Tarnished Gold Chapter 6: Fear is the Enemy (Part 2), a RWBY + Danganronpa Crossover fanfic

Before we begin, let me tell you that I am an extremely biased NaegixMaizonoxIkasuba shipper. The O3- is precious and must be protected, and I will fight anyone who disagrees. *insistent hissing here*

And there is a stupidly cheesy anime cliché in the chapter. I'm so sorry.

Now, my first review answer! Because the other review questions could be answered by playing the Danganronpa video games, watching RWBY, or they have very obvious answers. No offense.

To Ultimate Kuuga, I would just like to point out that those are not Clickers from The Last of Us. They are extremely similar, but there are two major differences.

Firstly, the mushrooms are black.

Secondly, Clickers cannot speak.

As for why they can speak, if any of you are wondering, let me just tell you this.

To be able to speak, you would have to be 'sentient enough to be aware of your actions.'

Take that in any way you want.

Chapter 6: Fear is the Enemy (Part 2)

"The irrational fear of mushrooms and other fungi."

-The definition of mycophobia

Ozpin idly watched the Scroll, noting the pairs of students fighting the Grimm.

"Hm. Miss Rose and Miss Schnee have seem to have shot down the Nevermore with Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao-Long...Wait. What is she doing with that-?" The Nevermore crashed into the cliff, with Ruby dragging the Nevermore by the neck with Crescent Rose and running up the cliff, decapitating the Grimm upon bursting up to the edge. Below Jaune Arc had led three other students, including Pyrrha Nikos, to victory against a giant Deathstalker via a clever application of Akouo, and the hammer-and-nail strategy.

"Glynda, please make a note to make Miss Rose and Mister Arc the leaders of their respective teams."

"Sir, you can't mean to put those two as leaders!" Glynda replied incredulously, staring at Ozpin in shock.

"Those two have managed to lead groups of students, some the two did not know until they met at the temple, to kill massive Grimm normally saved for actual Hunters. They have shown tenacity, courage, and the ability to lead on the battlefield. I fully believe that they can lead their teams, and you should as well. Trust in them, Glynda. They managed to get into Beacon for a reason." Glynda sighed, but nodded, tapping notes into her Scroll after a smile directed at the Headmaster. Smiling back, Ozpin turned back to his Scroll, and swiped to another camera.

He frowned.

And then he paled.

And then he gasped in horror.

"...Glynda. Stop the Initiation."

"S-Sir, I can't just-"

"STOP THE INITIATION THIS INSTANT!" Ozpin yelled, a panicked look in his eyes. Flinching, Glynda frantically began tapping messages to send to the remaining students, which were actually very little. Only seventeen, to count, "Headmaster, why are we doing this right now?"

"That's not important right now-"

"Ozpin. Please."There was a tinge of desperation in Glynda's voice. The Initiation wouldn't be stopped for anything short of an S-Rank Grimm, and both of them knew it.

"...It's Mycophobia." Ozpin stated, in a grave tone. Glynda paled, and nearly dropped her Scroll, "Mycophobia has been sighted, and is rampaging through the Emerald Forest. It's chasing five of the 'Surprises' across the forest, and...they're carrying a woman in a white cloak."

"B-But that would mean-"

"Yes," Ozpin nodded, "Summer is still alive...and so is Mycophobia." His next words chilled to the bone.

"One of the world's few R-Rank Grimm has returned."

The world of Remnant held many Grimm, in all shapes and sizes. Each Grimm was powerful, but on varying levels previously unknown to man. Thus, a group of researchers took it upon themselves to calculate the Grimm's power via 'ranks'.

They succeeded.

They mapped out the extent of the power of Grimm, and aided in the Hunting business, becoming millionaires and gaining world-renowned fame. Their system graded Grimm from F, a single juvenile Beowulf, to SSS, a massive horde of various Grimm spearheaded by a group of Goliaths. Their measurements, their equations and calculations were perfect, down to the most minuscule of details, and missions soon became to use these ranks as a way to assess the danger level. The system is, to this day, known worldwide and used in every Hunting and regular school on Remnant.

What is not known, however, is the category beyond SSS-Rank, a category reserved for the most powerful of the most powerful Grimm, a category filled with only .01 percent of Grimm in Remnant, where all Hunters were explicitly banned from fighting.

The R-Rank.

