Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Warning: LONG. And a touch of fanservice.
The Next Afternoon After the Group Returned From the Starfall Islands
BGM: Respite and Sunlight (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
"We're home~!" Anya called out as she and Oran entered the house with both of them putting down their bags and making their way over to the kitchen where they were met with a hug from Rosalina, as they saw that the rest of the adults were seated outside while she was making lemonade.
"Hey, you two. How was your day?" She asked, letting both of them go.
"It was good! I had some practice with the Light Music Club today. We're getting close to getting the hang off of our song for the Portfolio Fes."
"And you?" Rosalina addressed Oran next.
"Oh, you know… same ol', our usual classes and after-school practice with the Theatre Club. I feel like I'm getting the hang of my lines a lot better." Oran replied as he felt a stinging sensation come from his back, which he tried to ignore but it didn't go unnoticed by Rosie.
"How's your back?"
"It…" Oran started, trying to think of an excuse, but realizing he shouldn't tell lies, he continued. "... it still hurts as much as it did yesterday. Sometimes, I get a stinging sensation in my back, but I'll manage. I'm also glad we didn't have any P.E. today."
"I see." Rosalina said as she called into the yard where Baymax was sitting underneath a tree surrounded by some of the monsters. "Baymax, could you please do a quick scan on Oran?"
As Baymax opened his eyes, he waddled his way over to the house and entered the house. He then did a quick scan of Oran and said, "Scans indicate no change in how he was yesterday. Are you satisfied with your care?"
"Yes, Baymax. I'm satisfied with my care." Oran said, to which Baymax nodded as he returned to the yard. Oran then turned to Rosalina and asked, "I guess that means we have to see Ms. Mikan."
"It does, I suppose it's a good thing that we made an appointment with Mikan earlier this morning after you kids went to school." Rosalina said as she then called out through the patio door, "Raven! Could you please take Oran with you to the hospital for his appointment with Mikan? They're expecting him today."
As Raven made her way inside the house, Oran asked, "Why can't you take me?"
"Because it's quicker with her portals, and if we were to go by car, the appointment hours would be over." Rosalina replied.
"Besides, don't you want to go out with your favorite aunt?" Raven asked.
"You're my only aunt." Oran deadpanned.
"I guess that means that by that metric, I'm also immediately your favorite uncle." Qrow called out from outside.
"I mean… Uncle Loid's right there." Oran replied as both he and Anya gave Qrow shit-eating grins.
"Heh, brats." Qrow chuckled to himself as Raven then opened up a portal and reached out her hand to Oran.
"Come on. If we hurry, we'll be back before the sun sets far enough to cover the patio in shade. And who knows, if you behave you'll get ice cream afterwards."
"Ahem." Rosalina coughed.
"You'll get ice cream after dinner." Raven corrected while winking at Oran as the two of them took off into the portal, after which it closed.
With the two of them gone, Anya thought back to earlier that day during the lunch break.
Pause BGM
Earlier, back at Hathaway…
BGM: Life at Garreg Mach Monastery (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
When Oran and Anya got to school that morning, Team LAFF, Logue, and the rest of Team DABEE were ecstatic to see that Oran had come back from the Starfall Islands in one piece but didn't really ask about what had happened beyond that. Laura, noticing the confused look on Anya's face, took her aside and explained to her that when Masaru came back the previous night he had explained what had happened, giving Laura an idea of what had happened with Oran.
Laura further explained to Anya that she wouldn't try to push Oran on the situation too much since she learned that he had been able to handle himself in the end despite everything that had gone down the previous days. Explaining that if Oran wanted to say something, he'd do so on his own terms. This brought the group to their lunch break, as she saw that Oran and Logue had gone to collect their lunches from the counter.
Realizing that this could be her chance, Anya whispered to Laura, "Hey, Boss Girl."
"What's up?" Laura whispered back.
"You're able to see Oran's vitality and emotions right?"
"I can see that for everyone. Why do you ask?'
"Just wanted to make sure. It's just that… I've been listening to his thoughts from time to time and he's been trying to act like what had happened isn't affecting him as much, as well as trying to ignore his back."
"I see…" Laura mused as she took a moment to think before speaking up again. "...You do have a point there. His aura is less bright than usual. Granted, it was never all that bright to begin with compared to most people, but that's not important."
"Exactly, so we should do something about it, right?"
"That's true, but we all agreed that we wouldn't push it until he felt ready to talk."
"But what if we didn't…" Anya trailed off as Laura gave her a confused look. "...What if we did something that made him feel like he could talk about his feelings without us pushing it? Like an environment where he could talk about it, maybe like a sleepover or something."
"A sleepover you say? Hmmm…" Laura thought, after which she smiled in reply. "Honestly, that would be nice! That's a pretty smart idea you've got there."
"Heh, I guess I can have some pretty smart ideas after all."
"That's not going to make me admit that putting a spoon in the cafeteria microwave to eat ice cream easier was a smart idea." Laura deadpanned.
"But it worked didn't it? …Minus the fire alarms going off."
"Let's just… let's just focus on the sleepover." Laura sweatdropped. "Want to do it at your house?" She then asked, making Anya beam up with glee.
"That's a great idea~! None of you have ever been there yet, so I'll ask aunt Rosie and uncle Tai if it's okay when we get home."
"And the best part is that tomorrow's Saturday. So we can stay up as long as we want." Laura said, after which they were interrupted by Damian and the others.
"So what are you two whispering about?"
"I heard them say something about a sleepover and ice cream." Nick said.
"Nick, what did I say about listening in on other people's conversations?" Magnolia asked sharply.
"Not to…"
"And don't you forget it."
"But is it true?" Albedo asked. "You guys really want to organize a sleepover at your place?"
"Well, I first have to ask if it's okay, but other than that it will most likely happen at our house… Wait, you guys do have time to come, right?" Anya inquired.
"Course we do. We'll be happy to show up." Damian smiled as the rest nodded their heads in agreement.
"And see if the hugs from your aunt are as great as you said they were." Emile added.
"Yeah, that too." Becky nodded as both Oran and Logue returned to their table with their lunches.
However, to their shock, Logue was also wiping away some tears, while those with good hearing could hear Oran whisper, "Just ignore them. They don't know what they're talking about."
"What happened?" Becky asked in concern.
"The usual, people making comments about Atlas and the Atlesians."
"That's like the third time this week. This is getting ridiculous." Ewen frowned.
"And that's what we know off." Magnolia said as she noticed some classmates talking amongst themselves and laughing about what was being said. She sighed to herself. "...I'm going to do something about it."
Hearing this, Logue spoke up. "Maggie, please… You don't have to do this."
"Well, it has to stop one way or another."
"But punching them won't do anything." Damian pointed out as Magnolia pinched the bridge off her nose.
"The teachers, guys. I'm telling the teachers, more specifically our homeroom teacher, Run. Maybe not tell him to punish them, but maybe an assembly to calm everyone down a bit or some kind of announcement."
"You want me to go with you?" Laura asked.
"Nah, stay here to comfort Logue. This'll only take a few minutes." Magnolia said as she walked off while Anya filled Logue in about the idea.
End BGM
Back to the present time…
Resume Respite and Sunlight BGM
"Uncle Tai, Aunt Rosie, can I ask something?"
"Sure, is it about what's on your mind?" Tai asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you sat down at your chair on the patio and kept staring at your glass of lemonade for the last few minutes." Byleth replied.
"We all kind of assumed you were thinking about something." Bereto said.
"So go on, tell us. What has the hamster running extra laps on his wheel?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, well, I was wondering if I could organize a sleepover here for our friends from school tonight." Anya replied.
"Hmm, it's a bit last second, but did you ask your friends if they were okay with it?" Tai inquired.
"I did during lunch."
"I mean, we do have enough snacks and drinks, and Ibuki brought in a bunch more of the modified game systems with her earlier today when she came to visit." Loid said.
"That is true, and there's no school tomorrow." Rosalina added.
"You know what, sure, none of us have to go anywhere tonight, right Loid?" Tai asked, to which Loid shook his head "...Good, guess that means we can watch over them and make sure things go right."
"Great, I'll let them know."
"One more thing, any reason you wanted to do this?" Loid replied, going into spy mode as he got a serious look in his eyes.
"Oh, that's easy, Papa! Just something to make Oran feel better with after Starfall. Let him know that he has people to fall back on." Anya said without flinching as she had gotten used to her father going into spy mode from time to time.
"Very well then."
"That's very sweet of you." Rosalina said, as Anya ran off, while she went to go grab the phone. "Byleth, did the school give you the contact info of their classmates when you were arranging their enrollments?"
"I did, last time I checked I think I left it on the coffee table in the living room." Byleth replied.
"You did leave it there, but since these types of things tend to get lost very easily I put it in the filing cupboard we have in the office on the ground floor." Tai said as Rosalina nodded and went to go to the room to get the information.
"We have a filing cupboard? And follow up question, when did we get a filing cupboard?" Qrow asked.
"Couple months ago after the house was remodeled and I realized that with how big the family was getting, so I decided that it would be smart to have a place where we can store all of our important files. You know, like school records, adoption papers, and other important documents."
"But what about…"
"If you're worried about any important mission documents that Ozpin gave you in the past, don't worry, they're in a secret safe in the room." Tai replied.
"Okay, but where?"
"It wouldn't be much of a secret if I told you, now would it? Don't worry, just ask and I'll get them."
"Alright, if you say so."
End BGM
Later, at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital…
BGM: Dr. Toadley (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)
"Well, I can't say that I'm not curious about these results." Mikan said, as she looked through the X-ray results of Oran's spine, while Raven, Oran and Kala, who was called out of her Pokeball, were sitting in front of her.
"What do you mean? Isn't this pretty clear cut?" Raven asked.
"Oh make no mistake, these fractures are a result of the fight from yesterday, however, what the X-ray machine on the Great Fox didn't catch were the ages of the fractures that have slightly faded over time." Mikan replied, as she zoomed in on the image to get a clearer picture.
"So what does that mean?"
"Well, I was hoping that Oran would be able to shed some light on that."
"I think most of those came from the last five years in the wild." Oran replied.
"And why is that?" Mikan asked.
"Sometimes, accidents happen, you know? I made a wrong move while climbing through the trees, a Grimm got a lucky hit in, stuff like that." Oran said as Mikan eyed Kala.
"Can you corroborate that?"
"[It's true, there were some moments where we had some accidents.]" Kala signed.
"How did you treat your injuries?"
"[We found some herbs with medicinal properties and used those to treat ourselves with.]"
"I see."
"So now what?" Raven asked, with Mikan seeming to be in deep thought.
"Well, under normal circumstances I would recommend a back brace for a month, since that is used to help with the healing process for spinal injuries. However, these are not normal circumstances." Mikan explained.
"What do you mean?" Oran asked.
"Simply put, due to the Aura you Remnant natives possess, it increases the rate at which you heal, but that also makes it hard to gauge how fast something like this heals. I started looking into it when I began working here, but even some of the best doctors have a hard time figuring it out."
"So we're just going to have to guess?" Raven asked.
End BGM
"Not entirely." Mikan replied, quickly dialing a number and a few seconds later, Medic burst through the door.
BGM: Archimedes (Team Fortress 2)
"Frauline, you called?" Medic asked, causing Raven to get an angry look on her face.
"You brought in that quack?! I thought–" She started, before being interrupted by Mikan.
"I know what Summer said, but she never said anything about him being allowed to give advice on matters, now did she?"
"Bezides, zhis is a great opportunity to learn more about ze aura of Remnant natives, no?" Medic remarked as he noticed Raven getting defensive and reaching out for her sword. "Relax, frauline. I learned my lesson from Ruby."
"You better!"
"Good, now kinder, tell me, how do you put your shirt on?"
"What does that have to do with any of this?" Raven narrowed her eyes.
"Vell, if I learned how the kinder put the shirt underneath zhis shell, I vill learn how zee back brace can be put on best for zee best result." Medic said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"In that case, my shell can slightly loosen itself from the rest of my body when I put my shirt on and then once that is done, it attaches itself to my body again. I mean, there is a whole area that is empty space, but the last part makes it difficult to reach with a shirt, so I taught myself that."
"Ah, fascinating." Medic mused, making sure to write down the notes. "Ja, I zhink I know what you should do kinder. You should have zhe back brace for two weeks before returning to frauline Mikan for zhe reexamination of zhe back."
"Sounds good." Mikan replied before noticing that Medic was getting ready to leave. "Where are you going?"
"Ze dummkopf's at ze red base vanted to test out some new weapons, I vill be zhere to keep an eye on them, and to keep zhem alive."
"But what about the karaoke night that we and the other doctors have on Friday evenings?"
"Fret not, frauline. I vill be there, just a bit later, now auf wiedersehen." Medic waved goodbye before he took off.
"Well then, let's get you fitted for your back brace." Mikan said as she led them to a different part of the hospital.
End BGM
A couple of hours later, back on Patch…
BGM: A Gentle Breeze (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
"Wow… Esper Girl wasn't kidding about her home being a hotel." Damian muttered in awe while stepping out of the car.
"Young Master Desmond, are you sure this is the right place?" Jeeves asked as he closed the car door behind them.
"No, it certainly is the right place. I just didn't expect it to be…" Damian trailed off.
"...So imposing." Becky finished as she and Martha walked up behind them.
"Yeah, that. Seems like we arrived at the same time, Becky." Damian mused, eyeing some of the sleeping monsters lying in the courtyard. "Geez… Esper Girl really didn't lie about some of the crazy things going on in her life."
"Tell me about it. Then again, Laura got one too."
"True." Damian nodded as they approached the front door, which immediately opened to reveal Rosalina standing in front of them.
Wow, she's tall…! I wonder if those hugs Anya mentioned are that good as well… Becky thought to herself.
"Ah, you two managed to make it. Please come in. Most of your friends are already here." Rosalina welcomed as she let the two kids inside.
She then went to greet Jeeves and Martha, who both handed her the sleeping bags and their backpacks.
"Did you two manage to get here without any issues?"
"We did." Martha nodded. "That bridge the Mario Bros. built between the island and the mainland a little while ago certainly helped.
"Glad to hear that. We put in the request because we realized that only being able to leave by either Warp Pipe, boat, airship, or teleporting was rather restrictive." Rosalina said as Jeeves then coughed into his fist.
"I take it that nothing will go wrong during this sleepover?" Jeeves asked.
"Don't worry. In this house are several seasoned Huntsmen and as you most likely saw when arriving here several monsters who won't let an intruder in so easily. Anyone who would try and kidnap the children to get to their parents would be a fool to try anything." Rosalina assured.
"Glad to hear that. The young lady was very happy to hear that she would be allowed to go to the sleepover from her parents." Martha smiled warmly.
