Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
"Mmm…" Weiss woke up with a stretch when the light shone through her eyes. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in her hotel room from the night before. She then went into the bathroom to take a shower, letting the hot water hit her body, but her scars stung when the hot water touched it, as she let out a hiss. Her mind flash backed to Adam and Seryu, making her fold her arms and held on to her head.
"JUSTICE PREVAILS!"
"Agh!" Weiss let out a yelp, her breathing had quickened as images of SDC on Adam's face lingered in her mind as she put her hands through her hair, closing her eyes as she soon got into a near fetal position in the shower. Echoes of Seryu laughing and Adam cutting her up and insulting Blake for her being responsible for Weiss's fate. Make it stop… please…! She begged as she soon took a deep breath and exhaled, her breathing slowly returning to normal as she slowly rose. She opened her eyes as she looked completely bothered as she lightly punched the shower wall, silently cursing her father and Dark Weiss for what had happened.
She soon got out of the shower and dried herself off, looking at herself in the mirror and at her scars. Immediately, her reflection changed to Dark Weiss smirking at her as she put her hands on the counter, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth. Go away! She thought as she looked up and saw her own reflection again. She let out a deep breath and put her hand on her scars, slowly tracing them with her fingers. The scars stung, but not as bad as it used to be.
She got dressed and headed downstairs where she headed over to get breakfast in the lounge. She already saw Ruby there, munching on a muffin. The sight of Ruby eating a muffin amused her. "What, didn't want to snag the cookies?" She asked in amusement.
"They're not really filling… plus, they don't make a good breakfast." Ruby explained. "Believe me, I've tried." She chuckled as she watched Weiss grab herself some breakfast and some coffee, then she sat down next to Ruby.
"Okay… I have to ask." Weiss spoke up. "What was all that last night?"
"Hmm? What was what?"
"You know… the Pokemon fight. Of all the times I've seen you fight, you were always just cheerful, happy-go-lucky and always so optimistic no matter what was thrown at you… well, most of the time." She said, thinking about Dark Ruby. "But last night… you were like a whole different person. It just caught me so off-guard that I wasn't prepared for it. So I have to ask… where did that come from?"
BGM: Scent of Silence (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"Oh…" Ruby looked down. "Well, the thing is… I'm trying to be better, ya know? I mean, I know I'm a skilled huntress, but… I just want to be better than I normally am." She sighed. "I mean… look at it this way… despite mom crippling my dark self, she's still out there. So… I… I want to try to be serious on occasion. Just mentally prepare myself for when Dark Ruby makes her move again. I'm just… trying to improve myself. I want to be braver…"
"Braver?" Weiss tilted her head. "Ruby, you're already the bravest girl I know. A bit reckless, but still… you've faced anything that was thrown at you with a brave face. Bowser, Cackletta, Medusa, Hades, Eggman, K. Rool, the Shroobs, a black hole ready to swallow up the universe… Ruby, you're a lot braver than you think."
"I am?"
"Don't sell yourself short. I mean, despite Dark Ruby terrorizing you and you're about to faint from terror after what she did to you… you don't let it stop you from fighting her. And yes, that moment before you ran off did do a number on your mental health was scary… but you're getting stronger all the time. Dark Ruby gets stronger, but you get stronger as well. You're one of the bravest girls I know, and you being out there on the field last night… it showed me that you're growing into someone who's fearless, brave and above all else, serious."
"You… you think so?"
"Of course, we've all been through a lot ever since we set foot into the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, but we've gotten better. Better to the point where we can keep up with others like Mario, Pit, Link, Lucina and the other heroes in their worlds. Back then, I couldn't even take a hit, but now… look at me, I got a Rathalos, I've got an extra sword, my defense has gotten better… I could go on. You went from this reckless child to this completely serious badass that I wasn't expecting to see last night. It actually kind of intimidated me, admittedly. And honestly… I'm actually kind of jealous…"
"You are?"
"Yeah, I mean… look at you! You went out of your way to protect Palutena from the Chaos Kin and got your soul ripped out of you, you stared Dark Ruby into the face numerous times despite having some PTSD episodes, you did a lot of other things that I can't really think of at the moment… you did all this stuff that I wouldn't even think about doing. You don't think you're brave, Ruby? Well, I say otherwise… you're the bravest dol-… no… you're the bravestyoung woman I've ever known."
"Weiss…" Ruby whispered, tearing up a little and wiping her tears away. "Thank you…"
Weiss let out a chuckle. "You're welcome." She said, wrapping her arms around Ruby and hugging her as Ruby hugged her back.
End BGM
A little bit later…
Everyone walked out of the hotel, all of them refreshed. "Mmm! Man, I never thought Galar would have such comfy beds!" Yang said, stretching her back. "The shower was incredible too!"
"You say that every time you get into a shower." Ruby said.
"Good point~!" Yang giggled. "So! Back to Remnant with all of us?" She asked and then looked at Youmu. "Well, most of us."
"Eh, I can look around Remnant a bit before heading back to Gensokyo." Youmu shrugged.
"Well, let's go!" Ruby said as they started head back to Remnant where they would walk back into a portal heading back to the Smash Mansion… however, Gloria stopped midway and turned to MAJC.
"So, I heard you were scouring through Galar and looking for treasure." Gloria said.
"Yup~! It's all in this bag! All the shinies I can have~!" Mona grinned.
"It's definitely quite the load you have there."
"Mhm. Pretty snazzy if we say so ourselves." Camrin said.
"Indeed." Anthony nodded.
"It'd be quite a shame if you were to lose all of that." Gloria said, glancing at Zoey as both of them did a small nod.
"Lose my shinies? Ha! As if that'd ever happen." Mona smirked.