The R-Rank was for Grimm who would crush armies like bugs, impeded all expeditions, no matter how secure or backed by how many forces there were, and could singlehandedly end a Kingdom all on their own. It was known only by a handful of elite Huntsmen, the Headmasters of the Hunting Academies, and the Kingdom Councils. It was Top-Secret, any information on R-Rank Grimm locked in vaults beneath 3000 feet of stone and metal. The only known strategies, gathered from Hunters who illegally went off to defeat one, and almost never returned, when fighting an R-Rank Grimm were to 'Run', or to 'Pray'.

Ten years ago, Summer Rose was sent to defeat and kill Mycophobia, one of the R-Rank Grimm, via her silver eyes and Hunting skills. The Kingdom Councils held onto hope that she would succeed, and Ozpin took solace in that her silver eyes would protect her.

She never returned, and Mycophobia disappeared off the face of Remnant. Both of their whereabouts remained unknown for a year, until they were pronounced dead, and they were forgotten except by a single family.

As for the 'R' in R-Rank, it stood for many things. 'Restricted', 'Retribution', 'Raze', 'Rampant', and many more. But there was one word, above all, that could safely describe the R-Rank.

'Reaper'.

"Go go go! We have to lose them in the forest!"

It was terrifying.

"There's too many, they're trying to corral us!" "We have to stick together! They have numbers, they'll pick us off one by one!"

It was a twisted, macabre sight before the audience.

"Guys! Shoot them!" "Are you crazy?! They're people!" "They're walking corpses, what do you think's going to stop them, rainbows and confetti?! They're already dead!"

And yet Munakata could not look away.

Even as he watched corpses infected with black mushrooms scream and run at the group of six, he could not look away. Even as he watched teenagers, innocent and kind, blast away brains off and hack off fungi to screeches of pain or muffled gurgling, Munakata could not look away.

His coffee mug, filled with the steaming hot ambrosia of the gods (read: coffee.), had slipped from his fingers and fallen onto his lap, emptying the scalding contents onto his legs.

Neither he nor anyone else in the meeting room noticed.

"They're closing in on us! We have to get out of here!"

Fuyuhiko was sweating.

"They're surrounding, make some holes in their formation before they can!"

Fuyuhiko was sweating, and he didn't like it. He didn't recognize the strange feeling tightening his heart, making him pour sweat from every pore of his body. Besides him, the other members of Ultimate Despair were gripped in the same feeling, tensed up and eyes dilating as they watched the screen.

"Get down!" BOOM! "Alright, we can make our way through there-Owada? Owada, over here!" "What the-Are those zombies?!" "No time to explain, just get this woman to safety! Meet up with us at the temple!" "Got it-OH SHIT! CHIHIRO, HOLD ON!"

This feeling...it was familiar. He didn't recognize it, but his body knew what it felt like. It was...it was...

Ah, yes.

It was fear.

He didn't like fear.

"Run!" "It's Celeste and Hifumi! Run, RUN!" "Naegi-dono?! What are youoooOOOOOHHH GOD, CELESTE-SAMA, WE MUST LEAVE POST-HASTE!"

"D-Demons...Those demons are r-real..." Masaru choked out, hands trembling at the sight of the zombies.

"T-To think that demons like those were in Remnant...dear L-Lord..." Nagisa added, his pencil having fallen from his hand.

"Makoto-chii!" "Hagakure?!" "My Semblance foresaw you coming by, Ishimaru's on Acheron with Mondo and Chihiro! They can't find a safe place for that woman, they're bringing her to the temple!" "WHAT?!" "Let's just focus on getting to the ruins first, Makoto!"

"Scary,,,,scary,,,,,demons are s-so s-scary..." Jataro mumbled, curled into the fetal position, his hands over his head, "S-scary demons..."

"Hagakure, did Mondo say anything about the others?!" "Yeah, he's going to spread the word about what's going on. Everyone's heading to the ruins right now, they're forming a vanguard for the...zombies...Oh God, I just realized they're fucking zombies! WHY ARE WE RUNNING FROM FUCKING ZOMBIES?!" "PAPEEEEEEEEEE!"

"C-Come on, Big Sis Junko! You can beat them! You can beat those demons!" Kotoko cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yeah! Go Big Sis Junko!" Monaca added, cheering her 'Big Sis' on.

"B-Big Sis Junko can beat them, right?"

"Yeah...Yeah, she's Big Sis Junko, after all!"

"Go, Big Sis Junko!"

The Warriors of Hope cheered for their sister-figure as they watched the Initiation.

That didn't stop them from eyeing the garbage disposal chute, where their parents' corpses still remained.

"Come on, Nii-san, you got this..."

