Here is the fifty-sixth chapter in this story released in accordance with the release schedule. The attack on Hosu is now underway but it's not just above ground that the city has been hit but below as well so let's move down to the complex beneath Hosu that once connected it to Mountain Glenn and see how Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oobleck, and Zwei are doing after crashing into the seal down there and what their next moves will be now that the train ride is over and they too join the chaos that is going on all over Hosu. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no questions to answer, there is a guest review to respond to which I will do now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To Guest (guest), thank you for your review as always. Yup, the early part of the incident is in the bag and we got to see more than just fighting villains for heroes have to be able to do more so Noelle and Nero put their skills to use with the fires while Mimosa and Yuno aided with the evacuations, until Mimosa was sent away with the others. There's still plenty more to come in this arc so stay tuned for it all and do keep reading and enjoying my work.

That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fifty-sixth chapter in Black RWBY Academia.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 56: Underneath Hosu

Ruby groaned in pain as consciousness returned to her and as she blinked her eyes open, dull light filling them as she tried to get her head on straight. It didn't help that all she could hear were coughs and frantic barks that were coming from all around her as she lay on what felt like uneven ground. However, as she turned her head and saw Yang and Blake on their sides as they lay on broken rubble she finally recalled what had happened. Then again, being on a train filled with explosives as it slammed into a barrier did kinda take it out of you.

In all honesty they should be dead after something like that. The only reason why they weren't was because Weiss had been her usual amazing self, in Ruby's humble and unbiased opinion of course, and used her Quirk along with some Hard Light Dust to protect them.

It was a defensive move that they'd been working on and given that Ruby was alive and nothing felt broken, just bruised, and battered, she'd say that it was a success even if she was no longer holding onto Weiss but such was the force of the impact she supposed. Additionally, it was clear that Yang and Blake were at least in one piece as they too were moving though Blake was bleeding from a nasty looking cut on her arm. Hell, while Yang might be banged up from crashing through a stone barrier and being thrown onto concrete, she'd no doubt also powered up from all the physical damage that she'd just taken.

However, Ruby could only see the older girls and that caused her to panic and roll over to try and find where Weiss had ended up as she'd clearly been ripped from Ruby's arms. She needed to make sure that her bestie was ok after all she'd done to save them and Ruby let out a sigh of relief when she saw Weiss on her other side sitting up with her back against a pillar, her chest rising and falling with Myrtenaster across her lap and the sleeve that she was using as a bandage still around her head though it was definitely a bit more red.

Seeing Weiss also cleared Ruby's mind enough that she realized that they'd ended up on the platform of the underground station and not the tracks, which was good as it was a better place to end up than landing in front of the crashed train on the rails. However, as clarity returned to Ruby, something surprised, and confused, Ruby about the situation and that was that Zwei was next to Weiss and barking at her as she tried to get her bearings. Ruby didn't know why Zwei was doing that, he was of course fine thanks to his Quirk but why was he focused on Weiss and getting her attention?

Ruby was still trying to figure things out when there was suddenly a roar that hurt her ears followed by the sound of flames being blown from a flamethrower, Ruby knew her weapons well so she could identify many simply by sound, and it all came back to her. They were not the only ones down here; subterranean Grimm were as well and there were a lot of them.

At that realization Ruby sat up and tried to call out but before could there was a rumbling sound from behind her and she turned in time to see a massive pile of rubble that was in their wake shift before it exploded outwards and a large, snake-like Grimm that she thought was called a King Taijitu, burst from it. The only thing that saved them from being either eaten or hit by it, all while Ruby was still trying to remember if that was Grimm species that was known to be subterranean or not, was the fact that they were underground and the snake proceeded to slam its head into the ceiling and get stuck there.

Of course, as it thrashed there were other Grimm already flooding out and soon they'd be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. Even if they weren't battered and slightly scattered they'd have a hard time defeating all these Grimm, at least short of having someone like Asta and his swords on their side for it. The fire that Dr. Oobleck was creating with his weapon was useful but it wouldn't last and Ruby wasn't sure what to do as their teacher backed up to them, fire pouring from Antiquity's Roast as he tried to hold back several Grimm.

Things were dire and Ruby was just reaching behind her for Crescent Rose, it had thankfully remained in the holder she had for her sweetheart on her lower back, ready to make her final stand when suddenly a wall of overlapping glyphs appeared before Oobleck just as he finished his latest burst of fire. There was only one person who could do that and Ruby turned to see Weiss still sitting against the pillar her right hand out and a pained but determined look on her face.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted her eyes wide.

"I can't hold it for long, my focus isn't what it should be after that thug smashed my head into the train floor but I can do this much." Weiss grunted. "But please fall back to me so I can minimize how much of a barrier I can make. That way I can hold it long enough for Dr. Oobleck to call for help."

Weiss's actions gave the other girls the adrenaline boost that they needed to move with Ruby bursting with her Quirk, Blake leaving a shadow clone in her wake, and Yang just leaping over with a slight burn of her stored up power. As they did, the glyphs before Oobleck fell and he sent out one more long gout of flames at the Grimm that Weiss had been holding back before he too retreated to where Weiss was.

It only took a few seconds for them to reach Weiss and as soon as they did Ruby and Oobleck instantly put themselves in front of her their weapons out while Blake and Yang were on either side sword out and fists raised respectively. Finally, Zwei had decided to climb into her lap and bark encouragement from there. That was all that Weiss needed as she tapped into her reserves and glyphs burst to life around them.

