I needed this, a lighthearted chapter to keep spirits high. In the real world, I'm still looking for a job. Got to start earning an income before too much expensive stuff comes out. *Looking nervously at Xbox Series X in the far distance.*
Storywise, please, as usual, enjoy the chapter and remember to leave your thoughts on the chapter in a review, I'm always happy to see your thoughts.
Chapter 19: Toppling the Queen
Title Song: Your Affection - Sapphire (Youtube)
Koa squinted as the sun drifted in through the crack in the curtains. Sitting up, he smiled as he looked around his room. Filled will models he did in his spare time, Koa's room was rather simple. Bed stretched facing the window, clothing drawers under the bed, desk in the opposite corner with scroll docking station, shelving unit at the foot of the bed.
During the spring break, he and his team had gone their separate ways. Jasmine and he going home to Melodious, Lilo to her family in Menagerie, and Onyx staying at the dorm, not wanting to go home to his family yet.
Getting up, he got dressed in a light blue polo shirt and black shorts, heading down to breakfast.
"I know it probably won't mean a lot, but why don't you go update your own family about your progress Jasmine?" Sapphire Maru asked. Compared to the huntress they had worked with on a mission, the Sapphire here was simply a housewife, a dark blue apron over a white shirt and matching blue knee length skirt. "If it makes you feel better, we're absolutely thrilled to hear you again. After your… ordeal… I was beginning to wonder if you'd never speak again."
"I couldn't agree more," The patriarch of the family, Silver Maru, entered the room, dressed in a white set of medical fatigues under a silver coat. He had a magnificent pair of neat mutton chops and a tidy fine moustache kept just above his lip. He had grey eyes that showed a lot of wisdom behind them. "All I can suggest from a medical stance is keep practicing. Your vocal chords have been so inactive they atrophied. The fact you've started making full words already is a testament to just how strong you are. Your family would be proud of you."
Jasmine smiled at the praise, blushing slightly. "Than… 'ou," She mumbled.
"I'll go with you if you want Jas," Koa said, taking a sip of his coffee. Jasmine nodded, happy he would offer to stay with her today.
"Cherry!" Lilo called. Her home in Menagerie had the same architecture as all buildings in the settlement, old fashioned, Mistralian, the rooms were on the innards of the house, while the corridors were all around the outside, with a few central ones to connect the buildings.
She was in the garden, a beautiful spot of scenery with cherry blossoms and a small creek. Hopping over stepping stones, she and her two loyal pack members found a young girl with salmon pink hair sitting in a small den between the trees. The girl was sitting with a sketchpad in her lap, several colourful pencils and pens in a cherry blossom themed tin.
"Hey kiddo," Lilo smiled, crawling into the den. Cherry looked up from her drawing. Her eyes were a soft magenta.
"Li-Li!" Cherry grinned. "Look at this!" She flipped back over her book, coming across a very good illustration of Lilo herself, dressed in her combat attire, armed and in her combat stance. Shadow was oozing with black smoke as he began to change to his shadow form, while icy crystals were swirling around Snowfall's neck.
"Whoa Cherry… this is…" Lilo took the book. She looked so lifelike. The detail on the wolves' coats was spot on. Even the mechanisms on her clawauntlets were perfect to the letter.
"I drew it using the pose you showed me before heading out, and other pictures in the house," Cherry explained. She pulled the drawing from the book. "It's for you," She offered.
"No… I can't take this, it's your work…" Lilo protested, even as she showed the pups, who both barked with amazement.
Go on Alpha, the Beta is giving it to you, Shadow's masculine growl came through her thoughts.
Agreed. It's a gift, by tradition as Alpha, you have the right to take it, Snowfall added.
Lilo grinned as she heard their thoughts. Upon meeting Cherry, the two pups had instantly taken to the girl, even calling her the Beta of their little pack.
"Alright… Thanks. I'll frame it when I get back to Beacon," Lilo smiled. She gently put the picture aside. "That's why I came to find you. Grey's been asked to attend a meeting with Professor Ozpin. Since I need to head back for the next semester, I'm tagging along."