Komaru didn't know what exactly she should feel. On one hand, her big brother was taking charge and leading an impromptu rescue mission while being chased by zombies. On the other hand, her big brother was taking charge and leading an impromptu rescue mission while being chased by zombies. She was both in awe and terrified, and she hated that.

Looking around, she saw that her parents were fearful for Makoto, their knuckles white from clenching their fists so hard. And everyone else seemed to feel similar feelings. Takaaki-san's hand was twitching towards his gun, and Hiroko-san was sweating at the sight of her son frantically running from walking corpses. Yuta-san and Takemichi-san had leaped together, hugging each other at the terrifying sight, thought the latter would probably deny it later. Daiya's ghost was flickering between tangible and intangible as he watched his younger brother shoot at zombies chasing Acheron, and telling everyone to rendezvous at the temple ruins.

The entirety of the audience in the Brothers' realm, hell, even the Brothers themselves seemed shocked at what they saw. The sight of Class 78 fighting off legitimate zombies was a bit jarring, to say the least.

"Everyone! We're here!" "MakotoooooOOOOOH FUCK! EVERYONE DODGE, I'M HITTING A HOME RUNNER!" BRA-KOOOM, BOOM BOOM BOOM! "Leon, there's more headed our way, we need to push them back!" You got it! Everyone, shoot the zombies! Keep that woman safe!"

"Go, Leon-onii!" Kanon cheered, in an obvious attempt to stave off her anxiety, judging by her clammy palms, "You can do it!"

"UOOOOOOOOH! Go Boss!" "GO BOSS!" "Go Boss!" "GO BOSS!" The Crazy Diamonds were leading a chant, though they seemed nervous. A few of the others had joined in, cheering for their respective Ultimate.

"Young Master, please, please remain safe..." Aloysius Pennyworth muttered, as he petted Celeste's cat (name too long, will not type), who looked both desperate for comfort, and scared.

Komaru couldn't help but smile a bit. Even when they were most certainly safe and had almost everything taken care of for them, everyone was still worried about most of Class 78.

"They're trying to corral us! Break through before they can! Head for the cliff!" "C'mon, we gotta go!""Sakura! Use Richter Palm on the ground, break it up, it'll slow them!" "Got it, Aoi!" C-KRRRRRK! "That's our signal, run!"

"Go Makoto!" Komaru cheered, "Beat those zombies!"

They were being herded.

Junko realized it the moment they reached the cliff.

This was part of some plan made by the corpses, and she was honestly shocked at how even she had fallen for it. On one side would be the cliff, which would normally lead to safety, and Beacon. Except that the bridge leading to the cliff had been smashed to bits. And that surrounding the group of eighteen was the entire zombie army, spanning all the way to the forest and out of the sight. Corpses as far as the eye could see. As one, they leered at the group, taking a single step towards the vastly smaller group.

Junko shot the front line down with Fire Dust grenades.

First Phase Begin

"Hold the line!" Makoto called, and she saw a bright golden light shoot out of him and envelop Class 78 and Kin. When the light hit her, she felt stronger, quicker, more confident. Was Makoto...was Makoto boosting them with his hope?!

….She was conflicted about that.

Makoto Naegi's Semblance:

Rally the Troops

Empowered by the, eugh, hope fuelling her, she leaped into battle, tearing and slashing at the corpses and mostly decapitating them as fast as she could. Explosions, and gunshots rang out from behind her, the others following her.

Kin rushed to her side, taking out corpses with simple stabs to the back of the neck, or the head. A pragmatic, cold fighter who wasted no movements. He thinned their numbers one by one, covered by Junko, who would occasionally watch in awe.

Mondo gunned corpses down with Acheron, Ishimaru and Chihiro providing him with support when a zombie got too close. Hagakure led zombies on wild goose chases, leading them to Hifumi and Celeste, who would smash them into gristly bits, the three taking potshots they knew would anger the corpses.

Togami was untouchable, burning zombies to crisps with his unnamed weapon, with Toko killing any he missed with Bloodlust. Kyoko knocked around zombies into Leon's baseball grenades, Aoi and Sakura punching and kicking away those who got too close for Leon to use Grand Slam. The four swatted zombies around like scraps of paper, to the point where the rest thought the others would be easier targets.

Makoto, Mukuro, and Sayaka fought like a well-oiled machine, no holes in their defenses as they fought back-to-back-to-back. A perfect defense, the three covering each others' strengths and weaknesses. Sayaka and Mukuro would shoot down zombies, eyes watching like circling hawks, pinpointing any that began to lurch towards them. Makoto sliced down any stragglers, acting as a sword and shield for the girls. Nobody bothered commenting on the blushes the two girls had whenever Makoto protected them.