"Indeed, Mistress Mona… it would be impossible." Zoey agreed, sporting a smile.
BANG!
"AAAAH! RANDOM SMOKE BOMB!" Jen yelled.
"Ooof! Gah!" Mona grunted. "Ack! No!"
"What's wrong?!" Camrin asked and when the smoke cleared, the bag was gone.
"My bag! Our treasure! My shinies!" Mona exclaimed. "Where'd they go?!"
"Where'd Gloria go?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gloria cackled as they would see her in her Latias form while holding a bag. "NOW WE'RE EVEN!" She called out and flew off.
"Even?! How exactly is that even?!" Mona yelled. "GLORIA! You get back here with my shinies right now!"
"Hmm… well, if you think about it, we did knock her out and stole that scroll from her at the Isle of Armor." Jen pointed out.
"Indeed. I believe fair is fair." Zoey said, a small smile plastered on her face.
"Yeah, and besides, she didn't take all the treasure!" Chloe said, holding the Spheal in her hands. "We still have this cutie!"
Mona slumped, anime tears running down her cheeks. "No fair…"
"Aw, cheer up." Anthony said, patting her on the back. "We can find some shiny stuff in our next heist."
Mona perked up, her eyes sparkling. "Okay~!" She smiled and skipped into the portal as did the others, but Chloe and Camrin stopped and looked at Zoey.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Camrin gave her a knowing smirk.
"Whatever do you mean~?" Zoey smiled.
"Zoey, we know you. Your smoke bombs don't just go off prematurely like that." Chloe said. "You wanted Gloria to have some sort of revenge on us, didn't you?"
Zoey let out a chuckle. "I can neither confirm nor deny it." She said and walked off, as the twins looked at each other.
"She did it." Both of them said and walked in.
Back at the Smash Mansion…
"Weiss, that was incredible!" Lucina exclaimed, hugging Weiss.
"Oh, you watched it?" Weiss asked.
"Of course we did!" Lucina smiled.
"That was a hell of a battle. Ruby and Gloria sure put you through the wringer." Chrom chuckled.
"Aheheheh… aw, stop it…" Ruby giggled, blushing a little as she looked over at Ilia hugging Blake and praising her for the awesome fights, even Sienna was complimenting her on their victory.
"Well, I guess things are back to normal." Weiss said as she walked off with everyone dispersing. "Don't know about you, but I'm ready to-" She paused mid-step, suddenly feeling a dark presence in the air. "Does… does anyone feel… a dark presence behind them?" She asked, slowly sweating as her breathing quickened. Her heart pulsated a bit as she reached for Myrtenaster and swiftly turned around to face the intruder.
"I see you're out of your wheelchair."
"Oh… it's you." Weiss said. "What, you came to fight me after you faced everyone else? I see someone's eager to fight me, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth let out a chuckle. "Indeed. I have been curious about your strength. I wonder if you're able to best me in battle. I've a feeling it will be quick given your teammates didn't succeed in having me fight them at full strength."
"You know, you have some ego. You want to bring this world into despair, yet you want to know who you should be wary about. Smart, but knowing you, you're probably just an egotistical ass who has a god complex. Oh yeah, don't think I didn't see Cloud's Tweester posts about you."
Sephiroth gave her an amused smirk. "Feisty." He said.
"Just for the record, Sephiroth… I just got out of my wheelchair, so I'm honestly a bit rusty in my combat. But know this, Sephiroth… once I'm back at full strength… I'll be ready."
Sephiroth still had a smirk. "And I'll be waiting." He said as he turned around, his back facing her. "Don't disappoint me." He said and walked off.
"Oh… I'm going to enjoy wiping that smirk off his face." She said and walked off.
Sephiroth continued walking, but he would suddenly stop and let out an amused "hmph". "I know you're there." He said as he turned around and saw Aerith leaning on a wall.
"So where did you run off to? One minute you were in your room writing in a journal and the next minute, you were gone."
"That is for me to know and mine alone."
"I had a feeling you'd say that."
"So… tell me something, I'm honestly a bit curious. Why are you alive?" He asked.
"Well, Cloud's "darkness" calls you back, as you say… so why can't his "light" bring me back?" Aerith smirked, causing Sephiroth to raise an eyebrow. "Alright, if you want to know the truth… think of it like this: Considering you always come back to life and you tend to seek out Cloud and make his life a living hell, then what makes you so sure that I can stay dea-"
"You're stalling."
"Alright, alright. You know the lifestream in our world? Right as you pierced your sword through my chest, I was able to manipulate the life stream to get my body back. However, it did take longer than expected considering what Cloud did after that. However, I did promise that the next time I died, I would stay dead. If you're able to keep coming back, then why shouldn't I do the same as well?"
Sephiroth closed his eyes, letting out an amused chuckle. "I see… that would explain why I saw you in that world."
Aerith smiled. "Can't get rid of me that easily." She said and walked off, then hearing the sound of a sword unsheathing as she immediately brought out her staff and blocked a fatal stab without even looking. "Testing my reflexes, are you?"
"You could say that." Sephiroth said, sheathing his sword and then walked off, as Aerith turned her head.
"I'm not falling for it a second time." She said and walked off in the other direction.
"You guys ready to go?" Neo asked Weiss and Blake.
"Yeah." Blake nodded.
"Actually… there's something I need to do first." Weiss said, her hand slowly hovering over her chest.
Blake would look at her curiously before realizing what she meant. "Those scars… you want to ask him, don't you?"
"Yes. I need to know." Weiss nodded and turned to Azure. "Azure, can you take me to the city?" She asked as Azure let out a small growl and let her climb on top of him.
