Remnants of Desires

by ShadowBladeKnight

Desires: a strong feeling most have but it can bring consequences to having desires and that is what happened to me. As years go by, I lived with no family, living with regret and grief for what happened. Everything changed when I found a coin that took to me to a world where their are not only warriors of the world but also the Greeed. Will I survive or be corrupted by greed?

5. Chapter 5: Trouble with Fashion!

A/N: What is up everyone! I am here with the fifth chapter of Remnants of Desire! I hope you are enjoying the story as well as the previous chapter and remember, I will be following not only the RWBY episodes with some additions but also the OOO series (The Greeed, meeting Ankh, introducing Kougami, etc., but no Birth [Maybe]). Anyways enough talk, let us begin the chapter now shall we?

Henshin!

Third Person View

'Thought'

Greeed/Yummies

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A lone figure was wandering lazily along the streets of Vale - glazed over but still perceptive. Unheeding of the people, he found the fresh sights, sounds and sensations he felt far more worthy of his attention. An amused glint passed over his eyes as he surveyed a few Pro-Faunus Rights posters. "Cute," he thought. If only they knew.

On the night after his battle with OOO and that bird brain Ankh, he trudged through an abandoned alley to recover his strength as he absorbed what little of the Cell Medals he could pick up. The loss of his Yummy was of very little consequence to him, still, having wasted an ample amount of medals left him more than a little ticked.

Forced to remain in human form, Kazari settled to amusing himself with petty thievery when the aches of his body had subsided. His scuffle with the new OOO was one of the very few times that he had ever felt actual pain in his entire life. The bitter memory of his so-called King digging his hands into his chest to rob him of his medals was an adequate comparison.

Within the witching hour, he came across three thugs counting their haul from a local sports shop hiding out in a warehouse. He had dispatched them easily, with the intent to make hosts out of them to help replenish his supply. All of them reeked with desire, a definite gold mine for any opportunistic Greeed that was hungry for more Cell Medals. But just his rotten luck, exhausting even a single medal was taxing in his current state.

His mood lightened up considerably when he spied one of the open boxes that had a skateboard protruding out of it. Curious, he relieved the unconscious men of their contraband and took to the streets to ride it. At first, it was difficult to maintain his balance on the four wheeled plank; falling on his rear and eliciting more than a few snickers from early passers-by. Indifferent to their mirth, about an hour of practice was all he needed to grow accustomed to his new toy.

A few hours into touring the city, Kazari looked up to see the sun shining overhead – it was noon. He set his board down and took off for the abandoned mansion that had come to serve as their base of operations.

Arriving a half hour later, he entered through the door and was immediately bombarded with two strong auras; he bit back a curse. It was only then that he realized how truly weak he had become, how much power he had lost to Ankh and his pet monkey. Keeping his cool, he trotted through the corridors and made his way to the main hall where he came across his two associates.

The first one he spotted was a tall, well-built man in his early to mid-twenties with dark, slicked-back green hair and pale skin, his emerald green eyes flaring as he took sight of the new arrival. He was wearing a green leather jacket over a black shirt adorned with the bright green outline of a mantis' mandibles. Black denims hugged his powerful legs which were complimented by black sneakers.

The second figure was hunched over by the corner and playing with a few knickknacks that he found around the house. He scratched his short, spikey silver hair in agitation as he looked up to regard Kazari, his brown eyes indicating that he had been expecting someone else. A grey, long-sleeved shirt loosely hugged his thin frame, along with steel grey cargo pants and heavy combat boots.

Kazari clicked his tongue as he studied the two, a sliver of nostalgia washing over him. "Haven't seen those forms in a while."

"Tch, get off! To me, it still feels like only a few days had passed since the war." Uva grumbled irritably.

"Right…the war. You know, I actually went to the local library a few days ago to check up on our history. Not a single book, tome or scroll consisted of anything involving us." Kazari placed his baseball cap to rest on an old cupboard by the entrance before shuffling to sit by the window.

The scowl on Uva's face softened somewhat, but not much; a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. "Propaganda no doubt. I mean, we did leave quite a mark on Remnant after all." He gave the blonde a once over. "Enough about that; what the hell happened to you? You just walked off the other day without telling us." There was no concern in his voice, only annoyance – Kazari could keel over right now and he wouldn't care.

"Where's Mezool?" the wiry man whimpered as he rose up from the floor, swivelling his head back and forth. Uva threw his head back, exasperated by their comrade's childlike mentality.

"She's busy Gamel, and stop bothering me!" he snapped, causing the other to wince as he sat back down; giving Uva a dirty look.

Kazari spoke up again as he spied Vale from afar. "A lot has changed these past 800 years. I hate to admit it, but the humans and faunus have come a long way since the days of carriages and wagons. They even live better now, well, better compared to how they used to." He pursed his lips as he leaned his head back against the wall, "If you're wondering about my massive power drop it's because of…OOO."

That snapped the other two to attention, but neither one showed it. Their silence prompted Kazari to continue.

"The reason why I sauntered off was because I was bored being holed up in this dump with you three, but also because I wanted to have a look around. I would have come back, but…something came up."

"And that something was OOO?" Uva crossed his arms as he rubbed his chin.

Kazari snorted in amusement, "and Ankh."

This caused the other two to visibly react, with Uva growling in anger while Gamel simply scrunched his face up in confusion.

"Why would Ankh work with His Majesty again? That doesn't make sense." Uva rubbed his eyes at the Beast Greeed's ineptitude.

"It's not the King you idiot! He's long dead, or did you forget that his rotten corpse had been our erstwhile prison?" the snapping tone of the Insect Greeed's voice caused Gamel to flare up, but before he could throttle the green brute, Kazari made an audible snap of his fingers.

Both heads pivoted back to him. "He and the new OOO are currently enrolled at Beacon Academy."

"That circus?" Uva spat out mockingly. Kazari nodded.

"Oh, it's a circus alright. They didn't even put up much of a fight. But the excursion did stifle my boredom…for however long it could."

"Let me guess, OOO sent you packing?" Uva smirked. The rogue Greeed ignored him.

"Yeah…but the thing is, Ankh has the new OOO wrapped around his finger this time. He was calling the shots, not the other way around."

Uva quirked a brow at that as he tapped a finger against his cheek before turning away. "Interesting."

Unbeknownst to his green associate, Kazari was idly fiddling with the Kamakiri Medal with the hand behind his thigh, suppressing the energy it emanated with his own to better hide it.

Meanwhile in Vale, a young girl in her late teens was strolling across the streets of Vale, eliciting more than a fair number of curious, male eyes that passed her by. She was indifferent to the stares she was garnering, but was nonetheless proud; it had been quite a while since she assumed this form. A black dress with light blue trimmings wrapped around her ivory skin lovingly, complimented by a blue cape that fell over her shoulders and ended by her waist.

"I still got it."

Humouring them, she flipped her long ebony hair as her sapphire blue eyes subtly gauged their reactions. Some turned away, while others kept on ogling; their cheeks flushing. Her smirk grew.

Not long after Kazari left the mansion, she too had started becoming restless. The distant city of Vale provoked a curiosity she had long thought lost since having grown bored of their old kingdom. As soon as the sun kissed the sky, she bade Gamel farewell before assuring him that she would come back with the promise of new toys; it wouldn't do for the poor dear to blow his top from her sudden disappearance.

Needless to say, her interest was well founded; metal carriages that ran without horses, tall buildings made of stone, metal and glass, clothes of every style, size and color. It was simply too much. Oh, she could only imagine the fun she would have in this new era.

Speaking of clothes, she furrowed her brows in wonder as she eyed a large establishment that was crowded with people; mostly women. Through the pane of the display window, her wandering gaze fell on a tall young woman that couldn't have been older than her human guise. She had short neck length brown hair, with a single wavy bang that fell down to her clavicle; dyed in a gradient of brown and ended in red.

A chocolate brown sweater accentuated her curves under a dark drown corset, with formfitting dark brown cargos reaching down to her knees and complimented with ribbons tied by the left side; a drape of black skirt could be made out hanging by the right. Dark brown thigh-high boots with gold buckles further added to her flare, and above her head rested a dark brown beret. Slack around her waist was a brown bandolier lined with bullets kept in place by a gold crosshairs buckle. As if that wasn't enough, a number of accessories donned her person; her right wrist consisting of a black rose corsage under a black beaded necklace, black gloves, and a black scarf wrapped around the frilled collar of her sweater over the same beaded necklace. She was spying a few blouses through her wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses. A small handbag was resting close beside her on the floor. A simple glance would have been enough for anyone to tell that this girl was heavy on fashion.

Mezool smiled as she produced a silver coin from her hand. She casually entered the store, running her fingers through various designer outfits that were coveted by many of these women, but none could possibly compare to the sheer desire that was emanating from her intended host.

"Hello." The azure Greeed greeted.

The girl swivelled to face her. "Can I help you?"

