Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Two Days After Christmas
"Hmm…" Adam had his arms folded, tapping his fingers against his elbow while Seryu was cleaning her weapons. "…I got it."
"Hmm?"
"We ought to take out some people in that little "hero" group. That way, they'd have less power and we'd have the advantage."
"Assassinations?" Seryu smirked. "Sounds good to me."
"Now… who do we pick off first…" Adam glanced over at Seryu who was about to suggest something. "Obviously, the Schnees would have some protection so we ought to save them for last."
Seryu snapped her metallic fingers. "Damn…"
"Hmm… perhaps that girl with the scythe would be a good pick. Ruby, was it?"
"Ruby?" Seryu wondered as she immediately pictured Ruby's Zinogre form. She immediately grimaced and paled at the thought of it. "No no no, let's not."
"How come?"
"Weeeeeeeell… she found the ability to turn into a Zinogre…"
"So she's mocking us Faunus now?" A Crimson Fang member asked. "That's downright criminal of her!"
"Indeed. I'd say she's the perfect candidate." Adam agreed.
"Did I forget to mention she has lightning powers?" Seryu pointed out.
"That still won't-"
"Ahahahaha! Silly bull, destroying the rose won't do you any good~" A voice said as Dimentio appeared before them. "After all, this universe's Ruby is far more able to kick some tail compared to my universe's, not to mention she's more resistant to my chaos shenanigans."
"What are you getting at?" Adam asked while Seryu was giving him the stink eye.
"I dipped her into Phazon to kick start the Chaos Ruby thing but instead, I might have accidentally got rid of the "corruption" part when I meant to get rid of that nasty "shorten your life" bit. Definitely an oversight on my part… ahahahaha." Dimentio rubbed his head. "Not only that, but she's now the main source of phazon, so I'm pretty sure she will corrupt you all before you could even think about pulling the petals off the rose."
"That would be a problem." Adam nodded.
"Indeed. It's as if she has some "Main character protection" thing going on." Dimentio shrugged. "But what do I know, this is no story book/TV show/movie/anime universe."
"Get to the point, you tenth rate clown." Seryu demanded.
"I'm saying that if you go after Ruby, she'll screw you up… though I wonder if she knows that now that she's the source of Phazon, she'll corrupt anything without realizing it. Power boosts today, corrupting her friends tomorrow! Ahahaha… another small victory for me if I say so myse-… I'm sorry, did you say "tenth rate"?"
"I didn't stutter. I said what I said."
"So who's first rate? I'm curious."
"I dunno, some anarchistic clown dude from some comics I read a long time ago. He's more of a threat than you, and he gets beaten up by some dude in a bat costume. HELL, his psychotic girlfriend's more of a threat than you! He's first rate, she's second rate and you're tenth rate… actually, scratch that… you're twentieth."
"I didn't realize we had a competition. Ahahaha." Dimentio summoned a notepad. "Note to self: Find and kill the anarchistic clown couple… and who is third rate?"
"I dunno, some flamboyant guy who likes to say the word "hate" a lot."
"Aside from your… ranking…?" Adam gave Seryu a weird look before turning to Dimentio. "Who do you suppose we should go after if Ruby is a no go?"
"Why not someone who's a bit smaller?" He snapped his fingers to reveal an image of Umber. "Umber Lightwave. Champion of Alola, master of mirrors and electricity, has a Legendary Pokemon that can absorb light and destroy any world it desires, recently opened up a casino and has two girlfriends."
"Two girlfriends?" Adam sounded amused.
"Indeed. Both are psychics." Dimentio chuckled.
Why do I feel like I've seen him before…? …Eh, nah… I'm probably going crazy. …Er, crazier. Seryu thought.
"He's not as strong compared to the others… though I have a feeling he'll get stronger as time goes on. Might want to nip this in the bud, no?"
"Indeed. With the power like that… he might be just unstoppable. I say we take him out first." Adam turned to Seryu. "You know what to do."
