Author's Note: As requested the BBTAG joke chapter is finally here! Hhahhahahaha! Ok, this won't be an official chapter and everything that happens in here should be considered non canon for the future. Everyone's IQ will be slashed by at least 50 and multiplied by negative 5 so some there will be some character OCC. THIS CHAPTER IS COMPLETELY SKIPPABLE for those of you'll who are still waiting for chapter 8 (which is in the works). Treat this as one big joke and a happy new year gift!
Combine117: Oh no this is just the tip of the iceberg
Emoprotagonist: Hhehe, guess where that dual blade idea came from. "Her" was referring to Salem who Roman encountered at the end of chapter one. For Blake and Akira, I prefer to see them more as friends, or being one sided with Blake because there's gonna be spoilers for why Akira is incapable of forming deep romantic relationships in the future. Yes, Akira maxed out all his S links in his past, planting is just one of the many he does to get stuff off his mind. There will be brief glimpses of what the three protag's lives were like before they came to Remnant. Thank you for the long review as always!
Ultimate Kuuga: hhaha so you agree with Akira? Poor guy can neve catch a break
Diaspared: Yep, but that's the beauty of it. Never backing down, looking fear in the face, even if it may seem impossible. The girls aren't giving up that easily.
Again this Chapter is skippable
Please review and tell me your thoughts
Can't Escape from Crossing Fate!
Small bubbles of sizzingling broth began to raise above chunks of brown, orange, and gold, forming a melting pot of hot ingredients, filling the room with a sweet, herb like aroma that slowly mixed with the fine afternoon air. Stirring with a large metallic spoon and sprinkling a small snippet of crushed ginger crumbs, Akira carefully sampled the large steaming brew.
"Hmm" The raven haired boy sipped from a small sample that he had isolated from the rest, "It needs more spice"
"Here, let me have a taste" Blake grabbed another spoon and sipped from the broth, "You're right, I think there's some left in the shared cabinets over there." Opening up an assorted arrangement of half empty jars, she scanned around the student kitchen for the right spice, only to come up with a disappointed sigh.
"Lemme guess, someone used up the last of it" Akira frowned, dusting off his pink apron.
"Maybe we can borrow some from the upperclassmen? They have another communal kitchen in their building" putting aside a few cooking utensils, Blake cleaned herself before putting away a similar colored apron.
"Good idea. I just hope they haven't ran out too" Exciting out the shared kitchen door, the two made sure to unlit the stove and made their way into the quiet dorm hallways.
However, just as they went, the same door slide ajar by another force. And with that force, came a sparkling orb of blue that pierced straight through to the other side at the idle curry pot settled cozily on the stove.
"The coast is clear, I don't see either of them here" Weiss whispered, quietly edging her way to the prize not unlike a bad movie ninja, her body low to the ground just in cause anyone decided to peer from the first floor window. She then saw Yu, who followed right behind, pull out a big brown paper bag stuffed with all sorts of nick nacks.
"Good, let's get to work" Yu uncovered the pot's cap, being hit with an overwhelming mouth-watering smell. The steamy broth of the curry was enough to drive anyone huntsmen mad.
"Yu...are you sure we can do this? I don't recall us ever asking permission in meddling in their...cooking" Unsure of how to respond, or what the gray swordsmen was going to do to the already fine dish, Weiss was beginning to question their actions.
"Relax, relax. This will be a surprise. Akira and Blake are to love this. First we secretly add our own ingredients to make it delicious, then they'll both be shocked by how good it is" Yu beamed a smile at the heiress, who cocked an eyebrow. She then reached for his bag.
"Right...let me see what's in here," sorting through all kinds of unfamiliar oddities, the more time she took, the longer she cringed her face at the weird textures that were inside. From soft and squishy, to items so sharp that it grazed against her smooth skin, she took a deep breath and pulled out something that felt somewhat normal. "Hmmm, I've seen our head chef use this before at a dinner party once" The girl observed a fancy purple herb, turning it slowly in the kitchen light.
"And what about this? It makes everything better" Following Weiss's example, Yu snatched a random item from the batch, showing a mini jar of mystery sauce.
"Ok...?" Seeing his kind smile, a sense of guilt would surely burden her if she expressed her concern, even if it was from a place of kindness.
"Don't worry Weiss. Curry is famous for being a mix dish back where I'm from. The more ingredients the better as they say" before either of them could say anymore, they heard a slight knock coming from the door. Fearing the worst and with new adrenaline pumping through her veins, Weiss rushed to block the entrance, slamming her entire body weight against the door.
"You keep what you're doing, I'll go distract whoever this is!" Weiss quietly whispered, feeling the strength of her opponent trying to force the kitchen open from the other side. It must be someone extremely powerful.
"Oh Weiss! I didn't know you were already working on something!" A soft formal voice came from the other end, implying the intruder was a certain spear wielding redhead.
"Y-yea! Hey Pyrrha! Well I'm almost done with what I'm doing!" The heiress tried blocking off the Mistral champion, using her entire body as a shield, a wide faux smile plastered her face, her eyes constantly rolling to the side to see what was happening inside. "Just need a little more time…"
Dumping out an entire bag's worth of content, Yu took a deep breath and begin to work on seasoning the idle curry pot, adding in whatever he felt was necessary in making it the best dish ever. Reaching in the pile and picking out the mystery sauce, he added half of the small bottle and then moved onto, throwing in a Grimm claw, some starfish, sugar free gummy bears, and a bottle of expensive wine. However, this wasn't the end, as he lifted what seemed to be a live octopus Minato had helped him secure and dumped it straight into the boiling broth below, leaving the poor creature to struggle for its life in the tasty concoction of death.
"Phew, that should be enough" He wiped a beat of sweat off his face, now facing the door.
"Pyrrha! Help! Jaune stuck himself between the lockers again!" Breathing a breath of relief, he heard the awkward banter between Weiss and the Mistral champion cease as Nora shouted from the hallway.
"Sorry Weiss! But I may need to go for now! It was nice speaking with you!" Gasping and showing signs of panic in her eyes, Pyrrha's footsteps echoed from the halls, hurriedly sprinting out the student dorms along with two other people.
"That was unexpected…" Weiss relaxed her stance, feeling her heart beat race at the sudden encounter. "Are you finished?" Walking over as Yu capped the curry broth, carefully not leaving any trace of their presence behind.
"Just about. Thanks for covering for me Weiss" he beamed a soft child like grin, making the heiress flush a nice shade of pink.
"G-good! Now let's leave before they come back!"
"I didn't know the senior kitchen had this much leftover" Akira said, holding an almost full jar of red spice, placing it next to the stove while the pot once again sat undisturbed, eagerly waiting for its master's return.
"It doesn't seem like a lot of them cook there either, huh?!" Blake's ears twitched, feeling a sudden chill crawl up her spine as she felt a forgien breeze brush against her skin. Noticing something was terribly off with her surroundings and her vision blurring at an alarming rate, she instinctively reached for her blade on impulse, only to find the familiar black sword actually strapped to her back. Without much time to react and with her world in quick disarray, she fired the gun of her Gambol Shroud at whoever had bumped into her body, hearing a small yelp.
"Blake!"
"A-akira? Is that you? I-I'm sorry for firing at you like that. Are you alright?" Finally beginning to see the fizzy shapes and distorted colors begin to form into proper forms, she hurried to the raven haired boy's side, who had been knocked down by the surprise attack.
"Yea, don't worry about it" Akira scratched the back of his head, he could practically hear all his personas in a sudden uproar at the change in atmosphere. A warning that a new and mysterious power was in the air. "Anyway...did you see what happened?"
"No…I just had this strange feeling wash over me. My head felt like it was going to burst and then the next thing I know, I was here" Blake said paling, finally realizing they weren't in Beacon anymore, rather, they were stuck in a bizarre fantasy land of waterfalls and floating islands. Yet, no matter how she tried to pinch herself, it seemed like it wasn't a dream.
"So you experienced the exact same events too, huh?" Akira dusted himself off, picking up the pot of curry which had thankfully remained unharmed in the process. He looked out into the warm sunset of the surreal land before him, witnessing crystal clear waters of the waterfalls roared and battered against heavy foliage and broken rock. It all felt like something out of a fantasy game. "We should be careful around these parts, my personas are telling me all sorts of strange shit"
"Strange things? Like what-"
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcommmmmeeee one and all to the 90th crossover tag battle tournament! Ek!"
"Strange shit like that!" Akira fired his pistol, a flaming blue bullet cut into the distance. "Tell us why we're here moron! No one kidnaps people from their dorm kitchens out of the blue!"
"W-what?!" the voice skipped.