"Can I come? I wanna meet your teammates! Koa, Jassy and Onyx were their names, right?" Cherry asked.
"Well… I dunno… Class will be starting after a few days, and I doubt Grey's needed for long…" I'll have to check it with Mama though," Lilo shrugged.
The Melodious cemetery had never been a hugely occupied location before the White Fang attac. But afterwards… Koa sighed as he left some flowers at the grave of a family friend, before stepping over to join Jasmine, standing before four gravestones. The fox girl was in prayer, silently wishing that her family would be listening. As she did, Koa took time to lay flowers for them, eyes pausing at each name.
Cloud Diali
Maggie Diali
Garnet Diali
Sky Diali
A loving family who fell as free souls.
With a sigh, she knelt. "Hey fam…y," She began. "Yea… I …alk …ain…" She sighed. "It's …ar …om per…t tho…" She paused. "I go… in Bea…n. KOLD. Odd …oup. We …et alon… tho…" She paused again. "My sem…ce is …opy/…ste. I c…n use …her sem…lances."
She glanced to Koa. "Hey Diali family. Koa here. It's been a while… let's see… Jas already started on this, but we're a team now. An official one. Me, Onyx Stone, Lilo Fuchsia and Jasmine. We're an odd group as she said, but we make it work…" He heard a beeping coming from his scroll. "That's our cue. Mom's dropping us back to Beacon early so we can work on the Bison."
"Goo…bye ever…ne, see you n…t br…k," Jasmine sighed.
Onyx sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow. Using the time during the break, he had finalised the blueprint of his new weapon. Now, he sat back up after working hard to assemble the new armament. He had taken apart every part of the old Obsidian Rage and kept them aside. He kept the axe blades, the shaft and several smaller parts, but aside from that, his new weapon looked nothing like a completely different weapon.
He currently had it in the compact form, which was a new rifle. A hilt-like rifle stock hung back from the main body, a short, stumpy weapon. He had added a small holo-sight to help him aim. Continuing along the top came to the barrel itself, which was 15mm wide, leading to a muzzle, which had ports to help vent the heat of each shot.
The underside of the weapon began from just past the rifle stock, the handle where the trigger sat, currently in the safety stance. The bottom of the trigger and handle had two white blades side-by-side which was actually the old axe head from Obsidian Rage reformed. It was sharp, but with aura and Onyx's semblance, that wouldn't be a problem. The magazine casing was next, a gap between the blade and a under barrel blade that doubled as a front handle, giving Onyx increased stability. The blades at the front were wide apart enough that from the front, you could see the muzzle between both blades.
"… It is done…" He sighed. Rubbing a hand softly against the white blades, he smiled. "Please… continue to watch my back on this journey, grandfather." He then grabbed the spray cans of paint, shaking one slightly. "And now for the finishing touches. Welcome to the world… Obsidian Guardian."
Lilo and Cherry found Buradetta before a large screen. As one of the two heads in charge of Fuchsia Silk, she had a lot to do, often involving keeping up with trade and stocks. "Mama?" Lilo asked.
"Yes dear?" Buradetta asked.
"I was thinking… could Cherry tag along with me and Grey? While Grey's in his meeting with Professor Oz, I can keep her safe. She really wants to meet my teammates. And she can ride back with Grey when he's done in Vale," Lilo asked, really hoping she'd say yes.
"Pleeease?" Cherry added in that childish manner, cute eyes and posture. "We can bring you back a souvenir."
Buradetta sighed. "Cherry, I know you want to go, but you do have training to keep up with, as well as your studies."
"She can keep up with both of those with us. Remember what Beacon is?" Lilo reminded her mother.
"Good point…" Buradetta smiled. She played with her ear as she pondered a decision.
"If it makes your mind up, I'll permanently have one of the pups with her at all times. Trust me. While she's in Vale, she will always have someone with her. Besides, she's not my Beta for nothing. They'd die before letting her get hurt."
