A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry for the subdued tone in this beginning author's note, but, as of the time I'm writing this, I have just seen Onward, the latest movie from Pixar Animation, and I absolutely loved it. Now, I know that some of you are wondering why I haven't seen Heroes Rising yet, since 1) it's MHA, why the hell wouldn't I?; and 2) I hear it's actually pretty damn good.

Well, for a couple of reasons. I don't live in an area that actually shows the movie locally, so that's one reason. And, while I would love to experience an MHA movie as a community event, it's also a very personal thing for me, and I'd like to experience it in privacy. That and I probably wouldn't be able to stop myself from screaming out in pure glee.

But, if you're writing off Onward simply because it isn't anime, or it's a Disney property, or even because it feels different from Pixar's other works (which it does, but not in a bad way; it still has the magic there), I promise you that you would be doing yourself a major disservice. If nothing else, I encourage you to at least give it one watch. I'm not sure it'll be for everyone, but I hope you can at least enjoy it as a fun movie.

If you are unfamiliar with what I just wrote about, here's the gist of what you should know going in:

Onward is the story of two brothers in a world where magic has faded over the years, giving way to technology. The hitch of the story is that their father, who died of illness, created a spell that would allow him to visit them for one day. Unfortunately, the spell is only done halfway, leaving the two with only twenty-four hours to find another catalyst to finish the spell before they lose the chance to spend any more time with him forever.

If this catches your interest at all, which I'm not sure it will (the trailers do a much better job at that), I hope you'll see it and enjoy it as much as I did!

Now, with that out of the way:

WARNING! WARNING! PURE, SHAMELESS BIAS INCOMING! WARNING! WARNING!

Onward, after viewing it in theaters, is now my personal favorite Pixar movie. Yes, I am dead serious.

Is it their objective best? No, probably not. Not everyone is going to connect to this movie in the same way that I did, I'm not ignorant enough to think otherwise. But I seriously connected with these characters, especially Ian and Barley. I could seriously relate to Barley's love of the wonderous and weird things in fantasy (although in his world it's just history), and Ian's social awkwardness and confusion about his own place in the world, just trying to fit in.

But the primary reason that I put this movie over so many other great ones, like Monster's Inc, the Toy Story Trilogy, and Wall-E, is this one:

Onward made me, and my mother, break down in tears. Twice. In the span of ten minutes.

Even my previous favorite Pixar movie, Coco, only managed to make me cry once. You know, in the scene where literally everyone cried tears of sheer bittersweet joy when Miguel plays Remember Me for Coco just the way Hector used to and... no, no, I'm okay. I'm good. I'm good.

Now, I know that you guys don't know me personally, but I'm not all that big on heartfelt, emotional things. It's not a 'manly man' face I put on, it's just kinda how I am. For something to get this kind of rise out of me, twice... there's some real heart in this movie. And those last few scenes... man, those last few scenes hit me hard.

TL;DR: Onward is amazing, and I personally recommend it to anyone who's even remotely interested. It may not be as personal for some as it was for me, but I can promise that you'll at least have fun.

Anyways, enough of this! On to the chapter at hand!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image.

Chapter 65: Unexpected Outcomes

Yang sighed to herself as she saw her "guide" traipse off into the woods. She already knew what was likely to happen, what with the fact that the opening of trees she'd stopped in now encircled her position completely. It made for nearly perfect ground to plan a sneak attack around. For those who were unobservant. Luckily, in her months on the road, she had been almost nothing but observant. She had to be. It was probably one of the only reasons that RNJRSIY (she chuckled at the thought of her sister's attempt at a team color name) had lasted as long as they had: consistent, constant vigilance.

Well, that and Qrow had been guarding them since the ports.

She quickly detached the longer flaps that normally hung down to her mid-calves from her jacket, which served to protect her from the stronger winds, as well as her sunglasses, laying them out on Bumblebee 2.0. She swore to whatever gods there were, if this new motorcycle got wrecked for any reason that wasn't either totally epic or absolutely necessary for survival... she had to admit... she was going to be a little pissed.

The blonde brawler quickly worked out the kinks in her neck with a few slow leans, and began to stretch out her arms as well. A quick stretching of her shoulders, elbows, and wrists was all the time she had before she heard the first click of a gun hammer. If it had been at any other time, she may not have noticed it. And even if she hadn't, any weaponry they had would be for short to mid-ranged skirmishes. They weren't prepared to face a huntress with Aura so dense she could take a fully wound-up punch from a Paladin. Of course, she had then proceeded to demolish said Paladin with the assistance of her team, but that was neither here nor there.

