Hey everyone. Here I am, Happy to be bringing you another chapter of Team TOTM. I hope you are all still enjoying this.
I know there are a lot of bad things going on right now so I'm thankful for you all for continuing to read my story when their are plenty of better things to do. It makes me proud to write.
Things have been difficult as of late because of the countries response to the Coronavirus. People are fighting each other in stores and keeping ten feet between each other.
My heart goes out to those who have contracted the virus and I hope with all my heart that the victims and their families can pull through this.
It's been a while so I won't stall any longer and let y'all get on with the chapter.
The next morning
The sun had just finished rising over the horizon as the light shined down on Beacon academy and it's teams beginning to move about. One of them, however, was moving away from the school. A closer look would show it to be Team TOTM.
They were thankful Aizawa and Goodwitch weren't as cruel to deny the teams a least one nights sleep before they had to go through their new training regime. But they were still forced to wake up at five in the morning to get ready. They were told to suit up and head to the Beacon cliffs.
And that was how after getting ready, Team TOTM with all their gear on very slowly and groggily made their way to the Beacon cliffs.
Out of all of them Tenya was the only one that was fully awake. He looked back to see his team still being very sleep deprived. "Are you all still..."
"Yes!" His team responded before she could finish and confirming their combined desire to have more sleep.
"I'm getting better though." Izuku said before raising his hand to cover a yawn, his wolfish stamina losing its edge.
"I regret agreeing to help Team RWBY with their vigilante activities." Tsuyu said bluntly as she dragged her feet across the ground. "From there it was a slippery slope to doing our own." She said while staring pointedly at their leader.
Tenya turned his head to the side to avoid her stare.
Ochako nodded. "True. But if anything I feel bad for Team JNPR. They had no connections or knowledge about what we were doing and their still being punished. Team SMKE is in because of Todoroki's and Kirishima's interference so that makes sense at least."
"Honestly, I think they were seen with us and they just decided they'd drag them along into it." Izuku said before yawning again.
Just as he wrapped up that sentence, they reached their destination with Aizawa and Team SMKE already present. Shouto and Bakugo looked normal while Mina and Kirishima slumped forward with the latter about to fall to the ground.
"You're late." Aizawa called them out. "I told you to be here before the sun risen. If you're going to waste everyone's time then don't bother showing up at all."
Tenya bowed his head. "I apologize sir. We had to..."
"I don't care Iida, I don't want words. I want action." Aizawa said glaring at the blue haired man. "Keep in mind out of all the people on my shit list, you take up a nice spot near the top. I know I don't have to explain why."
Tenya lowered his head in shame. "No you don't sir."
Aizawa lost his glare and went back to his passive look. "Alright then. Now that everyone's here, let's discuss what's going to go on."
"Mr. Aizawa." Shouto stepped forward. "Team's RWBY and JNPR aren't here yet. Shouldn't we wait for them."
The cat faunas shook his head. "Goodwitch and I didn't want to deal with all of you at once. We get enough of that during a normal school week. So we divided you. Your teams are with me and the other two are with her." The teacher turned and looked as Kirishima finally began to fall. He sent out his cloth around the boy's head to stop his fall. "I need you awake Kirishima." He pulled back on his weapon so sharp and abruptly that all the bones in Kirishima's back popped loudly.
"AAAHH!" Kirishima briefly yelled at his wake up call. "Yes... sir..." He managed to weakly make out through his groans.
"Sir. It's too early and we barely slept at all last night. How do you expect us to do anything." Mina said, slightly swaying side to side drowsily.
"When do you think was the last time I got a decent three hours of sleep." Their teacher asked seriously.
Mina thought about it for a second before deciding. "Last night?"
"Monday!" He said with a air of finality.
"Isn't today f*#king Sunday!" Bakugo noticed.
"Exactly!" Aizawa said with a look that highlighted his eye bags and his bloodshot eyes. "I'll make this brief. Ozpin gave me full reign on your training until the Vytal festival tournament. Therefore, the next two weeks until the Vytal festival are going to be the worst in your short lives." He added a shit eating grin to the end of his sentence.
Shouto raised his hand. "Sir, while I do believe you to be one of the most capable teachers in this school, I don't see how you'd be able to train eight individuals with varying levels of ability, weaponry, and other factors."
Their teacher looked over at his half and half student with a light glare. "I've been doing that my whole at Beacon with entire classrooms. But since I predicted your concerns, I've already asked a local huntsman team to help me get you all ready."
This immediately sent Izuku into starry eyed excitement. "Really!? Which one? Team CRMN? Team FRST?" He loudly gasped. "Or is it team gahhhgaga..." His ramble was ended when Aizawa's weapon was suddenly tight around his throat.
"I have no intention of telling you until they get here. They'll be here any minute and when they do arrive I expect you all to behave yourselves." His usual black eyes flashed red. "Is that understood?"
Seeing as Izuku was still getting choked out all he could do was weakly give a thumbs up.
"Good." Their teacher said releasing his scarf as Izuku took some much needed gulps of air while Ochako soothingly rubbed his back and Bakugo quietly chuckled.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" A sudden voice startled them all as a figure leapt up from beneath the cliffs and landed by Aizawa. It appeared to be a young, curvaceous woman with long and wild blonde hair with two long tufts that frame the sides of her head and golden seemed to be a lion faunas, made evident by the large lion ears on her head.
All the men on the two teams had their faces set aflame at the sight of her. Not just for her attractive looks, but also the incredibly revealing outfit she was wearing. It consisted of a tan sleeveless jacket left open over top of a black tube top wrapped tightly around her enormous breasts and exposing her bare toned stomach to the world.
The rest of the outfit was mild. The tan detachable sleeves with a gold bracelet wrapped around the ends with the bigger ones being on her wrists, a pair of tan pants, brown moccasin boots and a simple scarf around her neck.