"I love your outfit; can you tell me where I can get that neat scarf around your neck?" Mezool pointed with the hand that palmed her medal.

The girl narrowed her eyes behind her shades to study the newcomer a bit; she felt a peculiar sliver of dread creep up for some reason as she met her sapphire eyes. "Um…sure, there's a pile of these over by that counter." The girl pointed Mezool to the far corner of the store near the cashier where there was indeed a pile of scarves being attended to by two customers.

"Thank you. By the way, what's your name?" Mezool asked as she flipped the coin through her fingers.

"Coco, Coco Adel. You?" as Coco trailed off from her introduction and inquiry, a silver slot appeared on her forehead; freezing her in place.

"Mezool. Say Coco, I wonder if your love of fashion can give way to a most wondrous brood." She flipped the coin in the air, where it fell true to its target and inserted itself into the slot. The next thing Coco knew, Mezool was gone. She darted her head back and forth as she panted, wondering if all of that had really happened.

More than a little spooked by the experience, Coco determined that she had enough of window shopping and started heading straight back to Beacon Academy. From across the street of the store, Mezool chuckled to herself as she watched the unsuspecting host walking away from the store, gleefully anticipating the birth of her "children".

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Remnants of Desires

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Chapter 5: Trouble with Fashion! The Stronger Combo Arrives!

When I awoke the day after my conversation with Blake, I groaned from my still aching muscles. Damn, when I tried to rationalize what happened two days ago as just a bad dream I had from eating something I didn't agree with, I was snapped back to reality by a sharp throbbing in my back. How the hell Eiji even dealt with shit like this, I'll never know. Then again, Eiji Hino was a fictional character, and much to my mounting dismay, this was apparently all too real. Ankh was already dressed when I looked up to his bunk. I rubbed my eyes a bit to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. For this day, the bird Greeed was wearing short-sleeved white collared shirt with pockets on the front and black trimmings. His right sleeve was a deep shade of red whiles his left remained white. Brown trousers were wrapped around his legs which ended in a pair of white loafers. He spared me a glance as he was playing away with his scroll; what was he doing on that thing anyway?

I humoured myself. "Anything I should know?" Ankh looked up from the tablet.

"I'm researching everything I can about that shitty old man cutting into my medals."

"Kougami? You heard Weiss the other day; it's a multi-national corporation like her dad's."

Ankh snorted as he kept dragging a finger through what I could only guess was info on the Kougami Foundation. "There's just something…familiar about him that I can't quite put my claw on."

I heaved a sigh as I hung my head. "Whatever; listen, I'm gonna take a shower and get ready for today. You?"

"Since I haven't caught a whiff of cell medals lately, just leave me to my own devices and work on your training."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes mom!" this elicited a growl from the bird man, but I ignored it.

After my much needed warm shower, I was treated to a very odd sight. Before I even noticed, I was whistling to myself in just my towel and checking my wardrobe for what to wear. My hair was damped down, which hampered my peripheral vision. Once I whirled back to face my bed, the whistling died in my throat as I finally caught sight of the small crowd of onlookers.

Ruby was red in the face; in fact, I could have sworn she was redder than her hood as she covered her mouth with both hands. Yang was eyeing me over with a growing smirk. Blake stared on with a stoic face, while Weiss was turning away with a hand over hers.

The same couldn't be said for the others as Jaune rolled his eyes up the roof while Pyrrha was respectfully turning away as well. Nora was boring holes into me with a giddy grin, while Ren was giving Ankh the stink eye; not that the red Greeed even cared as he was still engulfed in his research.

Just another day in my life; hooray!

---

After locking myself in the bathroom for 15 minutes to change... I cleared my throat as I sat in front of the two Teams who were now giving me their full courtesy.

"So, any particular reason why you guys invaded the privacy of our room without notice?" I was seated backwards on a swivel chair from across them, resting my arms on the backrest.

Ruby was the first to speak up. "Well, me and the other guys were talking and…after that whole disaster at the cafeteria, we want to know more about what we're dealing with. The Greeed I mean."

I looked up to Ankh by his nest and gauged his reaction. He met my eyes as if deliberating on whether he was going to tell them or me. I sighed; I am so not his secretary.

"Ankh, show them the Core Medals." Ankh scoffed.

"Like hell." I furrowed my brows in a pleading manner. "Come on, if you want us to have any chance of having an advantage, we might as well have some help."

"Just do well on your training." He persisted.

I sighed in frustration. "I am. I've been working my butt off since the day I got here for you. And I thought after what happened with Kazari, you'd be reassessing our options." Sometimes I think this whole bodyguard shtick was working the other way around with us.

After another long gruelling moment, Ankh relented and jumped down from the bed. I caught Ren grabbing hold of Nora's hand and inching closer beside her. Ankh turned to regard all of them with a sneer. "So, you kids want to know all there is to know about us Greeed do you? Tch, you might not like where I'll be going with this."

"Pfft, how bad can it be?" Yang shrugged. Ankh smirked devilishly at her confidence.

"First, show them the medals," I spoke up.

Ankh looked over his shoulder inquisitively at me before shrugging. He fell down to sit on the floor and began lining up all of the Core Medals we managed to collect. "They're so pretty!" Ruby was eyeing the trinkets with sparkles in her eyes.

No, seriously, I could see actual sparkles in front of her eyes.

Ankh ignored her as he held the Taka Medal up. "What you see before you are called Core Medals. They are the very center of us Greeed and is the source of our power." the ones in the back leaned in closer to study them, with Blake scrunching her eyes at Kazari's medals.

"They're…marked with animal faces."

"That's right. For each of us Greeed, we have three sets of animals that correspond with each medal. For me, it would be the red Taka, Condor and Kujaku. Which are grouped into three sets of duplicates each; that makes 9 in total. For all of us 5, that would make a total of 45 Medals all in all."

Ruby shot her hand up. "Um, can you translate those names please? We know what a Condor is but, what's a Taka and Kuja-Kuj-uh-"

Ankh heaved a sigh. "Taka means Hawk and Kujaku means Peacock. May I please continue?" Ruby smiled and nodded.

"Why are they named like that?" Weiss inquired.

"One of the alchemists who were part of the group that made them was from Vacuo, so he based the names on his ancient native tongue."

Huh, Vacuo must be their equivalent of Japan or Asia.

"What are alchemists?" Ruby asked.

Weiss found herself once again accommodating her partner. "You're kidding right? Ruby, alchemists were like the first scientists of ancient times. According to the most popular accounts, they used to mix both science and aura to accomplish feats that could have easily been mistaken as magic. Where the heck have you been?"

Ruby hung her head shamefully as she twiddled her fingers together. "Sorry."

"Honestly!" Weiss huffed.

"Hey, lay off Weiss!" Yang interjected.

"MAY I PLEASE CONTINUE!?" Ankh boomed, his patience thinning. When everyone was once again silent, Ankh cleared his throat.

"As I mentioned earlier, the medals are marked with three animals each that make a total of 9 in an entire set. Uva's are the green Stag Beetle, Mantis, and Grasshopper. Kazari's are the yellow Lion, Tiger and Cheetah. Mezool's are the blue Orca, Electric Eel, and Octopus. Gamel's are the grey Rhinoceros, Gorilla, and Elephant."

"But why animals?" Blake asked.

"That is a tale I would much rather save for next time." Ankh responded noncommittally.

"So why do the Greeed exist? Kazari mentioned that you were like the first line of defence for all of the Kingdoms against the Grimm," Phyrra too inquired.

"Not all of the Kingdoms, just one. But it's long gone now and good riddance too. You people don't need to know about that little titbit so don't ask me for any more about it." Ankh cleared his throat again. "The Greeed were basically homunculi, artificial beings that were born out of the Medals which were in turn created using advanced techniques by Gara and the Royal Alchemists."

"So this Gara guy is kind of like your father or something?" Jaune wondered aloud. Ankh instantly blanched. "Watch your tongue human," Ankh hissed with venom as he held out his clawed hand towards the blonde threateningly, "Gara was no father of mine or anyone's! He was a despicable man; the worse of the worse."

Jaune froze in fear before Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder to settle him; she gave Ankh a glare that was unlike her green team mate's.

"Besides, he wasn't the only one. The original OOO; the Multi-King, was the one who ordered Gara to find a solution to the Grimm. Through rigorous research and experiments, Gara had the King collaborate their auras together to develop a new type of power; Core Energy. Through this, they imbued 50 blank medals that would come to form us Greeed."

"Wait, 50? Didn't you say that it was 45?" Yang spoke up.

"Yes, but when we were finally completed, we were little more than statues – unresponsive dolls with no drive, no ambition – no desire." I noticed him shifting uncomfortably for a second.

"So, after a little trial and error Gara had the King take one medal from each of us, the result was that a void had formed within our hearts; a sort of…emptiness. It was through that emptiness that we became conscious. Unfortunately, we had no coherent way of expressing ourselves; blank slates with little to no idea of whom or what we were." He snorted again, only it was more out of a sense of nostalgia rather than bitterness.

