DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.
Vale City, near the Beacon Academy, Gayatit 52 Treichleam, ninety minutes after breakfast (Tōkyō time: Monday 2 April, 180 minutes before midnight; London time: Monday 2 April, ninety minutes after lunch)…
"Ah! Smells like Neville-san spread some mist dandelions all over town! Hina likes mist dandelions!"
As the squadron of shipgirls who had accompanied the Living Spirit of Innocence to Remnant nodded in appreciation, the elderly English magizoologist who had been invited to come on this expedition drew his wand and cast some detection charms. "Yes, you're right about the naquadah that was in that sample Miss Black passed on to MARPA, Peter," Newt Scamander grimly noted as his eyes took in the sheer level of destruction that had befallen one of the premier huntsmen academies on this world. "If that poor wyvern frozen on that tower doesn't demonstrate things…"
Peter Candlewick grimly nodded as he drew his wand to do some spells while the reborn Fubuki-class destroyers formed a defensive perimeter around the group and Naomi Haight-Ashbury took a seat on a fallen peace of masonry, eyes closing as she allowed her soul to touch what she called the "Astral Plane" — as she saw it, an all-invasive energy field the reborn nuclear cruiser first detected at the moment of her rebirth in Bremerton, the American magical scientist learned — to learn what was "hip" and what was "square" here. Given their appearance, the newcomers from Earth were quick to attract attention from the distant cordon of defenders sealing the grounds off from the remainder of Vale.
"Hey! You folks from this Earth planet we just heard about?!"
People turned as a team of four teenage men came jogging over to join them. Since the Grimm who had returned to the grounds of Beacon had just been wiped out of existence thanks to the clouds of mist dandelion leaves spread all over Vale because of Kasuga Ayumu and Neville Longbottom, teams of experienced Valean and Atlesian huntsmen were doing a survey of the Academy to determine the full extent of casualties and damage. Leading the group of local students was a handsome blond primate therianthrope in casual clothing. "Hai!" Hinako replied as she waved her hand to have the members of Team SSSN focus on her. "Hina, Scamander-sensei, Candlewick-sensei, Naomi-chan, Fujiko-chan and Fujiko-chan's sisters are from Earth! Are you all these 'huntsmen' Isaac-san told Hina about?"
Sūn Wùkōng laughed as he moved to kneel before the native of Niigata while the famous magizoologist from Devonshire and his former apprentice from New York state continued their examination. "Yeah! Team SSSN at your service!" As Hinako blinked on hearing the Vacuan and adopted Mistralite say the team name as "sun", the quarterstaff fighter offered his hand, which she took. Immediately moving to keep an eye on the newcomers from either side were the two eldest of the Fukushima sisters, Fujiko and Shirayuki. "Couldn't believe it when Blake passed on that the One Above the Gods actually exists and was here last night helping out! Not to mention confirming that Isaac Thomas of all people was an alien and not a Vacuan like me!" He thumbed himself in emphasis.
Hinako giggled as Fujiko and Shirayuki adopted parade-rest stances nearby, they then scanning around with their eyes even if their ears were tuned in to the conversation. "Isaac-san doesn't mean any harm, Sūn-san!" she gently scolded. "Especially now that Margo-san discovered that something those dork Ori did on Earth ended up hurting a lot of nice people here on Remnant! It's only right to help the nice people here get away from nasty Grimm like that!" Here, she waved to thumb the still-frozen wyvern, which had yet to be melted by the acid-like touch of the mist dandelions.
"We're really appreciative of that, miss," Scarlet David declared as Sage Ayana and Neptune Vasilias nodded in agreement. "Never really understood how much Faunus like Sūn care for those old legends surrounding Lady Kasuga's…um, first-self, you folks call it?" he then asked with a bewildered look.
Hinako sighed, immediately sensing the natives' confusion about that aspect of Yizibajohei society. "Hai, hai, Scarlet-san! Hina knows how confusing the whole casting change idea is! At least Fujiko-chan and her sisters and Naomi-san don't have to worry about that!" Here, she indicated her escort of shipgirls, then their new "sister" from America.
The four boys took in the wholesome looks of the seven teenage girls who had come with the Spirit of Innocence to Remnant, then they noted the slightly-dazed yet meditative look on the face of the older woman sitting on the fallen hunk of masonry nearby. "Um…is she okay?" Neptune wondered, pointing.
"It's cool, Dick Tracy," the adopted native of Long Beach and Quincy said as her evergreen eyes opened behind her goggles, then she gazed sadly around her. "Man, this is has got to be the most down place I've ever been to as ship or shipgirl. What stupid square is funking around with people here, huh?"
"That bad, Mama Cass?" Candlewick wondered as he finished his last diagnostic, then came over to join them. As Neptune whispered a curious, "'Dick Tracy'?" to Hinako, Scamander was examining a trace pile of Grimm ash on the nearby sidewalk with a series of very intensive probe spells.
"Yeah, Pete. The song of this world is such a downer," the reborn missile cruiser warned…
A frightening screech echoed from due east of the CCT tower!
…then people spun around as a king taijitu, its body smoking from contact with the acid-like flower leaves that were literally burning it alive without stop, lunged out from the direction of the Emerald Forest towards the small group of humans with the similar scent, its fangs splayed and ready.
"YOU STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU MEANIE!"
As a burst of cosmic empathy exploded from Hinako to stun the Grimm, the only one of Fujiko's sisters to have NOT served in the Greater East Asia War charged, air around her cooling to sub-zero temperatures before she forced her cryokinesis into overdrive. "FREEZE, YOU BAKAMONO!" Fukushima Miyuki snapped as she sent a storm of solid ice at the king taijitu to turn it into an ugly sculpture that wouldn't win any prizes at the Sapporo Ice Festival.
While the four huntsmen students all gaped in awe at the sight of what the Cosmic Blizzard, R'bemrike ("Miyuki"), just unleashed, distant shouts alerted the visitors to the approach of other locals. "Nice work, Barbara Ann!" Naomi said with an approving nod before she scanned the oncoming pair of middle-aged men with her own special meta-sight. "Ah! Local gurus! Oi, Newt! Pete! You got some local gurus coming over so you can check this square thing out!"
Scamander was already moving to send diagnostic spells at the frozen king taijitu just as Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck came within normal speaking range. "Good morning, gentlemen!" the Devonshire native said as he offered his hand, which Oobleck jogged up to gladly take. "Newt Scamander, professor emeritus of magical zoology at your service. Are either of you teachers at this poor school here?"
The spiky-haired, bespectacled history teacher laughed, the relief in his voice obvious. "Indeed, we both are, Professor Scamander. Welcome to Vale…and I'm amazed to say this as well: Welcome to Remnant! I can't believe I'd ever get the chance to meet an actual alien of all things right up front like this…!"
