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Somewhere hidden on Yiziba, sometime on Ram-pali, Eke-lelu, Merimdulo'oto-teri (Niigata time: Wednesday 4 April, two hours after midnight; Anádyr' time: Wednesday, an hour before dawn; Vale time: Gaycan 53 Treichleam, two hours after lunch)…
"Wow…"
For Velvet Scarlatina, it was like having fallen into the biggest and richest Dust-filled vegetable patch to ever exist.
"Wow…"
A place that made Amity Colosseum seem SMALL in comparison…
"Wow…"
Filled chock to the RAFTERS with weapons of all shapes, sizes and concepts…
"Wow…"
If she had just died, she knew she had found Heaven…
"Wow…"
"Hey, Penny."
"Yes, Kamen?"
"What's with Fluffy Ears over there?"
Penny Polendina blinked before she looked over her shoulder to see the Faunus member of Team CFVY standing nearby, her jaw hanging from her head as she slowly took in the sheer magnitude of the Kanatoro-tosa, one of the most hard-to-reach locations on the World of the Forge. Noting that her other companions from Vale — save for Fukushima Itsuko — were also staring with wide-eyed disbelief on seeing HOW MUCH the incarnations of the Master At Arms created over many lifetimes since the sheer holocaust of the Dawn of Power, the Mind-Molder of Armour shrugged…before she briefly blinked in surprise on noting that she had just made a human show of expression so easily. Seeing that, Shigaten Kamen smirked. "Still adjusting from being just a titemyu, huh?" the woman with the red-black hair and grey eyes, possessing elongated lower ear lobes for a humanoid species marking her genetic ancestral homeworld of Fukunokami near Uru, wondered before turning back to her main computer.
The adopted Atlesian blinked before chuckling. "Yes, I am. I'm glad I have my past-selves' memories — especially when they lived as women — to help me improve my own social behavioral programming." She gazed once more at Velvet before looking at Coco Adel, then Monica Khan and Blake Belladonna, then Pyrrha Nikos. "Sensory overload, I believe."
Kamen blinked before she chuckled, then tapped a control to bring up the biography of the Valean weapons replicator. Scanning what was there — all thanks to Isaac Thomas, of course — the woman who had been created as a memory-copy and near-perfect DNA clone of the adopted daughter of one of the Fukunokami Union's senior leaders hummed. "Yeah, I can understand that. She lucked out pretty good when she developed her semblance power. Must have made things nice for her teammates when she started training under Thoughtmaster-prime Ozpin at Beacon, then started working with her team as a group."
That form of address for Shannon Ozpin made Penny blink before she lowered her voice. "I've been told of people such as yourself by Isaac Thomas, Kamen," she quietly observed. "Aren't you concerned about your countrywomen still under bondage with the Niphentaxians, both in their home solar system and also on Earth acting as assistant observers?"
That made the Fukunokami-form Avalonian — such made her genetically a very long-lived version of her template/twin sister Shigaten Benten, blessed on her very creation six seasons before with touch-telepathic and wide-ranging empathic powers, plus a form of subconscious metaphysical cosmic clairvoyance which allowed her to perceive an energy field permeating all things known to her genetic ancestors on a planet beyond the galaxy as Te'a — sit back. "Yeah, I am, but I'm just one person even with all of what I've got. Given that I'm now part of the Great Show of Life, if I decided to do an end-run around the rimrae umale on Phentax Two, how many of my sisters and their hybrid children would be lost?" As the other woman nodded with grim understanding, Kamen gazed on her viewscreen. "It's definitely got to be a massive team effort, worthy of a Mother of All Fight Scenes if we decide to go all-out on them." As Penny nodded in understanding, Kamen shrugged. "As to the 'when'…"
A light smile crossed the other woman's face. "Depending on how the overall plot scripts flow, you mean."
"Yep. All depending on that…"
"Um, excuse me, Sensei…?"
Both turned as the Shy Tsunami came up to join them. "What's up, Itsu-cha?" Kamen asked, using the Vosian version of the Japanese "-chan" honorific with the shortened version of the reborn destroyer's given name.
That made the adopted native of Yokohama blush even as she waved over to where the two other Faunus who came to Yiziba were now standing, with Monica helping Blake examine some very wicked-looking taiken-shaped swords hanging from a handy rack. "Given that healers — and veterinary healers as well — are strongly protected both on Yiziba and on Remnant, are there any sort of high-power shielding systems that Monica-sensei can wear to see herself protected?"
"Oh, I can make those easily. But Isaac's a better expert in those realms," the adopted native of Bensaikyō, the capital city of her other-self's home planet, answered. "He might not have anticipated the Healer being Gifted, but he'll know what to do."
"Ah…!"
"Hey, Velvet! Look here!"
The three women turned to look…
…then they winced on hearing Velvet scream out in awed shock on seeing what — in Terran eyes — would be a man-portable version of an Alliant Techsystems M242 Bushmaster chain gun now in the hands of the Human Legion. As the leporine therianthrope literally TELEPORTED over to closely examine such a beast — seeing that, Kamen immediately recalled that such had been a heavy assault infantry support arm from the early days of the Dawn of Power her first-self had created for the government of Kuorim on the eastern equatorial continent — a wry smile crossed the Master At Arms' face…
Remnant, on the Island of Patch near Vale City, mid-afternoon…
"I'm just saying that there's more of JNPR than RWBY. It makes more sense to go with that one."
"But 'junior' isn't a colour, Nora."
Nora Valkyrie snorted as she gave her childhood friend an annoyed look. "How can I be MORE…huh?!"
Both she and Liè Ren perked on hearing a strange whining noise echo through the air over the Rose/Xiǎo Lóng farmstead where they and their surviving teammate Jaune Arc had relocated themselves to after being released to carry out a "special" mission assigned by Glynda Goodwitch the previous day. Said task — as explained by the acting headmistress of the temporarily-defunct Beacon Academy — was to locate an ancient relic said to have been created by the God of Light, thus ensure it didn't fall into the hands of Cinder Fall or whoever her leader was. Fortunately, said relic now being protected by the headmaster of the Haven Academy in Mistral, Professor Leonardo Lionheart. Unfortunately, given the breakdown of communications between Vale City and the other kingdom capitals — never mind the need to divert resources to clean up the mess from the mass Grimm attack provoked by Cinder and her allies — the trip was going to have to happen the HARD way, both overland and by sea.
The two natives of Kuroyuri some distance from Mistral on the continent of Anima watched as an aircraft resembling a quasi-tubular cigar mounting shoulder-level wings (with swivel pulse-jet motors at the end) and possessing a multi-rudder tail assembly moved to hover some distance from the childhood home of their new teammate before coming to settle on the even soil with a gentle hissing noise. Once the engines had died down, the back hatch opened, revealing a tall and broad-shouldered man with lean muscles, he draped in an off-white jumpsuit with a Y-shaped looping arc insignia on his chest; he also wore a protective hooded cape around his shoulders, such hanging down to his knees. His face was partially covered by a protective set of goggles shielding blue eyes from potential outside harm. Ren's sharp chestnut eyes were quick to detect that there were micro-HUD screens in those goggles, implying this fellow — whom he was quick to recognize as Isaac Thomas, the Vacuan who founded Renaissance Industries sometime ago to help develop technology not dependant on Dust — was far better equipped than many non-huntsmen to deal with potential threats. If what Goodwitch had told them about this man was even HALF true…!
