*Summer and Jenkins are seen playing Triple Triad. It's currently tied up between Summer and Jenkins for number of wins.*
Summer: I'm glad that Phoenix sent over some Triple Triad cards.
Jenkins: Yep. So, are you excited to be one step closer to being reunited with Ruby and Yang?
Summer: Of course! I'm excited to be closer to reunited with my daughters!
Jenkins: Yeah, although this chapter I feel, is going to be brutal. I hope Jaune can keep Pyrrha calmed down.
Jaune passed the book to Nora, but before she began to read, a package dropped in front of the readers.
"Huh. what's in the box?" Penny asked.
"I don't know, should we open it?" Weiss said.
"I know what it is." Tronmaster said, "Ruby, remember when you asked about getting some Triple Triad cards?"
"Yeah, why?" Ruby asked.
"Well, guess what's in this box?" Tronmaster said, smiling.
Ruby opened the box, her eyes going wide.
"Are these..." Ruby said, before Tronmaster continued.
"Yep, Triple Triad cards! Courtesy of the Phoenix Champion." Tronmaster said.
"With, a rulebook I might add." Alicia said.
With that, Nora began to read.
[Pyrrha Nikos: Age 16]
[No P.O.V.]
[OST-FF8 The Landing]
Suddenly, music started to play.
"What's with the music?" Winter asked.
"Well, Phoenix wanted to add a bit of that extra touch of Final Fantasy to the story, so why not add some music from soundtrack of Final Fantasy VIII?" Alicia replied.
"Makes sense to me." Penny said, everyone else nodding in agreement.
Sanctum was currently in chaos.
"Wait, what?" Pyrrha asked, both confused and worried.
Teachers, Huntsmen in Training, local militia, even certified Huntsmen in the area were barely holding their own against the attacking force.
"Who would stoop so low as to attack young Huntsmen in training?" Glynda asked.
"I have a feeling that we're going to find out." Raven said.
A group that called themselves the NEO Galbadians.
"NEO Galbadians?" Qrow asked.
"Yep, now your others don't just have Salem and the White Fang to deal with." Alicia said.
"Ah, shit." Glynda swore, shocking most everyone else, and causing the Branwen twins to laugh a bit.
The NEO Galbadians were enemies to Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, Atlas, Menagerie, even the White Fang.
"Damn, these guys must be bad news if the whole of Remnant hates them." Raven said, earning nods from everyone.
"I agree. If these NEO Galbadians are much of a threat to cause even the White Fang has a grudge against them." Penny said.
Of course that was the tip of this unknown military force. They had machines that destroyed Atlas Spider Droids with ease, and their troops could easily hold their own against seemingly any opponent.
"Damn, these guys must pack some serious hardware in order to take out some of Jimmy's droids." Qrow said.
"It took Adam awhile to destroy at least one." Blake said.
"But that was because of the nature of his Semblance. Right Aunt Blake?" Alicia said, Blake nodding.
This is because of the fact they have specially designed bracers that allow them to vaguely mimic the ability to Draw magic from themselves, however this magic cannot be stocked and must be used immediately.
"So basically, they're cheating." Yang said.
"Yeah, pretty much." Tronmaster said, Ruby muttering something about cheating bastards.
Pyrrha Nikos was dueling a soldier at the moment, and was not doing very good at the moment.
"Come on, Pyrrha can easily mop the floor with him. Right Pyrrha?" Weiss said, looking at Pyrrha, only to see a look of pure fear on her face.
"Pyrrha?" Ruby asked, concerned for her friend.
Compared to the Greek armored red haired girl, the NEO Galbadian soldier was slightly more armored.
"Wouldn't that mean that he would be weakened to Pyrrha's Semblance?" Ren asked.
"I'm guessing that isn't going to matter." Penny replied.