"I can imagine." Rosalia chuckled. "Would you two like anything for the road home? Coffee, tea, or water?"
"I'll have a black coffee."
"Chamomile tea for me."
"Coming right up." Rosalina said as she went back into the house. A few seconds later, she returned with the two drinks, which she quickly handed to the two of them. "Here you go."
"Much obliged." Jeeves smiled, immediately taking a sip from his cup. "Ah… just the way I like it."
"We will be here to pick them up at eleven in the morning." Martha said after taking a sip from her own cup.
"We'll be sure to remember that. Have a good night, you two." Rosalina nodded as the two of them returned to their cars and then took off as she waved them goodbye. After which she went back into the house, where she saw that everyone had already met up. She could even hear the end of a conversation between Anya and Damian.
"So you told him about why we're having this sleepover, right?"
"Partially."
"You can't be serious, he'll find out eventually."
"I know, but for now, he doesn't have to know. Besides, it's for his own good."
"Fine." Damian muttered as Anya saw Magnolia fangirling over Yang who, along with Ruby, was trying to calm the excited child down. Anya then looked at Becky, who seemed to have hearts in her eyes while looking at Loid. So she used her telepathy to listen to her thoughts.
Oh, my gosh… He's so dreamy~! And he's a spy too~! Why didn't Anya tell me her dad was so hot~?!
Anya stopped herself from nearly vomiting at the thought of her best friend liking her dad like that as she thought to herself Ewww… Becky, gross! Note to self: nip this in the bud as quickly as possible. I don't want her to fight with Miss Neves for Papa's affection.
She even thought about how that interaction would go.
Inside Anya's imagination…
"Let me go! Let me go!" Becky said, flailing her arms as Yor held her back with one arm. "He's mine! Not yours!"
"Hmm, but I found him first and I'm much older~"
"That's not the point! He's my boo!"
Back in reality…
Anya shuddered. I really gotta stop listening in on those romance shows that Byleth and Dorothea watch…
Thankfully, she didn't have to think about this further as Rosalina spoke up. "Alright, kids. How about a tour of the house and the surrounding area before we start the sleepover?"
Oh, good. Maybe I can get her to stop during this. Anya thought to herself as Rosie began to lead the group of children through the house, first showing off the first floor while Magnolia dragged Yang along with her, making Ruby follow the tour.
Rosalina, while leading the kids around the house, began to explain. "As you kids can see, the first floor has the living room and the rooms for most of the adults, a sparring room, a karaoke room and…"
"Whoa, an indoor swimming pool!" Ewen exclaimed in amazement, interrupting Rosie as he and some of the others immediately rushed with looks of amazement on their faces.
"Where does the slide lead to?" Emile wondered.
"Oh, the slide? It comes from the fourth floor." Rosalina replied, before shaking her head "No wait, scratch that. It's the sixth floor, I forgot about the two floors that were added in the last few weeks."
"How do you even forget about two floors?" Qrow called out from the kitchen.
"Oh, hush you!" Rosalina called out.
"He's not wrong though." Ruby said.
"Yeah." Yang agreed as she tried to hold in a snicker.
Rosalina sighed in exasperation. "Et tu, you guys?"
"Can we use the swimming pool tonight?" Nick pleaded as Albedo, Emile and Ewen started pleading with her, making her think for a bit.
"Maybe not tonight, I don't think we asked any of you to bring your swimwear with you." Rosalina replied, but noticing the looks on their faces, she added, "Why don't you kids come by when it's summer and it's a lot warmer, does that sound good to you?" At that, they all nodded their heads in agreement.
She then proceeded to show the group the rest of the first floor, before taking them all to the second floor, where the kids were immediately greeted with the gaming room with several sleeping bags. As well as a massive fridge that Yang opened to reveal a ton of drinks and snacks.
"Surprise~!" Ruby exclaimed. "You'll all be sleeping in the gaming room, there's enough movies and games in here to last you the whole night."
"Glad that it's the weekend tomorrow." Nick whispered to Albedo.
"I know right."
"Will you two be joining us?" Magnolia asked, with a hopeful look in her eyes being aimed at Yang.
"Sorry, but no." Yang said, as Magnolia's jaw dropped.
"Yeah, we'd love to stay, really…" Ruby started while awkwardly rubbing the back of her head "...buuuuuuuuuuut, we're having an outing of our own with our own team and some of the other teams."
"Oh, okay, I get it." Magnolia said as Yang placed a hand on her shoulder.
"But don't worry, we still have our usual sessions, you'll still have your chance to hang out with me." Yang smiled, winking at Magnolia which caused her to blush, while the tour continued as Rosie showed the group the rooms, which included the room Oran and Anya share.
"So, any reason why you two don't have your own separate rooms?" Damian asked.
"They offered it a few days after Anya and Uncle Loid moved in, but by that time we had gotten so used to us sharing the room that we wanted to keep doing that." Oran replied.
"And besides, someone needs to keep an eye on this knucklehead." Anya said as she gave a smug look to Oran.
"As if you wouldn't sleep through your alarm every day without me." Oran retorted, causing Anya to sweatdrop.
"Ehehe~... Well, you know… we can't all be perfect." Anya giggled sheepishly.
"And didn't you say that sharing a room made you feel more safe at night?"
"Okay, okay, I get it! You don't have to go any further than that!" Anya yelled in embarrassment before noticing the continued smug look on Oran's face as he gave her the classic 'heh' look. "And wipe that smug grin off your face! I coined that look, so it belongs to me!"
"Actually, I did it before we ever met you, and I have no issue with him doing it." Laura said, as Anya got a look of shock on her face.
"No… betrayed by Boss Girl..." Anya groaned as Becky patted her on the back.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Laura replied while walking past Anya.
The group then moved onto the third floor, and were met with the wonders that immediately greeted them.
"Whoa, an entire music room! I guess I now know where you got your skills from, Esper Girl." Damian guessed.
"Actually, even before I started practicing, I never set foot in this room." Anya replied.
"Still, it would be a good place to practice if the school was ever unavailable." Damian said as the kids were led to the other end of the hall and into the armory, and were met with a whole collection of swords and other weapons hanging on the wall.
"Geez, that's a lot of weapons." Albedo commented.
"Where did all of these weapons even come from?" Becky asked.
"Most of them are from Byleth, Bereto's and Raven's personal collection. You're probably better off not knowing where they came from." Rosalina answered.
"Trust me, you are. I made the mistake of peeking into Aunt Raven's mind one too many times while we were helping them polish the collection…" Anya shuddered as a look of horror appeared on her face. "...I'm certainly never doing that again."
"Noted." Laura nodded while Becky and Logue patted her on the back for comfort.
"And that is why we told you not to peek into someone's mind unless permission has been given." Rosalina said.
"I know, Auntie Rosie. You've told me before." Anya remarked as Rosalina gave her some headpats.
"But what about all of the scraps of metal lying around?" Ewen asked.
"That's what we use to create new weapons, like what I used to help create Oran and Anya's weapons." Ruby smiled.
"Having seen them in action, you did pretty good making them." Damian said.
"Aww, thanks~!"
"That crossbow in the corner looks pretty cool." Emile said, as he and some of the others looked at it in awe. As Ewen tried to get a closer look at it, but before he could move it out of the corner the crossbow activated and shot a bolt into the ceiling.
"What the…!" Ewen exclaimed, as right at that moment Maia burst into the room.
"Did someone touch the crossbow in the corner?" She exclaimed, as Ewen sheepishly raised his hand.
"Sorry, that was me."
"No one got hurt, right?" Maia asked as she frantically looked around the room.
"Everyone's fine, the bolt got stuck in the ceiling however." Rosalina said.
"Oh thank goodness."
"But what's up with that crossbow?" Asked Yang.
"Right, Bereto and I have been working on some weapons here in our free time and I made this crossbow. Unfortunately, something keeps going wrong with the firing mechanism on the crossbow. Sometimes even the slightest touch can set it off." Maia explained.
"And I'm assuming that is why it just fired a bolt like that?" Ruby asked.
"It was, I probably should have put a sign up to warn people from getting too close." Maia replied sheepishly. "Actually, you know what, I should probably get to work on fixing that now." Maia said, as she then quickly moved the crossbow over to the crafting table while the rest of the group quietly left the room to leave her to work.
The group then moved to the fourth floor, where they were met with what seemed to be a small jungle with several terrariums that held several types of bugs and insects. "So what's up with this floor?" Ewen asked.
"Oh, this is where Gonta sleeps…" Yang said, while Becky and Damian eyed each other with a look of surprise on their faces, but decided to not say anything. "...He likes to bring his work home. So when he moved in, we gave him an entire floor to himself to make sure that none of the bugs would get into our rooms."
"I even put up a forcefield to prevent any of them from leaving this floor." Rosalina said as she shuddered at the memory of a bunch of worms having made their way to some of the other floors a few days after Gonta moved in.
"Hmhmhmhm~" Rosalina hummed, cooking a meal for everyone as she turned her head to grab some seasoning.
She turned around, only to see worms being cooked in the frying pan. "Huh?!" She said in shock before groaning, pulling out her phone while carefully putting the now dead worms into the trash. "Hi, it's me. Yeah, the usual. This time, add breadsticks. Okay. See you in a few."
Byleth and Dorothea were making out on their bed, Dorothea on top of her as they were under the bedsheets, completely nude.
Dorothea rose up, seductively looking at her wife… until a worm plopped down on her shoulder. "Huh? …Eugh!"
"Ack!" Byleth yelped, one landing right on her nose.
Tai whistled as he walked into the shower and hopped in, turning it on as the hot water hit his body. He reached for the shampoo with his eyes closed, not seeing a worm on top of it as he applied it and proceeded to lather up his hair.
"...Wait, why does this feel different?" He wondered as he looked down at his hands only to turn green. "Eugh!"
"Hmhmhmhm~" Ruby hummed as she was watering the flowers that took up ninety nine percent of her room. Once she was done, she climbed up on a flowery hammock that hung by the window and let out a peaceful sigh.
…And then she heard whining as she turned her head to see Zwei covered in worms. "What the?! Zwei, how'd you get covered in worms?!"
Back in the present…
"Where's Gonta? He should usually be home by now." Oran asked.
"He called us saying that he would be home a bit later, something about being held up at work." Ruby said, to which Oran simply nodded.
"Speaking of which, where are grandpa and grandma?" Anya asked as briefly looked around for Zhang and Luce.
"Oh, they went out for the evening." Ruby replied.
Pause BGM
Meanwhile, at a bar in Vale…
"And so I said "Lady, with a face like that, no wonder he tried to divorce you!" and she took particular offense to that." Zhang chuckled, taking a quick sip from his gin.
"So then what happened?" Laxus asked as he, the Thunder Legion, former Fairy Tail members, some members of Class 77-B and Class 78, Zhang, and Luce as well as some other adventurers, most of whom were occupied with conversations of their own, were sitting in a bar that had been remodeled to look like the Fairy Tail guild hall.
"She stabbed me through the shoulder, so I used my Semblance to blind her for a bit, broke through my chains, grabbed the Summer Maiden, and made a break for the bullhead where Luce was waiting. After which, we were able to make it back safely to Vacuo." Zhang continued his story.
"Again, I still think you should have had me for back up." Luce smiled at her husband.
"But then we wouldn't have been able to take off with the bullhead in time."
"Yeah, I hate to say it, but your wife has a point. You did get needlessly injured…" Laxus said as he was interrupted by a chair being thrown at his head as another guild brawl broke out. "One sec, I'm gonna go teach Natsu a lesson."
He then stood up to join the brawl while delivering a thunderous punch to Natsu' gut.
Resume BGM
"Well, I hope they're having fun." Oran chuckled.
After which the group moved onto the fifth floor where they were met with a floor that almost seemed normal in comparison to the rest of the floors, as there were just some doors on this floor.
"Well, that's certainly different." Logue said.
"Yeah, the rooms on the left are where Loid sleeps and keeps his spy stuff, while the rooms on the right are guest rooms." Rosalina said.
"I see that the slide still goes through this floor." Nick observed as he pointed at the tube going through the middle of the hallway.
"That's true. We kinda had a hard time finding a way to have it skip this floor." Yang chuckled.
"Which is weird. You'd think that Palkia being the representation of space would be able to have no issue with pulling that off?" Ruby quipped.
"Well, sometimes you can't have it all." Rosalina said, as the group moved onto the sixth floor and were met with the start of the slide as well as the space room and the other stuff that was on this floor.
"Holy Oum, is that an anti-gravity room?!" Damian asked in awe.
"That's right." Rosalina smiled in reply as Nick, Albedo, Emile, Ewen, and Damian nearly rushed into the room before being stopped. "Hold it."
"What's wrong? We just wanted to try it out!" Albedo said.
"I know you do, but not right now you'll probably get your chance another day. Right now, I've got a plan of my own. Something you kids will get a kick out of." Rosalina smiled as she teleported the group to the backyard and removed the invisible cloak around the Observatory.
"Ta-dah~! As a surprise for all of you, we're going on a quick trip into space before dinner."
"Wait, do we even have time for that?" Ruby asked in surprise. "And also, does the Observatory have enough fuel for a trip like that?"
"Don't worry." Tai called out from the terrace as was getting the BBQ ready. "It's going to take us about an hour to an hour and half to get the food ready."
"As for the Observatory, we have enough fuel to fly us on a trip through space like that about twenty times. After the adventures we've had in space, I always make sure that the Observatory is in perfect shape." Rosalina said.
End BGM
"In that case, we'll probably be good." Yang grinned as she and Ruby helped the kids climb aboard the Comet Observatory, after which they strapped them onto their seats while Rosalina was making sure the Observatory was ready to launch.
After a few minutes Rosalina looked around, and seeing everyone strapped into their seats she asked "Is everyone ready?" To which everyone present nodded, as the Observatory then took off.
BGM: Enter the Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
A few minutes later they found themselves in space with Remnant getting smaller and smaller by the second. "For everyone who hasn't been to space before, feast your eyes upon the ever expanding nature of the universe."
"Woah… it's so beautiful." Damian breathed out in wonder.
"Yeah, but looking at it now, it makes you realize that in the grand scheme of things, we're just tiny specks of dust in an uncaring universe." Emile commented. But before he could have a further existential crisis, he got smacked in the back of the head by Magnolia. "Ow!"
"No, none of that. It's too early for this."
"But it's almost evening!"
"It's too early for this." Magnolia clarified as the Observatory continued to fly through space, after a while reaching its first destination.
End BGM
Good Egg Galaxy
BGM: Gateway Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"Now, I'm going to need you all to be very quiet, because I heard that Viridi lets her plant babies, as she puts it, roam around these grassy planetoids." Rosalina said, as the group slowly made their way between the planetoids until they stopped to look at the planetoid in front of them.