"If you're going, I'm coming with you." Blake said and climbed on, then looked at Neo. "You want to come with?"
"Sure." Neo nodded and then turned to her squad. "I'll be back soon. Let Bookwyrm know that he'll be expecting humans in the community."
"You got it, Lady Neo!" The Blizzybody saluted as they saw the wyvern lift himself off the ground and flew off.
At the Schnee home…
"How's Whitley doing?" Kali asked. "I can tell he's getting a lot better."
"He is." Willow smiled. "In fact, he was just on his way to Ling's home to give her a present."
Ghira blinked in surprised. "Already? But we just got back."
"He was working on it and was planning on giving it to her, but then Arceus had come over and asked us to find Calyrex for him, and also the Golems."
"That explains it…" Ghira mused.
With Whitley…
"This should do nicely. Hope she likes it." He said.
"Look at you, being all nice to the faunus." A voice said as Whitley stopped, clenching his fists.
"What do you want… "father"?"
Jacques leaned on a street pole, letting out an amused smirk. "I don't know why you like her so much. As far as I'm concerned, that Faunus should have been killed by that Pokemon… what was it called again… Regidraconian or something?"
"Your hatred for the Faunus is immeasurable." He turned to face him. "Just as is the darkness in your heart."
"Hmph! The Faunus are scum of the planet. Have you forgotten that one of them tried to kill you?"
"Yes, but another Faunus saved me from her. She's helping me overcome my problems… like you trying to haunt me."
"Can't a father check up on his family?"
"You can't. You're just a figment of my imagination and only I can see and communicate with you. Your hatred for the Faunus won't reach into me anymore."
"And yet, two of them nearly killed your sister but you would defend the faunus? You're ignoring everything I taught you."
"Yes, there are bad Faunus out there… but there are a lot of good faunus too. The fact that you don't see that proves how much of a scumbag you really are."
"Whitley, there are no such thing as-"
"It's foolish of you to generalize all faunus as bad." Whitley turned around, his back turned to him and walked off, with Jacques' image disappearing. He would continue walking over to Ling's house when he would notice Ling walking out the door.
"Oh! Whitley… I wasn't expecting you to come over." She said. "I was actually about to come over to your place."
"Well, isn't that a coincidence." Whitley chuckled.
"What's that in your hand?"
"Oh this? I was making this for you. I just put up the finishing touches when I got back." He said, handing her some sort of pink handle.
"A handle…?" She tilted her head as she saw a button and curiously pressed it, where it would grow into a bo staff. "Oh! A collapsible Bo staff!"
"There are even pockets in that bo staff for seeds to grow inside it for flowers to grow."
Ling's eyes sparkled. "A garden within the bo staff for my semblance… Whitley, I love it!" She grinned. "Oh, and this is for you." She said, handing him a small present. "Go on, open it." She smiled as Whitley took it and opened it, where he would notice icy blue daggers.
"Daggers?"
"Yeah, considering both your sisters have rapiers, I thought I'd craft something special for you." She smiled. "Of course, I made a last minute addition to these daggers…"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Considering you unlocked your semblance, I figured I needed to give it a more elemental approach to it, so I added dust to the daggers."
Whitley chuckled. "What do ya know… I wouldn't have known those were added last minute." He said and put the daggers away. "I guess we both need to figure out a name for these, huh?"
"Oh, you didn't come up with a name for the bo staff yet?"
"Not really… it wasn't on my mind until just now." He sheepishly admitted.
Ling giggled. "That's fine! I didn't think of a name for those daggers either. Oh! That reminds me, there was something else I'd like to give you."
"Hmm? And what is i-mmmph!" Whitley's eyes widened when Ling kissed him. Both of them blushed as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. He felt a judging look was glaring at him as he opened his eyes and saw Jacques with his arms folded, looking at him in disgust. Mentally smirking, he turned his wrist around and flipped off his own father before closing his eyes again. Ling broke the kiss and blushed a bit.
"Sorry… that was meant to be a quick peck. I don't know what came over me." She said.
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Whitley smiled. "So uh… you want to go walk around the park?"
"I'd love to!" She smiled, taking his hand and walked to the park together.
With Nyx…
Nyx walked into her home with a casual hum as she opened the door… and discovered that her team was on the couch and her Yoshi was snuggled up next to Jade. "Oh! Didn't expect you guys here." She said as she walked over and then noticed that they were watching her show. "…Really?"
"What? It's a good show." Jade said. "Xena called us up right as you left. We even had a little sleep over while watching the show. Though Xena pulled an all nighter so Dark Xena took over for her while she's resting."
"Hey, I went to sleep long before they did." Dark Xena shrugged.
"So anyway, you missed the tub of lard killing a demonic version of Peach with a horrible name… what was her name again?" Iris wondered.
"Terrormisu." Dark Xena responded.
"Ah yes, that's the one. Then he got a boat load of cash."
Nyx let out a groan as she sat down next to Jade. "Greeeat…" She mumbled as she witnessed Wario leaving but the cash was left behind. "Wait, what?" She wondered as she saw Cannoli take the cash.
"So sorry Wario… but this belongs to yours truly! Ohohohoho!"
Nyx's eyes sparkled. "HELL YES! HE DIDN'T GET ANY OF IT!" She exclaimed excitedly and turned to Dark Xena. "Tell me your lighter half recorded all of it!"
"Duh. That's the first thing she did when we decided to stay." Dark Xena said.
"Oh good! I get to see the chaos unfold! I hope Wario made a fool of himself throughout the season!" She then took off running to go make popcorn, causing the girls to sweatdrop.