"Mister Ren! Miss Valkyrie!"
Both Animanians perked on hearing that voice, then they approached the older — though not so much up close, Nora was quick to perceive — man. "Mister Thomas," Ren said as he shook the offered hand. "We weren't told you were coming to visit."
"Professor Goodwitch should have called ahead and warned Mister Xiǎo Lóng I was coming," Isaac stated as he was joined by another man who looked to be the age of the hunters, with dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes and carrying a beautiful flowering plant of a type neither Nora nor Ren could recognize. "Ah, this is my friend Neville Longbottom. He's from Gossan; you probably heard it was recently destroyed in a Grimm attack. He's a specialist in dealing with developing Dust-free plants."
"Delighted to meet you both," Neville said as he tucked the plant pot to one side before shaking Ren's hand, then formally bowing over Nora's hand to give her a courtly kiss. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your friend."
The veterans of Team JNPR grimaced. "We'll recover," Ren assured. "What's with that, though?"
Nora moaned. "Oh, c'mon, Ren!" she snapped. "Bright flowers are always good to help people get over bad things!" As the dark-haired hunter gave her a bland look, the over-cheerful huntress with the dirty blonde hair and turquoise eyes gave Neville a delighted smile. "Thing I'm curious about is what's in there," she then asked, pointing to the large carrying case Isaac had.
Isaac chuckled. "Good sense of caution, Miss Valkyrie," he said while flipping up the case to open it.
A second later, a wild squeal echoed over the island…
Inside the farm, minutes later…
"It certainly has a lovely scent, Neville," Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng stated as he handed a cup of tea over.
"It's one of my earlier developments," the Master of Plants stated while nodding his thanks for the offered cup, then looked over to see both Nora Valkyrie and a recovered Ruby Rose fawning over the beautiful flowers which the native of Holdenhurst had brought to this farm. Such a plant was a modified version of a Yizibajohei nunuta, a central equatorial continent perennial which could adopt itself to any sort of climatic conditions save for the cold polar zones of any Class M planet; yes, Neville Longbottom — British pureblood scion he was even if he would gladly wipe out the Death Eaters in cartload lots if given the chance — was as much a Trekker as he was a Whovian. Fortunately for the sake of the locals, the nunuta had been genetically bred to NOT mutate into some animal-eating creature as the chlorokinetic's many past-selves had seen over the past two sagas. Never mind the need to keep things secret from the death cheater who had been ruining lives wholesale on this planet since the time of the Dawn of Power, Neville doubted Ruby would appreciate some monster plant eating her precious little dog Zwei.
"Yeah, it does have a nice scent to it," Jaune Arc noted as he came over to join them. "Do you have any more of them, Neville?"
"For your parents?" the Devonshire wizard asked on seeing the pensive look on the other man's face.
"Yeah! Need a peace offering!" the blond native of Radian in the northern part of Sanus quite some distance from Vale City said with an embarrassed look. "They found out about the attack on Beacon and freaked right out. Freaked out even more when I told them I wasn't coming home but going on a special mission with my friends." Here, he indicated the other teen huntsmen in the living room; Liè Ren was seated to one side of the room looking over some information stored on his scroll while Nora and Ruby continued to fawn over the pretty nunuta flower. Isaac Thomas was busy with Yáng Xiǎo Lóng in her bedroom helping her adjust to the new prosthetic arm the New Yorker had readily made for the heavy hitter of Team RWBY. "Never cared for the idea of me becoming a huntsman in the first place, never mind that our family's legacy goes back many years…!"
Neville nodded as he reached over to squeeze the other man's shoulder in a show of peer solidarity. "Know how you feel, mate," he affirmed. "Always hard to live up to the older generations' expectations."
Before anyone could say anything more, the door to Yáng's bedroom then opened…
…then with an ear-splitting shriek of delight, Ruby disappeared into a shower of rose pedals as she lunged over to nearly knock down her half-sister with a hug that could crush an iceberg. "YOU'RE OKAY!" the leader of Team RWBY squealed.
Yáng yelped as she nearly staggered right back into the Wise Lone Sage himself, who seemed quite amused by the younger huntress' actions. "Easy, Ruby!" Isaac gently scolded. "You're still walking wounded and your sister's definitely walking wounded!" At the pout from the blonde huntress, he winked at her. "Yáng, just because I got you that prosthetic doesn't mean you're ready to go track Adam Taurus down and beat the crap out of the fool right now. You need to know how to use it, both in normal circumstances and with your semblance as well. It'll take a bit, but you'll be back in battery soon enough."
"Isaac's right, Miss Xiǎo Lóng," Neville added. "Much that I'm sure you want to help your sister and your friends on this thing Professor Goodwitch has them doing, you need to still recover from losing that arm. You don't want to do something to rip open where they knitted the skin and flesh back together again, would you?" He tried not to visibly wince on saying that; given that he was both a magical and a metahuman, he knew of ways of regrowing lost limbs with considerable ease.
People winced. "Yeah, Yáng, you don't want to make things worse before you get better," Nora affirmed, which made Ruby blink before she nodded in understanding. "Don't worry; we've got Qrow watching our backs and if what I heard Isaac and his people did in Vale after we chased out Fall and her idiots, we can get everyone back together again and bring the hurt down on any of those jerks if they decide to press for a fight." Here, she pulled out Magnhild out from behind her to twirl it.
"Nora, please!" Tàiyáng then called out. "Not in the house!"
The hammer fighter/electrical energy manipulator cutely eeped at that admonishment from the veteran of Team STRQ. "Yeah, Yáng! We'll stay in touch as long as we can!" Ruby assured her sister. "There are loads of relay towers for the CCT system to still work and stay connected! Even if the Beacon Tower's down, we've always been able to pick up CCT signals from Radian and some of the outlying islands near here! By the time we're out of range, I'm sure you'll be ready to go again!"
That made Yáng blink before she sighed. "Well, I'll do my best. I am worried about Blake and Weiss, though…"
"Blake's fine, Yáng," Isaac said, saying that for the second time for the benefit of the others. "She was hurt just as bad as you were with what Adam did that night. Fortunately, there are people breaking away from the White Fang even now that most of them have decided that violence is the only answer to their issues. One of those leaving, ironically, is her former girlfriend."
That made Yáng and Ruby perk. "What?! Monica's around?!" the former demanded.
"Oh, I always wanted to meet her! She sounds so nice!" the latter stated.
Jaune, Ren and Nora blinked before the former gaped. "Wait! Monica KHAN?! Sienna Khan's niece?! THAT Monica?!"