"Oh, wow. Guess Viridi made Dino Piranha watch over the place while she's gone to do other things." Ruby observed.
"You think he'll remember us?" Yang asked nervously as Dino Piranha suddenly leaped from his planet onto the planet the group was standing on.
"Does that answer your question?!" Ruby replied in panic, as Dino Piranha marched towards them.
"Kids, get behind us!" Rosalina ordered as the children immediately obeyed them while she, Ruby and Yang got into battle positions as Dino Piranha kept approaching them, while softly growling… only for him to stop as he picked up Rosalina and hugged her, after which he gave Yang, Ruby and the kids headpats.
"Oh, so you just wanted to say hi?" Ruby asked, to which Dino Piranha nodded.
"It's okay, everyone. He's friendly." Yang assured, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank Oum… Talk about a bait and switch…" Logue also sighed in relief as she hugged Dino Piranha while Ewen, Emile, and Oran petted some of the Piranha Plants present.
Honeyhive Galaxy
The group lands on the grassy fields of the galaxy, and were met with the sights of hordes of worker bees carrying their honey to the gathering place. The group began to make their way to see the Honey Queen.
…All except for Anya, who had become unable to block Becky's thoughts out of her mind, as she heard her opinion on the current galaxy loud and clear.
Oh, this place is so beautiful~! Why couldn't I take Loid with me? It would be so romantic~...
Okay, THAT'S IT. I'm putting an end to this right now! Anya cringed internally as she called out to her best friend. "Hey, Becky. Hang back a bit."
"Oh, sure, Anya. What's up?" Becky asked, looking confused.
"Stop it."
"What are you talking about? Stop what?"
"You know what I'm talking about, don't put up an act like you don't know what I'm saying."
"I don't know, really."
"The stuff you're thinking about Papa. Stop it." Anya crossed her arms.
"Wait, you've been listening to my thoughts?" Becky's eyes widened before she frowned at Anya in disapproval. "Anya, what did we tell you about doing that?"
"Don't put this on me! Your thoughts are so dang loud that no matter what I do! I can't block them from my mind, so quit it! Also, Papa's like ten times your age. He's ancient."
With Loid…
"You okay?" Raven asked.
"I don't know why, but I feel like my back just aged by fifty years…" Loid grimaced.
Back with them…
"Yeah, but he's so handsome!" Becky whined.
"Stop it, I'm serious here. Like I get it, we're kids and we don't know better in some cases. But come on, Becky! I know you're smarter than this! Also, I really don't like the idea of you becoming my step-mother, so quit it!" Anya yelled, giving a serious look to Becky.
"Alright, alright! Message received." Becky raised her hands up in defense as she finally backed off. "I'm sorry that I thought about it."
"You're good, just don't do it again." Anya smiles softly as the two hugged before being interrupted by Damian, Emile, Ewen, Nick, and Albedo, who were rushing toward them while being pursued by an angry platoon of bee guards.
"Get back here, you no-good honey thieves!" One of the guards shouted, after which Oran, Laura, Logue and Magnolia rushed by.
"What did they say about taking their honey without asking?!" Magnolia scolded.
"Back to the observatory?" Becky asked.
"Back to the observatory." Anya nodded as the duo quickly rushed after them.
Loopdeeloop Galaxy, Flipswitch Galaxy, Sweet Sweet Galaxy and Megaleg's Moon
"So… any reason why we're not landing in those galaxies?" Laura asked while the Observatory flew past the smaller planetoids.
"There's not a whole lot there to see. What you see right now is what you get." Rosalina said.
"But what about that set of planets made of candy and cake?" Logue inquired.
"I'm not about to ruin your appetites, especially after what happened in Honeyhive." Rosalina said, while giving the boys a stern look. "And I'd rather not have a repeat of last time." She added while eyeing Ruby, who whistled innocently.
"What can we say? It was worth a try." Nick grinned sheepishly, only for his blood to run cold as Magnolia spoke up.
"And for that I'll be making sure that you'll be eating extra vegetables tonight."
"Hah, you can't make me!"
"You want me to tell mom about what you pulled instead?"
"Nope, I'm good!" Nick retracted, gulping nervously.
Pause BGM
Battlerock Galaxy
"Is there any particular reason why we skipped the galaxies that looked like a trash belt and a golf course?" Laura asked.
"There wasn't a whole lot to show you kids. This, on the other hand, is a lot more interesting." Rosalina said as the group landed on one of the saucer platforms that began to transport them towards the rock. But upon them getting closer she heard the cannons activating, while a robotic voice was heard over the speakers.
BGM: Battlerock Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"INTRUDERS DETECTED! SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISM ACTIVATED! EXTERMINATE THE INTRUDERS!"
"What the…?! That wasn't there last time!" Ruby exclaimed as she immediately ducked to dodge a cannonball being fired at her.
Rosalina narrowed her eyes and said, "One second, I'll be right back." before she teleported away from the group, leaving them to continue to dodge the cannonballs that were being fired at them.
"What do you think Aunt Rosie's doing?" Anya wondered.
"My guess would be that she's looking at whatever activated the self defense." Yang replied.
"She can take as much time as she needs, this is kind of fun." Emile said as Albedo dodged one of the cannonballs by bending over backwards Matrix-style.
"I know right?" He chuckled as he got an unamused look from Magnolia. "What?"
"You look ridiculous right now." Magnolia deadpanned. But before he could retort, the cannons turned off and Rosalina returned with an unamused look on her face.
End BGM
BGM: Space Fantasy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"I take it that you didn't like what you found?" Yang rhetorically asked.
Rosalina didn't say anything as she held up a piece of paper that read…
"To whoever decides to return to this place, I left a security system behind that activates when motion is detected and gives the interloper a cannonball to the face as a little prank. Signed, Doctor Ivo Robotnik."
"Okay, is he still butthurt over his plan failing during the first space adventure or something?" Ruby asked in annoyance.
"Not sure." Rosalina shrugged. "But I teleported the computer into space. Actually, remind me that when we get to Dreadnought, that I check the place out for traps before we get any closer."
"Sure." Ruby nodded.
"It was actually kind of fun to dodge those cannonballs." Oran piped up as the rest agreed with him.
"Yeah, it's not like they were shooting heat seeking missiles at us or anything." Becky said.
"Why would they do that?" Damian raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well, you know, it's a step up from normal cannonballs."
"I can't argue with that."
End BGM
Hurry Scurry Galaxy, Bowser's Star Reactor and Sling Pod Galaxy
Resume Gateway Galaxy BGM
"Geez, there's not a whole lot here." Logue commented as the observatory flew past some more planetoids.
"Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot left of the planets after we were done with them." Yang replied.
"So what happened over there?" Oran pointed at the remains of what used to be Sling Pod Galaxy.
"You know what, I don't actually remember." Yang said.
"Really?" Ruby asked. "You don't remember Palutena wiping it off the map with a laser after she got frustrated with it?"
"Oh, that's right. I completely forgot about that. Weird that it didn't get repaired after the reset." Yang mused.
"Hold up, you're saying that the light goddess blew up a galaxy after getting frustrated?" Damian asked in shock.
"To be fair, the sling pods are pretty hard to control and fire properly." Rosalina said.
"Seems kind of like an extreme reaction. It's like throwing the TV and the console out of the window after losing a few too many times at a video game."
"People actually have done that." Yang said.
"For real?" Becky asked.
"Oh, yeah. Wade and Ibuki have access to the internet from their worlds, and once shared a story of someone throwing their TV and console out the window out of frustration. So it's not that far-fetched." Yang chuckled.
"That's true. What was it they called it again? Something related to cows?" Ruby wondered.
"Still, a bit extreme if you ask me." Damian said.
End BGM
Beach Bowl Galaxy
BGM: Beach Bowl Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"Ah, this is great~! I absolutely love the temperature of this place~" Yang grinned as the group landed on the beach.
"Same, the summer months can't come soon enough." Magnolia smiled.
"I wonder if the penguins are still here?" Anya wondered as none of them saw any of the penguins swimming through the water.
"Maybe they're up the mountain?" Ruby guessed while pointing at the elder penguin sitting next to the waterfall. As the kids, save for Oran who began to lay down in the sand and Laura who was still looking out at the water, immediately began to race to the top of the mountain as Yang and Ruby began to follow them.
"You're not going to join them?" Rosalina asked.
"Nah, I'm good. I'm going to enjoy the sun. Wake me up when you're ready to leave." Oran said as Rosalina simply nodded and followed the rest up the mountain. After a few seconds, Oran opened one of his eyes to see Laura still standing there and with her hands on her hips. "Any reason why you stayed behind?"
End BGM
"You know that I can see the status of people's auras and the way they are doing, right?" Laura asked, while narrowing her eyes.
"You've mentioned it a few times."
"Then why hide how you're truly feeling?"
"What do you mean?" Oran asked, trying to play dumb but flinched at Laura's response.
"Don't! Don't do that!" She snapped, only for her to sigh and soften her tone upon seeing the startled look on his face before she then sat down next to him. "Look, you do know that this whole sleepover was done by Anya to make you feel better right?"
"I had an idea it was the case."
"If you know, then why try to keep how you're feeling to yourself? We as a group made a promise on your first day at school that we would help you, not just dealing with him, but you in general. But how are we supposed to help if you keep stuff to yourself?"
"I…" Oran paused as he tried to think of an argument until he sighed in guilt, seeing no way out of this. "I'm sorry… It's just difficult sometimes."
"I know you are, but if I… or we don't know what's troubling you, we can't help. What are we supposed to do with you if you won't give us the chance to help you and instead shut us out. So please, tell me, what makes it difficult for you to speak up?" Laura asked in concern.
BGM: Family (Super Mario Galaxy)
Oran stayed silent for a bit to think, before sighing and replying, "I… I guess, all that time spent in the wild caused me to start keeping things to myself. Slowly losing what little speaking ability I had, then only being able to communicate through growls and sign language makes speaking about these things difficult. And there's the months I spent on my own, I had to rely on my own skills to survive and I guess that has stayed with me."
"Okay, I understand. How do you want me to help?"
"What do you mean?"
"I want to help you get past that. So how do you want me to help you with this?"
"Maybe when you notice I'm starting to keep things to myself again or you notice something off about my aura, that you come talk to me."
"I can do that, but just promise me that when I do that, you don't try to dance around the issue, okay?" Laura smiled before holding up her pinkie.
"I promise." Oran smiled back as he fulfilled the pinkie promise.
"Good, how's your back by the way?"
"Better. The back brace I was given is making it feel a lot better." Oran answered.
"Glad to hear that. Now, can you just tell me what happened at Starfall?"
"Haven't you already heard it from Masaru?"
"I did, but I'd like to hear it from you."
"Fine, I'll tell you." Oran said, as began to tell Laura his perspective on what happened during the adventure.
End BGM
Ghostly Galaxy, Bubble Breeze Galaxy, Buoy Base Galaxy, Drip Drop Galaxy
BGM: Ghostly Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"Man, I can't believe that there wasn't a single Boo in that mansion…" Nick sighed as the group returned to the observatory and then began to fly through space again.
"Who knows? Maybe they all died." Emile guessed, who immediately noticed the looks the other kids were giving him. "What?"
"What did you just say?" Ewen asked.
"That they all died?"
"But… they're ghosts." Logue pointed out.
"Your point?"
"They're already dead, they can't die again." Magnolia argued.
"Sure they can. At school, Professor Pines has shown us videos of light killing them."
"If that's the case, where would they go after dying a second time?" Nick asked.
"I dunno? A second afterlife?
"That doesn't make any sense!" Oran exclaimed, his expression becoming even more incredulous like some of his friends.
"Neither does the ever changing landscapes of the world we live in, but no one ever questions that."
"That's not an answer, you dummy!" Becky yelled out in annoyance while trying to prevent her Semblance from activating by accident. As the group continued to argue, Ruby in the meantime went over to Rosalina.
"So, when are we going to tell them that there was a note at the front entrance that said that the Boos were all on vacation?"
"Eventually, I want to see where this argument goes." Rosalina giggled.
"What about the galaxies we're flying past?" Yang asked.
"We'll leave it be. Besides, I don't think any of us really wanted to go through that poison swamp a second time."
End BGM
Gusty Garden Galaxy
"Ya know… when those rabbits said, "Let's go play hide and seek, the winner gets a bunch of Star Bits", I didn't think they'd be a bunch of filthy cheaters!" Magnolia growled as she ran into another cardboard cutout of one of the rabbits.
"Stop complaining and keep looking! We only have to find one more!" Damian said.
"I'm half-tempted to burn this cube to ashes..." Magnolia grumbled in annoyance.
"No need for that, I found the last one." Anya said, with the last Star Nunny held up by its ears.
"Oww, let go of me, boiyoing!" The Star Bunny complained.
"It was super easy too, he kept laughing to himself so much that I was able to find him in seconds." Anya added while the Star Bunny handed her a bag of Star Bits.
"Wonderful. Truly wonderful." Magnolia grumbled again.
Freezeflame Galaxy
"Any reason why you teleported us to the top of the mountain?" Ruby asked.
"I wanted to show something that we didn't get a chance to appreciate properly last time around." Rosalina replied as she pointed up into the sky to show the aurora borealis.
"Whoa, it's beautiful." Becky said.
"And calming." Anya added.
"Yeah, it almost makes me forget that we're standing on the top of a freezing cold mountain in the middle of space." Damian complained as he tried to hold back a sneeze, only to fail as his sneeze caused an avalanche leading to most of the snow to fall into the water below the mountain.
"I'll teleport us back to the Observatory." Rosalina sweatdropped.
"You just had to ruin it, didn't you, Desmond?" Laura glared as she shook some snow out of her hair.
"You know that I don't like the cold!" Damian retorted while dusting the snow off his clothes after getting out.
"Well, you could have waited a few more seconds!"
Dusty Dune Galaxy
"Okay, seriously, how did you three manage to win the race through that sand stream without getting affected by the heat?" Ewen asked, addressing Oran, Nick, and Magnolia.
"I guess that's one advantage of having the traits of animals usually found in the desert." Magnolia replied.
"Now come on Anya, you promised you'd give the people in first, second and third a cut of your winnings from Gusty Garden. So hand it over." Nick said.
"Do I have to?" Anya whined.
"A promise is a promise, so come on." Oran said.
"Fine." Anya grumbled.
Honeyclimb Galaxy, Bigmouth Galaxy, Bowser's Dark Matter Plant
BGM: Honeyhive Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)
"Are you sure we can't go to those two galaxies?" Oran asked, as the observatory continued to fly past the planetoids.
"I'm sorry, but I'd rather not risk it. I know I put up a force field around the dark matter plant after we left, but I don't know if the dark matter spread to the two galaxies closest to it or if the force field is still up for that matter." Rosalina replied.
