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Vale City, near the Beacon Academy, Gayatit 52 Treichleam, an hour after breakfast (Tōkyō time: Monday 2 April, mid-evening; London time: Monday 2 April, an hour after lunch)…
"It's alright. I got ya, kiddo. I got ya…"
"Are they going to be alright, Qrow?"
Hearing that question from the long-haired felinoid Faunus that was the teammate of both of his nieces, the raven-haired middle-aged man with the five o'clock shadow and the sleek raven hair looked up from the stretcher carrying the unconscious Ruby Rose to gaze into Blake Belladonna's amber eyes. "She's just exhausted, kiddo," Qrow Branwen assured the younger woman as he reached over to squeeze her shoulder. "You sure you saw what you did last night?"
Blake shakily nodded. She was still rattled from her former lover chasing her down to the Academy while working in concert with the mysterious Cinder Fall and her friends. Never mind what that encounter did to Qrow's older niece. Wincing, she gazed over to see a whimpering Yáng Xiǎo Lóng being helped into an ambulance by her father Tàiyáng and some Atlesian medics. The normally boisterous blonde hadn't said a thing when rescue parties raced in to help the huntsmen who remained to protect their school get clear of the place before the Grimm swarmed over the property.
Then again, it was quite understandable.
One glance at Yáng's severed right arm spoke volumes.
"I'm not sure what I really saw," the native of Menagerie then warned, shaking her head. "I can say that it was a bright silver light. And when it burst from the tower, the Grimm just screamed in pain being exposed to it."
With that, her voice trailed off as she turned to gaze wide-eyed towards the distant CCT tower. Qrow looked himself, grimacing on seeing the petrified wyvern frozen on the sides of the tower that served as Vale's main link to the outside world. It had been the devil's luck that some of the braver medics from Atlas — no doubt driven by shame over what happened to their android troopers the previous evening — were able to find Ruby unconscious near the tower's summit. There had been no sign whatsoever of Shannon Ozpin or Pyrrha Nikos, who had been confirmed to be in the tower before everything went nuts. Nor was there a trace of any of the potential instigators of this madness.
"Silver eyes…" the veteran of Team STRQ breathed out.
That made Blake perk. "Ruby has that power?"
"Her mother had it," Qrow said, smiling as his mind's eye called up images of the late Summer Rose. It didn't surprise him the daughter of the first leader of the White Fang knew about that. "Never saw her pull THAT off…" He nodded at the wyvern. "…but Oz always believed the potential was there. She'd be proud of what the kid did."
Blake nodded before turning to see the medics load Ruby into the same ambulance bearing her sister. Blake perked on seeing Yáng gaze her way for a moment, then she relaxed as the blonde gave her an understanding smile before she was gently embraced by her father. "Where are you taking them?" she asked.
"Back to Patch. They punched way above their limits last night no matter what, so they deserve a break," Qrow noted.
Blake nodded before both people perked on hearing the yipping noise of Yáng's and Ruby's pet corgi Zwei as he trotted over from the gaping crowd of residents towards the ambulance. As the medics smiled on seeing the dark-haired canine approach his beloved mistresses, Zwei stopped, his ears perking. He then gazed towards Blake, making the feline therianthrope tense; even now, she still found it uncomfortable to be close to the dog. Zwei gazed at her for a moment before he barked once, then he turned and hopped into the ambulance, moving to snuggle close to the unconscious Ruby as one of the medics closed the back door. With that, the machine — it was a converted Bullhead air transport — lifted off from the park, turning to head west over most of Vale city towards the open ocean beyond.
She watched it go, shuddering. Qrow was quick to notice. "What's wrong, kid?"
She took a deep breath. "You know Adam Taurus, don't you?"
"Know of him. Haven't met the asshole personally," he affirmed, a scowl crossing his face. She had told him about the man's involvement in his elder niece losing most of her right arm. And given his involvement with the radical elements of the White Fang, his public notoriety had been increasing by leaps and bounds over the last while. Since he had been spotted by several huntsmen during last night's fun, Adam was now marked as a prime suspect in the attack that effectively shut down Beacon's CCT tower as well as the whole of the Beacon Academy. "Bet he's laughing his ass off right now at how much he hurt you." He gave her a knowing look. "You going to try to talk your dad into taking charge of the White Fang and kicking Khan off her high throne?" he wondered.
"It's either that or Adam will do it," she hissed. Glad people were giving her some space, the daughter of the founding leader of the White Fang grimly added, "I've heard rumours from friends who don't care for Adam that he might depose Monica's aunt as leader of the White Fang, then launch a 'crusade'…"
"'Monica'?"
Blake perked before her cheeks reddened. "Um…she's an old friend…"
Qrow gave her a knowing look…
"Blake!"
Both people's heads jolted on hearing that shout, then they turned before a grinning woman about Blake's age jogged over, a delighted smile on her face. "Monica?!" Blake exclaimed before she was nearly crushed by Monica Khan's embrace. "What in the name of the gods are you doing here…MMPH!"
Qrow smirked as the obvious relative to the White Fang's current leader — right down to the perky cat's ears, much less the tiger stripe tattoos on her exposed chocolate-brown skin — nearly sucked the breath out of his nieces' friend with the kiss she just delivered. Before he could make a snide comment, a chuckle escaped the approaching fellow in the upscale businessman's suit with V-neck sweater, glasses protecting his blue eyes. "Friend of yours, Miss Khan?"
Monica awked before she pulled away from the slightly dazed Blake, then she turned to her new employer. "I'm sorry, Mister Thomas!" she apologized, bowing to the man Qrow immediately recognized as Isaac Thomas, founder and president of Renaissance Industries. From what he had learned from Ozpin, the native of a village in Vacuo now led a small team of scientists intent on developing technology that had no dependence on Dust whatsoever. Given the group was already selling several models of "power suits" — in effect, exoskeleton robots that could be used for both construction and other purposes — fuelled by some strange silvery crystal substance akin to Water Dust even if its effects were far different, Renaissance Industries was making quite the killing in the local scene. Even more so, given that the company was moving to wean all of Remnant from dependency on Dust…!