It was this group of students-to-be that forced back the walking corpses, driving them back to the point where the army, impossibly, begin to run short of troops, the end of the now largely-diminished zombie horde came into sight.

"We can do this!" Makoto called, boosting them even further, "We can beat them! We can fight back!"

As if meaning to spite him, the ground cracked.

It came as a slight rumble. Barely noticeable, something Class 78 would have normally ignored in favor continuing the fight.

The horde stopped. They just stopped fighting, remaining still, and that was enough to make Class 78.

And then there was a mighty crack in the distance, and something burst from the ground, leaping high into the air.

It was headed for them.

Dear God, it was heading for them.

Their eyes following the thing in the air, they could do nothing but watch in horror as it grew nearer and nearer. And then it landed in front of themselves.

And Makoto, Mukuro, Sayaka, Junko, and Kin gaped in horror. Because the thing that stood in front of them was the creature from the paintings.

A monolithic Grimm construct, it towered 20 meters into the air, every detail they had seen in the paintings nightmarishly detailed and burned into their minds. The humans assimilated into the stem screamed in agony and suffering, while the animals would screech and howl, black blood pouring from their mouths as they writhed in pain. The humans at the base of the stem was, fortunately, not hanging.

Unfortunately, their heads were missing, replaced by massive spore sacs that were connected to the rest of the rotting bodies.

It's eyes, crusted over with rheum, dilated and contracted wildly, looking at everywhere and everyone. Then they focused on the group of humans before it.

There was a sickening series of snaps, and the sound of flesh melding.

And Mukuro, the battle-hardened veteran, who had fought in countless wars, lost her breakfast as a massive face, akin to that of a human skull began to form on the middle of the stem.

And then it began to speak.

"Oobebebe..."

"Aaaaaahhhh...humans...how wonderful...I love humans..."

Kyosuke Munakata struggled violently not to vomit, his knuckles pure white from the lack of blood.

"Humans have...always interested me, you see...back when your kind did not yet find Dust, you were always so resilient..."

The sound of retching came from behind him, numerous branch heads emptying their stomachs upon the sight of the demon, that thing could not be called a mere Grimm.

"Yes, even back then, you were all so...resilient..."

"And then you found Dust and flourished. To see such beautiful progress...such glorious evolution in process...yes, it was fascinating back then..."

The Ultimate Despair had backed into the couch, terror gripping their hearts as they watched.

"I grew as humanity grew, bloomed as humanity bloomed...but even then, that was not enough...so I become one with a human...and then, I realized that was the only way for I to evolve, and I evolve and evolved, becoming more alongside mankind."

"God is not in Remnant." The sudden statement came from Ibuki, who stared at the screen, her face pale and clammy.

"...What?" was the stunned question from Sonia.

"God is not in Remnant." She replied.

"And why...do you think that?" Ibuki's eyes turned to her, haunted.

"Because for something like that to exist in this world..." Ibuki swallowed, "God would have to have abandoned us all first."

"And I shall continue to grow...and grow...and grow as you fight...So please, fight...stuggle...futilely battle with me..."

The Warriors of Hope did not speak, for there was nothing to say.

They did not move, for there was no point of moving without cowardice.

All they could do, was watch the screen in terror, and reassure themselves that Mycophobia was not exist on Earth.

All they could do, for their childish minds did not know better, was tell themselves that the thin glass barrier seperating them from Mycophobia, was the only thing keeping it trapped, away from them.

"Struggle! Struggle for your lives! So I may learn more! So I may evolve more!"

"...And give me more reasons to love humans.~"

"...What have I created?" The Younger Brother gasped in horror.

First Phase finished, Begin Second Phase

It wasn't hard killing the zombies. They were squishy, and extremely weak, with their only real threat being infection via biting them.

That was no longer the case, with Mycophobia having arrived. The true 'boss' was here, and it was the very embodiment of 'parasitic strength'. It's spores, the size of their heads, rained down and burst open, causing more mushrooms to grow. They couldn't go near Mycophobia because of this, and any zombie why was touched by the spores grew stronger, previously dead zombies getting back up, even with no head. The beings assimilated into the stem spewed the black blood, which corroded anything it touched, and it's multiple eyes left it with no blind spot, the face on the stem frowing more and more pronounced as time went it.

It was hopeless. It was impossible to win. Even Makoto Naegi, the boy known for his everlasting optimism, faltered.

And yet Class 78 would not go down.

They reasoned that Mycophobia was covered in Grimm bone. Any bullets bounced off of it, and it's eyes would just glare at them smugly.