"Just give me his scent. I'll take it from there." Seryu smirked as Dimentio chuckled, pulling out a piece of hair.
"Pulled this out of his head while he was asleep. He can pretty much sleep through anything." Dimentio said as he gave it to Seryu who closed her eyes, sniffing it before she opened her eyes, now filled with malicious insanity.
"Got 'im." She smirked and then walked off.
"Goodness me, she's got a good nose." Dimentio mused. "Welp, see you around. I'll be busy mocking Grimm Ruby's worthless existence like the worthless nobody that she is~!" He said and disappeared.
With Umber…
BGM: Have a Nice Talk (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)
"Zzzz…" Umber snored. He had decided to wander around the Mushroom Kingdom for a while with the cooler atmosphere compared to the hotter climate of Alola. He had left all of his Pokemon at home except for his Marowak. He was originally going to drop in and say hi to his girlfriends, but got sidetracked… and by sidetracked, I mean his narcolepsy kicked in hard and he had to find a place to nap for a bit.
He had wandered into Dimble Wood and looked for a spot that didn't have any of the haunted trees ready to murder him at a moment's notice. He found a spot and decided to crash right there, resting cozily underneath a tree.
Sure, there was some snow on the ground but he didn't seem to mind that much. Besides, it was a warmer day anyway.
It was a peaceful nap. Was.
BANG!
End BGM
A bullet whizzed past him, popping the snot bubble. "…Zzz… wha…?" He wondered as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched, groggily looking at his assailant that was approaching him. "Good mornin'…" He yawned.
"That was just to get your attention… and this…" Seryu cocked her gun. "…is checkmate!" She then pulled the trigger as the bullet went flying… and then Umber shattered. "Huh?" Seryu blinked as she looked at her gun. "I don't remember the firepower being this good…" She scratched her head.
"Look out below!"
Umber landed on top of Seryu. "OOOOF!" She grunted.
"Sorry! Thought you'd make a good landing pad."
"Would you get off…" Seryu said, muffled into the ground as Umber got off as Seryu spat out some dirt. "Ugh… gross."
"Wait… you look familiar…" Umber said as Seryu gave him a glare, cocking her gun. "Hmm… wait, don't tell me…" He said as he casually put up a mirror while turning away from her as she fired the gun, but the bullet bounced off.
"Ack!" Seryu yelped, ducking as it hit the tree.
"Soiyu… Sora… Sifu… Seerou…" Umber rubbed his chin in thought. "Seeku… no… I feel like I'm close. Could you give me a hint?"
"Death and executioner."
"No, that's not it… um… Soi… Soyka? Suupa… mmm… Seren… Ser… Ser… Seryu! That's the one I was looking for! No… wait, I probably got that wrong. Soryu… Saryu… Staryu?"
"You had it right!" Seryu said.
"…Yeah, you're right, it's Soryu." He said, causing Seryu to facepalm.
"IT'S SERYU!"
"…Oh! Duh… my bad." Umber rubbed his head with a sheepish chuckle. "I'm still a bit groggy from my nap!"
This is the moron I was sent out to kill? Seryu thought in annoyance.
"Wait a sec… oh! Now I know you… you're that Seryu Ubiquitous girl that Weiss is totally afraid of! I think you were going to kill that Kokoro girl too. What's that all about?"
"Hello! Crimson Fang? I work with Adam Taurus?"
"…Who's Adam?" He asked, causing Seryu to anime fall.
"I can't tell if you're this dense or you're just messing with me!"
"Eh… you tend to miss things when you're narcoleptic. I find things out eventually." Umber shrugged as he walked off. "Anyway, nice talking to ya."
"Wait! Don't walk away from me when I'm trying to execute you!"
"Execute me? Girl, I've dealt with things like that Damian guy and the Space Pirates. You're nothing compared to them… actually, scratch that. You're more competent than Damian."
