Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Before Nagisa Helped With Myra's Two Day Tour
BGM: Beneath The Mask (Persona 5)
"So, what exactly are we waiting for?" Kotoko asked.
"The Pine Twins wanted to surprise us with something." Nagisa said as they were chilling at Sojiro's.
At that moment, the bell rang while the door open. "We're back~!" Mabel said chipperly.
"Coconut Mall was a lot bigger than I thought it'd be." Dipper chuckled as the gang turned to see them, wearing entirely different outfits.
Dipper was now wearing a coffee brown T-Shirt underneath a light teal zip up hooded sweatshirt with the dark teal colored Druid emblem printed on the right side of the hood and the Warriors of Hope's badge pinned on the upper left chest area. He also wore a pair of khaki chinos with a dark brown leather belt wrapped around his waist and a pair of black converses. He was also wearing a silver chain necklace around his neck that depicts the symbol of the Deathly Hallows while retaining his iconic dark moderate blue and white pine tree baseball cap.
As for Mabel, she was now wearing a mandys pink loose-fitting baggy sweater decorated with the light crimson-colored Thief emblem that exposed her shoulder, which also exposed the shoulder straps of her black sleeveless undershirt, an old mauve pleated miniskirt, and a pair of wine-colored sneakers with white laces and accents. She was also wearing a matching wine colored beanie, two dark silver stud piercings on her left ear, and the Warriors of Hope badge, which is pinned on the upper right chest part of her sweater.
"There were so many clothing stores to pick. It's the shopping mall to go to!" Mabel grinned. "...Or have a race in it for some reason."
"What do you think?" Dipper asked.
"Lookin' good!" Masaru said.
"Stylish~!" Kotoko winked at Mabel.
"That's what I was hopin' for!" Mabel grinned. "So, what's new?"
"Oh, we were thinking of doing a camping trip for a few days." Jataro said. "Some team building in Dimble Woods now that the two of you are part of the team."
"Team building exercises? Heck, I'm down for that." Dipper said with Mabel nodding.
"Since we'll be gone for a few days, I figured we'd bring along Komaru, Toko, Nagito and the Hope Sisters as our supervisors and assistants." Nagisa explained. "Heck, Kokoron was the one who brought up a secret spot in Dimble Wood."
"I went there with my sister and a few of her friends. It was quite nice." Kokoro smiled.
"Then I say we go there! The thought of a secret spot sounds too enticing~!" Mabel said with her eyes sparkling.
Nagisa nodded. "Tomorrow, we prepare, and then on Monday, we set out for Dimble Wood."
"Right!" Masaru nodded.
"I'll see if the others will be willing to help out." Nagisa said. "Not like we got anything else going on, right?"
End BGM
Later, late Sunday morning…
Nagisa walked toward Coconut Mall, humming as he did so. At that moment, his scroll went off as he pulled it out, seeing it was a text from Peach.
"Meet me at Mario's house ASAP. We have a friend who could use a tour of the Mushroom Kingdom."
Nagisa sweatdropped. "Right now…? Okay…" He said as he texted his fellow Warriors.
"Go ahead and get the stuff without me. Princess Peach needs to help someone out on a tour of Toad Town."
"Really? Talk about bad timing…" - Kotoko
"Nah, it's cool, dude! If Peach wants ya for somethin', best not to keep a princess waiting!" - Masaru
"Especially if she's totally pretty!" - Mabel
Nagisa smiled and put his phone away. "Alright… time to get Captain Toad." He walked off and let out a chuckle. "Me and my big mouth…"
Meanwhile, at Coconut Mall…
BGM: Toad Town (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)
"Hmhmhmhm~" Komaru hummed as she put some jars of mushrooms in a cart along with an armful of corn cobs, causing Toko to look a bit flabbergasted over the latter.
"Th-that's a lot of corn…" Toko sweatdropped.
Komaru giggled. "It's not a barbecue without some grilled corn, Toki~!"
"T-True… but did you have to grab the whole lot in one scoop?"
"Hmm?" Komaru turned her head to see it completely empty. "Oh, I'm sure there's more in the back!"
Toko sighed. "Hopeless…"
Jataro chuckled as he returned with some curry ingredients and dumped them into the cart. "It could be a lot worse. There could be three carts worth full of corn."
"At that point, you might as well make a whole corn maze out of it…" Toko deadpanned.
"Well, I, for one, am looking forward to the camping trip. I've never been camping before. It sounds totally fun!"
"Tch… camping…"
"Not a fan of it?"
"Camping is just an excuse for virgins to go out and pleasure themselves out in the wilderness by themselves. It's totally sad…"
Komaru smiled teasingly. "Well, considering you like to pleasure yourself with fantasies about Byakuya, camping totally sounds up your alley."
Toko went completely white while going beet red.. "I-I do not! That is totally disgusting, Koko!" Shit… why did I walk into that one?! …Wait a moment…
"D-Do you even know what pleasuring one self is?"
"Yeah, isn't it something like eating a cheeseburger or painting your nails?"
Toko rolled her eyes. "Yes, I totally pleasure myself by eating a cheeseburger while thinking about Master Byakuya."
"Awesome, I don't see what's the big deal about eating cheeseburgers while camping~" Komaru walked off.
Toko sighed. "Hopeless…" She chuckled.
Monday morning-ish…
"Where's Nagisa?" Mukuro wondered.
"Ah, he probably slept in. Heheh, it happens to the best of us." Nagito said.