The famous magizoologist who was one of the many heroes of the Wars of Liberation decades before nodded as he shook Port's hand, then turned back to his examination. "Yes, I read Isaac's reports about how magically deprived you people are. Thank Merlin you developed metahuman powers — your Semblances — to defend yourselves from these things." He raised his wand. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, let me get a good scan of this poor creature here…"
"Oh, of course," Oobleck said as he and Port stepped back while Candlewick came over to join them.
"Similar to dementors on Earth, aren't they?" the American researcher mused.
"Indeed. Same basic energy mixture, though naquadah-powered," his old teacher from Britain mused as ghostly parchments began to appear before him, revealing a very complex set of arithmantic equations that was making him scowl. "You were wise to warn me about this, Peter. Did you contact the people in Sankt-Peterbúrg about this?"
"The Russians?" Candlewick paused, then his eyes went wide. "You found something when you were in Siberia?! Back in the 1930s; when you got your Order of Koschéj upgraded to the second degree!"
"Yes! I've seen fragments of this very type of energy reside in areas known to be inhabited by gamájun," Scamander added, his scowl deepening. "And if Isaac was right and this planet was plagued by the Ori for so long, it would make a perverse sense. They were believed to try to influence things on Earth around the time of the Great Banishment, especially when the Undying Lord and the Praetorian Guardian got involved in driving the Old Ones off Earth."
"What does all that mean?" a wide-eyed Port wondered.
"Twenty-five very long ones ago, Prof P, these square things from other dimensions wanted to turn Earth into their private hell," Naomi spoke up, making the natives look her way. As the younger huntsmen all shuddered, she added, "Thanks to the Tear of the Stars from Party Planet, a nice rock of mesonium was sent to Earth to make a local fisherman immortal. Since the squares had murdered all his family and friends, the dude…"
"The 'Undying Lord', we call him," Candlewick cut in.
"…teamed up with the great gurus who lived on Mother Earth…"
"The oldest sentient beings on our world, averaging several MILLION years old," the American helpfully added, making the natives all gape at the idea of living beings existing for THAT amount of time.
"…to send the square packing. Along the way, some of the square folk from the Astral Plane…"
"That means the Ori," Candlewick translated.
"…tried to get in on the fun, but Grandpa V drove them off."
"An immortal being known as the 'Praetorian Guardian', who protects Earth from imminent interdimensional threats." As both Oobleck and Port faintly nodded, the American turned to gaze on the mystical parchments his old teacher's scans just produced. "Merlin's Beard! You mean these things are descent from the alconóst, Newt?!"
"Most likely…though we'll need our friends in Russia to confirm it," Scamander coolly declared.
"And these alconóst are, Professor?" Oobleck asked.
The magizoologist gazed at the history professor/expert huntsman. "They eat humans, Professor."
That made the natives all gape…
In orbit over Vale, aboard the Free Planetary State of Yiziba Starship Normandy, that moment…
"Coffee, Professor?"
Hearing that from the beautiful gynoid that was the effective captain of this remarkable spaceship was, the Undying Warrior Sage of Remnant smiled as he offered his hand. "Thank you, my dear," Shannon Ozpin said as he gazed on the holographic readouts displaying the incident at the warehouse — where there were now at least SIXTY members of the White Fang confronting the just-Gifted Neopolitan along with her sponsor and two visitors from Earth; people under James Ironwood's, Glynda Goodwitch's and Isaac Thomas' command were a block away from storming the place — as well as what was happening at his school. "These alconóst," he then noted. "Has anyone ever heard of them?"
"Just getting the relevant files now, Professor," Robyn Ross, who had been appointed to be Ozpin's aide while he was aboard the Normandy, answered from a side station.
With a flick of her finger, the blonde gynoid sent the data into the holographic display before the warrior-turned-elder teacher. Humming as information scrolled slowly before his eyes, he grimaced. Alconóst were creatures that had been discovered by magical research agencies on Earth centuries ago to be a hybrid invasive species drawn from another dimension in the time leading to the Great Banishment twenty-five millennia ago. While originally subservient to the demons known commonly as "Old Ones" these days on Earth, they later were discovered to have come under the influence of what was now believed to be some of the Ori; the "ascended" race of would-be gods had grown alarmed at the sheer levels of power being demonstrated by both the Old Ones and their opponents in the battles that led to the Great Banishment, then moved to suppress all sides. While the Ori had been driven off Earth by the "Praetorian Guardian" — a farmer from the Crimea named Résav'l who somehow gained the knowledge and power of the mysterious Seekers, the so-called First Race of the known Universe — beings such as the alconóst were dealt with by local powers such as their effective near-equivalents among the magical beings rising in that period, the gamájun.
A smile crossed his face after getting the chance to read about the race of therianthropes who had been afforded special protections by the Imperial Russian Ministry of Magic and its successive agencies in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Beings who could transform from humanoid form to avians to a mixed look, they were seen as avatars of wisdom and collectors of knowledge dating back MILLENNIA; it was via the gamájun and their counterparts elsewhere on Earth that many Terran magicals would always know of events such as the Great Banishment and the later occupation of Earth by the Goa'uld just before the rise of modern civilization in places like China and Egypt.
Despite the gamájun having earned such a degree of respect among the magicals of the various eastern Slavic peoples such as the Russians that they eventually named a school for magicals after them, these beings were often hunted by the unscrupulous for their wealth of knowledge and power. Because of this and because it was believed magical children with gamájun blood would be the equals of some of the most powerful modern warriors like Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, various gamájun parliaments had retreated into the most inhospitable places in eastern Siberia north of China to escape the poachers. And while the Ministry of Magical Affairs in the city of Sankt-Peterbúrg threatened the worst sorts of punishments on poachers who were caught, incidents of rescuing enslaved gamájun from such hunters and their clients had been gristle for the local news media for several decades.
And…
Wait a minute…
His eyebrow arched, which made Robyn look his way. "What is it, Professor?"
"Can you bring up information concerning this 'gamájun redoubt' in Siberia, Miss Ross?"
The gynoid tapped controls on her machine to draw up information, then she transmitted it to display on his screen. "That comes from Mistress Tat'jána Chapáeva, Professor," she reported before gazing once more at him. "It's not well known, and its exact location is unsure no matter how much the Magícheskaja Milítsija have tried to secretly track it down, but it's said to be in an area that is predominated by the overall power of Túndra, the oldest of the Great Beasts."
Ozpin nodded. "Pull up a map of Russia, then display the area that Lord Túndra has influence over."
"Yes, sir."
"A theory?" Mimir Shepard wondered.
"Yes, Miss Shepard. As you just read, the gamájun elected to join the side of the Great Beasts during the End War against the Old Ones, sensing Rittmeister von Taserich's arrival on the scene was enough to tip the scales and finally win the war for humans. Since they're only known to live in northern Eurasia, it's only logical that they would seek out the most powerful spiritual patron around, that being Lord Túndra of course…ah!"