"…Uh… thank you…?" Seryu tilted her head. Who's Damian?
"That's not counting Team Rainbow Rocket. If you wanna execute someone, go for that Dennis guy. No one likes him."
"Dennis?" Seryu quietly mouthed.
"He calls himself "Ghetsis", but all I hear out of his mouth is "Dennis", so it's like… dude's a menace. Nothing of value'd be lost if you executed him." Umber waved it off as he continued to walk.
…I need to have a talk with Dimentio over this later. My first assassination of the day and he's walking away… She thought as she quickly pulled out her gun and fired… but he ducked down to reach for something as she nailed a Sockop nearby.
"Oh, cool. A pinecone."
…Did I just seriously bag a friggin' SHOE?! Seryu thought in disbelief.
"Eh… I've seen cooler ones." He tossed it behind him as it landed on top of Seryu's head. "Heads up."
Seryu's eye twitched. How is it this hard to kill a narcoleptic… She thought. Alright, I'll go with something a bit more explosive. She thought as she clapped her hands and formed a rocket launcher. She smirked wickedly as she aimed and fired, but Umber had ducked again.
"Hi little guy." Umber said, petting a Caterpie on the head as the rocket flew past him as it hit a cliff wall and exploded.
"Rrrrow!" The Caterpie cried happily, not caring about the explosion.
"OH COME ON!" Seryu yelled. "Bagging a narcoleptic can't be THIS difficult!" She complained as Umber stood up and kept walking as Seryu snarled. "That's it… I might as well just pounce on him!" She charged at him. Yeah, push him down and then execute him while I'm on top of him. It's foolproof! She thought.
She ran toward him and the tackled him head on. "Whoa!" Umber yelped.
"Got ya!" Seryu smirked.
"Then… who's got you?"
"Huh?" Seryu looked down as they would see they were falling down a cliff. "Oh son of a bitch!"
"Wasn't the route I was planning on taking but what the heck, I'll go with the flow. By the way, take a deep breath."
Seryu looked to see they were falling toward a river. "Oh lovely." She groaned.
Splash!
The two of them surfaced as Umber casually floated on his back while Seryu shook her body and then smirked at Umber, aiming her gun at him and fired… but water shot out instead. Seryu's eye twitched. "This shouldn't be so complicated!"
"Girl, relax… you'll get a kill eventually. Just gotta go with the flow."
"Mmmph! I'll show you a flo-… you hear something?" Seryu asked as she looked dead ahead to see they were headed straight for a large waterfall. "Oh shit!" She yelped as she looked both ways to try to find an escape route. Unfortunately, there were no paths to take.
"Oh, it seems we're headed for a waterfall."
"HOW ARE YOU SO CASUAL ABOUT THIS?! Your life is in danger over this waterfall we're about to drop off from!"
"There are no ghosts, so hey, I'm as chill as I can be. So I say… bring it on."
"That doesn't make any sense!" She exclaimed as she found a rock poking out of the water as she swiftly grabbed onto it, but it was also slick and she slipped off. "No no no! Noooo…" She groaend as she tried to swim away.
"Swimming against the current? Good luck…" He said as they went over the waterfall as Seryu started screaming as the waterfall went inside of a cave as they fell inside of it.
Umber emerged from the water completely unscathed. "Well, that was fun." He said as he climbed out and wrung his shirt, then Seryu crawled out and coughed out water. "Oh hey, you survived."
"Shut up… just SHUT UP, YOU DAMN HUMAN!" She yelled as she got up. "I'm gonna-… oh! Ow! OW! Aaaagh!" She fell to the ground. "Shit…"
Umber immediately looked concerned. "You okay?"
"My ankle… I think I twisted it…" She winced as Umber knelt down next to her.
"Probably just pulled a muscle. I'm sure you'll be fine… that said…" He took off her shoe.
"Ow ow ow ow!"