"I said tell us why you've forced us here against our wills! Talk, or I will find you and force it out myself!" He shielded Blake, stepping in front of her while his ears constantly twitched to locate the announcer.
"Well, aren't you the hot headed bad boy! Then again, this does make you more energized for the tournament! Anyway! You both should listen up if you ever wanna return home ever again. This tournament is your only way back you know?" The voice said fairly casual, ignoring the many threats made by boy.
"Our only way home…?" Blake said, the severity of their situation finally beginning to dawn on her. The more they conversed, the stranger her circumstances became.
"Yep! But it really isn't that hard! All you have to do is win this tournament and you'll both be on your way!" The voice declared once again, repeating her previous words, not unlike an automated message.
"And what would you have us do in this tournament?" Akira responded, suspicious.
"Ah, so you are catching on. Will, obviously you'll have to fight your way to the finish line but there is another rule…"
"So there really is more to this" Blake concluded, "This other rule you mentioned, can you explain its importance?"
"A collectathon of course!"
"You have got to be kidding me…" As the disembodied voice ranted on about a grand otherworldly fight show, Akira felt his own hand quickly meet his face in a loud resounding facepalm.
"-Collect all four keystones and you'll be on your way home!" The voice finally finished with what sounded like a booming choir of fireworks in the background.
"Hmmm Akira, doesn't this sound a little too good to be true?" Blake whispered to her cringing companion, ignoring the disembodied announcer.
"You think? Somebody's definitely been cooking up some bullshit. And when I find out who it is I'm going to give them a piece of my mind" Akira focused his eyes, a familiar ringing in his ears as he shifted his attention to his surroundings. A few glowing bushes here, and a pile of strange rock formations there. "Come on Blake, there's no point in talking to that moron. It's better we find out the truth for ourselves"
"Heh, sounds like a plan" The dark haired girl chuckled, both paying little mind to the angry voice in their heads.
"Hey! Are you two there?" it begged for their attention.
"We should keep this pot safe" Akira lifted the metallic container, safely storing it in his soul storage.
"Hello! Earth to Akira! Earth to Blake!"
"It'd be awful if someone were to damage it in battle" Blake added, strolling along the mountainside, the world being bathed in an ethereal warmth of red, orange, and gold, while the sun shone ever so crimson in the dusk sky.
"Please talk to me! This is no way to treat your announcer! I haven't laid out the crazy lore of this world or anything!"
"I'd mane anything that even tries touching that pot" Akira joked, or rather stated. His tone remained a flat neutral.
"This is bullying!" The voice sniffed "So unfair! Why are you only ignoring me!"
"Yu! Hello? You there?" Weiss paced about a sprawling area, spotting only vague silhouettes of what appeared to be either large jagged mountains, or massively hilly countryside in her view with the only exception being an old abandoned food court and store of some kind nestled in the middle of this odd Mistral like setting. Dark red letters placed on top a worn dusty store front reading the word 'JUNES' in big bold letters, being accompanied by a similar set of ancient Mistralian characters she had seen somewhere before littered about the dream like scene.
The entire setting felt similar to something out of an old timey movie with outdated technology, or maybe a museum set piece displaying the old ways of life in a certain region of Remnant. However, there were no curators, no directors, or any signs of life around to confirm her suspicions. "Going by what that voice told me...there should be more people here" The heiress said to herself, recalling the task to collect all the keystones so she could go back home. Yet, she refused to believe anything that came out of that thing's non-existent mouth. One moment she was on a movie date with Yu and then another, she was here. To say she was worried was an understatement.
But then she heard something. A clash of metal, a single spray of electricity, and a nostalgic voice.
"Come on and fight me already you shrimp! You think you can run off just like that?!" Couching behind a food stand, she glimpsed a deranged madman ram into the shining katana of a dark uniformed boy, who managed to just barely block the ambush attack.
"Can we just talk this out? Like I said, I don't want to hurt you!" The boy in the uniform charged his blade, a great stream of electricity coursed through his body as he kneed his attacker right in the abdomen, throwing him off balance.
"Hah! Hurt me?! Are you stupid? I'm going to be the one to tear you apart dumbass! First I'll take that stupid rock of yours and then I'll-tch!?" Suddenly, and being caught off guard, the madmen leaped back at a rogue wave of speeding icicles that managed to almost bisect him in two, causing him to almost crash into a pile of broken chairs by the food court. Quickly regaining control of his body, he saw a snowy white girl land in front of the boy from before, her blade extended, threatening to pierce into his flesh.
"Stay away from him your fiend!" the snowy angel warned, her eyes as cold as the ice she has just materialized.
"And who the hell are you?!" the madman shouted, giving an equally blood churning glare.
"Summon a fire Persona and stay close to me" Weiss whispered to the boy, who only gave her odd looks.
"What?"
"Just do it before he feels like striking again, I have a plan"
"F-fine"
"Phew...I didn't expect you to fly us out of there ," Yu said in hushed breaths, now resting on a bench in an empty city center.
"It's to be expected. We've used this routine to fool our foes before after all. The combination of ice and fire forms a nice camouflage for most escapes" Weiss sat close by, for whatever reason he actually respected her personal space. It irked her.
"Say, how did you know about my Wild Card ability? You also said we've done this routine before?" It was peculiar to say the least. Yu Narukami had never met this girl before, yet they had fought in almost complete synchronicity. The way he moved, she mirrored and even predicted him to a creepy degree.
"You told me before remember? Don't tell me that fiend actually knocked you so hard that you forgot" She sounded almost offended, as if he were acting out a bad joke.
"I...did?" Now he was truly puzzled, but it doesn't sound like she's lying either.
"You, Akira, and Minato are all from another world and somehow ended up on Remnant. It's a story you've repeated many times…" At the mention of her last words, her eyes softened, hinting at something more.
"I'm sorry to say this but...I think you may have gotten the wrong me" Yu said softly, "That voice did say there would be people from other worlds. Maybe he's still out there looking for you too miss" Upon realizing what was happening, Yu couldn't help but be curious about the girl's stories.
"O-oh! She did say that! I apologize for making you uncomfortable. Weiss jolted, now her face flushed a bright red at mistaking what could be seen as a random stranger as her Yu.
"No, it's quite alright Miss. I'm sure I would have reacted the same way if I saw any one of my friends here" Yu assured, smiling the same dorky smile.
"S-so you're trying to find your way home too yes?" She tried to change the subject, she wanted to look away from embarrassment. That face just felt too familiar.
"Yea. So far I've only got this keystone" He lifted his hand to a shining yellow diamond floating silently in the air.
Weiss observed the keystone in awe, a tinge of guilt forming in her mind as her heart was torn in two. That little shiny rock was her, and possibly her Yu's only way out, yet it wouldn't be right to take it away from someone who possibility had his own family and friends to go back to.
Someone who was well...Yu.
"Achoo! Why does it feel like someone is cursing me" Yu wandered through a maze like cathedral, his acriscotic like clothes blending in nicely with the regal and formal scenery. In a way, it really make him seem like the owner of the grand structure. He sighed to himself, countless hours of exploring and a few petty fights later, but he had still yet to see a familiar face. Sitting in the theatre and then suddenly being tossed into another realm was worrying enough, however the disappearance of Weiss had him the most concerned. Maybe she lucked out and stayed behind, or she could be stuck in a similar situation. Hell, he didn't even know if this new world had anything to do with the Shadows-!
"Senpai watch out!"
"Ow!"
"What the?!" Yu stumbled, a knot began to from his stomach, extending his blade in a battle stance.
"Hey, hey calm down! We're not here to fight!" Once again, the voice said, accompanied by a few others that shook him to the core as he stared at the floor.
"Do you think guys think he might be a prince?" A women perked out.
"Yukiko, you do know putting mock labels on people is wrong right?" A short brunette chided, her friend was having way too much fun giving the random encounters they have weird nicknames.
Sniff Sniff
"Uhhh Ted?"
Sniff Sniff
Yu felt his entire body freeze, his blood running cold and sweat started to drop down his face. No, this can't be real, none of this is real. This had to be a sick dream.
"Teddy, maybe you shouldn't get too close to him like that. He doesn't look too comfortable" Yukiko eyed the bizarrely dressed male, anyone else would have at least tried to attack them by now but…
"Guys, is it me or does he look...really familiar?" the female brunette from before leaned in, unable to see the discern the boy's face from his arched stance, but the body type and hair was already enough to clue her off.
"Yo, you too Chie senpai? Doesn't he look like a weird version of Yu senpai?" a rowdy voice said, but he felt off.
"Whoa, whoa! Don't tell me we've somehow run into his shadow! You guys know how each of ours came in those weird outfits? Maybe...this is how Yu sees himself" A young spiky haired male stepped back, it was the only explanation on why the boy wasn't even moving, let alone interacting with them.