The shot zipped by where her head used to be a quarter second prior. It had only missed by the barest of inches, but she had seen it coming a mile away. Given their MO of bandits, they'd probably try to play it off as a warning shot and try to take her in any way.

"Warning shot, blondie," said the man she'd followed. Shay; she thought that was his first name, was a skinny man with long, unkempt, dirty blond hair and gray eyes. He had a stubble around his mouth and was now missing an upper left tooth after she'd clocked him in that gas station for trying to hit on her. Served him right. No one was allowed to woo her but Izuku. And even so, he was rather bad at it. He wore a dark blue and gray jacket with torn sleeves over a long-sleeved shirt, with a red bandana around his neck and a dull grey shoulder pad on his right shoulder. He also wore brown leather fingerless gloves with various straps and brown pants with boots to complete the look. In short, he looked, walked, and sounded, like a bandit. Probably a particularly low ranking one at that.

That and he sounds just a bit too much like Bakugo... if he somehow wasn't oblivious to all things sexual. I know Izuku said that he'd work it out with him, but I'm still pissed at the guy, and I really, really feel the need to blow off some steam!

So, instead of responding immediately, she cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrow to give Shay a look of nonchalant indignation. She let her eyes drift to the edges of the trees as she made out more bandits in a similar state as Shay: skinny, with light to mid caliber weaponry and little to no concept of actual stealth. Seriously, they all wore bright crimson bandannas. It was like they were asking to get spotted.

"... really? I mean... reeeaaally?" She said, fighting to keep the smile off of her face. "You brought a group of twelve people, fully armed, to surround and rob a nineteen-year-old woman? How pathetic are you guys?"

"We're not above having a numbers advantage. We are bandits after all," Shay said, his gun still trained on her forehead. "Besides, I'm still pissed about my tooth. But don't worry. We won't kill you for that. We'll just be taking that bike. And you are gonna take your lumps."

"Oooo, I'm shaking in my combat boots," Yang said with an exaggerated deadpan. "What's your name?"

"Shay. I thought I told you, like, an hour ago," Shay said in confusion.

"No. The full thing. What is it? I want to remember this down to the very last detail. I know some people who could use a good laugh," Yang responded, her right hand now cocked on her hip, the rust-colored bandanna around her scar bound tight and snug. She was going to enjoy this way more than she should.

"Shay D Mann," he said, face as straight as one carved from stone.

…

"... wow, you just made all the insults I'll be throwing your way fifty percent more effective just by saying your full damn name!" Yang said as she struggled to control her laughter.

"Laugh now, you blonde bimbo bitch!" It took all of Yang's willpower not to react to that on the spot, causing her to clench her fist in building anger. "There will come a day when the whole of Eastern Mistral fears that name!" he said, trying to regain the intimidation that he never really had.

"Oh! My apologies, Great Khan of the Eastern Bandits. You've won the intervening War of the Wanderers. You're the big hero, and there's a parade being thrown in your honor in the middle of Mistral itself! Two-Shanks here gets to drive the float! And Scarface over there, is in charge of confetti!"

It took the surrounding members of Shay's posse a full five seconds to lose control of their laughter, even the lackey's she'd picked out, which the aforementioned blonde responded to appropriately. "Would you take this seriously for five fucking minutes?! We are trying to rob you!"

"Yeah... about that... no. No fucking way am I going to take a guy whose actual name is Shay D Mann seriously. Did your parents, like, actually hate you, or something? And taking this seriously is what you want, and I'm not gonna give that to you.

"But! I will do you the courtesy of leaving you conscious to feel the pain I'm about to put you through. Because: One: you tried to hit on me, repeatedly, even after I specifically said that I had a boyfriend. Three. Fucking. Times. And even if I didn't, I thought the message that I wasn't interested in you, in any way whatsoever, would've been rather obvious! The fact that you're missing that tooth now just proves my point; you had it coming! Two: You are, as you just said, trying to rob me, and doing a rather poor job of it. In fact, you're actively failing at this! And Three: you called me a Blonde. Bimbo. Bitch. Now, I am a blonde. It's just genetic, and there's nothing I can do about that. But a bimbo? Really? Have I acted stupid or slutty in any of our interactions? Seriously, tell me now, and I'll gladly be corrected and crush that behavior outright. And my tits aren't that big, jackass! And a bitch? Well... I do throw a mean ass right hook. But if that was sexual in any way, so help me Oum, I will unleash a rage so potent that it will be felt down your family line for generations to come, if you ever manage to live that long. So c'mon, Shay. Make the first move. See how that goes!"