"Yeah, that's pretty swollen alright…" He said as he took off his shirt and wrapped it around her ankle, then grabbed a stick and held it in place. "There we go."
"Nnngh… I don't get it… I thought all humans were terrible. They needed to be wiped off the planet…"
"Not all humans are bad. Sure, humans suck but hey, not all of them are bad. Plus, if you think about it, if I was bad, I would've left you here to rot with that swollen ankle."
"…I suppose…" Seryu mumbled but then smirked, making a new gun and pointing it at Umber's face. "I have you right where I want you." She chuckled.
Umber gave her a "Dude, really?" look. "Okay, so you kill me and then what?"
"I go back to Adam."
"Okay, so you'll kill me and then you decide to pull a Weiss, making your situation worse to the point where you have to be put in a wheelchair for it to properly heal."
"Huh? What do you mean "Pull a Schnee"?" Seryu wondered.
"Oh, Weiss did this on her first space romp."
"…She walked on a twisted ankle? Oh come on… there's no way she could be that stupid."
Umber gave her a blank look.
"…Oh my Oum, she was really that stupid."
"Mhm. That's why we call it "Pull a Weiss", because there's no way someone will be dumb enough to pull what she did. We don't need a repeat."
"I guess…" Seryu sighed, making her gun disappear. "Great, so now I'm stuck here with a swollen ankle with a human. Lovely. Not to mention we're in a dark cave. Oh goodness, you're right… I'd be stuck here regardless if I kill you or not."
"Mhm!" Umber would then call out his Marowak.
"Maro!"
"Hey Kara, think you could help light the way?"
"Wak." Kara lifted up the bone and lit it ablaze, then Umber proceeded to give Seryu a piggyback ride.
"Wah! What the hell are you-"
"You need to stay off that foot. So I'm gonna carry you."
"Carried by a human… this is embarrassing…" She mumbled.
BGM: Pirate's Grotto (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
"So, what's your deal, anyway? What do you have a problem with us humans?"
"It's complicated…"
"Try me."
"I'd rather not…"
"You just wanna be carried in the dark in awkward silence?"
"...No." Seryu mumbled before sighing. "Fine, I'll tell you."
"I'm all ears."
"So, back then, I was bullied for my dog ears. Typical Faunus discrimination. I had it pretty bad as a kid. Then I felt it got worse when I was part of the Winter Ops. My best friend, Sheele, she helped me through the difficult times... and then one day, everything changed."
"Hmm?"
"It was a routine patrol, Sheele and I were patrolling Atlas when we saw a fight going on. We tried to break it up... and then I was pushed into a fire hydrant. That's when I snapped."
Umber's eyes widened. "Head injury... dear Arceus, did you hit your head hard enough?"
"Yes. I was admitted to a hospital when the doctors were saying my head was cracked. Which would... honestly explain the splitting headaches I tend to get."
"Splitting?!" Umber exclaimed in horror. Dear Arceus, she's got brain damage...
"Yeah, and then overnight, I was transferred to a mental hospital. Jacques Schnee told me that the Winter Ops put me in there after I went on a killing spree. They told me my humans that I once called friends betrayed me and put me in there."
"Holy moly..."
"After that, Jacques Schnee branded me the following day, and then tormented me day after day, claiming it was "helping me". Later on, I busted out of there with an emo version of Weiss... then, well... I found Adam and the rest is history. Mortally wounded Weiss in Galar, tried to cause havoc in space but that didn't go so well... I wanted to assassinate the Schnees on this planet but I thought it'd be best if I did it on my terms... then next thing I knew, the planet blew up."
"...Wait, you were on K2L?"
"That's what they called it? Strange..."
Umber closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Hmm... You're saying Jacques told you your friends betrayed you?"
"Yeah, that's why I hate humans so much. If your friends betray you... what human can you trust? That's why I want to exterminate them all... even my best friend betray-"
"Okay, time out."
