Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

While Mario's Team Is Traveling to Bowser's Lava Lair…

BGM: Environmental Mystery (Metroid Fusion)

A small village burned brightly into the night sky, and near it lay the cemetery as one girl was happily digging up the gravestones. "Hmhmhmhm~" She hummed, shoveling away until she hit the casket. With a grin, she opened up the casket to see what it contained.

She frowned right after, letting out a sigh. "Nope, does not have any Faunus-like features. Phooey." She said, climbing out of the hole and looked around the graveyard, seeing all the gravestones that she had dug up.

The girl in question had blonde, shoulder-length hair topped with a fluffy light blue accessory and blue eyes. She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt, with a light blue ribbon on her neck. Above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless, light blue dress, with a black bodice and white frills.

"Guess this was a waste of time… oh well! I'll just find another graveyard. No biggie." She said, placing her shovel over her shoulder and hummed as she wandered out.

She pulled out a book, flipping through the pages and marked something on it. "This village had no Faunus for me… a shame, really… the last village had a couple for me to snag, alive and buried. Ah well, it's not like I have plenty of 'em."

End BGM

She stopped walking shortly, hearing the sound of a stick being snapped as she turned her head and saw an Ursa approaching her. "Oh, it's just a stupid Ursa. Go back to your den, there's probably lots of honey there." She said and walked off to ignore it, but the Ursa followed her before tapping her on the shoulder.

She let out an annoyed sigh as she gripped her shovel tightly before swinging the shovel to knock the Ursa on the head. "I said buzz off, you Pokemon reject!" She said, swiftly kicking it in the groin as it fell to the ground with a groan as she walked off in a huff.

"Honestly, the things I have to put up with while grave robbing." She mumbled as she continued to walk off, but then a Beringel came jumping in and grabbed a hold of her. "Wah!"

The Beringel snarled, placing her on its back and started to run… but the girl smacked him upside the head to knock him out, sliding a little bit. "Go fight a Komodo Dragon or something, you'd be better off wasting your time with that!"

She walked off grumbling to herself. "Honestly, these things are worse than Faunus. Brainless with nothing going on upstai-" A Nevermore came swooping down and grabbed a hold of her. "Whoa! WHOOOOA!" She yelled as it held her by the shoulders. "HEY! HEY BUDDY! I'M NOT YOUR BIRD FOOD!" She yelled, swinging her shovel at the Nevermore, making it yelp and had her fall to the ground as she gracefully landed on the ground, tucking and rolling in the process.

"There, that should do it." She said as she continued to walk, but the Nevermore came back, this time yanking the shovel out of her hand and then grabbed her by the back of her collar with its beak and then flew off. "OH YOU PIECE OF CRAP! LET ME AT YA!" She yelled, trying to fight back while the Nevermore simply let out a small caw. "Oh, you think that's funny, hmm? Well, you'll be wiping that smirk off your beak when you drop me off wherever it is you're taking me!"

Later…

The Nevermore dropped the girl off at a castle... literally. "Ooof!" She grunted as the Nevermore flew up and dropped the shovel off on her head, which to the Nevermore's amusement, the blunt metal smacked her on the head. "YOWCH!" She yelled, holding on to it while a goose egg formed on her head, as the Nevermore flew off.

"Yeah, you better fly away!" She glared, rubbing her head with pained tears forming in her eyes. She got up. "Where the devil am I?" She wondered, picking up her shovel and looked at the doors in front of her and with a deep breath, she fearlessly walked in.

As she wandered around the castle, she would eventually come across a room that had a large table in it. "Hmm, this must be a meeting room or something." She mused before she felt a presence behind her as she turned around and swung her shovel, only for it to be stopped by none other than Salem. "Who the hell…? Wow, you have a face only a mother could love, which by looking at you, she does't have high standards."

Salem rolled her eyes. "I've been watching you for a long time."