"But what's the danger?" Anya asked.
"We saw a Dry Bones get completely erased from existence last time we were there. So I don't think I need to tell any of you why I'd rather not go near it." Rosalina explained as the kids got looks of horror on their faces.
"Oh… oh, no…" Logue whimpered.
"Yeah, we should probably keep going then." Damian fearfully nodded in agreement.
Gold Leaf Galaxy
"Wait a sec, didn't we already visit this one?" Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Nope, this one is completely different." Ruby said as the group touched down on the ground, only for them to immediately get surrounded by a platoon of bee soldiers.
"Is there something we can help you with?" Yang asked.
"We were told by our brethren in Honey Hive about a bunch of honey thieves flying through space. Leave or be arrested." One of the bee soldiers stated as they all aimed their spears at the group.
Oran blinked at their hostility. "Back to the observatory?"
"Yeah, let's just go back." Rosalina nodded, who began to initiate the teleport.
"We said we were sorry!" Albedo, Nick, Damian, Ewen, and Emile yelled as the whole group was teleported away.
Sea Slide Galaxy
"I can't believe I lost almost all of my Star Bits!" Anya groaned as she looked at her bag, which now only held a fraction of the Star Bits that she had originally won.
"Tough break, Anya. Maybe next time, don't bet on the penguin with the lowest chance of winning." Laura said, putting away some of the Star Bits she had won from the penguin race.
"But I thought the penguin would win. He said he had done ninety-nine races and with a one percent chance I had hoped that he would win this one." Anya grumbled.
"Anya, him having a one percent chance of winning doesn't mean he wins one in one hundred races, it means he's a really bad racer." Becky bluntly stated, causing her best friend to groan.
"Ugh, now you tell me."
End BGM
Toy Time Galaxy
"You know, I'm kind of wondering something here." Laura questioned as she and Rosalina watched the rest of the group take a ride on one of the nearby trains.
"And what would that be?"
"You've told us between galaxies that when Luma's grow up they become galaxies as a way to keep the universe going. Why did this one turn into a group of planets shaped like cakes and toys?"
"Oh, that's easy. Their personality reflects the type of galaxy they become when they grow up. I think the Luma that turned into this galaxy was still a child at heart no matter how much he grew up."
"I guess that makes sense, still weird that there's giant cakes floating through space."
"I stopped questioning it after the first few centuries."
Bonefin Galaxy, Sand Spiral Galaxy, Lava Reactor
"So, we really can't go and visit those galaxies?" Yang asked.
"I checked, there's not a whole lot there. For instance, with Kingfin gone, Bonefin Galaxy is just a sphere of water and rocks." Rosalina informed.
"Aww… but we wanted to go there to play the music." Becky groaned as she put her Scroll away.
"How do you guys even know about that movie? I'm not even allowed to watch it." Ruby said.
"Oh, we've never seen the movie, Ibuki sometimes drops by the Light Music Club and has us listen to famous movie music." Anya said.
"Yeah, we thought the song mixed with the planet would be really fitting." Emile chuckled.
"I see." Rosalina said.
Deep Dark Galaxy
"Okay everyone, be sure not to lose your footing." Rosalina said, as she and the rest of the group were scaling the mountain to get to the ghost ship.
"Couldn't we just have swam through the underground lake?" Ruby questioned.
"We could have, but Guppy was still down there and last time we met him he wasn't too thrilled about losing twice."
"That's true." Yang said, as she helped the Foxtrot twins up some of the rocks, after which the group reached the top of the mountain and was able to look down into the cavern and onto the ghost ship. …Wait a minute, he's STILL salty over the loss?
"Where did that ship even come from?" Damian asked.
"Not sure, as far as I know it's been here for centuries." Rosalina said.
Dreadnought Galaxy
"And…?" Ruby wondered as Rosalina teleported back onto the platform.
"Eggman didn't leave a prank behind this time, so we should be good to experience the dreadnought in all its glory. Though for some reason Topmaniac returned."
"Aww, but I kind of enjoyed dodging those cannonballs." Albedo said.
"So what did you do with this Topmaniac?" Laura asked.
"Flung him into space, not sure how he was rebuilt for a third time, but he's someone else's problem now. Anyways, anyone up for a flight around the Dreadnought?" Rosalina asked, as everyone held up their hands. "Great, let's go." she added as she manipulated gravity to carry the group around the spaceship.
Matter Splatter Galaxy, Melty Molten Galaxy
"Are you kids sure you don't want to at least visit the place?" Rosalina asked.
"Nope, we're good!" Laura yelled, as most of the kids nodded in agreement.
"It's not even that bad." Rosalina said.
"Mom, you can float." Oran deadpanned.
"True, but all it takes is some proper coordination to get through it."
"We've seen the floors of that galaxy disappear and reappear from a distance, I think we're good." Damian said.
"Fair enough, what about Melty Molten?"
"We could handle the heat of Dusty Dune, flying between two suns is a bit much." Magnolia said.
"Very well, then let's visit our last stop."
The Center of the Universe
BGM: Space Fantasy
"Welcome everyone, to the center of the universe."
"Is it the exact center of the universe?" Nick asked.
"Give or take fifty feet."
"So is this where all life in the universe began?" Damian asked.
"In a sense yes, and it has been expanding into the universe we know now ever since."
"It's also the place where we had our final fight against Bowser for the fate of the universe, and won!" Yang exclaimed, raising her fist triumphantly, only for her to falter as she noticed the looks of horror on the faces of the kids, save for Anya who just looked confused at the rest. "Hey what's wrong?"
End BGM
"Please… don't remind us of that…" Damian muttered, while Emile and Ewen shuddered at the thought.
"Was it that bad for you all?" Ruby asked, while Rosalina held her hand to her mouth to hide a gasp.
"Yeah, we were all at the festival when it happened, one moment we were enjoying the festivities and the next everything started to distort, people started to vanish and before we could even find our parents everything was gone." Laura replied.
"But then everything came back, and for a moment we weren't even sure if we were even alive or if we ended up in some afterlife until the news of what had happened reached the rest of the festival." Becky said.
"At least you guys had each other, it was just mom and I when it happened." Oran whimpered, prompting Logue to give him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.
"Oh kids, we're so sorry you had to be reminded of that, c'mere." Rosalina said, as she individually pulled each of the kids into a hug.
"We didn't even think about how everyone else would feel about the universe ending, before we got here we made sure to make peace with the possibility of the universe potentially ending, but when we got here we raced against time to stop the universe from ending." Ruby said.
"That's right, we didn't even think about how it would affect other people nor did we think about how reminding others about it would affect them. We're so sorry." Yang added as Magnolia simply patted her on the back.
"Hey, it's okay, you didn't know." Magnolia said, as Rosalina finished hugging the rest of the kids, before Anya spoke up.
"What do you guys mean the universe ended?"
"Anya did… did you not know about that?" Laura asked.
"No, first time I'm hearing about it. I was stuck in that capsule all the time. So again, what are you all talking about?"
"Well, you know how Bowser sometimes causes trouble?" Ruby asked, to which Anya nodded. "During one of his plans he wanted to create a galactic empire, but due to a miscalculation, he caused the universe to end."
"How would that even cause that?" Anya wondered, as she immediately activated her telepathy to peek into the minds of the others.
"Anya, NO!" The group yelled, but it was too late as Anya's mind was bombarded with images of the universe ending, as she immediately dropped to her knees.
"Oh… oh, no…" She whimpered as she was immediately scooped up by Rosalina giving her a stern look.
"What did we tell you about looking into people's minds?"
"I'm sorry… I was curious… I just wanted to know." Anya muttered.
Rosalina sighed. "Please, just be more careful next time, especially when something like this gets discussed. We already told you to stay out of our minds anytime the Red Skies incident gets mentioned at the dinner table, I didn't think we'd have to tell you that for this as well." After which she hugged Anya who immediately dried her tears. "Better?"
"Yeah, your hugs always make things better. Thanks, Aunt Rosie."
Rosalina smiled at that, gently planting a motherly kiss on her forehead as she then placed Anya down who was met with sympathetic looks from the rest of the group, as Damian said to her, "You were right, your aunt does give great hugs."
"Oh, was there ever any doubt of that being the case? Would you like to have another one, Damian?" Rosalina asked, causing Damian to get slightly flustered.
"Uh…"
"Heh, not used to that much affection, Desmond?" Laura teased.
"Ah, shut up." Damian glared before turning to Rosalina. "Just one, if you don't mind. It feels kind of like being hugged by a fluffy cloud."
Rosalina pulled Damian into another hug, and as she did she said "We should probably get back to Remnant, I'm sure the BBQ is ready by now."
Later, back on Remnant…
BGM: A Gentle Breeze
"Ah, you're just in time! We just got all the food done and the table set up." Tai said as the observatory landed and everyone stepped out. "Also, we have a guest." He added, pointing towards Tails, who was sitting on one of the chairs.
"Tails? What are you doing here? I thought you would be busy repairing SAPR?" Oran wondered in surprise.
"We were, but we realized we could only do so much in one day and Anya did call me to invite me over for the sleepover. So when we decided to stop for the day, I came here." Tails smiled as everyone began to sit down at the table.
"Well, we're happy to have you. Especially since Oran did say he had managed to recruit you into the Junior Hunters." Laura grinned, to which Tails nodded as Magnolia put down a container onto the table.
"What's that?" Loid asked.
"These are cruncherella sticks. I'm sure Oran and Anya mentioned them." Magnolia said.
"They did, but why did you bring them with you?" Raven asked.
"Oh, easy, we had some left over and Mom suggested bringing them with us. So, who wants to try some?"
"Pffft, if the squirt can handle them, then so can we." Qrow boasted, as he, Tai, Raven, Rosalina, Yang, Loid, Ruby, Byleth, Dorothea, Bereto, Maia and Tails grabbed one to eat.
"Remember to really let the flavor course through you." Magnolia chuckled as she noticed Ruby's face turn red.
"AAAHHHHH! I NEED MILK! THIS IS TORTURE!" Ruby screamed as she quickly rushed inside, being quickly followed by Qrow and Tails.
"Leave some for us…!" Qrow also yelled while at the same time a brief flamethrower emerged from the mouths of Yang and Tai, but were quick to recover from it.
When it ended, Yang was the first to speak up. "Oh, my. That really has a kick to it."
"How come you seven aren't affected?" Tai asked.
"I've had spicier, and I made sure that Maia's stomach is as indestructible as mine is." Raven said to which Maia nodded.
Maia then looked at the gooey cheese pouring out of the sticks. "Spicy, but cheesy. I like these." She grinned at the Foxtrot twins.
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
"Ehehe~ thanks." Nick grinned back while Magnolia blushed a bit.
"When you've traveled through space as long as I have, you get roped into a few food eating contests and you just get used to it." Rosalina said while continuing to eat her Cruncheralla Stick. I do regret the cosmic hot dog eating contests though… She shuddered at the thought of it.
"Living as a mercenary, having to eat what you find, I just get used to it all." Byleth replied.
"Also, dad made sure our stomach's would be used to anything we ate so as to not perish to anything our enemies had made in case we were running low on food." Bereto added.
"Yeah, that too."
"Oh, so that's why our food turned out half burned on our first few dates~" Dorothea said, giving her wife a teasing smile.
"It was for the greater good, babe." Byleth chuckled.
"I'll take your word for it, besides, I was able to withstand the heat from these sticks."
"We've had to eat this type of food to strengthen our stomach's during spy training, when you've had to eat poisonous berries to build up an immunity, food like this becomes child's play." Loid said as Ruby, Tails and Qrow returned looking a lot better.
"Well, aren't you guys lucky." Ruby grumbled.
"By the way, we're out of milk." Qrow informed.
"Qrow, we just bought fresh milk yesterday!" Tai said in dismay.
"Well, it's like I've said before, maybe we should just get a cow." Qrow replied.
"Qrow. That is your solution to everything."
"No, it ain't. I didn't say that when we had run out of sausage links." Qrow quipped, causing Tai to sigh.
"Let's just get dinner started…"
End BGM
Later…
"... and so Professor Henderson took one look at the video, got a blank look on his face and just left the theatre department." Laura said, taking a bite from her steak.
"You're missing the best part, he kept mumbling "inelegant, inelegant"." Magnolia added.
"Yeah, that too."
"Pretty sure he was gone for a few hours too." Albedo chuckled.
"Now, I only saw him in passing and heard some stories, but how bad is it when this Professor Henderson calls something inelegant?" Qrow asked.
"It's pretty bad, him calling something elegant is the highest praise you can get from him. Normal feedback, like what we get during rehearsals is when you shouldn't worry. Him calling something inelegant means he's either about to tear into someone or he believes someone has no potential." Nick answered.
"That, but it also means that if you're trying to get into the theatre department and he says only that, you should pretty much give up on trying to get into it." Logue piped up.
"Glad he only gave me normal feedback during my audition." Oran mused, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Good thing you asked us for help, right Oran?" Dorothea asked, as she gently ruffled his hair.
"Yeah." Oran smiled.
"But, what was even in the video that was so bad?" Tai asked.
"Oh, right, that. Apparently it was a video of the theatre department in some school in Paldea of a guy hamming up his performance. Like really hamming it up, so much so that the comments roasted his entire dialogue." Laura replied. "Heck, I think that Iono girl covered it in one of her streams and made fun of the guy."
"Was Professor Henderson fine afterwards?" Rosalina wondered.
"He was. Usually when this happens, he returns after a while with some chamomile tea to calm his nerves." Logue said as everyone's attention was caught by the front door opening, the person entering the house called out.
"Gonta home!"
"We're having dinner in the yard. Put your work stuff in the hall and come join us." Tai told him as a few seconds later Gonta appeared.
"Gokuhara?" Damian and Becky looked at Gonta with surprised and confused expressions on their faces.
"Hey, everyone." Gonta greeted as he sat down in an empty chair before noticing the two of them. "Ah, young Blackbell and young Desmond! Gonta glad to see you both."
"Yeah, good to see you as well, big guy." Damian grinned as he turned to Oran. "Why didn't you tell us he was your brother?"
"I did, I said I had an older brother, I even told you guys his name." Oran replied.
"That's true, I guess it's on us for not making the connection." Becky sighed.
"I guess I didn't make the connection, and thought there were two different Gontas that we would now know about." Damian shrugged.
"Wait, you guys know each other? How do you guys know each other?" Ruby curiously asked.
"Oh, right. Gonta forget to tell you guys about that, Gonta sorry it ungentlemanly of him." Gonta apologized while bowing.
"It's fine, big guy, you can tell us now." Yang comforted, patting his back.
