Author's note: The benefit of Sherry's Drunken Sailor is that it gets you absolutely smashed without any alcohol, meaning there is no hangover.
When Sirena woke up, she found herself on the ground, and upside-down, with her rear sticking up and her legs above her face. She quickly burst into rose petals and got back up, before anyone could see her in such an embarrassing position. Once that was done, she tried to recall the most recent events, and while it was difficult, she could remember some foggy moments, and hear her voice speak as if it was controlled by someone else.
"And, how do you feel?" Argent asked, and Sirena noticed him sitting on his curled-up tail across the room.
"Weird," Sirena answered and asked, "Did you understand what I said?"
"Not a thing," Argent answered, "In fact, if Cinder hadn't told me otherwise, I wouldn't even have realized those sounds were words at all."
"I see," Sirena said, and asked, "How long was I unconscious?"
"About half an hour," Argent answered and asked, "Do you have a headache or something?"
"No, I don't," Sirena answered, "However, this was an experience I could have gone without."
"Yeah, people tend to say that," Argent said, "Anyway, you got a text earlier today. No idea what it is, though."
"Well then, let's see," Sirena said and pulled out her scroll to check her messages.
"And, what is it?" Argent asked.
"Trouble," Sirena answered, "Call your subordinates, and hurry. The enemy is building their forces and likely plans to attack the festival. If we don't act fast, we'll have another Beacon on our hands. I'll have Mithala protect the academy, just in case there are Grimm." She forwarded Jay's message to Argent and Talia, then put her scroll away and used Aura Amp on the residual aura in Cider's original swords. After checking the message, Argent put his scroll away again and evaporated, leaving through one of the air ducts. Mithala crouched down and put her hands on the floor. A purple energy extended from her hands and covered the entire building, making it harm any Grimm within three kilometers for a year. However, she found that both the duration and range drained her aura individually, before she even decided on the amount of damage. She entered her Alpha State and poured all of her aura into increasing the damage.
~o~
Wolfram got a message on his scroll and had Alya send him to Menagerie with her semblance, claiming it to be a family emergency. He left the White Fang's Menagerie base and headed over to Argent's house, went into the hidden basement and changed into a more inconspicuous outfit. Once that was done, he snapped his fingers, and five large blue flames erupted around him. When they died down a few seconds later, another faunus appeared in each of their place. They all wore casual clothes, albeit for different areas of Remnant, making some of them stand out more than others. Some of them quickly changed into more local attire.
"Hello, everyone," Wolfram said, "Smoke is already here, but he's not much use at the moment, so we'll have to make up for it." The assassins all headed into different tunnels, leading them to secret exits all across the city. They reunited halfway to the corrupted Anemone Stinkhorn mushroom, close enough to smell its foul corpse-like stench, and met up with Argent, Sirena and Talia.
"I see you made it," Argent said, "Good work, Blaze."
"Thanks, boss," Wolfram said, "As requested, I brought Swarm, Spark, Shade, Chill and Scale."
"Good," Argent said and deployed the two claws from his weapons, "Now get back to my place, in case we need to retreat."
"Got it," Wolfram said and headed back to Argent's house, while the group charged the enemies. As they got closer, everyone covered their mouth and nose with a mask to block out the stench, and once the monsters saw them, they attacked. Swarm held out his hands and released countless ethereal bees, which homed in on the large fly-like monsters. Spark held out his left hand and released small green sparks, which hovered in place and exploded when the monsters flew into them.
"Take that," Argent called out jumped one of the monsters, driving his weapon into its head and killing it. Sirena blocked the monsters' attacks and used her semblance to deal damage, only occasionally knocking them aside with air-goo blasts from her trident. Every time she did, she created a sphere of Cutting Winds where she hit the enemy. Chill drove his great sword into one of the monsters and cut it in half, and the blade was covered in a white glow. Talia appeared above one of the monsters and struck its weak points, breaking its body apart and killing it with minimal effort.
"Swarm, Scale, to me," Sirena ordered, swung her trident and jammed it into the ground, setting up a Fiery Terrain and covering the surrounding area in ethereal flames. The bee and iguana faunus both hurried over to Sirena, and their semblances were augmented with fire-dust. They sent swarms of fiery bees and barrages of flaming scales at the enemies, setting them on fire.
