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Vale City, the Vanille residence, Gayput 55 Treichleam, two hours after lunch (Tōkyō time: Friday 6 April, two hours after midnight; Anádyr' time: Friday, three hours before breakfast; Washington time: Thursday 5 April, an hour after lunch)…
"I'd rather not wish to be saddled with something like THAT, Mister President."
Gazing at the weary image of the Wise Lone Sage from the Oval Office, Jed Bartlet essayed a sympathetic smile. "I can understand that, Isaac, but given what level of destructive power Olívija possesses if what Naomi believes is true…"
Isaac Thomas nodded as he tried not to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose. Currently, a small wake was being held in Roman Torchwick's memory in the main reception room of the former Vanille mansion; the Queens native had been given the right to use the late James Vanille's study to communicate with the leader of Earth's most powerful nation by Neopolitan once the shocking news from near Puerto Rico got to him. Also with Isaac at this time was Shannon Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch; with Bartlet at the White House was his chief of staff Leo McGarry and Secretary of Magic Samuel Quahog. "If we're looking at the cube law of how shipgirls compare to their warship selves, she'll even impress Captain Itō with her strength," Isaac then explained. "Tack that onto the destructive abilities of her R-39 Rif missiles, which she had TWENTY-FOUR of…!"
"One VERY big bang," the retired Air Force colonel who had persuaded the then-governor of New Hampshire to run for office some years before breathed out as he exchanged looks with the president.
"How vast of an explosion, Isaac?" the former magical Marine infantry officer who fought in the Wars of Liberation asked.
Isaac hummed as he used his eyes through his goggles' HUD screens to link to his databanks on the orbiting Normandy. "Each missile had ten warheads fitted to the nose. Each warhead had the maximum blast yield of 200 kilotonnes of force, almost a PETAJOULE of energy unleashed in one blow!" As both Ozpin and Goodwitch gaped in horror on hearing that — Remnant had similar terms of energy measurement, which the omniversal translation systems in Isaac's jumpsuit easily handled — the New Yorker gazed on the Rhode Islander who led America's magical government. "Think of nearly TEN Nagasaki atomic bombs going off at the same time, Colonel Quahog. That's what just ONE of Olívija's missile warheads can do. And she had TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY of them, all that which could be launched from an effectively invisible platform at sea."
"Merlin!" the old transfiguration professor at Ilvermorny exclaimed. "And this Ramíus fellow and his crew weren't given Medals of Freedom for what they did, Josiah?! They literally SAVED THE DAMNED PLANET!"
"That sort of thing wasn't done back in those days, Professor," McGarry stated with a wry smile.
"Never mind," Bartlet cut in with a raised hand. "Fortunately, from what Commander Stott reported when she met up with Captain Ramíus near Puerto Rico, she's more than happy to stay on our side of the Atlantic since her officers are all here and living good lives for themselves even if some have retired. Still, the influence of her homeland is profound…"
"The Dúma Gamájuna, you mean?" Isaac wondered.
"Exactly. Naomi reported that Olívija is fully aware of events on Remnant and agrees with the Dúma concerning what must now be done to the Grimm and this Salem woman. Of course, we won't even THINK of sending someone THAT powerful to your home planet, Professors, without making sure that there are strong constraints on her. If she does go, Winter goes with her."
"As a handler," the Wise Lone Sage affirmed with a nod.
"If I may ask, Professor Quahog, what is the legal status of the Dúma Gamájuna concerning Russia anyway?" Goodwitch asked.
"The Russian Federation — even when it was part of the overall Soviet Union up to twenty-one years ago our time — is divided into eighty-five 'subjects', which could be seen as equals to the states of the Union in America, Professor Goodwitch," Quahog explained. "That's on the normal side of things. When it comes to distinct magical species such as the gamájun, such population groups are seen as 'independent protected magical subjects' in the eyes of the Ministry of Magical Affairs in Sankt-Peterbúrg and the Office of the President of the Federation in Moskvá. In effect, they're as independent as any nation-state — or kingdom in your terms — on Earth. They have the right to send their own delegate to the International Confederation of Wizards in Geneva and if they weren't shielded by the Statute of Secrecy and the national enabling laws, would have observer status at the United Nations in Manhattan near where my department is headquartered." He gave the two expert Remnantian huntsmen a wry smile. "And while I HOPE that my fellow veteran Marshal Svetlána Múrometsa will be able to convince the Dúma to hold back from sending a massive war party to Remnant to burn the planet to the bedrock to be rid of those things, given that Russian shipgirls — from the veterans of the Second Pacific Squadron under Commodore Ignátsiusa-Suvórova's command to Captain Ramíus herself — are obviously influenced by the magic of the land as echoing from the Cove of Svjetjjílische…!"
"Oh, dear…!" Ozpin breathed out…
Sano Bay, that moment…
"We should not be surprised at this."
Eyes locked on old Sljépjj Z'rjéti as the sightless gamájun elder closed her eyes while sitting back in her chair. As this meeting being used to monitor communications between Washington D.C. and Vale City was being held in the replacement Main Briefing Room for the crew of THG Yonaga, Fujita Hiroshi was at the head of the table, with his transformed base ship standing to his right rear. The Chief Prophetess of the Dúma Gamájuna — in effect, the head-of-government for all her kind in Svjetjjílische and elsewhere — was seated at the other end of the table, which was crowded by seniors of the Nest of Seers and Nest of Elders as well as Itō Yoiko's senior officers and senior shipgirls of the Second Pacific Squadron. "Indeed, you're right, Grandmother Sljépjj," Réchi Prarókŭ rumbled as she closed her eyes, a scowl turning her lips as she considered what the reaction of the great being whose protection her people had enjoyed for many millennia would be at such a show of caution when it came to the alconóst descendants living now on Remnant. "While I applaud the stance the Children of the Great Forge take when it comes to whether or if they will join in battles fought by others even against something like the Hungry Evils, that they were allowed to escape Lord Túndra's judgement is a sin against all living beings in Existence, no matter what great nest they are a part of!"
"The ones that should be punished are these nisegami calling themselves 'Ori' as a whole!" Moroboshi Kyōsuke spat out. "Even if they supposedly 'ascended' to a higher state of being long before the End War rocked Earth, they should have known better than to arouse the anger of ANY of the Great Old Ones. Such a fight would immediately draw in Lord Rjazán', Rittmeister von Taserich and Raeburn-shihan AT LEAST, never mind how the reality warpers of Yiziba would react to same!"
"You're right, Kyōsuke-kun," Aoyama Susumu snarled. "If Bartlet-daitōryō wishes to unleash Olívija-chan, let her go after these nisegami! Didn't these Ori try to interfere in the Goa'uld attack on Yiziba when your new hull was created, Yoiko-chan?"
"They did, Susumu-san," the seventh carrier of Operation Z said with a snide smile. "Rather quite poorly as the Second Healer was joined at that time by the first incarnations of the Master of the Dark Gaol and the Sandalwood Emperor of the New Dawn in the fight against the lar'beke. Both live in this incarnation. Respectively, they are Mark Caloway-sensei of Austin in Texas, who is a professional wrestler for Vince McMahon's organization, ironically under the stage name 'Undertaker'; and Kim Hyegyŏng-ssi of P'yŏng'yang in North Korea, the granddaughter of the late 'Dear Leader' herself and a purer believer of the concept of Chuch'e than any of her relatives now in control over that country. Given her 'affiliation' with the lar'beke who inspired the legends that led to the 'birth' of the first true king of old Chosŏn, she might take personal interest in Isaac-san's project."