"Right, well, Gonta knows young Desmond and Blackbell due to The Preservation Incentive, which is company Gonta works for, being co-owned by Blackbell Heavy Industries and Desmond Arsenal & Co. Gonta's detailed reports on entomology and bugs impressed Mr. Desmond, Mr. Blackbell, and Kaito enough to be invited over a few times." Gonta added.
"Which is how he met us." Damian nodded.
"And how he was allowed to investigate the other worlds, I'm still shocked you fought that Silver Lynel and won." Becky commented.
"Well, Gonta thought he was just giant bug, he did have six limbs after all. Gonta not know how dangerous it was until afterwards." Gonta sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Uh… you know… that's just not… you know what, I'll ignore it for now. We really need to have a talk about the way you use words." Byleth sweatdropped.
"It's fine, Gonta speak like this, but Gonta's writing is fine."
"If you say so." Byleth muttered.
"Better leave things be, babe. You've had this conversation before and it never got you two anywhere." Dorothea said.
"I know, but the teacher in me has a hard time ignoring this." Byleth groaned in dismay.
"Gonta sorry, big sis Byleth." Gonta apologised upon hearing that, to which Byleth sighed.
"It's fine… honestly between you and Petra, I should be used to this." Byleth responded, as Qrow then spoke up after processing some of the things that had been said earlier.
"You know, I'm more impressed that you managed to meet with the ever so elusive Donovan Desmond. He has got to be one of the most paranoid people on the planet, he hasn't been properly seen in public in years." Qrow said.
"You're telling me, if you want to get into his office where he keeps his blueprints and other work related items to just talk to him, you have to scan your fingerprints, footprints, eyes, tongue, nose, elbows and do a brainscan to make sure you're not being mind controlled. He, um… even invested in anti-teleportation technology." Damian explained as sweatdropped at his old man's extra security measures.
Anti-teleportation? …I'd like to test that out myself. Rosalina thought.
"And he's your…" Oran trailed off until Damian finished for him.
"Father, he's incredibly paranoid, but he means well."
"Yeah, I heard that despite his paranoia and reclusiveness he donates to a ton of charities, doesn't discriminate when hiring, and has invested a lot of money in the innovation of the weapons Huntsmen use. Heck, he is one of the main partners of Blackbell Heavy Industries when it comes to making parts for the weapons they use." Qrow commented.
"That must be awkward." Oran said, referring to the elephant in the room about the shared name.
"Eh, it's fine. I know they're two different people, even with how distant he can be at times, he's nowhere near as bad as the other guy and I know that if we ever face him I can put how I feel about father aside." Damian waved off as he pulled a family photo out of his pocket, making everyone look over his shoulder.
"That's good at least." Anya remarked as she began looking at the photo.
"Wow, he looks like a corpse that came back to life." Nick bluntly commented, earning a smack to the back of the head from Magnolia. "Agh, hey…!"
"Show some respect."
"It's alright. I mean, Father doesn't take very good care of himself. He overworks himself and sometimes forgets to eat. If it wasn't for mother and Jeeves reminding him to, he probably wouldn't sleep at night either." Damian said.
"Oh, that's unfortunate." Tails winced, as right at that moment, Tai spoke up.
"Qrow, since you tend to hear things, do you know why he's such a reclusive person?" He asked.
"I do, and like with most things in life, they're all the fault of Jacques."
"Seriously?" Ruby raised an incredulous eyebrow, to which Qrow nodded. "Dang… who hasn't he screwed over at this point?"
"Honestly, if we count direct ways he screwed people over we'd still have a list, but indirectly the list would be a single sheet of paper." Qrow shrugged.
"But you do know what he did, right?" Rosalina asked.
"Bits and pieces, most of them rumors. But that doesn't matter, the rumor goes that as a young man, Donovan Desmond tried to get the first version of his company started in Atlas and was even doing quite well for himself. Sure, the upper crust of Atlas looked down on him because he treated the Faunus with some actual respect, but that's not important."
"See, Desmond, while he was making weapon parts, was also working on a prototype weapon engine that would allow the consumption of Dust to be cut in half by the user. Meaning that they would be able to fight against the Grimm for longer periods of time. Now, when Jacques heard of this he tried to… convince Desmond to stop the project for it would cut into the profits of the SDC."
"Oh, because with a device that can half the amount of Dust used, therefore reducing the amount of Dust that needs to be bought." Yang frowned at the realization.
"Pretty much that. Now, accounts vary on what truly happened. But the consistent part of it is that Jacques gave Desmond a couple of warnings, said that things would go real bad for him if the project continued, you know the usual threats someone like him would give out, however Desmond ignored the warnings and continued his work on the prototype."
"Until a few days before Desmond was supposed to reveal it to the public, he returned to his office and found the place ransacked. With the blueprints, prototype, and the patent he had filed all having gone missing. I think you can all guess who had a hand in that?" Qrow asked, as everyone nodded in response.
"So then what happened?" Damian pressed, having gotten really interested in hearing the story of his old man.
"Well, as the story goes, he went to go confront Jacques about it, and…"
Twenty-five-ish years earlier…
BGM: Scent of Silence (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"JACQUES!" A much younger looking Donovan Desmond, who didn't even have his moustache yet, shouted as he kicked open the door to Jacques' office. "I knew it was you!"
"A very good afternoon to you as well, Desmond. To what do I owe the pleasure of you kicking open my doors like you paid for them?" Jacques greeted, playing coy while pressing a button under his desk that activated a silent alarm.
Donovan stormed forward towards the desk that Jacques was sitting at, while he was boiling with anger. "Admit it! Admit it was you!"
"Again, you're throwing around all these baseless accusations and yelling at me as if I'm not in front of you. You're also going to have to be a whole more specific about what it is you're accusing me of." Jacques replied dryly.
"My office… it was ransacked, and my prototype was taken. And YOU! You warned me that things would go badly if I didn't stop working on it…!" Donovan yelled in anger as he raised Jacques by his collar. "So admit it! Admit it was you!"
Jacques smirked smugly as he was being held up and replied, "What evidence do you have, Desmond?" As two bodyguards entered the room, to whom Jacques signaled as they advanced onto the duo while adding, "Because the way I see things, you trespassed into my house and started throwing around all these baseless accusations."
He then found himself being lowered to the ground again, as his bodyguards grabbed onto Desmond and pulled him away from Jacques, who quickly dusted himself off as one of the guards brought Desmond to his knees. All the while the other one closed the door to Jacques' office, as Jacques opened up a drawer and pulled the engine prototype out of it.
"LIAR!" Donovan exclaimed as he tried to rush at him, only for Donovan to find himself continuing to be restrained to the ground by the bodyguards. Jacques stayed silent as he looked down at the man in silence for a few seconds before speaking up.
"I warned that this was going to happen if you didn't heed my warnings. But you didn't listen, you just had to go and rock the boat. So, us finding ourselves in this situation is your own fault."
"My fault?! You're just an opportunistic bastard who only cares about money!" Donovan shouted in incredulous fury as Jacques signaled to one of the bodyguards who immediately punched him in the face a few times, causing wounds to appear on both sides of his head.
"How disappointing." Jacques sighed as he went over to his desk and pulled a gun out of his drawer, which he handed it to one of the guards, who immediately aimed it at Donovan's head. "I'll admit, this is an impressive piece of technology, even if it's only a prototype. But, this does cut into my profits, unfortunately, so I'm putting an end to this right now before you can go any further with this."
"So you're just gonna shoot me to protect your interests?! You can't do that! Nobody is above the law, not even you!" Donovan shot back heatedly.
"And why not, Desmond? Because let me tell you something about Atlas." Jacques said as the bodyguard with the gun pulled the hammer backwards. "We, the upper crust, are in charge here. Sure you and your little company have made a tremendous amount of headway with the money you've made on innovating weapons. But you haven't been here for very long, you don't have the connections I do."
"That's ridiculous!" Donovan spat, though he nervously looked at the gun aimed at the side of his head.
"Is that so? Well then, let me shatter another illusion of yours. These two fine gentlemen that have got you restrained at the moment, they have friends and family that live and work in this city. Now, I wouldn't have a second of hesitation about blowing your brains out in front of them. That's the power I hold in this city, they can let this little thing slip in front of anyone while inebriated and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Now that's power your money can't buy, but it's certainly power my reputation in this city holds."
"So what?! You're just going to shoot me?! You won't do that! You're all talk and no action… Ngh!" Donovan winced as while he was gloating, Jacques grabbed the gun and shot Donovan in his right knee, causing him to drop to the floor while wincing in pain.
"Oh, that looks like it hurts. I'm sure you can still be taken to a nearby hospital because I'm sure I didn't hit anything vital and I'd hate to have you bleed out on my carpet. Now, I'm letting you leave here alive because I'm feeling merciful, but I'm warning you, if you don't drop this, I know where to find you, do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes… C-crystal…" Donovan uttered as he tried to speak through the pain.
"Good, how about a thank you."
"W-what…? For w-what..?"
"I just saved your life, so I think a thank you is in order."
"F-fine… thank you…" Donovan uttered.
"That's better." Jacques said while turning to his bodyguards. "Get him out of here and make sure he gets proper treatment." To which they nodded as they dragged Donovan out of Jacques' office while the former kept glaring at Jacques. "Great… now I'm going to have to get that carpet cleaned."
End BGM
"...And that's what I've been able to gather from the stories that have been told. Now, afterward, he left Atlas to move to Vale and founded his company there. Sooner or later, he got married to his first wife, had a son, lost his first wife, and fell into alcoholism for a brief spill that led to his company having a really bad year, afterwards he met his second wife and had his second kid. And, well… that's all to the rumors that have been floating around in regards to that." Qrow finished explaining, as most of the people at the table had looks of horror on their faces, but no one looked more horrified than Damian.
"Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez, how many more skeletons are going to come out of his closet?" Yang groaned, breaking the silence.
"I know, right? First Seryu, then that labor village, and now this." Ruby frowned.
"Wow, I heard he was a piece of work, but my goodness." Maia said..
"Hmmm, at least his biases toward Atlesians are now somewhat justified." Magnolia mused. "No offense, Logue."
"None taken, that was just awful what he did."
"By the way…" Laura spoke up, turning to Damian. "You good, Desmond?" Only to be met with silence.
BGM: Aqua's Theme (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)
"Boss Man?" Emile gently tapped Damian's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"No…" He replied as some tears formed in his eyes. "Not even close, so much makes sense now. I just… I just don't know what to think… he nearly killed my old man." Rosalina frowned at that, got up from her seat, and pulled Damian into a hug.
"Shhh, it's okay~... Sure, what happened was bad, but he's still alive. You're still here and you're among people who care about you. Is what I'm saying getting through to you?" Rosalina asked, to which Damian nodded as he dried his tears, while she let go of him. "Feeling better now?"
"Yeah, I needed that." Damian replied as Anya gently patted his shoulder and gave him a soft smile. "Thanks, Esper Girl."
"Don't mention it." Damian smiled back as he felt a hug coming from Baymax, to whom Damian looked at in confusion.
"Apologies, my scanners indicated you were still feeling distressed, so I thought it would be best to give you some of my care."
"Uhm…" Damian stammered.
"If you want him to stop, just tell him you're satisfied with your care." Anya whispered to him.
"Baymax… I'm satisfied with my care. You can stop now." Damian said as politely as he could.
"Very well then." Baymax nodded as he took some steps backwards, after which Damian saw the rest of his friends beginning to crowd around him.
End BGM
And so as the kids joined Damian to continue comforting him, Loid turned to Qrow and asked, "You know, I wonder. He had Seryu's medical files on his computer, what are the chances that he kept the blueprints and patent for the prototype on his computer as well?"
"Pretty high I'd say, what are you suggesting?"
"Maybe we go look through his computer files to see if he still has it, I'd say it would be pretty fair to Desmond if we returned what's his."
"Hmm, I'm sure Willow would agree to that after we explain it to her. It probably will take us a bit since he left Seryu's file in a random file on his computer. We're probably going to have to look through all the files, he wasn't one to make navigating it easy."
"I'm sure we will find it eventually, I don't think we have to find it immediately. We can probably take our time." Loid said, to which Qrow nodded as Ruby spoke up.
"By the way, why does Desmond Arsenal & Co. sound so familiar?"
"Oh, that? Remember when I was helping you build Crescent Rose back at Signal?" Qrow asked, to which Ruby nodded. "Well, his company is where I got the part from to allow you to shift Crescent Rose between its scythe and sniper form. The Dual Weapon mechanism is what made the company big in the first place. Even giving the company the tagline "Reliability in Every Component. Strength in Every Solution." Which, looking at the quality of the weapons you have, is no exaggeration."
"Can't disagree with that, it's never failed me." Ruby said.
"So, do you also have it in your weapon?" Tai asked.
"Oh, yeah, I do. Same goes for Yang's gauntlets being able to shift into a shotgun. The ones I had lying around also allowed Ruby to make Oran's bow and spear as well as Anya's weapons. Pretty sure a lot of other people whose weapon shifts between forms have the same mechanism. Which actually makes me wonder… Gonta, how did you get a weapon that can have four forms?"
"Mr. Desmond is working on prototype for mechanism that shifts between four forms. He gave Gonta a prototype, asked Gonta to test it out in the field, and report back to him." Gonta replied.
"Interesting, but can I ask, why a chainsaw?" Bereto asked.
"Gonta ask for it because Gonta know no one will expect it, they see butterfly net and laugh, they see chainsaw and stop laughing." Gonta replied.
"Honestly, whatever kills Grimm the fastest most likely makes for a very good weapon. So I'm not going to question your choices." Raven said.
"Well, you know what they say, there's no such thing as overkill." Nick added as all the kids had gotten back into their seats.
"That's true. I do wonder, what caused you to be home later than usual?" Ruby asked.
"I wonder about that as well, you're usually not one to stay at work later than you have to." Rosalina said.
"Oh, Gonta was asked to meet Kaito in his office."
"You know each other?" Laura wondered. "'Cause having seen you both and with the differing interests you both have, I never imagined you two meeting in any scenario."
"Surprised me as well." Becky said.
"Yes, Gonta meet Kaito after first week at work. Gonta had just finished work, handed in reports on bugs in forest east of Vale and had gone home." Gonta replied.
Couple years earlier…
"Afternoon, Hans. How have things been this week?" Kaito asked as he entered the main office of The Preservation Incentive headquarters, where the person placed in charge of the company was sitting.
The person in question lazily looked up at the astronaut in question and replied in a bored tone of voice. "Oh, hey, Mr. Momota. What a surprise to see you here."
"Yeah, well, I thought I'd be nice to come and see how things are going around here. Well, that and Dad asked me to pick up the reports that were handed in this week." Kaito replied.
"As you can see, they're right next to me."
