RWBY: The age of Koopa

by EXRB

What happened when the world of Remnant meets the unique and quirky character of Super Mario? What would happen if they were to be exposed to the oddness and wackiness of the Mario Universe? What if they happen to be world-conquering bad guys? One thing is for sure, they're in for a Super Adventure. This is an RWBY & Mario crossover but without Mario. Cover Art by yours truly.

23. Chapter 19 (Volume 1 Arc)

Chapter 19: Minion Boot Camp R(emeant) Pt2

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Apologies for the incoming massive Author Note dump that accumulated from the previous 4 months, so many things happen in my life.

Firstly first, I would like to apologize for the absence of updates on this story, I was, unfortunately, suddenly summoned to take my Taiwanese citizen mandatory military service. The timing is very unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Alas, the service took 4 months. As such, I have been forcefully stripped away from my free time of fiction writing and was unable to properly inform all of you because of limited access to electronic devices and my own forgetfulness. (Mainly my forgetfulness, which I deeply apologize for)

What's more, I hit a writing block while writing the battle scene between Pyrrha and King Boo. I kept getting dissatisfied with the scene and the plot narration, which ended up being scrap down and rewritten from scratch multiple times, as you probably figure out, I'm the type that doesn't release my work unless I'm satisfied with it. (Yes, this is apparently a re-occurred issue with me)

I was having a hard time gauging the power level between the Boss Minions and the two teams, as I'm probably the only person on this site that tries to make funny yahoo-wahoo Mario Bosses badasses in RWBY, literally tapping into a never explored realm you could say.

Fortunately, my service time is over (unfortunately, the military still can summon me back for educational recall, 5 times at max, although the laws made it so that the summons only last two weeks long each time.)

Anyway, by the end I was able to properly work on this fiction in my free break time mid-service, only writing it little by little as the days went by, after somehow managing through this long struggle and inconsistent script filling, the delivery has finally arrived, I have edit and iron out the chapter, here we are, the second part of Minion Boot Camp R.

Note:2023/4/23

This part of the note is something I really want to discuss with you guys, as I was serving in the military, being cut away from society, imagine my face when I saw all the articles and YT videos about the controversial critics surrounding Mario Movie. bruh. I don't even, how? What? (Confusion emoji) How did this whole thing start?

But after watching the Super Mario Bros Movie after finally having a free holiday break from my military duty, I can understand why there's even a controversy going on between critics and fans in the first place.

I saw the good and the bad about this movie, or should I say… a 90 minutes long animation that technically, doesn't qualify to be called a movie.

Yeah, this love letter of animation really doesn't have much of a plot that qualified by modern movie standers (or even by general common sense definition), it's really barebone and there's barely anything original beyond what was already open known Mario knowledge, Nintendo really played it safe with this movie (consider the massive flop of the first Mario movie, you can't really blame them from a business stander point.)

As a LORE lover myself, I can see why some people would feel disappointed, massive disappointment, as there's nothing original aside from the plot formula change that is Mario rescuing Luigi instead of Peach. There are hardly any brand new interactions between the cast beyond what was already known from the Game-verse counterpart, hardly anything new, anything original that isn't taken from the Game-verse lore. (Aside from two major brand new Mario lore revelations of the Family of Mario's & Peach's past. And Donkey Kong has a narcissistic muscular jock personality. Which took me by surprise, I just never see DK as a Jock type.)

Literally, the critic statement of: "If you have played even 1 Mario title before, you can already guess the plot of this movie." As much as bais, arrogant, and insulting such claims are and hurts, it rings true to a certain degree.

But they can't deny that 95% of the fun comes from recognizing the reference or easter egg, this movie is basically a "how much of a Mario fan are you?" authentic test.

Let's first talk about the good part, what I'll defend, is how they handled Mario, Luigi, and Peach's past, as we all know, their life origin is something that Nintendo and Miyamoto have been trying really hard to leave as vaguely, and as empty as possible since they start to take it seriously to managing their IP since starting around 2010 probably. (keep in mind any material that ends up in a released title is considered green-lighted by Nintendo, but we'll have to exclude the early-age extra materials made by third companies. The cartoons show interpretation, inconsistent or contradicting Nintendo Power magazine's lore made up by local editors at times)

The last time we ever get a major focus on Mario's childhood is from Mario & Luigi RPG2: Partners in Time. From a spinoff series game all the way back in 2005, which means Nintendo hasn't been touching the concept of Mario's past for at least 17 years long, 17 years, let's let that sink in.

But if we were to talk about the actual length, it should be 28 years, since the first time they ever explored the concept with Yoshi's Island. Which is a game all the way from 1995, a 28 years long gap to present.

With Yoshi's Island DS's Star Children expansion lore in 2006, and the (unnecessary) plot twist continuity of Yoshi's New Island from 2014, both games only add very few additions to the existing lore that barely reveal anything about Mario's past.

Seeing the actual family of Marios is probably the biggest lore bomb we could ever get in the next 15 or 20 years given (Actual authentic lore from Nintendo themselves, and design provided by them too, not some third-company creation like the Super Mario Bros Super Show). Here we finally see the Nintendo seal of approval design of Mama Mario, Papa Mario for the very first time. But wait, they even went beyond and made Uncle Marios, Cousins Marios, and Grandpa Mario, when all they ever need to make is just Mama Mario and Papa Mario and it would've got the job done, they went and given us a full view on the big Mario family just for the heck of it.

I highly and strongly doubt we'll get anything else as big or detailed as this, or even the mentioning of Mario's family in the foreseeable future, if they were even considering bringing this concept to the game-verse, which I highly doubt.

Also, imagine my surprise to see even Baby Mario and Baby Luigi getting screen time. (That's another extra mile of work to sculpt a 3d model to animate and render them for about 10 seconds of screen time.)

And then there's Baby Peach, in my opinion, they have handled her origin perfectly without getting into the massive fandom issue of Peach's heritage.

Just a lost little baby girl that somehow wandered into a warp pipe and ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom. (Although RIP to the Star Children lore from Yoshi's Island DS, this fic has been officially debunked by Nintendo unintentionally LMAO.)

Who actually ruled the Mushroom Kingdom before Peach? How does the monarch system work? Nope, dunno, don't care, they just decide to answer the long-time question of why there's a human ruling over the kingdom of anthropomorphic mushroom people and call it a day lol.

At this point, it honestly feels like a pity bone throw by Nintendo, or maybe they just really want to double down on snuffing out the fan theories on the Super Crown. (there's been a lot of theories that claim that Peach is actually a Toadette transformed into a human since the crown came to existence. Yes, this rabbit hole gets pretty deep and insane)

But in all honesty, I think whether these lores could be applied to the game-verse or not, it really wouldn't break the Mario Lore immersion at all. And I certainly don't even want to bother wasting time arguing with a stranger on the internet about what's considered the "RIGHT" and mainstream Mario canon, when in reality the final saying is up to Nintendo and Miyamoto themselves.

Because from the beginning, it really doesn't matter what Mario Bros, or Princess Peach's life origin is. Mushroom Kingdom will still be Mushroom Kingdom, you can't define Mario just by one game, it's the adventures that accumulated till this very day that shaped his character.

Take away the Mushroom Kingdom, and Super Mario wouldn't be Super Mario.

I strongly believe it is better if we left parts like these empty for each fan to take their own interpretation. (Which I certainly did and had my fun writing and working on this fic.)

Honestly, Mario hating Mushroom feels like the biggest give away this Movie is not canon to the Game-verse (although he did come to appreciate the taste in the end), but then again, there's Bowser's question to Peach about what Mario fears the most during the post-Chapter 3 Peach section in the first Paper Mario game. One of the answers you can choose from is actually Mushroom. (no joke, look it up)

Could it be that Nintendo and Miyamoto had envisioned Mario to hate Mushroom from the very beginning? Hmmm… (think emoji)

And, seriously, what's the deal with that nihilism Lumalee? Of all characters on screen, he's the most out-of-place character throughout this entire film. I get it that he's there for the quote-on-quote "standardized movie humor" which is overly abused in this age of media and is just dead dry-humor and maybe cringe at this point.

You can take him out of the whole movie and it won't affect the "plot" in any form at all. Even if it was for the standard movie humor, it still feels so out of place and forced to me. And I doubt they'll do a sequel about the Galaxys right after.

And the Yoshi egg in the post-credits (most likely just a nod to the Godzilla post-credits), could the second movie be YI focus? hmmm… (thinking emoji)

However, Bowser unceremoniously took the crown as the biggest highlight and letdown simultaneously, don't get me wrong, he's excellent for just remains true as the screen time and spotlight stealer just like the bombastic game-verse counterpart we all know and love (with or without Jack Black's killing performance, Bowser is already perfect in the basic form), glad to see that something never changes.

