Author's note: Today, we start with some other characters, before we get to the main cast.
Russel, Dove, and Doctor Oobleck were busy accompanying some soldiers and clearing out another portion of Vale's commercial district, this time the sector focusing on sporting and outdoor goods. Every time the trio reached another side road or alleyway, they made sure there were no Grimm, then waved the soldiers over. The soldiers were split into groups of three, led by one with a rocket launcher, and accompanied by two with assault rifles. Each side of the road had three groups of soldiers, after which came a troop of Atlesian Knight 200s, who brought materials to set up proper defenses.
"Do we have to do this?" Russel asked looking at the soldiers, and said, "They look ridiculous."
"It is a huntsman's duty to protect others, not complain how others carry out that duty," Bartholomew answered in a slightly scolding tone. Suddenly, a Big Ursa jumped from a roof and landed in front of them, and the soldiers aimed their weapons at it, but hesitated so as to not hit the huntsman and students. Russel and Dove drew their weapons and attacked the Grimm, but did little damage. The Big Ursa swiped with its claws, and Russel went flying and hit a wall. Exhausted from previous fights, his aura broke on impact.
"Russel!" Dove called out and wanted to attack the Grimm, but he paused when he noticed the blue fragments of his friend's aura float over to Bartholomew, whose aura briefly flared up in the same blue. In the blink of an eye, the teacher was gone, only to reappear behind the Grimm and take its head off with a fireball from his thermos. He then zipped over to Russel.
"Everything alright?" Bartholomew asked, and offered his student a helping hand.
"Y- yeah," Russel said and took the hand, "Thanks, doctor." Bartholomew pulled him back onto his feet, and checked his scroll for the nearest chunk of ice to have Russel regenerate his aura. Just when they wanted to get going, however, a hole opened up in space, about two meters above the road, and someone dropped out of it.
~o~
The next morning, when Ruby woke up, she noticed not only one, but two people had joined, and were sleeping rather soundly. She got up and got started preparing breakfast, as everyone in the little camp slowly rose from their slumber. Meanwhile, Qrow returned from his guard shift, having volunteered for the last one, since he was used to it.
"And, slept well?" Qrow asked.
"No, but at least I woke up," Ruby answered. She opened two food cans and turned on the camping cooker, and poured the chili into a pot to boil it properly. Before long, everyone was awake, and the whole group, now two people larger, was ready to get going again after breakfast. Jaune fused with Pyrrha's soul, but when Yang approached Blake so they could fuse into Bumblebee, the faunus stepped away, with a familiar apologetic look on her face, and turned to Sirena.
"Anyway, Sirena, I've been meaning to ask something," Blake said and asked, "Why did you fuse with Weiss and Yang, and not me?"
"You never asked," Sirena answered, "Admittedly, Weiss didn't either, but I had other reasons."
"So, can we fuse?" Blake asked, drawing everyone's attention.
"Of course," Sirena answered, and the rest of the group gave them some space. Sirena hugged Blake and initiated the fusion, causing their blue and purple auras to light up and merge into one. When the light faded, the group saw a new fusion. She had long, dark blonde hair, cat ears, and silver eyes. Tiamat, as the fusion decided to call herself, wore almost knee-high black boots with medium-high heels and golden edging around the top, a dark purple siren suit with a diamond cutout revealing her stomach, and a black tailcoat with golden edges.
"Looking good," Yang said, looking Tiamat up and down.
"I know, right?" Ruby asked and excitedly rushed over to the fusion, "Look at those." She grabbed the fusion's left arm and held up her hand, showing one of her weapons, which were held in place by a black rope. The main body consisted of an ornate golden disk, with two blades attached to it, which were folded back, causing two small metal spikes to point forward. However, they would only harm the enemy if the fusion closed her fist.
"Yes, thank you," Tiamat said, and Ruby let go, awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, and took a few steps back.