Kaito noticed the large stack of papers on the desk and replied, "Well, you guys certainly had a productive week."
"Oh, this? This isn't from everyone. It's from one of our newest recruits. That one has a real fascination with bugs and insects."
"Really? You wouldn't mind if I read through these, right?"
"Knock yourself out." Came the reply, after which he went back to his own work. In the meantime, Kaito began to read through the reports, with each page making him make some audible exclamations until after a few minutes he got asked, "Something the matter, Mr. Momota?"
"You said these reports were written by one of your newbies, right?"
"That is indeed what I had told you."
"Could you arrange a meeting with him? I'd love to meet someone who has such a creative mind as this individual."
"Sir, you cannot be serious. While he has a great mind, he has the spelling of a three year old. To be frank, I was considering letting him go by the start of next week."
"That's unfortunate, I see a lot of potential there, potential that can be turned into something great." Kaito replied.
"Again, I think it's impossible."
"Yeah, but you know what I always say to that? The impossible is possible, all you gotta do is make it so. Besides, I see a lot of potential for growth here. Unless it's because he's a Faunus. You know how we feel about that type of discrimination."
"It's not that, sir." Hans sighed before he reluctantly complied. "Very well, sir. What do you want me to do?"
"Arrange a meeting with him on Monday morning, and I'll take it from there." Kaito requested, to which Hans nodded as he began to make the call.
"So, that Monday, Gonta meet Kaito, after which Kaito help Gonta with his writing and reading. Gonta become good friends with Kaito afterward, notes Gonta took help with designs for new vehicles and other weapons for both companies." Gonta finished explaining.
"It's true, there's a design for a drone being made that was based on notes Gonta took of a dragonfly. So now the propellers are being made to fly as quietly as possible. For his work, he even called Gonta the Ultimate Entomologist." Becky said. "And of course, after a while big bro Kaito helped Gonta through military training."
"You went through military training?" Loid replied while everyone else just looked at the giant with a look of surprise.
"Gonta did, after some time at company Kaito said he want Gonta to work alongside him in field, so Gonta went through military training a few years back, Gonta passed, was given gun and Gonta became… young Blackbell, what was the word again?"
"You're his field researcher, though he did say that you were also qualified to lead troops if it ever down came to it."
"Ah, Gonta remembers now."
"Wait, you have a gun?" Yang asked in surprise.
"Gonta does, Gonta only uses it when needed, so Gonta keep it in safe in Gonta's room."
"Oh, so that's what's in there." Ruby said.
"Well, that and some other things." Gonta added.
"You saw a safe in there?" Maia asked. "That room is such a jungle I can barely make out his closet sometimes."
"Trust me, it's there. You just have to look very carefully past all the terrariums." Ruby replied.
"I tried, but those jumping spiders that he has in his room kept trying to jump at me." Maia slightly shuddered at the memory.
"So, we kinda got sidetracked, but why did Kaito ask you to come to his office?" Becky asked. "I don't remember him mentioning anything about being in much of a rush to speak to you."
"Oh, right. Gonta forgot to tell that. Gonta at first not know either, but then Gonta enter office and Gonta was quickly told."
Couple hours earlier…
"Ah, Gonta, am I glad to see you." Kaito greeted Gonta the moment he stepped out of the elevator. "How was your trip to the Starfall Islands? By the way, did you get a new shirt?"
"A lot happened. Gonta sorry he couldn't come earlier, but detective ask Gonta for help and it was important."
"I can imagine, and it's fine, besides you can tell us all about this later." Kaito assured as he had led Gonta to his office and led him inside. There, he found Maki and Tsumugi already seated in the room. "But for now, please take a seat."
Gonta nodded as he quickly did what he was told as an uncomfortable silence passed between the four of them, as Kaito stared at the three people in front of them, a stare that was matched by a glare from Maki.
"Are you going to tell us why you brought us all here, or are we going to keep having this staring contest?" Maki broke the ice as she glared in annoyance.
"Nah, I just like building tension." Kaito joked.
"Idiot." Maki sighed while rolling her eyes.
"Alright, I'll get to the point. Gonta, do you remember when you passed your military training and I mentioned how I wanted to form a team of four of my own, but other than you I could never find the right people?"
"Yes, Gonta remembers, it was because you were jealous of your little sister's team." Gonta nodded with a smile on his face that seemed to indicate he was half-joking, causing Kaito to get a look of embarrassment on his face, while a smirk appeared on Maki's face and at the same time Tsumugi giggled softly.
"Wha…?! It wasn't just because of that!" He exclaimed before recomposing himself. "According to research, teams of four just work better. Anyways, I called you here because while you were gone I found the other two people I wanted to form a full team with. Unfortunately, since you weren't there, I pushed the proper team formation back until you returned."
"But Gonta have told you before, Gonta no leader, Gonta not capable of leading troops like you can. Or those two probably can."
"Don't worry about that, you would still be our field researcher… just… you know on the same level as us. Besides, with how much your findings have helped both companies innovation-wise, you've more than earned it."
"Hmm, Gonta can accept that."
"Excellent! Now for introductions… I'm Colonel Kaito Momota Blackbell, Ultimate Astronaut and Luminary of the Stars! But you all knew that." Kaito grinned, receiving an eye roll from Maki and a chuckle from Tsumugi. "Now, ladies, meet Gonta Gokuhara-Moss, the Ultimate Entomologist and my personal field researcher. Gonta meet 2nd Lieutenant Maki Harukawa, Ultimate Assassin, and 1st Lieutenant Tsumugi Shirogane, Ultimate Cosplayer!"
"Gonta happy to meet you both." Gonta greeted as he shook both of their hands. "And Ms. Harukawa, little brother and cousin tell Gonta about you. Gonta thanks you for watching over them in ancient Hyrule."
"I'm assuming your little brother was Oran? Based on your shared last name." Maki asked, to which Gonta nodded. "It was nothing really, just read to them and the other kids a few times before bed, helped Tojo with the food for them, and did my best to watch over them when things got tense." She bashfully explained before smiling softly, as she began to think back to their time in ancient Hyrule with a fond look in her eyes. "Surprisingly, they were better behaved than Kokichi-" Not that that's a very high bar to clear… "-Also, I'm glad to hear that you were able to reunite with him."
"Gonta happy as well." Gonta smiled back.
Several weeks earlier, in ancient Hyrule…
BGM: Luma (Super Mario Galaxy)
"...And after returning the treasure back to its original owners the cowboy and his friends were able to ride off into the sunset towards the next adventure. The end." Maki finished reading as she closed the book and saw that the kids had fallen asleep.
Maki quickly took the time to ensure that the kids were properly covered by the covers, as she heard Anya mumble in her sleep "...Thanks… Maki…" Maki smiled softly at the praise, quietly making her way out of the room. Only for her to nearly bump into Loid.
"Oh, Maki, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Does this mean that the kids are asleep?" Loid whispered as the two of them were both stopped in their tracks.
"They are, I just finished reading to them." Maki replied as a smirk appeared on her face. "Why would you like to know? Did you forget to tuck Anya in because of the date you were having with Yor?"
A faint blush appeared on Loid's face. "Ehehe… it wasn't much of a date… more like a… shared dinner."
"Well, shared dinner or not the kids are asleep. So if you're lucky, you could still get dessert with Yor."
Loid quickly looked at his watch. "Oh would you look at the time, it's time for me to go to bed as well. I appreciate you putting them to bed and I'll see you in the morning." As he quickly made his way away from the hall and towards the shared room the rest of the adult men had.
"It's not even that late." Maki muttered, as she returned to the kitchen to see if she could help Kirumi with something.
End BGM
Back in the present…
Maki faintly smiled at the memory, as she heard Tsumugi speak up. "By the way, what is an entomologist?" She asked while scratching her head in confusion. "I feel like I've heard it before, but I plainly don't remember where."
"It study of insects. Gonta study insects."
"Fascinating~! I once wore a bee costume as cosplay for the Bee Film~" Tsumugi giggled. "I think I got the proportions right, but since you're the expert I'll show it to you when we have time."
"Isn't that movie where woman fall in love with bee? Gonta feel like it sound familiar."
"Unfortunately it is." Tsumugi nodded, feeling a shiver down her spine at the memory of the movie.
"Wait a second…" Maki said as she eyed both Kaito and Gonta. "...Is this the reason why our uniforms have insects on them? Because of his interest in entomology?"
Kaito gulped as he sheepishly replied, "It… might have… sort of… kind of… been an influence on the inclusion."
"Idiot."
"Yeah, but he's our idiot~" Tsumugi giggled, causing Kaito to deflate.
"Oh, come on… It's not that stupid."
"Kaito, remember what Gonta say, it is okay to be idiot, as long as you believe in people."
"Not you too, Gonta!"
"Could be worse~" Tsumugi joked. "We could be in a much larger group, and twelve people would be calling you an idiot."
"...That's really specific." Maki remarked.
"Aren't most things in life?"
"If you say so…"
"Back on point, what do you guys say? Agree with the team idea?" Kaito asked.
"Gonta don't mind."
"I think it's a wonderful idea~!"
"Sure, I have no issue with this."
"Then we talked about a few more things, and after that Gonta return home."
"Aww~ Glad to hear that Ms. Maki is doing better!" Anya grinned.
"Especially after what got revealed in Ancient Hyrule." Oran added.
"Yeah, she even became my babysitter. I think I mentioned that before." Becky said.
"I might have forgotten about that." Anya replied sheepishly.
"You know, I wonder, with The Preservation Incentive being co-owned by Blackbell Heavy Industries and Desmond Arsenal & Co., does Kyoko know about that?" Rosalina asked.
"Why would that be important?" Qrow questioned.
"I dunno, it just feels like something she would stumble upon while she was looking at the Remnant-born Ultimates."
"She does." Gonta nodded in confirmation. "When Gonta went to meet detective, she bring it up."
A few weeks earlier…
"Mr. Gokuhara-Moss, I'm glad that you were able to get back to me so quickly." Kyoko greeted as she had met the Ultimate Entomologist in her office in the Future Foundation, after Gonta had left the hospital to speak with Kyoko.
"Gonta sorry he delayed your plans, Ms. Detective."
"Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it, and besides a few other things came up in the interim." Kyoko reassured him with a gentle smile. "That being said, we will do our best to give you and the rest of the Remnant-born Ultimates a place within the Future Foundation. And if you don't mind, do start keeping your Scroll on you. I understand that you can get engrossed within your work, but when you become unreachable for weeks, it becomes an issue."
"Gonta understands."
"Good, now it will probably take a bit to have everything sorted out, but I'm sure it won't take years before it gets implemented." Kyoko said.
"That good at least."
"I would agree with that. I do wonder however, with your ability to understand insects. Have you ever considered an assistant job within the police? After all, I don't think I have to tell you that the insects on the body are an indication of how long someone has been dead." Kyoko inquired.
"Gonta think about it, but Gonta not sure he could pass exams. Also, Gonta have tried to talk to maggots, but they memory of goldfish."
"What about other insects?"
"Memory of them a lot better."
"That is at least better news, maybe I can find a way to have you help out in murder investigations if there are a lot of bugs nearby. Now this would be where our meeting ends, but I have another meeting in a few seconds that I'd like you to sit in on."
"Oh, about what?"
"You will see soon enough." Kyoko replied as right on cue a knock was heard. "Come in." Kyoko turned towards the door as right at that moment, Donovan Desmond, who now looked a lot older, had two faint scars on both sides of his head and was walking with a cane, with Kaito also entering the room. "Gentlemen, please take a seat. And Momota, didn't I call for your father for this meeting?" She asked Kaito.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Kaito sheepishly answered as the two men sat down. "He was really busy, so he asked me to go in his stead."
"Very well, then. Now gentlemen, the reason I called you in here is just to clarify a few things I discovered while looking into Mr. Gokuhara over there."
"Look, Ms. Detective, whatever it is you think that you found. I don't see why that warrants a meeting like this. Couldn't you have called?" Donovan inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I could, but I'd prefer to have done this in person. You see, the Future Foundation is considering buying weapon parts as well as potentially requiring assistance from Blackbell Heavy Industries in events where something as heavy as the Phazon War were to happen again. And for that, I'd like there to be no secrets hidden by the people we intend to work with."
"I can see that." Kaito nodded in agreement.
"Ah, so cards on the table from the people you intend to work with. I can respect that." Donovan nodded as well in understanding.
"Glad we're in agreement then. Now, would either of you be willing to explain why first off The Preservation Incentive is co-owned by both of your companies? Secondly, why you made it seem like the Vale Council created it? And lastly, why this was hidden from the public?" Kyoko listed off her questions.
Donovan looked at her surprised. "Before I answer that, can I ask, how did you discover all of this?"
"Simple, I was doing background checks on both Momota and Gokuhara to make sure they were trustworthy." Kyoko explained before she continued. "It was there that I found that the salary that Mr. Gokuhara and all the other employees were paid came from a specific bank account. Which wouldn't be an issue, if I didn't then discover that both your companies added funds to that account on very regular intervals. From there I was able to discover the rest."
"Oh, dang." Kaito said.
"Well, you certainly do your homework." Donovan gave a nod. "Very well, I'll explain everything. But I can assure you, none of it was done with malicious intent."
"Please, enlighten me."
"See, after Mt. Glenn fell to the Grimm, a realization hit me. We have all these weapons and all these defenses, and yet the Grimm keep destroying villages. Obviously there have been smaller villages destroyed, but Mt. Glenn was unlike anything we had seen before, it was huge in comparison." The Desmond patriarch explained before he continued.
"So I got to thinking, animals can survive in the wild despite being at an even greater risk of attack from Grimm. So why not take note from them and adapt our defenses based on those findings? Soon enough, I brought this up during a fundraiser event for orphaned Faunus children in Vale while having a chat with some of my colleagues."
"At first, everyone was hesitant, but that quickly died down once Angelico and Byron began to see the merit of the idea. And so, we quickly got to work on creating the company and putting it out there. Which is how we have been using the company, we look at the reports given to us and based on those we make new innovations in the weapons we build." Donovan finished explaining.
"I see, that still does not explain why this was done so secretly." Kyoko commented, to which Donovan sighed as he replied.
"Ms. Kirigiri, surely you must know what the general public is like. They're a fickle bunch. Almost always quick to jump to conclusions and hard to convince of anything, especially with people spreading misinformation around like wildfire." He hesitated for a bit before frowning in annoyance and frustration.
"...And that is not even to mention how unwilling people tend to be to see eye to eye with each other. People always strive for peace between nations, but with those differences, there will always be conflict."
Kyoko took a moment to digest his words before nodding in understanding. "I can't say that I particularly disagree with that statement, considering everything I have seen throughout my life. But I didn't ask for you to recite your whole manifesto."