Buradetta sighed. "Alright, she can go with you."
"YAAAY!" Cherry cheered, causing both pups to howl with glee. "I'll go pack for the trip."
"Pack light little pup," Lilo reminded her. The little girl ran off, the pups following her.
"Lilo," The young brawler turned back to her mother. "Keep her safe."
"Mama, she's going to be surrounded by some of the best huntsmen and huntresses of our era. Also… I believe Atlas is going to make an appearance soon as well. They are bringing Amity Coliseum to Vale for the tournament, so I assume at least one battleship, as well as the crew on board," Lilo said.
"I already told Grey this by the way, keep an eye on Ozpin when you can, he's never been a normal man…" Buradetta muttered.
"I will, don't worry. With the White Fang splinter in Vale being led by a human and collecting every speck of dust in the kingdom, I'm keeping my eye on all the staff," Lilo nodded, before heading off to find her sister.
A day later, a Mistralian airship settled on a small landing pad behind Beacon, in which Lilo stepped off, followed by Cherry and a large wolf faunus man. His hair was dark grey, spiked up with a wild appearance, with matching eyes. He wore a grey trenchcoat that he left open, showing he wore no shirt, instead revealing a large scar diagonal across his chest from centre to left hip. He had a grizzled dark grey beard that reached from ear to ear.
Below the belt, he wore black combat pants, held up by a heavy duty utility belt, with two satchels on each hip. He finished the outfit with black heavy boots and rugged gloves. On his back, resting in scabbards, were a pair of hilts with hand covers.
"Alright, so this is Beacon?" He was first to ask.
"That's right big bro, I'll show you to Ozpin's office elevator, then go find the gang. Come find us when you're done, ask one of the staff to point you to the dorms, look for the door labelled KOLD, with a K," Lilo said.
She glanced over to Cherry, who was looking up at the biggest building she'd ever seen. "I can't see the top!" She gasped, squinting to try and see the tip of the tower.
"Don't bother, it's through the clouds," Lilo smiled, holding out a hand for her sister to take.
She dropped off Grey at the base of Ozpin's tower, then headed to find her team.
She found the duo of Jasmine and Koa down in the garage. They were renovating the combat truck they recovered. Koa called it the Bison.
They kept the original shape, a large armoured personnel carrier with three doors, two on the front at the sides and one at the back. Six wheels held the truck up. Originally, there had been a machine gun mounted to the top, but Koa and Jasmine had taken it off, planning to replace it. A small machine gun had now been mounted to a section at the front, giving the driver's seat some cover.
"Yo!" She called, heading over.
"Welcome back Lilo!" Koa was on a roll-board under the vehicle, and slid out from under at her voice. "How was your… oh." He put his tools aside, standing up. "Well, hello," He smiled, spotting Cherry looking in awe at the Bison.
"She's pretty much had that expression since we landed," Lilo chuckled.
"Aw…" Jasmine smiled.
Cherry eventually snapped out of her stupor, "Ah, there you are. Like it? We call it the Bison. A heavy truck with the power and defence to break through anything," Koa smiled.
"It looks strong!" Cherry gushed.
"Koa, Jasmine, meet my lil' sis, Cherry," Lilo pat her sister on her head.
At that moment, Koa's scroll rang. The team leader answered it. "Hey Onyx. Lilo's back, her sister's here too."
"Good to hear, I've finished my training session, meet you at the cafeteria for lunch?" Onyx asked.
"Sure thing, see you there," Koa grinned. Closing the call, he raised an eyebrow to the girls. "Lunch?" He asked.
All three were startled to hear a loud rumble between them, before slowly turning to Cherry. "Eh heh…" She giggled with embarrassment.
"Sou…s li… Cherry in," Jasmine remarked. All four laughed as they headed out of the garage.
Koa led the group into the cafeteria, just as Nora cackled evilly. "I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle!" She sang, standing on a mish-mash tower of tables and vending machines. Below her was Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha, all looking surprisingly menacing.