"Don't be ridiculous Yosuke! A persona user can't…huh?" water, small specs of water started to rain down from the boy's face and soak into the cold marble tiles of the floor. Chie stopped, gently padding the stranger on the back. "Hey, I know you don't know us but...if you have something on your mind you can share it with us…" Her eyes drooped, for whatever reason, the vibe he gave felt overwhelmingly nostalgic.
"Yosuke...Chie, Yukiko...Teddy, Rise...I'm so sorry" the boy mumbled.
"R-rise?!" Chie paled.
"H-how does this guy know about Rise?! She isn't even here-!" then, they watched in disbelief and shook. The boy lifted his teary eyed face to reveal an exact copy of their dear friend.
"Yu senpai?!" Kanji yelled out, his call echoing through the empty halls.
"Please...forgive me" he mumbled again.
"What is he even on about?" Yosuke said awestruck, "He's not making any logical sense…"
"What do you think Teddy? Is this person really Yu?" Yukiko asked worriedly, her heart tightened at seeing such a haunted face.
"Well...he does smell like Sensei. There's no mistaking that" The bear frowned, crossing his arms "But on the other hand, he feels...different"
"Different? Not counting the weird outfit he feels like Senpai to me" Kanji said, edging his way closer to this odd version of Yu, "Hey uhh...you doing ok Senpai? If there's anything troubling ya, you can tell us"
There was a palpable silence. A choking tension filled the air. But then it happened.
"T-thanks Kanji" the boy choked out, "I'm glad everyone's doing well..." he wiped a stray tear from his eye, a weak smile graced his worn face.
"So uh...is your name really...Yu Narukami?" Yosuke scratched his head, now creeped out.
"Yosuke, remember that time when we snuck into the girl's locker room and almost got caught? How you had to act like a cat for them to walk away?" the boy said in an eerily calm tone, a soft grin on his teary face.
"Yea...but-"
"You two did what?!" Chie shouted, slamming her foot into the floor, making a destroyed crater.
"I-is that true Senpai!?"
"W-wait a minute! It was a mistake! You know how Yu likes to mess with his wording!" Yosuke squealed, avoiding a karate chop from the smaller brunette, who was now a raging inferno.
"Or Teddy, you liked looking at Yosuke's porn stash that he hid under his bed when he's gone didn't you?" once again, Yu said with a grin.
"No no no no! I am a gentle bear! There's no way I would do anything like that! Right Yukiko? Right Chie?!" Teddy panicked, only to earn a glare from Yosuke and two disgusted glances from the girls. "S-sensei! Why do you have to be so ruthless?" Fake tears streamed down like two massive waterfalls, while the shadow bear balled on the floor, rolling back and forth at the shame.
"I'm sorry Ted" Yu wiped his face again, relaxing his body, "But it was the only way I could make all of you believe me"
"Fine, fine we believe you" Yosuke said in defeat, "But what happened to you when you went back to the city? Were you attending a cosplay convention or something?"
"Back to the city?" Yu asked, now it was his turn to be in disbelief.
"Yea. After a whole year in Inaba, you went back to live with your parents remember?" Chie reminded, her voice rising in concern.
"No...no that can't be right" They all saw him tremble.
"Um...what do you mean by that Senpai? Were you not used to the city life?" Kanji questioned.
"Everyone, please, tell me" Yu felt a knot in his throat as memories from an erased past started to flood back, overwhelming his soul, "That day when we all fought Izanami...what happened?"
"Well duh, we won silly. First we fought her for a while, but then when we thought we'd lost all hope, you summoned a crazy version of Izanagi and blasted her away" Chie spoke in an uplifting tone, patting the crying boy on his back. However, instead of returning such cheerful vibes, her words only made him sob more.
"Chie, what did you do now?" Yosuke snapped.
"Hey! I was trying to cheer him up! Why would he cry at something he should be proud off!" The brunette shot back.
"Yosuke, Chie, please calm down" Yukiko stepped between the two, "Remember how Teddy mentioned that Yu felt different to his usual self? I think I may know why he's been acting so strange" the japanese beauty whispered between the group.
"So you've noticed too Yukiko?" Teddie frowned.
"Yes"
"What do you mean Yukiko senpai? I know Yu senpai is acting off but, is there really anything wrong with him?" Kanji whispered to the others.
Yukiko nodded, her face pained, "Everyone, I want you to listen closely. That Yu over there? I don't think he's our Yu"
"Wait what?" Yosuke narrowed his eyes, but deep down he too knew the same.
"Remember how that voice from before told us there would be people from other worlds? Even without Naoto here, I can say for certain that this Yu came from a different Inaba" shaking her head, the fire priestess could have guessed what must have transpired for the boy to cry such tears of sorrow.
"Yukiko might be right guys…" Teddie gazed back at the broken Yu "When I first smelled him, he had this...extreme of sadness to him. It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even talk"
"Oh no...I was stupid. I didn't know he-..." Upon realizing her mistake Chie's heart dropped. That place was probably where it all ended after all.
"There's no need to be sad Chie. For now, the best thing we can do is tell him what's really going on. It'd be bad for him if we kept him in the dark. Think about how traumatizing it must have been to lose all his friends like that…" Stormy gray clouds loomed over the group of friends, intensely eyeing each other on who would be the one to break the news.
"Fine...I'll do it" Yosuke sighed, already preparing himself for the eventual storm. Taking a deep breath, he approached the lone boy in the church. "Hey ummm...I know this is going to sound rough but-"
He took another breath, this wasn't his Yu, so why was he so nervous?
Everyone watched in a frozen silence.
"How should I put this…We're not exactly" the brunette danced the subject, fumbling his mind for words.
"My friends?"
"Y-yea! W-what! No! no I meant-"
"It's alright. I've realized that half way through" Yu said mellow.
"What?!"
"There's no way my team would come back this easily, besides, I never went back to the city" Yu explained, his face drooped.
"Senpai…"
"Tell the other me I'm glad he succeeded in helping his friends" Putting away his golden blade, he wiped away the last of his sadness, turning his back.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Chie reached out a hand, grasping at empty air.
"Just because we're not from your original world doesn't mean you have to be alone" Yukiko begged, but he didn't listen.
"I'm sorry everyone but, I really don't deserve good people like you…" Yu stopped, a timeless burden weighing his mind. Maybe this could have been him if he had tried just a bit harder, maybe things might have been different. But then he heard someone pierce through his gloomy heart.
He stopped in his tracks.
"What are you doing you retarded shit?! This is your only chance to ever talk to them again!"
His eyes widened, "Akira?"
"He has a point. This place may be strange, but it still doesn't change a meeting between friends" Blake stood beside the dark faunus, the two appearing seemingly out of thin air.
"GAHHHHHHHHHH he fainted!" Ruby squeaked, running up to Minato, who had suddenly dropped to the floor, his head smashing and breaking the concrete below, no similar to collapsed house of bricks being dropped from above.
"Whoa is he ok?" Yang gave him a light tap.
"Yang! He dropped dead to the ground! How can this be?!" Ruby cried out in with her most dramatic tearful performance, clutching the bluennette's hands.
"Are you ready for round 35, sibling tag duo Ruby and Minato?!" The disembodied announcer shouted from the sky.
"Can't you see what's going on? Of course not!" Ruby then pointed to the mountain pile of bodies behind her "Besides, isn't this enough? We've been fighting everybody we've come across like you said. There hasn't been a keystone on any of them!"
"And here comes your next opponents!" Soon, another pair, this time a short haired blonde along with a dazzling redhead charged at the hooded girl, who sent them both reeling back into a pile of broken rock with one swing of her gigantic scythe.
"I'm sorry I over did that!" Ruby shouted to the two, who quickly recovered from the carnage. However, just as they were about to move again, Ruby took a step forward and managed to send a stunning shockwave that slapped the tag team flying again. "Ok, this time I'm really sorry! I was only going to check if you were ok!"
"You sure you dunno where that wild strength came from Ruby?" Yang sheepishly backed away, leaving her younger sister and her half dead brother on the ground.
"Yang no! Don't leave me! I don't want to fight with an unconscious Minato on the ground!" she had no idea what gave her this destructive power, she promised she would never wish for super strength ever again. And was sure this world had something to do with it.
"You knocked him out in one punch…" The blonde scooted back, sweat leaking down her back.
"It was on accident! I only tapped lightly tapped him on the shoulder! Honest!"
"Persona!" Within a moment's notice, two powerful enetheral entities rushed at the petite girl, causing her to spring into action once again by gracefully avoiding their many spells, while she readied her rifle in the air and shot at the deadly apperiations, completely obliterating both with a single bullet.