"Friend of yours?" Isaac asked again, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
Monica chuckled before she did introductions. Blake blushed as Isaac's eyes widened when her name was mentioned, though Qrow was quick to sense that such was forced. As a scowl crossed the veteran huntsman's face, Isaac bowed over Blake's offered hand as he gave her a courtly kiss, making the raven-haired teen fluster even more at such a classic form of greeting. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Belladonna," the "Vacuan" stated. "I'm glad you survived last night's 'fun'." He turned to gaze towards the Beacon Tower and its currently frozen resident. "I trust your friends are alright."
Blake shakily nodded her head. "Yeah. Ruby's and Yáng's father just took them back home." Here, she indicated the dot in the western sky where the medical Bullhead could still be seen. "Weiss' father is on his way here to pick her up and have her taken back to Atlas City. Given what happened last night…"
"Which was not the fault of either General Ironwood or his people," Isaac cut in, raising his voice to ensure others would hear. As the Atlesians present all perked in delight on hearing that assertion, the Wise Lone Sage added, "I saw it myself! Those android soldiers were behaving perfectly until someone decided to hack into their systems and send them against the huntsmen and others who were trying to protect people throughout Vale." As people gazed his way, the native of Queens then shrugged. "It's easy for people to get confused when they don't have all the information."
"Excuse me, Mister Thomas. Do you have an idea WHO did that to those warriors?"
Everyone turned as a stern-looking middle-aged blonde with green eyes behind reading glasses came up to join them. "Professor Goodwitch!" Blake hissed on recognizing her combat teacher.
A nod answered her from Glynda Goodwitch before the primary combat teacher at Beacon gave Qrow a strained smile. "Professor," Isaac gently scolded. "You can't expect Mister Branwen to NOT come when he heard what happened to his nieces. He has as much right to be concerned as Mister Xiǎo Lóng."
That made Glynda perk before she nodded as Qrow gave the New Yorker an odd look. "Yes, you're right, Mister Thomas," she affirmed. "Now that Miss Xiǎo Lóng and Miss Rose are heading home for some rest, what of Miss Schnee, Miss Belladonna?" she then asked as she gave Blake a curious look.
"Preparing for her father's arrival, Professor," the native of Menagerie warned, a wry smile crossing her face. "Given what's going on now between Atlas and Vale, Daddy Schnee wants to make sure his daughter stays safe." A snide look crossed her face. "Instead of becoming an embarrassment…"
"Not that he wasn't much of a person anyway," Monica sneered.
Glynda perked on noting Blake's current companion. "A friend of yours?"
That made the raven-haired Faunus blush. "We're…old friends, Professor…"
Qrow snickered. "'Old friends'…!"
"Qrow!" Glynda snapped.
"Bloody hell! This whole damn place REEKS! Did someone cut open a damned sewer pit here?!"
Isaac perked before he looked over his shoulder. "Ah, Neville! Just in time!"
The natives turned as a man about Blake's and Monica's age approached from the direction of one of the large land cruiser transports brought in from Renaissance Industry's main factory site near the edge of the Forever Fall Forest at the northern end of Vale City; said trucks had been used to help transport a platoon's worth of powered suits to man the barricades blocking the grounds of Beacon Academy. Dressed in rather plain clothes with a curious cut that made the natives blink as they wondered where he came from, he had a slender foot-long stick-like device in a holster strapped to his left arm, said rod made of reddish wood with a silvery stylized handle. He had well-groomed dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, possessing a firm, muscled body that made many women, human and Faunus alike, stare in appreciation; both Monica and Blake were two. "Came as soon as I got your message, Isaac," the future lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom of Holdenhurst back on Earth stated as he shook Isaac's hand. "Bloody smart of you to call me into this mess. I can't believe the STENCH that's coming from the grounds of that school over yonder!"
He nodded towards the Beacon Academy. "You can actually smell the Grimm?" Monica wondered.
The now-OWL student at Hogwarts in Scotland — who was in the first week of the two-week Easter break between the winter and spring terms, to say anything of the Triwizard Tournament — winked at her, causing the dark-skinned Faunus to fluster. "Can't you, miss?" Neville Longbottom asked.
"My friend here is a dedicated botanist," Isaac immediately explained as he waved to his friend. "He's got such a refined nose when it comes to all forms of plant life that he can tell when anything is affected by the Grimm or not. According to him, their stench can be quite pungent if you get a whiff of it in the right way."
"Damn straight about that," the current incarnation of the Master of Plants, Ukor'be Dumdyatosi ("Vinclozolin"), affirmed as he tried not to allow his face to scrunch up too much.
Tene lomher'buo, Trivia Vanille…!
Everyone perked on hearing that echoing voice boom in their ears, such seemingly emanating from the industrial district at the west end of Vale city. "Oh, hell…!" Isaac hissed.
"Someone else is here, mate," Neville warned…
Around the same time, within the Central Sauna Range east of Vale city (Pensacola/Davenport time: Monday 2 April, an hour before breakfast)…
"So, what brought you boys over to this planet, huh?!"
Chuckling, the part-Samoan resident of Pensacola who had worked as part of Florida Championship Wrestling under the name "Roman Leakee" for almost two years knelt, beckoning the pair of Yizibajohei soul wolves whom he just found in a clear field within a vast forest closer to him. Immediately, the two ghostly timber wolf-like beings yelped in delight before they moved to draw in the powerful scent of the man who became their latest alpha shortly after his release from the Edmonton Eskimos in 2009. Gazing at the clear day overhead, Joseph Anoa'i could only nod in appreciation. Save for the moon that looked like someone detonated the mother of all antimatter bombs on it to turn it into a permanent crescent, this place reminded Roman of the countryside around the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The smell though…!
Roman scowled as he allowed his meta senses to reach out and scan the forest currently around him. The stench that was making his nose twist in clear disgust was all too recognizable. It was some high-density form of naquadah, invented by the so-called "Ancients" to power their Stargate network millions of years ago and later co-opted by the Goa'uld to help power their vast and diverse war machine. And while the "false mesonium" — as many people on Yiziba often nicknamed that material — wasn't truthfully harmful, it didn't take the former football player and leukemia survivor much to realize that someone was twisting and warping it into something that was potentially dangerous…
"NO!"