"We learned that the eunuchs in charge of things in that part of Koréja have done things even that barbarian Stálin wouldn't have done," Agnéssa Suvórova declared from Réchi's immediate left. "Much that I remember the first incarnation of the Sandalwood Emperor — Tan'gun, was his name? — how would the current incarnation of him be able to move things there, Jóiko?"
"From what I've learned of her in the brief time I've reviewed the lives of all those who were directly touched by Tariko-san, Sempai, Hyegyŏng-ssi wishes to end the insane cult of personality focused on her late great-grandfather and her late grandfather, never mind her uncle Chŏng'ŭn who's now set to take the leadership rôle in P'yŏng'yang," Yoiko answered. "She lived through the 'arduous march' in the 1990s, a period of intensive famine in her homeland, so she wishes to restore the land to proper productivity and eliminate hunger, not to mention allow the spread of civilized conveniences such as constant electricity to all parts of the land beyond the capital city. At the same time, any drive towards the seeking of weapons of mass destruction would be seen as totally unnecessary, especially now in the wake of first contact with the Urusians and their allies. If doing such can be done with her uncle's support, the Democratic People's Republic could be easily welcomed back among the family of nations as a contributing force. If her uncle resists it, she'll overthrow him and allow a reborn Kingdom of Chosŏn to rise instead."
"If she was chosen by Tariko-chan to be one of the Named, then she'll be perfect for such a post," Katsube Hakuseki then snidely declared, making people in the room snicker. "To quote Brent-san here, her 'bullshit tolerance' will be zero!"
More laughter filled the room as Brent Ross blushed from that comment…
Vale City, the Vanille mansion, that moment…
"Hey, Xiǎo Lóng! What's with the book?! I thought you were a lady of action!"
Yáng Xiǎo Lóng perked on hearing that comment, then looked over before smirking as she slipped a marker into the book given to her by Isaac Thomas, then she held out her mechanical hand to shake that of Melanie Malachite, then that of her sister Miltia. "Hey, girls!" the native of Patch called back before gazing again at the book. "Something Isaac wrote up about a battle line his past-selves had dealt with over the incarnations from the Dawn of Power. He thinks it'll fit me."
Humming, the elder sister of the leader of the Spider Gang in Mistral, Myfanwy "Lil' Miss" Malachite, gazed at the cover of the book. "'Fortitude', huh?!" she read out the title there. "What type of superhero is that? Or is that a villain?"
As Miltia snorted in amusement, Yáng smirked. "Kinda crossed the line from hero to villain — or face to heel as they say it on Yiziba — over the incarnations. First-self came from a kingdom called Matatuto, biggest plot of land on the eastern equatorial continent," she explained, opening the cover to show a map on the splash page. "According to Blake and Monica, that kingdom was one of the powerhouses that launched research into making metahuman soldiers that started the drive to make the Dawn of Power thing possible." As her former opponents whistled while taking seats to either side of her — Yáng was currently resting on an outdoor bench overlooking the mansion's back yard facing the city walls — she then shrugged. "She could literally destroy a mountain if she put her back into it. Maybe could boost her power to take on the likes of that lunatic Warwind that came here on Gaycan, then dragged Coco off — right after she got Gifted! — to spend an hour pounding the shit out of her on Yiziba!"
"Shit! That's all true?!" Miltia demanded.
"Yeah! And I STILL have the bruised bones to confirm that!"
All three turned as the leader of Team CFVY came up to join them. All the Gifted adopted Yizibajohei had donned traditional sleeved-pattern battlesuits — which the clothing controls located inside their belt buckles could alter their uniforms into with just a tap of a finger — out of respect for Neopolitan's late partner; while funerals and wakes were passé on the World of the Forge, this show of honouring the death of a fallen friend or foe hadn't totally faded from style there. Given that the fashionista who was now also the Human Legion was a lady who literally oozed style wherever she went, she looked sharp in both traditional and modern-style uniforms, especially with the tinted goggles over her brown eyes that could shift into her normal sunglasses when she got back into "civilian" clothing. "Wait! Didn't Healer Amy fix you up when she came by the shop?!" Yáng demanded.
"She did…but the pain still echoes in the nerves and my head," Coco warned before she noted the title of the book. "Fortitude, huh? Yeah, that'd fit someone like you a lot, Yáng. This'll boost your semblance big time even if you'll need to learn how to control yourself using that much power. Hell, do enough training to keep your temper under control, you just might be able to put that crazy wildcat Takino down if or when she comes to challenge you after you get Gifted."
Yáng smirked. "I promise I'll avenge your defeat, Upperclassman!" she vowed, raising her mechanical hand in emphasis.
Miltia sat back on the bench. "Why would this Warwind woman do that sort of thing, Coco? If she's said to be one of the most powerful physical fighters on Yiziba, why waste her time challenging others?!"
"Is she a bully of some sort?" Melanie asked.
"Not really. She's just a little unhinged."
All four turned as Isaac Thomas came up to join them. "Hey, Isaac! What's wrong?!" Yáng asked.
The Wise Lone Sage went to one knee before the girls, not wanting to invade their personal spaces by sitting on the bench. "Just some…interesting news from Earth. You remember being told about the gamájun and how they tried to destroy the ancestors of the Grimm?" As Yáng and the others nodded, he shook his head. "Well, shipgirls from the country where the Dúma Gamájuna are based in now have started to learn everything about the Grimm and how they should have been destroyed years ago at Lord Túndra's order to the gamájun to gain his protection. Like the leaders of the Dúma, these girls are mentally preparing themselves to come here to Remnant to help in the fight against the Grimm and Salem. One of them…" Here, he shook his head. "If she comes here, you will learn a term that Russian leaders not so long ago gladly used when it comes to destroying their opponents and making sure such people would never threaten them again." A wry smirk crossed his face. "Ochischát'!"
"'Purge'?!" Coco wondered before her eyebrow arched. "The way you say it, Boss Man, that doesn't sound nice."
"I think of it as a local version of a R'bemomadae, Coco."
That made the FISS/energy enhancer visibly wince. "Shit! That happened last season with Taylor and her friends, right?!"
"What could cause something like that?" Miltia asked; she remembered Taylor Hebert's briefing yesterday about what the dimensionally transplanted Mistress of the Mindless Legions had endured on her shift into this multiverse.
Isaac drew out his personal PAA; his workshop device was still being used by Shannon Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch as they continued to discuss matters with Josiah Bartlet, Leo McGarry and Samuel Quahog. An image immediately appeared over the device, showing a cone-shaped device. "You people began to use atomic munitions in the latter stages of the Great War eighty years ago," he explained. "This is a modern version of what those types of weapons are like on Earth."
Shudders went through the locals. "City-busters," Melania breathed out. "They only got used when the Grimm showed up en masse to swamp a village that was going to fall anyway. Both sides agreed to use the damned things in only those circumstances. Some areas are still heavily radiated, but since no one wants to live out there, it really doesn't matter in the long term."
"Yes, I noticed those places, then moved to put mesonium monoliths of a type I used to help clear out spent atomic fuel of any harmful radiation back on Earth. I don't know yet if Salem's noticed those areas are becoming no-go zones for Grimm."
"Who cares what she thinks?!" Yáng demanded.