The white circles with snowflakes that were the hallmark of the Schnee family Quirk suddenly appeared all around them and immediately formed a rough, overlapping, multilayered cube with the pillar behind Weiss as the support and none on the ground as there was no need for them there. It wasn't a moment too soon as the snake Grimm got free and slammed its head down into the glyphs but while a few of the outer ones cracked, they held as Weiss just kept her eyes closed and brow furrowed as she maintained her Quirk with all the strength that she had.

"Weiss, can you hold this?" Yang asked worry in her voice as the snake hit it again and she cocked her gauntlets, ready to use then and her Quirk if the glyphs fell. "You're probably the most injured out of all of us and your Quirk clearly requires a lot of focus."

"We're U.A. students, we go plus ultra don't we?" Weiss asked. "I can do it, I've practiced for years with Glyphs, I won't let them through."

"I know that my snowflake can hold." Ruby said confidently. "The Grimm won't break Weiss's Quirk; she's got us and we got her. That's what Huntresses do."

If Weiss wasn't so focused on the situation at hand she'd have gone bright red at what Ruby had called her, she'd have to have words about it if they got out of this because while she liked that Ruby called her that, it was something that Klein also called her, she wanted it to be a private thing for them. However, she was currently dealing with a horde of Grimm that were trying to get through her glyphs so she was focused on that, Ruby's vote of confidence boosting her as she held it.

"All we need is for Miss Schnee to keep this up for few more moments, the situation is dire enough that we can get help from anyone who can and given where we are we've got one of the best extraction heroes in any of the three branches right above us." Oobleck said as he pulled his phone out and unlocked it before he found a special emergency app on it, opened it, and hit the option that connected him to precisely who he needed right now. "They'll want to know anyway and can help us in resealing this place."

The app that Oobleck had hit was a special one developed by one of the top tech firms in the nation that allowed the different hero branches to call each other in an emergence with various options to streamline who you needed to contact for what emergence and the specific need at hand. It could only be used in an emergency, doing so otherwise could result in a hefty fine, but right now this was very much an emergency so Oobleck used it and selected the option for immediate extraction.

Thankfully, they were in Hosu so the person that Oobleck knew about was right above them and by activating this specific line Oobleck was also giving out his precise coordinates. After all, this was an emergency extraction so the hero in question needed to create the portal.

"Bartholomew, this had better be really damned important!" An angry voice came in over the phone's speakers only seconds after he hit the button. "Hosu is in the middle of the worst villain attack on a city in decades right now! Unless you're here I can't help!"

"Man I've never heard Amajiki sound that angry before." Yang muttered as the snake struck the glyphs again which caused Weiss to grimace as she continued to keep her Quirk active against the relentless Grimm attack. "I know that's not him, he'd never get mad like that, but it sounds like him."

"Shut it Yang." Blake muttered back. "That's our help you're talking about and it seems like they're in a situation as well."

"I think he sounds a bit like Pine." Ruby added unhelpfully. "Though I don't know him well enough to assess his temperament."

"Ruby, please don't follow Yang's lead." Blake said. "Focus on this, the sooner we get help the sooner Weiss can stop this and we can get to safety."

"Right, sorry." Ruby said her focus right back to the situation at hand. "You're right Blake, we need to get out of here."

"Given that I'm underneath Hosu and right at the bottom of the abandoned and sealed subway complex and currently surrounded by Grimm I'd say that yes this constitutes an emergency, Marx!" Oobleck said back his tone as calm as he could make it given the situation and ignoring the girls around him as he understood that in a situation like this some levity could be useful. "Use that Mental Projection Quirk of yours to confirm, I know that you can project your mind to someone you're talking to and see what's going on around them."

"Did you say that you were underneath Hosu?" The man, Marx apparently though Ruby and Weiss didn't know who that was even if they were certain that they'd heard the name before, asked his voice changing from anger to fear in an instant. "Shiren of the Golden Dawn is here with me right now coordinating the chaos up here but he said that the second explosion we felt was down there. What the hell happened! That place is supposed to be completely sealed up and for good reason."

"I'll tell you everything once you get us out of here." Oobleck said. "There are 6 levels to this complex and each are sealed so providing the upper ones are fine the Grimm pouring in will be held down here for a bit but there's nothing in their way and with this many they will try to break through. We need a team of Huntsmen and a very specific U.A. student to exterminate them. However, we are not fine as we were on the train that the White Fang and Roman Torchwick loaded with explosives and used to break the seal down here so get Cob to make one of his doors to my specific location and stat, our defense Quirk won't hold and there's no way that we can defeat this many Grimm."

"Our?" Marx asked. "You're with more than yourself."

"I sent a report to the Coral Peacocks about what I found during our investigation into what was going on in Mountain Glenn but that's kinda irrelevant right now!" Oobleck said as the snake struck again while scorpion like Grimm that Ruby knew as a Death Stalker attacked as well. "It was supposed to be a simple extermination and investigation trip to get our two interns some field experience so it was just me, them, and two work study girls."

"You have students with you!" Marx exclaimed. "What the hell are you thinking Bartholemew! I'd expect this from Ozpin, not you."

"We didn't exactly expect it to get this out of hand." Oobleck said. "Don't worry, they're all U.A. students so they're trained but we really need that extraction because not even an experienced Huntsman could handle this. The only reason why we're still standing is because one of the interns has a defensive applications to her Quirk but she can't hold out forever so get that door here right now! Oh and Tai's dog is with us but he's a good boy not in danger."