"I've come to lend a paw and help! Stingily cute and catlike! Wild, wild..." A green metallic hand gripped itself around her throat before a black cable attached to it began to reel her in to a group of four people.
The one dragging her was a second woman with short silver hair and a singular purple eye seeing as the place where the right one would be was covered by an eye patch. She wore a formal black suit with straps crisscrossing the open top that showed off a lot of her cleavage. It turned out the thing dragging the blond was extended hand of the woman's large and green mechanical right arm.
The second one was a young man with shoulder-length green hair that covers his left eye, green eyes and red goggles on top of his head. He wore a long green jacket with a fur-trimmed hood over a white and red ringer shirt and blue jeans with brown shoes. Over his hands were a pair of fingerless gloves with a small reel like device on the back of his hands.
The third one was a tall, muscular young man with blue eyes and black hair that was combed up into a heart-shaped pompadour. He donned a tight black shirt that showed of his rippling muscles with green armor that cover his chest and shoulders and white pants with black boots. Over on top his armor he wore a black leather jacket with a large spike on each shoulder. He had a smile that seemed to sparkle even when it didn't show off his teeth.
And the last one was a surprise. It was a small boy who stood at knee height. He wore a white collared shirt with buttons, dark shorts, and black boots. He has short, spiky black hair and wears a red hat with golden, spike-shaped horns on the front.
The silver haired woman looked at Aizawa as she dropped her blonde friend at her feet and her mechanical arm reset itself back to a normal arm. "My apologies for Leone's sudden entrance Aizawa." She then softly smiled. "She was smitten like a kitten for a good first impression."
"Oh Dammit not a third one!" Bakugo yelled.
The two teams watched all this happen with varying levels of confusion.
That was until a high pitched squeal that could only a true fanboy could make. They all turned to see Izuku with sparkling eyes and his mouth formed a perfect O in shocked awe. "I can't believe it! It's team NBLL (Noble)! Their individual strength and unbreakable teamwork makes them one of if not the best huntsman team in Vale ever since they left Beacon together six years ago!" He then started frantically patting down his body while muttering 'where is it?' and 'notebook' until he pulled one of his analysis notebooks. He disappeared and reappeared in front of the newly arrived team with a blank page and a pen. "May I please have your autographs!?"
The tall man of the group chuckled. "It seems we have quite the admirer. The fire in his blood burns rather passionately."
"Give him a minute. You'll find out real quickly he's like that with every huntsman. No matter how big or small." Aizawa turned his face towards the silver haired woman. "So Najenda, mind explaining to me why you're all here instead of the team I requested."
Suddenly the blonde popped up from the ground while the tall one got to signing Izuku's notebook. "Oh, that. My dear cousin Ryuko and her team got called away on a sudden mission outside the kingdom. So they gave us a call and asked us to fill in."
"Come on Aizawa." The green haired one talked with a relaxed pose. "You can't tell us your not happy to see one of your favorite sets of students."
Aizawa glared at the green one with flashing red eyes and flowing black hair. "You mean most troublesome." His eyes closed and his hair fell as he let out a long sigh. "Screw it. I'll take what I can get." He looked back at his students. "I planned to have a more experienced and disciplined team teach you, but instead I got past problem children of mine. Nonetheless, for the next two weeks their going to be your teachers alongside me. I expect you to treat them as such." He looked back at NBLL. "Introduce yourselves."
The silver haired one stepped forward. "My name is Najenda Silva. Leader of team NBLL. I'm glad to be teaching the next generation."
The blonde haired woman smiled and sent them the peace sign. "The names Leone Tsuchikawa. Heart breaker of men and envy of women. Try not to let me catch any blood coming from your nose."
Mina took a closer look at the woman. Long and crazy blonde hair, golden eyes, cat ears, revealing outfit, very outgoing personality and based on her larger than average bracelets she was most likely a brawler type. The woman honestly look as if Blake and Yang had gone back in time and made a love child together.
She grinned. New ship idea. Marked and saved.
The tall man chucked a thumb at himself. "Bulat Ryujin at your service. Feel free to either call me bro or handsome."
"Whatever you say handsome." Mina said with a slight purr at the sight of the handsome mans incredible physique.
"So manly." Kirishima said with stars in his eyes.
The green haired man slid his hair to the side to see the students with both of his green eyes. "I'm Lubbock C. Dornez. Try not to die during your time with us. You don't want to end up like that brat Mineta."
"That last sentence has me rather concerned." Ochako said with her hand weakly raised.
"Don't dwell on it." The green haired man said.
"Alright then, let's get right to it." The now named Najenda said. "Each of us has a different thing that we can teach you, but before we can do any of that we have to find out where you stand right now in terms of your strengths."
"Ms. Silva." Tenya said raising his hand. "Since we are on the cliffs above the emerald forest is it safe to assume that the test will be something similar to Beacon's initiation test?"
"First of all, don't call me miss." The woman said with her one good eye twitching. "Second of all, it is similar in a way, but at the same time far more difficult. I'll leave it to my dear friend Leone to explain what I mean by that."
"Why thank you boss." The lioness said stepping up to the plate. "At the beginning of the year the lot of you went into the forest and find a relic while fighting of grimm. There's only a few differences to what this is going to be. The first one being that this time the relic... is me." She said pointing a thumb to herself.
"So we have to go into the forest and find you?" Ochako questioned confused.
"Not quite. I'm not gonna simply be letting you find me. I'll be moving about while you all track me. And even if you do find me I won't let you take me willy nilly. You'll be required to use force." Leone said.
The information sank in for the students. If they found her they'd have to fight and capture her. Meaning they'd have to fight an experienced huntress and if Midoriya's words were anything to go by then she was one of the best in Vale.
"The catch is this. You can't leave this forest until I do. Whether it's because you knock me unconscious and drag my body back or if it's because I'm getting too bored. Personally, I feel as though it's going to be the latter." Leone finished while grinning.