"Can you two stop it?!" Meeting blades with the redhead twice her size, Ruby harshingly swung her scythe head until the older women faced down the gun barrel of her riffle and without much time to react, she forcefully dispatched a round into her face, exploding her to the floor.
"Mitsuru!" The blonde from before gasped, hurrying over to her downed partner.
"Ms. Aigis, Ms. Kirijo! Are you both alright-?!" Then, a third figure emerged from the ruins, this time, seeming like an exact copy of Minato.
"What even is going on…?" Ruby wanted to cry, it was just too much.
"You...you hurt Mitsuru" Ruby felt the blonde from before now burn with new determination, an overwhelming ocean of rage consuming her while she brought a new clear card in her palms. Ruby felt her nerves tense and her heart beat slow to crawl, for she knew something big and powerful was coming-
"Wait, wait Aigis stop! My neck feels broken"
"Wh-what?" The ASW looked down, finally now realizing she had stepped on something, something trashy "No...could be?" Just as her anger had surged so abruptly, it had soon dissipated in the same amount of time.
"Yea, could you uh, get off of me?" Minato perked up, "Showing off my kinks isn't exactly what I want in front of my family"
"M-minato? She whispered, low and soft, staring longingly at the boy on the floor. If she could cry, tears would have long since dripped from her eye.
"You...know her?" Yang said confused.
"Aigis please, we must cease conversing with the enemy" Mitsuru clenched her head, cringing at the blow she had just endured, only to be pierced emotionally through the heart a few moments later upon seeing the bluennette.
"Oh hey Mitsuru. I see you've developed some kinks of your own" He eyed her combat suit, a sly perverted smile spread across his face.
"H-hhow can you say that…" He could hear her voice crack through his groggy state.
"Gosh, this is such a weird dream" Minato put a hand to his chin, it was too bizarre to be reality after all.
"We fought for you...we wanted you to feel at peace…" Mitsuru whispered, unable to contain her emotions anymore.
"Mitsuru" Aigis comforted the women.
"Ms. Kirijo, may I ask what's going on" the other bluenette stopped halfway, seeing the older women squeezing the life of a familiar face from afar.
"Ack! C-can't breath!" Minato's struggled in the women's gasp, it was even more potent than Yang's bear hugs.
"O-oh! Please forgive my sudden outburst. It's just that…" She trailed off, unable to form proper words, her face cherry red from the hot tears streaming down her face.
"Ummm, it is ok if we ask who are you Miss?" Ruby and Yang stood over the group, now feeling a bit awkward.
"Y-yes of course. I apologize for the misundering from before. I am Mitsuru Kirijo and this is Aigis. We were both apart of a Shadow execution team known as SEES, along with your brother" Mitsuru explained.
"Wait, does mean that you guys are both Minato's friends from his old world?" Yang mused out loud, so these were the people he fought alongside with.
"Old world?" the short blonde piped up.
"Well, Minato did say he was somehow reborn on Remnant" Ruby added.
"But his soul…" Aigis thought back to that ominous golden door in the void, was there really a chance he had somehow been freed from that eternal prison. "It can't be…"
"My what?" Minato stared nonchalantly, seeming clueless.
"Your soul. The last we met you were…" The redhead was unsure of how to explain, something felt off.
"I believe what Ms. Kirijo is trying to say is that your soul was sealed away to stop Nyx, cousin" Minato's look alike finally said, showing as little concern as her counterpart at the situation.
"N-nyx?" She saw his face crease, his body shudder, and his eyes dilate. Soon enough, he dropped to the floor again, foaming and gurgling white froth from the mouth.
"Ah! Big bro! What's wrong?" Ruby shook his limp body up and down like some kind of broken vending machine, but then, she saw his hand reaching into empty space, his pupils drawing a blank. From where she was, she could hear him mumble all sorts of indescribable things. "Y-you! What did you to him? And why'd you call him cousin?!" Close to sobbing and red in the face, she glared daggers at the second bluenette who had retreated a few paces back.
"B-because we are…" The other bluenette concealed her face, pulling her hat down, "I assure you that what I said before was only a mere explanation" Ruby didn't seem to care, in fact she had forgotten the serious part of their conversation altogether.
Feeling more and more uncomfortable, the smaller bluennette found herself retreating further and further into her clothes while the other girl sized her up, puffing her adorable cheeks in the process.
"W-what?" Sweat dropped from the bluennette's face.
"When I was six, Minato helped me finish my entire grade school homework packet!" Ruby childlessly spouted. She saw the other puff up as well.
"A-and?" The bluenette composed herself, fixing her coat, "When he arrived at our manor, he used to offer to take my place so grandfather wouldn't notice that I was missing from my studies!"
"Oh yea?" Ruby squeaked, feeling a similar intensity radiate from the other girl's eyes as fiery blue met molten silver, "I remember him making me all sorts of sweets and chicken soup when I came down with the Grimm flu for an entire week!"
"We used to sneak out of the house and explore the city till dark and he would always take the fall for me when we were caught!" The bluennette yelled back, looking less and less refined as their little argument went on. Her proper blue hair began to resemble Minato's messy fringe and her voice rising several octaves.
"I've lived with him for my entire life!" Smirking a wide ear to ear demonic grin, Ruby went for the grand finish, her stance widening as she placed both hands on her hips in a confident show of dominance.
"Well I-!" She felt a strong chill behind her, the cold touch of metal was mere inches from her back.
"I promised that I would remain by his side for forever" Aigis said darkly, her robotic hand threatened to gun down anyone in her way. However, she was also interrupted.
"I believe you all may made a grieve miscalculation," Mitsuru spat, her rapier gripped tightly in her hands while a wave of ice spread to coat the floor, "He promised we would have an immediate engagement ceremony after our graduation!"
"WHAT?!" All in participation song in a choir of shock and anguish.
"No, that is impossible Mitsuru. Minato proposed to me first" Aigis said adamant, placing a hand to her chest, a firm frown plastered on her savage look.
"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-arriage?!" Ruby slumped to the floor, tears leaking out of her eyes in defeat.
"What has gotten into me…?" the younger bluenette clutched her head in shame, only to notice something yellow and blue dart from her peripheral.
"Hey, you there! Stop!" Aigis shouted, seeing Yang carrying a half dead Minato and dashing maddly for the hills on the other side of the world.
"Artemisia!" Mitsuru was engulfed in a whirlwind of azure wind and spinning glass, forming a glinting armored beauty above her, puffs of icy fog spread among the rubble while the redhead jumped on the mighty persona and sped off.
"Yang come back he's mine!" Ruby's unsheathed her scythe, transforming into a spiraling energy of crimson rose, dashing forwards in a never ending chaotic spin while breaking anything that came into contact, blazing a trail as she rushed after her sister. Meanwhile she was followed by two other blurrs that steadily tailed right behind with a bluenette riding a winged persona next the blonde who looked like she was sitting atop a grand Roman chariot.
"All of you are crazy!" Yang stepped to the side to avoid a blast of ice coming her way and then back away at a set of energy explosions made of fire dust that just so happened to land in her path while she tightly held on to her brother's body. There was no end to this raging hell of wrath from the sky, the land ruptured, rocks blasted open, rivers destroyed in one blow, and any man made structured crumbed at the merciless onslaught of four raging goddess from the heavens.
"Hand him back this instant! Isn't he your brother?!" Mitsuru shouted from above, wind constantly blowing into her messy red hair.
"There's no way I would someone like you near him!" Yang fired a few rounds of her own, although not to hurt but to boost her body forwards into a constant state of propelled motion as the red hot dust sent her flying into another part of the world.
"What about me Yang? Shouldn't we all go home together?" Ruby uncurled herself from her cocoon in the sky, riding on the rifle part of crescent rose as the constant momentum from bullets from the back knocked her entire being forwards in a rocket like fashion, her cap flatley maddeningly in the air.
"Ruby! What is wrong with you?!"
"There's is nothing wrong with me!"
"Hama!" Ruby could see the bluenette from before load a few bullets into her pistol, her eyes were akin to a hawk's locked onto her prey in the distance. And alongside her, the iron maiden from before unloading an eternal bombardment of bullets that littered and leveled the land below in a hellish shower of metallic rain, wiping away all visible landmarks and terrain.
"Give my cousin back now…"
"Target engaged, proceed to lethal elimination mode!"
"So you guys have no clue what's going on either?" Yosuke scratched his head in frustration. Ever since their meeting, a large gathering of colorful characters had assembled into the ancient building. Its ghostly chambers echoed the many concerns and complaints by the distressed group.
"No. We were all forcefully pulled here just like you" Akira crossed his arms, hiding apart of his pink apron, ignoring the odd eyes of a certain bleached haired blonde. The boy's dark feline ears twitched ever so slightly at the unpleasant attention.