So they shot Mycophobia in the eyes.

The results were predictable. Mycophobia screeched in pain, growing frenzied, before mushrooms grew around the eyes, protecting them. Unfortunately for Mycophobia, those mushrooms weren't protected by Grimm bone, and could be easily shot off. Celeste and Sayaka did just that, shooting off mushrooms before blowing out the eyes, and creating blind spots for Mycophobia. The zombies grew more frenzied in accordance, frantically charging the group and biting at them, which anyone with a close-combat weapon would quickly squash down. Class 78, and Kin, performed with teamwork normally seen in military squads, systemically killing zombie after zombie, shooting out Mycophobia's eyes. It leaped around, shaking the earth and aiming to crush them, while zombies charged them. Dust rounds flew off of it, normal bullets dented and fell off, and they couldn't get close enough to hack at it. Moreover, the constant movement ensured that they couldn't get a lock on it. Celeste, being the Ultimate Gambler, took a potshot at it.

Mycophobia leaped into the bullet, it's eye exploding in gore and blood.

It screamed in agony, blindly stomping around and shooting spores at them, and they frantically moved to avoid the spores, making masks with their clothes. They fought off zombies who charged, relocating time after time again and shooting at Mycophobia's eyes, the aforementioned Grimm leaping around yet again and again to avoid the shots, until no eyes remained. The gills could not be shot with normal bullets, for the spores pouring out of them blocked the bullets.

They launched Fire Dust rounds at the gills.

The gills burst into flames, before quickly going out, and Mycophobia roared in fury. No more spores poured from the gills, but black blood coagulated around the gills, and it's body began to crack and shift. It's legs grew longer and thicker, the wheel-like structure growing jagged and spiked, and two eyes emerged from the face's 'eye sockets', glaring at them. The beings assimilated into it screamed and howled, black blood pouring from their visible orifices, and they soon disappeared under the deluge, the liquid slowly crawling up and down the spine and fixing the Grimm, and leaving subtle changes when it finished. When Mycophobia was done regenerating, the black liquid seeped back into it, and it howled.

It's body contorted, the four flower buds surrounding the main bud blooming, and four vine-like structure launched out of each one, a mouth full of gnashing sharp teeth at the very end. They ate almost everything in sight, trying to get to Class 78. Eyes began emerging from previously unoccupied flesh and bone, leering at the seventeen fighter, and the woman who was still unconscious and with them. It's 'mouth' fully split open, and a long slimy tentacle lolled out of it, covered in barbs and black blood.

It was evolving.

It was evolving right in front of them, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

It leered at them, the 'mouth' stretching into a grin.

"Come now, you worthless humans. Struggle against my superior evolution."

The moment they tried to shoot Mycophobia with normal bullets, they knew something was up.

The bullets, which should have penetrated the eyes, bounced off like rubber bullets, and everyone paused.

The eyes were bulletproof.

This was bullshit.

Despite having evolved to a moe genetically superior form for more power, the forced rapid evolution had clearly taken a toll on Mycophobia. It was slower than before, but made up for it with it's far more superior defenses, leaving Class 78 drawing a blank on how to take it's eyes out. In addition to that, the zombies were swarming them whenever they could, though they were more permanently disposed of due to the lack of spores. The black blood from Mycophobia would constantly force high-speed cellular regeneration, and the 'sacheads' at the bottom were beginning to move, writhing and squirming, growing thinner and thinner by the minute.

"Push towards Mycophobia!" Makoto yelled, "The spores are gone, we can get close now!" With that, zombies were utterly destroyed, and part of Class 78 pushed towards Mycophobia, who remained oddly stationary.

"ha...hahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mycophobia howled in laughter, it's body shaking, "Well done! Well done indeed, humans! You've pushed me harder than any other in my lifespan! Truly, you are amazing!"

It twitched.

A feeling of cold dread and horror permeated the area.

"I will stop holding back now."

The vines began eating the zombies. Any corpses were dragged and assimilated into the Grimm, disappearing beneath the flesh. Six giant nubs began to grow from the center of the stem, bursting open, and revealing-

Arms.

Mycophobia had arms now. Six monolithic arms that looked like a human arms, if they were poorly molded by a child using Play-Doh. The body grew larger, faces bubbling up from unoccupied flesh, and the legs and 'wheel' began to twist and contort, the jagged spikes shooting themselves at Class 78, as human hands grew out of the legs, grabbing at them if they got too close.

The main flower bud, sitting on the very top of Mycophobia's cap, moved ever so slightly, peeling itself open just the tiniest bit.