The raven-haired twenty-something's head snapped around as the soul wolves by his feet snarled in anticipation of a new feast just as a teenage girl came racing out of the nearby tree line at speeds way beyond human norm, a beautiful rainbow-like stream of energy marking her wake. As Roman's eyes took in the obvious cat tail with the rose-white fur sticking out from the girl's buttocks — to say anything of the funky clothing she was wearing, not to mention the roller skates she had on her feet, which seemed to have no problem moving through uneven grass-topped soil! — a chorus of howls and snarls made the Floridian then focus on a platoon's worth of onyx-black beings with silver skull-like armour plating their lupine-like heads, sharp spikes and claws projecting from their bodies.
As the soul wolves roared on seeing MORE of the soul-less creatures infecting this planet, Neon Katt twirled around to skate backwards, spinning her specially-modified fighting sticks to send waves of Ice Dust at the attacking beowolves. "Damn it!" the native of Atlas city snapped in the direction she came. "Step on it, Flynt!"
In perfect answer, a concussive wave of sheer sound projected from deep within the trees, causing the beowolves to shriek as most of them immediately spun around to face their new attacker, bellowing agony-filled challenges. Roman winced slightly as that wave of noise washed over him; it packed quite the punch, but he'd been through worse during vacation trips in the Battlezone on Yiziba over the last few years while he learned the master the power of the Spectral Hound of the Dark Gaol, Rimna (the "Grimm"). Noting several of the dark creatures were still chasing after the girl trying to super-speed herself from danger, the football player-turned-wrestler instantly dropped to a right-handed three-point stance, his dark hazel eyes glowing star-bright as he allowed his spirit-shredding powers to form a corona of energy around him. As soon as one of the attacking creatures got close, he lunged.
"HEY, MISTER! GET OUT OF…!"
An explosion of eldritch energy like a geyser into the sky caused Neon to stop, gaping in disbelief as the guy in the black sleeveless form-fitting uniform speared THROUGH a beowolf, physically ripping the dark creature in half! As the Faunus dropped to her butt in disbelief at such a sight, the couple of lupine-like Grimm howled their outrage at the fact that yet ANOTHER human had dared to kill one of their number.
"Whoa…!" the Atlesian fighter gasped in disbelief.
Of course, the soul wolves that had been brought here hours earlier didn't care to have their pack alpha be attacked when he was thrashing the undead beasts infecting this planet.
As Neon watched, the silvery beowolf-like beings lunged at their darker opponents, jaws snaring the Grimm by the neck and biting hard. As her team leader Flynt Coal came charging out of the woods, his modified trumpet at the ready, both beowolves disintegrated from the bites from the mesonium-powered Yizibajohei spirit hunters who returned from forgotten legend to scour a bleeding world clear of drifting souls during the Starvation Times.
Such acts by the visiting spirit-hunters made the other beowolves scream in outrage…
"JOE! WATCH YOUR SIX!"
…then the heads of two such creatures exploded thanks to bright white bolts of pure power smashing into them from the other twenty-something man who just appeared at the tree line off to Neon's right in a flash of energy. As the two huntsmen watched wide-eyed, Roman spun around, making a slashing move with his arm to send a burning wave of power through several more Grimm while his co-worker from Buffalo in Iowa used his own telepathic/psychokinetic "dagger shots" to behead a few more. "Oi! You guys in this fight or what's the story?!" Seth Rollins demanded.
"BEHIND YOU, MAN!"
Even as Flynt's warning shout echoed over the field, the man born Colby Daniel Lopez dropped to the ground in a somersault, getting clear just in time as a screeching imp fused with an equine Grimm leapt over the Iowan. Then, just as the creature was directly overhead, a titanic burst of energy escaped Seth, burning through the equine Grimm and sending the now-wailing imp right at Roman. The Floridan ex-football player lunged up into the air, driving his exposed right arm into the imp's throat in a perfect flying clothesline! Such a vicious blow decapitated the beast while Roman dropped to the ground before facing the few surviving beowolves, who were now faltering on realizing that these two humans with the very agonizing mineral stench emanating from their bodies were WAY more dangerous than the two petty human huntsmen they had ambushed moments before.
Sensing their intentions to press the fight from what served as their brains, Roman snarled before he flung his arms back and howled to the heavens. As Seth braced himself for what he knew was coming, the ground around his co-worker was instantly cloaked in silver mist before a PACK of silver ghost-like wolves lunged out to charge the Grimm. The natives squealed on realizing they were now outnumbered by the aliens, but they couldn't back away in time before the soul wolves were on them, biting and slashing them to ashes while the two Atlesians they had been hunting just stood there and gaped in disbelief at the savage display of the Yizibajohei spiritual version of "survival of the fittest".
In a moment, it was all over.
As the squeals of the last of the beowolves were cancelled by the snarls of the wolves ripping them into nonexistence, Seth walked over to stand close to Roman, his mind reaching out to scan the creatures. "They feel like magical golems in a way, Joe," the current incarnation of the Assassin of Dynasties, Tutouo Rier'bo ("Kingslayer"), commented.
"They shouldn't exist at all, Danny," the Spectral Hound snarled as his eyes flickered from their normal hazel to the burning silver that heralded the use of his spirit-shredding power which could wipe out all forms of non-corporeal life within immediate range of him. "Some damned Ori experiment, I think…"
Seth moaned. "Oh, of course! The goddamned Ori were here! Nice!"
"The One Above the Gods…!"
Both Americans perked before they turned…
…before they blinked on seeing the starstruck, almost reverent look on the cute teenage girl's face. Before either could ask what was going on, the dark-skinned man in the nice clothing and the fedora on his head blinked as he came over to join them. "That's just a LEGEND, Neon…!" he protested.
Neon shrugged, waving to where the soul wolves had finished off the last of the Grimm before they moved to trot over to join their pack alpha and his friend. "Then how can you explain THAT Flynt?!"
"Okay! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Seth cut in, holding up his hands to calm the excited girl down. "Pretend we're not natives of this planet, miss! Which we aren't, by the way!" he added, making Neon gasp as Flynt's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What the heck did you mean by 'One Above the Gods'…?"
Tene lomher'buo, Trivia Vanille…!
Both Terrans-turned-Yizibajohei perked on hearing that from the west. "Conservator," Roman warned.