He was wearing a blue suit under his armor, said armor consisted of a steel chestpiece that covered the arms and shoulders but not the hands, steel boots, and a steel helmet with a visor that covered most of their face, save for their nose and mouth. In his hands was a long, flat, single edged sword which could be held with one hand, but the design of the grip preferred for it to be used two handed, with a hand guard connected to the blade guard and made a sharp turn downward but did not connect to the bottom of the grip.
"That sounds, completely convoluted." Winter said.
"That's Japan for you. It's an extremely beautiful country with a rich culture and history, but it's also weird as hell." Alicia said.
"Especially considering how many anime protagonists have giant-ass swords." Jaune said, Tronmaster nodding in agreement.
Pyrrha and the NG Soldier had clashed blades and quickly Pyrrha pushed his sword to the side and kicked him away, pushing him further away with her Polarity semblance, she took this openin gap to catch her breath for a second.
"That's probably going to bite her in the ass." Qrow said.
"QROW!" Winter shouted.
"What? I'm just saying." Qrow defended.
The NG soldier slid back, but kept upright, blue particles rose up from his feet as he aimed his sword downward, the swung the blade up to point at Pyrrha.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Blake said.
"Did, did you just quote Star Wars Blake?" Penny asked.
"N-no." Blake said with a blush.
Pyrrha was confused by this for a moment until a burst of fire suddenly exploded in front of her.
"Oh no!" Ruby said.
"Not good." Yang said.
"WHAT!?" Pyrrha cried.
"Ahh!" Pyrrha shouted in pain and shock from the sudden spell and ended up tripping over a knocked out student.
Pyrrha suddenly began to hyperventilate.
"Jaune, try and calm Pyrrha down." Alicia said.
"How?" Jaune asked.
"Oh for the love of- KISS HER!" Alicia replied.
Jaune then kissed Pyrrha, calming her down again.
"Now to finish-" The NG soldier said raising her sword.
"Oh shit." Ruby and Penny said in unison.
"Private!" another soldier shouted, his suit being red, and instead of a sword there was a machine gun mounted on a gauntlet on his right hand. "What are you still doing here!?"
"So, we'll be able to tell their rank because of the color of the suit they wear underneath their armor?" Raven asked.
"I would assume so." Penny replied.
"About to take care of this Huntress in training." The Private replied.
"Are all NEO Galbadian soldiers this ruthless?" Pyrrha asked, appalled at the Private's actions.
"Not unless they're given explicit orders not to kill anyone. But besides that, yeah." Alicia said, her words oozing venom.
"Oh for the love of- Our orders are not to kill everyone we fight, we just get them out of the way, one way or another."" The red soldier said as blue particles rose up around him, then he cast his spell.
"Oh boy, what spell is he going to use?" Qrow asked.
The next thing Pyrrha new, her vison was clouded in darkness.
"Fucking blindness spells." Tronmaster said.
"Yeah, those can be extremely annoying." Alicia said, agreeing with her boyfriend.
"I- I can't see." Pyrrha said getting up, only to stumble and fall back down.
"If this were anyone else, it would be hilarious." Yang said.
"Agreed." Everyone else said.
"You see? Now she isn't a threat, let's get moving." The Red soldier ordered, "The Guardian Force Brothers, Sacred and Minotaur, are somewhere here in Sanctum. Let's find them before they junction with someone."
"All this trouble, all this destruction, my other's friends, and teachers being hurt and possibly killed, ALL FOR A COUPLE OF FUCKING GUARDIAN FORCES!?" Pyrrha said, anger radiating from her voice.
"Holy fucking asscrackers." Alicia said.
"Yes sir Major." The Private said
"W-wait!" Pyrrha called standing up, only to fall forward, "Wait, I can't see! Help please!"
"It's official, I hate NEO Galbadian." Penny said.
"I couldn't agree more Penny. Bunch of fucking assholes." Ruby said, the last part having more anger than usual.
Pyrrha could feel the minutes pass slowly as she stood up and shuffled in whatever direction she was facing, hoping to find someone that could help her.