"Great idea," Argent said and rushed over to Sirena, then burst into living fire and engulfed the monsters. Talia manifested in the Fiery Terrain and turned into a fire elemental, possessing the fire from the monsters' corpses. When the monsters saw they were outmatched, they tried to get away, but Sirena burst into rose petals to get in front of them. She created a series of air-goo Glyphs and fired air bursts at the monsters, triggering Cutting Winds every time. When one of Swarm's bees hit one of the spheres, it caused a small explosion and chain reaction, setting all the spheres ablaze.
~o~
Sherry and Ravi walked through Kuo Kuana, enjoying the festival to their fullest. They had visited a stall selling small animals, and determined that the Floral Spray cup even made animals calm down, though the effect wore off afterwards. They sat down on a bench and looked at Sherry's scroll.
"So, what do we do next?" Ravi asked and looked at the images on the scroll, eager to try out another cup.
"I think this one might be interesting," Sherry answered, "The Zielwasser is also one of the more useful ones, provided it works."
"Don't worry, all the others worked fine," Ravi said and thought back to when they made someone burp bubbles, or turned someone's skin pink.
"True, but those were prank cups," Sherry answered, "The Zielwasser would be the first to actually help whoever drinks from it, and I don't know if my semblance can even make those kinds of cups."
"I guess that's true," Ravi said and asked, "By the way, what does it do?"
"It's supposed to let you see the trajectory of ranged weapons," Sherry answered, "That way, it would be easier to aim."
"Alright, let's see that bad boy," Ravi said, and Sherry put her scroll away. She held out her hand, and a cylindrical cup manifested, with her holding it. The cup was copper-colored and had a black rim, with four lines extending downward, resembling a cross-hair. Sherry poured some water into it and drank from it.
"Well, here goes," Sherry said, put the bottle away again and made the cup disappear, then both girls walked over to a shooting stall.
"Hello there, you two," the ocelot faunus running the stall said and asked, "Would you like to give it a try?"
"Yes, three shots, please," Sherry answered and handed the woman thirty Lien.
"Alright, here you go," the woman said and handed Sherry a simple rifle that used air pressure, as well as three hard plastic balls, "Everything you knock off the shelf belongs to you." Sherry loaded the first plastic ball, and when she aimed with the gun, a thin dotted line appeared in her vision, showing where the bullet would go. She pulled the trigger and knocked a stuffed Beowolf off the shelf.
"Awesome," Ravi said, "Now get that Grimm Reaper figure." Sherry loaded the second ball and aimed again, easily knocking the figure of a cloaked and masked person dual-wielding scythes off the shelf. The woman running the stall picked up both items and put them aside, then waited for Sherry to take the next shot. After some consideration, Sherry settled on a stuffed Sabyr, knocking it down easily, too.
"Impressive," the woman said, genuinely surprised that Sherry managed to land all three hits. She handed her all three prizes, and the duo went on their way, with Ravi carrying the Grimm Reaper figurine.
"Why didn't you go for any of the bigger ones?" Ravi asked after they walked for a bit.
"Because these stalls are always rigged," Sherry answered, "Take that one over there, for example." She nodded towards a booth they walked towards.
"The one with the balloons?" Ravi asked, "Also, how do you know this?"
"My mom runs one," Sherry answered, "There are magnets behind the red balloons, which repel the darts, so no matter how accurate you are, you'll never actually get the big prize."
"That feels like it should be illegal," Ravi said, "I mean, people pay for a chance to get these prizes, so the person running the stall, taking people's money, shouldn't mess with the games." They walked past the stall, and Ravi caught a glimpse of someone failing to pop a red balloon.
"Yes, but it's considered an open secret," Sherry explained, "No one will deny that the games are rigged if you ask them, and the people running those stalls generally assume that everyone at least heard the rumors. Because of this, only the main prize is impossible to get. After all, each stall only ever has one main prize, but dozens of the rest." Ravi looked around, and realized that each stall really only had one instance of the main prize.
"Let's go somewhere else," Ravi said and stormed off, forcing Sherry to try and keep up. The duo left the festival grounds and ended up on an elevated part overlooking Kuo Kuana. In the distance, they saw a large fire erupt, and decided to do something about it.