"Ew, creeper much? …Wait a minute, judging by your appearance, you're that Salem chick that everyone in every continent ever is talking about."

"Indeed I am, child… I have been scouting you and another individual for a long time. You are Aria, correct? The number one grave robber in Remnant, orphaned at the age of six."

"Yeah, that's me alright. I became a relentless grave robber and my family are grave robbers themselves. Or were. We were grave robbing one night when these two Faunus guards showed up and tried to put a stop to them. They fought them off only for the Faunus guards to shoot 'em dead. Unfortunately, I witnessed the whole thing hiding behind a tree… and that's what made me hate Faunus with a passion. They murdered my family, and as far as I'm concerned, they can all rot dead. Faunus are just a bunch of parasitic beasts."

"I can assure you-" A voice spoke up as Tyrian approached them "Faunus are all not that bad. Sure, there's a few stink pots but not all Faunus are bad. …Says the serial killer, AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yeah, you're definitely right on that, buuuuut I'm not willing to turn the other cheek any time soon."

"Such a shame, perhaps we should take this time to get to know each other." Tyrian smiled, his mechanical tail popping out and reaching for Aria, the stinger inches from her face but she didn't even flinch.

"Oh, you're a scorpion faunus. Why don't you go back to your rock so we humans can have a private conversation, you skin walker?" She snarked.

"Bold words for someone who's inches away from being poisoned." He smirked.

"Oh, poison? I thought you were going to use that to scratch my back. Better yet, your tail could be used as a table for an all you can eat buffet while you hang on a wall after a taxidermist is done with you."

Tyrian gleefully chuckled. "I like this one. She definitely has the cajones to insult a serial killer."

"Oh, is that what you skin walkers call yourselves these days? Fitting for you beasts."

"Surely, this girl is something else." Watts said as he walked in. "Tends to speak her mind while throwing in insults. Reminds me of someone we know."

"So, what exactly do you do?" Tyrian asked. "What is your semblance, little girl?"

"Okay, for the record, I've fifteen. Second of all, my sem-"

"Hold it. We have someone else coming in right about-" The doors opened in as Salem turned around. "-Now."

A Faunus walked in through the doors. He's got a light brown skin tone that is similar to that of an actual hyena, has the ears of a hyena and has sharp teeth similar to that of a hyena. He wears light brown pants, with brown boots and a black shirt covered with a dark brown vest. He has dark red eyes, and dyed red hair in the shape of a mohawk.

"Sup, losers?" He greeted and then spotted Aria. "Ew… a human."

"Eugh, a skin walker… and a hyena at that! Don't you have a lion faunus to hunt down before miserably failing and he gets found by a warthog and meerkat faunus?"

"Oh please, like I would let that happen. Name's Donovan. Nice to meet you… except for the prissy human."

"Oh, you're a REAL charmer." Aria rolled her eyes.

"I'm fourteen and I basically like to watch the world burn in front of my eyes. Why? Because it's fun!"

"What is it with children these days and mindless violence?" Tyrian wondered before giggling giddly. "I love it!"

"Yeah, basically all ya need to know is that I was born psychotic from the get go."

"HA! Please, no one is psychotic the moment they're born." Aria scoffed.

"I ripped the doctor a new one when he made eye contact with me. Let's just say he lost his manhood after I let go."

Aria sweatdropped. "Is it too late to euthanize him?"

"I picked on the younger kids as I grew up… went too far but no one ever bothered to try and discipline me. They tried, but I would just tear their shoulders out of their sockets! One such example was that I tried to kill this armadillo kid when he was a baby. Unfortunately, that whore of a mother he had stopped me. She was the only one brave enough to stand against me. Tch, well… it's not all that bad, one day a King Taijitu showed up at our village. I took the chance to leave while tripping everyone else up to be snake food. As far as I'm concerned, that armadillo kid was one of the victims who lost their lives."