"Isaac wouldn't start Gifting people this soon!" Seth protested.
"Yeah," his co-worker warned before kneeling to gaze at one soul wolf, who instantly perked like a playful puppy getting attention from his mother. "Can you go find our new friend?" he asked.
The creature yipped in delight before he sniffed the air, then turned to race off to the west. Before either fighters from Team FNKI could say a thing, something seized them in silver energy…
Inside a warehouse in Vale City's industrial district overlooking Patch Bay, minutes later…
Nesu…YO'OR'BEMYU!
A rasping howl of breath escaped the shuddering native of the more affluent sections of Vale as the energies of the Gifting faded into nothingness, allowing the lone witness to this event to clearly see Neopolitan in the uniform of the Ballerina of the Final Darkness, Yo'or'bemyu ("Danzatrice"). Such was a form-fitting white-silver affair with matching belt and boots. The material that went into Neo's clothes seemed like the frailest of silk at first glance. Leno Lu'umlo knew the cloth that went into the just-Gifted mercenary's suit was the strongest form of tree sloth silk from the ancient forests of the western equatorial continent, which was hardened with ruby mesonium that would make such resistant to anything save a weapon forged from the densest version of the Atom of True Life.
Speaking of which, space-warps appeared to allow Neo a chance to retrieve a virtual armoury of onyx-black long dirks that the Ballerina of Death used when she engaged in fight scenes. Those weapons — no doubt lovingly cared for and sharpened by the current incarnation of the Master At Arms and Yiziba's supreme weaponsmith, Hutelem (the "Weaponeer") — had been used by all the incarnations of Danzatrice since the first one rose in the long-lost nation of Tutota R'batae Kutotuto, the first such country on that planet to launch intensive studies in metahuman enhancement over two sagas ago. Back then, the original Danzatrice — a very striking twenty-something named Weiseema Simyaame, Leno then recalled — was a simple performer at a popular opera house in the capital city of R'buoletona; today, that location was known locally as simply "Habitation Two" and was understood to be a major haunt for top-name heels on Yiziba. Weiseema was also quite the promiscuous woman as well, having many lovers among the government and business elite in R'buoletona; this would ultimately save her as the head of Kutotuto's internal security ministry at the time of the Freedom Parade saw to it she would be empowered by the Great Crystal and trained in the use of fighting daggers and swords. So armed, the ballet dancer would become a professional mercenary who was paid top money to keep people safe…before the very concept of "money" lost all meaning around the same time that the governments of Kutotuto and other nations effectively collapsed in the first seasons of the Starvation Times.
A mercenary's Gift for a professional mercenary.
There was a beautiful sense of balance in that, the current incarnation of a far-left preacher from the northern polar continent nation of Nesetimtuto knew.
WOW! ME LIKE!
Leno then jolted on seeing what looked like a hand-painted SIGN now in Neo's hand displaying that message. The Valean blinked in confusion before she stared at the sign. Surprised that she now had another way to "speak" beyond her scroll — though how she would use something like THIS when she was in the middle of a fight scene mystified her — Neo then wished the sign to shift into her personal stuff-space pocket; such was something ALL Named Yizibajohei could make use of as it was a built-in function of one's uniform. Once it was away, she took a deep breath before she gazed on the Mad Prophet of the Future. Her heterochromic eyes seemed to lose focus for a second; noting that, Leno smiled as his own telepathy sensed the influx of memories where Neo's past incarnations had encountered his own past-selves. After a moment, she nodded as the sign came out again. STILL TRYING TO MAINTAIN THE GREAT BALANCE, HUH? she thought out through her new "speaking" platform, her eyebrow arching knowingly.
"It is needed now more than ever, my dear," he stated as he walked over to sit on a chair beside a worktable; the warehouse had been chock-full of stolen and scratch-built Paladin-290 battlesuits that had been employed by the White Fang in their part of last night's events. Waving her over to join him, he added, "You won't know this as your immediate past-self had returned to the Great Crystal by then, but one of the Nameless went and adopted a child from the World of the Keystone Jewel eleven seasons ago, pre-Gifting her to become the new Tuyuki. She was able to persuade the child to hold off on being properly Gifted until she was mature enough to mentally accept the Gift."
Neo blinked before she nodded. MAKES SENSE. SO, WHAT DID THIS KID DO?
"She started a ceaseless casting drive on that planet to have many Named lines restored to keep that world protected from the umale on nearby planets who would covet it for whatever fool thing struck their fancy," the reborn preacher explained, making the mercenary scowl in disgust. "Almost all of them became faces or anti-heels. Would you believe that even Litronie Erba of all people is an anti-heel?!" As her eyes went wide on hearing that — the reputation of the Archangel of Mortality was known to ALL Yizibajohei, Named and Nameless alike! — he added, "She even works as a personal ASSASSIN to the leader of her home nation on Earth, in fact! Could you ever imagine such a thing?!"
She gave him a sympathetic look. YOU MUST HAVE GONE NUTS WITH THAT GOING ON!
"Indeed, it was maddening…"
The crashing sound of a door being smashed inward caused both to look over…
…then Neo scowled as a slender, muscular man with windswept auburn hair barely masking two bull-like black horns projecting from the temple stormed in, followed by a baker's dozen goons in the fighting uniforms of the White Fang. Behind his own Grimm-like mask, Adam Taurus' still-intact blue eye went wide on seeing the mute mercenary that worked for that prick Torchwick and some middle-aged man in a purple jumpsuit. The change of clothes from Neo's standard, pink-trimmed white tuxedo jacket and form-fitting black pants tucked into white button calf-high boots was jarring, especially when one saw the two dozen or so black dirks in their sheathes hanging from straps around her lower legs, upper arms and her waist. "Who the hell is this, girl?" the current field leader of the White Fang angrily growled as his hands immediately rested on both of his chosen weapons. "He was never here last night…"
In a proverbial flash, Neo was right in his face, causing the bovine therianthrope to falter suddenly at such rapid movement. Her hand came down to gently slap his forehead as the sign came out. DOWN, STUD! OR I'LL TURN YOU INTO A STEER AND CHOP YOU UP FOR THE GRIMM TO SNACK ON!