~o~
Hinata got a notification that her cursed graveyard was completed, meaning that every time a monster died, a vengeful spirit would appear and haunt the dungeon. Just as she wanted to keep playing, she got a text from Jay, asking her to meet up. She saved the game and headed out to meet with the others.
"So, what's the situation?" Hinata asked when she reached the meeting point, from where the group could see the whole city.
"There's a fire," Ravi answered, "It hasn't really grown since we spotted it, but it's better to be safe, and try to keep it from reaching the town. Jay and Sakura already confirmed that it's just this one spot, so I suggest we trap it there somehow, and wait for it to die down naturally."
"Any ideas how we should do that?" Plum asked.
"We'll have to stomp out any vegetation," Ravi answered, "That way, it won't be able to spread any further."
"I don't think there is any vegetation, to be honest," Sakura said, and everyone gave her dumbfounded looks.
"True, there's just some rocks," Jay added, "Nothing flammable anywhere near that place."
"W- well, we should still keep an eye on it," Ravi said, a bit flustered, "Also, Hinata, try to get close enough and use your semblance to trap some dirt in bubbles, then blow them towards the fire. Ochre, Eva, transmute some dirt and shoot into the fire. Just in case."
"Well, alright," Hinata said, "But if the teachers get mad, it was your idea, not mine."
"Actually, I have a better idea," Jay said, "If Ochre and Eva use rocks instead of dirt, they can block off the air flow to the fire in some directions, creating a stronger suction from the remaining areas. That way, Hinata's bubbles will be sucked into the fire all on their own."
"And I can get y'all close enough," Fidda said and used her Bubble Wing semblance, surrounding Hinata, Ochre and Eva in energy bubbles and lifting them off the ground. Fidda walked over to the edge and spread her eagle wings.
"Alright, but take Plum, Fihr, Jay and Taimi with you," Ravi said, slowly getting more confident, "Just in case you get attacked out there." The four of them walked over to the edge, and Fidda used her semblance on Plum and Fihr, while Jay and Taimi spread their wings, ready for take-off.
"I'll come, too," Giallo said, "I'm sure my Life Support semblance will be useful when getting this close to a fire of that size." Fidda sighed and used her semblance again.
"Anyone else?" Fidda asked, paused for a moment and said, "Alright, last chance. If anyone else, anyone at all, wants to help, say it now or we'll leave without you." A lizard sunning on a nearby rock hissed, and after a brief moment of confusion, the students laughed it off and the group left without the animal.
~o~
Fidda, Taimi and Jay led the way, with Hinata, Ochre, Eva, Plum, Fihr and Giallo following them, surrounded by silver energy fields. The terrestrial and aquatic faunus struggled a bit with controlling the bubbles at first, but had quickly gotten the hang of it.
"Man, this is awesome," Plum said and spun around in the air.
"You can save the victory roll for later," Hinata said, but suddenly started losing altitude.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ochre asked as she started to descend as well.
"My semblance will wear off in about twenty seconds," Fidda answered, "I suggest you all land and let me reapply it." The group landed in an open area, with the winged faunus remaining airborne, and after Fidda reapplied her semblance, they continued.
"This should be close enough," Jay said when they reached the fire, "Ochre, Eva, go and get some rocks. Hinata, over there is good." The terrestrial and aquatic faunus landed, and Ochre and Eva started to transmute rocks into bullets and darts, respectively.
"Here you go," Giallo said and used his Life Support semblance, surrounding Ochre, Eva and Hinata's heads with a pink energy bubble each.
"Thanks," Ochre said and approached the fire, shooting at some large boulders, as well as the rocky floor. Everywhere she or Eva hit, a small rock appeared, and they could see loose sands drifting over and around them, but also creating some turbulence that slowed down airflow. Meanwhile, Taimi, Plum and Fihr remained vigilant, in case anything attacked.
"Alright, here goes," Hinata said and held out both of her hands. She produced a stream of red bubbles from her palms, each filling with as much sand as it could bold before floating upwards. The massive fire crackled and popped, then suddenly flared up and got much hotter for a few seconds. A large fireball rose upwards and sucked in any surrounding air, including Hinata's bubbles.