"Hmm?"
"You're saying Jacques told you all this. Here's the thing. No one trusts him as far as they can throw him. He told you all of these lies to make you hate humans. As far as I'm concerned, Jacques isn't to be trusted. He's just an ass who got his way, like, hell, I'm surprised Weiss's mother didn't leave him sooner. Why would your own friends put you in there? Who put you in the actual hospital?"
"My so called friends."
"And you were put in the mental hospital overnight and Jacques tells you all of this then goes out of his way to brand you? Sounds to me that he put you in there and lied to you because this whole massacre happened because one person shoved you into a hydrant."
"If it helps, I didn't like Jacques to begin with."
"You didn't like Jacques and yet you believed him?"
"What am I supposed to do? I have so many voices in my head, I had to listen to someone in order to block them out... so many voices..."
"That'll do it... but let me real with you. Jacques lied and I'm pretty sure he played politics to make sure you didn't get the treatment you desperately need. I mean, I can see why you hate Jacques but why take it out on the rest of the Schnees?"
"Guilty by association."
"Lady, I think they wouldn't want to be associated with Jacques anyway."
"Well, it's not like I can't take revenge against Jacques anyway. He's dead!"
"...Who told you that?"
"There was an explosion at the SDC and I heard Jacques was caught in it. The voices in my head were telling me he died in that explosion."
"No, he's pretty much alive. He's in prison."
"...He's what?"
"Yeah! I don't know what prison he's in, but dude's in jail and... I think he's still playing politics? I dunno..."
So I can finally get my revenge on him... wait, didn't Sheele tell me that before...? I swear, she told me... Did she? Ugh, I can't remember...
"Mmm..."
"What's up?" Umber asked.
"Um... I swear, Sheele told me that Jacques is in jail and yet... I can't remember if she told me this or not."
Oh dear, it's worse than I thought. Umber grimaced. "So uh... you got it pretty bad..."
"I do."
"And, I must say, your dog ears are pretty cute."
Seryu blushed. "You really think so? They're kinda floppy, but... wait, you're not just saying that in a teasing way, are you?"
"Why would I tease about the ears? I'm not that type of guy to discriminate. If you're a Faunus, great. If you're human, that's also fine. I could care less if you're a humanoid Pokemon... all I see is just a person."
"I see..."
"As I said, it's true that humans are awful." Umber turned his head and gave her a genuine smile. "But not all humans aren't all bad. Heck, I gave you a lift and provided some light from Kara. That proves I'm not rotten... because if I was, I would've left you back there with your twisted ankle and I wouldn't have called your floppy ears cute... actually, scratch that, they look adorable."
Seryu blushed a deeper red. "Y-You think they look ador-...adorable?"
"Yup!"
"I... uh... I don't think anyone's ever called my ears adorable..." She said, still blushing. "Tha-thank you."
"You're welcome." Umber still smiled and then turned around. "Oh look, we're at the exit of this cave."
End BGM
As soon as they walked out, they would find themselves deep in the forest. "Where are we?" Seryu wondered.
"If I had to guess... we're deep into Dimble Wood but I could be wrong." Umber shrugged.
"I see."
"How's your ankle?"
"Still sore... though it's slightly feeling better."
"It's better than the alternative."
"I guess." Seryu nodded as her stomach started growling. "Ah geez..."
"Hungry?"
"Um... maybe. I figured you would've been a quick kill and I would've made it back without missing a meal... but, unfortunately, that didn't happen."
Umber chuckled, then gently set Seryu down next to a tree. "I'll be right back. Kara, keep an eye on her, alright?"
"Maro." Kara nodded as she stood guard over Seryu, and a few minutes later, Umber came back with an arm full of berries.
"Here we are. Nanab Berries." Umber sat down next to her and handed her a few.