A map of the Russian Federation appeared, with areas shaded in ice blue along the Arctic coast. Icons were present, mostly in the territory of the republic of Jakútija and neighbouring areas such as the regions of Chukótka and Tajmýrskij Dolgaáno-Nénetsk in the territory of Krasnojársk. "What are these locations, Miss Ross?" Ozpin asked.
Robyn read the notes provided ultimately by the current incarnation of the Careful Planner of the Circle of Thought, Kikhodato (the "Philosopher"). "Shrines erected to Túndra by elements of the local population who know of his existence, Professor. They're seen as harmless by the Ministry of Magical Affairs even if rumours abound that gamájun elders secretly come to these locations when children go to pray to Túndra for his protection; they would normally bear gifts for the children as a way of extending Túndra's spiritual reach. The legends about his overall power have seeped through to the normal world; they're seen as local fairy tales by normal authorities." As Ozpin smirked — he was getting a good idea now about how far Earth's magicals had gone to hide themselves from normals, even in an age where non-magical metahumans were known to exist — the gynoid added, "Some of these places are staked out by poachers as well as agents of the Magícheskaja Milítsija trying to catch them. There have been nine incidents in the last decade where poachers were caught by officers of the Milítsija at these sites."
"Then it should be passed on to Professors Scamander and Candlewick that THERE is where contact should be made with the gamájun about the history behind their battles with the alconóst and how wiped those beings out. If we learn that, we can use it to finally expunge the Grimm from Remnant."
His voice trailed off as he considered the scale of the statement he just made. In all the incarnations he had lived on Remnant since the banishment of the Two Brothers, he had never once felt the sense of hope now flooding his body. To see an END to the violence that rocked humanity since the dawn of time seemed a pipe dream to him even these days, with descendants of those saved ultimately by the mercy of Ayono Ugadese forced into enclaves by the unending hordes of Grimm, no doubt driven by his former wife in her mad desire to crush all hope and bring Remnant to heel.
And to believe it was another native of the World of the Forge who had brought that hope to him.
It would have to be managed, of course. Under no circumstances could Salem or any of her current council of lackeys learn of the new powers coming in to stand against her. It was fortunate that he had much influence in Vale's central council. While rumours will fly — and the use of those mist dandelions which had been spread all over Vale City by Ayono's current incarnation would get tongues wagging — the need to keep precise information as to the nature of the people now helping Remnant be free of the Grimm from the news networks was vital. Even more so, with the CCT system now down, there was no realistic way that anyone outside Vale would be able to tap into local emergency communications or broadcast news/entertainment channels to get any sort of news over what was happening.
Fortunately, the Wise Lone Sage understood that issue quite well, as did people such as the supreme commandant of the forces of Atlas, not to mention Ozpin's own senior staff. While there were the quite annoying instances such as what Kasuga Ayumu unleashed with the unwilling help of Neville Longbottom — to say ANYTHING of the presence of a man such as Leno Lu'umlo as demonstrated when he helped young Neopolitan truly become far more than she ever could be — they could be managed. If media output could be funnelled and controlled, the chances of Salem guessing the game was finally now up and the tide was turning relentlessly against her could be minimized.
And Ruby Rose would be the key there.
Given Cinder Fall's obsession towards obtaining the power of the Four Maidens as witness what happened last night with Pyrrha Nikos — to say anything of what she had done to the proper Fall Maiden, Amber Bailey, that forced the girl to be placed on life-support, rendering her helpless when Cinder again came calling last night — Salem would be easily distracted from focusing anew on Vale. Knowing his ex-wife like he did, Ozpin was confident that the Queen of Darkness would concentrate more on tracking down and eliminating Summer Rose's daughter. Anyone who had the power of the Silver Eyes always attracted Salem's notice, being hunted down relentlessly, either by Salem's agents or others who didn't care for such people…as witness what happened to Maria Calavera years ago.
Sipping his coffee, he moved to compose a message for Newt Scamander and Peter Candlewick before turning his attention to the warehouse incident centred on Roman Torchwick's empowered aide…
Within a certain warehouse, that moment…
Adam Taurus screamed as ANOTHER of those vicious ebony dirks now expertly welded by the Ballerina of the Final Darkness came close to gouging a large hole in his face. "Damn you, bitch!" he snarled as he barely forced that blade away with Wilt, which now looked a little worse for wear thanks to the sheer physical density of Neopolitan's new primary weapons. "How dare you stand up against your betters?!"
Hearing that from the field leader of the White Fang, the mercenary-turned-Yizibajohei metahuman dirk-welding urban combat warrior could only snort in amusement. Out of the corner of her eye, she was quick to note several of Adam's lackeys expending a tonne of useless ammunition trying to break down a telekinetic shield protecting her new patron from harm. A glance to her left revealed that Seth Rollins — who introduced himself and his friend telepathically to Neo — and Roman Leakee were busy duelling some of the stronger Faunus working under Adam. Since the Assassin of Dynasties and the Spectral Hound of the Dark Gaol didn't seem inclined to turn up their game against the squad of squishy slights, all the White Fang in the building seemed clearly confident of eventual victory.
More fool them, she mused as she opened her umbrella-sword, it then deflecting shots from a particle rifle being used by one jerk from a considerable distance away. Without pausing, she flipped herself to dance over Adam's chest, causing him to awk in shock as she sent another dirk sailing through the air to punch through the would-be sniper's skull. As the bovine therianthrope snarled in anger while trying to pivot around and chop her legs off with Wilt, Neo bounded off the floor with her free hand, somersaulted back a couple times to impale another fool through the side of the rib cage, then she dropped down on said idiot's back to send him to the floor, snapping closed her umbrella.
"You know, Taurus, Roman was right about you," she snarled, her voice still raw even if the Gifting had pretty much healed the damage that denied her an ability to speak for her whole life. "You're nothing more than diseased animals who need to be neutered!" As the people surrounding her snarled at that threat, the mercenary smirked. "Believe me, after what my new friend just did for me, I understand things about prejudice you'd NEVER get, umale mabeku!"
"Ooh!" Seth called out after he delivered a single leg dropkick into one man's abdomen, forcing all the air out of his lungs, thus allowing the Iowan the chance to lunge over and give the idiot a vicious neckbreaker which collapsed the idiot's windpipe. "Haven't heard THAT insult in over a series!"
"She's a Raer'batoguo girl, Danny!" Roman noted as he bounced off one wall, flipping himself to deliver a two-foot drive by kick into another person's face. As said fellow stumbled onto his back, the Pensacola native spun on another terrorist, dropping her via a snap throat thrust that crushed her larynx. "You have to expect it from them…HEY!"
He snared a dirk being flung at his face. "I HEARD that, Anoa'i!" Neo snarled before twirling herself away from Adam, who was now hissing like a literal bull as he slashed away with Wilt to kill her.