As Leno chortled on seeing that while his eyes glittered in anticipation at the start of a cathartic fight scene which would help deal with his friend's bout of post-Gifting shock, Blake Belladonna's former lover didn't disappoint. "You BITCH!" Adam howled as he moved to snap-draw Wilt and behead her.
KK-KKRACK!
All the White Fang members seeing this gasped in shock on seeing the crimson chokutō-like blade fly away from their leader's hand after Neo snap-drew a dirk. That movement had also sliced Adam's mask in half, causing the parts to drop to either side of him, his good eye going wide with shock on realizing how close he came to having his SKULL sliced open. Before he could react, Neo then somersaulted back to get clear of his hands, snapping up her umbrella — which had been dropped just as the Gifting got underway in earnest, so it wasn't consumed when her clothing was changed to her battlesuit — and unfolding it, twirling around to intercept several shots from one woman using a machine pistol. "I KNEW we should have put that bastard Torchwick to death!" Deery Tominey hissed…
SSH-CHLUK!
Adam's head snapped around…
…then he gaped on seeing the rose-haired cervine therianthrope blink in shocked surprise before her head rolled off her body thanks to a dirk that ripped through her neck to impale on the far wall! "YOU BITCH!" Deery's boyfriend Perry Taylor roared as he levelled his pistols at the reborn ballerina, they then sending a fusillade at Neo's face.
Fortunately, her Aura-powered umbrella — which had a nice silver field of energy forming around it — was more than capable of intercepting such. Adam's other companions roared in outrage as they levelled pistols and machine guns at the dancing Neo…not to mention the other human in the room, who was still seated calmly at one side of the space.
"PADRE! LOOK OUT!"
Leno raised a hand to telekinetically intercept several shots coming his way before dispersing the bullets into nothingness, then he gazed in amusement at a now wide-eyed Neo, who had paused to reach for her throat. As the members of the White Fang in the room also stopped while their minds registered that rough yet clear woman's voice — they knew Roman Torchwick's petite, deadly shadow had been born mute — the Valean mercenary-turned-metahuman dancer blinked as she opened and closed her mouth, using short bursts of breath to try out her vocal cords.
"Damn! I can talk now…!" she then declared with a voice that seemed quite weak.
That declaration was enough to shake the Faunus out of their daze. "DIE!" Perry roared as he levelled his rifle at her.
Neo instantly vanished into sparkles as another fusillade of shells went her way…
…only to reappear to the dark-skinned canine therianthrope's left side, one dirk in her hand as her other hand reached out. As Perry's eyes went wide on sensing the danger, the weapon that had beheaded his lover flew into Neo's hand just as her other blade plunged into the back of his throat. "She probably thought you were DEAD in bed!" Neo snarled as she used the other blade to disembowel him, tilting around to perform a spinning high-kick into a third goon's jaw!
"KILL HER!" Adam screamed as he lunged for his sword…
…before a shadow appeared over his head, causing him to look up and to the left…
…just as Roman Leakee's fist dropped on his jaw in a Superman punch! "That's no way to treat a lady!" the Spectral Hound of the Dark Gaol snarled as his co-worker from Florida Championship Wrestling walked up to join him.
The others of the White Fang then gaped on seeing a dozen soul-wolves now in the warehouse…
Approaching the industrial district from the direction of Beacon Academy, ten minutes later…
James Ironwood laughed as the gynoid pilot directed the open-air skiff — one of a dozen that Isaac Thomas and his people had brought to Remnant to serve as personal transports when needed while they were setting up Renaissance Industries — towards the northwest end of Vale's industrial district. "So, you're actually an alien?" the commander of Atlas' military forces wondered as the wind whipped past his grey-shot hair, he then glancing at the Wise Lone Sage.
"You don't sound so surprised, General," the native of Queens noted as he returned that look before turning back to examine his lightsabre's energy cells in preparation for what was coming.
The veteran hunter smirked as he loaded his own sidearm. "The few records that survived the coming of the One Above the Gods two millennia ago did indicate he came from a distant star. Was jarring to see 'him' be a 'her'. Is that common on this Yiziba planet that was mentioned last night?"
"Over ninety-seven percent of Named lines resurrect cross-gender during what we call the 'casting change'," Isaac explained, much for Ironwood's benefit as well as the benefit of the young Faunus warriors who came with him, Ironwood, Glynda Goodwitch, Qrow Branwen and Neville Longbottom to scout what was happening now concerning Neopolitan. "There are some same-gender lines. Yo'or'bemyu — or 'Danzatrice' as she'd be called here — is one."
"I recognized the name that Conservator fellow called out," Monica Khan noted as her upper ears flattened in anticipation. "Neopolitan. She's Torchwood's mute flunky."
"Yáng fought her once," Blake Belladonna noted as she squeezed the other woman's hand. "She almost skewered her with that cane-sword of hers. If Yáng's mother didn't show up to save her, we'd be down a teammate."
Qrow's head snapped over. "What?!" the rough-faced veteran hunter snapped. "Raven was here?!"
"That thing with the train Torchwick used to get Grimm into the city a few months ago."
As Yáng Xiǎo Lóng's uncle took that in, Isaac peered ahead, using the scanners in his glasses to focus on the high nexus of energy that would mark the presence of the current incarnation of the Ballerina of the Final Darkness. He then scowled, instantly earning him Ironwood's attention. "What is it, son?"
The Wise Lone Sage sighed. "Leno…!"
"Oh, bloody hell!"
That was the Master of Plants. "You know this person, Mister Longbottom?" Glynda wondered.
Wincing at the mannerisms the chief combat teacher of Beacon was showing — which were no different than his own head of house back at Hogwarts — the native of Holdenhurst near Bournemouth chuckled as Isaac got the gynoid piloting their ship, Mikazuki Yozora, to land them in a small parking lot a few blocks away from where the just-Gifted Neopolitan and her current sponsor were…along with two other people the Wise Lone Sage was quick to recognize. "Leno Lu'umlo, Professor Goodwitch. His battle name is 'Millennium'; tag line is 'Mad Prophet of the Future'. Reborn socialist preacher who believes these days that there must be a spiritual 'balance' between faces and heels — the good guys and the bad guys, in other words — on Yiziba. He HATES the fact that people like I — who should be a heel — actually turned out to be faces or anti-heels in this incarnation." He shook his head. "In other words, he's trying to recruit people to ensure we'd have fight scene opponents in the Show."