I noticed Ruby and Blake furrowing their brows in sympathy. Wow, who knew that Ankh could actually work up a crowd?

"As for His Majesty, he kept our medals as trophies to symbolize his dominance over us." There was a trail of bitterness in his tone, but I didn't blame him; the King sounded like a total jerk.

"Then what?" Weiss interjected.

"Well, due to our infantile state we were taught from scratch; human knowledge, mannerisms, patterns of behaviour. We were even taught how to fight. I and the rest of the Greeed were already veterans by the time we were sealed."

All of our eyes widened as we comprehended, with Pyrrha voicing out our thoughts. "Wait, so that would make you the very first Hunters, right? And what do you mean by mannerisms, behaviour?"

"It is as I said; we Greeed were nothing more than blank slates. What we know and how we are, how we act, how we respond to everything, all but a façade to interact with the world around us. We can't really feel anything, no sense of smell, taste, touch; not even emotion." I bit my lip at the last part; me and my big mouth.

A moment of silence passed over as we allowed Ankh's words to sink in. Ren's features had long softened after hearing much of the exposition, probably reconsidering his stance on the red Greeed. Ruby's face fell along with Yang, whose mischievous glint had long extinguished well into the tale.

"For the next several years, we dedicated our existence to serve our King as the land's defenders; us 5 against the hordes of Grimm." He paused.

"They didn't stand a chance." He smirked menacingly, causing a chill to wash over us. "As time went by, the Grimm were no longer that much of a threat and the people had felt more secure than they had ever been. But it wasn't exactly a happy ending."

"With us around, the people of our Kingdom had grown complacent, arrogant...greedy. For each passing day their desires grew and grew until they began turning on one another. We could actually feel the wickedness in their hearts brewing, their selfishness overtaking what little sense they had and before long, war was on the horizon."

"The war…you mean the Great War? But that was over 80 years ago!" Blake spoke up in disbelief.

Ankh chuckled. "Horse shit. There was a war even before that, which paved the way for the warriors that would come to be known as the modern Hunters. You see, it was during that time that one of Gara's fellow alchemists had discovered a new element from one of the mines. This element is what you all refer to today as Dust."

"But that's impossible! Dust was discovered far longer than that; I should know, with my family being the largest supplier in all of Remnant. You can't expect us to believe that it was only that recent of a time." Weiss argued, with some of them nodding in agreement.

"How much of your own history do you actually trust? You children have absolutely no idea the depths of depravity that transpired in the war of which I am referring to, the horrors people from all corners of the world endured; all because of one man, the Multi-King." Both Teams looked to one another in amazement and confusion; even I was completely absorbed into the story.

Ankh ignored our reactions as he fluttered on. "As time went by, the King found himself slowly descending to utter madness. For the sake of wealth and conquest, he launched a campaign that would not only unite the other Kingdoms under his banner, but subjugate its peoples under his rule and his alone. To do this, he demanded that Gara develop for him a method that would fully utilize the power of the Core Medals. It was with this order that the OOO Driver was created."

"So that's it…" I heard Pyrrha muttered.

Ankh's lips suddenly curled into a dark grin. "Yes, it was quite an ambition. But we weren't exactly any better as me and my cohorts started entertaining thoughts of usurping power for ourselves. We…grew envious and resentful of the things that the humans and faunus had that we Greeed lacked. Even so, as a reward for our services to the crown, we were all made Generals of his army. Those were the days, but we all knew that it was all a farce. We were nothing more than tools to the humans, only above the Faunus as slaves."

Blake's brows shot up like a rocket. "Slaves? The Faunus were slaves!?" Everyone turned to look at her, with Ankh sneering like a bully who had just pilfered her candy.

"Of course, why so surprised kitty cat?" Blake staggered back at the nickname; or was that just my imagination again? "N-Nothing." She jerked her head back and forth, looking away with uncertainty marring her features. It was then I realized that Ankh must have hit a sore point for Blake; was she a Faunus rights activist?

"So anyway, at around the same time that the King was making his plans, Uva accidentally stumbled upon a very unusual phenomenon." Ankh drew a Cell Medal out and held it up pointedly. "Apparently, a very brave soul was daring enough to actually steal a Cell Medal from my green comrade while he was doing his daily rounds. The fool actually thought our medals had monetary value in them and was hungry; desperation can make anyone do the stupidest things I swear."

"Hey, the guy was hungry right? Can't you be a little more sympathetic?" It was Blake again who had voiced out her disapproval.

"I could, but that would just mean that I actually felt something for the fool, now wouldn't it?" the ebony kunoichi glowered in contempt at him. Well Ankh, you just lost yourself a fan, and in record time too.

"Expectedly, Uva caught the guy before he could even flee. Just as he was busy painfully reminding the thief of his place, a silver slot appeared as the medal was inadvertently brought near his head."

Nora shuffled in her seat with unease, causing Ren to snake his arm around to comfort her. "Uva was more than a little curious as this was the first time that it ever happened. Then again, we always did our best to distance our medals from humans in fear that it would bring in the wrong attention, and as the would-be thief had proven; it did."

"He recounted to us that he was reluctant but curious in seeing what would happen; we weren't all that willing to waste medals even back then. He was rewarded with the creation of the very first Yummy." He paused to let that sink in.

"Like us after first awakening, it was a blank slate, but completely subservient to Uva; hanging on his every whim. After disposing of the meat sack that it spawned from, he discreetly led the creature back to our base for examination. It was a homunculus not unlike us, but born from Uva's Cell rather than a Core. With this new discovery, we began making plans to accumulate an army under us to help instigate a coup. It was through this that the rest of us realized we too could create our own Yummies. Like Uva; me, Kazari and Mezool could produce each of our own with a host. Gamel on the other hand, could only create one from his own body. The Yummies had the added benefit of producing Cells whenever they fulfilled or lived out whatever their host's desire was, and through that we continued to grow in power. We had managed to reach a level that even the strongest of Hunters could hardly scratch us."

Nervous glances were exchanged amongst the group, me included. "The Yummies were completely impervious to conventional weapons and aura, with only Core Energy being able to truly destroy them."

"Wait, is that why we could barely hurt them while Enrique can?" Ruby asked. Ankh nodded.

"Exactly, the only exception is Mezool's Yummies which are weaker compared to ours, so you can probably take them. But another thing about us is that; and you better not get any ideas when I tell you this so pay attention, when we lose a sufficient number of our Cores, we lose most if not all of our invulnerability, rendering us just as susceptible to normal attacks. That one can vouch for me as he actually blew a few holes into Kazari after we took three of his Cores." He pointed to Ren, who earned an approving smile from Nora.

"Even then, we cannot truly be destroyed as our Cores each contain a fragment of our consciousness, and the Core Medals are all but indestructible." He paused again to take a long and deep breath. "And that children, ends our lesson for today. Now get the hell out!" he spat before swiping the Core Medals in one swift motion.

"You know birdy, you can be a real jerk most of the time. But I guess I can't really blame you for being that way after hearing the absolute crapper that was your life." Yang said, with Ruby nodding in agreement.

"The only reason why I'm even enduring this torture of a school and you brats is because I'm still aiming to return to full strength and then some. Amongst all of my fellows, I was the most powerful." He rose up from the floor and looked down haughtily at them, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Well, if you are indeed a veteran as you so proudly claimed…then maybe you could teach us a thing or two." Pyrrha wondered aloud.

I swear a full minute had to have gone by before Ankh found his voice again. "Huh?"

"Hey! That's a great idea; you could land work as a combat instructor here Ankh. I'm sure Professor Ozpin has a vacancy for you." Ruby exclaimed, bouncing up from her seat. Even I couldn't help myself from putting in my two cents.

"You know, Pyrrha and Ruby have a point. If you actually want me to improve in fighting off the Greeed and Yummies that come our way, why don't you train me or us for that matter?"

"I'm no babysitter!" Ankh snapped, but I ignored it. "Ankh, you always tell me to do well in my training, but at the rate I'm going I highly doubt that I'd even go anywhere without someone giving me formal instruction. So…maybe becoming a teacher here isn't all that bad of an idea?"

"Come on, give it a try! So, what do you say, Professor Ankh?" Yang smirked jovially, with the rest of us joining in with her.

Ankh hunched over as he clenched both of his fists and gritted his teeth. "You miserable…"

"Coco isn't that, like, the 6th set of clothes you bought in the last hour?" We all heard a muffled voice from outside. "Isn't that Velvet?" Weiss commented.

All of us peered through the door at the scene that was transpiring outside as two girls were conversing down the hall. One of them was a girl that looked like she could pass off as a model, while the other girl had bunny ears. I've seen her once or twice around the school before.