"Then you must understand the reasoning of my colleagues and I for keeping this from the public." Donovan narrowed his eyes a bit. "If it had been revealed that our companies created the incentive and the reasoning was known to the public, people would assume that the people protecting them and providing them with weapons weren't strong enough to do so." He explained before gripping his cane a bit.
"The amount of fear and negativity that would create would attract more Grimm, so we decided to keep this a secret from the public. By making it seem like something frivolous and not worth the attention." He kept on going as he later eased his grip on his cane to calm himself down. "Something that people would more than likely question the existence of in passing conversation, rather than look into it more."
"I see… And that is why to the public at the very least, the Vale Council owns the company? Am I correct?"
"Yes, that would be a proper conclusion to reach." Donovan confirmed.
"Very well then. While I don't one hundred percent agree with your reasoning, at the very least they have alleviated my concerns somewhat."
"Well, that's great. Are we done here yet?" Kaito spoke up.
"Almost, just one more thing Mr. Desmond and then I will be out of your hair with my questions."
"And what would that be?"
"Considering the fact that your wife is a member of the Vale Council, and you own a business that mainly operates in Vale, there's no case of favoritism going on? Right?" Kyoko asked, expecting him to become defensive, but instead he stayed calm.
"Ah, I had a feeling this would be asked at some point." Donovan chuckled a bit in understanding. "But, I wouldn't worry about that. When Melinda and I got married, we made sure to keep each other's finances separate. Mainly to prevent these types of questions from being asked. I'd hate for my wife to be incapable of doing her job properly because her priorities kept being brought into question."
"And what about decisions made that could affect the businesses in Vale?"
"She always makes sure to be as impartial as possible when laws are passed."
"I can attest to that." Kaito chimed in. "I've heard stories from my father about how some other business owners have tried to convince Mr. Desmond to get his wife to ease up on some of the tax laws. Of course, he has rejected that offer each time, it's also why he's not very popular with some of the business owners in Vale."
"Alright, I'm convinced. No more questions." Kyoko said.
"Actually, if you don't mind… I gotta ask, why go so far as to dig through our trash bins?" Kaito asked one last time.
"Just a precautionary measure. As for the why as of right now, that is on a need to know basis. But I can assure you, the more you work with the Future Foundation, the more you'll understand. Regardless, I appreciate the time you took out of your busy schedules for this." Kyoko bowed her head a bit in gratitude before she led the three men out of her office. "Please, enjoy the rest of your days."
"After that, Gonta go home to apartment and grabbed his stuff to move into house." Gonta finished explaining.
"I'm surprised he went into that meeting without his usual bodyguards." Damian remarked.
"Oh, they were there. Gonta saw that bodyguards were waiting outside meeting room."
"Ah, that seems more like him," Damian chuckled as he then fell silent.
"Something wrong, Desmond?" Laura asked.
"Just thinking about how my parents are doing, is all."
"Well, put those worries away for now, because I've brought out dessert." Tai smiled warmly as he walked back into the yard carrying a large sundae bowl while Rosalina followed carrying a stack of smaller bowls.
"Maybe you're right. I'll see them tomorrow." Damian smiled softly as he was given a bowl with extra sprinkles on the ice cream.
Meanwhile, at the Desmond residence…
"Now, let's check those notes Gokuhara sent me on the prototype…" Donovan began reading while also taking down some notes. "Time it takes to shift is almost instantaneous… Okay, making sure that gets improved…" He said to himself, only for him to be stopped when a knock was heard at the door. "Come in."
At that moment, Melinda entered the office, still putting her shoes back on. "Good evening, honey."
"Ah, Melinda. When did you get home?" Donovan greeted his wife, smiling.
"Donovan, I've been home for hours. How long have you been cooped up in your office today?" Melinda deadpanned.
"Probably too long." Donovan sheepishly replied, looking out of the window at the setting sun.
"Maybe it's time for you to put your work down, and unwind for the rest of the day."
"But honey, I'm this close to finishing the prototype."
"I know you are, but one extra day won't kill anyone." Melinda told him as she got close to her husband and looked into his tired eyes. "Besides, you look like you haven't gotten a wink of sleep in the last few days."
"You know I've gotten enough sleep." He tried to argue.
However, Melinda wasn't so easily swayed. "I know, but the point still stands. You need to take a break for the rest of the night."
Seeing no way to argue with her, Donovan sighed softly at the fact that she was right. "Alright… I'll put everything away."
"Good." Melinda smiled after being able to convince her weary husband. "After that, you can freshen up. I've booked us a table for two at Castor's."
"What about the kids?"
"Oh, right. You didn't hear any of that because you were too busy with your work. Yasuke is currently at a karaoke night with his fellow doctors, and Damian is having a sleepover with his friends at the Rose-Xiao Long house."
Donovan got a soft smile on his face. "Ah, so they made up after their little spat. Good to hear."
"Yes, now come on. We still have the whole night ahead of us." Melinda smiled as she started pulling Donovan out of his office.
"Don't worry, I'm right behind you." Donovan chuckled as he grabbed his walking cane and put in the passcode that locked the door to his study as he then immediately followed after his wife.
Later, back at the house…
"Alright, everyone~! Welcome to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tournament~!" Laura announced as the kids were now in the game room and in their pajamas.
"So, how are we doing this?" Damian asked while grabbing his Joy-Cons.
"Well, there's twelve of us here, so the idea is we race in three teams of four. So Team LAFF, Team DABEE, and that means that Oran, Logue, and Tails get someone from Team DABEE to have it be even." Laura explained.
"I'll join them." Emile said.
"Dude, you sure?" Ewen asked.
"It's fine, really. Look, I know we have our strategies, but it gives us a chance to come up with new ones."
"If you say so." Ewen shrugged as he then joined his team in the circle of beanbags, at the same time Emile put his beanbag with the trio.
"Are we doing all ninety-six courses?" Magnolia asked.
"As long as everyone can still keep going by that point, and we don't get told to go to bed before we reach the last one, it should be fine." Laura said.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Magnolia replied, as she noticed Damian whispering something to Anya who quickly nodded, but she ignored it as she had no idea what they were talking about. And instead she focused her attention towards the screen, as the first race got started.
Ten tracks later…
"...And of course, we all had to get evacuated from the planet." Laura finished explaining as the kids had started sharing their adventure stories.
"That's right. So in a way, I guess Ewen, Emile, and I have at least been to space." Damian mused.
"But not on an actual adventure~" Anya teased.
"Continue like that, and you're gonna be on the receiving end of non-stop Blue Shells." Damian sharply retorted, recalling earlier teasing he had received from Anya.
"But we're on the same team!"
"I will make us lose. Do not test me, Esper Girl." Damian glared, right as he threw a Blue Shell in the game, only for Anya to stop, allowing Magnolia to pass her only for her to get hit right before the finish line. Allowing Anya to get first place, followed by a good few of the rest of the group, netting Magnolia sixth place.
BGM: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
"Anya, what was that?" Magnolia asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Sorry, didn't want to get hit." Anya replied with a smug grin on her face.
"You're not cheating by reading the thoughts of your teammates, are you?"
"What…? I would never!"
"You better." Magnolia grumbled as Laura's eyes widened.
"Wait a minute, Oran, were you still on the planet when everyone got evacuated?"
"I was, why do you ask?"
"Dude, how did you survive that? Wasn't that blue goop described as literal poison?" Emile asked in shock.
"Oh, that's simple. Al, Laura, Anya do you remember in ancient Hyrule when there was that whole poison discussion and I said that I had become immune to poison after an earlier fight with the Devastator?" Oran brought up, to which they all nodded their heads. "Well, that immunity kept me alive and sane."
"So you just swam through all the Phazon?" Becky asked, also looking just as shocked as Emile and everyone else.
"Not at first. There were some trees that were still safe. But eventually, everything got covered and I just had to go through it. I was very glad when that star came by and cleaned everything up."
"And that didn't negatively affect you?" Albedo questioned.
"I don't think it did." Oran shrugged. "Or at least, there weren't any lasting effects. 'Cause the day after we came back from that Grimm world, mom had me checked out by Ms. Mikan just to make sure I was healthy in general. And she didn't find anything related to that, so I'm probably good."
"Aww, that's sweet of Aunt Summer." Anya cooed as both she and Oran smiled at their memories with her.
"So you had time to go to the doctors, but no time to buy clothes? So you wouldn't be half-naked at a fancy party?" Magnolia raised an eyebrow, to which Oran gave her a sheepish look.
"I mean, most clothing stores were closed for repairs after that had happened. So there was probably no time for him to do so." Becky guessed.
"Can't argue with that." Damian said as the group finished another race and got started on another one. "Also, back to the Phazon incident. It's kinda weird to think about how at one point the only people on Remnant were you, your mother, and several other villains."
"Desmond, don't refer to Big Bro Mercury as a villain." Laura glared a bit. "He's not evil, he's complicated."
"I wasn't even referring to him specifically, but I will gladly continue the discussion we had a few days after it was revealed that he was your cousin." Damian replied while returning the glare.
"Please don't argue. That won't get you guys anywhere." Ewen sternly interjected as Laura and Damian merely nodded at one another as an apology.
"Back on point, be glad you didn't run into any of them." Albedo said.
"Yeah, I don't think I would have won if I got into a fight against them."
"Eh, he probably would have only nearly died because of it, which would not even be the first time that has happened. Isn't that right, Oran?" Nick joked, causing Magnolia to smack him in the back of the head. "Ow…!"
"Uncalled for."
"Nick… I'm trying to do better." Oran replied dejectedly, as Logue patted him on the shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry, that was rude of me. I didn't mean it like that, it just slipped out."
"Think before you speak next time, rock-for-brains." Damian said sternly.
Eleven tracks later…
"You know, those city courses are beautiful. I wonder if we could go and visit them one day." Becky said.
"Why? So you could go on a shopping spree?" Ewen asked, raising an amused eyebrow.
"Yes, as well as to see the sights." Becky giggled.
"I mean, I've heard from Mr. Mario that there are pipes that lead to those places." Oran remarked.
"I know, but what about the actual places those tracks are based on? I wanna know what they're like. Imagine a world without Grimm where you can just go shopping without the worry of a Grimm alarm going off." Becky wondered.
"That does sound nice." Logue smiled.
"See? She gets it." Becky said as Logue giggled. Right at that very moment, Magnolia got hit by another Blue Shell right before the finish line.
"Again with this, Anya?! This is like the third time this happened!"
"I'm sorry! It's just an unfortunate coincidence, I swear! I don't mean for this to happen on purpose!" Anya yelped as Magnolia glared at her.
"Oh, how convenient." The cape fox sarcastically remarked before maintaining her glare at the great horned owl Faunus. "I'm keeping my eye on you."
"Maybe don't get too worked up over this. It's only a game." Emile reminded.
"Fine."
Sixteen tracks later…
"And how did that make you feel?" Laura asked as she had managed to get Oran to tell the rest of the group about the adventure to Starfall during their race.
"Wait a minute, did you organize this whole tournament just so I wouldn't be able to get out of talking about what had happened?" Oran asked as the realization had hit him after being reminded of the conversation the two of them had back in Beach Bowl.
"Ah-ha! So you were planning on avoiding it!" Anya pointed at Oran.
"No, of course not! I just wanted to find the right time to talk about it!" He argued.
"But, you're among friends, playing a video game. What better time to tell us than now?" Logue chimed in right as another race was finished.
Pause BGM
Oran sighed to that and replied, "Fine… it was… it was just hard to have to see their bodies again and have to bury them again. Not even mentioning his data recreation making for a difficult encounter."
"And seeing everyone else be able to conquer what The End threw at them, while it knew which buttons to press… It made me feel weak."
"Hey, come on now. It didn't make you weak. Sure you and Gonta were distraught at first, but come on you two picked yourselves up again and went in there to face him properly. In the end you succeeded, be proud of that." Tails gave Oran a reassuring smile as one of his tails patted Oran's shell, which caused him to smile back at him.
"Thanks, Tails. That means a lot."
"I mean, if you feel weak, I had a drone flying around the islands that I had sent out before we arrived to get a lay of the land and I had managed to use it to take footage of everything. So if you want, I can show what you took part in, cause let me tell you, you were anything but weak."
"I'd… I'd like that."
"Also, we're just kids at the end of the day. Of course we're going to struggle at times." Logue reminded.
"Yeah, and again, you've got all of us for support." Laura added as the group finished another track.
"You're right, I keep forgetting about that."
"We all forget things at times, so it's no big deal." Anya waved off as she placed a Bob-omb behind her, causing Magnolia to be hit by the explosion.
Resume BGM
"Anya, are you serious right now?!"
"What? That explosion could have hit anyone." Anya replied innocently.
Twenty tracks later…
End BGM
"Anya, I'm warning you, you better not stop just so that I would get hit by that Blue Shell!" Magnolia growled as she noticed Anya's owl ears move around while faintly nodding. At the same time, she also noticed Damian tapping his fingers. "I KNEW IT!" She exclaimed, pausing the game while the temperature of the room began to increase due to her anger.
BGM: Doomsday Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 3)
"Whoa, whoa! Maggie, take it easy!" Albedo exclaimed as he quickly used his Semblance to turn off Magnolia's heat.
"Maggs, what's going on?" Laura asked, trying to calm her friend.
"What's going on is that the members of Team DABEE have been cheating throughout this entire tournament!" Magnolia accused.
"We have not!" Becky protested, but Magnolia wasn't having any of it.
"Oh, don't you lie to me, Becky! I saw Anya's ears move and she only does that when using her Semblance! So she must have been reading everyone's thoughts, and dodging out of the way right when someone from her team threw a Blue Shell!"
"Have you considered that you're just unlucky?" Anya "innocently" asked.
"Unlucky?! You really went there! Two or three times is a coincidence, ten times is a targeted attack!"
"But it wasn't meant to be anything personal!" Ewen argued.
"Personal?! What wasn't meant to be personal?!" Magnolia asked.
"Nice going, Ewen." Damian spat at him. "Fine, we were working together to get a team victory, but it wasn't our intention to keep hitting you, okay?"
"I knew you guys were cheating! Just like those times that you guys were spawn camping during those Splatfests! Team DABEE is full of rats and schemers and toads!"
"I-it wasn't personal, w-we swear!" Becky whimpered.
"Don't give me that!"
Meanwhile, downstairs…
"Should we do something?" Rosalina asked as the adults were listening in on the argument.
"Nah, let them handle it. I don't think it solves anything if we interfere." Qrow said.
"Are you sure that's smart?" Tai asked.
"Course it is, besides, remember the game nights we had back at Beacon? The arguments we got into there were way worse. Remember what happened to the bed?"
"Oh, that's right."
"I still don't get how you guys managed to nail that bed to the ceiling." Raven said.