As if to make a point Zwei barked and wagged his tail from where he sat on Weiss's lap while Weiss put her left hand on his back to draw support from Ruby's adorable dog. Other than that no one was paying him attention though as the situation at hand was getting bad and it was taking all Weiss had to hold the Grimm back.

"Right, sorry, the situation up here is really bad as well but Cob is with me and has your location." Marx said. "What kind of door do you need?"

"Standard." Oobleck said. "We can't extend the defensive barrier by much I feel."

"Ok it's coming." Marx said and with that he clicked off.

Ruby was a little worried at that but a second later an ornate looking, golden door appeared before them. It was just outside the glyphs but at Oobleck's sigh of relief at seeing the door appear, Weiss peaked her eyes at it. She wasn't sure what it was but she created several more glyphs between it and their box before letting the ones in front of it fall. There was a single Grimm in it but a punch to the side of its head from Yang ended it and Oobleck went to the door and threw it open while the Grimm was disintegrating. Inside was an odd light gray swirl that none of the girls had seen before.

"This is a warp Quirk call Spatial Door and is used by a man called Cob who is a Quirk Knight hero and part of the Wizard King's personal staff so it will take us into their headquarters." Oobleck said as Zwei leapt off Weiss and bounded towards the door to show that it was safe. "The man I spoke with is Julius's personal assistant Marx and he'll meet us when we go through but this won't stay active for long so we need to get moving."

"As soon as I loose concentration the glyphs will fall." Weiss said through gritted teeth. "I'm not sure…"

"I've got you." Ruby said taking Weiss's hand and smiling at her though as Weiss had her eyes close again she didn't see but she did draw strength from the warmth of Ruby's hand. "Nothing can beat me with speed."

"I'll bring up the rear then so go!" Oobleck said. "Now!"

He was their teacher and so they listened with Zwei happily barking as he ran through the door first followed by Yang and then Blake. As soon as Blake was through, Oobleck looked at Ruby and nodded and Ruby closed Crescent Rose up and put her in her holder on her back, took Myrtenaster in her left hand and knelt down next to Weiss so that she could grab her best friend around the waist with he right arm. She then looked at the door and burst at it with all her strength.

Two things happened at once. First the glyphs fell as Weiss's focus was broken by Ruby using Petal Burst on her. Second, and more importantly, a candy cane swirl of red and white that expelled matching petals shot at and through the door in just over a second.

As soon as they were through it, Oobleck let out a final maelstrom of fire from Antiquity's Roast at the Grimm before he backed through the door himself and closed it behind him leaving the Grimm where they were in the lowest level of the complex. However, with the fear and panic in Hosu above them they were drawn to it and began to make try and their way upwards and towards the surface and the chaos there all while more Grimm poured into the area.

None of this was known to Ruby though as she burst through the other side of the door and into a large room. Ruby only saw that as she reformed before she realized that in her hurry she'd not righted herself and as such she was parallel to the ground and only a few inches above it. Therefore, without the time to do anything but drop Myrtenaster which clattered as it hit the floor and pull Weiss close to her in a bear hug, Ruby twisted her body so that she landed back first on what felt like hard marble for some reason.

As such, the breath was driven from Ruby's lungs as she hit the ground and slid over it but she held Weiss close as they slid until finally coming to a stop a good way through the room having not hit anything in the process which surprised Ruby in hindsight. For the moment, though, she was winded and could finally try to catch her breath now that the slide was over.

Meanwhile Weiss was really confused. She knew that Ruby would save her from the Grimm when her Quirk dropped and had gotten somewhat used to the odd sensation that existed when Ruby extended her Quirk to you so she knew that she was back to normal. At the same time, Weiss didn't hear the sounds of Grimm attacking so she knew that that meant that she was at least safe from them though the screaming from the distance did disturb her.

However, all that was forgotten when she realized that she wasn't on the ground but rather on top of something soft but comfortable and blinked open her eyes. At the same time Weiss placed her right hand on a cold, either stone or marble by the feel of it, floor and lifted her body enough to look down and see what, or more precisely who she was on.

The first thing that Weiss saw was a pair of beautiful silver orbs that she knew all too well staring up and at her only inches away from her own eyes. Normally that would shock her but, well, only one person had eyes like that and that was the one person who could calm her in this situation and she smiled at the reassuring sight.

"Hey." Ruby said breathlessly from below her.

"Hey yourself." Weiss replied flushing as she looked down at Ruby below her and knowing that she had to maintain eye contact and not look anywhere else, though why she knew that was beyond her and right now she wasn't in the best headspace to question things. "Thanks for the save."

"Anytime." Ruby said smiling up. "I know you'd do the same."

"True, I would." Weiss said smiling back.

Ruby wouldn't lie, she found that having Weiss laying on top of her was comforting and not at all bad. Plus this gave her a really good look at her light blue eyes and the scar over the corner of her left eye which Ruby found only accentuated Weiss's beauty. Then there were her lips and as Ruby saw them she got a strange urge that she'd never had before and the only thing that prevented her from thinking about acting on it was the fact that they were on a cold marble floor. That and she was really confused by it as well and would have to dwell on it later when she was alone.

"Er, Ruby, I don't think now's the time for this."

The voice that interrupted them and snapped the girls back to reality was Yang's and Weiss sat up so fast that it made her already wounded head spin, she was not doing herself any favors in that department, while at the same time going a shade of red that was deeper than Ruby's cloak. However, she didn't get off Ruby and remained straddling her though she refused to look at Yang or the no doubt shit eating grin that she had on her face.

"Yang's right." Ruby said and was surprised at how reluctant she was about having to change the current situation. "We, er, should get up."