"Bored?" Bakugo's voice was low. When looking back at him you could see that he was grinning and veins were pulsing in his forehead. "I get it. You're looking down on me aren't you?"
Leone smiled. "I am. And I expect you to make me change my mind about that so let's make it a fun time shall we." She then crouched low. "I'll see you down there kittens." That was all the warning they had before the ground exploded in a cloud of dust and engulfed them all.
As the dust cleared and a few of them were done coughing they looked to see where the blonde once was and found the ground had shattered and dented inward from the impact.
"Where'd she go." Kirishima asked looking around for the woman.
Shouto looked up and noticed something. "Look at the sky."
They all looked up and saw an arc of dust had crossed through the sky and stopped a little further than the center of the forest.
Tsuyu held a finger to her mouth. "She wasn't using a spring pad was she?"
"Holy crap. She has some hops." Mina exclaimed.
Lubbock smiled at their awe. "Yes. And she's only going to be harder to find the longer you wait so I suggest you hurry up."
"Right." Tenya nodded. "Time for action. Midoriya, is there any information you have on her that might be able to help us track and capture her."
Izuku brought his hand up to his chin in thought. "Well, based on the notes I took on Team NBLL her specialty is tracking and surprise attacks so it'd probably be best if we stuck together and-"
An explosion erupted behind them, the wind flipping their hair all around. They looked at the source to see Bakugo using his explosions to propel himself to where Leone landed.
"You're gonna pay for looking down on me you bimbo!" They heard him scream as he soared through the air.
"Bakugo wait!" Tenya yelled after him, but it fell on deaf ears as the explosive blonde only went farther away.
"We better go after him." Shouto said before ice erupted from his feet and he started sliding down an ice trail following after his teammate.
"Guess we're going in guns blazing." Mina said before sliding down the same ice trail on her acid skates.
"Alright!" Kirishima shouted excited as he hardened his skin with his semblance before jumping off the side of the cliff.
Tenya's head hung dejectedly in defeat. "We hadn't even come up with a strategy yet."
Tsuyu hand found it's onto his shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Don't worry about it."
"We'd better hurry and catch up." Izuku said activating full cowl and leaping off into the forest.
"Right behind you." Ochako said reloading her weapon with gravity dust before firing it behind her and sending her flying after her partner.
With no one but them, Tenya and Tsuyu looked at ech other. The frog girl shrugged before crouching and jumping far using her powerful legs.
Tenya just sighed before simply stepping off the cliff and falling down to join the hunt.
With them gone the only ones on the cliff were Aizawa, the rest of team NBLL, and the little kid that had come with them.
"They're certainly impatient. No wonder you called in help." Najenda said.
"I think passionate is the word you're looking for there boss." Bulat said smiling.
"I believe troublesome brats is the actual choice of words." Aizawa said.
Bakugo looked around the landing site trying to find out which way that frustrating woman took off to. He didn't even acknowledge the rest of the teams coming up behind him.
"Bakugo. You can't just run off on your own like that." Tenya scolded as he arrived. "We didn't even begin our plan of attack."
"I have a plan of attack thank you very little. Find her, blow her to hell and bring her burnt corpse back to show her how wrong she was to underestimate me." Bakugo said shouting every piece of his 'beautiful' plan to emphasize his anger.
"Bakubro, why don't we just find her, but forget the whole explosion murder part of your plan?" Kirishima said trying to calm him down.
Shouto ignored all of this in favor at looking at the impact crater. There was a set of footprints buried into the ground, no doubt from the landing, but they were the only ones. "There's no tracks leading away from the landing. She couldn't have leapt very far otherwise we would have seen her do so on our way down."
Tsuyu held a finger to her mouth in thought as she surveyed the surrounding area. They were in a smaller clearing of the forest surrounded by towering trees and the occasional boulder. "She might of used the trees to move about. We're supposed to be tracking her as well so she must of wanted to stay off the ground so she wouldn't leave any discernible trail for us to follow."
"Everyone. Check the branches on the trees and see if you can find any scratch marks." Tenya commanded.
"Don't tell me what to do dammit." Bakugo roared before firing an explosion to toss him onto one of the nearby branches.
The others moved to check the others. Checking each branch closely to try and see any form of recent disturbance.
"I got it." Ochako yelled tn minutes into their search. The others leapt up on surrounding branches to observe the gravity girls discovery. Indeed the area she pointed at had it's bark ruffly scuffed alongside the inner and thicker branch. One that closely resembled the bottom of boots.
"So what now huh!? Do we check every damn tree in that direction!?" Bakugo yelled. Wanting to blow something up, this was all taking way to long to him.
Izuku leapt down onto the branch with his partner to take a closer look at it. It wasn't until he breathed that he caught. It was faint, but he swore he smelled the feline smell that the blonde haired woman no doubt had. He sniffed the air loudly, trying to catch more of it. It was coming from the trunk of the tree. "Guys, I've got her scent."
"Way to go Midori." Mina cheered.
He sniffed the air a little more until he smelt more of the scent wafting from another tree in that direction. "And now I've got her trail."
Bakugo growled. "Then lead the damn way, Deku!"
Izuku leapt of the branch in the direction of the smell. Leaving everyone to follow him.
Leone had just landed and quickly took off to the trees, not wanting to leave any tracks on the ground for the young ones to track her.
Her large ears had caught the sound of explosions not too long after heading in her direction. Based on her evaluation of the students on the cliff she knew it was the ash blonde coming after her first.
She smiled. She was going to have so much fun making him getting him angry. He was just that easy it seemed.
From branch to branch she leapt, disturbing the leaves as little as possible to not leave any trails behind.
Unfortunately they had to find her before she was allowed to attack. An unfortunate rule the Boss placed on her in the beginning.
But that didn't mean she couldn't make it easier to get to her.
As she past by some trees she made sure to rub her scent onto it, either with her hair or her clothes. The group had four different kinds of faunas. One of which related to a animal that was a king of both tracking and pursuit.