"This is depressing." Ren said.
"Finally, he speaks!" Alicia said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Someone, please help." Pyrrha cried out.
That's when a large had gripped the back of her head and tilted it back.
"No. No. No. NO! BAD FEELING!" Pyrrha said, freaking out.
"Um, Pyrrha? Is everything alright?" Jaune asked, concerned for his partner/girlfriend.
"After this trailer please." Pyrrha said.
"Hold still girl, I'm only helping you." A deep voice said, "The eyedrops big brother."
"Here you go little brother." A not very deep voice replied.
"I'm guessing that these must be those Guardian Force Brothers that the NG Major talked about?" Penny asked, Tronmaster nodding in agreement.
"Thanks." The younger brother said, "Now hold still girl."
Pyrrha completely froze up as she felt droplets of liquid hit her eyes, the blackness soon melting away.
"Ah, so the eyedrops are magic." Glynda said.
"Yep. I had to use some myself once. Some sick bastard tried to have his way with me by hitting me with a blindness spell." Alicia said.
"Where is the bastard?" Ruby said.
"Currently rotting in some zombie's gut." Alicia replied.
The one holding her head let go and Pyrrha spun to see who had helped her.
"Time to put some faces to those voices." Qrow said.
The larger figure looked like a bull in humanoid form, with large red horns and was wearing an iron chestpiece over a red tunic that cover his torso and had a red plate of metal on his arm with a kanji of some sort on it. In one of his hands was a long poled spike mace.
"I'm guessing that this is Minotaur." Raven said, later noticing Alicia and Tronmaster laughing.
"What's so funny?" Nora asked.
"J-just keep reading." Tronmaster said, in-between breathes.
Next to him was a figure that was almost completely identical, only half the size of the first, wore blue instead of red, and had brown horns instead of red ones.
"Is this Sacred?" Ren asked, only to be met with more of Tronmaster and Alicia's laughing.
"T-thank you." Pyrrha said looking at the two.
"You're welcome." The taller figure said, "My name is Sacred, and the one next to me is my older brother Minotaur."
Everyone could only look dumbfounded at the revelation.
"Is that why you two are laughing like crazy?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Alicia said.
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'm with my other on that." Pyrrha said.
"Trust me, we get that a lot girl." Minotaur said, "But we can talk more later, right now these NEO Galbadian soldiers are looking to forcibly use our power, and to be honest, we could use your help."
"I Guess I'm going to be the last one who receives a Guardian Force." Blake said.
"Yeah, but I'm jealous!" Yang whined.
"Why?" Penny asked.
"Pyrrha gets two Guardian Forces!" Yang replied.
Everyone looks at Yang in deadpan.
"Me?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's right." Sacred said, "If you agree to share our power we can easily take back your school." Upon saying that, Sacred held out his hand, as did Minotaur.
"Considering the circumstances, I wouldn't hesitate agreeing." Penny said. Winter, Raven, and Glynda nodding in agreement.
"Can we count on your help?" Minotaur asked.
Pyrrha thought for a moment, wondering the risks involved.
"Oh for the love of Oum, JUST SHAKE THEIR DAMN HANDS ALREADY!" Pyrrha said, yelling the last part.
"Hey guy's I found them!" A blue suited soldier called.
"Oh, dammit." All of JNPR said.
Pyrrha's eyes widened I alarm, "Deal." Pyrrha said shaking the hands of the two GF's.
"Oh, sweet mother of Oum, FINALLY YOU SNAP OUT OF IT!" Pyrrha said.
"Jeez Pyrrha, what's gotten into you?" Weiss asked.
"Nora, just keep reading the damn chapter." Pyrrha said, Nora quickly replied.
A brown glow quickly coated the two GF's and it flowed directly into Pyrrha, who gasped at the sudden feel of being crushed by the earth itself.
"Alright, now Pyrrha is junctioned with two Guardian Forces." Penny said.