Laughter escaped the others, then people perked as footfalls heralded the arrival of Coco's partner in Team CFVY. "So, how much of a punch does that little beauty have?" Velvet Scarlatina asked as she knelt beside the Wise Lone Sage.
"Eight hundred-and-forty terajoules of energy," Isaac provided, making the Mobile Weapons Factory whistle in admiration as the translator functions on her jumpsuit rendered that into terms she could understand. "The one subgirl from Russia who came back in the last couple of hours can fire TWO HUNDRED-AND-FORTY of these beauties all at once."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"Ah, okay! No thanks, miss! You can stay away from here, please!" Yáng declared, she then making a "stop" gesture with her organic hand. "Much that I'd love to see the Grimm gone, I'd rather not get radiation sickness."
The other locals all grimly nodded…
Atlas City, the Schnee mansion, an hour later (local time: Suppertime)…
"Weiss! Winter! You've finally come home!"
The elder Schnee daughters inwardly winced on hearing that alcohol-tinged voice, though they remained still as their mother Willow nearly swamped them both with a hug that the younger girls had always been convinced could squeeze a beowolf to death. "Yes, Mother, we're home!" the older of the sisters declared with something of a forced smile as she locked eyes with her youngest sibling Whitley, he then standing nearby alongside Klein Sieben. "The disaster in Vale's been averted and they're moving to recover. In fact, our honoured guests with us now have come to ensure something similar doesn't happen here."
The middle-aged matriarch of the Schnee dynasty turned to look before her eyes went wide on seeing the two Mistrali-looking teenage women standing nearby, both dressed in black form-fitting sleeveless battlesuits with green belts and boots. Both women had number-like insignia on their upper chests above some noticeable teenage cleavage — such making Whitley's eyes widen before he tried to discretely advert his eyes away; seeing that, Weiss tried not to laugh — with the brown-haired tomboy having her number over a bowl of wrinkly melon-like fruit while the girl with her wavy grey hair in bushy twintails had hers over a heraldic sea of white waves. As Willow looked at them, both women straightened to attention and saluted her. "Please forgive us for disturbing the harmony of your lovely home, Ojō-sama," the grey-haired girl declared, her words making Willow blush at being called a "young lady mistress" by this very polite military officer; having seen the two golden stripe insignia with the dividing miniature stripe between them — the stripes set away from the middle of the throat being stylized in a circular loop — told Willow these two were NOT enlisted personnel even if she couldn't recognize the exact service they were a part of. "Given our forward field director is most concerned about what the ultimate enemy of all on Remnant could do to your children as well as all those living in Atlas and Mantle, we've been sent here to act as forward scouts for our forces to assist local forces in defence against the akuma which has forced you to live in walled cities and not enjoy all of your beautiful planet."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"The One Above the Gods…HE HAS RETURNED?!"
That was one of the maids who were standing nearby, all the servants ready to respond to their employers' wishes in the manner which had been drilled into them by Klein over the years. This lady, a beautiful female Faunus teenager with brown hair in twintails, caramel eyes and tanned skin indicative she was from Mantle, was now staring in wide-eyed disbelief at Inaba Mira and Hashimoto Momoko, her knees quaking as if she was seriously considering prostrating herself to the two living goddesses now in their midst. "Oi, Ojō-chan, relax, dechi!" Momoko called out, waving the shivering girl down. "We're not Ayumu-chan…!"
She then awked as the maid collapsed to the floor. "HE HAS RETURNED!" the poor woman wailed as she averted her eyes.
"Topaz!"
Instantly, Whitley was kneeling beside the happily sobbing Topaz Samak, he warmly embracing her as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. As Willow beamed in delight at such an open show of feelings, both of her daughters were gaping. "Mother, when did THIS happen?!" Winter demanded as she and Weiss both boggled in disbelief at such a sight.
"Oh, honestly, girls! You should both know better than that!" the older woman declared before snapping her fingers. "Relax, everyone!" she bade the other Faunus servants in the room, all of whom visibly relaxed as Klein muffled his own grin. "You're part of the same team with Ghira's and Kali's daughter, Weiss! You should have seen crossed human/Faunus couples when you were attending classes at Beacon!" As Weiss blinked, Willow gazed knowingly at Winter. "And Chamois, Winter?"
Winter awked. "HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT, MOTHER?!"
Weiss gaped. "Chamois Fantast?!" she exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at her sister.
"Who is he, Weiss-chan?!" Mira wondered as Momoko moved to kneel beside the sobbing Topaz to give her shoulders a gentle massage to help calm her down. "I hope he's of the same rank as you, Winter-san! Dating a junior…!"
"Be assured, Mistress Mira, both Mistress Winter and Master Chamois are captains," Klein conveniently cut in, that making the adopted Yokosuka-jin breathe out in relief. "And I will personally say that in comparison to the likes of young Mistress Yáng's most disagreeable uncle Qrow, Master Chamois is a much better candidate to be Mistress Winter's husband."
"KLEIN!" Winter awked in mortified embarrassment.
Both Willow and Whitney began to laugh as the normally straightlaced elder sister tried to regain some sense of comportment in this sort of embarrassing situation. "Ever since Father was wounded, some truths have come out, sisters," the latter declared as he reached up to rub the part of Topaz's skull between her bobcat-like ears, that making her purr even if tear-filled hiccoughs escaped her despite Momoko's ministrations. "So, are these two ladies two of these…ship-spirits we've heard of?"
Weiss blinked. "Are you communicating through Lucretia, Whitley?" she wondered.
"Information is being relayed from Vale's emergency transponders via Radiant and Lucretia to here, Mistress Weiss. Arranged by Master Jaune's parents to ensure the news of what happened gets out to everyone," Klein explained at Whitley's behalf as two of the servants moved to embrace a smiling Willow from both sides. Seeing that, Winter gaped as her mind instantly imagined what her often inebriated mother would do with the likes of Sandy Cobrador (a brown-haired, pale canine Faunus who served as one of Klein's assistants in the kitchen) and Marran Blakit (a blue-haired ovine Faunus that was one of two masseurs who worked with the staff) when they were alone…which, given how distant Willow actually was from her husband Jacques, was potentially quite often. "I must confess that if Doctor Thomas is trying to keep matters quiet from Professor Ozpin's former wife…"
"Eh! It's gonna go public sooner or later, dechi!" Momoko said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Did what the destroyer shipgirls do to that forest near Vale two nights ago get out to you folks?" On seeing confused looks answer her, the Bitter Fruit Lover smirked as she pulled out her PAA. "Wait 'till you all see what the silly 'tin cans' did, dechi!"
Within minutes, awed gasps escaped everyone inside the Schnee mansion…
Patch Island, the Rose/Xiǎo Lóng farm, that moment…
"Apologies for intruding, Master Tàiyáng!"
Hearing that call from the Ballerina of the Final Darkness, Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng chuckled as he waved in the visitors from the Vanille mansion, who followed his elder daughter and her lovers over after the wake for Roman Torchwick was finished. "Please, Neo, Melanie, Miltiades, c'mon in!" the veteran of Team STRQ bade before nodding his thanks as Melanie Malachite came up to present him a wrapped bottle of triflower brandy as a peace offering; back when they were an operational huntsmen team, Tàiyáng, his two wives and Qrow Branwen had often clashed with older elements of the Spider Group. "Oh, please, that's not necessary!" he said with a flustered wave even if he did nod his thanks at such a show of largesse.