"You think she's ever going to realize Wario's not so bad?" Jade asked. "Because I've interacted with him a few times… he's actually pretty decent… for the most part."
"Probably not." Iris responded with a shrug.
With Ruby…
"You sure this is a good spot?" Ruby asked.
"According to Rosalina, yes." Summer nodded. "Which, I have to admit, it is rather peaceful and lowkey… not to mention you wouldn't have to worry about the monsters in Hyrule."
"You're right… it's a bit blocky though." She said as they were in the Minecraft World. "Not to mention there's stuff like Creepers to worry about… and, well, skeletons and zombies at night."
"Yeah, but we don't have to worry about that." Tai chuckled, glancing over at Steve who was busy building a wall just in case.
Summer turned her head. "Hey Alex, are we ready?" She asked as Alex was putting the finishing touches on her creations and then hopped down, giving a simple nod as she moved away where Ruby would see blocky versions of Beowolves and Ursai. Alex would then pull a lever as the "Grimm" would slowly start to advance toward Ruby. "Alright, you know what to do."
BGM: Zelda's Lullaby (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
"Right." Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining all the happy memories she made with her friends. The adventures they were on, the time spent she had with Pit, her first Pokemon capture being a Zorua, Pit giving her Chibi-Robo, the nendoroid and even the Amiibo figurine of her when they went shopping together and he picked it out for her. Teaming up with the likes of Mario and Luigi to rescue Peach, meeting her mother at Delfino…
The Grimm grew closer. "Come on honey… come on…" Summer whispered. "You got this…"
However, as she was thinking of all the good memories… Dark Ruby wormed her way into her thoughts and smirked wickedly. She let out a whimper.
"If you want to go through her… you're gonna have to go through me!" Pit's voice echoed in her mind.
"And me." Yang's voice echoed as well.
Ruby relaxed, picturing everyone banding together to protect her from her doppelganger.
"You'll have to go through all of us if you want a piece of Ruby!"
The Grimm got closer as Summer thought she had to intervene, but Tai put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a 'She's got this.' look on his eyes as Summer let out a nod.
"You're the bravest young woman I've ever known." Weiss's words echoed in her mind and just when the Grimm just about touched her, Ruby opened her eyes as a bright light enveloped them all. The strong light disappeared as she saw the Grimm having evaporated, then Alex and Steve took off the sunglasses that they had put on.
"…Oh my gosh… I actually did it…" Ruby said, smiling.
Summer wrapped her arms around her daughter. "You did it." She smiled, kissing her gently on the cheek as Steve and Alex clapped for her while Tai let out a proud chuckle.
"That's my girl." He said.
End BGM
Meanwhile, at the Mushroom City Jail…
"Jacques Schnee! You have visitors."
"Oh?" Jacques wondered as he approached the visiting area where he would see his own daughter in front of him, accompanied by Blake and Neo. He would also see Azure poking his head out a window and letting out a deep throaty growl at him.
Weiss gave him a glare, but gave off an amused chuckle when she saw the word "Karen" in big bold black letters on his jumpsuit. "Nice name, father. It suits you."
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Weiss?" He asked as he approached her. "…And your pet cat." He grumbled, as Blake let out a deep growl. "I assume you're here because you miss me ever so dea-" Weiss gave him a harsh slap on the cheek.
"Oh!" A few inmates winced at it.
"Shut. Up." Weiss glared. "We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Sit down." Weiss said.
"What?"
"Sit. Down."
"You're ordering your own father around? Why, the nerve-"
"I SAID SIT THE HELL DOWN NOW!" She yelled, the sudden tone in her voice caused Jacques to flinch as he backed up slowly and sat down on a bench. Weiss slowly realized that her hand was reaching for her sword.
"Whoa now, let's not get too crazy!" A Toad Guard said, getting between the two. "There's no need for violence… even if it is Jacques Schnee. Besides, the man gets beaten up by his Faunus cell mate frequently, so it's good enough punishment." He said. "Though if you want to turn him into a shishkebob, might I suggest the courtyard? They do have a few punching bags out there… just replace the bag with him."
"Hey!" Jacques gave the guard a glare.
"I'll consider it." Weiss said as the guard let out a chuckle and walked off.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" He asked as Weiss gave him a harsh glare.
"You and your despicable acts against the Faunus, that's what!" She said, her hands planted on the table in front of him. "You wouldn't happen to remember a Faunus that you branded, would you? A Faunus that goes by the name of Adam Taurus?"
"Mmm, you'll have to be a bit more specific. What was the branding?"
"Don't you give me that bull! He had SDC labeled on his face, and even his right eye was damaged!" Weiss said.
Jacques let out an amused chuckle. "Ah, now I remember. That boy was troubled. He created a Grimm mask to intimidate his foes. I remember overseeing the branding when we caught him. Then we sent him to that animal dung filled land you call Menagerie. That place is nothing more than a zoo."
Blake let out a growl, clenching her fists and her ears lowered, giving the man a death glare as Neo gently put her hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but was also giving Jacques the stink eye.
"So why do you bring this up?" Jacques asked.
"Your branding has caused him to develop a hatred for the Schnees… the branding that YOU caused!" Weiss said. "He has it out for us… and you want to know why? Because I met him earlier!"
"Oh really? And how did it go?"
"How did it go? HOW DID IT GO?" Weiss immediately pulled down the collar of her dress. "LOOK AT THIS! You see these damn scars?! It's because of YOU that I nearly died because of your vendetta against the faunus!"
Jacques let out an amused chuckle. "Adam did this? You sure it wasn't your girlfriend with those nasty kitty claws?"
"You WHAT?!" Blake yelled, forcing Neo to hold her back. "YOU THINK I WOULD DO SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE TO HER?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
This guy really brings the worst out of people… Neo thought with a sweatdrop, doing her best to restrain Blake.