"I mean, they are pretty interesting weapons," Yang said and asked, "But anyway, have you decided on a name yet?"
"Tiamat sounds nice," Tiamat answered, with both women's voices being equal, "But now, you have to excuse me, I need to find out what my semblance is, as Blake wants me to share it with her."
"Got it," Yang said. Tiamat walked over to a staircase and sat down, then entered her soul core, leaving the rest of the group to wait for her to be done. Cardin looked over to her and wondered if what had happened last night had also looked so imposing, even in such a vulnerable state.
"You know, we should probably tell Velvet about this," Cardin said, drawing everyone's attention, and awkwardly added, "I- I mean, her weapon is only good for copying others, you know, so more photographs would definitely come in handy. Plus, we can see those fusions in action. And also, you know, see what they can do. For future reference."
"Sure thing," Qrow said with a slight chuckle. A few minutes after sitting down, Tiamat opened her eyes again and stood up, then glowed green for a short moment, and split up again.
"Here you go," Sirena said with a smile, and nudged Blake over to Yang, "Safe and sound."
"Thanks," Yang said with a chuckle, turned to Blake and asked, "And, everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Blake answered, "It's just, well, it was a lot to take in."
"So, you've fused with my whole team now," Ruby said, "Except for me."
"Don't tell me you're jealous," Sirena said, sounding genuinely surprised.
"No, it's not that," Ruby said, "It's just interesting, you know."
"We don't have time for that," Glynda said, putting her foot down, "Now let's get moving." She marched off, followed by the soldiers and bandits, as well as Cardin. Arkos, Ruby, Blake, Yang, Nora and Sirena looked at each other, and then followed suit, with Qrow coming last after making sure there were no Grimm sneaking up on them from behind.
~o~
The group made their way around a corner, and saw another swarm of Ankle-biters hanging above the street, covering quite an area. Two soldiers used their offense and defense buff semblances, and everyone got ready for battle. Blake turned her weapon into its gun form and shot a bullet into the shadow of the webs, wanting to test her new semblance.
"What are those things?" Nora asked, and fired a regular grenade into the webs.
"Ankle-biters," Ruby answered, and shot an ice-dust round at the enemies, "They use trash as armor. But be careful, they can also drop it, or use it to attack."
"Why aren't they fighting back?" Yang asked and fired her special disk into the webs, causing a sizable explosion, temporarily illuminating the area where Blake had shot.
"Shadow Stitching," Blake answered, "Tiamat's semblance. As long as the bullet is in their shadow, they won't be able to move, and will constantly take damage."
"Then explosions would be a bad idea?" Yang asked.
"Yes," Blake answered, "But don't worry, I can do it again." The Grimm realized they were free again, and threw some portions of their armor, consisting of rotten food and other waste, at the group. Arkos activated their semblance, blocking all the attacks. As soon as the barrier came down, Nora fired a lightning-dust grenade at the Grimm, hitting several enemies in one go and killing them all as the lightning jumped between Grimm. Additionally, each hit triggered Spectral Assault.
"That was surprisingly easy," Glynda said.
"Please don't say stuff like that," Qrow and Cardin said in unison. Just as they gave each other surprised looks, a large Grimm came around the corner, using its three oval, spiky feet to cling to the buildings. The small white orbs left behind immediately homed in on it, dealing some damage. The soldiers immediately opened fire, but their bullets bounced off of the Grimm's hard bone armor, and the Ankle-biters' webs made it difficult to aim properly.
"At least Spectral Assault does something," Nora said. Yang punched with her mechanical hand and shot a torrent of flame into the webs, setting them on fire, and Arkos put up their barrier.
"And now, we just wait for the webs to go away," Arkos said, when Blake's ear twitched, and the new Grimm jumped away.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Blake asked, moments before the webs exploded, due to old electrical appliances overheating. The shockwave rolled over the team and forced them to cover their eyes, catching them all off-guard.
