Author's note: Remember when Weiss and Sirena first fused?
Donna swam through the cold early morning waters, using both her hydrographic sense and electroreception to keep track of her surroundings. She took a quick detour around Patch, and saw that the sharks made from corals were still protecting the area. However, when she took a closer look, and counted, she realized that there were more than before. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light from behind. When she turned around, she saw a woman in a diving suit holding an under water camera and staring at her in a mix of awe and shock. Donna saw her reflection in the woman's visor, although she could still somewhat make out the woman's face.
"Guys, you have to see this," the woman said, contacting her friends. Donna tried figuring out what to do, but decided not to eat the woman, even though that made things a lot more complicated. Suddenly, she remembered where she had seen the woman before.
"Ginger?" Donna asked with a raspy voice, startling the woman.
"Y- yes," Ginger answered, still in disbelief, and asked, "You can talk?"
"Donna speak," Donna answered, "Donna, friend. Ginger good."
"I… I don't know what to say," Ginger said and asked, "Did you make these sharks? What are they? Where are you from? What are you?"
"No," Donna answered, "Other semblance. Kill Grimm. Donna home, secret. Donna… mermaid. Donna leave." Before Ginger could respond, Donna swam away, and when Ginger's colleagues arrived shortly after, they found her still in awe at what had just happened. The group surfaced again and wrote a report on their findings.
~o~
Donna swam into a deep dark ocean trench, internally cussing herself out for not only being seen by one of the most well-respected marine biologists in all of Remnant and having her picture taken, but also talking to her. As she dove into the depths, the water got colder and darker, until she couldn't see the tip of her horn any more and had to rely purely on her extrasensory abilities. In the distance, she saw Grimm, as well as energy blasts, and decided to not arrive empty-handed. Donna created three Combat Drones and sent them downwards, and the Drones helped the Soraklians fight off a small pack of Razorfin.
"Halt, who are you?" Marinus Tidebreaker, a large stingray faunus and the captain of the royal guard, asked when he saw Donna approach. He pointed his halberd at the mermaid, and she stopped in her tracks so as to not provoke them.
"Donna, friend," Donna answered, "Know Ruby, Sirena." Hearing that, most of the guards calmed down a little, though Marinus still kept his weapon aimed at her.
"Donna, correct?" Marinus asked, "How do you know our queen?"
"Friend," Donna answered, "Queen help us, we help queen. Donna come, ask help, offer help."
"What kind of help do you need?" Marinus asked.
"Air-goo," Donna answered, "Sea weed thread."
"And what kind of help do you offer?" Marinus asked. Donna could tell that he was agitated, and if it wasn't for her silver eyes, she would probably already be fighting these people.
"Power Root," Donna answered, "Plant-dust kill Grimm, make ally stronger. Donna show." She held out her right hand, and Marinus hesitantly handed her a vial of plant-goo. Just as Donna inspected the vial, the guards all raised their weapons again. Donna looked behind herself and saw a pack of Razorfin approach. She swam into the pack to draw their attention, and the shark-like Grimm tried to surround her. She got away with Quick Travel and led them upwards, then swam an arc and headed back down.
"What is she doing?" Marinus asked as he and his men tried to properly aim and the Grimm without hitting Donna. Just as Donna was about to hit the ground, she pushed off the ocean floor and swam to the side. When the first Razorfin got close to the ground, a Landmine exploded and created a dozen small wooden spikes, which shot upwards and dug into any Grimm in their way. As the Grimm struggled to avoid crashing into each other, Donna created three Magnet Spheres and sent them toward the Grimm, repeatedly hitting them with leafy green energy blasts that turned into wooden chips on contact, and killing the entire pack.
"Donna kill Grimm," Donna said and swam up to the guards, "Donna friend." The guards looked at where the Grimm had died, and noticed the countless sprouts on the ground. Donna gave Marinus the vial of goo, which was only slightly less full than before.
"What are those things?" Marinus asked, pointing at the sprouts.
"Power Root," Donna answered, "Make ally stronger. Make more sprout, cover more area. Sprout live longer, effect stronger." Marinus looked at the sprouts, then back at Donna.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Marinus said, "You wait here." He swam away, leaving Donna with the other guards, unsure of whether or not she should attempt small talk. A few minutes later, Marinus returned with a spindle of air-goo thread, and after Donna set up multiple plant-goo Combat Drones in important areas, he gave her the spindle and she returned to the surface.