"I saw him earlier during my early morning concert with Sea5ons…" Kokoro said.
"Why was it early anyway?" Jataro asked.
"Oh, Whitley wanted to get it done really quick for some reason… he seemed like he had something on his mind and wanted to get it out of the way. I think Ling knew, but forgot to mention it to the rest of us." Kokoro explained.
"Come to think of it, you guys blazed through it really quick." Komaru said. "Wonder why…"
"It has to do with the new girl." A voice said as they turned to see Yasuke approaching. "Apparently there's this girl who woke up four hundred years later and Mikan and I ran into her. She's getting adjusted to this new era."
Mabel gasped. "Oh. My. Gosh. Now that Laxus guy isn't totally alone now!"
"Who woulda thought… what's her name?" Dipper asked.
"Myra."
"Oh, we totally have to throw her a "Welcome to the future" surprise party!" Mabel grinned.
"Let's not completely overwhelm her. I think she's still trying to figure things ou-aaaaand you got that look in your eye." Dipper sweatdropped.
"Oh yeah, I think Nagisa mentioned her last night." Jataro said.
"A lady waking up in a new era and she's getting used to the chaos that goes on around here? My my my, I'd say she'd fit right in." Nagito chuckled. "I say "welcome to the insanity, we've been expecting you"."
"I'd think we'd rather let her ease into it…" Junko said.
"Ironic, coming from you."
Junko frowned. "Tell me about it…"
Hmm? Mukuro thought with a curious eyebrow raise.
"Sorry if I'm late!" Nagisa approached them. "Just got asked to help out with a second day of the tour…" He said sheepishly.
"Ah, don't sweat it." Masaru said. "I imagine Futaba and Akira accompanied Myra?"
"Along with JINXY and the rest of the Phantom Thieves." Nagisa nodded. "They pulled away to do something with Wario. I dunno why, but I imagine Wario asked them for help."
"Wario? Asking someone for help? That's a new one." Toko snarked.
"Indeed." Nagisa chuckled. "So, Kokoron, you ready?"
"Yeah!"
"You kids have fun." Sojiro said after he and Jataro embraced before they walked out with Kokoro leading the way to Dimble Wood.
End BGM
Later, at the spot in Dimble Wood…
BGM: Dimble Wood (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)
"Whoooooa!" Masaru said. "This place is pretty!"
"And… a lot different from what I remember." Kokoro said, looking around. She took a look at the vines that were wrapped around to look like a diving board. "I've a pretty good feeling Ruby was here." She giggled.
"Yeah, we found this when Mine, Uncle Hazel and I came here." Kotoko said. "Still, it's pretty wonderful!"
"I have questions over that dinosaur footprint, though." Dipper said.
"Ah… I'm sure it was just a prankster!" Mabel waved it off. "Or it could be a dino Grimm, but I'm betting it was a prankster."
"Who knew camping would have a gorgeous view like this~!" Komaru gushed.
"Mmm… it's a bit too flowery for my blood…" Toko mumbled.
Nagisa put his stuff down and put it near Junko and Nagito's side. "Alright, you guys ready?"
"Ready." Junko nodded.
"You can count on me." Nagito smiled.
Nagisa turned around. "Alright, listen up!" He called out to his fellow Warriors of Hope. "So here's what we're going to do for the next four days and three nights: Our team-building exercises will include:
1. Basic combat training, where we'll be sparring against one another.
2. Foraging, where we'll be looking for ingredients in the wild and trying to identify what's edible and what isn't.
3. Hunting & Fishing, where we'll work together to catch seafood and hunt wild game such as Kelbi, Mosswine and rabbit.
4. Hiking and Wall Climbing
5. A Test of Courage which will take place at night with a designated path route.
6. And of course, some ultimate frisbee and some treasure hunting to go along with it." Nagisa explained. "And, since a few of us have Pokemon, they'll also be training with each other in Pokemon battles."
"This was my idea, technically… I want to give my Charcadet a chance to experience a few fights." Masaru said.
"Sounds good!" Kotoko nodded.
At that moment, Junko stepped in. "Okay, so for today's activities, it's going to be some basic combat training. Each of the pairs, or trio, if you want, will work together to fight against their assigned supervisor. The first part of training will not use any weapons as you'll focus on improving hand to hand, though the second part will allow the use of weapons." Aaaand this is why I brought Yasuke along just in case things get too wild…
Nagito walked up. "After that's done, we'll be doing some treasure hunting. Each team will be given until six PM to search for "underground treasure" that you guys find valuable. To put it simply, valuable items can be found either unearthed or hidden in plain sight. Simple as that."
"Alright, sounds good!" Jataro nodded.
"Yeah!" Kotoko smiled.
"Let's do this~!" Mabel grinned.
Team Groupings:
Masaru and Kokoro - Komaru and Toko
Jataro, Mabel and Kotoko - Junko and Yasuke
Nagisa and Dipper - Nagito and Mukuro
And so, the first half of the day had everyone going toe to toe with the supervisors of the group, where they were quite skilled with their improved hand to hand combat… though Nagisa and Dipper struggled against Mukuro when she was in combat mode, with Nagito trying to control the inner beast within her. Luckily, the only weapon she brought with her (Thanks to Nagito's suggestion) was a plastic combat knife… which she promptly used to "kill" Nagisa and Dipper, and by kill, I mean she had them in a choke hold and everything, with Nagito trying to pry her off with a crowbar.
Luckily, Mukuro had released them.
"I was just going easy on you."