"Yep, that's her!" Ruby declared as she pulled out her scroll, going into pictures to display an image she got from her teammate's own device, then she came over to show the other huntsmen. "Isn't she so pretty?!"
Jaune and Ren both whistled before the latter winced as his childhood friend growled jealously at him…
Somewhere in Hokkaidō, the Amon Clan family training compound, an hour before dawn (Vale time: An hour before supper)…
Neopolitan's heterochromic eyes fluttered open. "What the…?" she called out.
Blinking on finding herself on a futon — which wasn't too uncomfortable in her mind, remembering the times she and her late guardian had slept on the streets whenever they had to hide from the law — the Ballerina of the Final Darkness slowly reached for one of her dirks, laid out within arm's reach just in case any of her new teachers decided to do an early morning ambush…
"Excellent reflexes, Trivia."
Her skin paled as her empathic powers instantly zeroed in on that virtual black hole where the personal assassin of Japan's head of state had placed herself in the shadows farthest from the windows. "Miss Negako…" she breathed out.
The darkness melted into Moroboshi Negako, whose general history was now known to the Valean mercenary. Earth's first true artificial intelligence created effectively by accident thanks to the unplanned combination of two mental "libraries" of combat knowledge accumulated by allied clans of the Tensei-ryū — the esoteric school of martial arts formed by an ebony mesonium-powered immortal named Hozan Hirosuke, a fellow who had served the Throne of Yamato for over a millennium until he was assassinated by metahuman militarist fanatics in 1937; these days, that school was effectively managed by Earth's very own Jewel Warrior, a woman named Dean Raeburn from Canada across the Pacific — in what came to be known as the "Incident of Bunka-gonen". Once the being — then simply called the Saikō Jinseijutsu in honour of the martial arts school practiced by those allied clans, the Moroboshi of Mutsu and the Hana of Peshi — had managed to stabilize itself within its new host, it then entreated of its ultimate creator for the chance to live as its own being. Sadly, this was long before Niphentaxian cultural observers brought Terran-form Avalonian slave "assistant observers" to Earth — Oh, yes! Did Neo know about THAT! — who could be approached to help. However, luck finally came thanks to Kasuga Ayumu of all people, who sensed what was going on back in the spring of 2001, then used her access to the Doll House to forge a new body for such a being. This allowed the Earth Angel — known on Yiziba as Ledo Kimr'be, which made her one of the "Named" on the World of the Forge even if Negako didn't care at all to engage in any aspect of the Great Show of Life — a chance to live her own life under her own control.
"So, what are you doing here?" Neo wondered as Negako moved to sit seiza beside the futon, then reached over to the small tea service, such supplanted by a portable heater to keep the water warm.
"A warning given that both Jō and I would desire you to concentrate more on your training while you are a guest here with the Amon Clan," the other woman said as she finished preparing the tea, then handed it over. "As your powers adjust to how various energy flows surge through Earth's biosphere, you might sense things which will distract you from your present goals. While I would naturally hesitate to ask for your assistance unless the specific issue demands such, given the general move of those non-Yizibajohei who are welcomed as Named into the Great Show of Life itself, even those recruited by Leno…"
Neo chuckled before sipping the tea. "Yeah, even the worst heel on Yiziba sees him or herself as a face at times," she noted as she shifted herself into a crossed-leg position. "Still, it'd be rude as heck for me to stand back and allow my hosts to be harmed in case some dork attacks them. If that happens, I'm in on the fight scene, Miss Negako. No stopping me there."
"I suspected as much."
The experienced mercenary blinked before giving the other woman a curious look. "What's wrong?"
A tired sigh escaped Negako, something that — to those who knew her — would be seen as something of a prodigy. Given her iron-hard control over her emotions thanks to the knowledge she gained from all those whose memories helped effectively CREATE her two centuries ago, such outbursts were virtually unknown from the likes of the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū. "At two o'clock yesterday morning Japan time, a massive outburst of ki and mana energy exploded from the far-eastern area of the Chukótka Peninsula in Siberia. As to what caused such an event, I cannot perceive…which is quite peculiar as I can tap into every ley line that exists on this planet whenever I desire. However, this event was unique enough to alert a whole host of precognitives, clairvoyants, seers, high-order empaths — to which, Trivia, you are one — and martial arts masters possessing MY level of esoteric senses." As Neo blushed at the compliment the ninjutsu grandmaster just gave her, Negako added, "Even more so, concerning your Gifted peers on Earth, both Faith Lehane and Margareta Hecht in America and Takino Tomo here in Japan — respectively, Wildflower, the Dominatrix and Warwind — were able to sense this. Whoever or whatever this is, it could be a potentially grave threat. It could be not. With the interest of the Galactic Federation of Planet-states on Earth thanks to the Urusians' actions last fall — and the overall quest of those who followed Tariko's quest to see people empowered without causing massive alarm throughout the local stellar cluster — the presence of such a being will need to be investigated."
Neo nodded. "And you'd want me to stay out of it."
"Unless either yourself or your hosts are threatened…" Here, Negako looked over. "Jō."
The Valean smiled as the head of the Amon Clan came out of the shadows to sit down next to the Heavenly Sovereign's personal assassin. "Praise the Kami that I wasn't the ONLY one to sense that whatever-that-was in Siberia, Shihan-sama," he said with a relieved smile as Negako moved to prepare another cup of tea. "What could such a being be like?"
"I cannot say, Jō. That is what concerns me," the other martial arts grandmaster coolly declared, earning her an understanding nod from their host. "Despite my skills, I do not have the ability to sense anything shielded by heavy forms of mesonium. The far northeast of Siberia is one such location. Even more so, thanks to the 'tag race' last fall in Tomobiki with the Urusians, I have had to meditate frequently to prevent my own ki senses from being permanently affected by that influence."
He blinked in confusion. "Why shield Tomobiki even now? I don't understand. Despite the news blackout, the tag race was dealt with, there was no invasion and the Urusians returned to their homeworld afterwards."
She shook her head. "I cannot say. I too am affected by this suppression of information from that part of Nishitōkyō. According to some who frequent the area, the Urusians and their allies have continued to maintain contact with residents in that district, even actually taking residence there themselves. As to who exactly and WHY they are there, I cannot ascertain."
Jō gaped. "What?! YOU CAN'T LEARN THAT?! You're Tennō's right-hand assistant in situations like this, Negako-sama! If anyone has the right to know about anything that happens anywhere in Japan, it is YOU of all people!"
"Unless someone wants to PERSONALLY keep Miss Negako blind to all this."
Eyes locked on Neo. Blinking as she considered that, the spiritual descendant of the intrigues of Tutota R'batae Kutotuto in the early years of the Dawn of Power took a deep breath before sipping her tea. "Think about it. Miss Negako has the capability — as she just said now — to sense out a hell of a lot of things that happen here on Earth. Yet she can't sense what's going on in Tomobiki, which is not so far from where she lives at the Imperial Palace in Tōkyō, right?!" As the older people nodded, the Valean then pointed to the northeast. "Now we got this other thing going on in Siberia that's perked the interest of the three most-powerful FISS-types active now. Has Mustang come back yet?" At Negako's shake of the head, Neo bit her lip. "Wait! This Tomobiki place; it's Tariko's old town before her mom took her to Yiziba a miniseries ago, right?" As the older people nodded, Neo grimaced. "The two last people listed in the Book were from Tomobiki! What if Tariko's trapped there?!"
