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

One Day Before The Strikers Tournament

Esdeath was at her desk, completely deep in thought. She finished up some paperwork quicker than she had thought, so she had some time for herself.

However, she spent most of her time thinking about her father. James Ironwood, a well respectable man in Atlas… and yet, his semblance made him incredibly dangerous. Not just to his enemies, but to his colleagues and family as well.

Sure, Mettle can help him hyper focus on the task at hand, but it also gives him intense amount of tunnel vision that he can't see or think clearly until it's too late.

She recalled the two times where it took control of him. The first time was when he was trying to arrest Roman and Neo, yet Bowser kept thwarting him to the point where it pushed him over the edge. If it wasn't for the timely arrival of her, Winter and some of the Reds and Blues, there would be a war between Atlas and the Koopa Kingdom… possibly one sided against Atlas.

Thankfully, he seemed to have gotten it under control when he took some time off at Delfino and even explained he was getting better at it.

…Then came along Eggman with his broadcast. That made Ironwood incredibly angry to the point where Mettle took control of his being. Not that she blamed him for getting upset and someone needed to be held accountable, but the fact that he was willing to harm a teenager thanks to that Dimentio guy was enough to make her yell at him and slapped him just to get him to snap out of it.

"I thought your vacation made you a better man… turns out I was wrong."

Unfortunately, Dimentio had to go and possess him to make him focus on his task. Luckily they stopped him before Futaba was murdered.

Esdeath pressed her hands together, her elbows on the desk as she leaned forward, her hands pressed against her mouth.

Sure, he's gotten better control of it, but there's always the chance he'll unwittingly slip back and let Mettle take control of his person. Plus, when she's out on missions and not keeping an eye on him when he's having a rough week, she can't help but worry about him.

There has to be something I can do to help him so I don't have to stress about it… Esdeath thought. Her biggest priority was to find Seryu just so they can bring her in safely and figure out what to do with her brain damage, but thanks to Jacques playing politics, even in prison, they can't even touch her.

An idea sprung in her mind. Her eyes widened. "Wait a second…" She mused. "Isn't there a man who helped Yang get stronger?" She wondered, flashing back to the man who she spotted at K2L, seeing him unleash a Hadoken with Yang.

Ryu, was it?

"I know what I have to do." She said as she walked to the door before stopping herself. "…What am I doing?" She turned around and opened up the window. "This is a shortcut for Oum's sake." She chuckled as she leapt out, conjuring up her favorite mode of transportation and flew off.

Meanwhile, at the Smash Mansion…

Ryu was on top of the mansion, deeply meditating. Of course, he's meditating in snow but that didn't seem to bother him too much.

He felt a presence looming over him as he opened his eyes. He stood up and saw an ice phoenix coming in for a landing as Esdeath hopped off. "General." Ryu greeted.

"Ryu, was it?"

"That's me."

Esdeath smiled. "Oh good, I'm glad I found you." She said, hopping off.

"What can I help you with?"

"It's my father, James Ironwood."

"Ah, I've heard about him. What seems to be the trouble?"

"It's… his semblance." She explained. "If you don't know what it is, it's Mettle. It's supposed to enhance his focus so he can do his tasks more effectively, which seems like a good semblance… however-"

"With his enhanced focus, it gives him tunnel vision, correct?" Ryu pointed out.

"Yes, and it clouds his judgement too." Esdeath nodded. "There are two notable instances to when this affected him. One was where he was about to declare war against the Koopa Kingdom for not handing over Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan. He took a vacation to Delfino when we snapped him out of it. The other instance was when he nearly ended the life of Futaba."

Ryu folded his arms. "This reminds me of the Satsui no Hado." He said. "With that, it gives you great power, but in turn, it turns you into a mindless beast capable of mass destruction. It's extremely malicious… and, to be honest, I've tapped into that a few times. So I know what he's going through."

"In all honesty, I'm worried." Esdeath said. "I'm always by his side every chance I get, just so I can help him keep it at bay. However, when I'm out on a mission and I'm nowhere near him, I tend to get worried that he might do something stupid, especially when he's had a rough week."

Ryu nodded. "So, not only do you want to get him help, but also to help set your mind at ease."