"May we ask we're you all are from then? It's rare to meet people from other worlds" Yukiko chimed in, shifting her gaze from one strangly dressed person to the other on what appeared to be an alternate version of one of her friend, a cat eared male, and a dark elegantly dressed girl.
"We're from a world named Remnant" The girl spoke up, "Do all of you come from a place called Japan?"
"W-wait you know where we're from Ms Blake?!" Teddie tried to edge ever so close to the faunus, only to be pulled by Chie, who had been keeping a sharp eye on the drooling moscat.
"Didn't I say I was from Inaba too?" Yu sighed, making everyone even more confused.
"Before any of you ask, yes, me and him somehow ended on Remnant too and it has nothing to do with what we're experiencing now" Akira explained, already feeling an air of disbelief wash over the meeting of people.
"Hmmm I feel like I've heard of this phenomenon before…" Yukiko mused, "What was it called again? Where the someone gets transported to another world? Ishika? Iseka?"
"I think you meant Isekai," Yosuke faceplamed, "man and I only though this type of stuff only happened in bad animes"
"Nice to know I'm living every man's dream" Akira rolled his eyes, now feeling a searing amount of tension between him and the nervous blonde. "What do you want?" He sharply addressed the male in the back who jumped from his stern call. Dark eyes pierced through the crowd.
"U-uh" Kanji froze, not akin to a deer caught in the headlights.
"Speak up, staring at random people isn't normal" Akira could make out a bit of pink on the other's face.
"Akira, that's...Kanji. He doesn't mean any harem, really" Yu stepped in between the two.
"Y-yea! Senpai's right! I didn't wanna start a fight or nothing'. I-I just really like that aporn!" startled, Kanji choked out the few words that had clogging his throat for a while.
"It is quite cute" Blake chuckled, also turning a slight shade of pink.
"A-and uh, those cat ears! A-are they real? I saw them twitch earlier and stuff too" Unknown to the rowdy boy, such an innocent question earned him a slight disapproving look from Blake.
"Yea, and they're annoying as hell too" Akira spat.
"Can I touch them-"
"No"
"Come on Akira. You let me do it all time" Yu begged, now with puppy dog eyes, "They're so fluffy and adorable"
"That was for an apology only"
"Then what about that time during chemistry?"
"Another apology"
"Library?"
"Apology"
"Wcdonalds?"
"Apology"
"Yu, if he doesn't want anyone touching then it's his choice" Blake frowned, her tone becoming increasingly annoyed.
"I'm sorry but who are you…?" Blake paled, then shifted her gaze slightly to the side to find two almost identical Yu's. Aside from their clothing, there were virtually almost indistinguishable.
"How did-!?"
"Don't worry Blake," she felt someone gently pat her on the back, "I too fell to their cunning disceptions" Weiss closed her eyes, clenched teeth and furrowed brows signaling her sad defeat.
"B-but there's two of them" the dark beauty stared in awe.
"As if one wasn't enough…" Akira rubbed his temples in a throbbing headache.
"Hey, you're me from another world aren't you?" The Yu dressed in white spoke up, addressing the other with an air of longing and curiosity. Staring an exact copy of himself, every little detail on his face matched his twin's.
"Another world you say? I guess I could say the same for you. Is that girl over there with you?" the other Yu in the school uniform turned to the snowy heiress standing among her friends.
"Yea, and these are your version of my friends aren't they?" The heir smiled at the investigation team.
"Mhm. I just hope we all get back together safely. This world's been a real mess so far and nothing's really making much sense" the high school student sighed, hours of pent of frustration threatened to boil over from his mind.
"Wow, for meeting an alternate version of himself, he sure is calm" Chie cocked an eyebrow, still processing her current reality and the idea of parallel worlds.
"Never mind about that! I'm more interested in that new dazzling snow white beauty!" Teddie's pupils transformed into bouncing pink hearts as he motioned and danced his way, spinning and floating as light as a feather to the Weiss, offering her a dazzling red rose and the most pretentious kneel and bow as possible. "Oh Ms snow angel! Will you please kindly accept my-"
"Sorry bear, but as nice as that sounds, I'm already taken" She saw his fall from grace, face meeting the floor in a glorious faceplant of the century, his entire world shattering before him.
"B-by who?!"
"Him" Weiss gestured to her Yu, it was surreal to see two of them in one place.
"Sensei! How could you be so cruel!"
"Yea teddie?" Both Yu's responded, eerily in sync with one another, each replicating the movement of the other, similar to a mismatched mirrored reflection.
"N-nevermind!" The bear paled at the twins, retreating back into the crowd at the creepiness on display.
"Anyways, let's cut back to the problem in our situation" One of the Yu's spoke up, choosing to address the entire group, "Everyone, we need all of you tell us what you know. We have to find a way to get out of here altogether"
"If you're asking about the keystones, sorry partner, but so far we come across any of them" Remembering back to what the voice said, they had only one way out of here and that was through the collection of four magical stones.
"You mean one these?" The Yu held out a glowing yellow diamond, it gently levitated in the palm of his hand, its subtle golden glow lit up the room in its faint ghostly light.
"W-whoa how'd you get that?" Chie observed the small rock, amazed by its otherworldly properties "We've been looking here for ages"
"That's the thing, not even I know. It was in my pocket when I first arrived" The Yu in the high school uniform explained, closely watching the reactions of the people around him. Faces of shock, relief, and even astonishment filled the halls.
"You mean you have one too?" Both Akira and Blake lifted their hands to reveal two diamonds with a strikingly similar appearance, ablebit artificial differences in color.
"Purple and blue. How did you get them?" Akira saw his own Yu walk over, his voice a low whisper matched by an unkind scowl on his face.
"By following the rules of the tournament" Akira sneered back in the same manner.
"Don't worry Yu, we have a plan," Blake tensed, cutting the persona user off, "We know we're not the only ones that need to get home" She felt the taller male peer into her soul, scrutinizing every bit of her word, then she relaxed as he backed off.
"You better have one" With a tap to Akira's chest and one last threat, Yu turned back to the crowd with a faint smile, "We're willing to cooperate with you guys if you're ok with it"
"Thanks, that'd be a great help. Now we just need to find the last keystone" His counterpart smiled back, although he found the quiet exchange between the three odd.
"Since this is a tournament like the voice said, I wouldn't be surprised if the last keystone was guarded by someone extremely powerful" Yukiko pandered about the possibilities, "You know, like one of those video games" Could there be a final boss as well?
"Shit, don't say it like, you'll only be making things more complicated" In some ways, Yosuke knew this was reality, yet deep down he also wished this would all be a dream. He pinched his cheek for the fifth time.
"Maybe we should leave this area for now. If someone else truly processed the last stone, we should be the ones to catch them by surpise" Weiss suggested, earning a few nods and murmurs of approval.
"So it's settled then?" The Yu in the school uniform spoke up, "No objections right?" No one spoke, rather the entire area was filled with an approving silence, yet another noise decided to take its place.
"C-crap!" the ominous howl of several stomachs reverberated against the desolate halls and bounced off the many ancient columns, converting the sound into calls of a haunted choir of hunger, hindering the movements of several of participating individuals.
"Need...meat!" Chie protested, refusing to move from her spot, her body glued to the marble flooring.
"Now that I think about it, we have been stuck here for several hours" Yukiko was in a similar state of starvation.
"Yosuke! I'm hungry!" Teddie complained, faking tears of sadness, hoping and praying the Junes employee could materialize some food from thin air.
"H-hey! Do I look like I carry around a walking inventory with me?!" Yosuke shot back, offended. He refused to be demoted to a walking storage closet.
"Akira, do you remember that curry we made early? I know this isn't the right occasion but, do you think we could share some with them?" Blake pleaded, it was better than nothing.
"Yea, I'm sure they'll enjoy it a lot" Yu piped up eagerly, his eyes flashing with a suspicious amount of enthusiasm with billions of bright tiny stars twinkling from inside his silver pupils.
"A-agreed! I'm curious to try some myself!" Weiss's smile was wide as it could possibly be, uncomfortably reaching the limits of her face, while her entire body stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of curry.
Akira glanced over at the starving group, giving a deep sigh before reaching what seemed like a transparent pool in the air, carefully pulling a hot sizzling pot of curry, letting its sweet aroma began to proliferate and take over the air in the room, drowning its inhabitants in a heavenly shower of spices and herbs.
"D-does my nose deceive me?! I-is that curry?!" Teddie shot put from the ground, a waterfall of drool rolling down the sides of his large gaping mouth.
"You have one of those portal things too?" to an outsider, it may have seemed like the young man had materialized the pot from thin air, however, to anyone who had known a Wild Card user, Kanji was not the least surprised.