"Okay, I'm not one to curse but holy SHIT, can we PLEASE euthanize this asshole? Seriously, I may be rotten on the inside but even I think he's too much!" Aria said. "I can euthanize him myself… with my shovel!"

"No one is euthanizing anyone." Salem said.

Drat… Aria thought as she saw Donovan flipping her off with a smirk. Oh, I'm gonna enjoy cutting off his finger.

"So, I have brought you both here because I have been scouting you both for a long while. Aria, your semblance is intriguing as is Donovan's."

"Heh, I thought I felt someone was watching my every move."

"Let me guess, you wanted to scout us because you're low in numbers?" Aria guessed.

"I had been thinking of recruiting you two for a long while. In fact, I had planned to bring you two to me a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, that broadcast happened."

"So what did you do with this Cinder chick? Kill her off?" Aria asked.

"No. She banished herself. However, there may be a second chance for her. I've heard that the Fall Maiden has perished and she is now the true Fall Maiden. So perhaps she can be of some use. I just need to contact her at the right moment."

Aria rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't waste my time with her, she's old news."

"Perhaps you're right. We also used to have Hazel with us, but he had left us after learning the truth. IF I am to believe that jester."

"Want me to kill him?" Donovan asked.

"Want me to shut the hyena up?" Aria offered.

Salem smirked. "That will not be necessary."

"Alright, but the offer is on the table." Aria shrugged.

"What are their semblances anyway? You can't just tease us like that, my queen." Tyrian said.

"Donovan's semblance drains the life force of any person he touches. It allows him to heal his wounds too." Salem informed.

"Indeed. The only drawback is that is that it leaves me in the open, leaving me vulnerable to attack. My semblance is called Drain, by the way."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Woooow, really got creative with that name, huh? Five out of five stars." She snarked.

"And your semblance intrigues me the most." Salem said to Aria. "It's fascinating… what do you call it, exactly?"

Aria smirked gleefully. "Reanimation."

"Reanimation?" Tyrian repeated. "How does your semblance work?"

"It's simple, really… I just need to collect DNA samples. Small patches of rotten flesh, blood stains or small organs would do. I either take them for ordinary every day people ooooor from famous huntsman or huntresses, then I add them into this little tome right here." She said, pulling it out. "That said, I typically use Faunus or Beowolf Grimm as a primary living sacrifice material for my semblance."

"Mind if we have a demonstration?" Salem asked. "I'm curious to see what it looks like up close."

"Sure, I just need a test subject. Any skin walker would do." She glanced over at Donovan or Tyrian. "Personally, I'd say let it be one of those two but I figure those two are off limits."

"Indeed, which is why I figured these two would suffice." She said, snapping her fingers as the doors opened up to see two faunus approaching them, catatonic and handcuffed.

"Who are they?" Aria wondered.

"Fennec and Corsac. Adam Taurus's top henchman. They were recently discussing how to dispose of Sienna Kahn when Tyrian found them and decided to paralyze them."

"I figured they had to be good for something for my queen." Tyrian shrugged it off nonchalantly.

"Indeed. I put them under a sleep spell that renders them immobile and powerless." Salem said, approaching the two before getting behind Fennec and unceremoniously snapped his neck.

Aria didn't even flinch as she watched him fall. "You're not so keen on mercy, are you?" She chuckled. "But considering these two are nothing but disposable animals, I'll let that slide."

"I've done the prep work for you. Now recall the soul of the one I just killed and revive him with the other with this unique Semblance of yours."

Aria bowed. "As you wish." She said and walked to Fennec's corpse. "Now, there's a few things you need to know about my semblance. First of all, you need to know that my Reanimation basically involves recalling souls of the dead back from the afterlife and bringing them here to the land of the living." She knelt down, pulling out a knife. "To do that, I first must obtain a certain amount of flesh of the person I wish to revive."