He's still as pure evil as ever, obsessed with Peach to an unhinged level, which is fine and great and dandy, but we only know his end goal, and never the reason and his past. (something I take greatly displeased in, and greatly appreciated as a real estate. Means I still can headcanon whatever lore I see fit without contradicting this fic. Wink wink)

By the way, Kamek dresses up as Peach still gets a good laugh out of me. The Mario IP team just really loves this dumb gag, don't they? This marked the third time this gag was pulled.

However, what this movie does best, is make use of the already existing element to explore the world-building concepts of Mario Universe. Yes, there isn't a story here, but that doesn't mean the movie is empty, I can confidently say that a lot of references and easter egg elements still stay in character with the Mario Lore, partially, the things, species, objects, Power-UPs, places, or common-sense in the world of Mushroom Kingdom, and how things work there, Coin blocks being public ATM, moving platform served as elevator, the Maker-like training course Peach had Mario undergoing created by a giant Mystery Block, the enemies behavior in wildlife, some of them actually match with how I headcanon them to be.

All in all, it was a movie made with the intention of celebrating of a beloved franchise, and it succeeded in what it aims for, a comfortable celebration that makes you giggle and smile in the warmest way. The probability of creating new Mario fans for the franchise is just a bonus added to the destined marketing goal. And I say it is a fine success in Nintendo's book.

It really doesn't deserve this whole drama of being criticized to hell by the so-called "professional" calling this work a "failure" or "an insult" to the industry just because it didn't follow the mainstream "standard" of the media or business environment.

To put it into better wording, Anton Ego's long reviews at the end of "Ratatouille" summarize perfectly on the situation of this little episode of controversy.

"The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends!"

- Anton Ego (Ratatouille)

And that's precisely what Nintendo has always strived and tries to be with their creations. New. At the end of the day, The Mario movie is just another "new" they bring to the world of the cinema business.

Anyway, this wasn't the proper place to discuss how a video game movie should be, so I'm stopping my ramblings and feedback here. Regardless, I have got a lot of great ideas from the movie, which I can definitely incorporate into this fic without breaking the flow. (See if you guys can spot them in the future. :D

But before I end my rambling, I am getting this off my chest, Koji Kondo definitely deserved the GOAT of this movie, I actually teared up when the iconic 1-1 overworld music started playing during the part where Mario first entered Mushroom Kingdom outskirt, it just shows how impactful and timeless his work is to this franchise and gaming music history as whole.

-2023/05/29

Since I was on an inconsistent working schedule while in the military, I end up writing too much for the chapter without being able to properly check the length and flow, which ends up being divided into two chapters as I finally sit down and start editing during the holiday break.

-2023/06/22

Oh. My. God!

What just happened? What was that Nintendo Direct? Broooooo!

I'm literally shaking and crying, and maybe c*ming, we Mario fans are living in the best timeline, that direct was like a fever dream. Holy sh*t!

Super Mario RPG remaster babyyyyyyy! And a brand new Princess Peach game, Luigi's Mansion 2 remastered port, and Super Mario Wonder for new 2D Mario sequel, chill! Nintendo! Chill the fu*k down, wtf!

Let's-A. fu*king. gooooooooooooo!

Seriously, this just solidified my resolve to continue on this fic, Super Mario RPG is my first entry to the RPG genre, and the internet cult classic that is worshiped by many 90's gamers till this very day. And the important milestone and influence that lead to two beloved Mario sub-genera, the Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi.

I'm so happy that we're returning to the great and wacky movement the RPG series started.

It is as "Jump Up Superstar" says.

"Oh, we can zoom all the way to the moon from this great wide wacky world."

Great and Wacky indeed. Since this legendary game is being revived, meaning a new generation of people is about to be introduced to the wacky SMRPG nature, I have all the more reason to embrace the Mario-style wackiness in RWBY, and more confident to use the wacky elements from that game in this fic, while maintaining that intensity and intimidating nature of Bowser's villainess.

Be sure to look forward to the SMRPG elements and Smithy Gang's debut in this story.

-2023/06/30

Finally, so very sorry, but I tend to ramble on and on wherever I want to express myself clearly. I'll try to not have too many issues to talk about whenever a new chapter is out if I can help it.

Anyway, back to the story we go.

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"Hehehe...let's play a game of tag. You're it. But just so you know… I am the GHOST!"

- King Boo - The spookiest of all the spirits.

---

Standing in front of her weapon locker, Pyrrha tumbled her grip on Miló, when was the last time she felt this sense of opposing pressure? The first time she picked up a weapon? The first time she participated in Mistral's tournament? The first time she solos against an Alpha Grimm? The first time her mentor instructs her to go all out in their duel? The first time someone from another academy challenged her? The first time she sat in front of the camera to film her first commercial? Or the first time she faced a dangerous psychopath and an unknown Grimm with seven strangers in a forest which happened just yesterday?

*Click* Closing the locker while letting out an exhale, Pyrrha finds herself gazing back at the reflection from the metal surface, into a reflection of a wary and nervous maiden.

After all, she is in the process of facing perhaps her greatest challenge yet. A fully licensed Huntsman who showed excellent control and mastery over his Semblance. A mastery that she has witnessed first-hand with many others. Not to mention, someone who doesn't seem to be bothered by the idea of inflicting pain. Which doesn't sound... nice when you put it out loud, not in the slightest bit at all...

*inhale*

*exhale*

Pyrrha breathed in and out, she ceased the redundant thoughts, and focused back on her very soul, concentrating on this very moment, meditating as well as gathering her bearing.

She can do this.

She needs to do this.

She will do this.

This is what she wants. Challenges. To strive for improvement, and overcome difficulties, it's not about winning, nor about fame, and it most certainly is not about wealth either. It's about her growth as a person, a warrior, a protector, a defender, a Huntress. A Great Huntress who'll stand for the righteous and raise her blade for those that couldn't. That was her goal, and has always been.

When Beacon offers a place for her before she even applied for her admission, Pyrrha was escalated, she had heard of many great tales of Huntsmen and Huntresses graduating from there, while Heaven had already offered her a secured placement simply for her tournament achievement, Beacon just seems to be the right choice for her to grow into her full potential. No offense to the kindness offered by Headmaster Lionheart.

Pyrrha Nikos is destined for greatness. She knew of that, and the world knows that too.

But it also should be known that Pyrrha Nikos never backs down from challenges.

Good, maybe it's time for her to remind the world about that. Pyrrha Nikos will face adversity instead of avoiding them.

Whether she wins or loses, Pyrrha Nikos will make that advance.

With that, the Sparda girl turned and walked down the corridor, heading into the arena, her red mane swayed behind her, her stride firm and steady, and her burning determination that glittered in her emerald eyes never have been more clear.

---

- In the infirmary.

A noiseless Weiss Schnee sat silently in the medic bed. The staff have finished their treatment on her, all she needs is a good rest and she'll be back on her foot tomorrow, with no permanent damage, sequelae, or scars whatsoever.

Bull, she called and scoffed.

There is one permanent damage, damage to her pride.

She had failed to prove herself to be the better exception among her peers, among her teams…

She tightens her grip on the bed sheet. No, this isn't the end, it's not over yet, there are still many chances, if anything, she has shown what she's capable of, she just needs to convince the academy that she's the correct choice. It was unlikely that Rose would have a better chance against the instructors than her. Was she perhaps too haste with getting the immediate result? This isn't a game, like business, she needs to be patient, be careful with her move and strategy. Who knows? Maybe that young dunce will make a fool of herself soon, and the staff will realize that she's unfit for leadership.

Yes, that sounds plausible. She can see that happening very soon. She just has to be patient with the whole process, as displeasing as it sounds. There are many ways she could go with the objective. Academy Performance, Leadership Skills, Overall Performance, and Mentality. There are many ways a person can be deemed unfit for positions. The state of mind of an ignorant fool, for example.

Let the child act in her natural habitat, Ruby Rose is childish, Weiss Schnee just needs to wait for everyone to realize that fact…

Still, it wouldn't hurt to have some safety measures, and perhaps backup plans. Something like vouches from teachers.

Weiss Schnee didn't come to Beacon to be recognized as the Schnee who attended Vale's Huntsman Academy. No, she'll make a name for herself, free from Jacques Schnee's influence, free from the ties of her Family. For that goal, she must prove that she can be her own person, charging her own life as she pleased.

*Knock* *Knock*

*Click* The doorknob made a sound of grinding, interrupting the thoughts of the girl in white, followed by the creaking noise of the door being opened.

Walking in with his loud footstep announcing his entrance, still donned in that heavy layer of black steel armor with a tint of blue hues, the burley frame was the presence of Professor Donku, also referred to as Big Bully by the norm as the new professors insist.

Eyeing the Faunus knight, questions raises in Weiss' chest. What does the man want? The professor had been accompanying her this entire time during her visit to the infirmary, no doubt making sure of her well-being, so what is this private visit about?