Seryu stared at one, picking it up and examined it. She looked at Umber who popped one in her mouth. She hesitated, thinking he just poisoned them... but noticed that he wasn't keeling over. She hesitantly picked one up. Food offered to her by a human? She didn't know what to think... but she was hungry so she took a bite.
Her eyes widened, realizing how sweet it is and munched down. Umber smiled sweetly at her as she continued eating. He then gently reached over to her ears and gently scratched behind them. Seryu blushed a little but then leaned into it. She recalled Sheele doing the same thing whenever she felt down and needed a pick me up.
"Humans are funny... we can be awful, but we can be the sweetest people. They can be destructive, yet they can be imaginative, they can build relationships with anyone and of course, they can rebuild what awful humans have destroyed. We all focus on the negatives when really... we should be focusing on the positives." Umber said gently.
Kill him! Throttle him! He's right there!
"...Tell me more. What else can humans do that aren't destructive?"
"Ho, where do I begin? They build sanctuaries, they can grow flowers and make them bloom by taking care of them... hell, we can make you bloom. Just gotta prune out some of the bad stuff that's been going on with you." He smiled, another blush appearing on her face.
"Anyway, humans also fight fires, raise and take care of pets, protect those who are in need... they even help save lives, help them heal."
"Sheele... she said something similar." Seryu said, closing her eyes as Umber continued to softly scratch her ear. "Humans... humans aren't all that bad..."
"No, they're not. True, they can be a fixer upper, but they're not bad at all." Umber still gave her a genuine smile.
"You're… right about that." She said as she looked at her arms. "I've killed so many humans… all in the name of justice. And Jacques is still alive… I can finally have my revenge…"
"Revenge, huh?" Umber looked up at the sky. "That's a slippery slope."
"What?"
"Revenge can blind a person. Sure, you'll have a brief moment of happiness but then what? You'll just feel dirty. Taking someone out all in the name of revenge won't bring you the satisfaction you think it will. You'll just feel… empty. You won't feel happy."
"But what if it's for the good of justice?"
"You have a very… interesting view of justice. You think yourself as some vigilante but… even vigalantes will have to, at some point, stop and think about what they're doing. If you decide to kill Jacques, what will you do after that?"
"Go… on a… human killing spree…?" Seryu folded her arms. "But… not all humans are bad… aaagh…"
I think I made her conflicted. That's progress, I suppose.
Seryu clutched her head. "What's even wrong with me… I have so many voices in my head, I haven't had a moment's rest for so long… I don't get enough sleep… I… I don't even know what to do… I always try to silence them by pointing a gun to my head but I can never go through with it… and when I do, it's always Atlas Roulette and I always win…"
Oh, this poor girl… Umber thought, as he gently scratched her behind the ear again, which helped her to calm down as tears ran down her cheeks.
"What even is justice…? I… I don't even know… I don't even know who I am right now… I thought I was Seryu Ubiquitous, the Faunus that delivers justice and second in command of the Crimson Fang but… but… I don't even know anymore!" She said, her voice breaking.
"Girl… you need a hug." Umber said as he reached in and hugged her. Seryu's eyes widened as more tears fell. The hug reminded her of Sheele's hugs… it pushed her to the point where she was now sobbing quietly.
"There there, let it all out…"
A few minutes later, Seryu was in a fetal position, enjoying the ear scratches that Umber was giving her, but she was also conflicted. She didn't even know what to do… she was set out to kill Umber and yet, of all people, he was the one who pointed out the flaws in her views and made her learn that humans aren't all that bad.
…What was a Faunus to do?
Kara was deep in meditation… until she opened her eyes and turned to a bush rustling. "Maro!" She cried, catching their attention as they would the bush continuing to rustle… until a rabbit jumped out of the bush. It wasn't just a normal rabbit though… it was a small, black rabbit with a shell spikey white bone protecting its backside. Its whiskers are also made out of bone.
A Grimm.
"Is that a… Grimm Rabbit?" Umber tilted his head.