"Everyone alright?" Jay asked and said, "I think that's enough."
"I'm fine," Hinata answered, "But I'd like to keep going. I'll surround the entire thing with bubbles, and then we'll trigger another fireball to make it suck in air again."
"Any idea how we trigger a fireball?" Jay asked.
"No," Hinata answered, a bit disappointed in herself, but hoping that someone else had the answer. However, no one spoke up.
"Alright, then let's get back," Jay said. Fidda provided the terrestrial and aquatic faunus with a Bubble Wing again, and the students returned to the ledge, even though they hadn't made any progress towards containing the fire.
~o~
In the evening, Argent, Sirena and Talia returned to the school after attempting to destroy the giant fungal growth at the island's shore. All three of them, as well as the assassins Argent had called as backup, had disgusted looks on their faces.
"How does anything stink this bad?" Sirena asked as they passed some students.
"The anemone Stinkhorn uses it to attract flies," Talia answered, "They are attracted by the smell of carrion and pick up the slime, which holds the fungus' spores, thus helping it to reproduce."
"Oh, hello Professors," Ochre said and asked, "I know it's probably none of my business, but where is Professor Bolt?"
"He's busy," Sirena answered.
"I see," Ochre said and asked, "Anyway, where were you?"
"In olfactory hell," Talia answered, "That mushroom is one of the worst-smelling things I know. And I know what literal hell smells like."
"There are things that smell even worse?!" Sirena asked, "What could possibly smell worse than that thing?"
"Surströmming," Talia answered, "There's actual laws regulating it in Vacuo, and very tight controls for any transport, because a single spilled can can caused a mass panic with how bad it smells."
"It tastes pretty good, though," Ochre said, "And once you get used to the smell, it's not even that bad."
"You can actually handle bad smells?" Argent asked, "Even that?"
"Sure can," Ochre answered, "Omer, too. We kinda grew up around lots of foul-smelling things, so we're pretty much immune to them."
"Then we just need a way to protect ourselves from that stench," Argent said, "Once we figure that out, we can launch another assault on that mushroom, and destroy it once and for all."
"Sherry may be able to help," Ochre said, "She has this cup that makes people smell really nice if they drink from it, and I'm sure that it can overpower the stench."
"Well, alright," Argent said, "But now, we need to recover from that. Please excuse us." The three teachers walked away, and looked through anything they could to find something to counter the mushroom's horrid stench.
~o~
When Amity arrived back at Salem's castle, it teleported Mercury, Tyrian and Tock to the ground, and all three entered the castle. They walked past Lethena, who was busy feeding one of the babies, and went straight to Salem's throne room, where they found Salem, Marcus and Arthur.
"You're back," Salem said and asked, "What did you find out?"
"We lost another Rakshasa," Mercury said, "It tried to infect Nora, but something went wrong, and it tried to flee from her. Then, she killed it."
"Don't be ridiculous," Tyrian hissed, "The Rakshasa would never run from an ordinary human. You must have messed up."
"Well maybe she ain't as ordinary as we thought," Tock said, intriguing Tyrian somewhat, and calming him down again.
"Whatever the case," Salem said, demanding everyone's attention, "We cannot let Ozpin continue. Go to Vacuo and use that combination of Infection and Ex Machina to create more Grimm. Marcus, go and take Arthur's semblance, and give him Ex Machina in return." Marcus got up and held his hand in front of Arthur's face, and emitted a red fog from his palm that drew out Arthur's semblance, causing his eyes to turn gray. Then, he emitted another red mist, flowing in the opposite direction, and turning Arthur's eyes orange.
Author's note: Swarm and Scale both have offensive semblances, but while Scale shoots scale-shaped projectiles in a single direction for a lot of damage, and can pierce some stuff, Swarm has homing projectiles.
Also, the students try to help. It didn't do much, but it's the thought that counts.
I also had planned to have the students adopt the animal, but dropped the idea.
Sirena still hasn't learned everything about the surface, and it looks like she's finally found something that's worse than anything comparable she has under water.
Salem is trying to hinder Ozpin in any way she can, in order to regain control and force him back into he reactionary position, blissfully unaware that Ozpin himself has no idea what the grand plan is.