Across the room, Ruby bravely stood up, holding a milk carton. "Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful! It will be… DELICIOUS!" She roared, her cry taken up by all three of her teammates, even Weiss.
"Uh oh…" They found Onyx taking cover behind a table.
The three teammates and one young sibling joined him behind the upturned table. "What sparked this?!" Lilo asked.
"Heck if I know," Onyx shrugged. "One moment they were having a nice talk, Ruby suggested they start the semester off with a bang. This followed."
"Off with their heads!" Nora suddenly cried out, leaping down before a table of watermelons. She flipped the entire table as Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren also threw several watermelons.
"Alright… I propose we stay out of this…!" Koa said, before he foolishly peeked out as one of the projectiles from Nora slams and bursts in his face. Wiping the juice and fruit from his face, his team saw a small scowl on his face. "… alright then… Team KOLD… execute them."
"Yang! Turkey!" Ruby ordered. Her sister rolled forwards, fists sticking into two turkeys which she then slammed together like her own weapons. She smashed up several melons that flew towards her, before Blake took over, vaulting over her with a pair of bread baguettes. Using them like her two swords, she cut up two more melons, before Yang leapt over, kicking a third before launching her new weapon like she did her ranged attack.
One turkey slammed into Jaune, while the other was dodged by Pyrrha. She picked up her own baguette, just in time to look up and see Blake descending on her. Pyrrha blocked the initial swing, before the two traded blows, before a pair of chorizo sausages spun between them, slapping them in the face before flying around and returning to their origin.
"Koa?!" Blake asked, shocked.
"War is a strange thing, it can have many outcomes… but if a third party joins in, they're bound to win," Koa said. "And you ruined my lunch plans." He threw one of his chorizo, which bonked off Blake's nose.
Fight resumed, Pyrrha first to try a strike at Koa. The boomerang slinger blocked it with the curve of his remaining weapon, before the second hit Pyrrha in the back of the head. He then slashed at her with his sausages, before turning and blocking Blake's own swords after grabbing the second returning chorizo. He then ducked under a swing from Pyrrha, causing her to hit Blake, allowing him to turn and kick her away.
The champion of Mistral quickly rolled with the momentum, grabbing a few more baguettes, throwing them like javelins. Blake shadow-stepped aside, but this put Yang in the line of fire. Yang punched the first, kicked the second, but the third knocked into her stomach, sending her sprawling.
Ruby was next to attack from Team RWBY, sliding across the tables on a tray like a surfboard. As she did, she came under attack from a barrage of French fries, curtesy of Lilo, who, since she had just arrived, was still armed. She was firing her delicious ammunition from her gauntlet guns, laughing as she did.
"Hey! No fair!" Ruby pouted, grabbing a second tray to block the fire.
"Not my fault you didn't think of such a good idea," Lilo grinned.
Ruby continued to block her fire, before she leapt up, trying to hit Koa. Koa blocked this using his shield semblance. "I don't want a concussion, jeez!" He chuckled, before pushing her away. He then stepped back as Nora and Ren charged in.
Ruby prepared herself for battle, before Weiss stepped in with a bottle of ketchup, twirling before unleashing the contents before her like one of the features her sword could do. Ren lost his balance before the slippery floor, sliding into tables lined with food like a bowling ball, sending food and tables flying.
Nora quickly reacted, leaping onto one of the airborne tables, grabbing a pole off the wall, snapping it off, impaling it into a watermelon and swinging it like her hammer. Weiss was prepared to block, but Ruby darted in, taking the blow. Weiss leapt aside, grabbing a swordfish and holding it like she did her rapier.
Both she and Nora were about to clash when a carrot shot between them. Both glanced to the source, seeing Jasmine pull back a rubber band between two forks, a fresh carrot loaded. Nora was hit in the shoulder, and before Weiss could react, a similar situation happened with her. Jasmine then grabbed a bench, swinging it like she did her lance.