Melanie's sister Miltia pointed to Neopolitan. "Blame her new trainers on Earth, Master Tàiyáng," the claw fighter said as people made their way to take seats around the large table in the middle of the recreation room. "In the kingdom of Japan, it's considered practically mandatory to present a gift like this whenever you're visiting a strange home for the first time."
"Yeah, they are civilized, aren't they?" Yáng Xiǎo Lóng breathed out as she sat at one of the long couches, allowing Blake Belladonna and Monica Khan to sit to either side of her, they then leaning against the blonde energy manipulator's sides. "Any news from Rubes and the others, much less Uncle Qrow? They should be about halfway towards Radiant right now."
"Qrow called in at lunchtime," her father assured her. "Everything's alright even if they passed the site of the village of Obrador shortly after they broke camp and headed north." His eyes then focused on the three Gifted people in the room. "They all noticed the large silver crystal obelisk set up in the middle of the ruins. Is Isaac doing something there?"
Neo, Blake and Monica exchanged looks, then the Night Moulder trilled. "Oh, right! I heard this during the wake. Isaac noted all the sites that were destroyed by nuclear weapons all the way back in the Great War, then placed very large mesonium energy collector crystals there to remove the radiation." As Yáng, Melanie and Miltia all nodded on recalling the conversation they had with the Wise Lone Sage after his talk with the President of the United States at the Vanille mansion earlier, the shadow manipulator/clone creator hummed as she considered that point before gazing at her old girlfriend. "By now, any sort of harmful radiation from the explosion should have dropped to the point where our auras could resist them at a distance."
"Yeah, that's right," Yáng affirmed before the Healing Tigress could say anything, though Monica did nod in agreement. "I read once in history class that they re-routed the Central Highway around what was left of Obrador to make sure travellers stayed safe." She then looked at the niece of the White Fang's current leader. "Would the mesonium in that thing start to affect Rubes, Vomit Boy, Renny and Nora even if it's just a quick drive-by on the ATVs Isaac gave them?"
"No, they'd have to actually camp out for a couple days in the village itself at close range to the collector unit to be affected," Monica declared. "I doubt they'd notice anything. Were they going to investigate things, sir?"
Tàiyáng shook his head. "No. Jaune's mother is screaming at him every couple of hours to get back home as soon as possible, so they're travelling as fast as they can down the Central Highway to make it to Radiant in a couple more days."
Rueful chuckles escaped the two huntresses in the room; they ALL knew how much of a nag Jaune Arc's mother Isabel could be when it came to doting on her only son, a person whom she wanted to see follow her into medicine in lieu of taking up the clan's long tradition of being a huntsman. "Oum! That bad, huh?!" Neo wondered as she sat back in her chair.
"Yeah! And then some!" Yáng asserted her former opponent. "Can't blame Vomit Boy for actually forging his own transcripts to get into Beacon!" As Neo and the Malachite sisters gaped in disbelieving shock on hearing that, the blonde heavy-hitter of Team RWBY waved them down. "Oh, relax! Professor Ozpin was cool about it and Vomit Boy is kinda developing his own semblance right now. Pity he didn't have it when P-money needed it when Fall and her flunkies came calling…"
"What can he do?" Miltia asked.
"He has the ability to amp his own and other people's semblances if he concentrates enough," Blake explained. As Neo and her friends nodded in appreciation — having someone like THAT at their backs would be a force multiplier in any battle against any sort of opponent — the native of Menagerie shrugged. "Yeah, Pyrrha could have used that on Gaysaw, that's for DAMN…!"
A knock at the door made people perk, then Tàiyáng stood up. "Wonder who that is!" he said as he headed to the front door, then opened it to see a very young and VERY cute girl standing there, she being escorted by Ashikaga Shiori. "Um…!"
"Chiyo!" Neo, Blake and Monica called out in delight.
"Konnichi wa, Oji-san!" Mihama Chiyo greeted, she instantly making Tàiyáng blush at being called "uncle". "I hope I'm not intruding on you, but I wanted to speak to people who were involved in that fight last week."
Yáng chuckled. "Well, that's us! C'mon in, Chiyo!" she said with a wave of her mechanical hand, that making her father smile as he waved in the Bright Genius of the Young Guns and the Twister of the Oceans. "So, what's up?"
"Shouldn't you be in bed and asleep now, Chiyo?" Monica asked as Tàiyáng moved to prepare tea for the visitors; the bottle of brandy had been left behind on the dining room table. "It's well past midnight in Japan."
"Daijōbu, Sensei! Daijōbu!" the soon-to-be sophomore student at Azuma Senior High School assured with a wave of her hand. "I've been in the Doll House helping Isaac-san in his research to create artificial Dust! The normal laws of lineal space-time don't work there whatsoever. I've caught up on a week's sleep there in the last day real-time here or on Earth."
"Isaac's trying to make artificial Dust?!" Neo asked. "Why?! I thought he was concentrating on creating non-Dust machines."
The young hyper-genius polymath from Itabashi in Tōkyō proper shrugged. "Well, adjusting to that would be a lot to ask for people used to using Dust, Neo-san. Your umbrella sword, Yáng-san's gauntlets and Blake-san's grappling sword, never mind Ruby-san's sniper scythe or Nora-san's gravity hammer! Sure, mesonium can be used as a fuel, but the difference of yield…!"
"Like going from basic stuff all the way to atomic weapons, you mean?" Melanie asked.
"Hai, Melanie-san, like that! I take it you all heard of Olívija-san, right?" Chiyo asked before she perked as Tàiyáng came over with tea for both her and her escort. "Ah! Arigatō, Oji-san!" she declared with a smile.
All the locals breathed in as if they were about to have diabetic fits on seeing how CUTE such a show of emotion was. "Are you SURE you're not an empath like Hinako, Chiyo?!" Neo warily asked.
A shake of the head answered the now-Gifted mercenary. "Oh, heavens no, Neo-san!" Chiyo declared. "You know which group my battle line is normally affiliated with, right?" As Blake's and Monica's upper ears drooped in sorrow on recalling THAT ugly factoid of the Bright Genius and those like her, the Itabashi-jin waved to herself. "I honestly couldn't handle any sort of psychic abilities like Hinako-chan has. I'm grateful that Ōsaka-san gave me a battle doll body to use after I got Gifted."
"Why's that?" Yáng asked.
Neo sighed. "Chiyo's battle line — which traditionally goes by the name 'Cerebral Child' — is considered one of the Mintyuo-ruo, Yáng," she explained, knowing her battlesuit's translators would let the non-Gifted among them understand that term. "As a group, they're the most tragic of the Named battle lines. Because they never developed the skill to control their powers when they were Gifted — which always happened when they were VERY young — their brains (in Chiyo's case here) or their bodies would literally BURN OUT and KILL THEM before they could get close to nesting season if they were girls!" As Yáng, her father and the Malachite sisters gaped in horror on hearing that, Neo pointed at the Bright Genius of the Young Guns, who was nominally seen as the leader of that group. "By giving her a battle doll body — which was in a way patterned like the bodies that Shiori here and her friends now use — Chiyo got a 'housekeeping computer' put into her head which helps her subconsciously control her powers better. Her older selves, from what I can recall from my past-selves, often died of fatal strokes or aneurysms by literally CONCENTRATING so much that the blood flow to their brains would overload the arteries and veins to the point where they'd BURST!" As Yáng paled, Melanie gaped and Miltia closed her eyes in horror, Neo shrugged. "Fortunately, one of the good things Doctor Destructo's third-self — he's the one who started the Dawn of Power, by the way — did was to make sure the Conservator would wipe out the memories of one's death scenes so that Chiyo here wouldn't have to think of that…"
"Getting flashback scenes," Blake dryly noted.