Just a way to make sure she had her fun with them.
Rather than making her way north she instead switched back to a certain area.
She had a destination in mind. One that would spark old memories for both of the teams.
The teams had been following Izuku, putting their faith in his sense of smell for the past three hours.
The lioness huntress had most likely been jumping all over the place to confuse them, but Izuku gave them all reassurances that the scent was getting stronger much faster. Meaning they were getting closer by the minute.
"This woman really likes to beat us around the bushes." Mina said.
"Hah hah hah... yeah... hah hah... we've been... hah... looking forever..." Ochako said at the back. Out of everyone in the group she wasn't the best when it came to stamina or moving for very long periods of time. Her morning runs with her partner had helped her in that department by a large margin.
"I know. But we are really close now." Izuku said trying to reassure his visibly tired partner from the front of the group.
"You've said that for the past half hour you bastard!" Bakugo yelled from Izuku's left side, his frustration getting close to it's peak after all this time looking for the huntress. "If we don't find her in the next five minutes I am going to blow that useless nose of your useless face!"
"Bakugo, do not threaten your fellow classmates with critical injury! We must focus on the task at hand!" Tenya scolded from his spot on the other side of Izuku.
"Don't tell me what to do damn you!" Bakugo yelled back.
"Now's really not the time to be fighting you guys." Kirishima said. "We should save that for- oof!" His voice cut off as he slammed into Izuku who had suddenly stopped moving. Everyone quickly stopped as well to see red on top of green on the ground.
"Hey bro you good?" Kirishima said getting off their tracker and offering him a hand.
"Yeah, sorry for stopping all of the sudden." Izuku replied sheepishly as he grabbed the hand to get himself up.
"Why did you stop? Ribbit." Tsuyu asked while Ochako took the sudden stop to better breathe.
Izuku face the way they were going before sniffing again. "The trail stopped. It ended right here. And it's very strong."
That got everyone on high alert as they quickly huddled together and searched the surrounding area.
"Midoriya, can you pinpoint where she is?" Shouto asked with Yeager drawn with a one handed grip in his right.
The green haired man shook his head. "No. The scent's too strong. She must have covered the whole area with it to prepare for us."
"You did say she was fond of sneak attacks." Tenya said. "And we just entered her kill box. Remain together so she can't get a clear attack."
They were mostly back to back, looking every which way to find their target. Bakugo in particular was looking very intently at the tree's until he caught something out of the corner of his eye and did a double take. There, at the far end of where they were, was single leaf falling to the ground.
Granted it could of been due to it being the very beginning of fall, but the rest of the leaves were staying true to their place among the branches. And his frustrated mind came to a quick conclusion.
Raising both his arms, the machine gun feature of Ground Zero rained down fire from their second muzzles on the tree the leaf came from.
His teammates all turned in surprise to find a tree barely standing on what was now barely a twig for a trunk and all of it's leaves on fire.
Shouto narrowed his eyes at his teammate. "Are you trying to set the forest on fire?!"
"Yeah Blasty. Are you?" A teasing voice came from the burning embers of the tree's canopy. Leone leapt from the flames and onto the ground, causing all members of the group to gain a battle ready pose.
Bakugo's smile was feral as he stared down there opponent. "About time you came of hiding like a pu**y. Now stay still so I can make you scream like one." He said squeezing his grip in a way that brought the handles of the grenade shaped gauntlets forward into their wrist mounted hook sword forms.
The lioness only smiled back. "It doesn't matter how much strength you have, or how much speed you have, or even if you have a more powerful semblance. The one that wins is the one with the sharpest fangs. Or in this case..." Her wrists flicked as a mechanical sound filled the air before her large metal bracelets were in motion and covered her hands in her weapons. The metal surrounding her hands was a gunmetal grey that segmented on the back of her hands and up along her fingers to allow better motion. The palms were covered in a thinner black metal that housed three small cartridges of dust each; one being red, another being green, and the last one being brown. The most prominent feature, however, were at the end of each fingertip in the form of long and lethal golden claws. "The one with sharper claws."
Izuku quietly squealed. "The wrist mounted, multi dust cartridge claw gauntlets, Lionel! One of the forums said she stabbed them into a deathstalker's head before tearing it's skull in half."
"Midoriya, I'd appreciate it if you fanboy over our opponent after we defeat her." Tenya said politely, not taking his eyes of Leone.
The group then heard loud approaching footfalls and turned to see a group of Grimm running towards them in the form of boarbatusks, creeps, beowolfs, and a few straggling Ursa. They must have heard Bakugou's preemptive attack and took it as a sign to come and try to destroy them.
Bakugo not seeing the grimm or ignoring them in favor of his focus on Leone felt his heat up and heard the tiny crackels and pops that came with his semblance. "Here I come bitch!" He said exploding the air behind him and charging through the air at a high speed.
"Is he serious right now?!" Mina exclaimed, getting real tired of the ash blondes compulsiveness in going ahead without them. So much so she didn't notice the boarbatusk rolling it's way right towards her.
Kirishima noticed this and quickly stepped in the way with Red Riot in it's shield formation and took the brunt of the attack. He then reached out with his left and grabbed the grimm by one it's tusks and slammed into the ground before raising his other hand and slamming it into the creatures back, snapping its spine and killing it instantly. "It's going to be hard fighting the grimm and that lady at the same time.
Tenya surveyed the battle as Leone jumped over Bakugo's initial attack and blocked his clawed strikes with the back of her hands. "Bakugo is holding her off for now. Let's quickly rid the grimm so we can help him." He concluded, gaining the confirmations from his peers in the forms of nods or words of approval.
They split up and attacked the grimm from all sides. Riddling them with bullets, cutting them apart, freezing them, smashing their heads in, or melting them with acid. Unfortunately despite the attack from the day before, there appeared to still be a great number of grimm in the forest and a few ignored them and went after the two fighting.