"Who are those two?" I asked. Ruby was the one to answer. "They're upperclassmen; the one with the bags is Coco Adel and the other is Velvet Scarlatina." I nodded as I looked to Coco, who was idly dismissing her friend's concern as she hugged the bags tightly to her person.

Ruby resumed her explanation. "They're part of Team CFVY, with Coco as the leader. As upperclassmen, they're one of the strongest around here." I cocked a brow in interest; just how strong exactly?

"So uh, I guess this is it for now guys. I'm gonna go to the city to have a look around. You know, see if I can buy anything useful for school." I stated as I entered back in while the others exited. "Yeah sure Enrique, see you later." Ruby waved goodbye as they left.

"Were you really serious about that?" I heard Ankh ask as he was looking out the window; I looked up from my bunk towards him. "Me becoming a teacher I mean. What would I even teach these snot nosed brats anyway?" I noted that there was barely any emotion to his tone, but I thought I could pinpoint a hint of…was that longing?

"What's wrong with that? If anything, it'd give you something to do rather than lying on your ass all day."

"Tch, the last time I taught anyone anything, they…" he trailed off before he could finish. "They…what?" I probed. Ankh looked over his shoulder back at me with his signature glare; which I had come to learn was his own brand of sign language for "Shut up!"

---

"You exaggerating Velvet, I do not have a problem. I'm just being my usual fabulous self." Coco was staring at herself by the mirror with a new designer blouse draped over her, while Velvet was seated on her own bed looking on at her leader in concern. Coco whirled around to regard her friend and teammate. "How do I look?"

"You look nice, but we're getting worried about you. I swear Coco, your closet is about to burst." She held a hand out towards the mentioned wardrobe, with its doors looking like they were indeed about to break off from their hinges.

"Oh, right. Could you be a dear and ask them if I could borrow their closet space?" Coco asked sweetly, as if she didn't even hear the faunus girl's observation. Unbeknownst to the latter however, a glowing egg sac the size of a beach ball was slowly developing behind the aforementioned closet, with its brood gradually piling in number.

---

Ankh and I were in the city checking out some of the book stores. Since the establishment we settled with didn't allow food, the red Greeed was left to remain outside as he was licking away at a Popsicle; not that he was complaining. He was still tapping busily away at his scroll finding out everything he could about the Kougami Foundation, as well as the Schnee Dust Company. He quirked an eyebrow at the various "questionable rumors" that the company was allegedly involved in. Ankh allowed himself to smirk; what some people wouldn't do for a quick buck.

After I was done purchasing a history book that detailed more of Remnant, I was idly reminded by Ankh's crack at the so-called "history" that I was going to study about, certain that it was riddled with a few inaccuracies. Frankly, I didn't care. If the standard curriculum necessitated that what was written on the texts and tomes was indeed considered as "fact", then there was very little that I or anyone else for that matter could do anything about it.

I walked up to Ankh who was leaning against a tree – the Popsicle long devoured and its stick protruding from his mouth.

"So, you done?" he asked, his eyes still glued to the scroll.

I sighed at his disinterest at anything other than that tablet. "Yeah, wanna grab a bite to eat?" the grumbling from his stomach was audible enough for both of us to hear. "Hrm…" he growled under his breath, but flanked close to me as we headed for one of the restaurants I spotted along the way.

As we neared the building, I spied a young girl that was leaning by the entrance with her arms behind her back. I couldn't well see her face from a distance, but Ankh stopped me halfway before I could. "Transform right now."

"Huh?" I quirked a brow at him; he rolled his eyes at me.

Without warning, he thrust the OOO Driver against my chest, causing me to drop my bag as I was forced to catch it with both hands. "Transform. NOW!" with a flick of his wrist, the King Combo was lined in front of my face. I snatched them without question, but before I could even take the O Scanner out after slotting them in, the girl called out to us.

"Hello."

I looked up before I could tilt the buckle. "Um…can we help you?"

"I just wanted to meet you." The girl smiled at me, causing me to blush now that I had a better look at her; she was really pretty. Ankh rolled his eyes as he palmed his face.

"Uh…any specific reason why?" I gaped, since it wasn't every day that a girl I hardly knew would just walk up and say she wanted to meet me. The other part of my brain told me that that line of thinking was inappropriate if it was under…different circumstances.

"So Mezool, how's Kazari doing?" I lurched back at the name that escaped from Ankh's lips; this pretty girl was Mezool!?

Her smile widened as a blue glow started to surround her, with me taking it as my signal to transform as well. With a tilt of the buckle, I ran the scanner through.

"Henshin!"

TAKA!

TORA!

BATTA!

TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!

Now donned in my armor, I looked on ahead at the now fully formed marine Greeed and studied her appearance. Her head was strikingly shaped to resemble an Orca, with small red eyes closely knit above the bridge of her nose while a larger pair of blue ones was positioned normally below them. Draped around her regally was a blue cape that ended in a webbed fin-like pattern; with two small hooks emblazoned by the shoulders. A pair of "suckers" that were meant to express the tentacles of an octopus lined the front of her legs which were split down the middle by her ankles and ended at her feet; her cuffs giving the impression of form fitting trousers, complimented by high-heeled leather boots. The only imperfections were the tattered bandages wrapped around her torso and the darkened shade of her belt buckle; indicating that she was missing a few of her Unagi Medals.

The nearby crowd ran for their lives screaming as they beheld the spectacle, leaving only the three of us to battle it out.

"Hello Ankh! It's been such a long time, looking good by the way." She exclaimed while waggling her fingers at him. "Oh? And this must be the new OOO. Tell me, what's your name OOO-boya?"

"Humph, what are you doing here Mezool?" Ankh snapped at her, while I readied myself into a stance.

Mezool tapped her chin with a finger. "Well, I was just curious about what all the fuss was about when Kazari left the other day so I decided to check out the city." She shifted her eyes to bore into me. "Imagine my surprise when I caught wind of a monster that was defeated by a pair of hunters. Of course, I took such an outlandish report with a grain of salt seeing as how that it was Kazari. I take it you were somehow involved?"

"Well, I did have help with tha-" I felt a hard smack against the back of my head, with Ankh jerking his irritably towards her as he glowered at me. "Stop with the small talk and just fight her already!"

"R-Right!" the Tora Medal roared as I extended my claws out to lunge at her.

"Ah, this will be fun. It's been a while since I've been able to stretch my legs." Mezool easily sidestepped to dodge as I swiped at her, enabling her to knee me in the stomach. Immediately buckling from the breath getting knocked out of me left my face wide open for a swift uppercut. She didn't even give time for my body to be pushed back by the blow as she jumped up to land both feet against my chest in a devastating kick. I fell on back the ground in a heap.

"Damn it!" Ankh ran up to meet her head on with a haymaker with his Greeed arm. Her reaction time quickly allowed her to flip back into a somersault before blasting a ball of water at him, which he sidestepped to dodge. With speed that I had never seen him display before, Ankh drove Mezool on the defensive as he fluidly matched her blow for blow. Guess he wasn't kidding about being a veteran after all.

Luckily, the energies of the Medals sped up my recovery before I drew out Medajalibur to dive in for another attack. Ankh must have caught sight of me as I ran towards them to swing at her; moving away just in time to provide me an opening. Unfortunately, Mezool's response to my attack was nothing short of phenomenal as she leaped back high into the air and landed on the rooftop of the restaurant.

"Get back here!" Ankh shouted.

"Sorry you two, but I have other businesses to attend to, you know how it is for a girl like me, right?" She blew both of us a kiss before disappearing in a puddle of water.

"Goddamit! That was a prime opportunity for either of us to have taken her Core Medals and you blew it!" he jerked a hand at my direction glaring daggers.

"Me? Hey, I was doing my best out there in case you hadn't noticed. At least give me some credit!" I cried with my arms spread out; I sure as hell wasn't going to take all the heat for this. My stern frown underneath my helmet softened when he suddenly buckled over clutching his Greeed arm.

"Ankh, are you okay?" I attended to him as he seethed in pain before pushing me away. "Get off me!"

"Look, I was just concerned about…hey, wh-where are you going?" I reached my hand out as he started sauntering off.

"To the Kougami Foundation!" he answered without looking back. "Why? Hey, wait up!" realizing that it was futile to argue further. I let out a frustrated growl before tilting the buckle back into place to change back. I quickly removed the King Combo to pocket them, relieved that he left me with means to defend myself in case even more trouble showed up. As I picked up my book from the ground, I narrowed my eyes in suspicion; what exactly did Mezool mean by "other businesses"? I soon had a very good idea to suspect what exactly she meant.

Oh, man…I hope I'm wrong. The next instant, I sprinted down the street as I whirled my head around in search of a vending machine. Much to my growing relief, a black and silver machine was situated near a movie theatre. Without wasting time, I rifled through my pockets before pulling out the only cell medal I had; thanks a lot Ankh. I sighed, "This'll have to do." I quickly went through the motions and drew out a Tako Candroid.