"Y, yes, right, there is a major issue below Hosu right now that we need to report, and by the sounds of it something going on above ground as well." Weiss said as she reluctantly got off Ruby, again confused as to why she really didn't want to, and stood before offering her hand to Ruby unable to look her best friend in the eye. "Here, l, let's sort that out and see if we can help."

"Unfortunately, the situation is a lot worse than just Grimm flooding the sealed subterranean complex below Hosu." A male voice with a slightly awkward note to it said as Ruby accepted Weiss's hand and Weiss hauled her to her feet. "It would appear that that was simply part of a larger, more coordinated, attack on this city and likely the Quirk Knights in particular."

The voice was the same as the one from Dr. Oobleck's call and got their attention causing them to turn to it with Weiss letting go of Ruby's hand though she might not have had it been a normal situation. The man speaking wore a simple black suit and tie and had pale bright blue hair cut in a bowl that kinda looked like a mushroom. He was standing a few yards away with Oobleck, Yang and Blake around him.

As they looked, the girls were able to survey the rest of the room as well. That was when they realized that they were in a large, and to Weiss at least who knew these kinds of rooms, banquet hall. There were even round and rectangular tables as if an event had been here but they'd been pushed to the side since then. Oddly, though, there were signs of damage to the marble floor so clearly a scuffle of some sort had taken place recently, Weiss could tell that much because she knew that a room like this would be repaired otherwise.

All that was confusing but what was more so was the fact that in the center of it was a serious looking man with long blond hair that was brushed back and braided at the back of his head and wearing the cloak of a Golden Dawn Quirk Knight staring at a large stone carving of what had to be Hosu while a few suited men and women flitted around it and occasionally spoke to him. Parts of the carving were on fire for some reason but no one seemed to be bothered by that and a quick glance out of the windows showed the girls that the city itself was burning in several places that probably corresponded with the carving.

At the same time, another man, this one with fluffy brownish hair, and wearing a black suit like the most of the others was standing in one of the room's corners and at one of the round tables. He had a laptop open at it and an earpiece in that he was muttering into as he typed while occasionally stopping what he was doing and closing his eyes before opening them and once again muttering to whoever he was talking to.

All of this action, especially the fires on the carving and outside, really snapped the girls to attention and they hurried to rejoin the others and the blue haired man who they presumed was the one that was called Marx. Something major was definitely going on and the screams that were reaching their ears from outside only further proved it.

"Sorry." Ruby said sheepishly. "We just, er, got out of a bad situation but it looks like all we did was get out of the frying pan and into the fire, literally."

"Right now you're safer here than down below so that's at least good." The blue haired man said, his voice confirming that he was Marx. "But you aren't wrong, the situation in Hosu is bad. We've been attacked by an unknown terrorist, one with a Quirk that, according to the reports we've gotten, allows him to command an army of corpses. To make matters worse, we believe that the League of Villains are involved as well as we've also gotten reports of creatures similar to the one that was used against All Might at the USJ have appeared in the city. That and the fact that the corpses appeared through dark purple warp gates seem to indicate that the warp villain is aiding the villain behind this attack."

"That's not good." Weiss said her eyes wide. "Why would they attack Hosu? And why now of all times?"

"We have yet to determine that as we have yet to identify the attacker though providing that we can arrest him I can extract the necessary information with my Quirk, painlessly and legally of course." Marx said. "But the attack by the corpses were focused within this region of Hosu and given that the Quirk Knight Headquarters is here, and after what we saw with the League of Villains attack the USJ, such a brazen attack can only mean that we are their target."

"Corpses as part of Quirk, surely that's easy to look up though." Weiss said as she tried and failed to contain her revulsion at a Quirk that could do that. "All Quirks are registered, only villains from overseas or who were born to villains here tend to not be registered."

"Unfortunately there are no records so it is the latter." Marx said not revealing that he was pretty sure he knew of a Quirk like this as there had once been a Quirk Knight with such a power but when he'd checked the records of the Purple Orcas it wasn't there, which led to some serious questions that he couldn't address with anyone but Julius. "Most likely this is a person who was born to villains with a grudge against us and who thus inherited it. I'd hazard a guess that all of this was part of a planned revenge against the Quirk Knights as to pull off an attack of this magnitude without us knowing would take years to plan."

"Really?" Yang asked. "That's a long time to hold a grudge."

"It is but some villains can hold grudges lasting years or decades so this is the most logical explanation for the attack." Marx said. "Course we won't know for sure unless we catch the villain behind the corpses but we are certain that he or she is in the city somewhere, the sheer scope of this Quirk would drain the user and necessitate some level of proximity to keep the corpses moving."

"The ability to manipulate corpses, to think that there's a Quirk out there with that power." Blake said. "Well it is possible, there are Quirks for just about anything short of actual time travel, but even so it's hard to believe."

"Many types of Quirk exist but this is certainly one of the lesser expected ones." Marx said. "But things are well in hand now that we've launched our counter attack and I believe that if we find the villain and knock him out he'll lose control. Unfortunately, there are just so many corpses and it seems that only cutting them to pieces or fire puts them down so right now most of our resources are dealing with them, the other attackers that are clearly not part of this villain's Quirk but are clearly aiding in the attack, and putting out the fires."

"Damn they are zombies then." Yang said punching her right fist into her left palm. "Never expected I'd have to deal with them but that's Quirks for ya."

"Pretty much." Marx admitted. "They act like movie zombies with the exception of biting people to turn them into zombies and eating people, they just attack and kill that way. We've already got reports of several casualties so things are not looking good on that front."