She cut through his stomach, as some blood splattered on her cheek. "In other words, a DNA sample that contains personal identification material. Because without them, my Semblance won't work and the reanimation process would fail. I've already mentioned that other DNA sample materials may include blood stains and small organs."

"Interesting…" Salem mused.

"However... another important point you should know is that the soul of the person I wish to revive has to reside in the afterlife."

"Essentially, there are certain limitations wherein any attempts to recall souls that reside in another place or are living in the mortal plane of existence as ghosts cannot be revived in this way through your Semblance. Am I correct?" Watts guessed.

Aria nodded. "That is correct, uh…"

"Arthur Watts, but you may call me Dr. Watts."

"You are correct, Dr. Watts." She said before sighing in annoyance. "Sometimes, the DNA samples I collect are so rotted to the point that I couldn't even properly recognize who I'm trying to resurrect."

"Generally speaking, you commit grave-robbing as a hobby." Salem said.

Aria shrugged. "Pretty much. Regrettably... I often meet a lot of failures along the way due to wrong personal information materials I've extracted from countless graveyards." She said, applying the blood on her tome. She then clapped her hands together with a sadistic smirk as an aura surrounded Corsac as he woke up but found himself being overtaken by her semblance.

"Wha…?! What's going on?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He yelled before his body was taken over by Fennec, and to make things creepier, his scalera were now permanently black and had cracks over his body.

Donovan whistled. "Niiiiice."

"Hmmhmhmhmhm~" Aria chuckled. "Just think, with this powerful semblance, we can have anyone by our side, including that girl from STRQ. She goes by many names. Silver Eyed Warrior, Silver Eyed Demon, the White Rose of Death and many more… but I believe her name to be Summer Ro-"

"Don't push your luck." Salem said. "Her body was fed to the Grimm, bone and all."

"Aww… oh well, I suppose I have enough pawns as is, though I wouldn't mind a little more. You said recently that this Fall Maiden is dead, correct? Perhaps I could reanimate her… all I need is a hapless Faunus and then we'll have her by our side. Or a Beowolf. They're much easier to control than say… I dunno, an Ursa."

"Where… where am I…?" Fennec wondered, looking at his surroundings.

"Oh, speaking of which…" Aria aimed her tome at Fennec as the tome lit up as it sucked him in, causing him to scream before disappearing into the tome. "And now he's my pawn, isn't that wonderful~?"

Salem let out a chuckle. "I believe we have our two replacements."

"I wholeheartedly agree!" Tyrian said.

"Hmph. Yes indeed. Quick question, though. What would you consider your strongest "puppet"?"

Aria's eyes sparkled. "Oh, I'm so glad you've asked!" She said. "Three years ago, I came into contact with this Faunus in Mantle. He was one of the top dogs of the Winter Ops and from what I can guess, he was General Esdeath's best friend… maybe something a bit more, I dunno. He was called the Hunter Hero of the North, AKA Numa Seika."

"What is his semblance if he's considered that strong?" Watts asked.

"Good question! I never bothered asking, but if I had to guess, it was lightning manipulation with how much he tends to throw electricity around." Aria shrugged. "Not my problem honestly… I killed him. Nothing like a little ambush to throw him off his game. Hehehehe~"

"Ah, so you're nothing but a dirty coward? What I would expect from someone like you." Donovan said, casually putting his hands over his head.

"Oh kiss my butt, skin walker!"

"Perhaps we should put these two to the test." Watts said. "I'm curious to see what these two can do in a fight."

"Personally, I'm more of a scholar than a fighter myself." Aria said. "That said, I'm not afraid to get down and dirty. You have an arena?"

"We do." Salem nodded. "Tyrian, you have captured some people recently, correct? Maybe you could release them so these two can work together."

Tyrian giggled. "As you wish, my lady!"

"…I have to work with HIM?!"

"What's the matter, you thinking I'll kill more than you?" Donovan smirked as Aria snarled at him before they walked toward a large room where they would see a large group of people in a cell, all of them catatonic.