"Pardon mine own intrusion." The giant politely announced, in which Weiss nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Pulling a chair beside her bed, the giant sits down, despite the chair size being comically small due to his imposing figure, and the chair legs being visually bending from his crushing weight. How the chair is able to withstand such physical abuse, Weiss may never know. But she sure hopes the chair doesn't give away and make the man's breech kiss the floor.

Finally found the correct position and comfortable pose in his seat, clearing his throat, the giant speaks to her. "May I asketh, I didst not inflict any long-t'rm damageth to thee, doest I?"

Blinking, Weiss shakes her head and responds. "No sir, aside from sore muscles and Aura exhaustion, my health is fine, I just need to rest and wait for the Aura to replenish." She paused, touching her sore stomach, before looking the instructor in the eye, offering a small smile. "Your concern is well appreciated, sir."

"I seeth. Yond is f'rtunate to heareth." The man nodded, no doubt finding the news to be a weight off his shoulder.

He then pulled out his Scroll, the device looked like a fragile straw in his big hands, and after having what appeared to be pure physical difficulties in operating the device. After a few minutes of listening to beep, boop, and bop noises, Bully emerges triumphantly from the battle between fat finger and tiny buttons, and successfully dialed something with the screen. Immediately, a transfer screen of some sort turned on and displayed the camera feed of the classroom they were in just earlier.

The man was keeping a tab on the class, Weiss realized. Another positive point for her… quirky professors. She can only hope that they continue to display the good qualities as they teach them.

But knowing individuals like Professor Teresa and Professor Venus, chances are not likely…

How does a group made of such drastically different personalities manage to stick together? She pounded and questioned. Last she checked, people with clashing personalities often don't stay put for long, the officials in SDC and maybe Atlas Military can vouch for that, remove the dissidents, as they possessed a threat and obstacle to organization operation.

So how did someone like Professor Bomu and Kuri manage to tolerate the likes of Mr. Teresa and Venus?

Pure sake of professionalism? History of acquaintance? Friendship? She couldn't understand the last one, nor could she imagine it.

As the two invest their attention in their own world. The silence returned, and so did the voice within the girl in white.

As Weiss continues to observe the man, the voice made several convincing suggestions to the heiress.

This is your chance. Tell him to make you the leader. Convincing him. Do it.

At first, she pushes them down, only for them to rebound back immediately. She made several attempts to push, repress, or ignore them, yet the voice didn't yield, instead it only got louder, more aggressive, and made itself all more evident. Particularly screeching at her, unable to stop the voice, Weiss' mind eventually caved in and listened to the suggestion.

Gulping, the Schnee moved her lips. "Professor, if I may… I have a question that's bothering me."

"Yes?" The knight stopped his actions, directing his focus onto the girl.

"About the results of our entrance exam. Hypothetically speaking… What do you think about a different person being the leader of our team?" She carefully chooses her wording. Making sure she's not the center of the focus. "I was just wondering since the team-forming system had so many possibilities."

The knight regards her words thoughtfully, bringing a finger to tap his chin. "Hmmm, a different person? By that, this would mean either, Miss. Xiao Long, Miss. Belladonna, and lastly, you."

Eyes not moving away from their contact, Weiss nodded silently, choosing to not say anything that may lead to misunderstanding.

Folding his scroll, the knight made a motion to put his free hand on his chin, pondering, unintentionally resembling a certain famous sculpture.

"Do you wish for this one to lend an ear to hear your worries?"

Almost, Bully almost missed the glimmering look that surfaced in Weiss Schnee's eyes, a look that gave him an alarming signal.

---

- Back in class SMB 101

Facing her opponent, Pyrrha carefully regarded Professor Bloo, who rested his halberd on his shoulder as he licked his fangs in a rather psychotic and intimidating manner.

For her, this is a challenge.

But for him, this is just a game and sport.

"Alright, girly." He halfheartedly begins, earning a few dissatisfied remarks from the Champion girl fans in the audience. "So the scenario is like this. Someone attacks Beacon…"

As soon as he word out that sentence, the audience went into an uproar. Save for a certain few individuals in present, almost everyone in the class finds his word absurd, as such thought is basically unheard of.

"SILENCE!" However, the booming roar from Goomboss immediately shut the whole room, as every participant shrank back into their seats like a scared Koopa Troopa hiding in shell.

"I had it perfectly under controlled, but thanks anyway." Flashing a shit-eating grin, Boo cheekily expressed his gratitude as he tilted his head at the Man-Goomba.

"Hmpf. Yeah right." Said Goomba rolling his eyes in return.

Resume to the class, Boo eyed the whole room. "Okay, new rule, the next person that dares to speak over m-... ahem, us, will get extra after-class detention hours with us." He corrects himself mid-sentence, ignoring the condensing glare his co-workers are sending him

He then twirled around the room, few students were already shooting him nasty eye shots, while most frowned at his display of totalitarianism and authority abuse.

"Anyone feels like making friends with us? Come on, no need to be shy. Instead of being the intimidating teacher, I would rather be your friend." He made a half-hearted attempt at a friendly offer. In which, the smug smile on his face tells a different intention.

Seeing that nobody dares to raise their voice, unconcerned with the student's opinion of him, the ghost continues his lecture, not before letting out a faint dissatisfied, and disappointed huff.

Great, spineless, all of them.

Needless to say, a few Faunus students with sharp hearing pickup on his dissatisfaction, one of them being a certain year-2 Rabbit Faunu girl.

"Aaaanyway, as I was explaining the scenario, Beacon was attacked by someone, details and culprits unknown, as it is an emergency situation, but the school is under a massive organized attack, that's all you need to know." He then raised a finger at Pyrrha. "And you, cereal box girl, are separated from your team soon after the attack took place. You were frantically looking for your teams and friends while fending off the grunts that were carrying out the attack, and that's when you found yourself facing a mysterious..." King Boo paused, searching for the proper terms to describe his… specific individual in mind.

"Stalker."

"Stalker?" Said champion girl inquired back, clearly puzzled by the word. Did she somehow hear it wrong?

"Again, details unknown, all you need to know is that your opponent has a fixed obsession with you." As if toying with her, Boo shrugged, giving her an "IDK" look.

The ghost then floats off, circling around Pyrrha slowly like a shark Corning its prey.

"Fan, admirer, stalker, harasser, hunter, assassin, whatever you think it is. The point is, you have an enemy who's not letting you go anywhere. What will you do?" He concluded, brandishing his weapon playfully.

Although the scenario the instructor put up may be very specific, too specific for her liking, Pyrrha made no reaction or voice of disapproval and readied her weapon and fighting stance instead. However, her reaction only seems to make the smile on Boo's face widened further.

"No backing down? Good." The ghastly man grinned. "Be sure to make it interesting for me, will you?"

He then turns to face Bob-omb. "Let's get this party started, shall we? Lights!"

Said baron of explosives shook his head while rolling his eyes, but complied nonetheless. "Off."

With a simple press of a button on his tablet, the whole room darkened, making every student jump in their seats.

With the lights out, leaving the only source of light being the dimming glow that shines passed from the remaining window frame. Even though there are still lights illuminating the room, the visibility is significantly hampered, with the stage of the arena being the most obscured, and the center almost covered in darkness.

In the center of the void, Professor Teresa's voice echoed through the arena.

"One last thing. Never expect your enemy to play fair."

Playing Music: - Rival - King Boo Mashup - Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Winter Games/ London 2012)

Soon after his last word of wisdom. Boo's cackling laugh echoes throughout the whole place. The direction of his laugh comes from everywhere as if he had suddenly merged as one with the room, making many on their edges.

On her guards, Pyrrha looked for her opponent frantically, yet her blinding visions still haven't gotten used to the darkness yet, the unexpected and certainly unorthodox twist had caught her off guard. Weiss's match with Professor Donku had led her to the false assumption that they were only changing strategy in their battles, yet instead, they went and created a field advantage.

Really not playing it fair. Though the red Sparda girl, there's not much Pyrrha can complain against. However, she can retaliate by fighting back.

In the spectator seats, several Faunus students watched the match with worried hearts. Blake happens to be one among the many that witness the full glory of the terror that would be soon known as Bloo Teresa.

The ghost-like man was flying around the room like a Geist, as if he himself was actually a hunting spirit toying with its prey.

The ex-White-Fang member watched the ghastly man sneak upon Pyrrha from right behind, smiling creepily the whole time as Pyrrhal remained blissfully unaware.

No sound, no visual, he had the field completely in his favor and advantage. The cat Faunus concluded, subconsciously biting into her nails without realizing.

Blake carefully turns her head, she doesn't know how many can see her right now, but she hopes that no one other than Faunus would realize that she can see completely fine in the dark. One of the many giveaway features of their kind.

She saw Ruby, Yang, and Nora squinting their eyes trying to get a better look at the battle, Jaune was frantically looking everywhere blindly, while Ren's focus remained on the spot where Pyrrha was last seen before the darkness covered everything.

