviews like a caterpillar feeds off of leaves.
Now this is actually readable thanks to formatting.