"No and with Grimm 6 stories below and no way to stop them from continuing to entering that area it's only a matter of time before they manage to break through the level seals." Oobleck said. "Thankfully the ones that are known to burrow aren't in this part of Japan but still, the sheer number is the problem. The main seal was made to hold out against all known Grimm but the redundant ones on the various levels weren't, they're just designed to slow the Grimm down should the main one be destroyed so that we have time to prepare our counter for them."

"Usually that wouldn't be a problem but the seal couldn't have been destroyed at a worse time." Marx said understanding the problem all too well as he'd gone over various scenarios for if that seal was broken. "The fear and panic up here will just attract more Grimm from below and add to the pressure on the redundant seals. It's an insidious plan but a brilliant one for causing mass destruction."

"That's what I've come to realize, it explains why there was a plan to attack the seal in the first place." Oobleck said with a nod. "Hosu is a large city and Grimm can't get close because of defenses against them that all cities have, it's why there's never been an attack on one, but an attack from below, that would get past any defenses and wreak utter havoc on the city. Usually the subterranean Grimm that can burrow don't burrow up to cities but with a near clear path and so much fear to feast on they'll be driven by their blind instincts to come here. If we don't stop them now then it's not a matter of if they'll make it but when."

"Yes so when we learned of the seal being broken down there and your report it proved to us that this is no doubt a joint attack by multiple groups, the League of Villains and the White Fang for sure but likely others as well." Marx said with a sigh. "To pull off the surface attack you'd need time and funding so what better way to do so then by hooking up with other groups that wants to attack a city for their own reasons. That way you can share resources and plan the attack together, makes sense and the proof is out there. Fear of the zombies and attackers bring the Grimm that you've gathered bellow so that they'll burst out right into the middle of the panic. We don't have the manpower to handle something of that magnitude."

"That's why we need to begin calling in everyone who would useful under the emergency joint branch protocol established for such an eventuality." Oobleck said. "I presume that Cob, in addition to the evacuations that I can tell he's coordinating from where he is in the corner, has reached out to Captain Yami of the Black Bulls and brought in Finral Roulacase as well. He's the only other warp Quirk user I know who's in a hero branch."

"That he has but it will take time, the Black Bulls are based a fair distance away and while Cob's range may be just about it he's busy here with more pressing matters, though the Golden Dawn have an intern with a fast transport aspect to his Quirk who's taken some of the load off, so Finral has to hop and that will take time." Marx said. "And we've got a lot to deal with and that was before we learned of that the Grimm were below making matters exponentially worse."

"Then allow me to be of assistance there." Oobleck said. "We need to start bringing in heroes who have stone or earth creation or manipulation Quirks to help replace that seal as it was a Quirk Knight who erected it in the first place. In addition, we need people like Langris Vaude of the Golden Dawn to go down there and lead the charge in culling the Grimm as his Spatial Displacement Quirk is one of the strongest area of effect offensive Quirks out there. If we use him down in the subterranean area then we can deal with the Grimm while sealing it up at the same time. We can deal with any repairs afterwards."

"The repair is the problem, Langris is skilled and a Vice Captain but he's caused too much collateral damage in his time which given the structure down there could be a problem." Marx said. "I will make the call if need be though but there may be another solution to the problem. Sealing the underground off with Quirks is a must, we don't need to worry there as Shiren has the power to do so, but he'll need protection down there and what better way than nullification. Thanks to Julius being a Quirk nerd of the highest caliber I am aware of Peter's discovery that Grimm are the product of a Quirk."

"Yes I was going to mention that." Oobleck said glad to hear that Marx was on the same page and as he knew all about the Wizard King's obsession with Quirks there was no way that he'd not informed his friend and assistant about Asta's. "We should also find and bring in Asta. I know that he's still just a U.A. first year but he's on the Quirk Knight path and interning with one of the Squads this week. His Anti-Quirk Quirk will be perfect if the numbers are enough to handle with some added support from me and the aspiring Huntresses with me. Eraser Head's Erasure won't but Anti-Quirk will. The only problem I see is that Asta may not be nearby."

"Oh on that front there is good and bad news." Marx said causing everyone to blink. "The good news is that Asta's actually in Hosu right now. That's why I suggested using one of the two nullification Quirks that we know about, but the bad news is that we don't know where."

"Come again?" Ruby asked finally feeling like she could talk as it was about one of her friends. "But Asta should be with Noelle and Nero and they're all interning with the Black Bulls."

"Yes and you just pointed out how far away their base is." Weiss said.

"That's saying something, it's in the northern most region of the main island so the area that's covered by Atlas for us." Blake said. "Swing's explained it before."

"While that is true, they are currently in Hosu due to a mixture of the injuries that Asta and Noelle suffered on the first day of their internship and a personal invitation from the Wizard King." Marx said adding to everyone's surprise. "Yeah, timing wise we got a huge break here because based on what Julius has said about Anti-Quirk, all Asta needs to do is find the corpse villain and hit him with one of his swords and the corpses will stop attacking as he'll sever the connection between the villain and the corpses."

"That may be but he's unlicensed." Oobleck said. "Grimm are a bit of an exception so long as no civilians are around, which they aren't underground, but the corpse villain is a different matter."

"We don't have to worry about that." Marx said dismissively. "We' already informed the HPSC about the emergency need for his Quirk given the situation. The President understands and she has personally given Asta full authorization to use his Quirk here. The other first years only have it in self defense but Asta's got it offensively as well so he will face no punishments for his actions against the corpses and their master. We need that power more than anything."