"Hm, does that mean you're a Wild Card as well Akira?" The uniformed Yu asked curious.
"Yes"
"Say our regards to Igor when you get back alright? We do miss him don't we?" The heir nudged his friend, who nodded.
"I've thought about bringing food inside the TV, but never an entire picnic set…" Yu watched Akira set down the pot, while his counterpart proceeded to set up an entire tea party stand, complete with enough chairs to fill a small cafe.
"Good job Yu. One must always be prepared for all possible occasions" Weiss directed the boy, who happily followed along with a kind nod.
"Does this always happen?" The Yu in uniform shuddered, he refused to be someone's pack mule.
"I've been telling him that he's stupid, why?" Akira felt a vein pop on his head, his feline ears twitched.
"Something wrong?" Yu said, noticing the sudden alertness of his faunus friend, then seeing him instantly nab the pot from the table and do twist to the side while the walls beside him begin to shake and crumble at a blood curdling call. Within seconds, a large fissure snaked its way onto the marble, and within mere minutes the section had collapsed in a mighty spray of dust and rocks, sending debris in a hundred different directions followed by a battered looking Yang who had busted in from the other side. Tables flew, chairs uplifted, and the once pristine sheets of linen were cut and ravaged beyond repair among the destroyed pile of marble and furniture.
"M-My picnic table! Yang!" Weiss cried out, face red and raising her rapier.
"No wait, there's no more incoming!" Blake warned, letting everyone else have time to pull away from another strike heading for the stone wall, this time covered in a thick layer of chilly blue ice.
"Yang Xiao Long! Unhand my future husband now-ack!" From the sky, landed a tall rapier wielding Valkyrie, the element of all that is ice and frigid winter cold radiated from her entire form, making her way inside the building, only to be slapped to the side by a crimson caped girl who arrived brief seconds after.
"Minato is my brother!" Ruby announced before being knocked down by what appeared to be a robotic maiden wielding an arsenal of machine guns, barreling all its weight onto the young girl's head, taking her out.
"Minato is the one I must protect from all of you" The maiden said monotone, unknowingly standing in the line of fire, failing to react to a flurry round of precise shots that penetrated her skull, forcing her to the ground in a similar fashion as the other two unlucky victims.
Naoto entered the room hatless, her hair a wild jungle, now almost indistinguishable from her older cousin's. Steady hands matched with a mad homicidal aura, her sapphire orbs trained on the three on the ground in utmost disgust. "And he was my cousin first" She growled in a low guttural growl.
"N-no! You are not getting anywhere close to him!" Yang slapped back, still tightly hugging the unconscious Minato, "All of you are insane!"
"N-noato?" The the two Yu's said in sync, a mixture of uncanny and astonishment oozed from their words. Both their hands reached for their swords.
"Y-yu?" She stood still, she stood vulnerable having finally snapped out of self induced insanity. "T-this isn't what it looks like!"
"Naoto are you ok? D-did they hurt you?" Kanji uttered out in fear, almost too scared to approach her.
"I'm...fine"
"You…" Mitsuru clawed at the floor, unable to muscle up anymore strengthen.
"Minato…" Ruby reached for her rifle.
"Must keep...going" Aigis mustered all her strength.
"Like hell I'll let that happen" Yang retreated further back into the corner.
"I'm his future wife!"
"I'm his little sister!"
"I'm his protector!"
"I'm his cousin!"
"I'm Sho Minazuki!"
"What the-?!" Yu froze, feeling a sudden rush of wind accompanied by a silver katana that stretched only mere inches from his face, thankfully being cut off by a dark gravity defying glyph in the center.
"Yu!" Weiss shouted, running her rapier into whoever had the audacity to attack her partner, yet she was met with another sword, "A-a dual wielder?"
"Long time no see yea Narukami? It's been a while ya know?" Sho attempted to pulled out his blade, but to no avail, "ey, what is this circle? Some kinda new persona power that you got?"
"W-who are you?" The Atlas heir said shocked, enough to make him forget his surroundings entirely. The loose grip on his golden blade threatened to slip from his hands as he felt an intense wave of dread from the redhead.
"You messing with me right now? Don't tell me this is your idea of a bad joke. You promised me we'd fight whenever I'd liked remember?" The new dual wielder became increasingly annoyed, his eye twitching ever so slightly, "Now come on, I've been stuck in this boring world for way too long, fight me!"
"A-actually Sho, I'm Yu"
"Huh?!" Mouth agape, he saw another Yu walk out from the crowd.
"H-hey! Isn't that the guy who tried to kill us from before!? What's he doing here?!" Yosuke stuttered, quickly arming himself.
"Quick, let's roast him alive!" Yukiko joined in, revealing a pink fan from her uniform.
"H-he tried to kill you guys?" Blake picked up her gun, also jumping into a battle stance.
"Enough with the empty chit chat, fight me already! And erase this stupid looking paperweight in the air, it's pissing me off!" Sho felt a hard pain radiate from his head.
"Stupid looking?! Paper weight?! I'll let you know that that's the proud Schnee family glyph! Learn some manners you savage mongrel!" Weiss raised her palm, hitting him again.
"Ow! What was that for girly?!"
"That was for trying to impale my boyfriend!"
"Your boyfriend-OW?! And who the fuck are you?" This time, he felt his entire head snap to the side in a forceful slap, seeing a raven haired boy standing only a few paces away.
"You don't deserve an answer you lowley ass monkey" Akira said with a pleasant smile, a ruined face of purple colored chemical waste and what appeared to be the remains of a metallic pot in his other hand. Sho swallowed hard, his body stiffened, his muscles tensed, yet he did not feel an urge to fight like facing down any other, instead, he fought back the urge to shake at this monster's mere presence. There was something wrong, oh so terribly wrong with the boy in front of him that this feeling managed to pierce through even his thick skull and into the depths of his basic survival instincts, gutting them from the inside out and tearing them bit by bit until there was nothing left but the primal fear for his life.
"Oh…?" Robotically rotating his head, soon he spotted the spilled guts of a cooking pot and what resembled nuclear waste sprayed artfully across the floor between him and the floating glyph.
Akira slowly crouched down, picking a gleaming red gem hidden in the mess, speaking not a word.
"D-don't just i-ignore me like that!" He tried moving his free hand, but it too was glued down by another glyph.
Inspecting the small stone, Akira silently stayed on the ground.
"Andddddddddddddddddd Bingo!" Everyone stopped in their tracks. "Congratulations on finding the last stone kid, that took way longer than I thought!"
"You again" Weiss sneered, hearing an ear grading voice boom in her head.
"Awwww did you guys miss me while I was gone? I was surprisingly absent this tournament you know?" Suddenly, the crimson red in Akira's hand started to emanate a blinding glow. It was closely followed behind by its three other color variations, all consuming the group in a powerful blanc light.
"Guys...I have a bad feeling about this" Teddie shook, already feeling a massive spike in power from the waves of white showering the crowd.
"What are you really planning to do with these stones?" Blake yelled out into the void. The world was being consumed by the light.
"Well, well, seems like someone's eager. But since my purpose has been achieved for a while now, I guess I can tell you" The ground came apart, the ceiling crumbled, and the fragile strings holding up the world severed, scattering it into a thousand mini realms as everyone braced for what was to come.
"Naghhh!"
"Gahhhh"
"EKKKKKK"
"Behold! My true form!"
Clouds obstructed the land as far as the eye could gleam, coated in an ominous red light that reflected from the sky above. The bare heavens being spray a rusty bloody crimson as a massive multi-colored diamond like structure leviatted in the sky. Mammoth spikes of red, blue, purple, and blue protruded threateningly against its sick backdrop while a savage voice boomed from every corner of the world.
"I'd like to think each and everyone of you for helping! Those keystones don't collect battle data by themselves after all! Well...maybe not all of you, but you get the point enough" The behemoth descended from above, now hovering ominously in the void, dwarfing any opposition in sheer size and power.
"I knew something was off! " Weiss raised her rapier.
"Now the tournament setting suddenly makes sense. You tricked us!" Yu crushed a clear card, the tailed of his uniform lifted at the sudden force of energy.
"Ding! Ding! Did you all really think I'd you off that easy? There was no way I'd send any of you back. I mean, I doubt you'll even have a place to go after I'm done" The announcer chirped, hiding a sinister undertone.
"N-no place to go back to?" Teddie's voice cracked.
"Hey! Don't tell me you're gonna destroy our worlds!" Kanji blasted a river of electricity at the alien machine, yet it had barely any lasting effects. "What the-!?"
"There's no way we're going to let you destroy our homes!" The Atlas heir shouted, unsheathing his shining blade in an instant, fire, hatred, and guilt all in iginiated in his molten silver eyes. A clap of white hot thunder surged from sky accompanied by a thousand beating drums, drilled its way into machine, however, it too became absorbed into its mass.