"Exactly. I'm not one to beg, but… I desperately need your help."

Ryu closed his eyes, smirking. "Well, at least it gives me something to do." He said with a chuckle. "Give me a few minutes, I think I know who might be great help."

A few minutes later…

Esdeath sat on the roof, playing with a snowflake she conjured up in her hands. "I'm back." Ryu said as Esdeath turned around to see a few people with him.

"Who… are these people?"

"This here is Sakura, a girl who's training to improve herself-"

"Hello~!" Sakura waved.

"Chun-Li, a woman who works for Interpol-"

"Hey."

"And Guile, a man who's a veteran from the Air Force."

"Pleasure to meet you."

Goodness, that's a hell of a hair style… Esdeath thought.

"I figured these three would help out as well." Ryu said.

"Woo! Training trip~!" Sakura fist pumped.

"I needed some time off from Interpol anyway. I have a crap ton of vacation days I need to use…" Chun-Li admitted.

"And I… had nothing better to do." Guile admitted. "He caught me at a good time, I had just giving some greenhorns some advice."

Ryu looked to Esdeath. "Take us to Atlas."

Esdeath nodded. "Right." She hopped up on her ice phoenix as the four hopped on as the phoenix flew off to Atlas.

Later, at Atlas…

Ironwood overlooked a training exercise with the Ace Ops, watching them defeat their opponents flawlessly. He will admit, it felt incomplete without Winter, but he also felt that Winter being in the Winter Ops was the better choice. Not to mention he couldn't bear to look her in the eye after that one time he went on a tirade against Bowser, even though Winter forgave him.

"General!" A soldier ran up to him.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"You have visitors. They're in your office."

Without a word, Ironwood walked off to his office, curious to see who it could be. He secretly hoped that it wasn't Sleet or Camilla, given how… overbearing those two can be at times. He walked into his office to see Esdeath casually leaning on a wall. He let out an amused chuckle.

"You're my visitor?" He asked in amusement.

"Nah, more like their escorts." Esdeath said, as Ironwood turned to see Ryu and his friends.

"Sup?" Sakura greeted.

Ironwood said nothing but smiled. He put his hand out to Ryu. "You must be Ryu."

"Indeed." Ryu shook his hand.

"I've heard a great deal about you. From what I've heard from Winter, which she heard from Weiss, you've managed to train Miss Xiao Long into a stronger fighter."

"Indeed. I've been training her for a long time, and because of my teachings, she's mastered the Hadoken and even unlocked a new form… yet she still aspires to be stronger." He let out a chuckle. "Not that I blame her."

Ironwood chuckled. "Indeed. So, what are you here for?"

"I've heard about your semblance." Ryu explained. "So, I was thinking that maybe we can help you out just so we can get you more focused and not let your semblance control your every move."

"What?" Ironwood asked in surprise before frowning. "Are you suggesting that I'm not capable of controlling my semblance?!"

"I never said that-"

"How dare you think that I'm not capable of controlling my own emotions. I'd have you for all locked up for even THINKING about changing myself! In fact-" He pulled out his gun. "I'd rather have you dead for even remotely trying to change my ways!"

"Father, what are you-?!"

BANG!

"NO!"

…Or at least, that's what went on inside Esdeath's head.

"What?" Ironwood asked in surprise as he folded his arms, seeming to be hesitating. "I'm… not sure if that's a good idea."

Oh thank Oum… Esdeath silently breathed a sigh of relief. Have my fears for this man going insane caused me to develop some sort of anxiety?

"While it is a good idea, I'm not certain it's possible." Ironwood stroked his beard. "Besides, if we were to do this, I would have to take a leave of absense for a while… and while I trust the Ace Ops to handle themselves, who would lead them in case if they need some course correction? Plus, that's not to mention running Atlas."

"I can do it." Esdeath spoke up. "While you're gone training with Ryu for a while, I can run the whole thing."

Ironwood looked at her in surprise. "You?"

"Yes. I think I can handle it."

"With all due respect, there are some people in Atlas who still think you're going to overthrow me. If you do this, they'll think you did it anyway."