A beowolf tried attacking Leone from behind, but she simply jumped and landed on it's back. Before it could try to reach back and grab her she jumped off and an explosion rocked through it's chest as Bakugo's attack meant for the lioness killed it instead.
Leone landed and quickly folded her body backwards as her fellow blonde came slashing at her. The two unfortunate creeps behind her had the the top half of their heads separated from their bodies Bakugo's missed attack slashed through their heads.
Leone threw a clawed hand out towards Bakugo. The ashen blonde exploded the air in front of him as a smoke screen to blind his opponent. He leapt over and prepared to fire another one at her back. Quickly thinking Leone grabbed a rolling boarbatusk and spun around to chuck it at the airborne Bakugo. Making a quick readjustment with his hands Bakugo made an explosion that sent him out of the way.
Bakugo landed with his palms behind him, exploding him back towards Leone with both his hooks swords in front of him in the form of a double pronged assault. Leone side stepped this and Bakugo's attack stabbed itself into an Alpha Ursa's chest and killing it.
He ripped out his weapons before glaring back at the woman he hadn't been to land a single attack on yet. "I will kill everything in this forest, as long as one of those things is you!" He roared charging at her again. She jumped away and then leapt backwards deeper into the forest with Bakugo giving quick chase.
"They're getting away!" Izuku exclaimed.
Shouto sliced another creep before looking at the retreating form of the two blondes. Gritting his teeth in frustration at his teammates total refusal to listen to them. Stabbing Jaegar into the ground he sent his semblance through it. Spiked pillars of ice leapt from the ground and skewered the remaining grimm. With no more creatures of darkness around he plucked his sword from the ground and sheathed it.
Tsuyu, who was next to him, shivered at the sudden cold. "C-Chilly."
"My apologies." He said regretfully before turning to see where Bakugo had vanished. "We need to go. It was clear that she wasn't treating seriously."
"Uh, should we take care of that first?" Ochako asked, pointing at the fire that Bakugo had started. The one burning tree had turned into many.
Shouto quickly drew his sword from his sheath and slashed at the trees, a cold blast of air quickly followed putting out the flames and covering the burnt remains with a thin layer of frost.
"Okay then." Was Ochako's simple reply.
Together they charged after the two battling warriors as they kept going deeper into the woods. They past the occasional patch of blown up earth and burning brush to which Shouto quickly took care of.
They kept going until they reached a clearing at the bottom of the cliffs. And it was a very familiar one.
"These are the ruins we fought those large Grimm at!" Ochako exclaimed, the place already bringing up bad memories of her near death experience.
They heard more explosions coming from up ahead to see Leone and Bakugo near the gorge.
Back with Bakugo he had been pushing her backwards forever and his unyielding rage was sending nitroglycerin through his veins as he fired explosion after explosion.
He saw the look on her face. She was smiling and laughing the whole time. She was downright taunting him for all his missed shots and it pissed him off to no end.
Her eyes suddenly widened slightly as she smacked away a bullet with the back of her hand.
He looked back to see all of his classmate extras running behind him with Kirishima having been the one who fired as he continued to do so.
Ochako grabbed a nearby fallen pillar and made it weightless using her semblance before tossing it in the air over Leone. "Deku!"
Izuku saw this and poured 8% of One for All through his veins as he leapt after it. As he was right above Ochako canceled out the zero gravity and gave it back it's weight. Izuku landed on the top of the pillar as it was right above the blonde lioness. "Downward Homerun Smash!" He shouted kicking the pillar straight down at her.
Kirishima leapt through the air and cocked his fist back for when Leone would dodge the attack.
To his surprise she raised her hands and caught it, the ground beneath her splintering. She looked up at him and smiled, pulling the pillar back like a baseball bat. "This is a real homerun!"
That was all the warning he got as she smashed the pillar into his hardened side. The damage didn't amount to much, but that quickly left his mind as fell off the side of the gorge.
"Eiji!" Mina cried out before Tsuyu's chain blade shot past her over the edge and wrapped itself around the red haired man's arm. The frog pulled backwards and Kirishima was reeled back in to the ground next to them.
"Thanks Tsu." Kirishima said after Tsuyu unwrapped his hand.
"Don't worry about it. Ribbit." Tsuyu croaked in reply.
Back with the fight Tenya had joined the fray and was now fighting alongside Bakugo. Needless to say it was a haphazard arrangement at sent his own fast kicks towards her and had to back away as Bakugo exploded the ground where they both were. "Bakugo! Control your attacks or you'll hit us all!"
"You won't get hit if you stay out of the way!" Bakugo shouted back as he went at Leone again. Tenya angrily shook his head in frustration as he sped forward after them.
Leone blocked attacks from both men as they dodged her occasional swipe. She duck under another one of Bakugo's blast rushes before catching Tenya's kick by the shin and throwing him away. She saw a shadow on the ground and looked up to see Bakugo coming at her from above. She smiled wickedly as she used her thumbs to press the brown dust vial in her palms to load it into the cartridge. Her claws went from their golden pristine to a darker bronze shine. She stabbed her right hands claws into the ground and then threw it upwards. The earth dust she infused activated and sent a column of rock right into the flying Bakugo's stomach.
His insides left his mouth as he fell to the ground. She charged at his falling body for another strike, but he was caught by the returned Tenya.
She dodged to the left where a trail of ice was suddenly made where she was standing. She looked to see Shouto with sword in hand. His pink teammate skating towards her.
She used her claws to bring up a slab of earth where she was to guard against Mina's rapid fire. She noticed that her side of the wall was starting to sizzle so she leapt back as a hose of acid pierced through the wall.