.

..

…

"... boss, I think she's trying to bait us."

"Relax! Most of us have Auras unlocked, and there are twelve of us! I think we've got this!" Shay bellowed. "Now charge her, Oumdamnit!"

Despite the hesitation present in some of the members, they eventually followed orders, the ones with passable melee weapons, ranging from clubs to plain ass short swords, going in for the charge while the ones with passable firearms moved to mid-range to take aim and cover the melee attackers. It was a half-decent strategy. If they had used this on her when she was unprepared, she probably would've taken a few hits. If they got lucky.

Seems Raven's standards are starting to slack, Yang said as she activated the left gauntlet of Ember Celica, parrying a club that was aimed for her shoulder, and kicking out with her right boot, knocking an approaching knife-wielder into the dirt with a dull impact. Her extended fist then rocketed into the club wielder's face with a sharp crack, sending him tumbling to the tree line, skidding to a halt. Two down, ten to go.

The lull that sudden action caused brought with it a silence that caused everyone to freeze. Yang had yet to activate her other gauntlet. The one on the hand she was most proficient with. She'd made that obvious. It was an intimidation tactic. One that was currently working on most of her opponents, seeing as they were definitely hesitating after that first bout. However, Shay, being the arrogant prick that he was, simply shot his pistol at her once again, making her bob to the side in order to dodge the shot, and restarting the fight.

Shay had claimed that most of them had Aura, so she wasn't exactly holding her punches. However, she didn't want to kill anyone either, so she would only punch someone hard enough to knock them out. It was also the reason she had yet to fire a single shot.

Yang dodged the next melee fighter and gave her a solid kick to the ribs before taking her by the collar and hurling her toward two of the gunners, causing them all to collapse like bowling pins. One of them was still conscious, but currently pinned down by the person she'd just thrown, so she turned her attention to the next threat. Four and a half down (that gunner might be up again soon), seven to go.

She then elbowed 'Two Shanks' in the gut, who muttered something about 'bluetards' under his breath before giving him an uppercut right to his chin and breaking his Aura as he landed rather loudly on his back. She briefly gave an inward cringe, noting that landing that roughly probably hurt like hell, before taking a running start at the next gunner, bobbing between her rapid, desperate shots before grabbing the barrel end of the rifle and punching the girl in the throat. With her right hand, of course. This gunner was one of the ones at the very back of the lineup, with only Shay standing behind her, though he had long since moved away from this spot. She'd assumed that she didn't have an Aura to speak of, and planned accordingly. Yang didn't want to crush any windpipes, but she still couldn't let her get the chance to shoot at her.

The sudden, jarring sensation the gunner felt of losing her wind gave Yang the chance to yank the rifle out of her hands and throw it, butt-end first, towards the last of their melee fighters, conking him in the head and knocking him out, breaking his Aura in the process. She then proceeded to duck as another shot rang out, from the gunner she'd managed to pin earlier, as she spotted a sizable rock near where she'd just dodged. Grabbing it, she wasted no time moving to the side and lobbing it at the man, catching him in the head and breaking his Aura, knocking him to the ground once more. The gunner, sprawled to her side and still clutching where her throat had been struck, breathed much easier now, with elongated inhales and exhales, and simply opting to do the smart thing and stay the hell down. Eight down, four to go.

Yang then turned to the remaining bandits. All of them had their weapons trained on her, safeties off and trigger fingers itching to pull. Shay still stood behind them all, pistol still aimed right at her forehead, as though he were waiting for the perfect time to shoot. He'd long since lost his smirk, having it replaced by a look of defiant determination that she hadn't expected from him. His eyes had gained steel that hadn't been there before.

"... alright, then," Yang said, activating Ember Celica's right gauntlet and assuming her standard boxing stance. "Let's make this quick."

The crack of a revolver was all she heard as her head snapped forcefully backwards, almost taking her off her feet. Damn. That Shay guy was actually a bit cleverer than she gave him credit for. He deliberately let her think that he was a bad shot so that the one that knocked her out would be unexpected, and potentially leave her off-balance enough that the rest of them could capitalize. And it had always been headshots with him, so it wouldn't feel out of the ordinary when he aimed there. She's honestly just assumed he'd been cocky enough to aim there and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

A shame, really. If this plan had been against someone with Aura that was about the strength of Weiss', it actually may have worked.

Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for her remaining opponents, Yang's Aura was much, much stronger than Weiss'.

With a loud, bitter laugh, Yang snapped back up, her hair blazing from the anger and excitement that boiled within her, a mad smile crossing her face as her eyes turned from amethyst to a crimson red. She honestly couldn't help it. Earlier, she'd meant it when she said that she'd look back on this and laugh. She still would, but it'd be more of a private chuckle than a torrent of gleeful giggles.

"Well... that was unexpected!" she exclaimed.

The next few movements she made were so quickly that Shay honestly couldn't see them. A flurry of movement, a flash of yellow and red, the sounds of a few impacts, and the next thing he knew, she was right in from of him, in a stance, with her right fist directly beneath his chin. All of his men had been downed, now groaning from the force of her blows, their Auras entirely broken.

"SHO!"

… you have got to be fucking-

"RYUKEN!"

And that was his last thought before the pain hit him like a freight train, the blonde twisting in the air as she performed a fighting move that he'd only seen done in an old arcade machine he'd used to play on when he still lived in Mistral. Even more bizarrely, she'd done it successfully, trailing flames and all. And broken his Aura in the process.

"Whew!" Yang said after landing, shaking out her hand as her hair and eyes returned to normal. "Been working on that one for a while! Now, for those of you who're still conscious: listen up! I'll help you guys patch yourselves up. Shouldn't take any longer than twenty minutes, 'cause I'm ninety... two, percent sure I didn't break any of your bones. In return, you're going to take me to your leader, and I'm going to have a very lengthy conversation with her. Is that understood?"

A chorus of 'yes' came from those who were lucky enough to still have their wits about them. Satisfied, Yang gave them all a quick smile before patting her hands off against each other as she went towards her bike and pulled her backpack from the side, taking out what medical supplies she had on hand and setting to work. Not one of them was either stupid or impulsive enough to try and jump her from behind.

A wise decision. Yang probably wouldn't have held back if they'd tried that, Aura or no. Her father's training, and one too many experiences with Vale's nightlife, taught her to instinctually believe that anyone jumping her from behind meant her serious harm. The Fall of Beacon hadn't helped in that regard. But she shook those thoughts from her mind, and began checking on the injured bandits, her thoughts drifting every so often to what Izuku was up to in Mistral.

(meanwhile, somewhere in Mistral, Izuku's POV)

Izuku was beyond confused at this point. He honestly thought that he'd be training with the others, especially when Ozpin made the announcement that he'd be the one training them while Qrow went on his search for help. He hadn't expected the man to single him out and take him with him.

There were two reasons for this, in truth. The first was that Qrow, as he'd pointed out to everyone earlier, would need some backup on his excursion out to the lower districts, and that he needed to get at least one of them used to how that part of the city worked before they decided to fill in other hunters on what they were planning to do. They'd need to. The crime districts, according to Qrow, was where most of the real power was in Mistral. There was simply no way to avoid using it, at least for long.

The second reason had come from Ozpin himself. Izuku had to admit, it did feel somewhat off-putting to be talking to someone who was previously his headmaster through the body of someone who was both fifteen and a farmhand only a few days prior to this. But he'd explained to Izuku that, due to the currently unpredictable nature of his magic, and the fact that he felt he knew too little about One for All to be an adequate teacher, accompanying Qrow was currently the best course of action.

Izuku didn't have any complaints about this, of course. He'd wanted to visit Mistral for a very long time, and the chance to actually walk the streets and taking the sights, smells, and sounds of the city was something that he was honestly excited about.

This excitement turned to annoyance when the streets were overpopulated with cars eternally stuck in slow traffic, trash spilled out from their metal containers onto the pavement in a few alleyways, and there were people lining the sidewalks as far as the eye could reasonably see. Needless to say, it had the hustle and bustle that could only be associated with a massive, interconnected city. Izuku would've compared it to Vale, but that was like comparing football to grifball. They were two passingly similar, but entirely different, experiences.

"I know this place is a lot," Qrow said with a chuckle, looking right at home in the city they briskly walked through. "I know I certainly felt that way at first. But it ain't so bad, once you're used to it."

"You say that, but I still feel like this place is trying to swallow me up," Izuku answered, slipping through the crowds alongside his teacher. "Where are we going first, anyway?"