Roman laughed in amusement at the new girl's spunk before he ducked and spun from the man he had kicked down, sending the dirk into his throat to literally hack off his head…
…before one cargo door leading into the space exploded inward, a wave of sound ripping through the space to stun everyone thanks to Flynt Coal's enhanced trumpet. As the Faunus yelped from that ultrasonic blast, the two members of Team FNKI came charging in, accompanied by Qrow Branwen, Mihama Chiyo and Neville Longbottom.
"Oi! Roman! Seth! Public or private?!" the Master of Plants barked out.
"What do you think, kid?!" Seth retorted.
"Fair enough to me!"
Drawing another handful of seeds from one of his pouches, the Devonshire wizard-turned-chlorokinetic blew them into the air before dispersing them with a Depulso spell from his wand. Immediately, they sprouted, forming a large fog bank of green toothed leaves mixed with pinkish-white flowers. Flynt smirked as he levelled his trumpet and sent a blast of sound at the mituhatoda cloud, allowing the leaves and flower pedals to virtually coat the room.
The effects were instantaneous.
Much to the delight of the Master of Plants at such a show of arrogant stupidity, half of Adam's forces were various feline therianthropes like Neon Katt, Blake Belladonna and Monica Khan; the OWL-year student at Hogwarts knew through Isaac Thomas about Adam's obsession with his former lover after she decided enough was enough and had put the White Fang behind her. The instant those peoples' noses picked up on the heavy presence of mesonium-enhanced nepetalactone in the air, all — save Neon, who was wearing a special shielding belt provided for her by Chiyo — began to moan as more primal instincts took over, sending them to their knees as they dropped their weapons.
Quickly identifying the cute blond stud in the green battlesuit for what he was, Neo then smirked as she held out her hand, flashing Roman a look. The native of Pensacola tossed the dirk over to the Valean mercenary before he dropped and knocked one fool off his feet with a leg sweep. As Adam howled in outrage on seeing that some sort of chemical weapon had just been unleashed on his people, another cargo door leading into the warehouse exploded inward, revealing a bunch of scowling Atlesian troopers led by James Ironwood. "There he is!" the cyborg commandant of the polar kingdom's armed forces snapped, pointing at the snarling bovine therianthrope, who recoiled at the sight of people he loathed the most thanks to his history with the Schnee Dust Company. "Take him down, men!"
"DEATH TO HUMANS!" Adam screamed as he charged at the roaring troopers.
The standing members of the White Fang screamed as they quickly converged on the new threat…
…just as two more cargo doors exploded, revealing a group of local huntsmen under Glynda Goodwitch's command from one direction…and the Wise Lone Sage of Yiziba leading Adam's former lover and her first lover from another! Seeing all the players now getting involved, Seth then barked, "BATTLE ROYALE! FREE FOR ALL!"
Everyone charged as amused laughter from the Mad Prophet of the Future echoed over the scene…
Approaching the warehouse from the east, that moment…
Cursing herself for not staying close to her teammate during this time, Weiss Schnee kept Myrtenaster aimed ahead as the sound of battle — shouts, weapons discharging, screams and all the less noble noises that emerged from something of that nature — echoed from the large hole Glynda Goodwitch and a fair group of huntsmen opened in the building that no doubt served as the White Fang's base for last night's wonderful "fun". While she had got some sleep — after fighting all those Grimm last night, she had been dead tired at the end — she was still weary, not to mention worried about her teammates. Bad enough that her publicity-conscious father wanted her back in Atlas as soon as possible…
"Miss Weiss! There you are!"
Weiss yelped, immediately moving to summon her Semblance to form shields in case the maniacs her friends and the wonderful visitors from WAY afar — she had got Glynda's message about NOT mentioning the true origins of Isaac Thomas and that seriously handsome Neville Longbottom willy-nilly to any passer-by — burst out to try to attack her one friend from her childhood. "Klein?! What are you doing here?!"
A balding, middle-aged man with greying brown hair chuckled as he came up to stand behind her; since he was not gifted with a Semblance, Klein Sieben wisely positioned himself close to his employer's middle child to ensure his own safety in case the event metres in front of them sent trouble their way. "We just arrived on the green beyond the Academy, Miss Weiss. Your father is quite worried about you and wants you to come…GOOD HEAVENS!"
The sounds of ripping metal thanks to a human body being flung THROUGH said metal at near terminal speed made both Atlesians' heads snap over…
…then they blinked owlishly as a badly-bleeding Faunus in the white-and-black uniform of the protest movement-turned-terrorist organization whose actions helped scar the life of the young heiress of the Schnee business empire since she was a child smashed into the ground ahead of them. Before Weiss could summon her powers to defend herself, a man in a black sleeveless jumpsuit that showed off oodles of muscles came lunging out of the hole he made with the thug he had been fighting. Dropping to a three-point stance as several soul-wolves moved to gather around their pack alpha, Roman Leakee smirked as the wounded therianthrope tried to get back to his feet, summoning his power to drape him in mesonium-fuelled eldritch fire. Just as the man got back up again, then found himself immediately focusing on the living symbol of many of his people's misery, the Spectral Hound lunged.
The spear that followed sent the terrorist face-first into the side of another warehouse, snapping his neck as the ex-football player rolled to his feet. Sensing the life leak out of the arrogant bastard — Roman telepathically scanned that he was one who had taken some "liberties" with humans from Atlas before coming to Vale for last night's party — the spirit hunter snorted. "I'm sure the authorities in Atlas would love to see these idiots' bodies paraded down Main Street, Miss Schnee," he stated as he gave her a wink, making her blush madly at the kind face he now presented her.
"YOU BASTARD ALIEN! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Weiss summoned a glyph to defend herself and her family butler when a snarling feline therianthrope that immediately reminded her of a mixture of Blake Belladonna and the current leader of the White Fang lunged at Roman, claws extended to rip open his throat. Before she could use Myrtenaster to shoot at the hissing creature, a bolt of pure white light lashed out to punch through the back of her head, pulping most of her skull. As the twitching corpse dropped to the ground some distance from the wrestler, he nodded thanks to a smirking Seth Rollins before gazing at the dead terrorist. "Lady, get the damned script line right: It's 'You alien bastard'! You sure wouldn't star in NXT!"
"Oh, my…!"
Both Terrans-turned-Yizibajohei professional athletes turned to see the pretty ballerina-like woman with the lovely silver hair gazing in wide-eyed awe at them. As the obvious gentleman's gentleman behind her nodded his thanks at Roman's and Seth's helping keep his charge safe, Weiss dispersed her glyph before walking over. "Yiziba…?" she hissed before a blush crossed her pale cheeks. "Um, did I say that right?"