She maneuvered herself midair to dodge a strike from Tsuyu's segmented blade. She landed on the ground and dodged another few strikes from the frog girl while blocking others. As she turned her head to the left to avoid having it impaled then grabbed the blade with her Lionel. She yanked it backwards and brought Tsuyu flying towards her. Tsuyu quickly shifted the ring on her weapon to have it reform into it's short sword form. Spinning around in the air to gain extra momentum she slammed Rainy Season's blade into Lionel. The ice dust in the blade quickly covered the claws with frost.
Leone smiled at this before pressing the red dust vial on her hand. The ice covering her hands quickly melted as her claws went from their bronze color to a burning red that was reminiscent of burning hot metal. Knocking Tsuyu's blade aside and grabbed her by the chest, the claws burning her clothes, but leaving skin unmarred thanks to aura. She pulled back her arm and slammed the frog girl through one of the still standing pillars.
She let go of her and moved to the side as a lightning dust shot impacted against another pillar. She turned to see Izuku and Ochako running at her with revenge in their eyes.
She pressed the green dust vial and brought her arm back to swing, the claws changing from burning red to glowing green. She swung downwards and the air pressure from her swing plus the wind dust combined to create four blades of air rocket towards the duo.
Izuku saw this and quickly put an additional 12% into Devotion and swung sideways, creating his own air blade to counteract Leone's.
"She can use your move Deku!" Ochako exclaimed.
"Yeah." He said lowering back down to 8%. "She used earth dust to attack Kacchan and defend against Mina, she used fire dust to melt Tsuyu's ice, and now she uses wind dust to make aerial blades. We know her attacks now, so let's attack together." He said bringing Devotion together into it's double bladed axe mode.
"Right." She nodded as she put broken moon into staff mode.
Leone switched back to fire dust as she engaged with the on comers.
She blocked Izuku's initial swing before leaping over Ochako's leg sweep.
Her and Izuku traded a few blows before she blew past him striking at his chest. his aura protected him against the heat. She then charged Ochako with her own leg sweep which the gravity girl leapt over while slamming her staff against her guarding fist. Following up, Leone sent clawed strikes everywhere to which Ochako did her best to defend against. Twisting on her foot the lioness spin kicked Ochako's guard, sending her away.
She switched back to Izuku with the same tactic. Izuku also blocked them, but he then jumped and spun as he brought his axe down. Leone leapt back as he slashed the ground sending dirt flying. Keeping his spinning momentum as he landed he spun and slammed his axe against her guard and sent her back a few meters.
She turned to see Ochako spinning her staff before swinging at her hips. She leapt over it before realizing Izuku was on the other side swinging his axe at her airborne form. She blocked against Izuku's strike before grabbing Ochako and swinging her at Izuku.
The two slid momentarily before getting back up and charging back in. Izuku crossed his arms as he took a punch and flew back.
Ochako kept charging and kept her staff in a constant spinning motion to attack Leone from all sides. Leone guarded before sending an upward kick that Ochako blocked barely going up into the air. She back flipped while airborne as Izuku leapt in the air to bring down Devotion on Leone's spot only for her to jump back.
Pressing the brown vial she made a few rocks and shot them like bullets. Ochako appeared in front of Izuku with with her weapon in tonfa form. She spun the around and and blocked against each shot. Having quickly loaded them with gravity dust, she pulled her arms behind her and fired. As she flew through the air she curled herself into a somersault before lashing out both her legs in a double kick against Leone's guarding forearms. Ochako then pressed forward with more close quarters attacks before leaping over Leone to dodge her strike.
Leone rolled backwards to go under Izuku's strike that would have bifurcated her had she otherwise not. Making more rock bullets she fired as Izuku spun Devotion single handedly before firing shots at her. She blocked them before Izuku leapt to the air again. Leone inwardly rolled her eyes at the boys third attempt of the same move before realizing she was starting to float. She looked to see Ochako pressing her fingers against the ground, using it to send her semblance to her.
Izuku used the distraction to slam the flat side of Devotion against her sending her flying back quickly. Kirishima suddenly appeared in the air where she was going before pulling back his arm and slamming her towards the ground.
Where Shouto stood with his hand on the handle of his sheathed blade. Before Leone touched the ground, he sped forward and slashed at her. His semblance and the ice dust coming together to encase her in ice.
Sheathing his blade Shouto turned to see everyone coming towards the ice prison to admire the handiwork. "We got her."
"About time too. The sun's telling me it's after lunch." Mina complained.
"Dammit. That should have been me to land the final blow." Bakugo said scowling at Tenya. "Why the hell did you have to grab me and run?"
"You took a serious blow to the stomach. I had to ensure your safety." Tenya said calmly, his lesson from the night before last night fresh in his mind.
Tsuyu looked up at the cliff side. "Any idea on how to get her up there? Ribbit."
Izuku nodded. "Ochako can-"
Crack!
That was all the warning they got before the ice exploded and sent chunks into them.
They all turned to look back, only to have their eyes widen in shock. Leone stood there in the shattered remains of her prison, her claws not just glowing red with her fire dust but lighting her whole hand on fire. Her smiling face replaced with a pissed off scowl with her eyes hidden behind her bangs. She breathed in through her gritted teeth. "You know, I was actually having a good time today. Run around a forest, poke some fun and have a good fight. But then you had to go and freeze me. Reminding me of one of the worst experiences of my life." She raised her head slightly. her one visible eye clearly glaring at them while the still hidden one glowed red in the shadows of her hair. "You just made it personal."
That was when they all felt it. The second time they felt it this strongly for the second time in less than a week.
Killing intent.
Blood lust.
They group that fought Stain had felt as if he were there except for Shouto. With that angry scowl and the fiery hands, his mind's eye removed the image of Leone and replaced it with the one of his father. Staring down at him after thoroughly beating him as his training was called.
"Well then." Leone said, getting low and ready to pounce. "Here I co-"
Four figures dived at her. Her anger left her mind as she took in the forms of Tenya, Bakugo, Izuku, and Shouto charging at her.