"It's kinda cute…" Seryu admitted. "Although your… uh… friend doesn't seem to agree."
"Well, duh, it's a Grimm." Umber chuckled as they would hear the sound of chuckling as they would see a group of huntsman walk by.
"Hey, is that a Grimm?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, it is!"
"I've never seen a Grimm rabbit before… what is it called?"
"Hell if I know."
"Whatever, let's kill this thing!"
The Grimm Rabbit turned to look at them as the huntsman were ready to kill it… when Umber and Seryu would notice the rabbit's eyes starting to glow, and then the huntsman's eyes went red too. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" All four of them started screaming in unison and clutching their heads… as if they've gone completely insane as they looked at each other as they started to beat each other up.
"What the hell…?" Umber wondered.
"It's as if they lost their minds!" Seryu said as their auras would shatter, then they would all lunge and embedded their weapons into each other for the killing blow, causing them to keel over and fell to the ground. The rabbit would then hop over and proceed to eat the huntsman very quickly… and within seconds, not even their skeletons were spared.
"HOLY SHIT!" Both of them yelled as the rabbit nonchalantly hopped back.
BGM: Ripple Star (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards)
Not So Adorable - The Nameless
"It made them go crazy and… kill each other… and then ate their remains!" Seryu said in disbelief.
"And it looks like we're it's next meal." Umber said. "Kara, Swords Dance!" He ordered as he quickly set up a few mirror shields.
The Nameless continued to stare at the two, though it wondered why they weren't going crazy. "Seryu, you think you can stand?"
"I can try…" Seryu stood up, clapping her hands and forming a shotgun. She instinctively aimed it at Umber, but she shook her head and then aimed it at the Grimm. She aimed directly at The Nameless and fired, but it hopped away, dancing away from the bullets as it hopped around the tree. "Squirrelly little bugger!"
Umber turned around, quickly setting up mirrors as The Nameless hopped over behind them. It flashes its fangs and then jumped over to bite them, but it would bounce off of a mirror. It landed on its butt and shook its head as it danced around the bullets again… and then the pain in Seryu's foot came back and struck her like a lightning bolt. "Nnngh!" She grunted as she fell on the ground. "Damn!"
"You okay?"
"Foot's acting up…"
Umber got in front of her. "I got ya." He said as Seryu looked at him in surprise.
He's protecting me? She thought in surprise.
"Humans protect those in need." Umber's words echoed in her head.
…This… human is protecting me… She thought, her eyes widening in awe. Wait… didn't Sheele protect me before?
"Alright! That's three Swords Dances! Hit 'em where it hurts. FLARE BLITZ!" Umber yelled as Kara lit herself ablaze and then lunged at The Nameless. "Heh, this is really gonna hurt." He smirked.
"How so?" Seryu wondered.
"Because Kara's got a Thick Club on her! Plus with her using Swords Dance three times… this is gonna be fun."
"MAAAAROWAAAAAAAAK!" Kara yelled, slamming into the The Nameless like a Titanic-sized Bullet Train, where The Nameless went through several trees before crashing into a bush.
The Nameless couldn't believe it. For centuries, he was able to pick off any human or Faunus dumb enough to try to take it out. It made them go crazy and kill themselves… it ate their remains right after and got away, cleaning itself up and disappeared into the shadows, hence why it was called The Nameless. No one knew about it, and if they did, they'd already be dead.
For centuries, it was the perfect killer and it had a special ability… and now here it was. This old Grimm was dazed, confused, hurt… and on top of that, it was on fire. The Nameless quickly jumped into a lake, then crawled out and shook itself dry. It turned around to glare at them. It's special ability was used against it… and then that thing had to go and run it over.
The Nameless turned around and then disappeared into the forest. It will not make that same mistake again.
End BGM
"And that… is what we call a vibe check." Umber smiled.
"Wow…" Seryu said in awe.