"Easy?" The trio asked with raised eyebrows.
Later, with the treasure hunt…
Masaru, Kokoro, Komaru and Toko found themselves a cave while exploring as they walked in to investigate, and found a truckload of Red, Blue and Green Shards. "Pretty~!" Kokoro and Komaru said in unison as they pulled them up while Masaru and Toko shrugged it off and helped out as well, including finding several Star Pieces.
"Uh…" Toko blinked, unearthing a Groundium-Z as she tilted her head. "I have… no idea what to do with this…" She said.
As Kokoro explored, her ocelot ears twitched as she turned her head to see two Pokemon approaching her.
"Luna Lun?"
"Sol…"
"Oh wow!" Kokoro said in surprise as a Lunatone and a Solrock approached her as she gave them a smile. "I'm definitely giving the Lunatone to Sayo later." She smiled and patted their heads. The Lunatone nuzzled her while the Solrock casually floated.
She snickered. "I wonder if these two Pokemon count as treasure." She joked.
"Helloooooo, what do we got here?" Masaru wondered, pulling up a Dawn Stone. "Hmm, well, I can give this to Laura later if she wants to evolve her Kirlia into a Gallade instead of a Gardevoir." He said.
He let out a groan. "Ugh, why can't I shake this feeling Cardin's gonna 1-Up me somehow? …Agh, i'm being paranoid!" He shook his head.
Group Two…
"How's your arm?" Yasuke asked as Junko had a bandage over her arm as they wandered into a quarry.
"Oh, I'll survive." Junko said. "I have to say, Mabel's pretty accurate with that grappling hook of hers."
"I didn't mean to scratch ya, I was just trying to pull your arm away so Kotoko could lay into ya!" Mabel said as she pulled out some Old Amber. "Oooh, pretty!"
"You're okay." Junko chuckled. "But yeah, I'm totally fine. Good call on bringing some bandages along."
"Better safe than sorry." Yasuke chuckled where nearby, Jataro found some more Old Amber.
"Might be useful for something." He said.
"Geez, a lot of Old Amber lyin' around…" Kotoko said while nearby, Junko pulled up two fossils. A fossilized Bird and a fossilized Dino.
"Huh… maybe I'll give these to Nagisa."
Group Three…
Up on the mountain paths, the guys, plus Mukuro stumbled across a truckload of Comet Shards. "Oh dang…" Mukuro said.
"I think we hit the jackpot." Dipper said.
"I believe you're right." Nagisa agreed as they went to pick them up while Nagito stumbled across a white Sparkling Stone.
"Oh?" Nagito looked intrigued as he picked it up. "Heh, I'm glad I listen to Nanami's game ramblings."
"What's up?" Mukuro asked.
Nagito turned around. "I believe we scored big time. A Sparkling Stone is a required key material needed to make a Z-Ring. Hmhmhmhm, I feel like I'm the only one who pays attention to our Gamer Girl's game rambles~"
Mukuro sweatdropped. "Hey, no fair. I try to listen! …She just goes way too fast for me sometimes…"
Nagito chuckled. "Perks of being one of the crazy ones~" He said.
"Is that what we're callin' it?"
Nagito smiled. "Well, I also join in on the fun. Pokemon Ultra Moon is quite fun if I say so myself… ah… if only my luck could get me past that pesky Ultra Necrozma…"
Later, around Six PM…
"Okay, so based on what we've all gathered…" Dipper said as he was evaluating the treasure they all received with Junko helping him double check. "You think this is right?"
"Yeah, that definitely checks out…" Junko nodded. I definitely had a feeling we ended up with a dud…
"Our team won!" Dipper said.
"Called it~!" Nagito smiled as Dipper and Nagisa high fived while Mukuro nodded in approval.
"Eh. It was fun!" Komaru smiled as Toko immediately handed the Groundium-Z to Jataro.
"H-Here. I-I think you'll have a better use for it than I would."
"Oh thanks." Jataro said.
"Here ya go, bud! You're gonna need this too." Nagito said, handing him the Sparkling Stone before wandering off.
"Oh!" Jataro smiled.
Nagito approached Komaru as she was looking over the value over the treasure. "Is this all of it?" Nagito asked.
"Yeah." Komaru nodded. "You think these will sell for a lot by the time we get back by Friday?"
"I'd believe so. Regardless, with the amount of money we'll receive from this, we'll definitely be filing this for the Future Foundation's budget."
"Yeah."
Nagisa approached Jataro with the fossils in his hands. "So… I think we ought to stop by E. Gadd's lab later to revive these." Nagisa said.
"Mhm. What do you think these will turn into?"
"I imagine these will turn into… oh… an Aerodactyl and… probably a Rampar-... something or other." Nagisa shrugged.
"Cool!" Jataro smiled.
SNAP!
THUD!
"OOOMPH!" A voice cried as they turned to see a tree branch had randomly fallen on Nagito.
"Oh my gosh!" Junko exclaimed.
"Ahehehe, don't mind me… my head broke the tree branch's fall…" He said before he fainted with swirly eyes around him.
Yasuke sighed. "I'll patch him up."
End BGM
Later that night, in their tents…
Tent #1: Masaru, Jataro, Nagisa and Dipper
Tent #2: Kokoro, Kotoko and Mabel
Tent #3: Junko, Mukuro and Yasuke
Tent #4: Komaru, Toko and Nagito
"Zzzzzzzz…"
"Mmmmmph! Gaaaaaah!" Toko sat up straight as she was in the middle between the duo as both Komaru and Nagito were snoring loudly. "How can anyone sleep through this!"