"How did this man find you? You never even met him." Jacques asked.
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me! He has a friend that can easily sniff us out! I'm sure you've heard of this name before… Seryu Ubiquitous? Ring any bells?"
Jacques's eyes widened. "Seryu Ubiquitous?! The same Faunus that was responsible for the Atlas Massacre?!"
"The very same! The very same Faunus that escaped the mental institution that she AND my dark self burned to the ground! Yeah! My dark side released her! The same girl who you were wanting me to get reacquainted with after you had kidnapped me?"
"My word…"
"And to top it all off, she nearly KILLED Whitley if his faunus friend didn't step in and saved him! Meanwhile, I get two gunshots to the gut AND I get clawed by Adam's new toy from what I've heard from Blake!"
Jacques smirked. "See? This just proves that Faunus are bad news and that they must be eradicated. The sooner they are out of our lives, the better."
"JACQUES!" Weiss yelled, her hands slamming on the table as she looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel at any moment.
"Now is that any way to call your father that?"
"You've stopped being my father the moment you kidnapped me!"
"Then why did you call me father when you walked in here?"
"Tch… I guess old habits die hard…" Weiss clenched her fists.
"I will admit, I may have had a hand with Miss Ubiquitous' mindset." Jacques said. "Her parents were caught in a mine explosion while I tormented Seryu, just like I did with Adam Taurus. In fact, I oversaw the same branding operation. She's probably still upset that I branded her abdomen. The massacre she had wrought was more than likely her hatred for humans after what I had done to her."
"…So that's why she has it out for us…" Weiss clenched her fists. "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU! This is your DAMN mess that I have to clean up! Your ego is infuriating… and it made such a DIFFICULT childhood because of it!"
"You plan on continuing the SDC? Where will you operate it? And even if you find a good spot, you will have a target on your back because of those animals."
"Not unless you treat them with respect and dignity… which is something you lack." Weiss said.
"I will treat them with respect and dignity if they stop being complete animals!"
"Who's the real animal here, father? The Faunus… or you? It's clear to me who the real animal is."
"How dare you!" Jacques stood up, his hands planted on the table and glaring at his daughter while making eye contact. "You take that back right now, young lady!"
"Oh, struck a nerve, did I?" Weiss smirked.
"You know, I once saw you as the heir to the SDC, but now I see you as a brat!"
"I could say the same to you. I looked up to you… but now I'm seeing that I've looked up to the wrong person when I was a little girl. You're not a father and you are not even a man… you're nothing more than an animal!"
Jacques let out a growl, raising his hand to slap her… but Weiss caught his wrist, the hand inches from her face. "Not this time." She said, batting the hand away as she gave him an even harder slap that actually knocked him down to the ground.
"Oooh!" The inmates winced again. Even the guards winced at this.
"You disgust me." Weiss said as she walked away. "Goodbye… Karen." She said as she walked off in a huff as Blake and Neo walked away as well… but as they made their way to the Rathalos, frustrated tears ran down Weiss's cheeks.
"Weiss…?" Blake asked, her instincts kicking in. "Are you okay?" She put her hand on Weiss's shoulder as Weiss turned around and showed her tears to her.
"No… not really…" She said, her legs giving in and falling but Blake caught her. "Why… why must he be such an ass?!" She said, sobbing into Blake's chest as she wrapped her arms around Weiss. "This is all his fault and he didn't even care!"
"We'll get through this, Weiss… together." Blake said, giving her a soft smile while she let her sob into her chest as she rubbed her back. Neo knelt down and put a comforting hand on Weiss's shoulder. "We'll find a way… we always do." She said as Azure gently nuzzled Weiss, giving her a small lick on her cheek.
Meanwhile, in the Monster Community near Bowser's Castle…
BGM: Bustling Town (Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age)
"Alright, Mayor, let see what is the new name for the community." A Jargon said as he pulled out a raffle from his jar. "The Bowser Monsters."
"No, that is Lord Bowser's sport's team." A Professaurus said as the Jargon reached into his jar again and pulled out another one.
"Alright, this name I got from a movie, how about the "Monstars"?"
"No! Those are names for sports!" The Professaurus said exasperatedly.
It was right then that a Skeleton Swordsman walked in. "Mayor Bookwyrm. The Blizzybody of The Frozen Squad has arrived."
"Good, send him in." He requested as the Blizzybody walked in. "Ah, Blizzybody, how are you doing?"
"Ah, pretty good… but uh, we got some terrible news."
"Oh? What is it?" He asked as the Blizzybody went on to explain what happened when they arrived at the Tundra.
"Aaand that's pretty much it."
"Hmm…" Bookwyrm folded his arms with a grim look on his face. "This is terrible. There are still countless monsters outside Bowser's forces. There are the feral monsters, the monsters under Calasmos influence, now we got this Crimson Fang capturing other monsters and enslaving them to their group as well. This is terrible. We need to take precaution. We may need to fight our fellow kind if Crimson Fang attacks. What kind of human is this, if he is able to break a Barbatos?" He wondered, then noticed a Stark Raven carrying a human skull that happened to have a document within an eye socket.
"Mayor Bookwyrm, I have good news!"
"Yes?" He asked as the Stark Raven pulled out the document and opened it up, revealing to be concept art.
"Sir, we have been inspired by the design of Bowser's tanks he used in the past. We taken our own spin on it. Captain Slime created a design for the tank. With the use of bricks and technology….we can build it and use it to fight against Calasmos forces attacking the kingdom of Bowser and kidnap the Princess Peach as well. It may take awhile though."