Jō and Negako blinked before they exchanged looks…
Back on Remnant, the Rose/Xiǎo Lóng farm on Patch Island outside Vale City, two hours later (local time: Gaycan, an hour after supper; Sunnydale time: Tuesday 3 April, mid-afternoon)…
"Well, at least they got some food into them before they left," Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng mused as he and his guests watched the four people riding all-terrain motorcycles down the main road towards the ferry docks that would allow the newly-formed Team RJNR (or Team "Ranger") to access a ship for Vale City; once ashore in one of the more safe areas, they could then take one of the several more well-used travelling routes to get to the east coast of the continent and cross over to Anima. "Thanks for telling Ruby about the possibility of Penny being rebuilt by her father, Neville. That cheered her up quite a bit."
Neville Longbottom chuckled as he and Isaac Thomas turned to follow their host up the trail back to the nearby farmhouse. "My pleasure, sir," the Devonshire wizard affirmed with a nod as he exchanged a look with his New Yorker friend. "Even if we can't spill all the pumpkin juice about what has to happen now, giving your daughter some sense of hope will do wonders."
Tàiyáng nodded as he glanced at his two guests out of the corner of his eyes. Even now with what Qrow Branwen briefed him on shortly before the former bandit left the house as a hidden "advanced scout" for Ruby's new group as they quested for Mistral, it was still hard to believe that not the Wise Lone Sage and the Master of Planets were honest-to-Oum ALIENS of all things! Even more so, both were empowered by different forms of semblance and aura abilities — these "Gifts" that natives of the homeworld of the One Above the Gods held so dear; even if he was Valean, Tàiyáng knew THOSE legends — which allowed the hyper-genius polymath who had founded Renaissance Industries to fight Adam Taurus of all people to a victory. Never mind the fact that the chlorokinetic had also been born with bona-fie MAGIC of all things! "So, how are the others?"
Isaac held up his left wrist, where he had mounted a mini-PAA that allowed him quick access to the networks that helped support the Great Show of Life back on Yiziba. Willing the holographic screen to display what was there in Remnantian characters — which wasn't so different from Terran Latin script; the way some of those letters were shaped reminded him a lot of Galactic Basic back in a certain universe far, far away a long time ago he once visited — the native of Queens hummed. "Well, Blake, Monica, Penny, Pyrrha, Coco and Velvet are still visiting Kamen in the Arsenal trying to get replacement weapons built…or in Penny's case, get her past-selves' various armour prototypes taken out of there and shifted to the laboratory I set aside for her on the Normandy." As Tàiyáng's eyes sparkled at the idea of going aboard a real spaceship of all things, Isaac clicked his tongue. "Still no Giftings for either Yatsuhashi or Fox, but I'm not worried about them. Velvet's probably still too overwhelmed by what Kamen has stashed in the Arsenal; nothing's happened to her just yet. Most of General Ironwood's forces are pulling out now from Vale to return to Atlas and the Colosseum is clearing Valean airspace as the on-board staff fix things up."
A glance to the northeastern sky revealed a small fleet of cargo craft heading off over the horizon towards the distant shores of Solitas. Turning towards the west, the three men were quick to see the fading lights of the great floating atmospheric satellite which hosted the yearly Vytal Festivals. While going that way was heading away from Atlas City itself, Amity would eventually swing north once over open ocean to make dock at a special receiving yard outside the industrial town of Arrowfell at the edge of the Snowbound Forest that covered most of the polar landmass. "You think this might make the death-cheater believe she actually won this one, Isaac?" Neville wondered as he crossed his arms, gently grasping his wand under his tunic sleeve.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how much Salem can sense things through the Grimm," Isaac breathed out. "She must know that she lost a lot of resources in the attack on Gaysaw evening. Atop that, Cinder survived Ruby nearly turning her into ashes once her silver eye power finally woke up; once she recovers, she'll fill Salem in on everything." He trilled. "Thanks to Kanako, we know Salem's moving to have Adam Taurus tracked down to get more information on what happened. We have a window of opportunity, but it's shrinking fast. If she learns the majority of Vale survived the attack, she might strike again…"
"She won't like the result THIS time, mate," the Master of Plants then advised before gazing on their host. "I'll have some masa trees sent over here so you can plant them on the island and shield it from any surprise attack."
"Appreciated," Tàiyáng affirmed, quickly interpreting what the Yizibajohei term meant in his native tongue. "Oak trees are seen here on Remnant as symbols of long-lasting settlement. Back before we switched to mortar and brick — this was what Ozpin told us when he finally let us learn the truth about himself and his relationship with the Queen of Darkness and how that came to influence so much history here — all our urban places were made of various oak plants." He then looked at the wizard-turned-chlorokinetic. "Did you know that when you started passing those young trees around?"
"Honestly, I didn't," Neville confessed as the three turned back to walking towards the house. "Still, it's amazing to me that our societies are so similar in so many ways." As Tàiyáng nodded, he continued, "In wand-magical lore where I come from, oak is often seen as the 'king of trees'. Wands made from it tend to enhance a person's magic quite well, depending on what sort of core you're using to channel the magic. That's why I was attracted right away to masa trees after I got Gifted in the summer after my first year at Hogwarts. On Yiziba, even young masa shrubs can hold a VERY high content of mesonium, which is what we need to plant all over the planet to deny the environment to those alconóst/dementor rejects that death-cheater controls."
Tàiyáng hummed. "Qrow told me that the ancestors of the Grimm were driven off Earth with the help of one of those really old nature spirits that rose up on the planet over the last couple million of years." As Neville and Isaac both nodded in confirmation, the veteran of Team STRQ breathed out. "And the actual magical beings who directly fought the alconóst are still alive and well. Do you think they might want to send warriors over here to help us fight the Grimm once things go public?"
The Wise Lone Sage gritted his teeth. "Still have no answer to that, Tàiyáng. It all depends on what the Dúma Gamájuna decides to do. I've never interacted with gamájun, so I can't judge a damned thing about them…"
A beeping noise echoed from Isaac's wrist, which made him tap the control there, allowing the holographic image to change to that of a very sultry-looking brunette with amber-brown eyes, she dressed in a medium-green modern jumpsuit with all sorts of flowers dotting over it. "Hey, Faith!" the New Yorker greeted the transplanted Bostonian now living in one of the most magically dangerous pieces of real estate on Earth. "What's the what?! Where the hell are you calling from anyway?"