Tuesday - Noon
"What ya makin'?" Junko asked.
"Whipped Cream Curry. Gloria recommended this recipe to me." Jataro said.
"Gloria…? Why would she make something like that?" Kokoro wondered.
"She said she felt experimental and decided to make something new to her curry. Thus she made this." Jataro explained. "It actually tastes really good."
"...Did anyone else like it when they tried it?" Yasuke asked.
"Let's see, from the top of my head… Marnie, Hop, Victor, Neo and Bede liked it, so did Bea and Nessa. Team RWBY liked it, JINXY liked it especially Iris, JNPR loved it, CFVY liked it, ATMC liked it, especially Akame. I know Kate Bishop was rather fond of it, Thor thought it was excellent… and then of course, Byleth loved it-"
"I'm not surprised with Byleth. She and her brother loves anything that come their way food wise." Nagisa said. "Anyone else?"
"She had Samus taste it, she thought it was pretty decent. Shez thought it was wonderful… it's pretty well liked all the way around."
"Uh-huh… it seems rather odd to put whipped cream in curry." Junko said. "Did any of the Ultimates like it?"
"Ah, yes." Jataro nodded. "From what I gathered, Saionji thought it was fine, Mahiru kinda liked it, Nanami herself enjoyed it as did Hajime. To no one's surprise, Owari loved it a lot and nearly stole Gloria's pot, Ibuki thought it was strange but she enjoyed it… and that's all I can remember. Though I've heard Asahina decided to put it as a glaze on a doughnut and from what I've heard, she was pretty hyper for the rest of the day that Kyoko and Makoto had to restrain her."
"...How hyper was she?" Kotoko wondered.
BGM: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
That fateful day…
"I can taste the colors of the rainbow… I can smell time!"
"Eaaaasy now…" Kyoko said as she and Makoto held her down while Sakura pulled out the duct tape while the "glaze" on the doughnut was an inch thicker than she had meant.
Back in the present…
"Rumor has it that she put on more than she had realized." Jataro said.
"...I can confirm. That was… eventful…" Toko shuddered. "I'm still not sure how she managed to break free of that duct taped prison…"
Back on that fateful day…
Sakura held Aoi up in the air. "Calm. Caaaalm." She said, stroking her head.
"I think I'm up to do a hundred laps in an Olympic swimming pool! Is Rio still open? I want to see if I can swim without taking a breath! Or better yet, I wonder if I can walk on Rio's Olympic pool! You think I can swim through clouds? Oh oh oh oh! Better yet… I think I can swim to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in one breath! It doesn't look that deep! Ohohohoho maaaaan, I can see cotton candy dancing around and singing to me~!"
"Calm yourself. Deep breaths."
"I will not be restrained by this bulky Oreo golem! Let me go, I want to see if I can eat through this chocolate factory!"
Back in the present…
"She wasn't letting her go…" Toko shook her head.
"I've heard of sugar rushes, but I think Hina got hit pretty hard with that…" Komaru said.
"I remember when she got hit with a sugar crash, she drooled on Sakura for a few hours until she recovered." Nagito said. "...Or was it for a few days?"
"Pretty sure it was a few hours." Toko said.
"Ah, you're right… I'm thinking of something else entirely~"
"Well… I'm pretty sure I won't have anyone fall into a sugar rush." Jataro said as he gave everyone a bowl.
Everyone picked it up and hesitantly took a bite.
"...Oh wow! This is good!" Junko said.
"I can see why everyone liked it." Mukuro said with a smile.
"Mmmmm~! Delish!" Mabel smiled.
"I have to say, this isn't bad!" Dipper nodded.
"It's… decent." Toko said.
"...Hey Komaeda, are you feeling okay?" Komaru asked.
"Yes, I feel peachy. Why do you ask?" He asked as his eyes turned rainbow colored. "By the way, have you done something with your hair? It's all poofily pink! And Enoshima, I must say, your hair looks stylin' in purple! Aheheheh… oh look, a pink elephant!"
THUD
Nagito fell on his back.
Yasuke sighed. "I'll get him back to normal."
"I'll get my Poke Puffs… I'm sure it'll get him back to normal." Kokoro said. "...Hopefully."
End BGM
Wednesday - A Free Day
BGM: Dimble Woods
"Mela Melo Mel Mel~" Meloetta sang as she was helping Kokoro write a new song.
"Hmm… no, that's not the right tune for that…" Kokoro folded her arms, rubbing her chin in thought.
"Mel Mel Mela lota~"
"Ooooh, now we're getting somewhere!"
"Hmhmhmhm~" Mabel hummed as she was sitting on a rock making a new scrapbook, placing stickers all around while placing photos down in the scrapbook, photos resulting in: Selfies with a few cute Pokemon, placing a hat on Olaf that made him giddy, riding on Sven like a bucking bronco and Kristoff trying to contain her, though it was the former two's idea, placing some whipped cream and a cherry on top of Masaru's face with Kotoko and Jataro helping her out with mischievous grins, a selfie with her sporting an orange and red sweater after absorbing a Fire Flower with fireball accessories on her head while Dipper was waving his hand to extinguish the flame in his wrist, along with her family posing at Peach's Castle where even Peach was with them, amongst other pictures.
"Aaaaah, I love this place. How about you, Waddles?"
"Oink."
"I thought so~!"