"Come, humans. Here is your final trial."

Second Phase finished, Begin Final Phase

Good Luck.

The clearing nearly exploded the moment Mycophobia stopped talked, projectiles too fast for the eye to see slamming into the dirt in front of them. Everyone scattered, Mondo taking the woman, while Kin stuck with Junko. With no zombies or spores to worry about, Class 78 could get close.

Could.

With it's new arms, Mycophobia would tear up large chunks of dirt and hurl them at the Hunters-to-be, the mysterious projectiles shooting from it's body as well. This made even fighting it extremely hard, especially when it could turn on it's spores anytime it wanted. The most they could do was take potshots at it and run around, and the black blood was much faster at healing Mycophobia than before.

In essence, if they didn't think of something, they were screwed.

"Get down!" Makoto yelled, dropping to the floor as a projectile shot towards his head. The cliffside was practically gone, explosions and repeated stomping destabilizing the earth and causing it to crack apart, falling into the ravine and cutting off some of what little ground they had to fight.

"Makoto! It's assimilating again!" Celeste yelled, shooting at the massive mushroom construct. Yes, in addition to Mycophobia's physical evolution, it also went from assimilating living beings only, to assimilating anything organic. With it's already uber-powerful build, this made it nigh-invincible, and everyone conscious knew it. Grass was pulled into the construct, and used to heal the Grimm.

Makoto was fairly it was only toying with them, or else they would all be puddles of gore and mush. Stupid sadistic Grimm.

"Struggle, foolish humans! I shall gain more knowledge from your meaningless fights!" Mycophobia screamed, laughing maniacally. OK, so maybe it wasn't just sadistic.

"Makoto, what do we do?" Mukuro asked, having ran up to him, shooting at Mycophobia. The soldier had spotted that Fire Dust still easily pierced it, but it would heal too quickly for the Dust to even activate.

"We have to hold out for now, wait until Beacon responds to this." Makoto gritted out, barely managing to use Jeweled General to block an incoming projectile, "There's not really a coice here, no access to the cliff, no way to get help, our Scrolls are broken...dammit. We are not dying here today!"

He roared, and slapped a projectile to the side, growling as his arm strained itself to the near-limit.

"Makoto! The things Mycophobia's shooting, they're mushrooms!" Sayaka's voice piped up, shooting Fire Dust round after Fire Dust round at Mycophobia, trying to create too many wounds for it's psuedo-healing to keep up with.

"They're mushrooms...oh shit. Get away from them!" He yelled, just as the mushrooms exploded into spores. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but everyone save Kin, Makoto, Sayaka, Mukuro, Junko, and the woman were trapped with Mycophobia, while everyone else was separated by a visible barrier of mushroom spores threatening to turn them into a mindless puppet of Mycophobia.

"And now you have no help." Mycophobia crowed, it's 'face' in a smug grin, "What will you do now that your allies are behind you, trapped behind my barrier?"

"Dammit..." Makoto growled, his grip beginning to waver. They were trapped. There was certainly no way they could survive without killing Mycophobia, and even then that was near impossible.

"Makoto."

Damn. To know that there was no way of escaping, that they were probably going to die, nothing truly accomplished...

"Makoto!"

This was despair, huh?

But even then, a small yet loud part of his mind screamed to have hope, because everything would be OK.

"MAKOTO!"

His head snapped up, at the two girls glaring at him.

"You better not have given up yet, Naegi!" Sayaka excalimed, "Junko might have a plan and, despicable as she might be, it may be our only chance!"

"On your feet, soldier!" Mukuro continued, a confident smile on her face, "You still have life in you! We can do this!" The next words were spoken in unison by the two.

"You can do it, leader!"

For some reason, those words ignited something in him. A fire, a feeling hope and confidence and optimism blooming in his heart, and he couldn't help but grin at the two girls, the two that managed to help him up whenever he felt down.

"What's the plan?" He asked, turning to Junko, who had an oddly serious and determined face.

"You're not going to like it." She replied.

"Tell me anyways."

She told him. He didn't like it.

"This is a horrible idea!" Makoto yelled.

"You think I don't know that?" Junko replied, ducking under a flying mushroom shot.

Makoto was dodging projectiles, still fighting. Next to him, Junko shot down spores, and Kin quickly dissected mushrooms that would hit the ground, throwing the spore sacs into the barrier. It thickened it, but that was better than losing any more ground they had.

"Alright, the plan is you blast me into the air at Mycophobia with grenades, Sayaka and Mukuro take potshots at speeding mushrooms faster than the eye can see, and Kin is supposed to throw the knife directly into a fucking Fire Dust crystal in my hand before I stab it into Mycophobia!"