"Excellent!"
"Also, sir…" The Blizzybody spoke up. "Neo had said that two people wish to see you."
"Who is it?"
"It's Weiss and Blake, sir."
"Ah, I see…"
Outside of the office…
A few Slimes, Platypunks and Orcs wandered around the town, carefree as they can be. "WAIT, WHAT?!" Bookwyrm yelled loud enough as many of the monsters looked into his office with curious expressions.
Inside the office…
"Prepare a monster escort for when they arrive!"
"Yes, right away!" The Blizzybody took off running as the Professaurus put a hand over his chest.
"Be still, my heart…"
End BGM
Meanwhile, with some Malicious monsters…
"All right scouts, what info have you gathered in this region?" A Headless Norseman asked, then looked over at a second Headless Norseman.
"We followed the two humans from that human team who is known as Team RWBY, they are a big deal around here as you might guess. We followed them until they met up with those weird creatures called Pokemon. One of those said creatures is a king with two horses. After that, two more humans ambushed the members of Team RWBY; we followed the former after that and we found those monster traitors, the ones who serve under Bowser. They were fighting that human that enslaved monsters into his group, luckily none of our loyal troops to the Dark One appeared in that masked human's group. Those most loyal to the Dark One will never change allegiance; even the Grumpy Grublins wouldn't join that masked human if they were captured!"
"Hmmm… that is good information you have gathered. Now you." He said to a Glacial Golem.
"I have spied on the heroes… going after those other golems. If seems those humans… are capable of such things. Even after some weirdo manipulated those golems."
"Most impressive, to think those humans are going to be quite a challenge indeed, I'm looking forward to it. But our Master wishes to gather info and recruit those under his influences as of the moment."
"We scouted them going after those strange birds, very peculiar creatures!" A Dark Gryphon informed.
"Our air scouts have spotted some numerous creatures that we could have potentially used. They called these creatures Ultra Beasts. Sadly, we couldn't be able to get a hold of them due to this region's technology called Beast Balls. It seems that anyone holding these balls make these beasts loyal to these so called trainers. But luckily we have gotten intel on the huntress's abilities." A second Dark Gryhon informed.
It was then that a third Dark Gryphon chimed in. "Yeah, which reminds me… of all the creature under the Dark One's influence, I found this interesting one." He pointed over to a Malicious Seer. "According to the documents the Kleptoreptiles have found, this is called a Seer."
"Ahh… so how are we going to message the Dark One about the information?" The Headless Norseman asked, causing everyone to sweatdrop.
"Yeah, finding a portal that leads us back to Erdrea is very slim. And we are going to forget about this info by the time the great Dark One arrives here. Man, this is going to stink badly…" A Dark Gryphon mumbled, when suddenly the Malicious Seer started to glow.
"…What is happening?" The Headless Norseman wondered.
"Weird… creature… is about to… do something." The Glacial Golem said, when they saw it project a shadowy head with two red, glowing, and round eyes.
"HMM? WHO GOES THERE?"
"It's the Dark One! …How convenient!" A Dark Gryphon exclaimed.
"Great Dark One, it's the troops you sent to this new universe!" The Headless Norseman said.
"HOW ARE YOU COMMUNICATING WITH ME… FROM THAT UNIVERSE?"
"Whatever this Seer is doing under your influence did, it allows us to contact you."
"EXCELLENT. I CAN USE THESE TO GIVE OUT ORDERS AND TO GATHER INFORMATION ON MY ENEMIES. HMM… IT SEEMS THAT WHOEVER CREATED THESE HAD SOME USE FOR COMMUNICATIONS. AND IT LOOKS LIKE THOSE UNDER MY INFLUENCE ARE THE ONLY ONES PROJECTING IMAGES TO ME. AND I BELIEVE THEY CAN HAVE SOME SORT OF SPECIAL CHANNEL DIFFERENT TO THOSE NOT UNDER MY INFLUENCE. SUCH A SHAME I WAS HOPING TO MEET WHOEVER OWN THESE MONSTERS, BUT I GUESS THE BEST SURPRISES REQUIRES WAITING."
"We will give you the info that we have gathered." The Headless Norseman said as they revealed to Calasmos what they have gathered.
"EXCELLENT. ONE LAST THING… WHAT IS THE NAME FOR THAT WORLD?"
"It seems the major areas is called the Mushroom Kingdom and Beacon Academy, but for the world, it is called Remnant."
"REMNANT… THEN THAT IS WHERE THE GREAT BATTLE WILL TAKE PLACE. WHEN I COME TO THAT UNIVERSE, THAT WORLD WILL BE RAVAGED WITH MY NEW ARMY OF CREATURES FROM DIFFERENT WORLDS. FOR NOW, I WILL WAIT FOR A PORTAL THAT I CAN ENTER THROUGH ARRIVES." The Malicious Seer turned off, leaving Calasmos by himself. "HMM… THE ALLIES OF THE LUMINARY, THE HUMAN TEAM RWBY… ARE YOU THE ONES THAT HELPED HIM DEFEATED THREE OF MY MOST STRONGEST MONSTERS I HAVE INFLUENCED FROM THAT UNIVERSE? I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR STRUGGLES IN THE FUTURE. HA HA HA."
Meanwhile, back at the Schnee Home…
"This home is lovely." Calyrex said, resting on a lawn chair.
"So, you came back." A voice said as Calyrex opened his eyes and saw Mewtwo floating above him.
"Mewtwo. It's been far too long." Calyrex said as Mewtwo landed next to him.
"Indeed. Have your powers returned?"
"They have."
"All of them? Including your ability to see into the future?"
"I have tried, but it is a bit hazy. I cannot predict the outcome or the eventuality, however." He said.
