Chapter 8

Plans

The Belladonna family was drinking tea and catching up, but the one extra individual was far from fitting in.

Kali Belladonna sat down her tea, saying, "We were horrified when we heard the news. The Kingdom of Vale isn't perfect, but it certainly didn't deserve what happened. Oh, we were both so worried."

"Please, I knew she'd be fine!" Ghira falsely claimed.

Kali scoffed and said, "That isn't the slightest bit true. You should have seen him pacing"

Sun smiled and replied, "You guys have nothing to worry about. I've seen your daughter in action before! And trust me, she's got some moves!"

Blake, who was sipping from her cup while Sun spoke, abruptly lifted her head and swallowed his last choice of words. Ghira glared at the young man to his right.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Mr. Wukong?" Ghira questioned

Sun froze and slowly turned toward his host, saying, "I... uh, well, you see sir, it's just that, you know, that she's such a good fighter and all, uh, and as a fellow fighter, I have a lot of respect for her..."

Kali leaned in quietly to ask her daughter, "Why is he here again?"

"He just kind of followed me home," Blake admitted.

Sun was continuing to rapidly spit out words with "...because of her fighting. Not her looks. I mean, not to say she's not good-looking. She is! Very! Or…"

"slightly; I mean, she's definitely above average. I mean, uh…" Sun stuttered.

Sun struggled for words as all three Belladonnas watched him and waited for him to either get out of the hole he just talked himself into or keep digging.

In the awkward silence, Sun used his tail to pick up the tea kettle and pour some more tea into his cup, saying, "This tea is really good...Heh-uh"

Kali leaned towards her daughter, and not quite quietly enough for an aside, and whispered, "I like him."

"Mom!" Blake hissed in embarrassment.

The loud sound of the front door knocker resonated, catching everyone's attention.

"Darn it, I completely forgot about the meeting!" Ghira realized.

"Ghira…" Kali began only to get cut off.

"Give me a moment," Ghira requested.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked.

"Yes, dear, just poor timing. He can reschedule. It's just been hard dealing with them lately," Kali explained.

"Dealing with who?" Blake pressed

Kali sipped her tea and casually replied, "Hmm? The White Fang"

Sun & Blake rose to their feet simultaneously, yelling, "WHAT?!"

Blake and Sun rushed to the door, where Ghira was speaking with two fox Faunus, Corsac Albain and Fennec Albain. The two visitors maintained respectful, formal postures, keeping their hands clasped before them.

Blake ran forward shouting, "Dad!"

Ghira turned to his daughter with, "Blake, what's wrong?"

Corsac bowed as he said, "Miss Belladonna."

Fennec followed suit with, "We had no idea you'd returned."

"What are you doing talking to these people?" Blake demanded.

"This is Corsac and Fennec Albain. They represent the White Fang here in Menagerie now," Ghira revealed.

"Those psychos are here, too?!" Sun questioned.

Fennec was still calm as he said, "Young man, I'm not sure what you've heard of our organization, but I can assure you, we're not nearly as ferocious as the media would have you believe."

"What we've heard? We've seen firsthand. Your fanatics slaughtered people!" Blake shouted.

"What is she talking about?" Ghira questioned.

Corsac: Precisely what we came to discuss with you, Your Grace.

The two brothers carefully explained how Adam's group had broken off from the greater White Fang, but Blake knew they were lying. Ghira believed them and said that he wished to have time to reconnect with his daughter, earning a respectful nod from the Albaine brothers.

Ghia firmly closed the door on them, and the two brothers descended the steps, perfectly in sync with their formally clasped hands. Corsac, however, was now using the prayer posture that Fennec had been using all along.

"An interesting development, wouldn't you say?" Fennec inquired

"Interesting indeed," Corsac responded.

Fennec grinned and offered, "So, shall we inform Brother Adam?"

Corsac grinned back and said, "Oh, we shall"

As the Albain brothers walked off chuckling, Nia appeared for a split second, saying, "you won't be laughing when I'm through you," before vanishing again. Her footsteps were unhearable to even Faunus.

Salem was standing over her pools of Grimm when Lupin came up behind her with a vial of blue liquid.

"What is that?" the mistress of the Grimm questioned.

Lupin chuckled and said, "as promised, I have Pokemon DNA for you; this one, in particular, is for the Latios."

"You mean the DNA will allow my Grimm to beat that green dragon" Salem inquired.

Lupin shook his head and said, "not one on one, not even close; the Latios is far more powerful than you realize. In fact, even your Wyvern would've been helpless against him. Enough of these, though, will overwhelm him."

Salem smiled and motioned for Lupin to come forward; after the blue liquid entered the pool, Salem moved her hand back and forth. She churned the black, tar-like substance until four creatures rose out of it; they were large, bipedal creatures covered in shaggy, black fur. They had a Grimm's signature red eyes with bushy eyebrows and long strands of fur covering their mouths. As the new Grimm staggered out of the pool, they fell on all fours as massive shafts of ice erupted from their backs. They were eight feet tall and imposing even by Grimm standards.

"Meet Mega Abomasnow, one of the stronger ice types," Lupin explained.

Salem spawned a blue orb in her hand and said, "now I can make them on my own; as for my end, the dust shipment will be arriving in Vale two days at the coordinates you requested"

Lupin nodded before saying, "the dust shipment in Vale will be an ideal test; allow me to teleport a few there as a demonstration; we shall see how Ruby Rose and her friends handle this!"

Author's note- oh boy, I'm looking forwards to the big action scene for the Volume 4 finale in Chapter 10

1. With a new character, Alvis Faba appearing next chapter, I will post the Shadow Collective's intel file with this chapter. While we the readers know Darkrai is alive, the agency Alpha team comes from, the MDIA thinks he's dead.

2. I notice this has a lot of followers already, thanks so much, and please review so I know what you like!