After pulling the tab, the mechanical mollusc twirled to life as he hovered around me. "Track down the Yummy, hurry!"

---

Velvet was gripping Coco's arm as she struggled to drag her team leader away from the cash register, forcing the latter to resist as a platinum credit card was held tightly between her fingers; a large and expensive pile of designer clothes waiting for her to be checked out.

"Coco, I think that's enough!" Velvet yelled.

"No!" Coco tore her arm away, swatting Velvet away to land on her rear. "I need it all! I have to have it all!" if the faunus girl had actually caught a glimpse of her friend's eyes underneath the aviators, she would have noticed the unnaturally blue glow emanating from them.

Back in the academy and atop Coco's closet, the sac had long burst open with a multitude of eggs steadily growing in number against the rest of the wall. Mezool could only smile as she felt more and more of her children growing stronger.

---

"What? You actually fought against Ankh and OOO?" Uva was flaring as he took deep angry breaths before transforming. The others soon followed, with all four Greeed back to their true forms.

"Indeed I have." Mezool crooned nonchalantly. "OOO-boya wasn't much of a challenge, but Ankh's still just as sharp as ever. Too bad that new body of his can't keep up with his level of skill."

His rage boiling, Uva cut a nearby table in half before readdressing his azure comrade. "Really? Well isn't that just fantastic. Anything else?"

If Mezool still had a mouth, she would have smiled. "Oh, nothing much. Only that we'll be graced with a generous helping of Cell Medals quite soon."

The other Greeed instantly perked up at this news.

Gamel was clapping with glee. "Yay! Medals, medals, medals!" he sang as he did a small dance.

Kazari hummed to himself thoughtfully in silence; maybe he wouldn't have to work with restocking his supply after all.

"Well then if you all don't mind, I'll be off." Uva said offhandedly, although the other three could easily sense the edge of his tone.

"Uva's angry. He can be a real meanie when he's angry." Gamel commented.

"Just leave him be, it'll be nice to have OOO be put in his place after what he did to me." Kazari drawled as he leaned against an old couch.

"He's just frustrated by his missing Cores, we all are. But he's always been a hothead, even more so than Ankh." Mezool stated as she settled herself comfortably next to the feline.

"Can't say I blame him, even I'd be a little cheesed off in his shoes." Kazari agreed, before dozing off.

---

I was already well into my search as I trotted down the street with the Tako Can leading me overhead, garnering more than a few curious glances. I stopped to catch my breath as I leaned against a concrete porch. The Tako Can floated stationary above me before it seemed to react.

"What is it boy?" I know it's not a dog, but you work with what you get; deal with it.

The Tako Can grabbed me by the collar and tugged me up to follow it; I'm pretty sure if Ruby were here she'd probably explode from the cuteness. The persistent candroid led me on until we stopped in front of a clothing store. Leaning against the frame of the entrance was Velvet; what was she doing here?

"Uh, excuse me; Velvet right? Listen, have you seen anything unusual around he-…hey…hey are you okay?" my features softened in concern as I noticed her glumly hanging her head, her eyes glued to the sidewalk

She looked up to regard me; I didn't know if she recognized me or not but that wasn't the least bit important right now. "I-It's my friend Coco…she's, she's buying more clothes than she usually does. It's gotten so bad our whole room's flooded with her purchases. I'm surprised she hasn't bankrupted herself yet."

Oh boy.

"How long has she been like that? Is this unusual for her?" I inquired with a little more haste than I meant. Velvet merely shook her head.

"She does like fashion, but not to this degree. I guess it all started this morning after she got back from a shopping run. I didn't notice it at first, but after a few hours of buying what I could only guess was a truckload of clothes, that's when I started worrying. When we try to get her to stop, she gets mad and violent." She hung her head again. "This isn't like her at all."

"Is she inside?" I pointed within the establishment, she nodded. "Maybe you can reason with her. I don't know if it'll work, but at this point I'll try just about anything." I nodded as we headed in where she led me to the cashier. The sight that greeted us was unsettling to say the least; Coco was choking the lady managing the register, her shades having fallen off at some point and revealing the infuriated glint in her eyes.

"What do you mean my credit's no good!?" Velvet cringed at her leader's tone. I held a finger up to my lips as I motioned for her to follow me.

Hanging on for dear life, the woman could only talk so much with the limited air. "Please ma'am…you've passed your limit…we can't charge you…anymore."

"NO! No, I need it. I need all of this. Give me more, I want MORE!" her eyes flared with a bright sapphire blue light; she was Mezool's host. Great, of all the times I was right. Coco tightened her hold around the cashier's neck – who by now was weakly prying the mad Huntress' hands away.

It was more than what either of us could take. "Coco!" Velvet called out. The fashion addict jerked her head in our direction to catch Velvet looking at her; deep worry written all over the latter's features.

"Coco please, this has gone way too far. Can't you see what you're doing? Let her go, now!" the bunny-girl pleaded. For a moment, I feared that Coco wasn't going to heed her friend's pleas, but not even a minute had passed that she released her hold. The cashier fell to the ground in a heap, taking big gulps of air before crawling away to safety.

Not a moment too soon, I slapped the OOO Driver around my waist and readied the King Combo, but held off from transforming; maybe it wasn't too late. You can't blame a guy for trying at least. I held both of my hands up in a placating manner as I treaded lightly towards her. "Coco, listen to us. You're not well, let's just go back to Beacon and we can all sort this whole mess ou-"

"You don't understand! I need more clothes. There can't possibly be an end to what I want! MORE! MORE! MORE!" Velvet cupped her mouth with both hands as Coco was literally pulling at her own hair like a madwoman. Before we could even continue to reason with her, the shattering of glass prompted us to dart behind us. Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me; again, a large school of what I could only best describe were 'mutant piranhas' was quickly swarming all around us, forcing me and Velvet to duck and head for cover.

Customers screamed in panic, with security quickly attending to the disturbance as they struggled to get everything under control; yeah that wasn't happening. These were definitely Mezool's Yummies born out of Coco's desire, as they frantically picked and pilfered as many of the clothes that were stacked and lined around the store. Coco herself eagerly tailed them as they pooled for the exit to hit the next store.

"Coco! Coco come back!" Velvet called out desperately. I flanked her side to grab her hand as we made a beeline for the exit. "Come on!"

"What the heck is going on?" she asked as we ran out of the building.

"No time to explain, we have to hurry or else-"

"OOO!" a loud voice halted us before we could catch up to the receding forms of the Yummies and Coco. In front of us stood a man with slicked back green hair, wearing a green jacket and a black shirt, black trousers and sneakers.

"Do I know you? We're kind of in a hurry!" I didn't mean to sound so forceful, but this was an emergency for crying out loud.

The man leered at us as he strode forward. "Not yet, but you will." As he trailed off, a green light and the clinking of coins surrounded his body.

Sigh, its official; the God of Remnant hates me. Why doesn't he just finish the job right here and now?

"Uva…" I gulped in dismay as the light dissipated to reveal an emerald humanoid insect that towered over us. He was even more menacing up close than in the show; his carapace sheened as the sun washed over him. Large Kuwagata horns protruded at the top of his head, his menacing green visor scrutinizing us.

A large pair of mantis claws jutted out of his shoulders and was drawn back down to the base of his spine, his mandibles clicking together ever so slightly. His torso was heavily armored, with the only deficiency being the tattered bandages wrapped around his legs and the buckle of his belt blackened in color. I had no doubt that his missing Batta Medals were the cause of that. We backed away as I held my guard in front of Velvet, feeling her hand grasping my shoulder tightly in fear at the monstrosity.

"So you're the new OOO? You're even more pathetic than I thought." He held up a dual clawed hand as he shuffled towards us.

"What is that thing!?" Velvet cried. She had studied and seen all manner of Grimm almost her whole life and this being was definitely not a Grimm.

"That's Uva, the Insect Greeed." I quickly explained before scanning the Driver. "Henshin!"

TAKA!

TORA!

BATTA!

TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!

Velvet's eyes bulged as she witnessed my transformation, no doubt feeling the surge of power as she was practically flanked behind me.

"Is he some sort of Faunus?" she asked after recovering from the initial shock.

"Nope, definitely not a Faunus, now stay close behind me!"

"I can fight, let me help you!" she quickly flanked my side and drew herself into a stance.

Uva seemed to ignore Velvet as he continued. "You know, I've been wondering what kind of person Ankh picked to be the new OOO, but seeing you right now has been such a major let-down that I'm almost tempted to let you and that wench go." A surge of electricity danced around his claw. "Almost…"

"Are you sure about this Velvet?" I recalled what Ruby said earlier that the faunus girl was part of one of the strongest teams in Beacon, so she was certainly far above me in skill. And if the Uva here was anything like the one on the show or worse, then we were in for one tough fight.

Velvet nodded as Uva launched at us with a roar, his claws sparking with green electricity to dive into an overhead stab. I parried the blow, almost buckling from the sheer force; I could tell that he was aiming for his Batta Medal.