"Help her junction some magic, I'll hold this goof off." Sacred said lifting his mace and ran toward the soldier roaring.
"I guess Sacred's going to bull rush him." Yang punned, earning a chorus of groans.
"Junction?" Pyrrha asked.
Minotaur, instead of answering, grabbed Pyrrha by the arm and she felt a powerful force flow into her. "There, I just fully stocked you on Shell, Protect, Berserk, and Double spells." Minotaur said, "Now focus your mind on your core attributes."
"Time for Pyrrha to get better." Jaune said.
"Yep." Pyrrha said in response.
Pyrrha nodded and closed her eyes, soon seeing within herself, those four spells within her.
"Now, connect the Shell spell to your Spirit, that'll help you resist Magic attacks, connect the Protect spell to you Vitality, that'll help you resist physical attack, attach Berserk to your strength to boost your power, and you may as well put Double on your hit rate, make things easier on yourself." Minotaur explained.
"Huh, now I'm getting closer to my nickname of 'The Invincible Girl'." Pyrrha said.
Pyrrha nodded as easily managed to connect those spells to her body and soul, then opened her eyes, feeling herself getting stronger in an instant.
"Level up!" Winter said, getting laughter from Alicia and Tronmaster.
"That's it, no lets go teach these chumps a lesson." Minotaur said running to join his younger brother.
"Time to kick some ass." Penny said, everyone nodding in agreement.
"Hey, I found them!" The Private from before called out causing Pyrrha to spin towards the man, "Oh great, the blind girl again, move aside." he said moving to push Pyrrha aside.
"Oh great, this asshole again." Ruby said.
"Kick his ass Pyrrha." Ren said.
"Gladly." Pyrrha said with a smirk.
Only for her to suddenly bash him with her shield and kick him away, causing him to fall over.
"Dumbass." Qrow said.
"Seriously, these guys are like Stormtroopers." Blake said.
"The hell?" The Private cried out standing back up, "You're supposed to be blind!"
"Not anymore asshole." Yang said.
"Not anymore." Pyrrha said running up and slashing with Milo, breaking the Privates sword in half.
"Shit!" The Private said dropping his broken sword and putting his hand to an earpiece, "Major! The girl you blinded can see again, and I think the Brothers have junctioned with her.
"Time for some payback." Pyrrha said, earning nods from everyone.
Pyrrha bashed him again to knock him out, but didn't get a chance to rest as gunfire flew past her, causing her to turn and raised her shield to block incoming bullets from the now returned Major.
"This is more difficult that intended for the mission." The Major said running forward in an attempt to slug Pyrrha, only for her to push him away with her Polarity and into the Brothers, who both planted a hoof into his face.
This caused a roaring amount of laughter to come from the readers.
"Oh Oum, that's way too funny." Raven said, earning a high five from Yang.
"We got more incoming!" Sacred called out pointing to a small squad of five blue uniformed soldiers.
"Ah, crapbaskets." Pyrrha said.
Those soldiers however were ambushed by a caped male figure that took them down with a single swing of his scythe.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby and Yang said. Qrow shook his head in amusement.
"Damn these guys." Qrow grumbled looking toward Pyrrha and the Brothers, "Well, I'll be damned, no doubt those two are Guardian Forces."
[OST-FF8: Succession of Witches]
Suddenly the music changed to a more creepy tune.
"Good lord, what is that?" Weiss said.
"Yeah, it's kinda creepy." Penny said.
"It's another Final Fantasy VIII song." Tronmaster said.
Elsewhere in a laded Bullhead on a cliff a figure watched from the distance using the built in binoculars in the visor helmet she was wearing on her head.
"I take it that she's our new antagonist?" Glynda asked.
"Yep, you'll learn her name in the coming chapters, but for now, we'll refer to her as the Sorceress." Alicia replied.