"Basically!"

"What kind of unholy ideas were going through your head when you thought of this?!"

"This is literally the only idea that might work, now shut up and get ready!" Makoto growled under his breath, but braced himself.

"What's the success rate?"

"0.001%!"

"WHAT?!"

"All my other ideas have a 0% success rate, you wanna try those ones instead?!"

"Just get ready, dammit!"

It was a stupid plan. A plan that, by all means, was impossible. A plan that, if it were anyone else, it shouldn't have worked.

But because it was Makoto Naegi, or rather, because of his 'good luck', that to the most infinitesimal parts of the infinitesimal details that made up everything in Junko's plan work, everything lined up.

And Makoto soared.

The concussive blast from the grenades sent Makoto skyrocketing towards Mycophobia, the fire just barely touching the very bottoms of his shoes, as he sped towards the massive mushroom. Just as Junko said, it began shooting mushrooms at Makoto, as if to believe that Makoto was helpless in the air.

They almost instantaneously exploded, one after another, in an incredibly lucky series of potshots from Sayaka and Mukuro, who never lost concentration, constantly shooting blindly, and constantly hitting the mushrooms in mid-air. Junko shot out another batch of grenades when Makoto began to slow, propelling him even further, and he began to pump his Aura into the Fire Dust crystal, a faint glow blooming from within the crystal.

"Hahahahahaha! Amazing! Simpyl amazing! To think humans, this glorious creatures, were capable of such wonderful things!" Mycophobia howled mirthfully, shooting more and more mushrooms at Makoto, "Come, human! Show me the true strength, the true pinnacle, of mankind's potential!"

And still, Makoto drew nearer to Mycophobia, the Dust crystal shining brighter and brighter in his hand. To any other person, it seemed as if he held an infernal red light in his hands, it fighting to burst from him any second.

And just the right second, down to the infinite digits that lined up with Kin's throw, the knife struck the glowing Dust crystal just as Makoto reached Mycophobia. He grabbed the handle and, using the knife, slammed the now Dust-laden knife straight into Mycophobia's 'face', right between the eyes.The black blood immediately surged towards the wound, trying to close it up and extinguish the Dust, but it burned the ichor away faster than it could snuff it out, Makoto having let go of the knife long before the black blood got to him.

"...Ah...So this is the extent of mankind's potential..."

"No," Makoto said, as he fell, Sayaka and Mukuro running to catch him, "With mankind, there is always more to expect."

The mushroom construct cracked, red light shining from inside. The 'face' began to twist and contort, as a normal person would when dealing with a severe amount of pain.

"...Aaaaaaahh...AaaaaAAAhhhhhHhHh...AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Mycophobia suddenly screamed staggering a bit...before it's face twisted into a smile.

"Ah, how I love humans."

Then it burst into flames, the smile still on it's face. Soon it began to cackle maniacally, it's eyes wide with mirth and ecstasy. Even as it burned, it kept laughing. Even when it's 'face' began curling in on itself, it's 'eyes' melting into a disgusting black sludge, it kept laughing. As it broke down into nothing, and began to crackle and blacken, that damning laughter would still continue.

The laughter only stopped when the main flower bud on it's cap, having peeled itself open after the Fire Dust was injected into it, and spitting out a middle-aged pale woman, who fell towards the ground, Mukuro catching her while Sayaka caught Makoto.

The woman had delicate porcelain-colored skin, and wore a white fur coat, with white 'puffs' of fur trim. She had a spiked choker around her neck, and a white sleeveless dress with the same kind of 'puffs' of fur trim at the top of the dress. On her head was a peculiar shroom-shaped hat with two mesh layers, one shorter than the other, that made it seem like an unfinished funeral veil. If one paid attention closely, they would see that underneath the veil, the black sludge had formed a mask that covered the top half of the face, with eye holes, and stopped just at the tip of the nose, with a few stray 'drops' making it seem like tear drops, and that that they would see odd eyes, that were black with red irises.

But the fighters were tired, too tired to notice such details, and collapsed to the ground as the exhaustion finally caught up with them. Behind them, the barrier of spores slowly drifted apart, and the rest of Class 78 ran past the barrier, grabbing onto the six bodied there.

In front of them, Bullheads began to finally emerge in the distance, the nightmare of Mycophobia finally at an end.

Final Phase finished.

Well Done.