"Hai, that's true," Chiyo asserted as she waved Neo down.
"Are the other Young Guns back?" Tàiyáng asked.
"Hai, they are, Oji-san!" the visitor from Itabashi asserted. "Margo Black-san's twin sister Nora Chapelle-san is now Accretor; Riekbu as we'd say it on Yiziba," she then added for the Gifted locals' benefit. As Monica hissed on hearing the name of the Archangel of Mortality, Chiyo added, "A nice friend of mine from down by Yokosuka, Maehara Shinobu-chan, is Hyperspeed; she's Gaekuoruto back on Yiziba. Two of the Sweet Valley Boosters run by Elizabeth-san in America are also Young Guns: Tricia Martin-sensei and her older sister Betsy-san; they're Tzaraath and Cimasa respectively…"
"You mean Nibo'ohyuo and Luodyuo, right?" Neo asked.
An eager nod answered her. "Hai, Neo-san, that's them!"
"Could they be useful here, Neo?" Miltia wondered.
The Ballerina of the Final Darkness hummed. "Chiyo's a hyper-genius polymath, which makes her very useful now given that she's helping Isaac out with artificial Dust research, Milt." As Blake and Monica churlishly smiled — introducing THAT would put the hurt on the Schnee Dust Company in the WORST way possible! — Neo gazed at Yáng. "Shinobu is a speedster; she'll be even WAY faster than your own sis when she's going all out with her semblance. Nora's kind of like what Jaune Arc's becoming: She can easily use her powers to boost other people's capabilities when need be. Tricia's first-self learned to master plagues; I think she could — as she is now — concoct some sort of biological weapon that could hurt Grimm like Neville's mist dandelions did. And Betsy can transmute matter with her mind, both organic and inorganic. She could easily affect Grimm, too."
"Cool…!" Yáng breathed out before she perked. "Hey, Chiyo, what's your opinion of this?"
A certain book was handed over. "'Fortitude'?!" Chiyo read out before she nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see! One of Isaac-san's past-selves fought the then-incarnation of Fortitude; no wonder he's recommending this to you."
"But would that be useful, Chiyo?" Tàiyáng asked. "I've been told there's no buyer's remorse with Gifts."
Laughter filled the living room. "Would that Gift fit Yáng, Chiyo?" Monica then wondered.
A hum escaped the younger metahuman from Itabashi. "Personally, I can't judge on that, Sensei. None of my past-selves ever had an encounter with any version of Fortitude." She then bit her lower lip, making the locals all nearly gush on seeing how CUTE that was. As Neo muttered something about Chiyo having some sort of passive empathic aura, the Bright Genius tapped a control on her goggles to allow the device to scan the book. "Well, this is potentially a good Gift. It's an expansion of what you've already got with your semblance, Yáng-san, so there wouldn't be too much need to adjust yourself to it…"
"Could I beat the heck out of your friend Takino if I get this Gift?"
That made Chiyo gape in disbelief. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF, YÁNG-SAN?!" she then shrilled.
As Yáng awked in shock at that shrieked question, the Itabashi-jin took a deep breath before drinking the rest of the tea Tàiyáng gave her. "This is all about what happened to Coco-san when she got Gifted, right?!" she asked. As the older woman nodded, Chiyo moaned as she sat back down while Yáng's father moved to refill her teacup. "No, you won't become a FISS-type if this is the one you chose, Yáng-san. With how powerful Tomo-chan is — and even if you focus your power to simulate the invulnerability and super-strength someone like Coco-san has — you MIGHT be able to last as long as she did. Tomo-chan's power draws from sources even ŌSAKA-SAN has trouble trying to understand…and she's INFINITY of all people…!"
A flash of energy then made people spin around…
"O-ha!"
"Lady Ayumu!" Blake and Monica gasped together.
The other locals all gaped at the sight of the Goddess Who Walks Among Men. "Damn! I heard of those legends myself back at the Academy!" Melanie whispered in dumbfounded disbelief. "To believe someone THAT POWERFUL exists…!"
Kasuga Ayumu chuckled. "Ah, don't worry about that, Melanie-chan!" the Wakayama-jin said with a dismissive wave of her hand as Tàiyáng moved to prepare another cup of tea. "Did ya tell them about what happened, Chiyo-chan?"
Her classmate awked before she giggled. "Ah, haven't got to that part yet, Ōsaka-san! Does Pyrrha-san know?!"
"Hai, hai, I got her over there when Obā-chan told me what happened!" Ayumu stated before she perked as Tàiyáng came over with tea. "Ah! Arigatō, Oji-chan!" she called out as the cups were handed over. Smiling as he blushed at being called "uncle" again by this living goddess, Ayumu faced the other locals. "It sure shocked me when Obā-chan in the Doll House called up and told me that someone else got saved from when that silly Cinder-chan came by the Academy on Gaysaw!"
Everyone gaped. "Who else got saved?!" Tàiyáng demanded.
"Oh, Amber Bailey-chan was saved, too!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"THE FALL MAIDEN?!" all the locals screeched together in dumbfounded disbelief…
Vale City, Renaissance Industries headquarters, an hour later (Savannah time: Thursday, mid-afternoon)…
"Yeah, it's a case of involuntary death-cheating…damn it, Kasuga…!"
A hand came down to firmly slap Margo Black on top of her head. "Now, you stop that, Margo!" her twin sister snapped as she glared at the person whose existence had haunted her for as long as she could remember despite all the efforts of their cruel and immortal stepmother Blanche Chapelle did to make her forget same. "It's not Ayumu's fault that her move to save Persephone and Pyrrha also saved Ms. Bailey here as well." Here, the Living Dynamo of Energy of the Young Guns, Riekbu ("Accretor"), born Nora Chapelle in Vermont — even if she saw herself these days as a daughter of the South given her having lived in Savannah on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Georgia since she and her twin sister were forcibly separated in 1997 — placed a cup of properly-made sweet tea on the desk before the native of Britem on the eastern coast of Solas. Said woman still looked a little dizzy at the fact that not only was she alive and relatively well, but also had been placed on the path to become akin to the being who had rescued all the Maidens of Remnant from the wrath of the Two Brothers when they moved to destroy their "creation" two millennia ago. "There you are, Ms. Bailey," the energy manipulator/inducer then soothed. "Just relax and enjoy your tea. I'm no Osamu Shirayuki, but I do know how much being soul-shifted into a battle doll body can disorientate anyone."
Amber Bailey blinked before she nodded. "Thank you, ma'am," she quietly declared before smiling as Shannon Ozpin came up with a plate of chocolate chip cookies for her to enjoy. "Thank you, Professor."
"It's alright, Amber. A happy accident, after all. And a fortunate one as well, given you were the victim of what our friends from Yiziba would call 'Gift thievery'." As both Margo and Nora tensed on hearing that, Ozpin gave them a knowing look. "Surely you ladies wouldn't approve one bit of what Cinder Fall has in mind now concerning not just Amber, but those like her."
"Why does this infernal woman wish to gain such powers, sir?" Nora demanded, crossing her arms.
Here, the older man slipped off his glasses. "The Maidens are one of the few groups of pure magical users on Remnant even if some people might say that they're more in the realm of reality warpers like what's common on Yiziba…"
"A bit of both, Professor."