Velvet fluidly reacted as she landed a kick at Uva's ribs, pushing him back just far enough for me to counter with a slash. Sparks flew, with only a few cell medals spilled from the gash I made.

"Gah! What the…?" he ran a hand over the wound as it regenerated."You insolent…" he shot at us with a blast of green lightning from his horns. Velvet jumped clear from the full brunt of it just in time. Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as the attack hit me dead on, painfully shocking me in place as I endured probably several hundred to a thousand volts. Velvet winced in regret as she looked to my hunched and smoking form after the lightning dissipated.

"Sorry…" she apologized meekly. I hefted an arm up weakly as I whimpered. "It's okay…"

"Die!" Uva thundered as he was charging up another attack, only for Velvet to jump again and land her foot directly into Uva's face in a side kick. He was thrown back again from the force, as her aura was mixed into the blow. I shook myself out of my dazed stupor a few times, my vision blurring a bit as I watched Velvet grappling with Uva. Ruby sure wasn't whistling Dixie when she said Velvet was tough.

Velvet kept Uva steadily on the defensive as she delivered a flurry of roundhouse kicks to his midsection, parrying all of them with little to no effort. "You're good for an animal. Almost makes me wonder why your ancestors didn't help themselves out of being our slaves." Caught off guard by the remark, Velvet faltered in her form. Uva's mandibles contracted into what could barely count as a smirk as he exploited the opening with a devastating slash across her right leg. With a yelp of pain, she went down to clutch the wound as she winced helplessly.

"Now, for a little pest control." Uva raised a claw up to yet again dive in for the kill; aimed straight for Velvet's head, only to look up as he caught a familiar chime ringing through the air.

SCANNING CHARGE!

I leapt high into the air, uncaring if this was going to further damage my body. But when I finally got a hold of myself and witness Uva about to skewer Velvet, it wasn't even a choice. As I went straight into a dive kick, the rings from the King Combo lined in front of me to imbue the attack with their energies to strengthen it. I came through as the kick connected to the insect Greeed's face.

The green brute unceremoniously flew back, while I landed in an exhausted heap; it would be a while before the medals replenish my reserves. As luck would have it, I felt my hand lightly brushing against a small circular object; could it be? Still lying on the ground, I plucked my prize with what little strength I had left and held it up to my eyes.

Yes! Yes, yes, yes! It was Core Medals; and not just any Cores, but the Kuwagata and Kamakiri! I finally had enough to make a Full Combo.

After healing her wounds with what little aura she had left (Uva wasn't exactly a pushover) she helped me to sit up by leaning me against a nearby wall, her features still lined with shame that she allowed for me to get hurt. I so wanted to assure her that it was fine, but I was still too dazed to even speak.

Remembering Uva, we frantically searched for him in case he was readying another attack, but none came, with only the breeze passing through to graze us.

"Guess he punked out…for now at least." I muttered weakly, panting.

"What did he want anyway?" Velvet asked, taken aback as my armor vanished after I flipped back the buckle into place.

"I'll explain after we save Coco..." Velvet shook her head. "You're hurt; we need to get you to a hospital!"

"If Coco doesn't return to normal soon, it won't matter. I'm the only one who can save her. Time is short and-" I winced from my aching, "we have to make it in time before the Yummies…mature."

"What? You mean those things that were with Coco?"

I gently grasped her collar. "Please, you have to trust me…do you trust me?" I asked through ragged breaths. Reluctantly, Velvet nodded before hefting me up by the shoulder. Even in my weakened state, I could still feel the King Cores feeding my body with their energies to help revitalize me – well that's strangely convenient and a blessing in disguise that I hadn't removed them immediately. Lord knows I was going to need it.

I swallowed a lump before asking her another question. "Do you know where the Kougami Foundation is?"

---

In the center of Vale, a grand skyscraper was standing proudly over the denizens of a very quaint city. Amongst those very denizens and looking up with contempt at the top of the edifice was a man named Nathan Westborn. Or, he would still be known as Nathan Westborn if it weren't for the symbiotic relationship his body was currently sharing with the Bird Greeed Ankh, with whom he could not survive without.

He waded his way arrogantly through the doors, unheeding of the patrons and employees going about. His own intentions clear as day. Ankh walked briskly up to the receptionist, who looked up from her computer to regard the newcomer. A brief spark of recognition seemed to run across her eyes for a moment before her lips curled into a smile.

"Ah, you must be Ankh. Mr. Kougami has been expecting you." She looked to her right as she pointed towards a silver elevator. "His office is on the top floor."

He huffed as he spun on his heel, leaving the woman back to her work. After entering the elevator and pressing the button, he was immediately bombarded with the most extravagant music that had to have ever been composed in the history of Remnant. (Please play Kougami Foundation BGM). He cringed in irritation as he endured the tirade to his ears because of his enhanced hearing; yet another slight against him by the old man.

A twinge of relief washed over him as he finally exited the infernal contraption and spied a large door from across him. Flanking each side were the blue haired secretary and the mysterious biker, who oddly enough was still wearing his helmet. Each of them took a hold of the regal door to open it, revealing the occupant inside and the man that Ankh had the displeasure of making his acquaintance.

Kousei Kougami, standing in all his fine glory whose very presence was heralded by rose petals and serenaded by that same wretched music that was in the elevator. For the occasion, the President was dressed in a crimson silk business suit and polished black loafers. Ankh rolled his eyes at this farcical display of grandeur.

Kougami beamed as he spread his arms wide. "Ah, Ankh! Welcome! Welcome to my marvellous company. I cannot tell you how good it is to finally have you here." He briskly marched up to the red Greeed to firmly grasp his shoulders. The latter was sorely tempted that very moment to drive his hand through the man's gullet, but seeing that that was tactically unsound considering where he was, he suppressed the urge.

"I came here to tell you off old man! You can't have my medals. Besides, what could a human like you even want with them?"

"Fe! Come inside so we can discuss this matter more properly. Miss Haven, cancel all of my appointments for today!"

"But sir, you have a vid conference with the President of the Schnee Dust Company in an hour."

"Then cancel that immediately as well!" Kougami declared without looking back. Miss Haven shrugged before proceeding to cancel all of the upcoming appointments on her scroll before she along with the biker entered the office.

"Sit." Kougami held his hand out towards a Corinthian leather sofa. Ankh hesitated before shrugging, taking a seat and setting a foot up the other knee. He steepled his fingers together, sharp eyes keenly observing the old fool as he took his own seat by his desk.

"So Ankh, I understand that you have set your base of operations at Beacon Academy. I think you are well aware by now that me and Professor Ozpin are under a collaboration to assist you and OOO should the need ever arise. And, as I have mentioned before, the resources of my company are freely yours and Enrique's to use." He paused to hold a finger up. "Provided, you spare a cut of all the Cell Medals you two collect after every battle with either the Greeed and/or Yummy. A delivery airship will come by every now and then to collect the company's share, where new equipment will be given in exchange."

"So, what say you?"

For the entire time, Ankh was listening on in silent deliberation. Kougami could tell a mile away that he was just stalling. The red Greeed knew how to play hardball. Fortunately, he knew how to play too. His answer finally came when the bird man allowed a smirk to grace his lips, which slowly grew from a malicious snicker to a throaty guffaw.

"You insolent fool! Do you really think you can pull the wool over my eyes? You're planning something aren't you? I've seen it all before; men who think they can harness power beyond their control. Deeming themselves masters of their own fate aiming to dominate others to their control. Whatever your so-called ambition is, it will fall. Like those before you."

Kougami's grin didn't falter in the slightest; in fact, it actually grew as he listened on to the proud Greeed's criticism of him. "My ambition?" he leaned back in his chair, mirroring the younger man. "Why, it is ambition itself!"

Ankh cocked a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Tell me this, what happens when a child is born?"

"What does any of this have to do with children?" the Greeed's lops quirked into a grimace.

"Answer the question." Kougami closed his eyes, seemingly pleased about something.

Ankh paused in thought before tilting his head. "It cries?"

"Yes! And why does it cry!?" Kougami suddenly bolted upright, his gaze boring deeply into his guest.

"Tch, how should I know?" Ankh turned away apathetically. By the corner of his eye, he spotted Haven shifting ever so slightly.

"It cries…because it wants something!" Kougami explained as he marched up to the seated Greeed. "When an infant cries, it could only ever want its mother's milk. Same with man, how do you think that we have come to survive after all these years from the threat of the Grimm, hm? It is because of man's desire to live! For that, our ancestors were driven to build tools to defend themselves and learn to wield them in battle. The same desire that gave birth to you Greeed!" he bellowed before turning away.

"To me, desire is nothing but power; a power that all living beings possess and has driven us to even newer and greater heights. It is neither good nor evil, serving the individual's purposes accordingly to their own will! It is the very engine of advancement!" he jerked back at full force to face his audience.