The natives blinked as they took that in. "He's nuts, you mean," Qrow sneered.
"A little deranged and obsessed when it comes to maintaining the 'balance', but he's dangerous, Qrow," Isaac warned. "Near-cosmic level powers, including psychokinesis, broadcast empathy and telepathy. He's also very strong and fast, can fly and can resist most attacks fired his way; we call that a 'FISS-type', which means 'Flight, Invulnerability, Super-Strength and Super-Speed'. And he's precognitive, though his empathy and telepathy tend to overwhelm any visions of the future he may get. Don't get cocky with this guy if you run across him. He'll put you down fast."
Hearing that, the native of Anima nodded. Much that he was wary about this alien of all things taking interest in his nieces, Isaac Thomas seemed to be a pretty straight shooter so far. "Anyone else?"
"Yes. Two professional wrestlers from Earth, Roman Leakee and Seth Rollins; those are their stage names. Their real names are Joe Anoa'i and Danny Lopez. Roman's the Grimm." As the natives gaped at him, Isaac chuckled. "Sorry, forgot! He's a spirit-hunter with the ability to cleanse things like ghosts and the like from the mortal plane. Seth's Kingslayer. Telepath and psychokinetic; he can also use his mind to send 'dagger shots' into people to kill them."
"Why in Oum's Name would they be doing here?" Ironwood wondered as Yozora expertly manoeuvred the skiff to land virtually silently on the parking lot, a low hiss marking its passage.
"Knowing Leno, he had a pair of soul-wolves — spirit beings who help Roman cleanse ghosts and other such beings from Yiziba — when he confronted Miss Neopolitan and offered to get her Gifted. I'll wager that they came to LOVE snacking on the Grimm," the native of Queens reported. "The soul-wolves on Yiziba all see Roman as their pack leader, so he probably came here to check things out."
Once the boarding ramp came down to allow everyone to egress, the small troupe of Atlesian soldiers who came with their leader disembarked, moving to take positions at the entrances to two alleys passing between the warehouses. "Nice flying, Miss Mikazuki," Ironwood complemented the gynoid with the long raven hair and the amethyst eyes.
"Be careful, General," Yozora advised. "Master Leno is not a person to be crossed lightly."
The experienced hunter nodded. "We'll keep that in mind."
With that, he disembarked, followed by Glynda, Neville, Qrow, Monica and Blake, who moved to gather close to Isaac, now kneeling by the corner of a warehouse, scanning the target zone four blocks away. "Okay, we've got four dozen bandits now in the building with Leno, Roman, Seth and Miss Neopolitan," the Wise Lone Sage warned. "All the others are therianthropes; 'Faunus' as you call them here. Good bet they'll be White Fang. Monica, how many people did Mister Taurus have here last night to help Miss Fall and her friends?"
"Well over a hundred," the dark-skinned felinoid therianthrope reported. "A good bunch must have faded into the crowd once it was all over, and Cinder got what she wanted." A cruel smile crossed her face. "Can't wait to see the look on that arrogant bitch's face when she sees Pyrrha alive and well."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"Gods! You SAVED her?!" a wide-eyed Glynda exclaimed.
Isaac chuckled as he gave his new employee an annoyed yet amused look. "New girl, you need to understand how reveal scenes work!" he playfully scolded, making Monica blush as Blake snickered. "And yes, Professor, both Pyrrha and Penny are alive and well. Along with another old friend of yours."
Here, he winked knowingly, which made Qrow, Glynda and Ironwood gape in shock. Finally, the blonde veteran huntress snickered. "Well, James, THAT certainly proves all the legends about the One Above the Gods, doesn't it?"
"Damn...!" the Atlesian leader exhaled as he gave the New Yorker hyper-genius a wide-eyed look. "Is there anything Miss Kasuga CAN'T do?" he then wondered.
"She's pretty laid back, so we really don't know how powerful she can push herself, General," Isaac explained as he held up a warning finger. "Naturally, we don't push it with her."
"Pretty damn smart," Qrow chuckled. "How do we play this?"
"Split into small groups and approach from all around," the Wise Lone Sage advised. "Neville put muffling charms on you, so you won't be heard unless you hit something very hard. Since we're dealing with Faunus — with Mister Taurus in the lead, most likely — their higher senses could pick up noise human ears can't." As the others nodded, he held up a warning finger. "Be warned. The instant Seth senses people are out to kill him, he will go for head shots. No one on Remnant would be able to shield themselves from them if he's going full-tilt. Try to stay clear of his arcs of fire."
"I'll lead a group from the east," Glynda offered.
"I'll come from the north," Ironwood noted before he gazed on the Wise Lone Sage. "Isaac, you come in from the west. Qrow, can you scout about in case they got spotters?"
"Got it," the Mistralite ex-bandit noted.
In a flash of energy, he assumed his corvine-like form and fluttered into the air. Isaac watched him go, then tapped the frame of his goggles. "Thomas, Albert, keep a close eye on Mister Branwen, please."
"We're monitoring things, Isaac," Albert Wily called down from near-orbit.
Ironwood and Glynda nodded before they moved to get people to come with them. Monica and Blake remained behind, crouched next to Neville as Isaac scanned around. "Okay, we've got possible portal breaches in the area," he warned as he drew out his lightsabre and ignited it; he had keyed his battle suit's communication systems into the Atlesian military network so others could hear him. "Someone might have the ability to call Grimm into this situation."
"Great! This party gets worse by the minute," Blake dryly noted as she drew out Gambol Shroud in katana mode.
"Let me scout in from the south, mate," Neville advised.
Isaac nodded as the Master of Plants keyed his PAA, then teleported away. Blake watched the wizard disappear, then she shook her head. "Damn! You Terrans are a pretty lucky bunch, you know that?"
"Oh, Earth has its problems, Miss Belladonna…"
That made her blush. "Please. Blake."
Isaac smiled. "I'm Isaac. C'mon."
With that, they moved to stealthily creep down the side of the warehouse to get to the corner about fifty metres away. "So, you two know each other," Isaac quietly noted as he scanned ahead of him.