In her hampered vision, Pyrrha tried her best to remain vigilant and be aware of strange activities, or any unusual movements. Even when she purposely pauses her own breathing, no noise was detected, the man has masterfully erased his presence completely.

To the dismay of her doubling effort, Pyrrha found nothing, her own sensation could not work properly in this environment, everything was dark, silent, unnecessarily tense even, and the lights from the window did nothing but act as a distraction to her visual sense.

"Behind you~" A cheerful voice of Bloo whispered, purposefully giving away his position.

The red Sparda immediately spun around, her javelin reaching out and straight, drawing a big horizontal slash into the darkness. From within the depths, Pyrrha saw a cloud of white mist scattered as Milo phased through something.

Quickly on her feet and reaction time, Pyrrha turned around just in time to see the outline of King Boo and raised her arm to block a strike from the Halberd, the sharp axe smashed against Akoúo̱'s surface, making a loud clash that echoed through the whole room.

With the upper hand and upper wind, Boo pressured on with a furious slash and hackle combo, all thanks to the airborne advantage of his ghost-like genetics that is totally not cheating.

Pyrrha tried her best to parry the relentless assault, the way Professor Teresa fought is unlike anything she ever experienced. The man was swimming through the thin air like he was in a pool, although his strikes are all recklessly wide open and tellgraphable, he made up by being incredibly relentless, there's no such a thing as overly maneuvering to the man, his aggressiveness and momentum never stopped, one missed swing was followed up by another quick turn of pursuit to cover the mistake, she tries to distance herself from the man, yet the instructor keeps close up and glued in, not giving her any time to catch a break, nor a chance to strike back.

Pyrrha can't tell whether Professor Terrsa was purposely fighting like an amateur, but that manically haunting laugh tells her that the man was definitely enjoying this way more than he was supposed to.

Deflecting yet another strike, Pyrrha saw that Professor Teresa is going to make yet another overly motion strike that will shoot past her, she called forward her Semblance and made her polarity pull on the halberd, immediately, the man was lured to the trap.

Like a well-maintained machine, Pyrrha's body went into autopilot despite being blind, she followed up by nailing a foot into King Boo's defenseless back, sending the man stumbling forward, never stopping her actions, Pyrrha switched Miló into Rifle mode and opened fire. To her graceful action's dismay, as the shots were about to land on the target, Professor Teresa turned invisible, making the bullet meet empty air.

Adrenaline still rushing, Pyrrha switched Miló back and went to a defensive stance, her eyes finally got used to the darkness, albeit that the visibility is still very poor, she could at least see the outline of her body and things around.

She patiently waits for the instructor to make a comeback, but fails to take into account all the possibilities. As she felt a hand grab onto her ponytail, and rudely pulled her.

"!" Yelp in pain and surprise, yet unable to stop her sudden descending toward the earth, Pyrrha lands on her rear and back, barely avoiding smashing her back-skull against the ground, with a tender grunt, the Champion girl tries to understand the situation, yet her eyes spot the man looming over her, with an axe swing that aims toward her pretty face.

She immediately raised Miló, just in time to block the strike, the pushing force from the assault made the blade reach lower enough to be just above her nose tip, ready to cleave her face in two.

"Yield?" She heard her attacker smugly taunting.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the remark, but said nothing, silently staring back at her opponent. Face-off from the direct opposite side, Boo's grin never faded, as he believed that he had the whole thing under control.

Then, a black glow forms around Pyrrha's hands, making him raise eyebrows.

Faster than he could register, Boo finds himself being forcefully repealed away by an unseen force, that something is pushing his a war cry, Pyrrha pushed Boo off herself, sending the ghastly man flying.

"Nrg!" Clearly caught off guard, Boo's expression shifts into a pure surprise for a split second.

Following up her counterattack, Pyrrha took her turn and started making her first offensive act, she threw Akoúo̱ toward her opponent.

Seeing the incoming attack, Boo instinctively turned transparent, making the spinning shield go past him.

Under any normal circumstances or occasion, an attack like this will never be able to hit him. This instance, however, isn't one of them.

Soon as the attack phased past him, Boo couldn't resist himself and reappeared to make a playful raspberry. "Ha! Missed!"

Instead of feeling insulted, Pyrrha raised the edge of her lip slightly, with a motion of her hand, the shield made a C-turn like a frisbee.

Some of the students that were able to see the battle found themselves giggling as they watched the scene unfold.

*Bonk!* The boomeranged shield made contact with the ghostly professor's head, almost knocking Boo's eyes out of their stocks, the sudden and unexpected pain made him wail in pain, and dropped his weapon.

Among the many that laughed at his expense, the new staff laughed the loudest, and surprisingly, Goodwitch too.

The ghost made an unintelligible noise of whines as he held his head in agony, and maybe some family-unfriendly curse towards heaven too, he quickly pulled back his own gravity and bearing, the hunting spirit readjusted his form, retreating and hovering to the ceiling high above.

He looked at his prey, then back to the damn frisbee that hit him, then back to the prey. A genuine question occupied his attention.

How did she…? He narrowed his eyes and brows, that was strange, very strange, it was almost as if she knew he was going to dodge it first.

Ok, let's say that she knew I was going to dodge the first strike, there's no way she could throw a perfect angle that would line the frisbee back to my head. Boo hypothesis, it couldn't be a lucky shot, could it? Only Boomerang Bros pull stunts and mathematical shots like this. Unless that attack itself was a magic skill. If that were indeed the case, it would contradict with what he knows about this world, magic doesn't exist on…

Wait…

He then realized that these children have a semi-magic-thingamajig called Semblance. More importantly, this redhead has a specific power that allows her to control anything that contains metal. Despite being the teaching staff, who has access to student profiles, he somehow forgets it.

King Boo feels like slapping himself.

Ok, maybe he was fooling around a bit too much… just a tiny bit much.

"You see, child, this is why you should never ever be playful in the middle of the battle, professional or not." From the sidelines, King Bob-Omb teasingly comments, his word efficiently earning him a round of laughter from the crowd.

"You stay the hell out of this and shut up! Old dud!" Boo barked at his workmate as his pale white face turned tomato red from the embarrassment.

"Only when you start taking your job seriously, smart ass." Called out Goomboss, earning Boo more laughs from the audience.

Grumbling, Boo draws a long exhaust as he looks toward the ceiling in embarrassment.

After what seemed like a ten-second long pause, Boo calmly replied. "Oh, don't you worry." He slowly turned to glare at Pyrrha. "I already plan to do so from the beginning."

"Just let you know, girl, two can play the same game." For a split second, the ever-playful tone disappeared from Boo's voice, replaced by an emotion of unfitting seriousness.

He holds his palm forward, purposefully making a certain gesture. Down there, Pyrrha watched on with a strange sense of déjà vu, the way Professor Teresa posed his arm, it looked like…

Her…

As if to confirm her sinking feeling, the halberd that was dropped, suddenly moved on its own. The weapon departed from the floor and sore through the air, returning to King Boo's grasp.

Many that were able to see the scene clearly gasped loudly at the display.

"You're not the only one who can commend objects to your will." The ghastly instructor casually commented.

"What?! He can do that?!" In the audience seats, Nora exclaimed loudly as she stood up.

"Wait, I thought his ability is only floating, turning invisible and intangible." Comment Jaune, clearly at a loss here.

Hearing their distress, in the front row, Roy chuckled as he spared a glance behind. "Well, to put it simply, anything a ghost can do. He can do it."

His revelation took them by surprise.

"Oh dear…" Ren finally decided to speak his mind. "Not only does Professor Teresa's Semblance allow him flight, invisible, transparent to phase through solid surfaces, but he can also poltergeists-control objects like telekinesis."

"Such a versatile abilities combo, it would make him a really tricky and dangerous opponent in any situation." Blake concluded and spoke of the real concern that was on their mind.

Yang crossed her arms as she bit her lips. "Dang, that's an extremely useful and strong Semblance he had." Despite the man's questionable attitude, she had to admit, it's one helluva of a cool Semblance. Usually, Semblance only excels in one or two specific power properties, so it made multiple functions Semblance a rarity among the crowd, but to own multiple powers all in one package…

"Right? It's totally nuts, almost as if he's a ghost, wait, what if he actually is?! A vengeful spirit. Oooooo~ Spooky." From the side, Nora piped in as she made several theories and guesses about their new professor. None of which were supported or accepted by her fellow students, of course.

"I don't think any of us would like that if it actually was the case." Timided, Jaune swallowed yet another lump as he tugged his collar in nervousness, trying his best to not show fear.

(Spoiler, he wasn't doing great.)

Blake raised a funny eyebrow at Nora's antics. "Joking and unrealistic theories aside…" She turns to face the Koopa Family. "Ludwig, he was one of the many followers of your father, correct? So you guys have known each other for quite some time, right? What can we expect from them?"