Eyes locked on Amber. "'A bit of both', Amber?" Pauline Bluyan of Team PRSM wondered from nearby.
Amber shrugged. "Magic is just a more versatile form of psychokinetic manipulation of matter, Pauline. Given that Grandfather Ayone saved our past-selves from the Two Brothers before he banished them from this multiverse, the chances are good that part of his abilities intermingled with theirs. That might also explain things like the Silver Eyes abilities like that Yang's sister now has." Here, she nodded to Yáng Xiǎo Lóng, who had been teleported over to Isaac Thomas' headquarters site on Remnant with her lovers thanks to Mihama Chiyo; the Goddess Who Walks Among Men had gone back to Earth to get some sleep.
The Bright Genius of the Young Guns, who was seated nearby in the top floor cafeteria which had been effectively taken over by the students of Beacon Academy as their own meeting hall, hummed as she considered that point. "Most likely, Amber-san," she breathed out. "Back in the time of the Dawn of Power, all the first generation of metahumans who emerged at that time were just learning how to use their powers. Chances were good that Ayone-ojiisan might have tweaked the Maidens' powers to help them endure against the Two Brothers and later Salem-san. If the Silver Eyes power that Ruby-san currently has is related…!"
"Well, I doubt poor Ayumu herself would remember something like that," Nora noted as she headed over to the kitchenette to make a cup of sweet tea for herself. "Still, you're alive and well, Ms. Bailey. That's another slap in the face to the true death-cheater that needs to be put down finally before some welcome peace and quiet can return to this planet."
"Indeed so, Nora," Ozpin declared as he restored his glasses.
"Have you started to sense out any Gift seeds seeking you out to bond with, Amber?" Blake Belladonna asked.
Amber blinked before shaking her head. "Some have touched my mind since I woke up in the Doll House, but nothing seems to fit me. Chiyo told me about this one girl affiliated with this Scooby Gang in America on Earth — Cordelia Chase, I think her name is? — who's waited for YEARS to find the right Gift for her." She sipped her tea. "Honestly, I've got other worries before me. Professor, have you heard anything from the kids in Britem? I know you've had communication issues…!"
Ozpin winced. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry, Amber. With all that's been happening since the attack, I haven't even thought of that!"
"Wait! What kids are you talking about, Amber?!" Coco Adel demanded.
Amber chuckled in embarrassment. "Well, this was about four months ago. I was scouting around the remnants of the village of Obrador when I saw this very large obelisk made from a type of silvery-red crystal I've never seen before." As people perked and those who were Gifted all gaped at her, she held up her hand. "I touched it and felt the warmth emanating from it…and then it clicked into me that there was next to no radiation in the environment around the village. We know an atomic device was used on it during the Great War, right?" As people nodded, she looked around. "Is it something Isaac's doing?"
"Yes, it is, Amber," Ozpin affirmed with an amused smile. "Like he did for his homeland on Earth, Isaac began distributing devices forged of both diamond-pattern and ruby-pattern mesonium to all the radioactive hot spots from the Great War to not only render such places habitable again, but also ensure no Grimm could re-inhabit those zones." As people around him nodded in understanding — Isaac was currently aboard the Normandy having a private meeting with Kiryū Kazuma for some reason he had kept to himself — the Undying Warrior Sage clasped his hands together under his chin. "That might explain what you found."
"What the heck did you find, Amber?" Cardin Winchester asked.
Amber shrugged. "A pair of human-form Grimm."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" people screeched out.
A flash of PAA teleportation energy then made heads snap over to one corner of the room…
"Hey, Amber-chan! These two little ragamuffins have been asking about you since we found them!"
…then jaws dropped in shock on seeing who was now being carried in Narahara Shōko's arms. "SHADE! ASHLEY!" Amber called out, making the pair of dusky-skinned teenagers with red-tinged silver hair and glowing golden eyes projecting from onyx-black sclera gasp on hearing that voice. Both were dressed presentably in black-and-white clothing that didn't mask the odd bone outcroppings emitting from places like the base of their deltoid muscles on their upper arms and their breastbones.
"AMBER-MAMA!" the two girls screamed as they leapt out of Shōko's arms to lunge over and swamp the former Fall Maiden with embraces, they immediately snuggling their faces right into the crook of her neck.
The others gazing at this scene all blinked save Ozpin, who was calmly sipping his tea. "Grimm/Faunus hybrids?!" Dove Bronzewing wondered before he yelped as Monica Khan snarled at him. "Hey! They look just like that, Healer!"
Chiyo calmly got off her chair and walked over to stand close to Amber as she allowed Shade and Ashley Britem — she gave these two transformed beowolves, the first of a small group of female-form humanoid Grimm she had found before her fateful encounter with Cinder Fall and her friends, the name of her home village as their "family names" when she had then registered with Ozpin's help as "unknown type of Faunus with familial shared semblances" in the Vale kingdom records — to relax against her, they whining like normal canine Faunus would when being physically close to a loved one. Both of them quickly sensed the approach of the Bright Genius, they turning away from their "mama" to gaze curiously at the young hyper-genius polymath, though their brownish skin was quick to darken to show that like almost all others who met the Itabashi-jin who had skipped FIVE SCHOOL GRADES to begin attending high school when she was just ten years old, they found her both VERY cute and presently quite harmless. As she was wearing her normal field goggles, Chiyo was quick to activate remote scanners in the frame to reach out and probe into Shade's and Ashley's bodies to determine what exactly they were. "Oh, my…!"
"Nothing dangerous, I hope," Nora wondered from nearby.
As Ashley's arms tightened against her charges to show she was going to protect them, Chiyo shook her head. "No, not at all, Nora-san! It seems that in their cases, the corrupted naquadah that is used to create Grimm somehow was irradiated enough by both uranium and plutonium to act as a sort of entrapment for what could be fragments of the souls of those who lived in this village Amber-san found them in, giving them both the capability to have human-like sentience as well as the beginnings of developing true souls." As the assembled huntsmen all gaped in shock at that declaration, the Bright Genius then waved to the two transformed beowolves. "All it needed was a high enough injection of mesonium to accelerate the process…"
"Which Isaac did when he placed that monolith there to get rid of the radiation," Margo finished as she got up to head over and join the other metahuman. To the surprise of all the Faunus in the room — even Blake Belladonna, Monica Khan and Velvet Scarlatina, all of whom KNEW what Margo Black really was and what she could do when going all out — neither Shade nor Ashley seemed to react negatively to the aura of pure death that the Archangel of Mortality projected. "That's weird…!"
A finger tapped her nose. "You end pain."
That was Shade, who had reached over to touch the fair skin of the reborn assassin. Blinking as she took that in, Margo then smirked. "Someone who finally gets it," she muttered under her breath as she reached over to gently threat her fingers through the other girl's red-tinged silver hair, she then stroking the scalp between Shade's pointed upper set of ears. "Cute…!"
As the three Gifted Faunus huntresses — not to mention Coco Adel — all gaped in shock at the sight of Doctor Death of all beings in Existence being so kind to the two therianthropes, her twin sister came over. "Are they hungry, Ms. Bailey? Where did you find them, Commander?" she then asked the Sexy Sniper, who had taken a seat beside the members of one of the small group of freshmen who had escaped the attack on Beacon on Gaysaw evening. "They don't look too famished, but still…"
"Found them wandering down the North Shore Road just before they'd hit what's left of the Forever Fall Forest," Shōko answered. "They didn't seem hungry to me, but I was quick to see that the few normal Grimm who were wandering around just ignored them, which got me curious, so I snared them and brought them here to see Kōchō-sensei."