Nora welcomed the challenge, swinging her hammer. Jasmine blocked the swing using the flat of the bench to halt the weapon from the shaft. Jasmine bumped Nora with the bench, stumbling her. Weiss tried attacking Nora, who recovered, spinning her hammer to block the precise jabs. Jasmine's bench then thrust into Nora's side, sending her across the room, before Jasmine twirled around, slamming the flat side into Weiss' stomach.
A shockwave was caused as Weiss rocketed across the room, slamming into one of the pillars with enough force to make it buckle. Ruby sprang across, catching her partner bridal-style as the pillar collapsed behind her.
"Weiss! Weiss! Don't leave me! NOOOOOOOO!" Ruby howled theatrically. Yang sprang back in.
The blonde brawler gripped two fresh turkeys as Ren grabbed two leeks. As the two were about to clash, they heard a howl, before Lilo dashed between them, firing more fries from her weapons before drawing her own leeks, six, held between her knuckles like her claws.
She slashed with primal instinct at Ren, the faster of the two foes. He blocked with a foot, before swinging his own leek, which she caught with her teeth, wrenching it from his grasp. She then spat it aside, kicking out at Yang who approached with tur-gauntlets raised. A right hook, Lilo ducked. A left, then a right leg sweep. Lilo blocked the sweep, then slashed. Yang grunted as she was decked by Lilo's down swing. She quickly got back up, leaping back before slamming her turkeys into the floor, knocking several tables into the air. She punched them at Lilo, causing the wolf girl to make a wise retreat.
Yang then leapt back to avoid Nora's hammer, before rushing back in. She made a downwards action, while Nora swung up. The watermelon hammer finally broke as it impacted with Yang's stomach, sending her flying up through the ceiling. Blake leapt back to avoid the debris, grabbing a string of sausages and twirling it like the whip of her weapon. She then slammed it into Nora, flicking her back, causing her to impact with a soda machine, causing several cans of soda to pour out.
Nora quickly grabbed three, throwing two at Blake, which exploded with purple soda. A third hit Jasmine in the back, and the girl was mortified as she looked at her tail to find it covered in sticky grape soda.
Koa paled, bad! he thought with alarm.
Pyrrha recovered, and eyeing all the cans on the floor, she engaged her polarity semblance, causing all the cans to go in one direction, before splitting into two, heading for Blake. However, as half of them hit, the other suddenly halted, golden sparks of lightning jolting between them.
Pyrrha glanced over to the only possible explanation, Jasmine, with her tail covered in purple soda smirked, holding out a hand ominously, harnessing Pyrrha's semblance and redirecting them at the champion of Mistral, who was too surprised to fight back.
The furious little fox Faunus then set her sights on Ruby, last girl standing of Team RWBY, who stood with a serious look on her face. She took a sprinter's position, before springing forwards, semblance active. As she zoomed across the cafeteria, the debris and food from their fight got picked up in her wake, following her.
Seeing this, Koa thought quickly. "Team KOLD, with me!" He called. All members regrouped, as Koa threw up a barrier with his own semblance. As he did, they watched Ruby start to spin, masking herself in her red cloak, turning her into a red spiral. As she zipped by Ren and Jaune, they were caught up in gale force Ruby, as were Pyrrha and Nora. As she reached the far end, Ruby suddenly flipped, sliding to a halt with such abrupt force that the wall behind her cracked severely. A whirlwind of food, debris and Team JNPR members flew toward her, and as she was about to jump away, Onyx suddenly was there.
"Well, hello there," He grinned, grabbing her arms and holding her there.
"Onyx?! Where did you-?" Ruby began, but fear struck her as she looked back at the incoming swarm of impending doom. "No, wait! No, no, no, no, NO!" She screamed, but it was no use. Onyx used his semblance to reinforce Ruby's aura, just as the debris hit.
Onyx chuckled. "Ruby Aura Wall!" He called out his move playfully, ducking behind the red hooded girl.