"Wait, where did it go?" Glynda asked when she looked at where the Grimm had just been, "Is it dead?"
"No, that explosion wouldn't have killed it," Ruby answered, "It fled and got out of reach when it sensed the danger."
"They can do that?" Cardin asked, visibly shocked.
"Some can, yeah," Ruby answered, "Usually it's the older ones, but this was too specific for it to have learned about it. Threat detection must be one of its abilities."
"So, what do we do?" Nora asked.
"We'll use that against it," Ruby answered, "We'll see which one of us it avoids the most. Then I immobilize it, and then whoever it's most afraid of will hit it."
"But won't it get free when it gets hit?" Blake asked and said, "I could immobilize it with Shadow Stitching, and then it would take damage over time. That's the safest way, I think, since its defense is too strong for any of our attacks to kill it in one hit."
"If only Mint was here," Qrow said, "Her semblance would make short work of this thing."
"Right, her," Ruby said, "If we could somehow contact her, we could get her here. Maybe dad can do it, but we can't reach him now, either."
"Maybe I can help with that," Cardin said, and his right hand began glowing cyan, before the glow manifested into a small bird.
"Impressive," Ruby said, awestruck.
"Thanks," Cardin said, turned to the bird and said, "Call Mint." He gently tossed the bird into the air, and it flew away.
"Awesome," Yang said, looking after the bird, and asked, "Where did you learn that?" Before Cardin could answer, Blake drew her gun and aimed at the ground, moments before the Grimm appeared behind a corner. She fired three bullets into its shadow, immobilizing it. She walked over to a nearby trash bin, switched to Spectral Healing, and used Deathzone to make the trash bin harm all Grimm within a small radius. Every time the Grimm took damage, it created another orb that recharged the nearest person's aura.
"Well, guess it's a waiting game now," Qrow said and sat down on the curb. Glynda pulled out her scroll and began drawing the Grimm.
"But really, where did you learn that?" Yang asked Cardin.
"Well, when Sirena got here, we kind of fused," Cardin answered, "And that's our fusion's semblance."
"A messenger bird?" Arkos asked and said, "I mean, not that I'm mocking you, but between your ability to punch above your weight class, and Sirena punishing her enemies, I figured it'd be something else."
"I think it fits, to be honest," Blake explained, "Underdog helps Cardin deal with popular opponents, such as famous huntsmen, but also oppressive regimes that make themselves look good through media manipulation. Being able to quietly send messages is invaluable when trying to fight enemies like that."
"That… actually makes sense," Cardin said.
"In any case, we have some time now," Ruby said and asked, "So, Sirena, how about we fuse?"
"Fine by me," Sirena answered, and hugged Ruby, who returned the hug. Their red and blue auras lit up and merged into purple, and when the light faded, the two had fused into a woman with medium-long chestnut-colored hair, and four silver eyes. She had an imposing physique, while still looking mature and feminine, and wore black combat boots with three small silver spikes on the heels, black thigh-high stockings, and a dark brown combat skirt with red and blue tulle underneath. She also wore a navy blue vest over a royal blue shirt.
"Look at me," the fusion said, both voices in perfect unison, and inspected herself further. Her arms were covered by fingerless elbow gloves, and her vest had a white and red ribbon on it, with a golden pin in the middle, resembling her emblem, a stylized rising sun. Her emblem was also embroidered on her knees, as well as the backs of her hands. She also wore Ruby's shark tooth necklace and glass pearl bracelet, while Emerald's weapons hung on her side, and Cinder's were crossed on her back. A short staff with a shark head on either end was located on her lower back.
"That looks so cool," Yang said in awe and shock, looked at Blake and asked, "Do we look that cool? I don't think we do. Sorry."
"It's fine," Blake said, turned to the new fusion and asked, "And, have you thought of a name yet?"