Turning, Ludwig hums as he gives a sly and amused smile. "Curious kitty, aren't you?" The subtle shudder from Blake didn't go unnoticed, the Koopaling kept a mind to that. "Well, in terms of the threat level. Out of the five, Bloo has the strongest… Semblance of them all, despite being the youngest member."

That answer certainly took all of them by surprise. The one person who looks to be most casual and undisciplined, turns out to be the strongest member of the group.

It certainly made sense why he's so cocky and haughty.

The fluffy hair Koopa's smile went further as he watched the bewildering expression of his… 'peers'. Feeling generous, he reveals more. "In case you're wondering, from most to least threatening, it should be Bloo, Onix, Broun, Petey, and then Obsidia."

The answer seems to be yet another bomb drop to them, you mean to tell them, the most intimidating bull knight, who has absurd defense and stamina, turns out to be the least threatening of the five?

That certainly makes all of them not look forward to facing against any of the other three instructors.

Just how strong are they?

Again, the same questions from before were asked again in their mind.

'Yep, I'm so dead.' Thought Jaune very forebodingly and terrified.

Back in the battle, with a mighty cry, Boo threw his halberd toward Pyrrha. The weapon, like a puppet on strings, came to life, spinning madly like a saw blade and homing toward Pyrrha.

The champion girl immediately took action to dodge the incoming danger, and just as she had anticipated and feared, the attack made a C-Turn like her shield throw. Professor Teresa has the same level of capability, if not, a far more superior mastery over movement control just like her polarity control over metals, as she can only semi-guiding metals, not a telekinesis degree of control.

She stepped to the side, letting the spinning blade fly past her, paying extra attention and awareness of the blade's position and moving pattern, all while keeping an eye on Professor Terrsa.

If only it were that simple.

In her viewpoint, as soon as she blinked, the man disappeared from thin air, this caused her to panic for a second.

Again, thanks to her own fighter instinct and experience, Pyrrha stirred herself calm, and made a high leap, positioning Akoúo̱ to block her body just for safety's measure while she moved away from the spot.

Immediately, everyone saw Bloo fade into existence right behind as he swiped his legs toward where Pyrrha's back was, as soon as he saw the prey dodged, he motioned one of his arms and directed the spinning Halberd toward Pyrrha, who readied her weapon and stance.

Unlike the first throw, King Boo made a display to show everyone that he was the superior one here, he held up his hand as if actually wielding the weapon in hand. And in response, the afloat weapon moved in a corresponding position.

The next, Pyrrha was engaged in a wave of furious hacks and slashes by a poltergeist-ed halberd, to which she parried as best as she could. Despite her excellent performance, she was on the side of the oppressed, the ghost-man still had her pinned, even when she used her Semblance to aid herself, the man's grip on the metal turns out to be far stronger than hers, as she could only manage to move it off-course slightly.

And that's not the worst part, as the fight goes on, Bloo fades in and out as he pleases, there's no telling sight, one second he was there, and the next he was not. This proved to be extra trickery and made the fight more difficult than she can handle.

Still, she wouldn't give in and throw the towel, she would rather fight on till the last leg.

As she narrowly blocked yet another swing, Pyrrha began to realize and notice a repeating pattern. Professor Teresa often utilizes the same attack combo. Charge in, distracted, then backstabbing. And always turns visible right before he closes up from behind and strikes her, this could entail that in his invisible state, his transparent body is non-tangible, meaning nothing could touch him, and vice versa, he couldn't touch anything if he's not in the solid state. Pyrrha theorized, putting together every aspect she has gathered so far, this seems to be a plausible explanation. If yesterday's battle between him and the Emnity was any indication to go by.

So the answer to her solution is rather simple, hit back right as the instructor strikes.

Again, easy in concept, difficult in execution.

Yet, again, you don't hear Pyrrha Nikos vocally complaining nor shy away from challenges like this.

*Clank!* As the spear and halberd clashed once more, Pyrrha pushed away the poltergeist weapon and saw the opening she was looking for, quickly, she sprinted forward, performing a roundhouse slash purposely positioning herself to be defenseless in the back.

Just as she had anticipated, her attack phased through Bloo's body, the man had taken her bait.

Immediately, Pyrrha made a sharp stop with her footwork, putting her motions to a halt, and jabbed the end of Miló's pole behind her as hard as she could measure.

"Ack!" As she had planned and hoped, Miló slammed right into Bloo's forehead as he tried to tackle Pyrrha's back; this unexpected counter had left him stunned briefly.

Quickly, she followed up with a fury combo of slashes, before ending it by nailing her foot in her opponent's jaw, finally sending the man down as he rolled on the floor.

Flabbergasted as he lay there, King Boo stays motionless as he tries to understand what happened. He quickly got back up from the floor and made an effort to draw the distance between himself and Pyrrha, he glared at the redhead as he massaged his head and his jaw.

He muttered something under his breath, too quiet to be picked on, expressions soured, then morph into a serious one, seemingly gathering his thoughts.

Spearing a quick glance at the monitor, he saw that his Aura meter is remaining at the 78% mark, while Pyrrha's remained at 64%.

"..."

His change of manner didn't last long as he quickly morphs back to his playful self. "Ok, why not? Guess it's the proper time for phase 2 then."

Again, he disappeared from plain sight.

"Let's see how you handle this." His voice echoes in the arena once more.

In response, the Sparta girl prepared herself.

She, however, wasn't prepared for the punch that landed on her cheek.

"!" Taking the full force of the blunt, Pyrrha stumbled, a little shocked, yet before she could register the fact that she was sucker punched, she received yet another one to the belly.

"You thought. I couldn't hurt you if I'm invisible, did you?" He whispered, the suspension hanging heavily in the air.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I can do that from the very beginning. The only downside is that this drains a lot of energy from me, and I can't use anything that isn't part of my body to hurt you... But it should be enough to defeat you anyway."

The next few seconds could only be described as unfair and shameless. As Pyrrha Nikos was helplessly treated like a punching bag, their invisible teacher was taking full advantage of his cheating ability to toy with the redhead.

"Urg." Grunting as she was kicked in the back, Pyrrha drops to her knees, the fact that she couldn't see anything made this situation very bad. Although granted, the punch doesn't hurt as much as she thought it would, Professor Teresa seems to purposely hold back his punches, that, or the force behind the blows was limited due to not being fully tangible.

How does one fight against something they couldn't see? Nor hear? Thought Pyrrha grimly and stressed.

"Yielding? Now would be a good time to do so." Near her ear, she heard Bloo mockingly whispering.

Pyrrha frowned, as if, the outcome of this duel hasn't been determined yet.

"Sorry, professor, but I do not." She refutes determinedly.

Despite not being able to see her opponent, Pyrrha could swear that she heard an amused snort from Bloo, who took delight from her answer.

"Good, good, in fact, excellent. You know what? As a reward… Here's a hint for you. Listen carefully." Bloo's voice whispered beside her ears again.

"There's no such a thing as undefeatable, everything all has a weakness."

Pyrrha listened on carefully as instructed, her curiosity piqued.

"They said the eyes could be deceiving, that things weren't what they seemed, the secret lies behind the surface. Carefully observe, identify the unusual. Perhaps… a change of viewpoint, reflect, to see things from the other side." Boo instructed, emphasis on a certain few words as he did.

The redhead furrowed her brows as she pondered on the riddle, what could this entail? Especially the three words, Surface, Reflect, Other side.

Seeing that the gears in her head start grinding, King Boo smiled to himself, his part of the deed is done, now it's up to the kid to figure out the weaknesses of the Boos.

---

- in the audience

Raw emotions of anger start boiling in the student's stomachs, the arrogant behavior from Professor Bloo is starting to get on their nerves, it's one thing of getting in character, but it's a different story for actual rudeness and disrespect.

And unironically, King Boo is doing a great job of being an antagonist.

Includes the whole arena, many watched on with different thoughts and reactions.

The students were having a hard time stomaching the fight that is ongoing, many find the instructor disgraceful and shameless, while many were just mad at the man for humiliating the Champion Girl.

Goodwitch watched on with a conflicting struggle, on one side, she wanted to call off the battle, on the other hand, this kind of simulation is exactly what the current modern hunter academic lacked, the real-life scenario that no one wasn't sure how to properly produce even in a controlled environment. There's always the moral issue and concern from the council on how much they should push and endanger their future generations, as any form of negative emotion feedback always draws Grimm in.

The combat tournament of the Vytal Festival, to put it frankly, is nothing but a form of glorified stage play; it may start as a reminder to mankind to strive for excellence and improve, but ultimately it had morphed into a mere means of entertainment to the four Kingdoms.

Much as she hates to admit it, as Qrow would always put it, a waste of time and a game of mediocrity of the modern era, a contest of… ahem "male genital measuring".