The torrent of doom finally arrived. Some food hit Ruby, coating her in different colours. She wasn't the only one, Team JNPR, sprawled against the wall, also got a coating of food, splattering against them and the wall.
The rest of Team KOLD watched with varied looks of amusement. "The horror of it all," Koa laughed at the sight.
The onslaught finally ended. Ruby was covered from head to toe in various juices and pastes, causing her to groan. Behind her, Onyx emerged untouched, while behind him, Team JNPR suddenly slid off the wall, also covered in food. Their body outlines being the only parts of the wall not touched by the hurricane.
"No… fair…" Ruby pouted at Onyx.
"Totally fair, and I did it without being touched. Oh, Nora? I think Jasmine expects you to clean out her tail before the day ends. Make it happen will you?" Onyx said, looking over to the girl who was getting up.
"Roger that, as soon as I clean myself," She groaned.
From the door Team KOLD arrived through, Sun Wukong stood with a giddy grin. Next to him was a blue haired young man in a red jacket and blue jeans. However, he was currently covered in grape soda with a scowl on his face. Next to them, emerging from their cover, was Cherry, Snowfall and Shadow.
"I love these guys," Sun laughed.
"That was awesome!" Cherry giggled.
Suddenly, the door behind them slammed open and in stormed Glynda Goodwitch, looking absolutely livid. She quickly engaged her semblance, which promptly reverted the room to how it was before. The occupants were not given this mercy.
"Children, PLEASE. Do not play with your food," She ordered the three teams.
Teams RWBY, JNPR and KOLD, the latter of the three with little to no food on their bodies. Nora then made a loud belch, impressing Lilo and Cherry, before Yang finally fell back through a fresh hole in the ceiling, hitting the ground hard and breaking another table.
Goodwitch growled a little at this. She was about to move in and discipline the students before Professor Ozpin approached from behind her. "Let it go," He smiled, sipping his coffee. Next to him, Grey Fuchsia blinked, not only at Goodwitch's semblance, but at his sister and her friends covered in various amounts of food.
The combat professor sighed. "They're supposed to be the protectors of the world," She replied, watching as the three teams began to laugh and laugh at all the food that covered them.
"And they will be, but right now, they're still just children. So why not let them play the part?" Ozpin sagely reminded her. "After all, it's not a role they'll be able to live forever."
Goodwitch relented, still mad, but she understood. Grey spotted Cherry, who had a massive grin on her face. "Best. Food fight. Ever." She giggled.
"Of all time?" Grey asked, causing Ozpin to smile slightly as he waited for his guest to follow.
That night, Jasmine swished her clean multi-tail with a smile, before putting it on her lap, brushing it calmly while humming a soft tune.
Lilo finished going over her weapons. Turned out that even though she could fire French fries from her guns, doesn't mean it was healthy for her guns. She'd been spending the afternoon cleaning broken fries from the barrels.
Onyx sat on his bed, reading a book. He'd felt bad about partially ruining Ruby's cloak earlier and spent the afternoon taking it to the laundrettes to clean properly before ironing it with a steam iron and returning it to the girl.
Koa sighed, looking out the window. "Guys… it's been too quiet lately… I feel like something big is going to happen soon. It's time to get better, otherwise we may not be ready for whatever happens next."
"What do you suggest boss?" Lilo asked.
Koa paused, before answering. "We don't know who they are, or what they're planning, all I can say is keep training, stay vigilant, and we must be ready."
Otherwise who knows how many innocents will die, He thought, morbidly.
Marcus: Gold Star to the person who figures out the reference, a second gold star to those who guesses why Ozpin smiled out of the blue at the end as well.
Koa: That food fight was crazy.
Lilo: Also the longest fight sequence you've done yet.
Marcus: Thanks, it was tough. In the end, I looked at another fiction that includes a three team food fight, and adapted pieces from that. It helps having written choreography to use as a template.
Onyx: Anyway, the food fight is over, what next?
Marcus: This is what's next.
All: Next Time: Culture Shock!