"We don't even remember how we did it or how we even got to that point, but the look on Summer's face the next morning was hilarious."
Raven burst out laughing at the reminder. "Yeah, you're right." As right at that moment Baymax got out of his seat.
"That may be, but my sensors indicate emotional distress upstairs, my programming is telling me I should probably help them out." Baymax stated as he tried to go upstairs, only to be stopped by Qrow.
"Baymax, I understand your reasoning, but just trust us on this. They may be upset or angry right now, but it'll sort itself out." Qrow said.
"My apologies, Qrow, but I cannot do that. My programming will not allow that." Baymax reasoned, to which Qrow sighed.
"Didn't want to do this, but fine, Baymax we are satisfied with our care." At that, it immediately stopped Baymax in his tracks as he immediately sat down.
"I will allow this for now, but please refrain from doing that in the future." Baymax said as the group continued listening in on the argument, which seemed to be slightly dying down.
"I understand that, bud. But like I said, sometimes things need to be handled without interference." Qrow said as Baymax nodded with a look of slight confusion on his face.
"So, just leave things be then?" Rosalina asked.
"Yeah, it'll sort itself out." Qrow said, as right at that moment a crossbow bolt was shot through the window, just barely missed Baymax by a few inches and got stuck in the nearest wall. Right at that time both Bereto and Maia's faces appeared in the window.
"Whoops, our bad." Maia said.
"What even happened?" Raven asked.
"We made the firing mechanism a bit too powerful." Bereto replied.
"That's understandable, but what did I tell you kids about firing near windows after Oran's little mishap with his arrows when he was first trying them out?" Rosalina asked as she felt slightly annoyed over the broken window, as she used her gravity to pull all the glass shards together and put them in the nearest bin.
"Not to, but in our defense, the bolt bounced off a nearby tree and then shattered the window." Bereto responded.
"Very well then, just make sure you repair the window." Rosalina replied.
"We'll get right on that." Maia said, as she and Bereto quickly went to the shed to find a replacement for the window.
"I'm very glad that the bolt missed me, or else I would have been in need of repairs." Baymax said.
"Yeah, you and me both." Qrow chuckled.
Back upstairs…
"Look, why don't we all take a deep breath and try to talk about this rationally?" Tails offered as he tried to play peacemaker.
"Are you seriously trying to excuse their actions?"
"Wha… n-no! I'm just trying to get everything calm again so this can be talked about properly!"
"What is there to talk about? They cheated and Anya lied to my face repeatedly!"
"I said I was sorry! It wasn't anything personal!" Anya cried as tears formed in her eyes.
"I'm not even sure if I want to continue playing this with you guys..." Magnolia grumbled.
"Look, we admit that we weren't the most honest in this and in the past, but there's no need to blow up like that! And we're sorry, we really are, but that's no reason to end this early." Emile reasoned.
"Maggs, listen to me. Just take a few deep breaths and try to rationalize this. Sure what they did was bad, anyone knows that cheating is bad, but is it worth ending things over a game?" Laura asked as she looked Magnolia in the eyes.
"No… but they still cheated and lied about cheating."
"And we will deal with that, don't worry."
"Uh, guys…" Logue started.
"Is it important, Logue?"
"Kinda… like halfway through this argument, Oran unpaused the game and continued playing. Pretty sure he's made it through a few tracks."
"He WHAT?!" Magnolia shouted as everyone turned around to look at the armadillo Faunus, who upon feeling the stares of about eleven sets of eyes glaring at him paused the game and let out a whimper.
"Umm, I-I can explain."
"No, you can't." Laura said sternly, to which Oran deflated.
"No, you're right I can't."
"Oran… you… filthy… CHEATER!" Magnolia hissed as she faced him. "How many courses did you play through without us?! Also, how did you even go to the next course without us having crossed the finish line?!"
"I think it were like five courses, as for the how, pretty sure an extra feature got added that allowed the person in first when crossing the finish line to end the race early for the rest." He replied as he then chuckled awkwardly. "I mean, it was worth a try, right?"
"No, it wasn't. Honestly, you deserve some kind of penalty for this." Laura gave Oran a pointed look. "Also, we're going to put a pin in that feature to prevent any future cheating…"
"Isn't that a bit much?" Oran asked.
"Dude, we were having a whole argument about what we did and the first thing you do while that is going on is begin cheating yourself!" Ewen retorted.
"Right, because what I did was so much worse than you as a team cheating like that." Oran said, as he turned back to Magnolia. "You're right, what I did was bad and I'm sorry for it. I shouldn't have done that. But I'm not the only one who should get a penalty for that."
"Are you seriously trying to pin this on us?!" Damian hissed.
"No, he has a point. All five of you were caught cheating, and kicking you out of the race would be a bit far. So, I think we should look for a penalty." Magnolia said, having managed to calm herself down.
End BGM
"Well, you're in luck." Laura said as she pointed at the pause menu where there was an option for penalty.
"Huh… Ibuki must have had that installed last time she upgraded our tech." Anya mused. "I wonder how bad cheating on Jabberwock must be for that to be included…?"
"Ah, here it is." Laura said as she scrolled through the options. "I think it's fair that you guys get a shared last place for the next couple of races. Which pretty much means even if you get in first place, you'll get the points from last place." She explained before turning her attention to Magnolia. "Maggie, you decide. For how many races would you like this to be the case?"
"... I'd say about ten."
"Ten?!" Oran, Damian, and Ewen yelled in disbelief.
"Oh, do you have something to say to that?" Magnolia glared at all five of them. "Because right now, I'm feeling merciful. Keep pushing your luck and I'm changing it to the rest of the remaining courses. Am I making myself clear?"
"Crystal…!" The five of them replied quickly as a collective gulp was heard from all of them.
"Good, now let this be a lesson about cheating and let's continue where Oran left off." Magnolia taunted, as she heard Oran grumble to himself. "Something you want to say, shellboy?"
"Nothing, Fox…" Oran was about to say, only for Laura to signal to him not to continue. "... Ears."
"That's what I thought. Honestly, you're as bad as Nick and Al when it comes to how childish you are…"
"Congrats, man. You're now one of us!" Albedo joked.
"Yeah, we're going to pull so many pranks together!" Nick added.
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Dread came over Magnolia as soon as they said it. "...Oh no. What have I done?" She whimpered with a groan as Laura patted her on the back.
Twelve races later…
"Speaking of gossip…" Becky spoke up. "...You know what I heard? One of my first babysitters who still watches over me had a crush on Professor Henderson when they were younger."
"Our Professor Henderson?" Nick asked as everyone else gave her a confused look.
"No, Nick. A Professor Henderson from Vacuo." Becky sarcastically replied. "Of course it's the same Professor Henderson who works at our school."
"That can't be right." Albedo said.
"And why not?"
"Because he's so old and stuffy." Emile replied.
"Also, didn't he tell us that he had a wife who died years ago?" Oran asked.
"Yeah, that's also why it seems so hard to believe." Laura said.
"Well, from what I heard from Martha, the two of them knew each other when they were younger. They worked as Huntsmen and Huntresses, and while she had feelings for him, they were never returned. But then she got sent on a mission that took a few years, and when she came back, he was married."
"So then what happened?" Magnolia asked as the group finished another race and got started on the next one.
"Well, she decided that she didn't want to ruin their happiness, so she transferred from her Huntsmen platoon in Atlas to Vale, and worked there as a Huntress before becoming my nanny. Of course, she told me that ever since Professor Henderson moved to Vale, the two of them would meet up at times to catch up."
"Aww, that's nice~!" Logue cooed.
"Yeah, and it's so sweet~! Still being friends after all those years." Anya added.
"Sure, but at times, I wonder if those two should be together." Becky wondered.
"I don't think they should." Damian replied.
"And why not?"
"Well, think about it. Don't you think that if they wanted to, they would have done so years ago? Maybe they both realised that they're better off as friends." Damian explained.
"Maybe you're right."
"Of course I am, I'm always right. Besides, I think you've been watching Vale in Love too much again. How else would you have gotten such an idea?"
"And you ruined it." Becky deadpanned as she thought about the last part he said. "Wait, how do you know that something like that is from Vale in Love? After all, you said that you didn't watch it because it was too sappy for you."
"Ooh, she's got you there~" Anya teased.
Damian sighed as he replied, "Fine… I may have watched a few episodes."
"Aww, look at you admitting that you like the show~!"
"I didn't say that!"
"But you're not denying it either~"
"Becky, drop it!."
"Nah, I'm good." Becky replied with a teasing smile on her face.
Many more races later…
"Congrats, Logue! You got in first place!" Laura cheered as the end results were Logue in first, Anya in second, Magnolia in third, Tails in fourth, Oran in fifth, Laura in sixth, Nick in seventh, Emile in eighth, Damian in ninth, Ewen in tenth, Becky in eleventh, and Albedo in twelfth.
"I don't really mind that I won, I'm just glad we got to have fun again after earlier." Logue replied sheepishly.
"Speaking of, I still don't get how despite the penalty Anya and Oran managed to score so high." Magnolia said.
"I mean, you still got third despite the bad luck in the beginning. So be proud of that." Albedo said, causing Magnolia to blush slightly.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right..."
"Also, only barely. I had like a one point difference with Laura and even then we just got lucky with the item roulette." Oran said.
"Still can't believe that Baby Park was picked last." Anya said.
"Eh, you know, that's what happens when you set it to random." Damian remarked.
"Yeah, the chaos from that one course really threw the rankings for a loop." Tails said.
"By the way, do the five of you have something to say to Maggie?" Laura asked sternly.
"We're sorry we cheated and we won't do it again. Please forgive us." Damian, Becky, Oran, Ewen, and Anya said guiltily in unison.
"You're forgiven, but don't make me catch you cheating again." Magnolia warned as the five of them sighed a breath of relief.
Later…
"See, Oran? It wasn't that bad. Don't ever say that you're too weak." Tails said as he finished showing the recording his drone took, specifically focussing on the latter half of the journey.
"Yeah, man. You even punched that snake with the moustache in the face! Pretty sure ninety nine percent of the people on Remnant have wanted to do that at some point." Damian chimed in as Oran immediately fell in a stunned silence before he could even say anything.
"You even volunteered to help fight that death god and lived to tell the tale." Nick chimed in.
"That was awesome, and you know… you also looked really cool with all the power flowing through you." Laura commented, trying to hide a faint blush on her face.
"Thanks, guys. I feel a lot better." Oran smiled before he turned to Damian, noticing the conflicted look on his face. "Are you good, Dame?"
"He's right, Boss Man. I've never seen you look so conflicted." Ewen remarked, looking concerned.
"Just thinking… the recording and everything Winchester, Esper Girl, and Oran have said about their interactions with the Schne– I mean, Weiss… Not even mentioning her bringing life to all of Menagerie, and giving that joint concert a few days back. Maybe I was wrong about the way I view her."
"Aww, looks like Desmond is capable of admitting when he's wrong after all~" Laura teased.
"Oh, hush, Winchester! I'm having a moment here!" Damian shot back before he continued. "After seeing her nearly give her own life to save those trapped in cyberspace and fighting beings capable of destroying everything… maybe it was unfair of me to lump her in with her so-called father."
"Honestly, you should have seen her in action back in ancient Hyrule. She and the other powerhouses really gave the bad guys a run for their money." Laura said with sparkles in her eyes.
"It was a sight to behold." Albedo added.
"I'll take your guy's word for it."
"But hearing you say that, does this mean that you'll be joining us whenever she gives her next Epiphany concert?" Becky asked, looking hopeful.
"I'll consider it, I mean I did enjoy the concert that she and the others gave." Damian replied, his conflicted expression slowly dissipating. "At this moment I'm still figuring my own views out."
"Hey, maybe if you, Emile, and Ewen joined us on an adventure in the future and she was there, maybe you'd fully figure it out." Anya offered.
"Sounds like fun. After all, someone needs to keep an eye on this knucklehead." Damian softly smiled as he pointed at Oran.
"Oh, please. As if I'm going to run into him on every adventure." Oran said, rolling his eyes as he quickly knocked on the wooden table in front of him. "But speaking of, about what you said on our first day, you were right."
"About which part?"
"That beating him wouldn't be today or anytime soon. At first, I thought it was nonsense, but this journey to Starfall, and encountering him there, made me realise that you were right. Rushing into a fight with him will only end badly, I understand that now. But you're right, one day, we as a group will beat him." Oran finished as Damian patted him on the shoulder.
"Like I said that day, we want to help because we care about you. I'm glad that you're finally getting where we're coming from. And when the day comes that we beat him, he won't know what will hit him." Damian said as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Besides, I do wish to repay him for stabbing me." Tails said.
"Wouldn't it be weird for him to suddenly get a bunch of stuff thrown at him that he has no recollection of taking part in though?" Emile smirked.
"Seeing as there is a bunch of stuff that he has done, I think it's deserved that he gets beaten up for something like that." Becky nodded.
"Yeah, who cares? He's a jerk!" Anya added.
"So, Tails… does that mean that you'll be joining us?" Logue asked.
"Well, I did tell Oran that I was interested. So you know what, sure. Besides, with Eggman deciding to retire from villainy, I need to do something besides inventing." Tails answered as he then got a message on his pad, which he showed to the rest, causing them to burst out laughing.
"Temporary retirement, fox boy. Once the divorce has been settled, it's on sight. – Eggman"
"H-how did he know w-we were talking about h-him…?!" Albedo laughed.
"I think he has a sixth sense for that kind of thing." Tails chuckled.
"Anyways, since you decided to join us, as the leader of the Junior Hunters…" Laura started, making Damian cough in his fist while she rolled her eyes. "...Tails, or Miles Prower, I hereby welcome you into our ranks. Junior Hunters, Forever!" She cheered, causing the rest of them to follow her example.
"JUNIOR HUNTERS, FOREVER!"
Later…
"I can't believe you got yourself hammered." Ruby said as she was supporting a tipsy Yang as the two returned home.
"Look *hic* when Sun challenges you to a drinking contest *hic* you don't back down." Yang drunkenly countered as Ruby sighed.
"Just don't wake the kids when we get inside. It is way past midnight." Ruby reminded as the two entered the house, making sure not to wake any of the pets. As quietly as possible, they finally made their way up the stairs until they reached their floor.
Ruby was ready to get to bed, but Yang stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing?" She whispered.
"Look." Yang whispered back, pointing to the game room, where they saw the kids all asleep and sleeping relatively close to each other. Also noticing the happy looks on all their faces as they were asleep, she added, "Seems like they enjoyed themselves."
To which Ruby nodded with a smile on her face. "Kids…"
This Gaiden chapter was written by Log and DarkRebellion!
Ibuki: Hehe~ Sounds like they had fun~
Deadpool: Indeed!