Tàiyáng and Neville were quick to hear the whistling of air around the body of the Belle of the Wilderness, Yati ("Windflower"), the second-strongest "normal" FISS-type to exist on Yiziba despite what one Takino Tomo might loudly claim to the contrary. "Way in the skies over the Arctic close to Alaska, I-man! Yo, Nev!" Faith Lehane — a person whom, thanks to her being one of TWO living Heiresses of Sineya who were ready to deal with all sorts of dark creatures beyond the capacity of national magical ministries to handle, always earned a tonne of respect from many like Neville Longbottom — called back, keeping her own PAA close to her as she scanned around. "Dunno if you got any updates from Earth yet, but someone or something somewhere up here unleashed some MAJOR mojo somewhere around these parts yesterday when the gang and I were having lunch!"
Isaac blinked, instantly being reminded what the Wild Warrior of Passion had warned the Living Spirit of Innocence of earlier that day before she returned to Japan. "What did it feel like to you, Faith? I know Tomo picked up on it…"
"Couldn't really put words to it, dude," Faith answered. "It felt almost as strong as General Raeburn does to me in a lot of ways! It's been bugging me all day. Whatever it was, it really got the nightlife in the 'Dale really agitated last night."
"How busy were you guys?" Neville wondered.
"We managed to bag a few vamps to get them turned back like the Boy-Toy wants all the time, but there were some demons running around as well, screaming that some big dude somewhere up here's really pissed about something! I…what?"
The "dark slayer" from Massachusetts was quick to sense the hyper-genius from New York visibly wincing. "Oh, God, no…!"
"What is it, Isaac?" the Master of Plants asked.
A tired sigh escaped the Wise Lone Sage. "Faith, I'll send Willow a full brief on what's going on here on Remnant to her as soon as I'm able to get back aboard the Normandy. Give me a couple of hours. Have Willow analyze it and brief Rupert right away."
Faith blinked. "What is it, I-man? Our type of big bad?"
He breathed out. "Tell Rupert that Túndra is now VERY agitated. Once Willow briefs him, he'll understand…"
By then, all three men had got close enough to the farmhouse — whose main door was left open — to hear faint sobbing echo from the living room. "Oh, hell! Yáng!" Tàiyáng screamed out as he raced into the building.
Isaac cursed. "I'll call you back, Faith! Rierite mode for us now!"
The Belle of the Wilderness nodded in understanding, she jauntily saluting him. "Go get your new student, I-man!"
A chuckle escaped the New Yorker as he closed the link with Earth, then he and Neville jogged up to the doorway, looking in to see a moaning Yáng Xiǎo Lóng now sobbing into the crook of his father's neck. Seeing how much the heavy hitter of Team RWBY was now unstrung over what happened to her in the last few days and more, Isaac sighed before he gazed at his friend from England. "Go talk to Professor Oobleck and Professor Port," he whispered. "They need to come visit here tomorrow."
The Master of Plants nodded in understanding…
In the skies over the Chukótskoe Sea west of Point Hope, Alaska, an hour later (local time: Tuesday, mid-afternoon; Niigata time: Wednesday, breakfast; Anádyr' time: Wednesday, an hour before lunch; Sunnydale/Sweet Valley time: Tuesday, two hours before supper)…
"Nothing, nothing and STILL NOTHING! Shit! Where the fuck IS this thing?!"
"Chill, Molly!" Faith Lehane said as she waved down the most powerful FISS-type to currently live in Sweet Valley safely to the west of the current active Hellmouth. "We all know how powerful this Túndra dude's said to be…"
Molly Hecht grimaced as she looked to and fro. While not one of the Sweet Valley Boosters, she was allied to them in a way. She had been Gifted as the Mistress of Pain and Pleasure, Kanae Matotukhebae (the "Dominatrix"), the summer after the first contact between residents of the former fish canning town and Tariko Katabarbe. Empowered to be one of the top-level FISS-types — coming with a nervous system-augmented adrenal boost capability that flooded her with even more power every time she experienced any physical pain — she would join with several others Gifted in the summer of 2008 from the "wrong side of the tracks" in the Valley to form their own group, the "Secret Society" as they called themselves. Said group would work hard to help those more disadvantaged in even a place like Sweet Valley to better advance their lives, escape the trap of drug addiction and bad homes to go forth and live free. While the Secret Society and the Boosters seldom worked together, they were forced to ally themselves just prior to the previous Hallowe'en when the daughter of the third-richest family in the city, Regina Morrow, was FORCEABLY Gifted by a then-VERY drunk Molly into becoming the Queen of Traps, Kiluo ("Manacle"). And while Molly was still guilt-ridden over her actions that evening — Regina had just broken up with the scion of the Valley's richest family, Bruce Patman, then subsequently fell in with one of Molly's normal friends, Justin Belson, to understand how "normal" people lived — that the heavy hitter of the Secret Society wound up getting a girlfriend over the whole thing…!
Personally, comparing mental images of the vivacious brunette Regina with the silvery-blonde Molly, the Dark Slayer of South Boston had to admit that they did make one very hot couple indeed…!
"Hey, guys!"
Both the Belle of the Wilderness and the Mistress of Pain and Pleasure perked on hearing that familiar voice, then turned south towards the Diomede Islands as the Wild Warrior of Passion flew up to join them; by the looks of things, Takino Tomo had just found out about what Faith and Molly were doing, then moved to invite herself to join the search. Of course, neither American minded the presence of their Japanese friend. Despite her being a wildcat loon on occasion, the current incarnation of Warwind also often displayed a Zen-like understanding of battle that made her friends in the Azuma Group freak out whenever that side of her came out. "Joining the party, huh?" Faith said she grasped the younger girl's hand in a firm grip. Yes, like others who were FISS-types since Tomo's Gifting the previous spring, the Dark Slayer had gone all out with the other girl; one of their bouts in the Battlezone had lasted for nearly a whole DAY, it was that intense between them! And while Molly could easily equal Tomo in the boosted strength department, Faith knew that the two had become close friends. The Wild Warrior had weighed in on the whole thing with what happened to Regina Morrow as soon as news of the incident got across the Pacific. She gladly let an ashamed Molly vent out her own self-loathing whenever she needed it and couldn't do it on the bitch that had "stolen" Patman from Regina in the first place, Elizabeth Wakefield's former best friend Amy Sutton AKA the Shot-Put Siren of the South, Bisete Buorite ("Trebuchet"). Of course, Tomo was more than happy to pound down on Amy whenever she got the chance.
"Nothing, nothing and STILL nothing!" Molly snarled again as she patted Tomo's shoulder, she then glancing towards the west and the northern Siberian coast beyond. It was a relatively clear April morning, with the Sun way off to the south; all three girls hovered now at about three thousand metres above the choppy surface of the Chukótskoe Sea emptying into the Bering Strait separating the Last Frontier State from the Land Rich in Reindeer. "Whatever it is, it's here somewhere. But where…?"
Faith sniffed the air. "Lots of meson in the air." She stuck out her tongue to taste a snowflake that drifted down from higher altitude. "Yeah, we got some big deposits around these parts. Whoever or whatever it is, it's got masking mojo…!"