Ingenium's valves burst with blue fire as he used in conjunction with Recipro to burst forward and escaped her eyesight. She felt a strong breeze pass her as she realized where he went. She turned to defend, but his foot was too fast as it blasted across her face and gave her whiplash.
Defend! He shouted internally.
Devotion's body was covered with glowing green lightning as Izuku pushed his power through it. Sliding through her legs he appeared in front of her and slammed the flat edge into her stomach and sent her upward.
Save! He yelled inside his mind.
Jaegar's ice blue blade gathered mist around it as Shouto pulled it from it's sheath. Stabbing it into the ground he sent ice forward int he form of a trail before it ended right beneath the lioness's airborne form. A pillar of ice rose and slammed into her and continued to grow carrying her with it.
Rise! He thought coolly as he banished that man from his thought's.
Ground Zero's bodies was pointed downward as the palms of the gloves beneath them began to glow orange. The controlled explosion that erupted sent Bakugo flying upward and above Leone's rising form bringing his palms together to concentrate another explosion downward.
Win! His mind roared.
"Now die!" The explosion rocked through his arms to his hands and blasted the lioness downward and through the ice pillar before she slammed into the ground causing a spire of dirt and dust to fly into the air.
The four of them landed next to their still prone teammates.
"Holy crap! That was so manly what you guys just pulled off!" Kirishima said with stars in his eyes.
"Here I was being scared before you guys went and hero on us." Mina said grinning, her earlier fear replaced with impressed happiness.
"Way to go. Ribbit." Tsuyu said smiling.
"That was too cool! Totally awesome!" Ochako said jumping up and down with joy.
The dust cleared to show Leone eagle spread on the ground. They heard her groan and looked at her to see her slowly getting up on wobbly legs. She was gripping her right arm in a show of pain. Multiple cuts and bruises crisscrossed her body. Her face etched itself in pain.
Bakugo started roaring in laughter. "You see that you bimbo! I just blasted your ass so hard into the ground that you can barely stand much less put up a fight! You'll do better to think twice the next time you under estimate Katsuki Bakugo, the next number one huntsman!"
Leone weakly coughed before smiling. "Well, I did say prove me wrong. And I'll admit I'm impressed. Your attack styles, your coordination, your weapons, even your teamwork is worthy of being a great team. And your semblances are nothing to scoff at either." Her golden aura appeared as it flickered slightly from all the damage it took. "But don't tell me you forgot about mine." Her aura flickered once more before flaring brightly enough for the others to watch behind hands to block the blinding light.
"Oh crap!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Something slip your mind Deku?!" Bakugo asked angrily, wondering what the hell the lioness was doing.
"Undying Lion!" Izuku explained. "Her semblance which allows both her body and aura to regenerate itself back to full health and strength. Meaning-"
"Meaning..." Leone's voice called as the light dimmed revealing all her injuries were gone and she was standing as tall and proud as when they first started this fight. "all the damage you just did meant nothing. I'm a lion with nine lives baby."
Surprised faces came from the ones that didn't have this knowledge. And then there was Bakugo.
"Tch. So you want another round huh? Fine by me. I'll just put you in the ground over and over again." He said grinning evilly. "You smug c*#t."
Shocked silence permeated the air as those words rung through everyone in the clearings ears and repeated itself louder and louder.
Leone's face was blank and void of all emotion. She closed her eyes before taking a deep breath through her nose.
Later on, Bakugo's little taunt would be on a list called "Words spoken before disaster struck."
The group on the cliff top watched using the forest camera's used for initiation. They all watched as Bakugo's body impacted itself against the cliff side and created a large crater.
"Told you it was going to happen." Lubbock said with a small chuckle.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn. Especially if that woman's a lion." Bulat said with his own smile of amusement.
"Well then. Seeing as Leone's got her second wind those kids are going to be down there a lot longer now." Najenda said, trying to and failing at hiding her own amusement. "Let's get some lunch. I believe that cafeteria's in the same place as before right?"
"Why the hell would we move it? It's massive." Aizawa grumbled as started heading back with the others following them.
The little boy looked off into the distance where he saw multiple clouds of dust forming from the fighting. "The hell is up with these people? Is this a school for morons?" He turned and followed behind the only adults around.
Many hours later...
The sun was only an hour away from setting and the cliff top group returned..
A familiar mat of blonde made itself know as Leone made herself known. A few burnt singes on her clothes but otherwise looked perfectly normal. No doubt thanks to her semblance repairing all of her damage.
"Leone. I take it from your smile that you had a good time." Najenda asked as she took in her friends air of happiness that surrounded her.
"It was great. Kids these sure know how to take a punch. How to give one too." She said blissfully as she got on her hands and stretched out her back like a feline would. "They're right behind and ready for a break I think."
True to her words the others heard shuffling from the edge of the cliff and turned to see the students heading to them in various forms of damaged states. The most common similarities were light cuts and very noticeable bruising.
Tenya may have kicked her too hard from one of his full speed attacks and was now limping with his right leg dragging slightly behind him.
Mina shook her hands in front of her. Using her semblance too much left them in stinging pain.
Tsuyu walked out with droopy eyes and her tongue hanging from her mouth. She looked ready to fall asleep at the drop of a lien.
Kirishima's skin had very noticeable bruises on his chest and arms where he took most of the hits. His hardened skin took most of the brunt but still took the impacts hard.
Ochako had her hands over her mouth and stomach, trying to keep whatever was left of her breakfast inside.
Todoroki had pieces of frost littered across the right side of his body.
Bakugo gripped his forearms and rubbed in order to try and soothe the pain. You'd think he'd be more worried about his back considering how his little taunt was recieved.
Izuku's entire body was sore from being slammed, punched, tossed, clawed, and getting his entire top half buried from a pile drive.
"She's out of the woods, so the exercise is over now." Najenda said.
To the instant relief of the students as the all flopped onto the ground in heaps. Tsuyu downright passed out.
"Is it bad that I can't feel my feet?" Tenya rhetorically asked.