With Nagisa, Komaru and Dipper, the trio were watching some Pokemon wander about with Dipper sketching an Aipom on a tree branch, where a Fletchling landed on his head as a Furret playfully crawled all over Komaru, causing her to giggle while Nagisa sketched a Snubbull and a Marill having a conversation while an Azurill playfully bounced on his head. A Pachirisu came running over out of curiosity.
Toko, Nagito and Yasuke were sitting together reading a novel titled: "The Legend of Zelda: Knights of Skyloft".
"This is a good read if I say so myself. Ieyasu's a good writer!" Nagito smiled.
"Eeeh… it's… fine, I suppose… Ieyasu's writing and narration skills are… impressive, to say the least." Toko mumbled.
"These illustrations are intriguing." Yasuke mused. "Whoever this Blanche girl is, these strokes are pretty impressive." He said, looking at one illustration where Weiss was fighting against Ghirahim in her Sheikah form.
End BGM
Junko and Mukuro were swimming together in the lake, the latter swimming underneath and coming across some friendly Bloopers and Cheep Cheeps, along with some Seaking…
…While Junko was lying on her back, staring at the sky above, deep in thought.
"A bit of flair?! You're making everyone fall into despair over this… what's worse is that you made Weiss fall into despair! That's unforgivable… you and your actions are causing everyone to panic. It's disgusting!"
"Nice speech. Tell me, is that you or the River of Lethe speaking?" Eggman's voice echoed.
"That was her speaking from the bottom of her heart. I can tell it's her." Chiaki's voice echoed as well.
"Oh really? This coming from the girl who dunked her in there. What kind of friend brainwashes someone?"
"That's enough!" Mukuro's voice echoed. "Junko's changed for the better. She's not brainwashed."
"How quick you are to deny it."
Junko groaned, putting her hand over her forehead. She was glad Chiaki got her out of that mindset… but she wasn't sure how long that'd last, given how Eggman's words stuck to her like glue.
She also recalled how everyone reacted to her coming back.
Some folks took it well, some weren't so thrilled with the idea and would "keep a close eye on her", even though later on, they softened up on her. She was most surprised with Hiyoko, of all people, giving her a chance.
Of course, there was Celeste who was ready to drink her blood, though luckily Death "dropped" his scythe.
And then there was Nagito…
"I find this ironic that you lost your despair from a magic river. It's not so different om how you brainwashed Class 77 to despair. Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Haaaa… I wonder if your change is even genuine. You're probably faking it. Nanami sees good in you, but I'm not one to fall for your little scheme oh so easily."
"Mmmmm…" Junko groaned, closing her eyes.
"...Am I just faking it or did I definitely change for the better…?"
Mukuro emerged from the water. "Aaaah…" She smiled and turned to Junko. "Junko…? You feeling okay?"
"I'm just… contemplating."
"Over what?"
"If my transformation really was genuine or not…"
"What are you-... oh." Mukuro frowned. "Are his words getting to you?"
"Unfortunately… I just… can't shake it off. I know you, Chiaki and Kyoko came to my defense but… I'm just… not sure if I'm myself right now. Of course, hearing what Komaeda had said to me as well-"
"Junko…" Mukuro frowned as she put her hands on her shoulders. "Sis, listen to me. You're you. Eggman's a dick and Komaeda… is… well, Komaeda. Dude's a dick too. Don't listen to them. You've changed… and I can tell that it's a genuinely heartfelt change. There's no way that the old you will ever come back… and if it manages to? I'm going to crawl my way through and pull you out by any means necessary."
Junko looked at her, tearing up a bit. "Sis…"
"I love you, and if, and that's a big if, if the old you comes back… I'll do everything I can to bring you back while kicking the old you to the curb."
"...Thank you…" Junko whispered and hugged her tightly. "I love you too…"
"I'm here for you… all of us are." Mukuro said gently, rubbing her back.
BGM: Iono Zone (Pokemon Scarlet/Violet)
"Ello, ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour! Your eyeballs are MINE - caught in my Electroweb! Whosawasit? Iono! We're live worldwide with another one of my awesome streams!"
Masaru sweatdropped. "Geez… I don't even know how you're a fan of a streamer who makes a lot of lame Electric-type puns."
Kotoko looked at him in annoyance. "Hey! C'mon, Masaru! You know that Iono's pretty cool and adorbs! Plus her "lame" Electric-type puns are hilarious too!"
"To you maybe! But not to me!"
Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Whatever, dude."
"-Galar's top supermodel, Alessandra, has been offered a deal to do fashion modeling here in Paldea, that's crazy! Not only that, but her brother Cian and her parents are also coming here! I wonder if she'll be a student in Naranuva Academy? …I wonder if I could run into her and interview her. Maybe we'll do makeup together! Maybe she'll give me fashion advice even though I'm fashionably cute~!"
Kotoko sighed happily. 'It's nice to watch the VOD…" She giggled. "I can't believe she was actually visited by Raihan! That social media post definitely went viral like crazy!"
Masaru rolled his eyes. "Oh brother…"
"Oh, I wish I can visit Paldea one of these days and meet Iono… I wonder if I can join one of her live streams or challenge her to a Pokemon battle…"
"-Apparently they evolved into some ancient Pokemon called Kleavor! KLEAVOR! Apparently they were a big deal back in ancient Sinnoh which was called Hisui back in the day. You heard that right folks! Clay just brought back an extinct species! Scyther now has two evolutions! That's pretty cool! I wonder who's superior… Scizor or Kleavor? I'll put up a poll for you guys after this stream so we can determine who's the better Scyther evolution!"