A PAA buzzed. "Faith?!"
The South Bostonian picked the device out of her belt pocket, once again reminding herself to seek out an egghead like the leader of the Boosters to get some wrist-mounted mini-PAAs to use with her costume. "Hey! What's the what, Red?"
"Well, I think I have an idea of what's going on where you, Molly and Tomo are at now," Willow Rosenberg called back from the library at Sunnydale High School; the image projecting from Faith's PAA showed her seated alongside Rupert Giles. "It definitely HAS to have something to do with that Remnant planet that Isaac's so interested in now."
"Yeah, I-man mentioned this Túndra dude…"
"Who — undoubtedly thanks to the gamájun — now knows about the alconóst descendants that Isaac is seeking to eliminate from that planet, Faith," the assigned Watcher to the leader of the Scooby Gang cut in for the Arch-Mage of True Passion, R'bemdo R'bem ("Crimson Heart"). "Given what legends have been passed down from that time by the gamájun — confirmed with statements about same given by Rittmeister von Taserich when he was interviewed about the End War by various European magical ministries as well as the Watchers — that specific side of that conflict was bloody and widespread. That the gamájun were able to pull off a victory against the alconóst speaks well of their overall magical power even back then."
"Don't forget the Ori aspect of things, Giles," Willow reminded the older man. "Even if Stargate Command has yet to run into either the Ori or the other Anquietas while using that Gate in Cheyenne Mountain, they're out there…"
"And probably still sore as shit at all of Ōsaka's past-selves for kicking the shit out of them like they did over the years," Tomo snarked as she crossed her arms, exchanging a knowing look with Molly.
Molly laughed. "Hey, Tomo, is it true that on Remnant, they call Grandpa Ayone the 'One Above the Gods'?!"
All three women snickered…
"Yeah, they do, Molly-chan! It's so BLEAH!" a strange voice then cut in, making Faith, Molly and Tomo perk.
"Hey, Chiyosuke! You build that ride?!" the Belle of the Wilderness whistled in admiration on seeing the youngest of the Azuma Gang now riding on a sleek tenne brown hoverbike bearing her old symbol as Muoleguo ("Cerebral Child") — it had been the Goddess Who Walks Among Men who had prompted Mihama Chiyo to change her battle name after Kasuga Ayumu helped the would-be leader of the Young Guns get a synthezoid body from the Doll House; such had been done to save the young genius from Itabashi from dying from cerebral burn-out overusing her abilities — as it now hovered close to where Faith and the others were floating. Naturally, Ayumu herself had come along with Chiyo on this trip north from Tōkyō to find out what had happened here in the last day that had a tonne of people worldwide — especially those of a metaphysical bent — VERY agitated.
"Hai, Faith-san, got it done a few days after spring vacation started," Chiyo cheerily answered. "Might take it over to Remnant to see if Isaac-san could replicate it for people there. Sure, they use motorcycles there, but the transportation networks beyond the big cities aren't the greatest, at least by our standards, both Earth and Yiziba. Ah, Willow-san! Giles-sensei! Konnichi wa!"
"Good morning to yourself, Miss Mihama, Miss Kasuga," Giles called back. "I assume the mesonium particle count where you're at is high enough that it would even block Miss Kasuga's senses from picking up on things?"
Humming, Chiyo tapped a control to scan around them. "Hai, Sensei, it's very dense up here!" she said before her eyes narrowed as a holographic map then appeared. "Really heavily concentrated here east of the Nèskènpíl'gyn Lagoon, just short of where this river flows into the sea west of Ènurmino here. Lots of ice still covering the area even if spring is coming…"
"Wait, Chiyo!" Willow cut in. "Remember, if this is where the Dúma Gamájuna base themselves, it's protected territory."
"Gee! Tell that to the goddamned poachers, Wills…!" Molly snarked…
Sano Bay, that moment…
"What is so interesting, Little One?"
Hearing that question from the transformed great nest she had been hatched on six years ago, young Nebesyákh' Bélogo — she was the niece of Pjésnja Bélogo through a fully-human brother, one of the few allowed to live in Svjetjjílische with the various nests that supported the Dúma Gamájuna — blinked as she gazed up at the curious face of the being now calling herself "Itō Yoiko" for a moment, then she pointed to the east-northeast. "Flying people. No wings," she quietly declared.
Blinking, the seventh carrier of Operation Z took that in before her head snapped over…
…then her breath caught in her throat on seeing the tiny dots in the eastern sky at a considerable altitude at quite the distance from the place where the young gamájun chick had put herself to gaze beyond the icy walls of Sano-wan to the outside world, fortunately shielded by the ancient barriers of mesonium that had also cloaked the Yonaga and her crew. Closing her eyes for a moment, the adopted native of Maizuru (where she was built) allowed those orbs structure to focus on far distance sight, as if one of her crew were using the powerful optical systems mounted on her superstructure to help direct her considerable air defence suite of guns in case of attack. Opening those grey orbs once more, a sort of tunnel vision then came into play, allowing those dots to become a small group of women, two obviously American and three more Oriental. "Metahumans…!" she hissed.
"What was that, Yoiko-chan?!"
That was the current petty officer-of-the-watch for the forenoon period, one of her air wing's junior pilots, Naval Pilot 1st Class Kojima Hitoshi. A native of Yokosuka, he was a member of the Dai-282 Kaigun Kōkū-tai under the command of Yonaga's chief fighter pilot Commander Shimizu Masao; he served as a wingman to Matsuhara Yoshi, both having come up through the service from basic pilot training at the Tsuchiura School in 1937 even if the Californian's degree from UCLA earned him an officer's commission while the Yokosuka-jin came up through the ranks. A self-professed lover of many things Western, he had been one of many of Yonaga's ship's company to befriend Brent Ross over the years since the blond Californian retired intelligence officer had joined the trapped sailors and airmen just before the events of 11 September 2001; in actuality, Hitoshi had been part of the fishing crew whose whaler had been overturned in a storm that had been rescued by a dying Ted Ross nearly two decades earlier. And while he was bound by Bushidō to obey the orders to strike at Pearl Harbour as had been passed down to Fujita Hiroshi all those years ago, Hitoshi was one of the growing number of people who had come to accept that the mission was long since over with and it was time to go home and reconnect with family…though naturally, he wouldn't speak of such thoughts unless bade to by the would-be commander of Operation Z, preferably when they were alone or with Yonaga's captain Ogawa Gorō.
"We have mystery women visiting the area, Hitoshi-san," Yoiko declared as she patted the shoulder of the young gamájun chick who first sensed them. "Three from Japan, two from America from what I can tell." She then pointed.
Pulling out his field binoculars, Hitoshi looked himself before gaping. "Gods! How young is that one on the flying machine?!"