"THAT! IS MY! AMBITION!"

Silence dominated the entire office, with the red Greeed left for the very first time at a complete loss for words. He slowly rose up from his seat and marched slowly in front of the desk.

"What are your terms?" his tone was neutral, but a trained ear could easily sense the apprehension behind it.

Kougami pursed his lips in thought. "70 %!"

"Never," Ankh muttered under his breath as he drew out his Greeed arm, ready to pounce. He was halted by the cold barrel of the biker's gun blade once again precariously jabbed; this time, against the back of his head.

"Move, and I shoot." His voice was muffled by his helmet, but Ankh could still feel the edge surrounding his tone. If he was still in his old body, dispatching this speck would have been child's play, but seeing as how Nathan's body wasn't exactly honed for the level of combat that Ankh was at, his reaction time was sluggish at best.

"Ankh, I think you may need to rethink your position here." Kougami motioned for Haven to activate the video screen. Appearing on the display were two people that Ankh recognized; the other one he could hardly care about.

"Enrique?" he knit his brows in confusion at the image. "What are you trying to pull?" The duo was currently busy trying to activate one of the Ridevendor by the theatre that Enrique stumbled upon prior.

"The RideVendors are all designed by the Kougami Foundation, which means I hold the master control. No matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to activate it unless I allow it," Kougami smirked. "The same goes for the Medajalibur."

Ankh hung his head dangerously as he glowered at the man, his aura building into a rage. The biker stepped back a few inches with his gun still held up, more ready than ever to shoot if he had to. Haven hardly responded, but her eyes were narrowing critically at the scene.

"For the past hour, clothing stores all over Vale have been under attack by a large concentration of Yummies, I take it you already know of such a disturbance Ankh?" Kougami stated nonchalantly towards the latter, seemingly uncaring of the enormous power emanating from him.

"So you're blackmailing me now? Without cell medals for me to give in exchange, you're going to hold out?" he smirked evilly at the old man. "You drive a hard bargain there Kougami…but how much are you willing to endure when I decide to go all out?"

Kougami rolled his eyes; his lips still curled in that jovial smile he would always wear. He slowly held a hand up and brought it forward near the bird Greeed's arm; a faint glow soon came to life from his fingertips as their auras mixed.

Like a thousand needles prickling through his skin, Ankh felt a jolt of pain entering his arm. He grabbed at it as he doubled over in agony, a mixture of bewilderment and shock crossing his features.

"What the hell!?" the pain was strong but bearable, and strangely nostalgic. He looked up to see Kougami looking down at him as if he hadn't just done anything very few people had done before.

"What is this…? Kougami you…you…!"

"70 %!" the company President repeated.

Ankh shifted his eyes in panic, realizing that he might as well be trapped. "40 %!" he finally blurted out.

"70 %" Kougami persisted.

"Fine, 45 %!" Ankh continued.

"70 %~" the other man crooned.

"50!"

Kougami sighed, "70 %; no more no less."

---

I was scratching my head in frustration, now back to full strength after about a quarter of an hour getting this stupid thing to work!

Velvet was holding onto a handful of cell medals that I managed to spill out of Uva using my sword, her lips pressed together impatiently. "Maybe you should put in another one?"

"I don't want to waste what little cells we have in case I need ammo for Medajalibur." I gave the machine a few stern kicks. This is just great! According to a news bulletin from my scroll, Coco's Yummies were tearing through all of the clothing stores in Vale, with only the two of us knowing her involvement. Ruby and her Team were last seen assisting the local law enforcement, but for how long I wasn't willing to find out.

"Where's the bullhead I called in earlier? It should have been here by now." Velvet commented as she looked around the sky for any airships.

"Maybe they got into a little traffic?" I half-joked, humor at a time like this? Yeah, I'm terrible person.

Said airship was being pelted with a swarm of Piranha Yummies near the area of where the disturbance was occurring.

---

As a Greeed, it pained Ankh to give up anything. Unfortunately, he needed Enrique and Enrique needed the Kougami Foundation's equipment to help in their crusade against the Greeed.

"FINE! I'LL GIVE YOU 70 %!" Ankh screamed as Cell Medals burst from his hand and scattered all over the floor and desk.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Kougami replied as he opened the box that had been resting on his desk the entire time, revealing a cake with "70 %" written in red icing on it.

Ankh's eyes widened like saucers, "You…"

Kougami ignored him as he proceeded to tap a few buttons at a keyboard.

---

Velvet and I were leaning against the vending machine now, exasperated and close to calling it quits until we were suddenly pushed back by it converting to bike mode.

My companion and I exchanged a look before speedily setting ourselves up on the seat. With helmets secured and the engine purring, I slammed the ignition to race straight to the scene of the battle.

---

Yang was punching and blasting away at the Piranhas with Ember Celica, with Ruby by her side slashing and shooting as many as her Crescent Rose could reach. Weiss was slashing and jabbing through the swarm while riding along her glyphs, whereas Blake was keeping up with as many as she could with her Semblance, ensnaring them with Gambol Shroud's ribbon before slicing them to bits.

The streets were literally paved with Cell Medals for each kill they made, but they didn't care nor dared to direct their attention away from the swarm. The police had retreated earlier as their forces were decimated faster than the Huntresses, leaving the four man team to clean up what was left.

"There's too many of them!" Ruby commented between breaths, feeling the onset of exhaustion.

"At least they're not super tough like the other ones we've dealt with so far." Yang pointed out, intercepting a Piranha with a quick jab before it could gnaw at her head.

"Where are they all coming from?" Weiss inquired irritably as she was flanked by a few of them.

Blake darted her eyes around as she hacked more of the piranhas, when she suddenly narrowed her eyes to slits as she spotted a familiar figure by the distance. "Isn't that Coco?"

All eyes followed where Blake was looking to, and indeed they could make out the vague silhouette of Coco Adel being surrounded by a larger school of Yummies. But strangely enough, they were simply circling around her, leaving the girl unmolested.

"What's she doing here?" Ruby asked before shooting another at another piranha.

"What's that she's holding?" Blake spied a suspicious glowing ball that the leader of Team CVFY was holding between both hands.

The purring of a motorcycle's engine caused them to wheel their heads around, with a lone biker slowing to a stop within their circle. With the removal of the helmet, they cried out in recognition, "Ankh!?"

Ankh spun his head around back and forth, idly dodging a piranha with a tilt of his head without looking.

"Where's Enrique?"

"We don't know! We've been going at this for about an hour now and there's still no sign of him." Weiss explained with a hand on her hip.

"Hm, have you taken care of the host?" Ankh nudged his head towards Coco, eliciting astonished eyes to widen and mouths to gape.

"SHE'S THE HOST!?" the girls exclaimed in unison.

Before they could even do anything about that revelation, another roar of an engine drew their gazes. This time, two people flanked together on a single Ridevendor rode up next to the first one – with Velvet and Enrique shortly revealing themselves as the riders.

---

"Hey guys! Ankh, what's the status on Kougami?" I had a pretty good idea now why the Ridevendor wouldn't budge earlier.

"Let's just say we are now under official contract with the Kougami Foundation." I quirked a brow at him. "There was a signed document and everything. Not one of my proudest moments, and it is a deal I am already starting to regret."

"Will you two save the small talk for later!? We're in a crisis here!" Weiss boomed as she lunged through a few piranhas to skewer them, before they exploded into a pile of cells.

"Just destroy the egg sac that that girl is holding onto. That'll stop more from being spawned." Ankh explained aloud.

"Coco!" Velvet called out as she jumped off the bike to race straight for her leader and friend, skirting past most while beating a few of them back.

"Oh right! Hey Ankh, guess what I got! ~" I crooned as I held up a complete 3-medal set of Uva's Cores. The bird Greeed was at a loss for words as he gawked at the trinkets.

"A-Are you-" He lifted an arm up to try and grab for the Cores, but I quickly clenched them tightly into my palm.

"Yes. I am." I stated firmly, before dismounting the bike.

This was it. I took a deep breath as I unlatched the King Combo from their slots to replace them with Uva's. With Team RWBY providing me with some much needed cover, I tilted the buckle to scan.

KUWAGATA!

KAMAKIRI!

BATTA!

Holograms of green Core Medals swirled around me as three more lined in front before fusing together to slam against my torso.

"GA~TA GATA GATAKIRI-BA! GATAKIRIBA!" the OOO Driver chanted as my armor formed. The Gatakiriba Combo looked exactly like it did in the show, with it being green all over, Kuwagata horns protruding at the top of my head and the Kamakiri Swords still sheathed under my forearms.

In that instant, I felt...I couldn't well describe it really. To simplify, it was like a huge surge of power flooding throughout my body to supercharge it. I unleashed a deafening roar as waves of pure energized pressure threatened to push everyone and everything around me back.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the ground beneath my feet quaked and cratered as I bellowed, destroying a few Yummies mindlessly diving down to snap at me. Even the Ridevendor wasn't spared as it was knocked straight against a nearby building.