Lessons taught in humiliation and failure are always the most valuable. It's an ugly truth, but the pay-off was something that Beacon desperately needed, considering the foreboding future the Relic of Choice has revealed to them.

Glynda hardens her grip on her sleeves, this year is going to be exhausting.

Meanwhile, the Boss Minions watched with mild interest. Excluding his brotherhood bond with Petey, Boo was never the type of supporting figure, especially against human mortals. So to see him literally leading the girl on how to fight against a Boo, it had to be intentional. Something Ozpin had catching on to the same ideas as the Boss Minions.

Judging by the fact that his ghost brother will eventually attack Beacon, this was to make sure the kids could at least be able to know how to defend themselves against a foreign foe. A foe who possesses magic.

Ozpin frowned and shuddered, despite it being him who set up the academy system during his life as King of Vale, he never wished for this scenario to come true. To think the day when someone would finally make a move against his final defense line is on the approach, it was… a very difficult pill to stomach.

Should he really come forward with his students? Should he reveal the truth to the world? Just how much is too much truth? And what was the end goal of this attack? Was Salem involved?

Sadly, these weren't what scared him the most.

It was the fact that he could no longer tell if his own carefulness and paranoia over the matter was justified normal or overly deduced.

He could no longer tell if his decision over the matter was right or not.

He just… finds it difficult to trust, to hope… to believe.

'Eventually, everything is going to break loose…' Thought Ozpin very tiredly and bitterly as his lips reached towards his mug.

'And in the end, I am the one who's answering all of them.'

---

- Back in the battle

Her brain working in overclock mode, Pyrrha worked on blocking the incoming attack from the poltergeist-ed halberd, all while deciphering the answer to her riddle.

The shield and the long-handle-axe clash and lock, Pyrrha finds herself trying to overpower the phantom-ed weapon once more, the Champion Girl frowned, this is getting nowhere.

Mirror. That was the answer she got.

What could it possibly mean? It's not exactly a hard riddle, but what does that answer mean? What could a mirror do in this situation?

Then, from the reflection on the smooth surface of the blade, she saw it.

The cheeky smile of Bloo Teresa.

A clear reflection of her opponent standing behind her.

'Hello.' The reflection mouthed.

Pyrrha looked on with apprehension, was she…

She deflected the halberd with her might and Semblance, sending the weapon crushed into the edge of the arena wall and made a turning, keeping her guard and defense up while trying to look as natural as possible.

To her shocking discovery, the corresponding position where the reflection should be, turns out to be just empty air.

Quickly, she returned to the previous position and pose. And she saw the man's reflection from the same angle again.

'Shocking?' The reflection mouthed again.

The answer seems to click in place inside her mind, and Pyrrha comes to an encouraging realization.

He can't hide in the form of reflections.

He can deceive the eyes, but not the reality itself.

Pyrrha found herself marveling over this particular weakness over the seemingly invincible Semblance.

You really don't know what to do if you can't see the enemy, but once you know where to look…

A brave smile crawled up to the edge of her lips.

You'll know just where to hit.

Following her shocking discovery, Pyrrha was able to fend off King Boo from snuck up behind her, no longer was she getting jumped on by surprise. Still, she'll have to end this battle quickly, as the fatigue is starting to get a toll on her.

"Very good. You solved the first layer of mystery. But we're not done yet. here's the second part." Near her ear, she heard Mr. Teresa comment, a little impressed. "Second hint: Expose me. I can't hide in the shadows forever."

Expose shadow? Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at this short riddle, but complied with the task nevertheless.

To expose a shadow, you will need lights. He wants me to light up the room? She concluded, a bit hesitant, it couldn't be that simple, could it?

Regardless, without better options, Pyrrha switched Miló to rifle mode; if her understanding of the riddle turns out to be true, then she may have just the tools to turn the table.

With a change of strategy and new focus, she quickly open fire everywhere in the arena with Fire Dust rounds, creating multiple instant sources of light that illuminate the room, although the sudden light comes uncomfortable for the eyes, soon as that was done, she began searching for the man frantically. And to her surprise, she quickly found a spot on the floor covered in a black hue. Or more accurately, a spot of shadow.

'Found you.' She smiles. Just as she understands, Mr. Bloo's Semblance can't fool reality, his shadow lingers even though he had turn invisible. No wonder why he chooses to turn off the lights, it would hide his only shortcoming.

Such a simple trick, not only it had her fooled, but it worked wonderfully in the man's favor.

From the sidelines, save for the Mushroom World native, many watched on with confusion and fright. What was Pyrrha doing? Striking blindly? Had she lost it?

The Boss Minions raised an eyebrow at that, looks like the girl had figured out the secret behind Boo's invisibility, but what would she do to secure the victory?

Pyrrha continues her thought line as she keeps an eye on the shadow, the Semblance only allows the object itself is turning invisible, but the solid matter is still there, then... perhaps...

"!" An idea came across her.

Now or never, Pyrrha snatched the leading of flow, switching Miló back to javelin mode, she struck the ground with all her might, emptying all the Ice Dust rounds in her chambers. Once the giant pillar of ice blossomed on the ground, Pyrrha slammed a foot to the ground and yelled at the top of her lung as she bashed the ice pillar as hard as she could with Akoúo̱. The metal smashed into the ice in full force, causing the ice particles to splinter and scatter away like mist, creating quite a storm in the middle of the arena.

As the mist engulfed the air, Pyrrha saw it, the outline of a man floating in the air, formed by the particles that were halted by his physical matter, his position exposed by the small particle matter surrounding him.

From the audience, many seem to catch up on the idea of Pyrrha's actions.

"Hey! Look!" Exclaimed Nora, pointing her fingers at the figure outline that was inside the mist.

Not wasting any time, Pyrrha switched to rifle and took aim at the human silhouette, now it is a game of waiting.

The Koopa family mused at her plan, she caught on to the fact that Boo's invisibility doesn't hide their physical matters, and now King Boo's location has been exposed, any next move he made won't pack as much surprise as before, and certainly, she would not allow him to move far.

'If only it were that simple.' Amused Ludwig. They're in for quite a shock.

The oldest Koopaling gauge Pyrrha from up to down, the so-called Champion Girl certainly earned her reputation deserved. She was not only skillful, quick on her feet, had a good fighter instinct, and more importantly, a bright head on her shoulder.

'She'll make for a really good addition to our army.' He thought, but then narrowed his eyes. 'That or a really troublesome enemy.' he shuddered at the thought of having yet another Mario-like-thorn-in-their-shell undoing all their progress.

But if he played his cards right, they might be able to convince them to join their army, or let them establish their Kingdom, assuming they do not mind having a new government rule over them.

Besides the ever-scheming Koopaling, Roy huffed, already knowing what was on Ludwig's mind. "She's good, I'll give her that, but too bad she's paired against Boo."

Those that don't know King Boo's ability on a personal level alert their attention to the brawler Koopa's statement.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Asked Jaune, shocked and baffled. Even though he has just known the Champion Girl for a short time, from the way this entire battle has gone so far, Pyrrha was performing really well, contrary to the amateur behavior of Bloo, who has yet to treat this fight seriously.

"You'll see." Answered Wendy rhetorically, with a sly smile that made them all the more nervous.

"Hee hee hee… Haa Ha Ha Ha!" Then, there comes the gleeful and haunting laugh of their ghostly teacher.

There, fading into existence, was the man of the hour, Pyrrha had discovered how to fight this invisible man, the man however, instead of showing discomfort or surprise, was that of an amused and happy smile.

"Nice job, that'll be 3… ehh, 5 credits to your class performance." He nonchalantly congrats while clapping his hands.

Pyrrha, like many others, was puzzled by his non-bothered demeanor.

"If you think that was all I am capable of, well, chump, you have yet to see this." He cackled as he floated up in the air, a white glow covered his body. Then, he split.

Save for Ruby, the Beacon staff, and the Koopa Family, particularly everyone in the present all widens their eyes like plates.

Playful shadows of white blurs flew across the arena like hunting spirits, their creepy haunting laugh echoing in the arena, drowning out every noise, all swimming through the air like sharks in the open sea, and Pyrrha was the cornered prey.

"Now which one of I is the real one?" They quipped cruelly in unison.

"Is it me? Take a shot." Teased Boo no.1 as he closed in toward Pyrrha, who took a step back in shock.

"Maybe me? Or not?" Inquired no.2 who waved playfully.

"No, wait, it's-a me!" Piped in no.3, pointing at himself, using a funny accent.

"Don't listen to them, it's obviously me." Claimed no.4, who brushed them off.

"No no, you poor fools. It has to be me." Above them, no.5 smugly taunted.

"Well?" From behind Pyrrha, no.6 whispered evilly, making her skin crawl. "What do you think?"

"Did he just…" Yang was bewildered as she double-checked, massively lost for words.

"Duplicate…" Spoked Blake, who too, looked at the turn of the tide with astonishment.