Roman chuckled as all the training he effectively undergone dealing with fans came back when dealing with this rich kid who clearly had a heart of gold and wanted to do best for herself and those she loved. "Yeah, we are…" he began.
"WEISS!"
Hearing that voice, Weiss turned pale while wincing as Klein moaned, making Roman's and Seth's heads snap over…
"WHAT IN OUM'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!" Jacques Schnee snarled as he stormed past Klein to snare his daughter by the arm, his free hand snapping up to deliver a slap right across her cheek…
KK-KKRACK!
"What the hell are YOU doing, asshole?!" the Assassin of Dynasties snarled after sending an energy bolt to explode close to Jacques' ear, deafening the man and causing him to stagger away from his child. As Weiss instinctively shifted herself closer to Roman and Klein smartly got out of the way, the Iowan stepped through the hole he made through the wall and marched over to get his hands on the greedy bastard who gladly ruined far too many lives just for his self-aggrandizement. Seth had used his telepathy to scan all the locals to learn the situation concerning the therianthropes called "Faunus" here and what was their massive beef against normal folk. Learning that this puke had been a literal "fight scene seed" — as Yizibajohei called the people whose actions instigated battles — which had become far too distracting on Remnant in recent years, the memories of the man who had been the one responsible for the deaths of DOZENS of heads-of-state in the Dawn of Power roared back into his conscious mind, screaming into the soul of the man born Colby Daniel Lopez to deliver a serious beat down on this prick…!
"Whoa! Not only a freaking square, but a so-called 'guru' who runs the damned SYSTEM on this rock!"
Heads snapped up…
…then people winced as a blur in red, brown and gold came down to land right behind the owner of the Schnee Dust Company, a hand instantly snapping out to snare him by the neck and send him flying HARD into a nearby wall! As the sounds of several bones breaking — though he wasn't fatally wounded by that snap toss — echoed through the alley, a certain adopted native of Long Beach and Quincy in America could only shake her head as she then calmly focused wise, all-seeing evergreen eyes on the second member of team RWBY. Weiss instantly blushed as she sensed a soul that seemed as old as Time Itself behind those orbs, then she gave the newcomer a polite curtsy.
That made Naomi Haight-Ashbury smile in contentment. "Oi! Oi, Barbara Ann, chill out with the square stuff, huh!" the reborn nuclear missile cruiser — whose ship name and hull classification symbol code and number were now quite clear to both Seth and Roman, both of whom were stunned at the idea of meeting America's first warship spirit reborn as a first-generation battle doll — gently scolded as she reached over to rub the Atlesian's silver hair, causing Weiss to squawk. "C'mon, time to cross the squares' 'T' and put an end to this dumb scene! Your friend's gonna have a real downer day if Isaac don't pull a Bugs Bunny on Toro there and make the gullabull nincowpoop lose his horns!"
As both wrestlers laughed at those references to the famous 1953 Looney Tunes short Bully for Bugs, Weiss' cheeks turned as nuclear as Naomi's twin C1W reactors could get at times. Before she could immediately latch herself to the cruiser's arm like a limpet, flashes of energy caused people to look behind Naomi just as a huffing child's voice called out, "Naomi-san! What are you doing?! You know Isaac-san doesn't want anyone to butt into his fight scene!"
As a wave of peace and contentment washed over the locals to make them relax — even the wounded and dazed Jacques Schnee had stopped moaning, slipping into a comforting sleep — Roman crossed his arms. "Um, Hinako, when were you going to tell us all that we just got an American shipgirl?!"
Saeru Hinako huffed as she walked over. The Spirit of Innocence was currently accompanied by two of the Fukushima sisters, Miyuki and Urako; the latter was the reborn THG Uranami. "Hina just found out about Naomi-san when she was asked to visit Wilkinson-sensei and her friends in New York City. Those dorks in MACUSA learned about Hina finding Fujiko-chan and her sisters, then tried to enslave poor Naomi-san to make her hurt Fujiko-chan and her sisters."
"Let me guess: A ton of stalebloods thought that dork move up, right?"
That was Seth, who crossed his arms. In the background, the noise of the fighting was starting to die down, even if Adam Taurus was screaming a tonne of invective to make his subordinates press on. "Hai, Seth-san! Then next thing Hina learns is Margo-san discovered something creepy about those nasty Grimm, which made Candlewick-sensei call Scamander-sensei to come to Vale to look things over! Ozpin-kōchōsensei just discovered the Grimm were made by those dope Ori from the gross stuff the creeps the gamájun once fought for Túndra-san all those years ago came…!"
"BLAKE, WHAT ARE YOU…AAARRRGH!"
Hinako perked, then she ran forward, dodging around people to head into the warehouse, with her two escorts running in behind her. As Seth sighed before he lunged in after the native of Niigata, a wide-eyed Klein stared in dumbfounded shock at Roman. "Sir, how young is that little girl?!" he asked, indicating where Hinako went.
"She's only seven," the native of Pensacola reported, nearly keeling the butler over in a heart attack on hearing that. "Don't worry. The heel doesn't live that can hurt Hinako. C'mon, Weiss. You too, ma'am," he bade Naomi. "You better get Mister Schnee to the medics," Roman the advised.
The older man awked, then drew his scroll to summon assistance while the Spectral Hound and the woman now seen as the Cosmic All-Seer, Kyotam ("Long Beach"), raced into the warehouse…
Inside the warehouse…
"Some tea, James?"
"Oh, thank you, Glynda. Miss Neo?"
A sign came up. NOT THIRSTY YET, GENERAL.
Chuckles escaped the Atlesian forces standing in a rough circle in the middle of the warehouse, they watching in amusement as Ghira Belladonna's only child — now driven to the point of apocalyptic rage thanks to breathing in a good lungful of Neville Longbottom's variation of catnip — lashed out at her former lover with Gambol Shroud in katana form, easily matching Adam Taurus' blocks with Wilt strength-for-strength, a development the current field leader of the White Fang was certainly NOT ready for. As James Ironwood's subordinates moved to tend to their wounded or helped the Master of Plants secure prisoners — of the sixty-six members of the White Fang save Adam present today, twenty-seven were dead with the others either intoxicated, wounded or simply subdued — an equally hissing Monica Khan was circling around behind the arrogant bull who dared try to STEAL her beloved mate, thus keeping the clearly winded Adam's head moving to and fro to make sure he wasn't going to be blindsided by either his old partner or the niece of his present leader. As local huntsmen watched in awe as the Faunus member of Team RWBY went to town on the arrogant bastard who seemed to want to see the whole world burn to ashes for all it supposedly had done to him, another Faunus student of Beacon was using Anesidora to film this moment for transmission over public media. Directing the smirking Velvet Scarlatina was a grinning Mihama Chiyo, who earned herself Yatsuhashi Daichi as a bodyguard while the Bright Genius of the Young Guns directed the leporid therianthrope into properly recording this public humiliation of the infamous leader of the White Fang.