As voices echoed from nearby while more of Yoiko's crew began to realize that something important was happening, the seventh carrier declared, "That is Mihama Chiyo, also known as Prodigy, from Itabashi in Tōkyō proper. She's twelve years old, in fact." Ignoring the shocked gasps from people as others drew out their binoculars to see, Yoiko added, "A hyper-genius polymath; she was so intelligent even BEFORE Gifting that she advanced from the sixth year of elementary school to the first year of high school in one go last spring, in fact." As jaws dropped in awe, she added, "A member of the Azuma Group, a small band of adventurers based out of the high school of the same name. Our other two countrywomen are of the same team."
"What's with those two in the black-and-silver suits?! Don't they have any shame?!" officer of the watch — and Yoshi's other wingman from the 282nd Group — Lieutenant Takamura Tetsu from Nakajima near Fukushima demanded. "Even if the others' uniforms are form-fitting — even young Chiyo-chan's — those two are practically naked in those clothes!"
Mutters of agreement came from the other people. "In Buddha's name, please don't tell me that people back home wear those sorts of clothes, Brent-san!" Shimizu Masao himself declared from off to Yoiko's right, he now standing with Brent Ross and some of the other senior officers on a nearby ledged as each took turns with another set of binoculars.
Brent wryly chuckled. "Not in public as far as I know, Masao-san…!"
"Is there a potential danger they are reacting to, Yoiko-chan?"
People paused before gazing on Fujita Hiroshi himself, who had walked up to join his senior staff alongside his flag captain. Considering that question, the seventh carrier turned to gaze skyward once more; her distance vision was good in getting details, but she'd need to be closer to read lips. "It depends, Teitoku. The one with the flower-decked uniform is one of TWO living heiresses of the First Slayer, Senaya-sama herself." As the gamájun listening to this all gasped in shock, Yoiko smirked. "She's Faith Lehane from South Boston, also known as Wildflower. As powerful as Superman himself from North American manga without the extra-sensory vision powers. She was rumoured to have defeated and destroyed a VERY powerful ancient vampire by literally KICKING him between the legs with enough force to send him flying off Earth into the Sun's very light!"
As the Japanese listening to this — and Brent Ross himself, of course — all roared with laughter, a wise cackle then escaped a certain elder seer. "Do not be afraid of our visitors from the Hellmouth and the Sweet Valley nearby, friends of the Wa," Sljépjj Z'rjéti then intoned as she held up a clawed finger. "As many of you well know even if honour demands otherwise, the war between you and the rest of the world ended long ago! Such is proven by the actions of the Trickster of the Great Show of Life when she journeyed many times to the Land of the Angels — aye, to both the Hellmouth and the Sweet Valley among other places — to see others to be Gifted by the Great Forge of the First Ones!" She then focused her sightless eyes on the adopted native of Maizuru before they narrowed. "Ah! 'Tis YOUR awakening yesterday morning that alerted them, Jójsha…!"
Yoiko paled before a curse escaped her. Watching the giant shipgirl shudder, Nebesyákh' blinked before she looked to the east…
…then vanished in a ball of burning fire!
"NEBESYÁKH'!" her mother Shávis' Bélogo shrieked in fright…
Over the Chukótskoe Sea…
"…need some other…!"
A flash of bright, burning energy made all five Gifted women in the skies over the Chukótskoe Sea exclaim in shock…
"NET!"
…before Mihama Chiyo blinked, looking over her shoulder to see a girl much younger than she — she almost reminded the Bright Genius of the Young Guns of Saeru Hinako in a way — with what seemed to be silvery feathers for hair framing a face now screwed up with youthful determination, that visage pierced by a pair of bird-slitted golden-brown eyes. Said plumage flowed from the newcomer's head to disappear into a beige canvas cloak-like dress like a Japanese hakama with pleated trousers…even if such dress didn't fully cover arms that were half-merged into graceful wings which, if she was standing up, would reach to the ground. Blinking as she — not to mention her companions — took in the presence of the newcomer, Chiyo slowly shifted in her seat before reaching into a nearby compartment to pull out a thermos. Opening it, the native of Itabashi then poured a small cup of her personalized fruit juice before holding it out to the newcomer. Said newcomer — whom a wide-eyed Willow Rosenberg (still watching through her PAA from Sunnydale High School with Rupert Giles thanks to Faith Lehane's own device) just confirmed was a VERY young gamájun chick — sniffed the liquid before she picked up the cup, then drank. A weird look then crossed her face as the wonderfully rich taste tickled her tongue before she handed the cup back.
"Do you want some more?" Chiyo asked.
A shake of the head responded before she looked at Takino Tomo. "No!" the newcomer said as she held up a warning finger at the Wild Warrior of Passion. "No hurt nest-sister Jójsha! Leave nest-sister alone! No!"
As Chiyo took the thermos cap back to secure her juice, Tomo blinked. "Well…"
"Ah, spasíbo za, dámy…!"
As an invisible screen off behind Tomo and her friend from Sweet Valley began to fizzle out, that making Chiyo and Nebesyákh' Bélogo exclaim with horror on realizing that some magical — most likely a poacher of some sort given how having a gamájun "Dutch wife" was in the eyes of fanatical Russian purebloods — a grey-and-green blur then zipped up from the west…
SSS-SCHULLK!
Said poacher — whose looks Chiyo didn't get as he fully appeared — soon found himself literally cut in half at waist level, the parts of his body stumbling of his room to fall far to the unforgiving sea over three kilometres below!
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"Hey, Molly!"
"Yeah, Tomo?"
"That thing we've been looking for, right?"
"Uh-huh?"
"It's right behind us now, right?"
"Ah, yeah…!"
Faith herself looked, an admiring whistle escaping her. "Actually, you'd have to say, 'She's standing right behind us', Tomo!"
Tomo and Molly blinked before slowly turning around as Kasuga Ayumu looked herself…
"Oh, wow!" the native of Wakayama then exclaimed. "I never knew we built ships THAT big!"
Heads snapped around to make people gaze on the Goddess Who Walks Among Men. "She's a SHIPGIRL?!" Willow exclaimed as she and Rupert stared wide-eyed at the woman who had just sliced the poacher apart with a VERY wicked sword.
"Hai, Willow-chan, she is!" the ujiko's daughter asserted before she looked on the Wheel of Dharmachakra insignia on her chest with the beautiful kanji 代永 embossed on same. "'Yonaga'?!" she read. "Wow! That's a PERFECT name to choose!" Ignoring Itō Yoiko's blush at that compliment, Ayumu then hummed before gesturing with her hand, allowing an image of a VERY large aircraft carrier of the late-war style built by Japan — such coming with the ubiquitous outward-angled smokestack sticking up from the island superstructure — to appear for the others to inspect, including a wide-eyed Chiyo. "See?!"
As Yoiko winced, the Bright Genius gaped. "A Yamato conversion?!" she demanded, recognizing the sloping forward weather deck line ahead of the ship which indicated the just-Gifted carrier's battleship pedigree even if — unlike the case of the third of that class when Shinano was rebuilt as a support carrier after Midway — the seventh carrier of Operation Z had been modified from the start to be a proper attack carrier possessing the capability of fielding a whole NAVAL AIR DIVISION of well over 140 aircraft into the fight. "You must be Warship #797 then! What are you doing up here, Taisa-san?!"