"Hahahahhaha! Is that really all you've got? From your battles, I'd say you'd pack more of a punch. Perhaps I expected a bit too much. Since none you can actually touch me, how about sitting back and watching the fireworks show hm? Moving into other worlds can be really flashy and fun!"
"Dammit, stupid paperweight- oh!" Stubbornly trying to free himself, Sho collected all his strength, stepping back as far he could to break his binds. Then he was suddenly go. Falling backwards, he tumbled and landed on hard concrete and within seconds he saw silver flash only a few centimeters from face. "What's your problem dumbass?!" He tilted his head up to see a messy blue fringe. "Naoto was it? You still mad about the 'me wanting to kill everybody thing'?"
He saw the bluenette nod.
"Come on, I thought we were over that. Just ask Yu" From the back, he could hear countless powerful spells being unleashed. Claps of thunder and explosions trailed the sky.
"My name isn't Naoto" One bloodshot silver eye shown through the dark blue fringe.
"Then the what the hell do you want?" Sho's hand fumbled on the concrete, feeling for his baldes.
"I overheard the girls over there...they said some interesting things about you" Minato flicked away a yellow beam headed straight for his head with a single hand.
"Huh?"
"Another Tartarus, shadows consuming the world, getting rid of SEES, you know, typical tea party stuff…" Minato tossed his sword aside, an eerie aura forming around him.
Sho grabbed his dual swords, springing up and delivering a cross slash which the small bluenette intercepted with his bare arm. "But you know what pisses me off the most?"
"I'm not that person anymore dammit! Why does everyone keep shitting on me for what I did!?" A familiar anger surged up from within the depths of his heart. Sho maddly slashed at bluenette, ribbons of red started to appear all over Minato's body in a chaotic barrage of swordplay. However, he did not move from his spot, instead, taking the deadly onslaught head on while a massive amount energy gathered around both of his hands until they began to resemble two cylinder like blades with golden halts. His once dark blue hair faded to a dead white, holding up one of his newly formed swords with a rotating blade, he rammed it against his opponent, who quickly summoned a dark hand to block.
"There can only be one shit eating dual wielder in this fic!" Taking a heated fire ball to the face, Minato clashed blades with Sho once again, who this time, smirked a mad manic grin at the challenge, a torrent of red and black cyclone shooting up from the earth and parting the heavens.
"Hhahahahahahah!"
"Is that Minato?!" Weiss twisted around, her long ponytail flattered in the breeze, hair covering parts of her face in the long fight. Hearing a distorted laugh and seeing a shockwave of crimson and dark wave spread across the sky, she could barely make up two shapes in the air.
"I am the dark messiah!" Sho blared to the world, ramming his head against his enemy's.
"I am the Fallen Messiah!" Minato brushed aside his white fringe, charging his twin Ea's.
"Ignore them! We have bigger issues here!" Yosuke called, then turned to side "And why aren't you guys helping out?!"
"We've been talking out our differences!" Ruby said, holding a large half empty bottle of champagne. In total, there were five girls seated at a freshly made picnic table full of expensive alcohols.
"I acknowledge that Minato belongs to all of us" Naoto hiccuped, still without her hat.
"Agreed. We will all share him equally" Mitsuru passed the bottle to Yang.
"Gah! Why did I even ask?"
"Watch out!" Blake knocked the Yosuke to the side with one of her guns, barely missing a yellow beam that threatened to incinerate him whole.
"Thanks, that was really a close one" The brunette summoned again, having his persona deliver a succession of green tornados at the floating mecha. Seeing many more people do the same, Weiss fired off a bullet of ice which merged Yu's, Yukiko launching a flaming phoenix, combining powers with Kanji's shower of sporadic thunder, all headed for the world devouring monster pushing each and every attack launched.
"Hey, it is me or is someone missing from this mess?" Yosuke narrowed his eyes, everyone was accounted for but one, and when he spotted a black spec in distance, he instantly knew who it was.
"A-akira?!" Blake called out, noticing a humanoid shape sluggishly make its way to the mechanical menace.
"What is he thinking?! No one's been able to even get close to thing!" Yosuke saw Yu join hands with Weiss, attempting to bridge the gap between the machine in a coat of yellow lighting, quickly be dispatched by a heavy bombardment of colorful light beams.
"Wait what…?" Blake saw the black shape tank a similar blast, a godly ray of death spawned in its path, engulfing it whole, her eyes widening seeing the figure survive absolutely unharmed from the assault.
"Ouch! That really hurt! You guys are so cute! Awww that fireball was adorable!" The voice echoed for miles and miles, beating back any resistance.
Akira, still covered in a thick layer of gross curry slim, stomped his way through countless showers of death, slowly made his way to the top of the cloudy peak. Teeth clenched, knuckles white, and his face a wrathful image of rage and disgust. Huffing and puffing, he stomped way closer to the floating monster, raising one hand and slammed it down on one of its many protruding spikes.
"GAHHHHHHHHH" There was a significant shift in the atmosphere as one of its appendages were liberated from its form.
Boom
Another
Boom
Then another, until it was only left with its core.
"W-what are you?!" the machine finally screamed, petrified.
"Do you know how long I spent on that damned curry?!" Akira smashed the machine again, cracking the stones attached to it.
"C-curry!?"
"Don't you fucking lie now you son of bitch! You were the one who ruined it with that shitty stone of yours weren't you?!" Akira growled, his voice growing increasingly demonic.
"No, no! It wasn't me I swear! I have nothing to do with this-ack!" He smashed one of its rings, "The stones were only there to record battle da-! GAHHHHH!"
"I said quit lying you disgusting bitch! I spent weeks getting the right materials and look at what you did! It was going to be prefect! What the fuck do you have to say for yourself huh!?" All those days spent crafting the perfect recipe, all those times spent experimenting for the right brew, all ruined. Obsidian wings sprouted from his back as a faint blue glow emanated, morphing into a growing cocoon of black, gaining more and more mess as time seemed to accelerate at infinity. First it was two large horns, then a row of three wings on either side that selfishly projected themselves as far as the ever expanding sky. A rush of pent of energy finally erupted, shooting out a cascade of azure flames that shaped itself into the final form of the figure, a grand modern military grade rocket launcher set ready to go off at any moment sat on the demon king's shoulder.
"What is that…?" Blake said, mouth agape.
"Did he evolve his persona?" Yu watched in awe, lowering his weapon.
"I said it wasn't me!" The voice cried in desperation. Somewhere in the crowd, a heir and heiress shuddered.
The mega persona copied its owner, lifting its fist, following Akira's example and punching a deep hole in the machine's side, rupturing a pile colored stones and spilling energy to flow out in a strong current.
"I'll beat you! I'll fucking beat you so hard that it'll send you to a world so goddamn awful that not even god himself wouldn't touch!" Another blow, exploding its left side. "I'll show you to mess with my cooking!" Throwing down a rapid succession of punches at impossible speeds, Akira then jumped onto his new persona which raised the launcher in its hand, the missle spinning faster and faster in its claim to an absolute blood bath. Light gathered igniting the inside, heat surged from within its dark demonic depths as all noise in the world became drowned out by its gigantic engine.
Akira blinked and then shouted.
"SATANAEL! SINFUL NUCLEAR ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT!"
"But that's not even a moveeeeeeeeee!" And in that moment, everything faded, leaving not a trace of anything or anyone behind…
Low murmurs of a distant crowd fizzled and faded in and out of existence, gradually taking over his voided surroundings, gradually pulling him from a fizzy dream. Soon he began to see, and soon he saw himself standing among a tall concrete jungle. Completely invisible and unnoticed by the world around him, he saw people seemingly pass by at accelerated speeds and cars rolling across vast connecting roadways as far as his eyes could take him. To his left, a row of family owned shops, and to his right, recognizable brands lined the dense city blocks in an ocean populated by hundreds of anonymous faces. It all felt familiar somehow, he thought to himself, eyeing a decaying skyline of washed out colors and monochrome gray, among the distorted rain clouds.
Then heard a voice.
"Akira?" In that never ending stream of pedistrations, one girl stood out against the rest. Long flowing dark hair and cat like eyes, Blake tugged at his sleeve, wearing an alarmed face of distress.
"Blake, are you alright?" His body responded robotically, without his input. He saw her shake her head, worried eyes laced with a deep sense of panic filled her mind. Feeling like their awkward had lasted long enough, she reached up to her obsidian bow and pulled, revealing nothing underneath. "My ears...they're gone" She said, her voice a weak whisper.