"Blake!" Adam squealed almost like a little baby who just had his favourite toy snatched away from him for no discernible reason. "Settle down! You can't let what the humans did…!"
"MAKING — TOO — MUCH — NOISE — STEER!"
An onyx-black katana tip ripped into the bovine therianthrope's upper thigh, causing him to scream as he wondered what the hell was going on with his own power-absorbing Semblance. Even if Blake's blade wouldn't normally unleash a lot of power when she used it along with her own Semblance — as he himself had taught her to do so in far better times — for some reason, his powers weren't pulling in any of the kinetic energy being thrown out by Blake or her damned ex-girlfriend with her pistol, much less her own sharp finger claws. Still, he had absorbed enough energy that he could escape this place and find somewhere to retreat and heal before gathering new forces. If he lived…
"Hey, Toro! Quit playing with the kitty! We ain't got all day, y'know!"
Heads snapped over…
…then Adam's good eye turned from its normal blue to a burning crimson on seeing a RED CAPE held out by some older teen in a red-and-gold flower-decked sleeved jumpsuit with goggles over her eyes. As the area around him grew dark, an inhuman scream escaped the bovine therianthrope as he combined Wilt and Blush, then summoned up all the power of Moonslice from within himself and his weapons to send a concentrated blast at the offensive crimson sheet.
Heads snapped around to see the bolt slam into the cape…
…then jaws hit the deck as the just-arrived transformed nuclear missile cruiser seemed to swirl, the cape glowing nearly star bright after literally sucking up all that power, such instantly supercharged with the magnified mixed mesonium-and-uranium energy now contained within the former battle doll body that had been created from the Great Forge five millennia before to deal with Goa'uld starships. Naomi Haight-Ashbury then spun around — earning her a dumbfounded nod from Neopolitan even if the just-Gifted mercenary was wide-eyed thanks to her psionic senses picking up what the mellow-looking woman in the traditional battlesuit really was — then sent a blast a HUNDRED times what Adam hurled her way back to sender. Such made the field leader of the White Fang gape before he was punched THROUGH the warehouse wall…not to mention five more walls in his flight path!
Roaring, Blake lunged out after him, followed by Monica as the transformed light cruiser allowed the cape which she had forged with her own powers to lie on her shoulder…
…before she blushed as the two of the Fukushima sisters who had accompanied Saeru Hinako onto the scene began to applaud, with Miyuki using her powers to create ice rose sculptures and toss them towards Naomi. The adopted native of Long Beach and Quincy smiled as she snared one to "smell" it.
"Ah…me public," the Cosmic All-Seer quietly lamented.
Save for a still-stunned Neo, the Yizibajohei present — even a dumbfounded Leno Lu'umlo — gaped at her before Chiyo began to snicker in amusement. Laughter then escaped everyone who had come to Remnant from Earth or Yiziba as the natives blinked, wondering what in Oum's Name was so funny…
Minutes later, a half-kilometre away…
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, COWARD?!"
Shuddering as his whole body shivered from the pain assaulting his nerves, the field leader of the White Fang opened his good eye while he shook his head to get the cobwebs out so he could figure out what to do next. Stunned at the actions of his former lover in the other warehouse, Adam Taurus hissed as he quietly committed the face of that blond bastard in the green uniform to memory so he could hunt the monster down and kill him for drugging poor Blake Belladonna like that, not to mention many of his friends who had dove in to finally fight the humans down last night…
"You seem the worse for wear, Adam," a strange man's voice then called out, causing Adam's breath to catch in his throat as jarred memory focused on those cultured words and the speaker's flat accent. "Must be heartbreaking to learn the TRUTH about how Miss Belladonna REALLY thinks about you."
Snarling, the bovine therianthrope pushed himself back to his feet, spinning around…
…only to gape in dumbfounded shock at the sight of a blond man his age in an off-white jumpsuit with hooded cape on a THRONE of all things five metres away, gently sipping on a goblet of wine.
"I was honestly expecting you to have left after last night's fun," the Wise Lone Sage of Yiziba noted before sipping his drink. "Then again, your obsession with your former paramour seems to be nicely clouding your better judgment." A knowing smirk crossed Isaac Thomas' face. "Or do you HAVE better judgment at all in the end, Adam?"
"TAURUS! GET OUT HERE SO I CAN DISEMBOWEL YOU, YOU WORTHLESS COW!"
Shuddering as Monica Khan's voice echoed through the cave-in hole leading into this warehouse which he found himself in, Adam took a deep breath as he crouched, his hands holding his two-part weapon. "How nice of you to present yourself, Thomas!" he then snarled, his good eye starting to glow. "Now it's time for you to DIE!"
"Why?"
That simple question made the native Remnantian come up short. "What do you think, human?! You're a FOOL to stand in our way to see the Faunus rise to their proper place as masters of this world…!"
A rocking of the head responded from the native of Queens. "Oh, my, my! Typical gloating clichés! Heels like you NEVER seem to get tired of them! How unoriginal!" Ignoring Adam's squawk on hearing such a caustic critique, Isaac placed the goblet down on one of his throne's arms. "The very idea that both humanoid and Faunus Remnantians could actually be emotional EQUALS in society must seem like poison to such a simple-minded man like you. I guess if I happen to accept someone like Blake or Monica or yourself as my equal, that would be quite offensive…"
"HUMANS LIKE YOU WILL NEVER BE MY EQUAL!"
"TAURUS…!"
Adam's good eye widened slightly on hearing Monica's shriek from nearby, it immediately echoing through open windows near the ceiling. "I'd be vewy, vewy quiet if I was you, Adam," Isaac then teased, allowing his voice to shift to do a very passable Elmer Fudd imitation. "Miss Monica is hunting steews!"
As the native gargled while that statement sank into his mind — he could feel his Semblance working overtime to recover his strength from whatever that strange woman did to him — the Wise Lone sage sighed as he stood, shifting his cape clear to reveal a small tubular shaft of steel with controls and some sort of emitter cup hanging from his belt. "I've learned quite a bit about you and those who march to your theme music since I came to this planet last fall," Isaac noted, making Adam gape on hearing that unspoken admission from the Terran-turned-Yizibajohei polymath. "All you want to do in the end is force humans and Faunus to literally SWITCH PLACES in society, with people like yourself leading and people like your friends from last night being made to slave in the Dust mines up north." He indicated his left eye to emphasize the tattoo applied by Schnee security forces which had destroyed Adam's eye years ago. "How unoriginal! How same! You were a decent man once…and now, all because the woman you loved woke up to certain truths and walked away from it, you're becoming no different than JACQUES SCHNEE and his ilk!"
The man before him recoiled as if he had been splashed in acid. "Lies…!"