~o~
When Donna returned to the surface, she spotted a pack of aquatic Grimm and decided to kill them. Before she could kill the fist one, however, it was impaled by an arrow made of a nearby huntress' aura. When Donna looked out of the water, she saw Aela, and decided to petrify the Grimm with her silver eyes, copying the woman's semblance in the process.
"What was that?" Aela asked and looked around, but Donna was already gone. She swam through a river until she reached a pond, then used her Animal Control semblance to make a passing squirrel run to the nearby village and get Persimmon to follow it. At the same time, she made a family of bears drive a pack of Beowolves to the pond. Once everything was set up, she waited for everyone to arrive.
"This isn't good," Persimmon said when he arrived, and readied his bow when the Grimm focused on him. Just as he was about to fire the first arrow, Donna petrified the Grimm, copying his semblance in the process. Before Persimmon could spot her, Donna swam away again, sharing both semblances with Weiss and finally heading to Vale.
~o~
A modified police van drove through Vale's residential district, with Yang controlling the remote-controlled machine gun on the roof. A small pack of Beowolves charged at the vehicle, only to be skewered by the spiked bull bar mounted to the grille.
"This feels incredible," officer Crimson said, "Thanks." The vehicle stopped on an intersection, and officer Crimson checked the built-in computer one more time, setting the route to where a whole platoon of Atlesian Knight 300s had been destroyed during cleanup recently.
"You're welcome," Yang said and swung the turret around to gun down a Creep roaming the streets. Each hit triggered Spectral Assault, and when the Grimm died, it exploded in golden flames that stuck to the edges of broken store windows, and other things that could harm Grimm.
"Anyway, let's go," officer Crimson said and continued driving down the road. Yang kept looking in the rear-view mirror, pondering the best way to take advantage of Daybreaker's evolution.
"Maybe I should ask Ruby," Yang said to herself, catching her police friend's attention.
"About what?" Officer Crimson asked.
"About Daybreaker," Yang answered, "You know, those golden flames that appear when I kill Grimm. After the semblance evolved, these flames now stick to anything that can harm Grimm, and if Grimm take damage from that, they are also set on fire, basically. Like this." She gunned down a Beowolf they were about to run over, and it exploded in golden flames that coated the bull bar as they washed over it. The rest of the pack was set ablaze, triggering Spectral Assault, and died almost immediately.
"I see," officer Crimson said, "Yeah, it would really be good to take advantage of something like that." Suddenly, an Ursa ran out of an alleyway and ended up on the van's spikes. The van all but stopped, and the Grimm was coated in golden flames as it was dragged along, dying shortly after.
"Can you stop over there?" Yang asked as they approached a weapon store, and said, "We need to reload our turret. They make their own ammunition from raw materials, so we can use the fire-dust to refuel, too."
"Got it," officer Crimson said and parked close by the shop, Guns 'n Lilies. Yang got out first, and set up a Combat Drone to cover one possible access point, then gave the police the sign that the coast was clear. The men and women left the back of the van and hurried into the shop, while Yang kept an eye out for any Grimm that might approach.
"I've got earth-dust rounds," one of the officers said as he and a colleague carried a large crate out of the store and brought it into the van. They attached the end of the belt of bullets with the beginning of the new ammunition, and once the team refueling the van was done as well, everyone got back inside. Yang reset the counter on her scroll, adding the new bullets, and gave the go sign.
"Take a left," Yang said as they approached an intersection, "It's safer that way."
"But don't you want to kill Grimm?" Officer Crimson asked.
"I want you guys to survive," Yang answered sternly and said, "Left."
"Well, if you insist," officer Crimson said and turned into the side street. As the van drove around the corner, Yang rolled down the reinforced window, held out her hand and sent a crystal-dust Combat Drone down the road. She sent Ilia a message to send ice-dust Shooting Stars to lure in Grimm, then rolled her window back up.