"Oh no, I know I was forgetting something!" Realized Ruby, now recalled the ability Mr. Bloo used during the dust robbery in Vale. "He can split into multiple clones!"

"I know this may sound rude, but how could you possibly forget something as crazy and amazing as this?" Inquired Jaune, who at this point, just felt exhausted at their new teacher's craziness.

"Knowing Ruby, she probably focused on the weapon more than the Semblance." Deadpanned the blondie sister, somehow totally not surprised.

"Ehh… hee, sorry?" Said red hood in question can only laugh awkwardly at her lil' mistake.

"Let's see, invisible, phase through objects, flight, poltergeist, and now duplicate clones, I'm telling you, he's a ghost!" Country to the wary mood of others, Nora is gushing at her more and more likely theory about their teacher.

Little did they know she would later earn herself a small fortune for betting on the new professor's real identity with her peers. But that's a story for another time.

Around them, the opinions of other students don't sound pretty either.

"Oh my god, that Semblance is insanely broken."

"I don't like this class."

"He can multitask with clones?"

"It's not too late to transfer school, right?"

"Just what else can he do?"

"I think the better question is: what can't he do?!"

Multiple roles from behind the students, Ozpin and Glynda observed their employees with many wonders and worries. As each day passes by, they learn more and more about their new "friends", and the difference between them grows.

Left unsaid is the thought of more individuals like them allegiance with Salem.

More unknown enemies from the beyond, more uncertainty regarding this stalemate war, more unexpectantly move from Salem, and most importantly, fear, the fear of the unknown. The primordial feeling that has driven away his friends and allies from time and time again.

- Back in the arena.

King Boo was having the time of his life, finally, some solid fear to feast on, this suspension of wary, the fear of the unknown, such an atmosphere was always his favorite.

"Try not to traumatize them too much, we still need them in one piece to graduate." Called King Bob-omb, reminding him that they're still in the middle of their new job.

"Stupid killjoy old dud…" Grumbled the ghost monarch.

Too bad he's not allowed to scare them to death, but ehh, this'll do.

"Alright, alright, if you're done gawking, then it's my turn to attack." The flock of King Boo Clones declares as they ready their weapons.

"!" Pyrrha hardened her grip on Miló and Akoúo, an expression of nervous plaster on her face, this is getting out of hand.

---

- (Meanwhile) -

---

This is getting out of hand. Thought Big Bully as he found himself in the dilemma of listening to one Weiss Schnee's "Problems".

How does it come to this? He thought. It all started as a simple gesture of politeness, he thought that since he's now enlisted as an educator, it was in his duty as a Bowser Kingdom Minion to blend in and act like a teacher to provide guidance to his students.

This, however, wasn't what he had in mind when he decided to humor the request.

Weiss Schnee is questioning the formation of her team, where someone who's younger than average Huntsman-in-training, is put in a position with a lot of responsibility, she doesn't think someone as young as Ruby is befitting nor ready for such responsibility.

Weiss went on to analyze the situation from her perspective. Ruby's performance yesterday was good and great, but her attitude is childish and immature. She doesn't think the young girl is ready for this kind of burden.

To further solidify her point, she explained the pros and cons of letting either Blake, Yang, or, unsurprisingly, herself, lead the team. That either one of the three is a much more reasonable and better choice.

In other words…

She loathes the idea of following the lead from the likes of Ruby Rose, who is quite younger than your average first-year Huntsman-in-training. Who she deemed unqualified for the position of a leader. Basically. In another language, Weiss is jealous of the position Ruby is in, and she wants to be the leader instead.

She does put up a good act, mediocre at best, Bully will give it to her, but her eyes and voice don't hide her distaste quite well enough, that and her emphasis on both Ruby's flaw and her own ideal pros.

In all honesty, Bully doesn't know how to react to this. Heck, what even is the correct reaction to this scenario?

Cut him some slack, he's a frontier fighter, not a counselor, talking is the last thing he professionaled at (unique speech pattern not counting), that and swimming.

What a predicament. He thought.

Regardless, if handling this problem means making progress in conquering this world. Then he had no complaints.

Still, how would lord Bowser handle this?...

…

…

…

"!" Suddenly, ideas struck him.

Praise Lord Bowser. He piously belaud his lord in his mind.

---

- Back in Class SMB 101

*Clash* *Clank* *Bang*

Hop to the left, block to the behind, dodge a swipe from below, parry in the front, deflect a fireball, and then jam a kick to the waist that results in a puff of smoke.

Now times that by 5, and Pyrrha was panting, the relentless assault from the clones of Professor Teresa was overwhelming and wearing her stamina down fast, even though all his attacks are recklessly telegraphable, the amount of attacks she was being thrown at is just too much.

The saving grace is that her opponent seems to be feeling the same from the workout too, as the instructor is panting, meaning that he's pushing his limits. The amount of concentration required for a multitasking feat like this must've taken a toll on him. Yet it would seem that she'll be the one running out of juice first.

Seeing that the girl manages to keep up with him till this point, on top of that, figuring out the weaknesses behind Boo's invisibility, King Boo lets out a satisfied chuck.

"Impressive, really, there's only a handful who could keep up with me. Guess you were qualified enough to be called invincible…" He praised, compared the redhead to a certain mustachio plumber in red.

"However." His expression darkened, an evil grin spouted on his face. "I am mostly, not handing over the victory to you. Let's see if you can handle this! BE HOLD!" At his command, the clones float back and merge with him, looking like he just received a second wind as if all the separated energies had returned to him, his white Aura burns brightly as he cackled.

The tip of his halberd ignited on blue flames, and then continued to grow in size.

Everyone watched on with anxiety and anticipation, what more trick does this man possess?

King Boo swings his weapon, drawing swirls as the blue flames engulf his frame, until he himself becomes a massive blue fireball, illuminating the room in a blue hue.

Many had to squint their eyes from the intense brightness, what is happening?

The same thought shared by the champion girl, as Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, it's like facing directly at a spotlight, a very ominous spotlight.

Then, to everyone's shock, the fireball took on a shape, as three mounds spouted around the sphere flame, one on the left and one on the right, forming what appears to be a pair of stubby hands with no fingers and a slightly curled tail at the back of the sphere.

The most memory-engraved feature, however, has to be the demonic face that formed on the fireball, as two glowy angry eyes opened up, accompanied by a furrowing brow, and a cave of oral filled with sharp jagged teeth and long licking tongue.

It would be a scene they won't be forgetting for a long period of time.

To the students of Beacon Academy, Professor Teresa had transformed into a colossal flaming monster.

But to the Mushroom World residents, however, King Boo had transformed into a ghost flame version of a Boolossus.

"Haa haa haa Ha HA!" Fitting for the man that transformed into an intimidating monster, his voice turned deep and demonic, the booming and haughty laugh made every Remnanter's hairs stand on their end.

The dominating image seems to strike quite an impression on Pyrrha, as her legs stiffen up, the girl seemingly frozen in place by terror.

Without much interruption nor unexpected development, the flaming Boolossus made a turn of acceleration towards the ceiling, then, like a rollercoaster that reached the highest top, descent madly and dived into Pyrrha like a bomb drop, the massive body of flames slammed on top of the warrior girl, and unleashed all the concentrate energy, exploded into a blue mushroom cloud, engulfed the champion girl, and causing up a shockwave that slammed into everyone in the present like a nuke blast.

Music ends

Once the excitement died down, silence was all that was left in the classroom, not a single sound was made, as if time itself had frozen.

At the center, Miló and Akoúo had left her hands. Pyrrha was on the floor on all four, face facing down as cold sweats poured down from her skin, a look of disbelief in her eyes as her broken thought tried to process what had transpired.

Towering over her was Bloo Teresa, whose weapon was inches away from Pyrrha's head.

Such power. That attack, it was as if the gate toward hell had been opened, she felt her soul was about to leave her body, to be consumed by the hell fire.

Yet, just as the flame collided with her, all the fear disappeared, it left just as soon as it arrived. The man did not end up harming her, not physically anyway… All he did was divebomb onto her and then brandish his blade. Yet she can feel the intention all the same, he had made a display of his real power, and then purposefully canceled it at the last moment.

She had been defeated.

Pyrrha Nikos, had been defeated.

The Invincible Champion of Mistral, had lost.

Yet strangely, an indescribable sense of relief rushed over her, an invisible weight off her shoulder.

From the sideline, many watched on with various reactions.

"Oh my…" King Bob-omb blinked, questioning if his old age is playing tricks on his eyes.

"Damn." His vocabulary failed him, that was all Goomboss could manage to get out as he gawked at the scene.

And then there's Petey Piranha, looking around in confusion, who had just woken from the explosion that interrupted his nap.

This was never a part of their plans, not the part of kicking their student's ass hard. But the power that King Boo had just displayed. Since when can he do that?