Keeping their distance, Team RWBY could only gape at the fierce display. "Is that…Enrique?" Ruby wondered aloud, half-expecting someone to answer her.

"Yes, what you are seeing right now is a Full Combo. Or in this case, it is referred to as the Strongest Combo." Ankh commented offhandedly, nostalgia washing over him for the second time that day.

"Why is it called the Strongest?" Blake inquired, her curiosity returning.

As if to answer her, I launched myself in the direction where Coco and Velvet were, where the latter was desperately pleading for her friend to come to her senses. The armor's power flared to life as I willed it to activate. Within seconds, I split into three, then five, then seven, until I could no longer keep count of how many duplicates I was making.

"He turned into an army!?" Weiss shrieked, freaking out at the sight. Blake was equally stunned as well, silently remarking that even she couldn't make that many clones without tiring herself out.

---

"Coco please, snap out of it! It's me Velvet!" Coco ignored her as her eyes were far too glazed to even notice the rabbit faunus.

"More…more…more…" she muttered absently, her mind close to withering.

Having had enough, Velvet tugged at the egg sac that Coco was clutching tightly, but try as she might, her leader just wouldn't let go. In one last act of desperation, she closed her eyes and kicked the egg sac with all her might, silently praying that it wouldn't hatch or break to give way for more Yummies. Before she knew it, the egg flew high into the air prompting Ruby to shoot at it with Crescent Rose on reflex, puncturing the outer shell before it dissolved into nothingness.

As for me and my clones, we literally enveloped the Yummies as we electrocuted, punched, kicked, and slashed away with everything we could as we decimated them without mercy. Cell Medals fell to the ground in droves with each destroyed Piranha Yummy. Determining with what little intelligence they had that they were close to being beaten, the crowded together tightly to form one giant Piranha Yummy composed of their own bodies.

"That sure is a fine catch! Get it?" Yang exclaimed as she looked around her team with a mirthful grin.

"NOT NOW!" the others yelled out.

"Let's finish this!" I and my copies announced in stereo as we took out OOO Scanners and swiped them across our Medals simultaneously.

"SCANNING CHARGE!"

We all leapt into the air and performed flying sidekicks straight into the gaping maw of the gigantic Piranha Yummy. Inside, my copies and I started furiously attacking it as Cell Medals continued to collapse at our feet. Before long, our tirade paid off as the giant amalgamation could no longer endure the heavy punishment we were all dealing and it went up in a large explosion, causing medals to rain down heavily on the ground.

Ankh would have been dancing in jubilation at such a haul; the streets were now flooded with cells. But a small army of Taka and Tako Candroids shortly alleviated what I could only assume was the agreed share that was discussed between him and Kougami. Ankh kicked at the ground in frustration as a Taka Yummy tauntingly grabbed one that was about to land on the Greeed's waiting and willing palm.

Now back on the ground, the clones were quickly absorbed back into my body, leaving me as the only one remaining; huh, it actually kind of tickles really. But laughing was the last thing that I wanted to do as the consequence of using a Full Combo was quickly catching up to me. The discharge of power from that Scanning Charge must have taken more out of me than the King Combo did a few hours ago.

"Enrique?" Blake asked as I shakily rose to my feet.

"It's...a bit hard...to pull myself together..." I could barely lift a muscle as I tried to reset the belt back into standby mode. "Is Coco…okay?" I rasped as my armor dissipated, prompting Blake to hold me up by the shoulder, with Ruby shortly helping her.

"She's fine. Look there, see?" Ruby pointed to Velvet and Coco, where the latter was also being held up by the shoulder unconscious. I had no doubt that I would soon be…join…ing-

Velvet's grateful smile was the last thing I ever saw before darkness overtook me.

"That is the consequence of a Full Combo," Ankh explained to all of those still conscious.

---

Back in Beacon, Ozpin and Glynda were studying the various footages that their strategically placed surveillance cameras managed to record; Ankh's exposition to the Teams, Kougami and Ankh's business deal, and the battle with the Piranha Yummies.

"The ability to create an organized army in seconds; it's almost too hard to believe."

"And yet it's happened and the proof right before our eyes. Not to mention the talk Ankh had with RWBY and JNPR; very enlightening." Ozpin looked to the screen as the replay of the Scanning Charge played out. "I believe our young friend has only barely scratched the surface of what he is truly capable of. With the right amount of training, he could be a formidable force the likes of which Remnant has never seen before."

"Are you certain?" Glynda cocked a curious brow at the seated headmaster, who only gave a silent glance in answer. "Hm, we may need to re-evaluate a few parameters."

"Young Enrique will be fine; it's Ankh I'm more worried about." Ozpin interjected, before playing another scene that had piqued his interest from the start of their earlier viewings.

"Glynda, do we have a vacancy?"

---

The girls took Enrique back to their room to rest despite his dorm being across from theirs. After setting him on the bed, there was a knock at the door. Weiss opened it to reveal a tired looking but otherwise relieved Velvet.

"Is Enrique here?" Velvet asked.

"He's resting."

"I see. Well, tell him that Coco's back to normal and is recovering in the infirmary…uh and the school's already working on a way to fix the damages to the city and the…shops." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly. After all was said and done, she left.

Ankh leaned against the wall next to the door. "I take it you humans are wondering what happened to him?" he questioned. They nodded.

"Using all three Medals to make a Full Combo allows Enrique to use the full power of the Greeed they belong to. Seeing as how he's human, his feeble body can't handle that much raw power and it strains him greatly." He paused to ease his breathing, even this mortal host was weary; what a pain. "Now this I ask you, imagine what will happen when all of the Greeed regain their Cores and are restored to full power?"

Team RWBY looked to one another in worry, unwilling to even conceive such a possibility. "Remnant was easily close to the brink of destruction back then. I have no doubt history will repeat itself if we don't collect more of the other Cores soon."

Weiss crossed her arms. "Oh yeah, well what about you? What happens when you're the only one with all of the Core Medals?"

Ankh looked to her in indifference before shrugging. "We'll just have to wait and see now, won't we?"

"That's not what I-"

"Weiss let it go! You might wake Enrique." Ruby softly pleaded to her partner, gently checking the slumbering young man if he was stricken with fever. Weiss simply continued to glare at the red Greeed, who had also dozed off to sleep.

---

In the abandoned mansion, Kazari was still lounging on the couch, doing his best to conserve his diminished reserves. "Looks like your Yummies have been taken care of by OOO and his friends, and not even single medal to show for it. Terrific…" He drawled sarcastically.

Mezool simply wagged her finger at the lazy cat. "Oh, I wouldn't say all of them." A small school of Piranha Yummies soared into the living room, before collapsing into a generous pile of medals

"Medals!" Gamel cheered as he worked to absorb them.

"Save some for the rest of us!" Uva spoke up; still sulking from the Core he lost to OOO. The Scanning Charge attack was quite unexpected as he was close to cleaving the head of that faunus bitch clean off her shoulders. It hurt; like really, actually hurt! He clenched his fist in anger, silently swearing revenge for the humiliation he suffered.

"That's it…just a little more and I'll be all set to make my move." Kazari thought to himself as he picked up a handful of medals to absorb.

---

The next day in Beacon Academy, Glynda Goodwitch was standing in front of the gathered students, with her riding crop drawn out to put down any would-be troublemakers.

"Attention students. Today is a special day, as I am here to announce that a new teacher has been admitted into the faculty." Whispers and murmurs flooded the training arena, which were quickly silenced with a whip of her crop.

"Please give a warm welcome to your new combat instructor. Professor Ankh, if you please." Glynda stepped back to allow for the man of the hour to reluctantly walk up to the arena, his shoulders slumped and a few veins popping out of his forehead.

After taking a very deep breath, he looked up to eye the large crowd overhead. Under the corner of his eye, he spotted Enrique who was nervously waving at him with a sheepish grin plastered on his face. "Hello…I…am…Pr-Pr"

Glynda arched a brow at him, and then started moving her lips silently to help lead him on. "Pro…Professor…A-A-A-" he was snapped out of his stupor by a crack from her crop.

"Professor Ankh!" he sighed in exasperation. "For whatever shitty reason that I'm here, I'm your new combat instructor."

"Miserable humans," he muttered under his breath.

---

CURRENT MEDALS

Taka (x1)

Tora (x2)

Cheetah (x2)

Kuwagata (x1)

Kamakiri (x1)

Batta (x1)

---

(NEXT TIME)

"Remember I told you guys I have no Aura or Semblance?" I recalled.

"Well, we're your friends. Why wouldn't we help you?" Yang asked with a grin.

"Thank you, Blake, for helping me unlock my Aura." I thanked her.

Next Time: One's Soul and Bond Among Friends

---

A/N: I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter as well as the introduction of the Stronger Combo and Team CFVY. Look forward to the next chapter. Stay in the shadows everyone!