"Perhaps if you can try again, we will prepare for whatever is thrown at us."
"Indeed. Did you come see me as if to check up on me?"
"Perhaps. I will leave you alone for now." Mewtwo said and then disappeared.
"Hmm… I wonder…" Calyrex wondered and closed his eyes, his crown glowing blue. "Allow me to see into the future." He requested as everything went dark for him.
First, he saw three opposing armies: Dry Bowser's army, Salem's faction and Calasmos's army. All three clash, but they also are fighting the people of Remnant and the Mushroom Kingdom. He also saw the Crimson Fang getting involved. Dry Bowser was then seen using his Oblivion Fire on shadowy figures… more than likely the heroes. He then saw Atlas airships slaying the flying creatures of Calasmos while explosions light up the sky while Bullet Bills and Banzai Bills fly through the area. Armies of the Mushroom Kingdom, huntsman, huntresses, and the Atlesian army were slain by these three armies while they were slaying them in return. He then saw Dry Bowser, now having his skin back, completely obliterating the majority of a town with a single punch to the ground. Everyone within the vicinity is wiped out… and then he saw a figure standing next to Dry Bowser. Tall, dark, fiery… he was taller than Ghirahim, but Ghirahim was nowhere to be seen as this tall figure held a mighty sword and was working with Dry Bowser.
He would then see a princess fighting Dry Bowser, but this princess was unfamiliar to him. It was not the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, not the princess of Hyrule or Sarasaland, nor was it Rosalina. The two were locked in combat as they both had a hateful glare in their eyes. He would then see Luminary, Mario, Ruby and several other heroes etched out in shadow that he was not familiar with, standing before the mighty Calasmos and fighting him.
"Gah!" Calyrex exclaimed once he snapped out of it. "Those three forces… they'll fight each other, but will soon come to the heroes. No matter what happens, they'll come at us with everything they have. The Mushroom Kingdom, Remnant, everything… it will fall in this great cataclysm… it's inevitable." He said, looking completely rattled. "Oh… I hope they're ready… this is going to be, in their words… hell."
Meanwhile, in a random location in the Mushroom Kingdom, far away from Toad Town…
Kyoko and Aoi were wandering around, both of them deep in thought and wondered how they got here. "The attack on Jabberwock Island from those mushroom creatures… Sonia winds up disappearing, Ibuki disappears from the island as well… it all doesn't make sense. Things have been weird ever since we were somehow transported to this universe from a portal."
"Based on our initial investigation here... it would seem that this is where all these portals connect to, right?" Kyoko brought up.
"It would seem to be the case, yes." Aoi nodded in agreement.
"Mhm... the portals being connected here, the attack on Jabberwock Island, the disappearance of Sonia, then Ibuki went missing, Hiyoko disappeared too but it appears that she came back on her own volition. All of these are all connected somehow. And this place right where we are is tied to it all." The detective folded her arms, tapping a gloved finger on her arm. "But why is that the case...?"
"It's definitely a mystery..."
"And that's what we're going to solve together, right Hina?" Kyoko mused. "Impossible mysteries are my specialty after all." Specifically when the name of the game was homicide, she added to herself.
But then, the lilac haired young lady stopped midstride, turning around. "Is someone there?"
Aoi turned with her. "Who's there?"
They would see that the intruder was none other than a Koopa, and he just so happened to have a knife.
"Not too sneaky, are we?" Kyoko began with the Koopa. The citizens of this world sure were a strange looking bunch. Then again, she was no stranger to weird things to begin with.
"Not sure who put that stick there, but never mind that... you two. Give me your money now or no one gets hurt."
Aoi raised an eyebrow at this, giving him a deadpan "You're kidding, right?" look on her face. Kyoko, however, wasn't afraid of this guy. Yes, even in the hands of an untrained idiot, a knife could do untold damage. But she wasn't worried.
On her waist was some sort of megaphone like device, and she immediately readied it in both hands, pointing it at the mugger. "Kyoko Kirigiri. Future Foundation, 14th Branch." She noticed the confused look on their assailant's mug right away. "Not to bore you with any details or anything, since you clearly lack interest... think of us as law enforcement from where we're from." Even if that was 6th Division's job, this guy didn't need to know that.
"So what, your weapon is a megaphone? You blow in from stupid town or something?"
Without a single motion of hesitation, Kyoko raised the weapon up towards the sky, and fired off a warning shot - some blue ball of energy shot out from it.
"Does that answer your question?" She bluntly asked him.
The Koopa blinked in surprise, sweatdropping a bit. "Must be one of those personalized megaphones... tch, so what?"
Focusing the weapon back on the mugger, Kyoko gave a stern, verbal warning. "Put the knife down, now. I'm asking you nicely. I only do that once."
"Make me." Without uttering another word, Kyoko would oblige that request. By firing another shot at the mugger's weapon hand. If he wasn't going to put it down willingly, she would make him. "Ack!" He paled as he tried to make a break for it.
"Get him." Kyoko would make a motion to Aoi to take this attacker down.
"You people are crazy!" He said as he kept running with Aoi sprinting toward him and then tackled him to the ground.
"Look who's talking." Kyoko would calmly walk over and pick up the knife he used to threaten them. "You made the choice of attempting a mugging, and threatening our well-being."
"Mmph, fair point…" He grumbled as Aoi pinned him down… by sitting on his shell. "Could you get off my shell? It's not a place of rest!"
Aoi smirked. "I could sit on your arms or legs. Trust me, it'd be a lot more unbearable."
"…Sit on the shell as much as you'd like!" He paled. "Ugh, unbelievable…" He grumbled as soon, a police car arrived consisting of two Toads and a small Chain Chomp.