"Agreed." Oobleck said glad to see that the President was being sensible but she was a reasonable woman, especially compared to her predecessor. "If he can hit the corpse villain then we can begin dealing with the Grimm as well, so long as you can spare Shiren to assist. I apologize but I do not know him well."

"So long as the corpses have been defeated, Shiren won't be needed here as his main role right now is coordination." Marx said gesturing to the man at the stone display. "His Stone Manipulation Quirk is perfect for that as it gives him a full sense of anything connected to stone as well as the ability to manipulate it. Once we've got the situation above ground under control, the redundancies and levels underground should hold out for a bit longer while we finish dealing with the corpses here, we can go below. Shiren will need to be on one of the lower levels but that's it. I was hoping for others to arrive before but given the situation this is probably our best bet."

"I see, it would appear that despite this attack fate is on our side seeing as two of the best suited heroes, well a hero and a Hero Course student, are present for it." Oobleck said agreeing with Marx's assessment. "This is a lot to put on a first year so we will help out in wrangling and protecting, as will other heroes who are present and are suited to handle Grimm as there aren't many Huntsmen and Huntresses in the city."

"We have people liaising with Beacon at the moment to try and bring in any nearby reinforcements no matter the branch so any Huntsmen and Huntresses will be redirected to the Grimm extermination unit when they arrive, providing that the corpses and creatures have been dealt with." Marx said. "But as I said, there is the problem of Asta's location being unknown."

"You mentioned." Oobleck said. "What happened?"

"According to Fuegoleon, he just took off and ran into the city as soon as the chaos began in the wake of the two explosions, there was one above ground as well so likely part of the whole coordinated attack." Marx said though none of them realized that the fact that the train hit the seal underground right after Kurogiri dropped the bomb into Hosu was not coordinated at all but sheer blind luck on the part of the villains. "He apparently said that he was going to go wherever it was loudest but, well, we don't know where. Fuegoleon took command of our forces here and we've got some strong forces which is another thing in our favor at the moment."

"Fuegoleon Vermillion alone is a force to be reckoned with." Oobleck said. "And with corpses that are weak to fire arguably the best one in the nation. Only his sister and Endeavor have more fire power of all known fire Quirk users and neither have the finesse nor control that Fuegoleon has, especially not his sister. That said, she'd be good for dealing with the Grimm and knowing her she'd enjoy every moment of it."

"No there is a reason why we're glad that Mereoleona isn't in a city most of the year but I agree that if need be she'd be second after Langris for mass Grimm extermination." Marx admitted before he pressed on. "But it's not just Fuegoleon who's here. I mentioned that this was a bad time to attack us and I meant it, Asta and his friends were invited to one of our regular ceremonies honoring the work done by our Quirk Knights because what was supposed to be a routine investigation into an unearthed Diamond Company complex on the border of Kanto and Tohoku that turned into a battle with the Diamond Company. Asta was vital in repelling it and gathering intel but was badly wounded so brought here for treatment."

"Why does that not surprise me." Weiss said with a sigh. "He did get banged up pretty bad in the Sports Festival."

"So did we." Ruby pointed out. "And I lost to the same guy as Asta."

"True." Weiss admitted. "But Asta was second only to Midoriya I felt. Also, you weren't in the regular exam, I was and I helped Asta take out a zero point robot. He was extremely reckless and got badly hurt during it so the idea of him being reckless on the first day of his internship doesn't surprise me. It would be the same if Midoriya had been there I feel."

"He certainly seems to be reckless as he almost died but thanks to emergency first aid from Miss Swallowtail, Asta was stabilized and healed up." Marx said. "And in time for him to attend the reception here. That's why he was here but he ran off with Leopold Vermillion. Fuegoleon took Noelle Silva and Secré Swallowtail with him to find them while the others were dispatched to the worst areas that Shiren could identify based on their numbers and the amount of reported damage in those areas."

"Who was here?" Oobleck asked. "I take it that Fuegoleon isn't the only Captain as often Captains attend these events with the members who are being honored."

"That is the norm and in this case Nozel Silva and Charlotte Roselei were present as well what with one of Nozel's members and his and Charlotte's work study students being honored." Marx said which to all but Ruby, who still didn't know the power players within the Quirk Knights was a relief. "In addition there were 3 full members of the Golden Dawn along with their work study student Klaus Lunette, and their interns this week Mimosa Vermillion, and Yuno who were also invited due to being part of the same mission that Asta and the others were on. There should be another Black Bull around but no one's seen her since she arrived though I do know that she's here as I was the one that greeted them downstairs."

"If it's Pappitson then check the kitchen." Yang said helpfully. "She can get distracted by the smell of good food. If not then it's Enoteca so check the nearest source of plentiful alcohol."

"It's the former so noted, thank you." Marx said. "But yes we've got a strong group of Quirk Knights that as soon as they were organized were sent out into Hosu to restore order."

"What about William?" Oobleck asked. "Surely he'd be here if his members were being honored. We could really use Yggdrasil around about now."

"Also no, he had something to deal with personally within his jurisdiction and couldn't spare the time." Marx said shaking his head and not adding that Julius being off on an emergency of his own was another blow to their forces. "But I agree it's frustrating not having a Quirk with that level of crowd control at our disposal. No doubt it was part of the attacker's plan to avoid it, anyone with half a brain would."