"Really?" the native of Queens coyly asked. "You really think people like those who were with you when Miss Neo tripped you up believe that? You really think people in Menagerie believe that? You really think Blake still thinks that?!" As Adam recoiled from the venom in the other man's voice, Isaac shook his head. "You ARE no different than Weiss' father! People, human and Faunus, are THINGS to you, to be USED and DISCARDED like mere TOYS…!"
The sounds of blaster fire, echoed with the shrieking noise of metal being torn, caused Adam to tense, his good eye snapping to and fro. "Why should I care for what humans want?!" the bovine therianthrope then snarled. "Humans will die! Once they're gone, the Faunus will rule this world…!"
"You think Salem cares for that?"
The native recoiled as Isaac reached up to undo his cape, draping it on the throne behind him. Noting Adam's reaction, the Terran-turned-Yizibajohei smirked. "So, you DO know of her?! The Queen of Darkness?" he wondered. "Do you think after she literally became mostly Grimm herself that she'd care for ANYONE else on this planet, human OR Faunus?" His eyes narrowed. "You're a TOOL to her, Adam. Just like Miss Fall and her friends. All TOOLS to use in her unending chess game against Professor Ozpin. You know who and what he really is now, I believe." As a grunting snort answered him. Isaac slipped his lightsabre from his belt, shifting himself to prepare his body for what was about to start. "You just want to rule this planet? Don't you know that's been that death cheater's dream for MILLENNIA?! You really think you can try to take this planet away from HER of all people?!"
"It doesn't matter!" Adam hissed as his Semblance flaring to full strength darkened his surroundings. "Cinder will destroy that monster, then I'll destroy her to free the power of the Maidens for more WORTHY inheritors! Without that monster driving them, the Grimm will be exterminated along with the humans, leaving this world to US!" He levelled his combined weapons at the interfering alien human. "All Faunus will wake up to the truth soon! You think your friend will be able to get away with DRUGGING Blake, much less Monica?! If you don't get out of the way…!"
"You'll slice me down?" Here, the other man shook his head. "Is that all humans are to you in the end, Adam? Miserable beings full of secrets, driven by hatred and lies for those who aren't like them?"
The native smirked. "Look at my face, Isaac! What does it tell you?"
Silence.
"Have you REALLY seen your face in the mirror?"
"What does THAT mean?!"
"ADAM! COME OUT HERE NOW, YOU MURDEROUS BASTARD!"
As Adam seemed to tense on hearing his former lover's angry shout echo from outside, Isaac chuckled. "I feel like I'm talking to Jacques Schnee when I talk to you!" he noted. "All prim and proper…"
"I'M NOT LIKE THAT HUMAN!"
"TAURUS!"
A smile crossed the face of the Wise Lone Sage. "...but, just like YOU, he's full of secrets, hatred and lies!" He raised his finger to point directly at the leader of the White Fang. "JUST — LIKE — YOU!"
The other man gnashed his teeth. "What about YOU, then?!" he spat.
"Me? Oh, the fact that I'm from a different planet?" Isaac calmly noted. "There's a difference between you and me. I'm not blinded by one's physical looks or skin colour or sexual orientation or any special gifts whatsoever. I look at Blake and I see a PERSON, no different than Monica or Yáng or anyone else!" Here, he grinned as the other man jolted on hearing the names of the two people who were moving to claim his old lover's heart these days. "And because of that, I treat them all as equals! I've done it already with those under my employ here in Vale. And something simple like that is going to spread faster and farther than what your little hissy-fit terror raids and crimes could do!"
He approached Adam, finger touching the activation pad of his lightsabre. "All that's done in the long term is made you JEALOUS!" the native of Queens coldly declared. "Believe it or not, Jacques Schnee is JUST as jealous of me! Why? Because I'm undermining his economic grip on the whole PLANET by weaning Remnant from dependency on Dust! Without any influence, neither he nor you will have any power over anyone!" He fixed Adam with a knowing look.
"Especially the one you 'love'."
As Adam snap-drew Wilt, the Wise Lone Sage chuckled. "All about jealousy…"
KK-KRASH!
Adam's head snapped over…
…then he awked as the sharp edges of a certain black variant ballistic chain scythe spun through the air at his face, making him bat away Gambol Shroud with his own blade…
PSSSHHEW!
…then he spun around to see a metre-long evergreen energy blade emitting from the device in Isaac's hand as the Wise Lone Sage assumed a single-handed Form II Makashi stance learned from Qui-Gon Jinn when the Terran-turned-Yizibajohei visited a galaxy far, far away some time ago. Seeing that blade, the still-intoxicated Blake Belladonna tensed as she drew back her own weapon while Isaac made a beckoning movement with his free hand's middle finger.
"Now enough talk. HAVE AT YOU!"
At that shout, Adam roared back as he charged…
At that moment, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington DC, that moment (local time: Monday, an hour after breakfast; Sweet Valley time: Two hours before breakfast)…
"You can actually convert the arithmancy into your own equations to replicate this process, Elizabeth?"
The blonde Californian teenager with the blue-green eyes — fortunately, not dressed in the dark blue jumpsuit of the Wise Genius of the Circle of Thought, Daturie (the "Academician") — slightly smiled as she placed her personal PAA on the table separating her from the Secretary of Magic. "Magic is a science by itself, Professor," Elizabeth Wakefield answered as she leaned back on the couch, ignoring the amused looks from the three normal men in the room. "But I will admit that I'll be aided by the volumes of mesonium that were injected into the atmosphere thanks to the actions of the Canadian, Australian and New Zealander magical battleships during the Wars of Liberation." As Samuel Quahog nodded at that observation, the lawyer's daughter who had become one of the most feared of all the Children of the Forge added, "Given how easy it was for Hinako to subconsciously lock in on the living kami of the members of the Fubuki-class destroyers she's found to date, it does lead to an interesting theory Tánja, Isaac and I have come up with."
"What theory is that, Elizabeth?" Josiah Bartlet asked from the head of the circle in the Oval Office.
"The chances are excellent that the Healer of Destruction himself has returned."
"But what on Earth — or Yiziba for that matter! — would make the good doctor do that sort of thing, Elizabeth?" Lord John Marbury wondered from beside Quahog. The often-inebriated ambassador of the Court of Saint James to the United States was here on behalf of the Watchers Council who managed the operations of the Slayers, yet another group of people who had been affected by that planet in the Kaeyu system many light-years away. "I mean, given the sheer level of powers the Fukushima siblings — much less Captain Haight-Ashbury — possess…"
"Could this new Doctor Destructo be from Earth?" Leo McGarry wondered.
"That's likely," Elizabeth noted as Bartlet gave his chief of staff a scornful look; the former governor of New Hampshire didn't care for that term — first coined by Elizabeth's twin sister Jessica — to be used for Yiziba's first and most mysterious metahuman. "I know through the memories of my past-selves that whenever he or she has arisen from the Great Crystal of Power since the Dawn of Power, that person has always been a behind-the-scenes player. What that person could desire now is a complete mystery but given who the Healer has chosen as effective 'point person' to allow the first-generation battle dolls the chance to truly live as people does say a lot in the long term."