A/N: …...Yep. Mycophobia is the main villain behind the Beacon Initiation for Class 78, and is one of the most difficult battles they'll ever have. It's superior intelligence, ability to strategize even with it's limited resources, and ability to fucking spam mushrooms makes it a Grimm worthy of being R-Rank. And it had an unhealthy obsession with humanity and their potential, preferring to battle them to gain more knowledge for itself, rather than just instantly assimilating them.

And Class 78 managed to defeat it. Something a silver-eyed warrior couldn't do. Think about that for a bit.

But yeah, this entire chapter was dedicating to fighting Mycophobia, from the chase with it's zombies, to the actual fight, to it's defeat. Even the woman that appeared from Mycophobia is significant to Mycophobia itself. Kinda obvious why, but for the few that don't see why, it'll be explained why in the next chapter.

Speaking of the next chapter, there's not a lot. It'll be the aftermath after Mycophobia's defeat, and a bunch of sappy moments for Summer and her family, and the conclusion to the current arc. Sorry if you were expecting more, but it'll probably be shorter than most of the other chapters. Probably.

On a side note, Makoto's Semblance was unlocked! Yay!

With that out of the way, let me listing the current ships that, excluding Kin x Junko (still need a ship name for that), might appear:

-Naezono

-Naekuro

-Naegiri

-Makoto x Mukuro x Sayaka (My personal favorite.)

-Lancaster

-Arkos (Mandatory ship choice)

And if you have any ship suggestions, PM me, or say it in the comments. I'm also still looking for a beta for this story, so PM me if you want to beta. If you have any team names for Class 78, PLEASE, send them here. I'm running myself ragged trying to find colors that work with their initials, and it hurts my brain.

Before I go, as promised, an Omake detailing Mycophobia!

Omake: A report on the R-Rank Grimm 'Mycophobia'

Name: Mycophobia

Based off of: Mushrooms

Variants: None, Unique Grimm

Habitat: Any. It is a 'Wandering Grimm' that was sighted across the entirety of Remnant at one point, proves to be extremely resilient to any weather conditions

Size: 50 meters tall, extremely large and tanky.

Description: A massive mushroom-like construct, towering over even a Goliath, it is often slow and stumbling, though it has shown signs of quick speeds should the need arise. It constantly emits a cloud of mushroom spores, which it can shut off any time it wants, and those that fall victim to the cloud of spores become it's Puppets, to use and fight as it pleases. It's flesh is capable of taking Dust-powered artillery with only a few scratches, with the exception of Fire Dust, and it shows that it is capable of rapid 'evolution' to match a combat situation. Such evolutions are permanent, and will remain on Mycophobia until it's death, apparently. Despite being visible within a 10 mile radius, no one dares to try to fight it, for fighting it is tantamount to suicide. It is unparalleled among the Grimm for it's intelligence, capable of speaking despite having no facial features, and is known to strategize to adjust to different Hunters.

Difficulty: Impossible to kill, run on sight

Attacks: Unknown, it has never directly fought Hunters before

Weaknesses: Fire Dust

Vulnerable Areas: Unknown, possibly no weak areas to exploit.

Strategies when fighting it:

Sacrifice your team mates. It will bring you a small amount of time.

Run. As far away as you can get, just run.

If you don't make it, pray it doesn't find you.

If it finds you, commit suicide via a bullet to the head, to spare yourself the pain and agony of being it's Puppet.

Unique Skills:

-Mushroom Spores: It emits a cloud of mushroom spores tat may subject any affected by it to become Mycophobia's Puppet

-Assimilation: Is capable of assimilating organic beings to add to it's plethora of knowledge

-Hive Mind Administrator: Anyone affected by it's spores will join a hive mind commandeered by Mycophobia, which is how it commands it's Puppets to fight and communicates with them

-Rapid Forced Evolution: It is capable of forcing itself to evolve should the need arise, in order to adjust to a difficult fight. This causes permanent changes to Mycophobia.

-Flower Buds: Unknown

-Superior Intelligence: One of the many things that give Mycophobia it's rank. Mycophobia is capable of communicating and understanding human language, and can plan strategies and tactics, making it extremely dangerous to fight. However, it has shown signs of cockiness, preferring to fight when it can easily kill Hunters.

-Mushroom Bullets: One of it's original attacks, Mycophobia is capable of rapidly growing and shooting mushrooms from it's body, creating a spore-carrying projectile that can create more Puppets should it explode.

Rank: R

Note: Update this report as soon as possible. Mark Mycophobia as defeated. -Ozpin

And that's the omake. You're welcome.

With all that out of the way, this is Gold Magikarp signing off! Peace!