"We'll take it from here." A Toad said. "Thought you could get away from prison, eh? This is the third time this week that you've busted out."
"Consider a career change, sir," Kyoko told the perpetrator. "Clearly you're not good at this one."
Aoi shook her head. "Yeah, mugging people is so overrated."
"Ah shuddup, ya broads!" The Koopa snapped as he was put into the car as the Chain Chomp was growling at him the whole time.
With her weapon placed back on her hip, Kyoko looked to Aoi. "C'mon. There's better things to be doing with our time than arguing with petty criminals."
"Agreed." Aoi said.
Meanwhile, with Yang…
"What do you think, big guy~?" Yang asked, showing off her stuff.
"Dang girl… knew you were smoking hot but dang." Claude chuckled. "I like it."
"Knew you'd like it~!" Yang giggled.
"Pew!" Apollo agreed.
Claude chuckled, lightly poking Apollo's cheek, causing him to giggle. "Heh, cute little guy."
"Yang!" A voice called as Yang turned to see Cobalion approaching them.
"Oh, hey Cobalion, what's up?"
"Remember our tale about the Solgaleo and Lunala?"
"Yeah?"
"…We found them." Cobalion said, but his face looked saddened.
"Great! …So why are you looking sad?"
"You're going to have to come with me." He said, lowering himself. "Hop on." He said as Yang nodded and climbed on, then looked to Claude. "You want to come with, young man?"
"Sure, why not?" Claude chuckled, climbing on and wrapped his arms around Yang's waist as Cobalion took off, eventually arriving back at the Dynamax Adventures Den in Galar. They would see Virizion nearby and waving them over as Cobalion moved over as they saw the Legendary Beasts, the Lake Pokemon, Cresselia, and the Eon Pokemon surrounding a Pokemon. As they got closer, Yang would see a weakened Solgaleo, lying on his side.
"Oh my gosh… is that…?"
"It is." Cobalion nodded as he knelt down as Yang and Claude hopped off.
"Pew! Pew pew!" Apollo hurried over to the Solgaleo happily, unaware of his condition.
"What… what happened to him?" Yang asked.
"The Ultra Beasts mortally wounded him… the same goes for Lunala."
"I… I don't see the Lunala." Yang said, looking around for her. "Where is she?"
"The Guzzlord finished her off." Entei spoke up. "I'm assuming Cobalion has told you how Guzzlord likes to eat?"
"Yeah?" It then dawned on Yang. "…Oh no…" She whispered as she approached the dying Solgaleo. "…Calyrex… we can get Calyrex to-"
"By the time we find him and bring him over, I'm afraid it'll be too late. The fact that he's still alive when we got to you is a miracle, but I doubt he'll last much longer." Cobalion explained. "Even if we use the speed of the Eons, I'm afraid it won't be enough considering this place is a maze of its own."
Yang watched Latias, in her human form, gently put a hand on Solgaleo's neck. She looked away with tears rolling down her cheeks. "His pulse is almost gone…"
BGM: Heavy Price Paid/Punishment (Halo 2)
"Pew! Pew!" Apollo nudged his father happily. "Pew Pew!" He smiled as the Solgaleo let out a small roar as his eyes shifted to Yang. His eyes urging her to come closer as she did, kneeling down as she gently touched his cheek.
"You poor thing…" She whispered, her eyes feeling a little misty as the Solgaleo let out a small growl, but it sounded more like a soft whine. "What's he saying?"
"He's requesting that you take care of his child." Cobalion said solemnly. "Apollo is telling him everything ever since he met you."
"Oh…"
"Pew Pew!" The Cosmog smiled but then the smile disappeared, sensing something amiss. "…Pew…?"
Solgaleo let out some soft labored growls to the Cosmog before turning his gaze to the young huntress. "Pew…" Apollo's eyes started to water. "Pew! Pew Pew!"
A single tear escaped Yang's eyes. "I'll take care of him for you…" She said. "I promise you that."
The Solgaleo silently nodded and looked to his child once more, giving off a soft smile before he closed his eyes one last time as his breathing came to a stop. "Pew… Pew!" Apollo cried. "Peeeeeew!"
Yang wrapped her arms around the Cosmog, letting it cry into her chest as tears fell from her eyes as she silently sobbed. Claude walked over and knelt down next to Yang, a comforting hand on her shoulder as his usual smile wasn't there. All the Pokemon surrounding them bowed their heads and closed their eyes in silence.
End BGM
Meanwhile, with Winter…
"Winter!" A voice called out as she turned to see Kurome approaching her in a hurry.
"Kurome, what's wrong?"
"It's… it's horrible… it's… Gen… hah… General Esdeath!"
Winter immediately looked worried. "What about her?"
"Come on!" Kurome said as she guided her to a hospital. A dark feeling enveloped Winter's stomach as Kurome guided her to a room where they saw the rest of the Winter Ops gathered around. Winter approached the bed and let out a gasp. Her heart sank.
On the bed was General Esdeath, hooked to an IV as an oxygen mask was placed over her mouth. There were bandages all over her body and she looked in pretty rough shape. "What… what happened to her?!" Winter said in shock. "Why is General Esdeath in the ICU?!"
The nurse looked at her in the eye. "A few people found her in this condition. She almost bled out from her wounds but we are currently in the process of saving her. She's a fighter, and I know General Esdeath will get through this."
Winter clenched her fists, her face filled with anger. "Who did this to her…" She demanded to know. "WHO?!"
To Be Explained… in a Super RWBY Gaiden Chapter
What could have happened to Esdeath? We'll just have to find out in the next Gaiden chapter!