Said figure was a woman wearing a very tight black suit that revealed with ease her curves, her upperbody was covered only by the suit, while her lower body had a open front skirt that was split into four pieces that were flowing in the wind that was coming in from the open doors of the bullhead, her hands were covered by gloves that did not cover her pinky fingers and thumbs, and her boots were a pair of high heels that had two sharp tipped stilts at each heel, and though her pale face was mostly covered by the helmet, long black hair could still be seen flowing from it.
"Damn, she's pretty attractive." Qrow and Winter both said.
"Yeah, but I have a question." Ruby said, "HOW IN THE HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK DO YOU WALK IN HEELS!?"
"Jeez Mom, I didn't know that you could swear so much at 15. What happened to the self censoring?" Alicia said.
"Nora, just get back to reading the damn chapter." Ruby said, Nora swiftly complying again.
She removed her hand from her helmet and turned the blue suited pilot of the Bullhead, "Recall the troops." She ordered.
"What? But we've found Sacred and Minotaur." The Pilot said.
"Yeah, but you got your collective asses handed to you." Penny said.
"Yes I can see that, but they've junctioned with the Mistral Champion." The woman said, "Getting them from her would prove far too costly. No we retreat and continue our search for the other GF's. I will work on a way to get that Guardian Force from her that won't cost us half our soldiers."
"Well, she's determined. I'll give her that." Raven said.
"Yep. But something tells me that there's more to this 'Sorceress' than meets the eye." Winter added.
"Yes Ma'am." The pilot said turning on his radio, "Attention NEO Galbadian soldiers, the GF Brothers has been junctioned, the leader as issued a full retreat. I repeat, the leader has issued a full retreat."
"When in doubt, bug out." Alicia said, earning a nod from Winter and Penny.
The woman, now identified as the leader looked out the bullhead, and noticing something coming closer, put her hand back to her visor and zoomed in on the figure.
"What's so important that would cause her to turn back around?" Weiss asked.
"I'm guessing we'll find out soon." Blake said.
A Small Nevermore, flying toward her with a black letter in it's talons.
"Oh crap." Weiss said.
"Salem." Ruby growled.
"This is interesting." The Leader said as the Nevermore reached her and she took the letter and opened it.
"I'm guessing that the letter is some sort of threat to the Sorceress from Salem." Penny said.
"Probably." Blake said.
"What's that?" The Pilot asked.
The leader did not immediately respond, rather she read the letter and began to chuckle, "A letter from Salem, she says that she will soon have a Maiden on her side and with it I will be killed." The leader said throwing the letter and the Nevermore out the bullhead, then blue particles flowed up from her feet and with a snap of her fingers the letter and the Nevermore were burned to ash, "As if that would make any difference to me, the Maidens power is nothing to me."
"Oh yeah, she killed a small Nevermore. Talk about an impressive show of power." Penn said sarcastically, rolling her eyes for good effect.
"Jeez Penny, you are such a smartass." Yang said with a laugh.
The Leader looked to the side and saw a giant Deathstalker barreling towards her, blue particles rose up once again from her feet and with another snap of her fingers a bright yellow glow started to grow from a small point above the Deathstalker until it exploded in a massive sphere of fire, leaving the massive scorpion Grimm as nothing more than a charred husk. "Couldn't even take a Firaga spell." She muttered, "If she plans to kill me she'll need more than that."
"Okay, never mind. I was mistaken. She's more powerful than I would've thought." Penny said.
With that, the book shut itself.
"Alright Nora, pass the book to Pyrrha please." Tronmaster said.
"Wait, what's Firaga?" Weiss asked.
"It's essentially an upgraded fire spell." Alicia replied, getting a nod of conformation from Weiss.
*Summer and Jenkins are playing Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary co-op. The mission they're playing is 'The Library.'*
Summer: Yo Jenkins, get those Carrier forms off of me.
Jenkins: I'm trying, but these Combat Forms won't- JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!
Summer: Jenkins? Is something wrong?
Jenkins: Fucking Carrier form scared the shit out of me.