Sheltering his big axe, King Boo bores an expression of that of pure satisfaction. Although not by much, he had achieved what he had aimed for. Giving the Champion Girl a first taste of what it feels like fighting against a Boo, especially against criteria like him and his brother, how to telegraph a Boo's movement, what to do to fight back efficiently, and what to expect. The fear emitting from the students is also a great bonus too.

She should consider herself honored, he's going out of his way to look out for her when it was blatantly obvious that he doesn't have to, he could just tell Ozpin what to expect and call it a day.

Regardless, knowing how the vision of the relic works, if everything Ozpin spoke were to be believed, Nikos is going to be captured by his brother 100% guaranteed.

Still, that doesn't mean he couldn't make the whole process as painful as possible for his brother.

"For a first-timer. You've done very well. But too bad this is me you're dealing with, 'cause I'm just that awesome. And... while you're good, that doesn't mean you're the best…" He jabs a thumb at himself, boasting. "Because there will always be someone stronger than you. And that's me!"

Pyrrha didn't meet his eyes, the redhead shifted a little before nodding her head.

Grinning, he pats Pyrrha on the shoulder. "Just between you and me, but an intense strong daylight can make me weak. That's my only weakness." There, his last parting gift to the doomed girl, hopefully, this tip of knowledge will make the experience as miserable as possible for his brother.

Pyrrha lifts her head, a genuine look of surprise forming. Just like that? Simple daylight? That's…

"Ridiculous? Yeah, I get that a lot, that's why I hate daytime, especially a sunny day, my power works the best in the darkness. Had you created an even stronger light back then, you might have lasted longer, but it won't change the outcome. By the way, nice thinking using the mist to locate me." He grins cheekily.

Suddenly, those behaviors made sense, why he acted like a corpse during their exam.

Unable to stop it, a laugh escaped her chest. "Are you sure it's wise to reveal such weakness to me?"

"Ehh. Share them with any living soul, and I'll make your time here a living hell." The man tries to sound threatening, yet to Pyrrha, his voice sounds like a playful jab.

"Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I make no promises."

Boo squint his eyes. "We'll see about it then."

Seeing the girl is mentally fine. King Boo stood up and headed toward the exit, with everybody in too much shock from his insane stunt, no one dared to stop him from leaving.

Just before he passed the entrance, he called back to the girl one last time. "I expect you to perform better in our next duel. Pyrrha Nikos, don't let me down."

Looking at his back, Pyrrha found herself smiling, with a sense of admiration. "Of course, thank you, Professor." Her kind feedback seems to be not what the instructor was hoping for, as the man stopped abruptly for a split second.

Without another word, nor bothering to look back, the man made his leave, leaving only a hanging suspension behind.

---

*Click*

Once making sure he is completely out of sight, King Boo swipes the sweat off his forehead as he feels his face heating up, an undescribed feeling tingling in his stomach like a butterfly storm fluttering in a rampage, and so a full shade of bashful embarrassment redness appearing on his pretty face.

Thank you? THANK YOU?! That was totally wrong! The girl should be mad, declare revenge on him, that one day she's gonna defeat him. Or just break down and cry like a loser. Not thanking him! That's not how the script should go! He's the bad guy! Good guy don't celebrate lose!

Nobody says thank you to him! Nobody treats him as a figure that should be looked up to! He's King Boo, the fearsome king of ghosts, the biggest baddies under Bowser's rulership, the specter of the night, the ghost that haunts! The spookiest and ghastly spirit that ever existed! He should be feared! Not admired… actually, wait, that sounds kinda nice… No! No! This is wrong! Totally wrong!

The point is, this girl dares to think of him as a… a… ally… friendly mentor… friend?

No, NO! This will not stand! He'll correct this error! He shall be feared!

He'll make Niko's life here miserable! He'll make sure she never gets restful nights from now on! He shall haunt her! He'll make her live in fear!

He'll…

He would…

He should…

He…

HE…

…

…

…

Oh dear…

It was the first day on the job, and he already had a favorite. Damn it, since when did he go soft?

Well, guess there's nothing he can do but call dibs on the girl then.

---

AN: So… yeah, sorry not sorry for semi-humiliating Pyrrha this early in the canon, I had plans for her, and for that purpose I need her to be manhandled by King Boo here. But hey, everything turns out alright, right?

Some of you might straight up write complaints or hate reviews on what the [censored] is this unbalanced power gap, so if you would allow me to clarify.

Since the world of Mario all revolved around wacky magic and evolution with magic affinity concepts, naturally, they would have all the edges over Remnant when it comes to magic heritage and magic purity, you can look at the world of Mario as a version of RWBY but without the cool weapons and Dust, just pure reliance on Semblance power. As such, it's only natural for people from the Mario series to have a better mastery of the abilities they're born with from birth, as in comparison the RWBY cast only gains Semblance at the middle point of their life, they're essentially starting behind the running line.

And, since RWBY's strongest brand impression is the awesome fluid, fast-paced, and detailed 3D fighting scene, it occurred to me that a certain legendary internet cult classic 2D animation reached the same level of awesomeness and pre-dates RWBY.

What might I be talking about you wonder? Well… you may have known it as…

SUPER MARIO BROS Z

That's right, baby, I completely, personal basis and totally based energy not withholding, from the very beginning, based my depiction of Mario cast, with the stander of SMBZ to make them matched even ground with RWBY (if you haven't realized yet), that's why the Mario cast has been nothing but sheer badass and then their game-verse OG goofiness so far, and it'll get better from here on. Cause I have massive fan service in store, I'm cooking.

On the other note, I would like to clarify the probably confusing matter on Big Bully, as some people no doubt find my depiction of him perhaps way too OP in the previous chapter (by the way, no need to shy away from commenting and criticizing), but in truth, if we take everything about the Bully species in all the Mario titles they're in into accounts, Mario and co couldn't defeat a Bully with just fist, not even Power-UP like fire flowers can kill them, (only in cases like Starman, POW Block, or bombs), as Mario himself in his encounter with Bullies, he had to either literally push the Bullies into water or lava. LAVA, may I strongly remind you. Or crush them by other means.

This iron bull creature is so tough that you can only defeat them by melting them down or pushing them into a large body of water or a bottomless pit. (As they can't swim or jump.)

So of course by taking this gaming lore into consideration, Bully could theoretically withstand almost anything RWBY cast can throw at him. But this does not mean he's invincible. Far from it.

The same logic can be applied to any other Boss Rank Minions, they aren't bosses without a reason. And I hope you all are looking forward to my attempt to headcanon them into awesomeness with my galaxy-big-brain logic.

Personal venting: Pyrrha is really hard for me to write, it's really hard to grasp her personality without going OOC (the inevitable). I hope the way I narrate her mindset is acceptable to you all, a gifted and talented girl that wants to strive to be better and better. Who won't back down from hardship or challenges. But also kind heart to a fault.

As we all know, Pyrrha's selfless nature is what had ultimately cost her own life, if she didn't go comforting Cinder in V3, then she would have likely survived, of course, many would argue that her death is the catalyst to start Jaune's personal growth. The rise of a tragic underdog stereotype.

To my understanding and interpretation, Pyrrha is the type that doesn't feel comfortable at the idea of saying "No", that she dislikes putting people down, no matter how big or small. And in that behavior, she rarely pushes away burdens or requests that weren't hers to shoulder, because so many expectations were put on her, she feels the need to stay strong for others' sake and just silently bear them, thinking that if she raises a dispute, it'll deter people from approaching her or thinking that she's looking down on them. She considered others feeling so much that she ignored her own, and that behavior eventually caused her to stop expressing her true feelings unless it was an extreme situation. That and plus her own social celebrity status differences and difficulties, make her put herself into a very awkward position in life.

If she didn't go fight Cinder at the end of the Fall, then someone else is going to, and that person is likely to die, she realized that. So in the end, she rather sacrificed herself, making a noble last stand, and unintentionally scarred her friends for life.

And that right there, is why I considered her naive, she thinks that her friends would understand her reason, that they would forgive her for the good she's trying to do. But what she fails to notice is the bad created by said actions. The pain she unintentionally created, a pain that may never be able to heal from.

At least, that's how I feel about Pyrrha.

I'm going to make her slowly realize how self-harming such a mindset is going to cause her team pains and hardship. By making the Boss Minions exploit this weakness against her. That she's no hero, only a foolish girl who threw away her life for an ideal that doesn't even make sense, her moral code will be tested.

Keep in mind that the Bowser Kingdom are ultimately, villains, lesser heartless villains if that makes any sense to you, they're here to exploit the students rather than helping them. Yet unintentionally helped them anyway.

Next, Volume 9 has been a surprisingly decent experience, the wacky wonderland energy of Ever After and the lore it holds actually gave me lots and lots of ideas, although it would probably take years for me to reach that point…

Lastly, I might need some co-writers and beta-readers but I would need to publish 2 more stories in order to unlock that function lmao.