"You want me to carry you some more or you think you can walk?"
"Eh… I can't believe I'm gonna say this but… carry me…" Seryu quietly said as Umber picked her up and piggybacked her for a few minutes across the forest, both of them chatting it up for a while they came to a clearing.
"Ah, here are we. I recognize this spot." Umber said.
"You can put me down now. My foot's feeling a lot better."
"Alright then!" Umber said, putting her down as Seryu took off the homemade sling and saw that her ankle was looking a lot better.
"Hey uh… sorry for ruining your shirt."
"Nah, it's fine. I'll throw it in the wash." Umber waved it off as he put it back on.
"I… can't believe I'm going to say this to a human, but… thank you."
"You're welcome." Umber smiled as Seryu smiled back. "So uh… I was wondering if the two of us could be friends?" He suggested, causing Seryu's smile to vanish, a shadow cast over her eyes. "…Seryu?"
"I don't deserve it…"
"Huh?"
"I don't deserve to be friends with humans… after everything I've done to them… I… I don't think I'm worthy to be friends with any human at all." She said and then ran off.
"W-wait!"
"I'm sorry!" Seryu said as she disappeared into the forest.
Umber rubbed the back of his head. "Well uh… you know where to find me, I guess." He said as he turned around. "Okaaaay uh… Toad Town… where was it…?" He wondered.
"Maro Maro."
"Oh! Right." Umber chuckled. "I forgot I had that…" He closed his eyes. "Hey babes, can you hear me?"
Hey, how about that, the psychic link does work! Xena giggled. What's up?
"Can you come and teleport me out of here?"
Let me see where you are… what the hell are you doing all the way out there?
"Long story. I'll tell you two when I come over."
"Alright, setting up a teleportation field to you… right about now!"
A psychic field surrounded Umber and Kara, and then teleported the two to the sisters.
"Sup?" Xena greeted.
Umber chuckled. "Ya know, for a second, I was wondering if the psychic link we had wasn't gonna work."
"Well, it did~!" Xena smiled. "So, what were you doing all the way out there?"
"Weeeeeeeeeell…"
One story later…
"WHAT?!" Both of them yelled.
"Yeah, it was an eventful experience."
"You were with Seryu… and she didn't kill you?"
"Nope."
"Honey, how are you even alive?"
"Dumb luck." Umber shrugged. "That said, I think I made some progress on her. Made her see the light a little clearly."
"…We're talking about Seryu, right?"
"The very same." Umber nodded. "Oh, by the way, you're not gonna believe this, but there's this Grimm-"
With Seryu…
Seryu ran out of breath, panting as she rested behind a tree. "Hah… hah…" She closed her eyes. She had her sights set on killing Umber… but now being with him for an afternoon has thrown her for a loop.
"What… what am I even fighting for…" She wondered, flashing back to her conversation with Whitley, then thought about Umber… before her mind switched to her conversation with Sheele.
"I've been broken for far too long… I don't think anything will fix me… I'm sorry!"
"Humans aren't all that bad." Umber's words echoed in her head shortly after.
Tears swelled in Seryu's eyes before she clutched her head. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL AM I EVEN FIGHTING FOR!" She screamed before she broke down into broken sobs.
It was then that her Scroll buzzed. She would pull it out and see that Adam was calling her. She went to answer it but hesitated, before she let out another scream and threw it at a tree, shattering her scroll completely.
"Sheele… where are you… I need you…" Seryu sobbed as she stood up and walked away, wiping her tears but she was still crying. "I need to know who I am… I gotta discover who I truly am…"
She disappeared into the shadows of the forest soon after.
With Adam…
"Hey, it's Seryu. Can't come to the scroll right now. Leave a message!"
"Hmm… I hope she's okay."
Shout out to Yoshi for this Gaiden idea and the creation of that terrifying rabbit Grimm.
Ibuki: Oh man... Seryu's now completely lost now.
Yuuup...