"And thank you for doing that, Shōko," Ozpin said as he moved to prepare a new plate of cookies for the new arrivals. "I'm sure they can enjoy some sweet tea, Nora." As the Living Dynamo nodded before she moved off to make some more of the iced tea which the adopted native of Savannah on the Atlantic coast of the Peach State always prepared with her personal mixture of fresh lemon juice with extracts of peach, raspberry and mint, the Undying Warrior Sage came over with the plate of cookies to offer to the Britem sisters. "Here you go, girls. Even if you had something before coming here to Vale, it is a long trip."
Automatically, Shade and Ashley grabbed two of the very nice treats, then began to nibble away…
Aboard the Normandy, that moment (Anádyr' time: Friday, an hour before breakfast)…
"Uh, Isaac…some could accuse you of engaging in genetic research!"
Isaac Thomas winced before he blinked as Penny Polendina squeezed his shoulders in reassurance. The Mind-Moulder of Armour was now dressed in a two-tone dark green plugsuit like what was worn by pilots in the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series from over a decade before, her battle-line's power icon insignia was placed right under her collars. Both were meeting Kiryū Kazuma and a thunderstruck Pyrrha Nikos in the Wise Lone Sage's cabin aboard the Normandy. "Gee, I honestly couldn't have GUESSED that might happen to me, Kazuma," the native of Queens moaned, shaking his head.
"I wouldn't worry about such accusations, Isaac," Penny declared. "What happened with those sentients that Amber Bailey discovered was a complete happenstance as Margo Black and Professor Ozpin concluded. Given how much these beings clearly care for Amber Bailey and wish not to lash out against normal humans or Faunus, they could simply be accepted as a different type of Faunus. Why create more fight scenes than necessary? Wouldn't you agree with this, Pyrrha Nikos?"
Pyrrha moaned. "Personally, I agree with that. I'm more worried about Amber. It's going to be a hell of a shock to people when they find out I'm alive. But the former FALL MAIDEN at that?! If I was Cinder and I learned that…!"
Isaac nodded. "Agreed. She should be Gifted as quickly as possible."
"What about him?" the Grand Poobah of the Golden Springs asked, pointing to the image projecting from his host's PAA.
Isaac focused on the image of Hazel Rainhart for a moment. "He seeks revenge for the loss of his sister. I can understand that. He tried to defeat Salem, but couldn't get anywhere with her, so he sided with her, no doubt for survival." As the Yokohama-jin grimly nodded, the New Yorker hummed. "We'll keep Amber under wraps for the time being. You think you can go pick a fight scene with him, Kazuma? I'd like to see what his potential is like. If he learns the truth about Salem's goals…"
"I can do that," the Dragon of Dōjima declared…
…then the image over the PAA changed to show the interior of a cave, no doubt in Sano Bay. "Hello! Hello! Doctor Thomas?!"
Isaac tapped the control crystal. "I'm here, Commander Morton. Is everything alright?!"
The Gamely Bonito of the Isles of Sawaiki, Aeoka ("Wahoo"), breathed out. "Oh, thank God! Shit's happening here in the Cove, sir! The destroyers that were sunk at Tsushima were playing around with some of the gamájun kids who stayed up all night to give us tea and all that, then they found out about these humanoid Grimm Ms. Bailey found! Completely freaked out all the older gamájun here at the Cove, then the oldest of the seers convinced the tin cans to get her over to Vale City…!"
Isaac paled. "Oh, SHIT…!"
Renaissance Industries, that moment…
"OUBÍITSA DOUSH!"
Everyone in the cafeteria screamed out as a massive burst of teleportation energy off to Margo Black's left produced five snarling girls looking a little younger than Ruby Rose, all of them wearing traditional sleeved battlesuits with triple-digit pennant numbers on their upper thighs. Four of them wore the colours of Earth's largest nation: White tops, dark blue pants and red belt/boots. One was in the two-tone colours of the third-largest former Soviet republic: Medium blue top, gold pants and white belt/boots. As the reborn Japanese destroyers present all exclaimed on seeing four reborn Russian warships lunge over to snare both Shade and Ashley Briten, pulling them away from Amber Bailey as they forced the two transformed Grimm to their knees, the adopted Ukrainian destroyer — the former ÈM Bezupréchnyj (née ÈM Páltus) who had been named Polína Jósypivna Matusévycha on her salvage/Gifting a day before as the Impeccable Maiden of the Northern Capital, Maetaeyueokro ("Bezdohánnyj"); she had been adopted by the second largest country in Europe due to her late captain Jósif Oleksándrovich Matusévych having been born in Mykolájiv near the Black Sea — then barked out, "Hold them fast, továrischi! Ensure they do not threaten the Elder!"
A shrill whistle then echoed through the air, making people spin around…
"So…um, what's going on here, ma'am?" the Archangel of Mortality calmly asked, crossing her arms.
An amused cackle escaped Sljépjj Z'rjéti as she seemed to focus on the Vermonter. "Calm yourself, Margaríta Daniílovna," the blind seer declared with a wry chuckle before she focused anew on the rather curious-looking Briten sisters; by then, Amber had recovered enough to find herself staring in disbelief and awe at the regal woman with the beautiful feathers flowing from her head and arms to form sweeping wings that extended past her ankles. "You!" she then hissed as she focused those sightless eyes on Shannon Ozpin. "Explain to me why this warrior maiden has had her MAGIC ripped from her?!"
"Borrowing the term from our Yizibajohei friends, Madame Sljépjj, it was a Gift thief," the Undying Warrior Sage declared. "Believe me, we fully intend to see to it such a crime is promptly redressed even if it will take time to locate the thief."
"Does Captain Itō know you're here, ma'am?"
Heads turned to focus on the Wise Lone Sage, who had teleported down from the orbiting Normandy alongside the Grand Poobah of the Golden Springs, the Mind-Moulder of Armour and the Warper of Metal. Turning towards the New Yorker, Sljépjj seemed to "gaze" right into Isaac Thomas' soul before waving to Shade and Ashley. "This was not intentional, Isaák Fomích?"
"No, ma'am," he assured her, shaking his head. "I only sought to heal broken and wounded land to make such habitable again, as my good friend Tat'jána Andréevna Chapáeva has done in many locations across the Ródina in which the Cove of Svjetjjílische lies within. From what my good friend Margaríta Daniílovna Shapél' has discovered, the adopted daughters of the former Fall Maiden of Remnant bear their own unique souls. That is, from what I understand of the alconóst your ancestors fought in the name of Lord Túndra and their descendants despoiling this planet now, as far from what was standard for them as could be."
Another large flash of light close to the windows…
"Obā-sama, would you PLEASE warn me before you do something like this!"
Heads turned…
…then all the non-Gifted locals seemed to shudder on sensing the aura of the tall, muscular newcomer in green-and-grey…
Somewhere in the Land of Darkness, within Evernight Castle, that moment…
"NO…!"
Hearing the pained, shocked croak escape his beloved living goddess, a wide-eyed Tyrian Callows leapt out of his chair, lunging over to comfort the collapsing Salem as she seemed to curl in on herself. "YOUR GRACE!" the scorpioid Faunus serial killer who was clearly the most loyal and passionate to the Queen of Darkness screamed as he noted she was visibly shivering. "What is it, Your Grace?! Did you sense that monster Ozma return?! Even if Ozpin himself is dead…!"