"If the Healer is the one responsible for this," the president noted.
"Yes, Mister President, IF the Healer is the one responsible," the first of Yiziba's triumvirate of hyper-genius polymaths whose first-selves unleashed a miracle to end the Starvation Times noted. "Any reasonably-powered reality warper could have been the one to break open THAT part of the Doll House to give Fujiko and her sisters the lives their dead crews were denied. Naomi proved that ships who haven't been sunk in battle could also come back as these 'shipgirls'."
The others nodded. Too many theories, scant few facts. "Well, with the Magical Executive Order released now, there'll be no interference from those I'm the 'president' for," Quahog noted with a wry grin. As the non-magicals chuckled, the "magical president" in charge of the Department of Magic and the Magical Congress of the United States of America added, "Have either you or Miss Chapáeva begun work on summoning shipgirls on your own, Miss Wakefield?"
"Tánja's being secretive, but I know she wants to do something," the lawyer's daughter who led the Sweet Valley Boosters answered. "As to which former warship of the Soviet Union — or Imperial Russia — would 'return to duty', I can't say. The choices are many. I doubt Avróra docked in Sankt-Peterbúrg will be one." As the others gazed at her, Elizabeth chuckled. "Too public. We want to keep things quiet when it comes to our presence here, remember."
Tired groans answered her from Bartlet, Marbury and McGarry as Quahog gave the no-maj leaders a sympathetic look. While the issue concerning the "invasion" by the Union of Uru on Earth the previous October was effectively resolved and was now being contained by authorities in Japan, details had been kept VERY top secret from interested parties from other nations. As to what was happening now within the part of the city of Nishitōkyō known as Tomobiki, that was ALSO being kept top secret. While the move to keep things in that town a total mystery to the rest of the world was quite smart in the long term — if the threat of what the natives of the fourth world of Oniboshi could have unleashed on the third world of Sol got out, the worldwide panic would have been a NIGHTMARE for local authorities to deal with! — leaders such as Josiah Bartlet would like to know SOME things to ensure their home nations were prepared just in case the limits of the "exclusion zone" the aliens agreed to adhere to was breached.
To believe the very name of the Terran tag race champion — for example — who defeated Redet Lum in a tag race had been kept secret from the public, to say anything of those leaders like Bartlet…!
"Any new information concerning who forced this blackout on that town, Josiah?" Marbury asked. "MI-6 is having the devil's own time trying to pry that information from the Japanese."
"No, not at all, John," the former governor of New Hampshire affirmed. "I'm almost tempted to ask Margo to go look at things herself. Much that I understand the need to keep people calm, not knowing who I authorized the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to because of the Tag Race…!"
"I could ask Professor Konoe Konoemon — in his capacity as the effective leader of the Eight Imperial Commanderies as you'll know — to look into it, Josiah," Quahog offered. Much to the surprise of the former transfiguration master of Ilvermorny, information concerning the Tag Race and events in Tomobiki had been blocked in the magical realms worldwide as much as it had been among no-majs worldwide, which had offended everyone from Albus Dumbledore on down in the International Confederation of Wizards in Geneva as well as all member governments of that group.
"Please do so, Professor," Bartlet bade as he sat back in his chair. "I'm wondering if Tariko's sudden disappearance in September may have something to do with this." Shaking his head as the others nodded — given Tariko Katabarbe's involvement in the Giftings of nearly a THOUSAND people since she started her "casting drive" a decade before, concern for the boy-turned-girl from Japan were mounting worldwide — the former governor of the Granite State turned back to his metahuman guest. "In the meantime, Elizabeth, whom do you have in mind to bring back yourself?"
A delighted smile answered. "None other than the one warship who seemed to have held the line against Japan in the early years of the Pacific War all by herself, Mister President. As Fujiko and her sisters know her as, the Handmaiden of Hachiman-no-Kami!" Here, she tapped her PAA to project the image of a park located close to the Big Apple.
On seeing what was being displayed, the others nodded. "Please proceed," Bartlet then bade…
To Be Continued…!
WRITER'S NOTES
As Harry Potter fans know, Newt Scamander is a magizoologist who wrote the basic text on magical creatures used at Hogwarts and elsewhere, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; such became the title of the movie released in 2016. His trip to Siberia is noted on in Magic and Canada. As an aside, the Order of Koschéj is Fred's interpretation of Russia's (and the Soviet Union's from 1917-91) version of the Order of Merlin. Unlike the British award, the three ranks of the Russian order are addressed as "degrees"; they also grant special honorific titles to winners, such as "Grand Warrior Sorcerer/Sorceress" for the 1st degree, "Warrior Sorcerer/Sorceress" for the 2nd degree and "Sorcerer/Sorceress" for the 3rd. Professor Samuel Quahog was first mentioned in Pottermore; as noted before, read Magic and Canada to see how the relationship between America's magical and normal population developed in the universe of these stories.
RWBY character notes: Sūn Wùkōng first appeared in "The Stray" (volume one, fifteenth episode). Scarlet David and Sage Ayana cameoed in "Extracurricular" (volume two, fifth episode) and fully first appeared in "New Challengers…" (volume three, second episode). Neptune Vasilias first appeared in "Best Day Ever" (volume two, first episode); as an aside, the "Dick Tracy" nickname Naomi Haight-Ashbury gives him here is a nod to how Neptune is portrayed in the RWBY Chibi series. Amber Bailey first appeared in "Fall" (volume three, sixth episode); her family name is based on her voice actress, Laura Bailey. Maria Calavera first appeared in "Argus Limited" (volume six, first episode). Klein Sieben first appeared in "The Next Step" (volume four, first episode). His boss Jacques Schnee was mentioned in "The Stray" and makes his first appearance in "End of the Beginning" (volume three, twelfth episode). Velvet Scarlatina first appeared in "Jaunedice" (volume one, eleventh episode). Yatsuhashi Daichi appeared briefly in "Field Trip" (volume two, eighth episode) before making a proper appearance in "Breach" (volume two, twelfth episode).
Translation list and source language: Magícheskaja Milítsija — Magical Militia, the Russian version of Britain's Corps of Law Aurors; Umale mabeku — Literally "non-human same", but effectively meaning "sub-human animal"; Raer'batoguo — Western equatorial continent, the analogue of Europe; Mituhatoda — Catnip (all three Yizibajohei).
Lord John Marbury's affiliation with the Watcher's Council (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is inspired by how he is portrayed in The Morning After by Methos2523 (which is no longer on Fanfiction); the British ambassador to the United States first appeared in The West Wing episode named after him (first season, eleventh episode).