"Scizor." Masaru said confidently.
"According to the poll… Kleavor's ahead." Kotoko said.
"WHA?!" Masaru yelled in surprise as he pulled out his scroll and went into Iono's website.
Kleavor - 75%
Scizor - 25%
Masaru looked at the poll in disbelief, his eye twitching. "Stupid recency bias…"
End BGM
Thursday - Night time
Komaru and Toko's group went through the forest for their Test of Courage activity. As they walked through the designated route, Kokoro's ocelot ears twitched as she turned to see some bushes rustling heavily.
The group got in some fighting stances, with Toko bringing out the stun gun just in case. They didn't know what was about to hop out, but if it was a Grimm, they'd be ready to fight.
The rustling stopped… before a wild Pikachu hopped out of the bush.
"Pika Pika?" The Pikachu tilted his head before waving at the quad. "Pika Pika Pi!"
Masaru breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew… it's just a Pikachu…" He said as the Pikachu went on his merry way.
"Alright, we don't need to worry about any danger." Komaru said as they relaxed and went back to finishing their test of courage, then once they finished, they turned around and walked back, all (minus Toko) high fiving each other.
What they didn't notice was a large figure hiding far behind the trees, simultaneously making scorpion and snake noises.
Later, at camp…
Everyone was chatting amongst themselves while Jataro, Komaru and Toko were manning the grill. The former was busy making steak and mushroom skewers while the latter two were busy making vegetable skewers and grilled buttered corn on the cob.
"It's ready~!" Komaru said a few minutes later as they piled on their plates and began to start eating… until they heard distressed cries.
They looked up to see a limping Dodrio, a Marowak and even a Pachirisu as they looked battered and bruised, having scratches all around.
"What happened to those three?" Masaru asked with concern as Kokoro and Yasuke wasted no time in heading over to them to check on their injuries.
At that moment, they would see Suicune limping in from the bushes in the same state as the three other Pokemon. Upon closer inspection, Yasuke would see splotches of some kind of venomous acid on Suicune's fur.
"Come on, you guys. Right this way." Yasuke said gently as he and Kokoro, along with Meloetta's help, brought them over to the camp and started to patch them up with medicine and bandages.
Once they were all attended to, Suicune got up and attempted to walk away but Yasuke got in front of her. "Oh no, you don't. You're in no condition right now to go anywhere you want to."
Suicune said nothing as she gently nudged him to the side and tried to walk away, but staggered upon a few steps. Yasuke quickly caught the Aurora Pokemon. "I'm not gonna risk you straining yourself. Stay with us until you're fully healed."
Suicune stared at the Ultimate Neurologist, sensing that he wasn't gonna take no for an answer. She let out a soft sigh with a roll of her eyes before nodding. Mukuro hurried over as she and Yasuke slowly brought the Aurora Pokemon back to the group.
"Easy there…" Mukuro whispered.
"I wonder what happened…" Junko said.
"Perhaps we've some poachers among us." Nagito said. "Think about it. A three headed bird, a little dinosaur with mommy issues-"
"Maro?" Marowak gave him an annoyed side eye.
"An electrical white and blue squirrel and a dog-like Legendary Pokemon? I've a feeling they'd have a good price."
"I'd say Suicune's more of a leopard to me." Komaru said.
"Hmhmhm~ Oh, on the contrary, my dear Komaru… it's a dog. Our dear Nanami might think it's a leopard or some kind of Beast, but I, for one, believe it to be a dog."
"T-The face does look wolf-ish." Toko spoke.
"Not you too, Toki!" Komaru whined.
"I thought Suicune was a deer?" Jataro assumed.
"...A deer? Are you serious?" Kotoko deadpanned.
At that moment, Nagisa's scroll went off as he put it to his ear. "Hello?"
"I think Suicune is a tyrannosaurus!"
Click!
"...Was that Deadpool?" Junko sweatdropped.
"Perhaps we can put this debate to the test then. When Ruby Rose comes back helping Weiss getting her Rathalos back, I'd say we ask her what Suicune is though. She's a dog lover, so of course she'd think of Suicune as a dog." Nagito smiled.
Oh brother… Suicune rolled her eyes.
"I doubt it was poachers. There weren't any recorded incidents in Dimble Wood." Junko spoke up. "If I had to guess, these Pokemon were ambushed by a Grimm or a monster from the Monster Hunter world. Besides, I don't think poachers would throw acid on Suicune." She said, pointing to the acid on Suicune's fur.
"We need to go and investigate!" Mabel said.
"Whoa, hold up. It's too dangerous to wander around the woods in the dark. If whatever this beast did that injured Suicune, then I'm sure it'll have the potential to kill us instantly." Dipper explained. "We'll have plenty of time to do that in the morning."
"...Oh. Yeah. Good point!" Mabel nodded.
As they ate, Jataro had made extra and gave the Pokemon some food to which they happily ate up. Kokoro knelt down and handed Suicune a Vaporeon-themed Poke Puff. "Here, a get well soon gift." She said softly.
Suicune stared at the Poke Puff and looked up at Kokoro before giving her a gentle smile and nibbled on the Poke Puff. Kokoro smiled and gently petted the Suicune as Meloetta did the same thing, softly humming to relax the Aurora Pokemon.
A few moments later, the Dodrio and Marowak snuggled up next to Jataro, letting him catch them with two Poke Balls that Kotoko had given them, naming the Dodrio "Kenzo" and the Marowak "Callen".