"Now why would I overthrow the man who saved my life? The same man who became my father. Why would I do such a thing?"

Ironwood chuckled. "I know, but I'm just worried that they'll start rumors over you declaring martial law and-"

"I don't give a damn about what my detractors have to say." Esdeath said. "Let them have their five minutes of fame, no one really pays attention to rumors anyway. Besides, it's like 1% of Atlas, not the grand majority. Even you know this."

"That's true…" He chuckled as he closed his eyes. "Honestly, this would be for the best. Even though I have a better hold of my semblance, there's still times where I relapse without even realizing it." He said and reopened his eyes. "Alright, until further notice, you are in charge of the Ace Ops alongside your Winter Ops, and you are in charge of Atlas until I make my grand return."

Esdeath smiled, saluting him. "Thank you, sir. I will not let you down." She said… before she hugged him. Ironwood smiled and hugged her back. "Good luck, father…"

"Good luck, Esdeath." He said, planting a small kiss on her forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too."

They parted from the hug as Ironwood walked out as Ryu's friends followed him, but Ryu stayed behind. "I noticed you were looking quite relieved."

"Yes. I… actually had a worst case scenario play in my head that he shot you all dead for even thinking about helping you out. That's how much this man's worried me…"

Ryu smirked, patting Esdeath on the shoulder. "We'll take it from here. You can rest easy."

"Thank you, Ryu. Oh! That reminds me, you will need to find some type of dojo to stay. I think there's an abandoned warehouse you can use."

"Abandoned warehouse?"

"It used to store anti-Faunus propaganda… as you can tell, Jacques loved using this warehouse. However, after he's been arrested, we took the time to throw it all out. Could you believe he played politics to keep them in even if he was heavily criticized for it?"

"…I'd believe it."

"Yeah, we took it all and made a big bonfire in Mantle. I forget her name, but there's this Faunus with the Happy Huntresses who did the honors of lighting that bad boy up."

Ryu laughed. "That will do it." He said.

"We've also been meaning to tear that warehouse down because no one had used it after we pulled everything out, but now it's being used so… hey, go for it."

Ryu nodded. "Thank you." He then walked off. "See you around."

"Wait a sec!" Esdeath ran after him. "What about your Smash matches? You will definitely need some transport to take you to-"

"Don't worry about it." Ryu pulled out a phone. "I have this to let me know when they need me for a match." He put it away. "I've heard there's a Warp Pipe near Mantle, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Then there's no need to worry." Ryu said as he walked off, waving goodbye to Esdeath as she waved back, before he disappeared.

Esdeath turned to Ironwood's desk. "Alright… time to see what I can do." She let out a chuckle. "And hopefully not run myself ragged…"

Later, at the abandoned warehouse…

"I actually know what you're going through." Ryu said.

"You do?"

"Your semblance reminds me of the Satsui no Hado. It's tempting to use because it holds great power. However, once you tap into it, you go into a mindless rage and destroy everything in your path."

"The Satsui no Hado… that sounds malicious." Ironwood said.

"That's because it is. Thankfully, your semblance doesn't feel malicious, yet it's able to take control of you."

"Is there a way to counter this… Satsui no Hado?"

Ryu nodded. "The Power of Nothingness. I have a feeling it will counter your semblance."

"Isn't that what Yang is striving for? Especially after her encounter with Akuma?" Chun-Li asked.

"Indeed." Ryu nodded. "It will take time for you to reach it, yet I believe you can handle this power."

"If Miss Xiao Long can handle it, then so can I." Ironwood said.

Ryu smirked. "I know you can. Are you ready to get your semblance under control?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now let's begin."

I don't understand it... how many times has Mario and Rabbids been leaked already? There's the first game that was leaked a month before E3, then the second one was leaked hours before Ubisoft's E3, then a few days ago, it got leaked AGAIN showing off Edge and Bowser being playable. Ubisoft, HOW are you managing to get this game leaked all the time?

Ibuki: The Rabbids might be responsible for this.

You know what, I wouldn't put it past them.

Ibuki: *giggles* Yup!

Definitely getting this for my birthday... oh, and this Gaiden was suggested by ZeonKnight.