"…Cold One…!"
Finding some reserve from strength after she was nearly swamped from that wave of SOMETHING emitting from the direction of Vale City, Salem pulled herself back to her feet, making Tyrian gape in awe on seeing how much the being who had controlled the direction of all life on Remnant for millennia slowly walk towards the window to gaze into the dusky sky beyond.
"No…why is the COLD ONE here…?!"
Silence then fell as Salem's fists clenched in outrage…
To Be Continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
Translation list and source language: Rif — Reef (Russian); Nisegami — False god (Japanese); -ssi — Basic honorific title attached to a person's name (Korean); Chuch'e — Normally Romanized as "Juche", this is the name of the philosophy of self-reliance which dominates North Korean governance; Matatuto — Literally "central kingdom", the analogue of China (Yizibajohei); Oubíitsa Doush — Soul-killers (Old Church Slavonic); Kapitán-Lejtenánt — Captain-Lieutenant, the equal of a naval lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy (short-formed KapLej) (Russian/Ukrainian); Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev — Squadron Torpedo Boat, designation for a destroyer (type prefix ÈM) (Russian); Patrúl'nyj Korvét — Patrol Corvette, a new designation for old destroyers under 1,000 tonnes displacement (type prefix PKV) (Russian/Ukrainian)
The subjects (subjjékty) of the Russian Federation form the top-level subnational divisions of the world's largest country. Regardless of the type of division, they are all equal under Russian law. Of the eighty-five that existed at the time of this story (ignoring what happened in real life later), forty-six of these are óblasti ("regions") populated mostly by ethnic Russians; twenty-one others are respúbliki ("republics") with considerable indigenous populations; nine are krája ("territories") that are traditional borderlands but effectively no different than óblasti; four are avtonómnyje okrúga ("autonomous districts") which are (save one) self-governing territories of a neighbouring óblast' (the exception being Chukótka at the far eastern end of Russia, which separated from Magadán Óblast' in 1992); two are góroda federál'nyje znachénija ("cities of federal significance") which are independent of any subject (in other words, Moskvá and Sankt-Peterbúrg); and one is an avtonómnaja óblast' ("autonomous region") which holds a midway position between an óblast' and a respúblik when it comes to indigenous rights.
Chronologically in this series, Mark Calloway (the Undertaker) first appears in From Shards to Gifts. Kim Hyegyŏng (Tan'gun-wanggom) was mentioned in Part 14 of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman; she appears three parts later.
As stated before, names given to characters who haven't been named in the RWBY animation are Fred's creation.
Whitley Schnee's lover Topaz Samak and Willow Schnee's intimate friends Sandy Cobrador and Marran Blakit are based on characters created by the amateur MMD artist Blackbirdcalls; they can be seen at Pixiv at entry #122597192. Note that said characters were not named in that comic; all three were given their names by Fred. Said artist also created humanoid Grimm characters (the Liminal Grimm) such as Shade and Ashley (the family name Britem is Fred's creation), which first appeared at entry #121039701; their biographies appear in entry #121658278. Such are used with permission, of course, though the origins of people like Shade and Ashley are adjusted to fit the reality of this story.
Introducing the other Young Guns (Mintyuo-ruo) mentioned here: Nora Chapelle (Accretor) is a villain character from the Sweet Valley High series; she first appeared in the sixth Magna edition of the series, Return of the Evil Twin (published 1995). Tricia Martin (Tzaraath) and her older sister Betsy Martin (Cimasa) are also SVH minor characters; they first appeared in the twelfth mainline series novel When Love Dies (published 1984). And Maehara Shinobu (Hyperspeed) is one of the female characters of Akamatsu Ken's Love Hina; she appears in this series in the omake The Mistress of Velocity Claims Her Man!
As an aside, Blanche Chapelle (who appeared in the same story as Nora) is, in this series, an immortal of the Highlander type first introduced in the namesake 1986 movie and expanded on in the namesake television series from 1992-1998. She was killed when Nora reunited with Margo after the latter's Gifting, though Margo uses her powers to preserve the corpse in anticipation of finding others who helped her seduce the twins' late father Daniel Chapelle to seize his fortune. What happens will be reflected on in a side story to be written in the future by Fred; this would correspond with the 2000 movie Highlander: Endgame.
Finally, introducing the shipgirls appearing or mentioned at the end of this part, with the named one coming first:
Kapitán-Lejtenánt Polína Jósypivna Matusévycha RIF (later Kapitán-Lejtenánt VMSU) (Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev Páltus [later ÈM Bezupréchnyj, now Patrúl'nyj Korvét Bezdohánnyj [Russian pennant 346, Ukrainian pennant 051])
Polína physically takes after Polina Sokolova from the visual novel EON by Moonworks, though as a human being; an image of her can be seen on Danbooru at entry #3418140. To explain why she would be adopted by the Ukrainian Navy (Vijs'kóvo-Mors'kí Sýly Ukrajíny, "Military Maritime Fleet of Ukraine", short-formed VMSU) is simple; as noted in the text, her late captain was born in Mykolájiv in southern Ukraine even if she herself was built in Sankt-Peterbúrg.
Now the four unnamed Russian destroyer shipgirls who appeared in the second-to-last scene:
Kapitán-Lejtenánt Aksín'ja Nikoláevna Koloméjtseva RIF (Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev/Patrúl'nyj Korvét Bychók [later ÈM Bújnyj] [pennant 338])
KapLej Oksána Andréevna Viréniusa RIF (Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev/Patrúl'nyj Korvét Plotvá [later ÈM Býstryj] [pennant 342])
KapLej Olimpiáda Aleksándrovna Shámova RIF (Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev/Patrúl'nyj Korvét Ókun' [later ÈM Blestjáschij] [pennant 343])
KapLej Praskóv'ja Geórgievna Kérna RIF (Èskádrennykh Minonóstsev Grómkij, now Patrúl'nyj Korvét Pompéznyj [pennant 358])
Aksín'ja takes after Cinya from Infinite Temple by Chinese artist Hello Kiki; see the picture on Danbooru entry #6410571. Oksána resembles Isana from Seishaku no Isanatori by Efuya; see entry #668166. Olimpiáda takes after Olympia from Olympia Soiree by Qi7pi; she can be seen at entry #6034952. And Praskóv'ja takes after Georgia AKA Langley from Pokémon; a picture of her by Kijōyu can be seen at entry #6557224. Note that the first three girls (as well as Polína Matusévycha) were initially named after sea creatures: Bychók ("bullhead catfish"), Plotvá ("common roach"), Ókun' ("perch/bass") and Páltus ("halibut"). In 1902, their names were changed to emotional themes: Bújnyj ("impetuous"), Býstryj ("rapid"), Blestjáschij ("sparkling") and Bezupréchnyj ("faultless"); the last would be translated into Ukrainian as Bezdohánnyj. By the time of her construction, Praskóv'ja Kérna would get the emotionally-themed ship name Grómkij ("excessively loud/ceremonial"). However, as that name would be recycled into a Great Patriotic War-era destroyer (which will be appearing in this storyline soon), Praskóv'ja would receive the new ship name Pompéznyj ("pompous") to prevent confusion. The others who had their names recycled to new construction at the time of the Great Patriotic War would simply revert to their pre-1902 names.