"I'm so hungry." Mina whined holding her stomach.
"I'm starving." Kirishima said laying on his back.
"Please... don't mention anything... food related..." Ochako begged.
Aizawa looked at his former students. "What do you think?"
Leone nodded. "They've got a lot of good things going for them. They each have rough edges that they need to sand off, but we can take care of that." She lightly glared at Bakugo. "It pains me to say it but blasty along those three are definitely a cut above." She said gesturing to Tenya, Shouto, and Izuku.
"They're high school students so hands off." Najenda said to the resident lioness.
Leone scoffed. "Please, I'm not my cousin complaining about being past marriageable age."
Bakugo looked past the adults at the small kid at their side. "The hell is a kid doing here?"
"He's my friend's nephew. They had their mission so we brought him along to keep an eye on him." Najenda explained.
Bakugo stood and walked over to the little kid before looking down at him. The kid's ever present scowl matching his.
The blonde cracked a grin. "Just another brat."
The day long battle must of dulled his senses as he didn't he couldn't tell that the brat was pulling back his fist before it was too late.
Pain erupted and combined with his already great amount and left him falling to his knees and cupping his crotch where the kid just punched.
"Kacchan!/Bakubro!" Izuku and Kirishima yelled as they leapt forward to check on their friend.
"Oi kid what was up with that? Even if it's this guy it's not manly to punch a stranger in the family jewels." Kirishima demanded.
The boy who had been walking away turned around and leveled a deathly glare at the red haired man. "I'm not wasting my time on f*#ks who want to be huntsman!"
"That language is unsuitable for a child your age!" Tenya called from his spot on the ground chopping the air with his robotic movements.
"It's like staring at a smaller mirror of Bakugo." Shouto said.
The members of team NBLL all looked troubled by the kid's attitude and Leone was going to open her mouth about it, but Najenda grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her head. The silver haired leader turned to the students. "As your all here, you're probably wondering why I had Leone do this for you."
"That is one of the many questions I've asked myself today." Izuku stated.
"Because I needed a thorough way to determine your current baseline." Aizawa replied before pulling out a sheet of paper. "This is a huntsman/huntress analysis sheet. It has 24 points on it spread equally between four categories. Strength, speed, technique, and intelligence with 6 points for each."
"Is there a reason for this sir?" Tenya asked.
"As I've stated for the next two weeks you will undergo training from me and team NBLL." Aizawa said slightly annoyed. "What I didn't say is that I also control your future here at this school. For if after those two weeks you have a twelve or less, I will personally kick you out of the school grounds after expelling you."
That immediately got everyone's attention.
"But... that's... not fair..." Ochako said weakly from her spot on the ground.
"Grimm attacks, rampant murders..." Aizawa started listing.
"Faunas discrimination and abuse..." Leone said piling on.
"Bribery, corrupt officials..." Bulat threw in his two cents.
"Income inequality, social stigmas..." Najenda said with a bitter tone.
"Sexual assault and trafficking." Lubbock said with a disgusted tone of voice.
The students remained quiet at the long list of examples.
"This is a world full of unfairness. The quicker you learn that the better." Aizawa said. "Only way you stay in this school is to throw yourselves into these next two weeks."
He pulled back his hair to show off his bloodshot eyes and shit eating grin. "Plus Ultra."
Omake
It was all set up. It was the perfect plan. Those were the thoughts of Signal academy student Minoru Mineta as he set himself up on a nearby cliff opposite to the campsite with a high power telescope.
They had come out here to learn a few things about Grimm habitat and how to better work with others.
He had been told by one of the visiting huntsman that this would be the best place to spot the female side of the outdoor hot springs.
All huntsman were heroes, but to Mineta that green haired man was a true hero.
He checked the watch on his wrist before chuckling to himself. "It's almost time for the girls to take their bath." He smiled lecherously while squeezing his hand into a tight grip. "I would brave any danger to see those smoking hot bodies."
Oh he could see them now. The silver haired huntress with her eye patch, sure her choice of clothes and hairstyle were a turnoff, but damn did her boobs make up for it.
The lioness that wore a heavily revealing outfit. She was just asking for his eyes to be on her skin.
The blonde student from his school with an equaling revealing outfit. He had his camera hooked up through the telescope so could snap a photo of her and use it however he wanted. A way of paying him back for all the beat downs he received from her.
And then finally her little sister. The girl two years younger than him that carried nothing but innocence and the power to stoke his desires for when she grew up. Tonight her innocence would be branded onto his eyes.
With less than a minute left he looked through the telescope. His hand on his scroll to take pictures at the turn of a dime.
Not noticing the large slithering body of a King Taijitu coiling up behind him. It's forked tongue licking it's non-existent lips.
The next morning he didn't show up for roll call and wasn't found with the others in his room, so they put out a search for him.
Lubbock had a good idea where he went and brought one of the students with him.
They found Mineta's little spot on the cliff and were disturbed to say the least. They found his telescope with the viewing end bitten off and his bloody disembodied hand still gripping the body with an unyielding grip. The evidence suggested his was eaten whole.
Lubbock mearly shook his head at the sight. He turned to the young boy had gripped his hand over his mouth in an effort not to puke. "Go tell Najenda that we found what's left of him."
The boy, clearly wanting to get away from the remains, quickly nodded his head before charging down the hill.
Lubbock turned his back to the telescope and it pointing to the hot springs on the other side.
He let out a breath of relief. "Glad I had him test this place out for me. It would have sucked having to kill that Grimm while trying to stare at boobs."
Lubbock locked this little secret at the back of his head and vowed never to tell anyone about it. Not even his true love.
And that's a wrap.
And yes I did add Akame ga Kill characters. If you read my other fic Dark Fairies then you should know that I absolutely love it. If you're worried about them taking too much screen time in the story then don't, they'll only be around for one or few chapters.
Next time: Two weeks of torture.