As for Pachirisu, Nagisa caught it as it was the same Pachirisu from before that he decided to play with. The Pachirisu, named Ratatosk, got out of his ball and started to crawl up on his shoulder and started to affectionately nuzzle Nagisa's cheek. "Pachi Pach~!"
"Wh-what the…?!" Nagisa laughed. "H-hey…! S-stop! Th-that ti-tickles!"
Mabel giggled. "I think he likes you, Nagi~"
The next morning…
The group, alongside a healed up Suicune, wandered around Dimble Woods to investigate. As they looked around and split up, they discovered a group of Treevils lying on the ground. Junko and Yasuke went to investigate the bodies.
BGM: Environmental Mystery (Metroid Fusion)
"How long have they been out?" Jataro asked.
"This one's fresh." Junko said.
"Same with these ones." Yasuke spoke up.
Junko shifted her eyes to some acid on a dead Treevil. "This is the same acid that was on Suicune last night… whatever's going on, it's not pretty."
With the others, Masaru and Komaru spotted some large gashes left behind on some trees and boulders while Nagisa and Dipper spotted another Treevil corpse that was snapped in half and was dissolving in a pool of acid.
Nagisa grimaced in disgust. "What kind of monstrous creature did this…?"
"I don't know, man… but whatever it is… I don't want to know."
"Pachi…" The Pachirisu shuddered on Nagisa's shoulder.
Nagisa smiled reassuringly as he gently scratched the Pachirisu's chin to comfort him. "Don't worry, Ratatosk. I promise I won't let anything hurt you."
Suddenly, they all heard Suicune growling as they all turned to see her, where she quickly took off running in a different direction, prompting everyone to follow Suicune.
End BGM
At a large clearing, everyone had caught up to Suicune who was glaring harshly at a cluster of trees. Kenzo and Callen joined Suicune and glared at the cluster of trees. The group instinctively brought out their weapons or squared up, with Masaru, Kokoro and Kotoko calling out their Pokemon to fight.
At that moment, the trees in front of them started to snap away and swayed as a Death Stalker emerged from its hiding spot with a freshly killed Treevil in its pincers.
However… this was no mere Death Stalker, where instead of a stinger… the tail had the head of a King Taijitu.
BGM: Boss Battle (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
Toko paled at the sight of the beast. "Wh-wha-... Wha-what… WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"
"That's something you don't see every day!" Komaru exclaimed.
"A Quickstriker!" Junko said.
Toko gave Junko an incredulous look. "S-Seriously…? Quickstriker…?! Y-You're naming that Grimm NOW of all times?!"
"Well, we have to call it something!" She retorted.
"Save the name calling for later! We've got a hybrid to take down!" Mukuro said as Dipper brought out two Fire Flowers and tossed one to Mabel, who eagerly absorbed it and quickly got in a stance with fire conjuring in her hands as Dipper's hat turned orange as Dipper got in a stance as well.
The Quickstriker tossed the Treevil's corpse to the side after evaluating what was in front of it as it let out a Scorpion/Snake hiss.
End BGM
BGM: Sandy Plains, Domain of Dust and Desolation (Monster Hunter Rise)
Two-Headed Terror - Quickstriker
The Quickstriker moved forward, as it was a bit faster than normal Death Stalkers as the snake head lunged and chomped down, but Suicune quickly avoided the attack as the snake head chomped down into the dirt.
The Scorpion, meanwhile, used its pincer claws to swing around, where Mukuro jumped back as she pressed a button on her phone. Immediately, a drone came flying over to her location and dropped a locker next to her as she opened it up and pulled out an AR-15 and started shooting while the scorpion proceeded to block Mabel and Dipper's fireballs.
"Junko, grab one of my weapons!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Junko grabbed a shotgun and aimed, firing at the snake head as the Quickstriker turned to the Hope Sisters as the snake head shot acid right as Junko kicked the door closed as the locker was struck by the acid. Thankfully, the locker was impenetrable as Mukuro pressed another button as the drone turned into battle mode and started peppering the Grimm hybrid with machine gun fire.
"Touya, Fire Spin!" Masaru ordered.
"Charcaaaaaa!" The Charcadet cried, unleashing Fire Spin on the Grimm to trap it while Kokoro's Plusle and Minun used Helping Hand on everyone to give them all a boost. Callen unleashed Bonemerang on the snake head while Kenzo used Acupressure, then Drill Peck into the scorpion.
Toko electrocuted herself with her stun gun to let her other side come to play as Genocider jumped up and threw down scissors everywhere, only for the scissors to bounce off of the shell of the scorpion. The Quickstriker spat acid at Jill, but she casually avoided the attack.
"Spitting acid at me on the first date? You gotta buy me dinner first, sweetie… if you can survive that long! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Komaru quickly shot at the Grimm with a few Knockback bulelts before hitting it with Burn, with Mabel and Dipper helping her out as Nagisa and Masaru both swung their weapons from the side, thankful that Kokoro was keeping the snake head busy with her arrows.
Kokoro dodged the snake head lunging at her as she fired arrows into the eyeballs and jumped back, only to trip on a rock. "Wah…!" She yelped as the snake head seemingly smirked and spat acid on her, which immediately broke her aura upon contact. "AAAGH!"
"KOKORON!" Kotoko yelled as Suicune's eyes widened.