A blush darkened Monica's face as she gripped Blake's hand. "We used to be lovers," the niece of the current leader of the White Fang explained before she scowled as her upper ears flattened. "That is until Adam stuck his arrogant snout into it." As the raven-haired feline therianthrope winced, Monica chuckled as she tilted Blake's head over so they could share a kiss. "Relax, Blake! I know how much he can twist people around his claws like he did to my aunt!"
"So, what made you join Isaac?" the daughter of the White Fang's original leader wondered.
"Believe it or not, he saved my life last night," Monica answered as they reached the corner of the first warehouse, then quickly crossed over to crouch behind the corner of the second warehouse. Three more to go after this, she mused as she drew out a particle pistol that Yozora had given her; much that her Aura allowed her to be a healer, she was a fighter as well. "I was getting sick and tired of how much Adam sucks up to Auntie; it was making me want to quit the White Fang as a whole." As Blake gaped at her, the darker-skinned woman added, "Well, encountering someone who knows the One Above the Gods — her current incarnation, I mean — made one hell of a great impression."
"You weren't hurt, were you?" Blake then asked Isaac.
He chuckled as he gave her a reassuring wink. "No, Blake, I came through it alright. As did Monica, Ken Tukson and Scott Mata. Then again, I had no choice."
"'No choice'?"
"Ken's sister Tara works for me at RI. I'd like to keep my employees happy you know."
That made Blake gape before she snickered as they sneaked down the side of the second warehouse to close on the target. "Gray Haddock got nailed by one of those Atlesian war-bots that Fall's idiots hacked into…just right after Isaac hacked off his arm with that laser sword of his…" Monica noted…
…then she winced as a downcast look crossed her old lover's face. "Oh, damn! I'm sorry, Blake!"
The raven-haired woman shook her head. "I'm alright. Won't miss THAT creep whatsoever! Yet…!" Her upper ears drooped in shame. "I'm falling for her hard, Monica…and she suffered for me."
"Don't blame yourself for what happened to your friend, Blake," Isaac noted as he gazed at her. "From what I've learned of this guy, he's obsessive-compulsive about things and wants the world to burn for what happened to him. Rejecting him was something he couldn't tolerate in the long term from you."
A groan answered him. "Oh, great! A stalker! Just what I needed…"
"Relax," he advised. "Running away from him won't solve a thing. But since you are my new employee's beloved…" — that statement made Monica and Blake madly blush before they pouted as he winked at him — "…I'll show you how you can deal with this fool. You can use your shadow-clones still, right?"
"I'm ready," the raven-haired huntress vowed.
"Good. Let's get closer…"
To the south of the warehouse…
"Hey! You kids!"
Flynt Coal and Neon Katt perked on hearing that voice, then they looked up just as a middle-aged man with a five o'clock shadow jumped down from the roof of a nearby warehouse, drawing out his articulated broadsword. "Qrow Branwen, right?" the leader of Team FNKI from Atlas asked, keeping his voice down. "Yáng Xiǎo Lóng's uncle?"
"Same!" the bandit-turned-hunter affirmed. "You kids came with Jimmy to the Festival, right?"
"We did. How's your niece?! We heard what that bastard Taurus did to her."
"Resting up back home right now," Qrow stated before keying his scroll. "All clear on the south side."
«Coming up to your position now, mate.»
A second later, a flash of light produced a teenage man in a dark green battlesuit with brown belt and boots, a green hooded demi-cape slung around his body and a long, think stick in his hand. Neon's emerald eyes sparkled on taking in such a noble image. "You're from the world of the One Above the Gods…?" she squealed.
Neville Longbottom blinked before he noted the feline therianthrope's obvious tail, then he smirked, winking playfully at her. "Not as powerful as Lady Kasuga happens to be," he noted as his free reached into one of the pouches of his belt to draw out a few seeds, then he flung them ahead of them before aiming his wand.
One combined Aguamenti and Depulso spell later — which made all three natives gape in shock on seeing real magic employed before their eyes — the seeds were planted into the rough gravel before they started to sprout, growing knee-high bushes with white dandelion seed-like flowers in massive bushes. Another Depulso blew the flower leaves down the alley in a fog bank. "Nice!" Qrow breathed out, nodding in approval. "What the hell are those things anyway?"
"A specific invention of my tenth self," the English wizard reported as he lowered his wand. "I call it the 'mist dandelion' since it's great for causing neat fog banks."
"I'll go for that!" Flynn muttered.
"Where'd you kids come from?" Qrow asked.
"We were brought here by Master Seth and Master Roman when they heard the Spirit of the Great Crystal call out that it's time for Miss Neo to be Gifted," Neon explained, thumbing to the east. "Master Seth told us what's going on with the world where the One Above the Gods first lived." She stared wide-eyed at Neville. "Is it true? That when you die on that planet, your spirit's absorbed into the Great Crystal to be put into another person's mind in this 'Gifting' thing?!"
"That's the way it's been on Yiziba for millennia," the Master of Plants affirmed as he waved the others to come with him, sending small Depulso pulses wordlessly to force the fog bank of mist dandelion flowers to move ahead of them. He gave Qrow an amused look. "You look like you need a drink, mate."
"What did you expect?!" the Mistralite muttered. "Aliens existing?! You're from one planet but you got your Semblance from another planet where everyone there MUST get Semblances just to survive?! Gods! And I thought knowing the truth about Oz was crazy?! Damn straight I'd need a drink, kid!"
"Is Professor Ozpin alright, sir?" Flynt asked.
"Yeah, he was saved by that Kasuga girl — the current 'One Above the Gods'; her handle's 'Infinity' — when she rescued your pal Penny Polendina and Pyrrha Nikos last night."
Both Atlesians gaped. "Penny's alright?!" Neon exclaimed.
"Miss Nikos, too?!" Flynt demanded.
Qrow chuckled. "Yeah, they're…!"
A flash of light made everyone spin around…
"O-ha!" Kasuga Ayumu called out.