~o~
Cucurbita Orange walked down a road in Mantle, heading to school like on any other day. However, the streets were lined with Atlesian Knight 300s, which were armed with ivy bullets, since people had become more aggressive lately, and subduing them was difficult.
"This is bad," Cucurbita thought, "People get angry at each other for no reason, Grimm are coming back, I can't do anything about it." Suddenly, she bumped into Forest.
"Sorry," Cucurbita said and wanted to walk around him.
"Watch where you're walking, kid," Forest said, "It's not just your sidewalk, you know." Cucurbita paused for a moment, realizing he was one of those who got angry more easily now.
"I said I'm sorry," Cucurbita said and tried to back away, but Forest took a step closer to her.
"So?" Forest asked and said, "You still need to learn to respect those around you."
"Leave her alone," Snow, one of Cucurbita's classmates, said, and when Cucurbita looked behind herself, she saw everyone from the Mantle Protection Club. Faced with two dozen angry children, Forest backed away.
"Alright, have it your way," Forest said, turned around and walked away, leaving the children a bit shook, since they didn't want to find out if they could have won. Cucurbita was the exception, since she knew that Sirena would have saved them.
"Thanks guys," Cucurbita said and asked, "But, why did you come here?"
"You're welcome," Snow said and answered, "Honestly, I don't know. Something just told me to come here, and I did. But let's hurry, or we're going to be late for school." The children hurried to get to school, and Cucurbita realized the power that came with the Recruitment semblance that Sirena had her copy. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it.
~o~
Sirena fell backwards into her chair and let out an exhausted sigh. She still wore her standard attire, a blue tank top, copper-colored skirt held by a black leather belt with multiple pouches attached, and detached sleeves, with her dark brown hair held into a ponytail by a black bandana.
"I am not cut out to be a teacher," Sirena said and reached for her coffee mug.
"Neither was I," Argent said, "But that's why I prepared for the job in advance. Plus, since you were so late to show up, the rest of us had to cover your shifts, so we worked harder than we were expecting."
"I know, I know," Sirena said, "But as I told you before, I was not expecting to live this long."
"I still don't understand how that works," Argent said and asked, "But can't you use Mentor a couple of times to get into the teaching mindset, or something?"
"That could work, yes," Sirena answered, "However, I would have to teach people something they don't know, obviously. And it would have to be a lot of people, so the effect is strong enough."
"I see," Argent said and asked, "We have some students who have trouble unlocking their aura, would that help?"
"Probably, yes," Sirena answered, "I'll go meet with them now." She got up and left the office, and when she opened the door, Niob came in to take a break himself. She checked in with the students, either one on one or in small groups, and used Mentor to teach them how to generate an aura, giving them some advice along the way.
~o~
Donna jumped out of the river between Vale's residential and industrial districts, and reverted back to Weiss. She put the spindle of air-goo seaweed thread into one of her pockets and headed back to the train station. Weiss sat down on a chair and sunk into her soul core, where she took a copy of the blueprints for her Arma Gigas summoning Glyph, as well as Sapphire Arrow.
"Alright you two, time to get comfortable," Weiss said as she put the two dodecahedron shapes on a large table carved out of pure white marble. Applying some of her magic, she found the parts of both that defined the weapon, and made a new summoning semblance that would summon an archer.
"This… isn't working," Weiss said to herself when she realized that the semblance refused to solidify, and asked, "Why isn't this working?" She took a small marble carving of her Arma Gigas and moved it like a doll.
"You are too focused on the form," Weiss answered, speaking in a lower voice as though the figurine was talking, "Think only of the goal, and not the way there. Maybe that'll work."
"I guess you're right," Weiss said in her normal voice.
"Of course I'm right," the Arma Gigas responded, "I'm a part of you."
"Well, I've also been wrong about a lot of things before," Weiss said, "About people, too."
"But you were right to change your ways," the Arma Gigas said, "So in the end, you were right again."
"You make a lot of sense, surprisingly," Weiss said, "Also, I can't believe I'm having a conversation with the representation of an aspect of my semblance within my own mind. Seventeen year old me would've admitted herself to the nearest asylum if that happened."
"Good thing you've grown, then," the Arma Gigas said, "Anyway, let's get back to work on that new semblance. And remember, focus on the function, not the form."