"Shit!" Mukuro immediately ran to Kokoro's aid, dodging the swings from the pincers while Junko covered her, all the while Yasuke finished mixing up some medicine. He gave it a good sniff before gagging at the smell of it before he got close to the Grimm and splashed the medicine on it, which exploded upon contact that knocked the Grimm back as he had put some Fire Dust in it.
Yasuke quickly got out of the way to avoid being hit by the Grimm, quickly making a concoction for Kokoro while Suicune angrily used Aurora Beam at the Quickstalker, then Nagito fired his pistol at the Grimm.
Mukuro caught Kokoro and quickly put her behind some rocks. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… I guess…"
"Stay here. I'll cover you." Mukuro said, quickly reloading as she turned around and fired as Kokoro aimed her Photon Bow and fired as well.
The Snake head locked eyes with Suicune as it spat out acid at the Pokemon… but Suicune was prepared this time, activating Mirror Coat that bounced the acid back and struck the tail of the Quickstriker. The Taijitu hissed, seemingly mocking Suicune for missing with a smug grin on its face.
The snake head lunged toward Suicune, but the acid had dissolved the neck to where the head came flying off as the head went flying over Suicune's body, the latter not flinching as the head landed behind her, disappearing.
The Death Stalker let out a surprised scorpion hiss as a result where it growled, proceeding to try and clobber them all with its pincers, all the while Kotoko took a deep breath. "You son of a bitch…" She whispered as she got in a stance, remembering what her uncle had taught her as she immediately lunged, her arms gaining pink aura.
The Death Stalker swung its pincers at her, grabbing Kotoko easily and hissed, slowly crushing her and using her as a shield to stop everyone from harming it… until Kotoko wiggled her arm free and punched as hard as she could to break the pincer off of the scorpion before she turned around and delivered a strong heavy punch, sending it crashing into a boulder as Suicune used Blizzard proceeding to freeze it solid and then Kotoko jumped in and punched the frozen Grimm to shatter it.
End BGM
Kotoko immediately ran to check on Kokoro. "Kokoron, are you okay?"
"I've… been through worse…" Kokoro said as Suicune came over and gently nudged her. She smiled and scratched her head. "...It's odd… my aura is quite strong, how was it able to shatter it in one attack?"
"I think that acid's more potent than we thought." Yasuke said as they all nodded.
"Come on, let's head back to camp." Nagisa said.
Later, back at the camp site…
"See ya, Suicune!" Kokoro waved as did Kotoko and Mabel as Suicune disappeared into the forest. Mabel then put in a picture in her scrapbook of her posting a selfie with Suicune looking at the camera curiously.
"Another for the scrapbook~!" She said before she helped out to help everyone pack up.
Nearby, Nagisa and Junko were together as they were in a video call with Kyoko, Ozpin and Port.
"As you can see, Kotoko had managed to set up a video recording of the fight. I'm not sure how she managed to do it, but she did." Nagisa said as they watched the video in question.
"Curious… I've never seen a Death Stalker with a King Taijitu head… that's a bit disturbing." Kyoko said.
"Yeah, we recently found some Pokemon… or in this case, they found us last night where we healed them up. Even Suicune was banged up by that thing." Junko explained.
"That would explain why Suicune was with you. That reminds me a few weeks ago when I came into contact with Suicune as we banded together to fight-"
"Port, not now." Ozpin and Kyoko said in unison, causing him to sweatdrop.
"Right, my bad…"
"To make matters worse, we discovered a bunch of Treevil slaughtered by that thing. It even managed to knock out Kokoron's aura with one attack." Nagisa explained.
"If it's strong enough to knock out Miss Kinokoshi-Neves' aura, then I can imagine it would do a number on even the strongest huntsman." Ozpin said.
"We're going to have to be careful… because if you were able to come into contact with this, then that would mean there might be more Grimm of that nature." Kyoko warned. "Toad Town will definitely need more defenses with this."
"Indeed. I have a feeling that Salem is now upping her game by experimenting on Grimm…" Ozpin sadly remarked.
"I am with Miss Kirigiri. I've a feeling this will not be the first and last Grimm hybrid species we'll see in the future." Port said.
"Just come back home safe, okay?" Kyoko requested with a hint of concern in her voice.
"We will." Nagisa nodded.
Meanwhile…
BGM: The 13th Discretion (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"Hmmm…" Salem mused as she had watched it all happen from her Seer with Aria, Donovan and Tyrian watching. "That was quite disappointing how my first Hybrid was terminated…"
"I'm sure it was a successful trial run, m'lady." Donovan said.
"Indeed, it was. Despite it failing, I feel satisfied with the results given how it gave them some trouble…"
"So what now?" Aria asked.
"I'm going to brainstorm some ideas." Salem smirked. "With all these monsters skulking about in different worlds, I'm sure to get a few ideas."
"Hahahaha! How exciting!" Tyrian smirked sadistically.
"Hmm… that red haired individual… what did she call that hybrid again… the Quickstriker?" Salem mumbled to herself before smiling. "I like that name."
This Gaiden idea was made by DarkRebellion!
Ibuki: *giggling* You couldn't resist that phone call, could you?
Deadpool: I had to throw it out there!
Pffft... anywho, how was y'all's Christmas? I got a few shirts, hoodies, a lot of chocolate that i've decimated already, a Mandalorian calendar aaaaand Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe since I missed out on it during the Wii era. I've currently finished World 6-2. It's a lot of fun! Mech and Sand are ridiculously fun! (Leaf, meanwhile, is bad... sigh.)
I could've played this earlier this year, but uh... Metroid Prime happened.