"I think Lightbringer is quite fitting," Lightbringer answered, and her upper set of eyes looked somewhere else, "I sense fear. Excuse me." A cyan portal opened beneath her, and she fell into it. On the other side, she found Russel, Dove, and Bartholomew, with Russel's aura being completely depleted.
"Who are you?" Russel asked.
"Lightbringer," Lightbringer answered, "And I am here to save you." Using Aura Amp, she quickly recharged the boy's aura. Bartholomew checked his scroll and saw that Russel's aura fully regenerated almost immediately, while Lightbringer's only dropped by a few percent, and quickly regenerated as well.
"Incredible," Bartholomew said, "That kind of aura regeneration, with such speed, is unprecedented."
"As am I, doctor," Lightbringer said, "As am I. Now, if you'll excuse me, others are in need of saving as well." She opened another Wormhole beneath herself and found Zwei cornered by several Beowolves, and an Alpha. She split up again and Sirena petrified the Grimm, then the two fused into Lightbringer again. She looked around, peeking beyond space, and decided to help out more people.
~o~
In another timeline, still in Vale, but a few months after Beacon fell, one man was on his way to a local flower shop for some ebony trees. He wore black steel plate armor under a black hooded robe, which had a diving raven engraved on its back in silver thread. The man carried two maces, one in the shape of a raven's head and a more traditional one, and had a large bastard sword on his back, which appeared to be more lion-themed, and was beautifully forged. As he reached a crossing, which had a Goliath standing in its middle, he began walking around it in a circle, deep in silent prayer. The Grimm did not notice him at first, as if death itself was hiding his presence. However, when he was halfway around the Grimm, it noticed him and tried stepping on him. Lightbringer dropped out of a portal and landed beside the man. The Goliath sensed the fusion's power and tried to run away, but Lightbringer unleashed her silver eyes, petrifying the Grimm and copying the man's Evolution semblance. Before the man could thank her, she was gone again, off to new adventures.
~o~
When Lightbringer returned to the group, she had faint cracks of purple energy on her arms and lower back, and blood running down her right cheek. She looked battered and beaten, but smiled. While everyone just looked in horror, the countless healing orbs immediately homed in on her. Before they reached her, however, she fell over backwards.
"That was amazing," Lightbringer said and split up again, with Sirena getting the cracks, and Ruby most of the bruises.
"Guys, are you ok?" Yang asked and rushed over to Ruby and helped her sit up, while everyone else stayed back to give them space. When the healing orbs started to regenerate Ruby's aura, due to her being closer, the bruises slowly disappeared.
"Yeah, we're fine," Ruby answered with a chuckle, "We just got done fighting some crazy powerful opponents. You would've loved it." As soon as her aura allowed it, Ruby used Healing Circle. Arkos split up again, and Jaune used Grassy Terrain to further boost his friends' aura regeneration.
"Where were you?" Qrow asked.
"Beyond the moon, and the stars," Sirena answered, "Far away, from where Remnant is just a dying ember in the night sky. And then, further still."
"That sounds… really far away," Cardin said.
"It was incredible," Ruby said, "A totally different world. Monsters beyond our imagination. Powers that would dwarf any huntsman."
"And yet, they still possess souls," Sirena said, "All they need is a little guidance."
"By the way, where's the Grimm?" Ruby asked and looked to where the Grimm had been.
"Mint came and killed it," Qrow said, "But she had to leave again shortly after. She decided to call it the Leshy."
"I would've loved to see it," Ruby said, a tad disappointed.
"I knew you'd say that," Yang said, "Check your scroll." Ruby pulled out her scroll and noticed that she got a message from Yang, shortly after she returned. She opened it, and saw that it was a recording of Mint fighting the Leshy. However, it was barely a minute long. Mint arrived, killed the Leshy with her semblance, exchanged some pleasantries with everyone, and then she left again.
~o~
Oscar, Peter and Sky were on a patrol tour with some Atlas soldiers, much like Bartholomew, Russel and Dove. However, this trio was on the way to the city's agricultural area, to try and secure a more sustainable food source before the food brought by the military ran low.