"Aw, boring, they look like they don't have any weapons." Aria said. "Oh well! Makes things easier." She said, pulling out her tome. "I summon you… Numa Seika!"

A young man came out of the tome with long black hair and blue eyes with black scelera. He wears a grey suit of armor on top of a purple high-collared shirt. He also wears a metal headpiece with a symbol of the Winter Ops which matched the ones on his chest plate and shoulder guards, as well as a purple cape. Interestingly, he had gills on his neck.

"A fish faunus?" Watts wondered.

"Manta Ray, actually."

"You don't see those every day." He mused.

"Come on, let me just get to draining these idiots already!" Donovan said, gleefully laughing maniacally.

"Alright Numa… rip and tear~!"

"As you wish, Lady Aria…" Numa brought out his spear as he and Donovan lunged at their hapless victims.

BGM: The Corrupted (Kingdom Hearts III)

Donovan immediately grabbed hold of a waitress, holding her by the shoulder as an aura wrapped around the waitress and into his hand as the waitress soon fell lifeless to the ground, then turned to a librarian as he pulled out a gun and shot him in the head.

Numa, meanwhile, impaled several Faunus and ripped into them, blood splattering everywhere as he would then clap his hands as electricity came out and hit an innocent giraffe faunus in the head before swinging his spear to decapitate him.

"Oh, look at these wonderful souls for me to collect~!" Aria's eyes sparkled.

"Hmm!" Tyrian mused. "You said you're fifteen, correct?"

"That's right."

"So basically, you killed this man when you were twelve!"

"Yup!"

"Very impressive, yet very terrifying girl!" He let out a small laugh. "Oooh, I'm starting to like you even more~!" He said as Salem had her arms folded, impressed by their work as Donovan strangled one individual before sinking his teeth into a school teacher's neck.

And thus… all of their victims were helplessly destroyed where Aria would dismiss Numa. "Ah, wonderful!" Aria smiled.

End BGM

Salem slowly clapped her hands. "Very impressive. You two will do well to serve under me, assuming you want to do so with taking over Remnant."

"I'll join you. After all, this isn't just taking over Remnant, right? This is about destroying it completely. And I would love to watch this world burn to the ground."

"If it means I get a lot of new puppets, I'm all in." Aria smiled. "I am at your mercy, Lady Salem."

"Excellent." Salem smirked.

"Ha!" Donovan gave Aria a taunting smirk. "Funny how we're teaming up. Just don't get in my way."

"Pah! I wouldn't dream of it, you dumb skin walker."

Donovan's smirk never faded. "You know, I could just drain you of all your life force. Who knows, with that semblance of yours, you could return as a zombie. You would look a lot better too."

Aria's eye twitched. "THAT DOES IT!" She yelled as she tackled him to the ground as it resulted in a fighting dust cloud between the two.

"Fight fight fight fight!" Tyrian chanted.

"Those two are quite rambunctious, wouldn't you say?"

Salem chuckled. "I believe there will never be a dull moment around here." She said.

"Grave robber!"

"Laughing machine!"

"You have to do better than that!"

"OH, BITE ME, SKIN WALKER! OW! I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY!"

The two would proceed to fight for a long time while Salem and Watts walked off with Tyrian still cheering the both of them on.

Major shout outs to DarkRebellion and Log for this one. The former for suggesting Aria from Akame Ga Kill (Remember her from the very first episode? Ya know, the one where she killed Tatsumi's teammates?) and the latter for making an OC to be Aria's teammate. This really was a fun one to write!

Ibuki: And creepy! But Ibuki's sure those two will be killed eventually. Right Nan-chan?

*staring at the Game Award announcements*

Ibuki: Uh... Nan-chan?

I'm still confused. How the HELL did Cyberpunk get nominated? TWICE?!

Ibuki: *shrugs*

Well... whatever, at least we got Metroid Dread to cheer on for Game of the Year.