"Alright well at least things are looking like they're well in hand." Oobleck said and as he was speaking both Ruby and Weiss felt their phones buzz with the latter ignoring it but the former not. "So we should coordinate with them and…"

Before Oobleck could finish, and as Ruby was checking the message which was just a location marker from Midoriya that placed him in a back alley in Hosu for some reason, there were three flashes of blackness on the model of Hosu that sent large cones into the air right where the worst of the fires had been burning. That got the attention of all of them bar Ruby and they looked to it with Marx being the one to speak.

"Shiren, what happened?" Marx asked worried at the sight. "That didn't look good."

"It wasn't." The man said his tone serious as he spoke for the first time since Oobleck, Zwei, and the girls had arrived. "My model registered the use of a warp Quirk within the three hottest conflict areas. I can't confirm how many, there is too much going on for specifics, but I would not be surprised if the person behind the corpse transport targeted our three main groups."

"Shit, that might have been part of the plan." Marx swore as he realized the annoying cleverness behind the villain who'd coordinated the attack though he doubted that this was the work of the corpse villain as he or she was just the muscle of the attack as far as Marx could tell. "Who was affected? Right now Asta is the most valuable asset on the board, we can't lose him."

"I do not believe that he was affected and even if there was an attempt, I have seen what his swords can do and how fast he is with them, he will be fine." Shiren said his tone never changing. "No, they came from the areas that Fuegoleon dispatched the others to so we have likely lost my squadmates, our work study student and our two interns, along with the Silver Eagles and Blue Rose Knights that were here and their respective work study students. Not great as I am aware of how useful Starforce is in evacuating people but at least Fuegoleon is likely still here."

"They can't have been sent too far away, that kind of large warping will massively decrease the Quirk user's range, and with Nozel's Mercury Quirk quick travel isn't impossible but we've likely lost them for at least 30 minutes." Marx said as he pondered the situation. "That's frustrating but if Asta's here and finds the villain, or if Fuegoleon or another hero knock the villain out for that matter, then we've at least dealt with the issue of the corpses. The creatures are another matter but we can turn our full attention to them if the corpses are no more. As for the fires, they are annoying but there are pros for it and Solid Silva's Quirk could be of use as well, same for his sister Noelle's so long as she has control."

Normally Weiss would have made a comment about that and how Noelle had more control now so fires should be fine so long as there was a good source of water near her but she was busy. That was because while the others were distracted, Ruby had grabbed her hand and pulled her back. That alone was enough to get Weiss's attention and the fact that Ruby didn't let go of her hand only added to it but even as Weiss felt her chest warm and heartbeat pick up for some reason, both of which were not good things in the current situation, so she did her best to ignore them as Ruby showed Weiss her phone screen.

"What is that?" Weiss whispered while the Shiren was explain the sudden change in their forces. "Looks like a location somewhere in Hosu."

"Yes, and it's apparently Midoriya's." Ruby whispered back. "But as you pointed out it's here in Hosu and as far as I can recall he's not supposed to be here."

"Yeah I think he did mention that his internship wasn't in a city, or at least not a major one." Weiss admitted the situation now getting her full attention. "So that is odd. Why would he just send us his location though? That makes no sense."

"No clue but I think it's gotta be important." Ruby said. "He blasted it out to everyone in the class in a mass text."

"Huh, you're right, Midoriya isn't the one to do something like that as a joke or to lure us somewhere, that's what that little gremlin pervert would do." Weiss said thinking on it and what she knew of her green haired, Quirk obsessed, classmate. "Given that it's just a location and that it's in Hosu which is currently on fire, and coupled with Midoriya's habit of getting involved in messy situations, I'm willing to bet that he's in some kind of trouble that he needs help with but can't do more than send us his location. Confusing to most but we're in this city so we have the necessary context for why he'd send such a message."

"Yeah but look, it's a back alley not the main areas and anyone can tell that those areas are on fire." Ruby said zooming out to show Weiss that it really was off the beaten path of Hosu so likely a place that wasn't on fire though it might still be crawling with zombies for all they knew. "I'm thinking that he's found the corpse villain and needs help dealing with the situation. Likely wants Asta but believes he's out of town so just seeing who's nearby to help out. I'm sure that at least one of our classmates is in Hosu right now."

"Ida's here so Midoriya would know that and based on the newspapers about the Hero Killer being present in Hosu I wouldn't be surprised if a few pros that our classmates are interning under showed up to investigate, which is great because that's more unintended help." Weiss said as she tried to understand what Midoriya's plan was. "We should inform the others and see who else is in Hosu."

"No time, let's go ourselves." Ruby said. "We're here and know him better anyway so we can help right away."

"But Ruby, the situation and we're not licensed so…" Weiss began.

"We have to help, he's our friend." Ruby said giving Weiss a pleading look that she really couldn't say no to. "Plus we might be able to find Asta along the way and bring him because he no doubt hasn't checked his phone if he's in the middle of all this chaos."

"Oh very well." Weiss said giving in. "But we need to grab Myrtenaster on the way. Thank you for bringing it even if you dropped it."

"That was necessary to protect you my precious snowflake." Ruby said causing Weiss to flush. "But I am sorry for treating your weapon like that, that wasn't good of me. Let's grab it and then get our of her, we need you at full force to face those zombies. Plus who knows what else might be out there, there might be some lunatic attacking heroes with a katana for all we know and frankly no one knows swordplay like you Weiss."

"Th, thank you Ruby." Weiss said still flushing only now at Ruby's praise and not her nickname for Weiss. "Alright then, let's move before they realize."