"A good thing indeed," Weiss said, "Thanks." She put the figurine away again and turned her attention to the new semblance. She closed her eyes, banished the image of a bow-wielding Arma Gigas from her mind and just focused on making an archer summon, then opened her eyes again and got to work.
~o~
The police van stopped near a pillar supporting the highway running through Vale, and Yang opened fire, taking down several Beowolves roaming the area. Every hit set off Spectral Assault, and every kill Daybreaker. When the turret ran out of regular bullets and started shooting earth-dust bullets, Yang used Deathzone on them, making the resulting boulders harm Grimm within a ten meter radius for a minute.
"Brace for impact!" Yang called out, shooting at a Deathstalker as it charged the van. The Grimm protected itself with its large pincers and rammed the van, shaking it and knocking it back quite a bit, before the accumulated damage from Deathzone and Spectral Assault killed it.
"Everyone alright?" Officer Crimson asked and looked into the back of the van, and her colleagues gave a thumbs up. Yang continued firing at the Grimm, aiming at a different spot after every kill, since Daybreaker would finish off the weaker Grimm. One of the officers pulled out his tablet and activated a camera drone to survey the area.
"We're definitely at a hot spot," the man said, "We're close to where that Paladin went on a rampage shortly before the festival, and the drivers' negativity from back then still seems to draw in Grimm. Not to mention all the damages. Wait." Suddenly, the camera feed died. Just as Yang was about to ask what was wrong, several Geist joined the mixed pack. Their bodies were made from broken concrete pieces with steel bars sticking out in some places, but also included damaged Atlesian Knight 200 units.
"Hold on to your butts, I'm getting us out of here," officer Crimson said and drove past the Grimm. Yang smiled as her old friend yanked the steering wheel and practically threw the car around at top speed, while the men and women in the back held on to whatever they could. Yang turned the turret around and opened fire, slowing down the Grimm as they gave chase.
"That's what I call a thorny devil," Yang laughed as the van effortlessly plowed through broken-down cars, dumpsters, and other obstacles, due to its reinforced bull bar. As they approached a damaged part of the highway, Yang had an idea and swung the turret around again and aimed at a chunk of concrete hanging off the highway. She shot the steel bars, breaking off the concrete as the van passed underneath, causing it to fall.
"We're going to die!" One of the officers called out as he saw the big chunk of concrete fall down. Officer Crimson sped up and drove under the concrete chunk and drifted, bringing the van to a halt just as the concrete chunk crushed several Grimm under it, including two Geist.
"You were saying?" Officer Crimson asked, and gave Yang a high five. The rest of the pack approached, and officer Crimson pressed a button to open the back of the van, then grabbed the shotgun from the weapon compartment and got out herself. The other officers drew their handguns and left the van, since they didn't have much of a choice without their driver. With the piece of concrete and van slowing down the Grimm, among the other stuff laying around, the officers fired at the Grimm, while Yang engaged them in close-range combat. Out of nowhere, Yang got a message from Ruby, and opened it after killing an Ursa.
"Lots of Grimm coming your way," Ruby wrote, "What are you guys doing?" Yang stuck a bomb to a Beowolf and threw it into the other Grimm. When the bomb exploded and killed the Grimm, any surrounding Grimm was engulfed in golden flames.
"Sorry, busy," Yang responded, "Fighting Grimm." She took a hit from a Geist and slammed into a nearby concrete pillar, and all five of the massive Grimm focused on her while the Beowolves, Creeps and Boarbatusk focused on the police officers.
Author's note: For those who need a refresher on who Cucurbita Orange is, she's the last surviving member of Mantle's royal family. Once she's old enough, and certain other criteria are met, she'll become the queen by default, since there are no older members of the bloodline. And due to how Atlas' constitution is written, that means she has the same authority as all 5 council members together.
Sirena is using her to both destroy the democracy in Atlas, and put a silver-eyed warrior on the throne. Cucurbita uses Iceflower's semblance quite liberally, so when she has children, they'll have silver eyes.
And sure, the council can just not do what she says, but that's where Recruitment comes in: Cucurbita already has 24 people in her ranks, and can issue orders remotely. Once she claims the throne, everyone she recruited will throw their support behind her.