"And you're a farm kid?" Sky asked after shooting a Beowolf with his halberd.
"Yes, sir," Oscar answered, earning him a chuckle from the professor, and hitting Sky with the realization that he was, at least in part, responsible for the safety of a child.
"Just 'Sky' is fine," Sky said, trying to relax again and ignore the pressure he suddenly felt. More Beowolves attacked, and Peter shot them with his weapon, without really aiming, as the wide spray of bullets meant he practically couldn't miss.
"That's pretty impressive," Oscar said.
"Thanks, young man," Peter said, "I made it this way to get rid of any weaker opponents in one go, so that I could focus on fighting the stronger ones up close." An Alpha Beowolf appeared on the road, and Oscar drew his cane.
"I see," Oscar said, "Please leave that one to me." He rushed the Grimm and delivered a series of quick jabs, aiming at its legs. When it fell over, he delivered a powerful thrust towards the head, piercing its skull and killing it. He turned around, put his cane away, and walked back to the group, and Peter, Sky and the soldiers looked in awe as the Grimm evaporated behind him.
"Where did you say you grew up again?" Sky asked, staring in disbelief.
"A farm," Oscar answered.
"A normal one?" Sky asked.
"Yeah, a normal one," Oscar answered, "I'm actually really looking forward to what the big complex in the city looks like."
"They have quite a large amount of animals," Sky explained, "Or had, rather. By now, without humans, they're probably all dead and rotting. You better get ready for something gross." The group continued on their way, with soldiers periodically setting up barricades as safe spots, in case they had to retreat.
Author's note: Tiamat's Shadow Stitching semblance is based on the Shadow Weaving ability used by Tsubasa Kazanari and Shinji Ogawa in Senki Zesshou Symphogear. I just added the damage effect.
Lightbringer is the first fusion to travel to other universes. Anyway, the top set of eyes is from Sirena, while the bottom is Ruby.
Also, the guy in the other timeline, who Lightbringer saved, is Falk Ravenclaw, the main character in a crossover fanfiction I started writing years ago, long before I even started uploading here. He's my main player character in The Dark Eye, and a warrior-cleric of Boron, the God of Death in that setting. He's also known as The Unfathomable, The Unavoidable, The Inevitable, and similar such names.
Falk carries a bunch of daggers with him, in case he meets someone in need of a weapon. His semblance allows him to evolve living beings, giving them new abilities. It's not too powerful though, so he can't really turn people into monsters or the like. However, he can upgrade a person's immune system, for example. Or could, if he knew what that was. If he uses his semblance to affect a big-enough change, the target becomes infused with his aura, which has a really nice side effect due to Boron being tied to his soul.
Basically, in TDE, there are multiple levels of holiness. A simple banishing circle is simply blessed, meaning Beowolves would die almost immediately if they walked on it, and stronger Grimm would take damage and be really uncomfortable. Leveled up, the effect would increase to Deathstalkers dying immediately. Falk's primary weapon, the raven-headed mace, is sanctified, meaning that it ignores damage resistances of all demonic entities, and deals increased damage to undead and related entities. It also deals contact damage to all demonic entities, or those allied with demons. That can also be upgraded, but kinda takes a lot of effort, and a large group of people, and also the god in question may just decide that it's not necessary.
Then, there is holy. That's reserved for temples to a god, or other important places of the faith. But also a cleric's soul. Disrespecting a holy place is like challenging the god directly, and you do not want to challenge the entity that invented death. So yeah, coming into contact with Falk while he has his aura up is effectively a death sentence to all but the most powerful undead, and not exactly healthy for other demonic entities, either.
By the way, I'm counting Grimm as unaffiliated demons in this crossover.
The Leshy is based on the pokémon Ferrothorn, whose ability, Anticipate, was too good to not incorporate.