Ruby nodded and they quickly dashed for Myrtenaster which was still on the marble floor where Ruby had dropped it after reforming following their escape from the Grimm below Hosu. Weiss would need it and Ruby already had a plan so once they had the sword she would act.

"From what we saw in the Sports Festival, and what Ruby told us, Silva can manipulate and control water but not create it." Blake noted in response to Marx's statement about Noelle Silva's Quirk being of use for the fires all while Ruby and Weiss had their little side conversation. "So provide her with it and I think she'll be fine."

"Miss Silva has had control issues from what I've heard but I do believe that she will be of use there if we can provide her with the necessary amount of water." Marx said as he processed what Blake had said. "Problem is we've just lost up to 10 Quirk Knights and their students so our forces have been depleted and the pros are doing all they can. We need more and Cob's the only one able to bring them in until Finral gets here but we never expected such an attack so the best suited for this are scattered just as the best of your branch is."

"We've gotten complacent under the era of All Might and the power that Julius wields is nothing to sneer at, he has played an important supporting role in this peace ever since he took over from Conrad 10 years ago." Oobleck said and Marx agreed while internally cursing that Julius had been called away on an emergency but the issue he was dealing with might actually be the root of the current one so he couldn't really complain. "So just send us out. I'm a pro Huntsman and I use a flamethrower; these corpses are no match for me. Add in that I have two future Beacon Huntresses with me in the Golden Dragones and Shadow Cat and you've got forces to handle mindless creatures. Oh and Zwei of course."

"Woof." Zwei barked helpfully his tongue lolling out and his tiny bobbed tail wagging happily at the thought of action. "Woof, woof."

"I am aware of Zwei, odd that an animal has a Quirk but Nezu has approved of him for field work so that's fine." Marx said looking down at the excited little corgi and struggling to believe that he was a valuable asset but the reports about Tai's dog had been clear, he could hold his own against Grimm without an issue so the corpses outside shouldn't be a problem. "And yes, I was going to ask for your aid once I got you up to speed with the situation. You've always been best when fully informed Bartholomew so use that intellect to aid us now. I don't doubt that you've been through a lot just to get here but, well…"

"Don't worry, I'm a Huntsman, I know my duty and so long as I can execute it I will." Oobleck said. "I will have to leave the first years with you though. They're not licensed yet and while they can handle Grimm, fighting in a city would get them in trouble if they were to use their Quirks even if neither is the most offensively minded one most of the time. That said, both wield bladed weapons, one of which is also a gun, so they could handle the corpses with them without much issue I feel."

"I would have told you to leave them regardless." Marx said. "We'd need them later for the Grimm anyway so best to have them rest up as much as they can before then even if they'd be of use against the corpses. That and I can clearly tell that Miss Schnee has some kind of head wound so it wouldn't be right to send her into the field without first clearing her and Owen and the medical staff are a little busy at the moment."

"Here that Ruby, you and your girlfriend are going to have to…" Yang began but as she was about to glance over her shoulder she heard the shattering of glass and that got everyone's attention and they turned to it. "…er never mind then. Guess they couldn't wait once the Quirk Knights were warped away."

Marx just blinked as he followed saw small flurries of red and white rose petals that were in the air and leading from a point somewhere behind them to a now broken window that let the screams of Hosu in though said screams were oddly quieter than they had been only moments ago. Of course neither Ruby Rose nor Weiss Schnee were present in the room anymore and anyone with a passing understanding of the former's Quirk would put two and two together about what had just happened.

"This will not look good for you when the dust settles, Bartholomew." Marx noted as he glanced at Oobleck. "You are their supervisor after all."

"I figured." Oobleck said with a sigh though as he was mainly a teacher the reduction in pay he'd get, along with any suspicion from supervising students in the field, wasn't that big of a deal to him as he could just focus more on his teaching and research. "I'm not so surprised with Miss Rose but I am with Miss Schnee."

"Oh this was definitely Ruby's idea." Yang said unhelpfully. "And I get the feeling that Weiss isn't the best at saying no to her so long as Ruby's idea makes some level of logical sense, and Ruby bats her eyelashes at Weiss while saying so. Admittedly, that barrier is lower with Ruby than it would be with anyone else."

"I'm with Yang on this." Blake said. "Looks like we'll have to find them as well."

"Just get out there and help the people of Hosu, we'll deal with all the first years who've used Quirks later seeing as they aren't the only ones who have done so." Marx said with a sigh of resignation. "Right now we need as many trained heroes as we can muster out there restoring order so go, do what you do best."

Oobleck and the girls nodded while Zwei barked happily and they all rushed off to the exit as only Yang and Zwei could safely leap out of a building without Weiss present to help with her glyphs. As they left Marx sighed again and then made his way to the model to coordinate with Shiren while Cob continued his work in the corner.

Things weren't going great in Hosu and Marx had a sneaking suspicion that they were only going to get worse as the night went on. He didn't know how right he was as there was one other danger lurking in the dark of the Hosu night which would, when combined with the rants of Rades, sent irreparable ripples through Japan's Hero Society.

I think that that's a good spot to end this chapter on with the last of the three branches now officially present in Hosu and showing what they were up to from the moment they crashed into the barrier below Hosu right up to the moment they joined in which is around the time that Asta managed to hit Rades in the previous chapter for those of you who are curious. It also means that the convergence is all but complete and so the next chapter, which will return to the usual length after this short chapter, will see it all come to fruition. I'm sure y'all know what that means so I won't say anything more about that and there isn't much more to say about this chapter is it was just the final piece in the long puzzle that is the Hero Killer Arc. As such that it all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM; your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.

Stringdog