Finding herself blushing at that form of address from the VERY cute girl who effectively befriended Nebesyákh' with an offering of a drink of some sort of juice when she charged up from Sano-wan to stop the collected group of metahumans from causing issues, Yoiko then mentally kicked herself. Shortly after her admiral had met Naomi Haight-Ashbury in the wake of yesterday morning's attempted attack on the Dúma Gamájuna, Fujita Hiroshi awarded her with the honorary rank of captain in the Imperial Navy — and correspondingly, colonel in the Imperial Army given the brief association THG Yonaga and the Sixth Air Division had with the Kempeitai under the overall auspices of the then-Mahō-Shogun of Japan, Marshal Yomigawa Tsukiko — which saw her uniform slightly altered with the four golden stripes-and-executive curl on the lower sleeves by the wrists. "My crew and I are currently tasked to perform a special mission — yes, dating from the Sixteenth Year of Shōwa, of course; you should be able to conclude what mission that was, Mihama-san — that cannot be overridden by anyone save Tennō himself."
"Pearl Harbour," Rupert Giles then spoke up. "You were part of the Kidō Butai, weren't you?"
"Quite correct," Yoiko responded; on hearing that, everyone was then surprised to hear her speak clear English with a touch of a southern Californian accent. "Seeing as Mistress Lehane here is a Slayer, I assume you must be her Watcher, sir."
That made the Oxford native gape. "You're aware of that?!"
"My admiral is two generations removed from magical blood and my crew are effective guests of the Dúma Gamájuna as the presence of young Nebesyákh' now on Mihama-san's hovercycle now indicates."
Eyes focused on the young gamájun chick for a moment, then Chiyo hummed. "If I recall the whole Pearl Harbour mission correctly, given you were based up here, you would have had to leave home waters sometime quite early given the extra distance you'd have to travel to meet with the other carriers at the launch point," she surmised, that making Yoiko gape at such a display of understanding. "If I also recall things correctly, there was a massive earthquake around these parts in late September of 1941." She gazed to the west and the hidden Sano-wan. "I assume there's a cove cloaked by magic down there that your people lucked upon to hide you in; this part of the then-Soviet Union was too remote for even the NKMD under Múrometsa-gensui to detect." Pausing to look at Nebesyákh', which made the young chick fluster, the Bright Genius then sighed. "Ah! It was Túndra-san who forced that earthquake on your crew, Taisa-san! What better protection for his favourites than an AIRCRAFT CARRIER!"
Ayumu moaned. "Does that mean I gotta go yell at Túndra-kun for doing that, Chiyo-chan?!"
"No, Ōsaka-san! Besides, would you like it if people like her get hunted by poachers?!" Here, she waved to Nebesyákh'.
"Not only 'No', but 'Hell, no!'" Molly Hecht growled as she cracked her knuckles. "Speaking of which, are there any more of these pukes around hiding themselves, Ayumu?! I'm in the mood to seriously bust some skulls!"
Ayumu hummed as she scanned around with her Sight, a disapproving frown crossing her face. "Yeah, few of them, Molly-chan! Did you get some of those dorks raiding here yesterday, Yoiko-chan?" she then asked the adopted native of Maizuru.
Blinking in surprise on realizing this effective living goddess now knew her human name — was this woman in some spiritual conversation with the living sentience of the Great Forge itself? — the seventh carrier of Operation Z sighed. "Yes! Over three hundred poachers made use of one of those alconóst descendants discovered by your peer Isaac Thomas on this Remnant planet to breach the wards! Fortunately, Naomi-chan was in the area and she prompted my Gifting, then we dealt with them."
"'Naomi'…?!" both Faith and Molly questioned in confusion.
"Well, there's gonna be a lot LESS of them now," Tomo wryly smirked.
"They're 'crunchy sames', Tomo-chan!" Chiyo teased.
"And they're gonna be 'crunchy DEAD sames', Chiyosuke!" the Wild Warrior of Passion declared, pointing at Nebesyákh'. "'Sides, would you want a cute kid like THAT to be hurt by one of those staleblood pukes?!"
People stared at her before evil smiles crossed the other metahumans' faces, even Chiyo's…
To Be Continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
The start of the second scene here was also derived from "The Next Step".
list and source language (all Yizibajohei unless noted): Ram-pali — Third day; Eke-lelu — Shortened from "Eke-lelu'uli" ("first storyline"), the first month-equivalent in a Yizibajohei year; Merimdulo'oto-teri — Shortened from "Merimdulo'oto-terikeli" ("2059th season"), indicating the number of years from the start of the Dawn of Power; Kanatoro-tosa — Ammunition magazine; Te'a — That Which Is Above mortal understanding (Sagussan); Rimrae umale — Copycat same; Kuorim — Morning Calm, the analogue of Korea on Earth; Nunuta — Peach flower; Bunka-gonen — Literally "fifth year of culture", the Japanese calendar designation for the year 1808 CE; Rierite — Literally "silence", though meaning "I can't reveal myself" in the instance Isaac Thomas (Doctor Renaissance) uses it with Faith Lehane (Wildflower); Dai-282 Kaigun Kōkū-tai — 282nd Naval Air Group (Japanese); Dámy — Ladies (Russian); Mahō-Shogun — Supreme General of Magic (Japanese); Kidō Butai — Mobile Force, operational name of the main strike formation of the Imperial Combined Fleet (Japanese); NKMD — Short for Naródnyj Komissariát Magícheskij Del ("People's Commissariat of Magical Affairs"), the name of the Soviet Union's magical ministry as revealed in Part 8 of Fred's Magic and Canada (Fanfiction ID 12245154) (Russian); Gensui — Navy fleet admiral/Army field marshal/Air Force marshal of service (Japanese). Note that the phrase "Land Rich in Reindeer" comes from the native Chúkchi term that, through Russian, went into the name of the Chukótka Autonomous Ókrug. Also, the phrase "Sixteenth Year of Shōwa" indicates the year 1941 CE in the traditional Japanese calendar.
The Avalonians and the Niphentaxians both first appeared in The Senior Year story "What Price For Love?"; it is in that story that Shigaten Kamen (the Weaponeer) was first introduced. Note that the term Thoughtmaster-prime (or Thoughtmistress-prime for women) is the standard Avalonian/Sagussan title given to a senior teacher, professor or headmaster/mistress.
Details concerning Jaune Arc's family and hometown are based on snippets written on him by the ever-prolific Andrew J. Talon; such can be seen at SpaceBattles at chat thread #1144561, titled "RWBY Snippets and Plot Bunnies". They're used in this story with Andrew's kind permission…though the more extravagant crossover elements of same will not happen here, though.
Yomigawa Tsukiko (AKA the Dark Lady Tsukuyomi) was first mentioned in Fred's Icemaidens series and first properly appeared in the second Wizards and Avalonians side-stories to Phoenix From the Ashes (Fanfiction ID 9547225).