…then a maddening squeal made the natives tense before something surged through the wall of a nearby warehouse. As Flynt levelled his trumpet on the screeching boarbatusk now about to drop down on the Goddess Who Walks Among Men, the native of Wakayama reached out with one hand, telekinetically drawing out the rest of Neville's mist dandelion seeds into her grasp. "AYUMU!" the Master of Plants exclaimed…
…before he watched as Ayumu cupped the seeds before her lips, then she blew out, creating a blast of hurricane-like force to overwhelm them with her powers. That created a super-dense cloud of mist dandelion flowers which swamped the Grimm attacking her. The screeching creature instantly howled in mortal pain as the mesonium within those seeds ripped into its body, disintegrating it in the blink of an eye, then the Infinite One made a wave overhead to send the cloud of mist dandelions into the air, making a large fog bank that seemed to cloak Vale as a whole!
"Holy…!" Qrow exclaimed…
…then everyone perked on hearing a chorus of wails escaping from all quarters indicating that whatever Grimm were in the limits of the city were getting a very FATAL dose of the Yizibajohei version of hay fever! As a shocked look crossed Neville's face — seeing that, Qrow guessed what was now going through the wizard's head: 'Why didn't I bloody think of that?!' — another flash produced Ayumu's classmate from Azuma Senior High School in Tōkyō.
"ŌSAKA-SAN!" Mihama Chiyo exclaimed before she shook her head, slapping her face at what she had just witnessed. With that, the Bright Genius of the Young Guns approached the others, ignoring the now-gushing Neon, whose eyes were locking rapidly at the One Above the Gods, then the seriously cute girl, then back again! "I'm sorry about that, Neville-san!" the native of Itabashi said as she drew out a plastic bag full of mist dandelion seeds from one of the pouches of her golden jumpsuit. "Honestly! Ōsaka-san should KNOW better than to take things from people, even if she DOES do good with them!" she declared as she handed said bag to the Master of Plants before she stared at her best friend, who was now cackling at the fog of pretty white dandelion leaves she just spread all over Vale.
"You grew these in your greenhouse?" Neville wondered as he pulled open the bag, then drew a couple seeds so he could scan them with his chlorokinetic powers.
"Back on Yiziba by the club house," Chiyo answered.
That made the older metahuman nod. He knew the Young Guns — the team of normally pre-adolescent metahumans cursed to die because they lost control of their powers — had a "club house" on the southern polar continent near the South Ring Ocean opposite the southern tip of the central equatorial continent where the Battlezone was located. This allowed the area to get the right levels of wind and rain to keep the soil fertile despite average low temperatures; even if Yiziba had an Earth-like climate, the presence of so much mesonium in the planet's biosphere prevented permafrost soil and tundra from forming save around the glaciers at the poles. Given the pre-teen genius from Itabashi who was one of Japan's smartest student was a VERY dedicated researcher thanks to her being Gifted as Prodigy — atop her having an organic battle doll body provided by the Infinite One to save her from the fate that befell her thirty-five previous selves — it would be quite the oddity to get seeds produced by Mihama Chiyo which were NOT perfect in every which way.
"Thanks for the seeds!" he said, winking at her.
"Er, kid…how OLD are you, anyway?!"
Chiyo gazed on Qrow, who was now wide-eyed with clear apprehension on seeing someone so YOUNG looking like she was prepared for battle. "Oh, I had my eleventh birthday last month, Qrow-sensei," she answered before she reached into another pouch to draw out a small bottle. "Here! Drink this!"
The Mistralite blinked before he took the bottle in hand. Ignoring Neon gushing at the sight of a girl who "Just couldn't be THAT cute!", he popped it open, then drowned the bottle in one quick gulp…
…before a gargle of agony escaped him, making him collapse into a dazed heap on the tarmac. As Flynt and Neon gaped, Qrow's eyes began to spiral as a pained moan escaped him, his body twitching as that evil liquid coursed through his system to purge the remaining alcohol from his body, regenerate his badly-abused liver and stiffen his neural pathways to ensure he didn't suffer withdrawal. "Honestly, Qrow-san! How on Earth are you going to help your nieces if you're DRUNK all the time?!" Chiyo scolded as she walked over to pick up the bottle of her personal hangover remedy, which was based on a mixed magical/naturopathic hangover cure invented by Neville himself.
"This thing about Miss Rose's 'silver eye' power, you mean?" the Master of Plants asked.
"Hai!" the Bright Genius of the Young Guns answered.
"I thought that was a legend!" Flynt protested.
Chiyo gave the Atlesian hunter a curious look. "Um, Flynt-san, didn't you see that wyvern frozen on the side of that tower at the Beacon Academy? Ruby-san did that!"
The leader of Team FNKI blinked owlishly at that observation…
To Be Continued…!
WRITER'S NOTES
RWBY character notes: Qrow Branwen first appeared in "New Challengers…" (volume three, second episode). Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng first appeared in "Round One" (volume three, first episode). Zwei first appeared in "Field Trip" (volume two, eighth episode). Both Neon Katt and Flynt Coal first appeared in "Never Miss A Beat" (volume three, fifth episode). Adam Taurus first appeared in the "Black" trailer where Blake Belladonna was first introduced. Deery Tominey and Perry Taylor first appeared in "Painting The Town…" (volume two, fourth episode); their family names come from their voice actors.
If anyone doesn't know who Neville Longbottom is, where have you been these last few decades? As an aside, Aguamenti is the incantation for the water-making spell learned at schools such as Hogwarts during NEWT (seventh year) studies. Depulso is the incantation for the banishment charm that forces objects away from its caster; this is taught during third and fourth years at schools such as Hogwarts.
Joseph Anoa'i didn't adopt his more well-known moniker of Roman Reigns until August 2012 when World Wrestling Entertainment re-branded its developmental group, Florida Championship Wrestling, into NXT, reflecting the title of the television show that transmitted FCW matches on Syfy. Colby Daniel Lopez adopted his modern moniker of Seth Rollins in September 2010 after he joined FCW.
Note that the Master At Arms first appeared in the side story The Deadliest Woman Alive. Tutota R'batae Kutotuto is the Yizibajohei analogue of Nazi Germany; its capital city R'buoletona is naturally the analogue of Berlin. The Young Guns were first noted on altogether in the omake The Mistress of Velocity Claims Her Man.
A steer is a castrated bull.
Mikazuki Yozora is a character from the novel-turned-anime series Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (AKA Haganai), created by Hirasaka Yomi. Replicas of other Haganai characters will also appear here.