"W-what?" Akira reached up to feel his own head, only to find nothing but a tuft of raven hair, just like his old self back home. However, his missing ears were not his only source for concern, as he looked down to see a long purple tie neatly hanging around his neck atop a white dress shirt, covered by a striped black jacket. Directing his attention to Blake again, he noticed a similar dress pattern, although she had swapped the tie for a large orange bow and striped mini skirt. "A school uniform?" He mused to himself. One that wasn't Shujin's at that.
"Do you remember anything after we left Beacon?" He watched her in surprise, did she not remember their fight against that abominable machine? He suddenly clutched his head in a cold sweat, feeling a sharp pain pierce his being. A-are you ok?"
"Yea. Sorry, didn't get much sleep yesterday" She raised an eyebrow, but he ignored her questions about his bodily health. Now that he remembered the events that mostly likely sent them here, he concluded that it was most likely his fault.
"Didn't I tell you pulling all nighters was a terrible idea? You need to stop overworking yourself" Blake scolded, completely forgetting about their new predicament.
"How about we take a look around first, we're in an unfamiliar area and have no idea what's going on" He ignored her, he ignored her without mercy.
Blake glanced at the area around her, feeling the place to be extremely alien, "Do you think we're even on Remnant anymore?" From the ancient concrete towers to the wall-less fronts that would have shielded it residence from a deadly Grimm attack, the city they were in now seemed way more peaceful. Not to mention the stark absence of faunus from the crowd.
"Most likely not," Akira gestured to a group of girls near a cafe, "See those big block Scrolls they're holding? Those were apart of my world when it was still developing technologically" On closer inspection, he hasn't spotted one touchscreen in the sea.
"Your world?" Blake's eyes widened, "Does this mean we've somehow been transported to your home?" Astonished by the prospect, but also a bit excited to finally visit a place she was always curious about, it made her conflicted at what to think.
"Not quite. I know my mine was destroyed a long time ago" Akira picked up a folded newspaper from the ground, "This place just so happens to be similar" the date was inked clear as day in big bold letters: August 3rd, 1999.
"No...no, no. This can't be happening, there's no way we've-" Before she could ask anymore, she turned around in alert at a new forgien presence.
"Ciao!" A cheerful woman in brown greeted, followed by her companion, who seemed to be logging around a large camera. "I'm Maya Amano from Coolest Magazine. Are you two perhaps Seven's students?" Maya chirped, catching Blake by surprise, causing her to take a step back.
"Sevens's…?" The women pointed to a small emblem on Blake's jacket.
"Yea, we just arrived in Rengedai and were making our way to your school. Oh, are you two skipping class by any chance?" The cheery reporter lowered her tone to a whisper, an excited grin graced her face.
"No, we're transfers and this is our first day. We just got lost in the city" Akira stepped in, using a reharshed line from long ago, one that he had practiced with a certain frizzy haired blonde.
"Mhm. Me and Akira are from the same place" Blake quickly added, playing along.
"Awww I was hoping a good scope too! But we can show you to your new school if you want. It's not far from here actually" Maya took out a marked map of the area, a school circled in blue among the jungle of steel and concrete.
"That'd be really helpful, thank you" Blake gave a faux smile, following the journalist.
"So we are you two orinigally from? How'd you like your old school?" Maya once again went off like a machine gun, bombarding the two with hundreds of unanswered questions, being stopped several stopped by her work partner.
"We're from Tokyo. We attended a school called Shujin"
"Hhahahahahahaha!" an uproar of laughter shot up from a doslate battle ground of broken buildings and destroyed earth. A madman rose above a shelter of dirty sandbags and graffitied wall, leaping high into the air to smash down a head that was right below him, letting the body tumble to the ground, doing a spin in the air, kicking one of his legs in the air in a counterclockwise motion to catch another in the gut with his nailed bat. "Give it up undie boss! This turf is mine!" Minato roared, a few more bodies being blasted out from the of a side building with a fiery blond descending rapidly into a pile of soft sand, breaking her fall.
"Looks like they're all 'down' for the count" Yang clapped her fists together, letting all the bodies drop to the floor, a sunny grin spread wide across her face. She then barely dodged a lead pipe to the head, catching the metallic wrath in one hand instead, halting her attacker.
"And you'll be next!" Sho swung with his free hand, while Yang yanked at his caught arm, making him lose balance, kicking him in the gut, before tossing him into a pile of wood.
"You dirty traitor! Why the hell are you working with that guy anyways!?" She cringed, slinging her obsidian uniform on her shoulder.
"Hah! Some boss you are dipshit! What's a good leader if he can't even keep his own men inline!" A tall boy in copious amounts band makeup and spiky blue sneered, carrying a massive guitar cause.
"Ohohohoh! That's rich coming from a guy who's only claim to fame is pantsing people to death! Shut it pussy, unlike you I fought my way to the top! Hahahah, too bad that blue dye of yours isn't authentic either, just like your title as gang boss... " Minato brushed his caped jacket uniform, proudly displaying Seven Sisters logo.
"Why you little!" Eikichi dashed after bluennette, instantly connecting blows head in an explosive fight to the death, a large shockwave expanded from their battle ground, picking up heavy amounts of litter and dust in the rubble. "I'll pummel you into the ground you little shit midget! You didn't fight to the top! You practically bullied everyone in the entire goddamn school to do your bidding!"
"So what? They all like me!" Minato crushed a blue card, at the same time, Eikichi materialized a god like presence behind like, it's engine roaring to life.
"Damned Sevens…" the taller boy cursed, seeing his opponent laugh at show of force.
"Come Thanatos! Bow to your new king!"
"Can you check this one for me?" Weiss sat along a neatly organized table in the student longue, a long desk piled up in countless stacks of event and contract papers.
"Sure" Yu opened up a vanilla envelope, purging its content onto the desk.
"Looks like our budget has been cut by quite a lot this year" His twin said, crunching the numbers, pen in hand filling in the current year's budget.
"No worries. I'll pull a bit from my own savings to balance out the lost income" Weiss pulled out a small checkbook, "How much was it again?"
"Six thousand yen"
"Hmp, my weekly salon visits cost more. Put down three million yen and write it down as a generous donation from the Schnee oil company. We won't be out done by Kirijo over at Kasugayama" The snowy heiress huffed, puffing her cheeks in a childish manner, slamming her hand on the table.
"Six million!" Mitsuru announced in a council room just across the city.
"Are you sure that will be enough Mitsuru?" Aigis sat along a row of other students.
"Eight Million!" Weiss dug her pen into the checkbook
"How about we relax a little after student council" Yu suggested, putting away any more work to be done throughout the day.
"I'm with my brother, a tea break would be nice after all this paperwork" His twin slumped in his chair.
"Mmmm, I'm feeling Vintage Narcissus today, what about you two?" Weiss began to pack her bag.
"Tieguanyin for me"
"Yellow gold tea, it's the one I always drink.
"Aiyah! Can you believe it? Those idiots in the student council are going to turn this entire school into a damn castle by the end" a fair haired blonde strolled along in the hall with two other girls by her side. A clear vein showing on her otherwise prefect face.
"Lisa, is that really a bad thing? Ever since Weiss took over, the quality of the cafeteria food has skyrocketed! Who knew the school would have its own five star chief!" Chie ate from a pile of prime rib and stacks, all stacked onto a small thin paper plate.
"Not if she clearly seems like she has a bone to pick with that Kirijo. It's the only reason any of this is even happening. They're just trying to see who'll come out on top in their stupid bitch fight" the blonde cursed, irked by the sudden transformations to her school, and to the people around being caught up in the heiress vs heiress crossover fire.
"Hmm, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you," Yukiko walked along with the rest, their group of voices growing ever so distant in the school, until they completely disappeared down a deep stairwell. And in that empty area, hid a petite girl in red, holding a small gift box in her hands. She conceled herself among the shadowy corners of the hall, until she saw him passing by. Raising her head, she approached the figure with a smile, reaching out her hand to signal for the boy to stop. Slowly he turned, a tall brown haired student wearing his jacket in an open fashion, showing his purple tie and white dress shirt underneath.
"T-tatsuya? W-will you go out with me?"
And somewhere in the wide, wide world, Akira screamed.
Because for his innocent sin…
He now must face his eternal punishment.
Hoho that was the longest most clusterfuck thing i've ever written so far. 13k words is insane for me. I can imagine an entire new fic spawning out of this with the places it could go too. Pft, In the end, Akira was right, he did beat the announcer to a world no god would ever touch, problem is he's now stuck in it himself too. I wonder if he could meet his past self as a kid if he tried. I know BBTAG is supposed to be a 4 way crossover but that would have been way too much to write so I decided to focus on RWBY and Persona like always. Ruby's overpoweredness took out almost the entire cast anyways.