"A small diner called The Den. It's basically a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but it's also a place where some of the mid-level hunters gather out of sight, to talk about stuff and maybe discuss partnerships or temporary teams. It's also one of the best places in Mistral to gather information outside of Thoth and Little Ms. Malachite. Word of warning: avoid Malachite like the plague. She's way too dodgy to let get away with information for any kind of reasonable price," Qrow said, taking a left into an alleyway and motioning for Izuku to follow him.

"I'm not sure who that is, but I'll keep it in mind," Izuku replied. He really didn't know much about criminal rings outside of Vale. Even then, he was always more focused on the hunters of the day. And All Might. "The Den sounds like a place like that would get pretty famous after a while. Especially considering the fact that you know where it is," Izuku said. "I'm guessing you've been there before?"

"Yeah. Some of my old friends and I used to come out here a lot. The Vytal Festival was actually held here, back when I was still in school. It was really the only way we could get away from all the media attention that usually gets put on younger hunters who're just graduating. It's basically an unspoken rule that if The Den is ever discovered by the press, the apocalypse probably isn't too far behind," Qrow said, a wistful look on his face as a small smile graced his lips. "Man, those were the days."

The conversation broke off as he scaled the dead-end alleyway with a single jump, landing on the edge of the wall before turning and offering a hand to the green-haired inheritor. Izuku, after activating Full Cowl, quickly jumped after him, grabbing the man's arm and allowing himself to be pulled up to the roof.

The Den lived up to its namesake, being a hole-in-the-wall, diner-type establishment that Izuku honestly would've looked over several times if Qrow hadn't brought him directly here. Currently, they were looking for hunters to bolster their forces and prepare for Salem's inevitable attack on Mistral. The green-haired inheritor had no idea how, or if, they were going to convince hunter to both defend the city from an inevitable attack and convince everyone they managed to find to keep it a secret. After all, three can keep a secret if two are dead and the last is cursed to only speak in spoonerisms. Or something like that.

The interior was as nondescript as the exterior. A placid, simple coloration of a dark shade of tan, with various homemade wooden chairs and tables scattered about the place, none matching or conforming to any particular style. It seemed almost as bizarre as it was normal. Izuku felt an immediate sense of comfort when he entered. He wasn't entirely sure why. Warm feelings like this oftentimes reminded him of his father. He wondered if, perhaps, his dad had once come here with Qrow to do something as mundane as getting drunk. Sometimes those thoughts would've evolved into things like wondering about the type of alcohol and how much he would take.

But those thoughts were wiped from his mind when the warm feeling suddenly disappeared. The place looked barren, with only a single patron, who looked to be drunk off his ass, if the alarming number of bottles were any sort of hint, and the bartender, balding and simply clothed, absentmindedly cleaning a glass behind the empty bar.

Qrow looked as concerned as Izuku felt, stepping over to the bar as he motioned for the green-haired inheritor to wait at the door. Quietly, Izuku did as he was silently asked, keeping an ear out to the bar as he sat at the table closest to the entrance. He wasn't the best at this, not by a long shot, but Qrow had showed him a few basic tricks. How to find the best place to keep an eye on a room, how to not arose suspicion from that same spot, etc.

As Qrow sat at the bar, the man behind the counter looked up briefly, saying, "Well. I was wondering when you were gonna show up, Reaper. Didn't expect it to be so soon, though."

"Neither did I, to be entirely honest. But that's not what I'm here about, Lucas. I'm looking for Shiro," Qrow said in a hushed tone, aimlessly fiddling about with the wooden bar surface.

"Which one? Because Emiya's still out in the far reaches of Vacuo if you're looking for him," Lucas said nonchalantly.

Izuku almost did a double-take at the man, taking almost all of his self-control to stay in place. Shirou Emiya? This guy knew the Shirou Emiya? The same Shirou Emiya who, years ago, had stopped a superweapon so immediately dangerous that All Might had been called in before the situation was handled? The same Shirou Emiya with no proper hunter training, but immense talent and an incredibly versatile and powerful semblance that allowed him to project weaponry at will, when he was only sixteen? That Shirou Emiya?

Qrow gave a sigh, saying, "No, I'm not. It's a shame, really, but he refuses to abandon that place. I don't blame him for that. I probably wouldn't either, in his position. I'm just happy he's got his wife with him, to keep him from doing something too stupid or self-sacrificial. And anyone who stands in her way... well, they didn't call her "Tohsaka the Merciless" for nothing. But as much as I'd like that guy to have our backs right now, I'm looking for Shiro Wan. I've got something I need his help with."

"Well... shit. You seriously came at the wrong time, son."

"What do you mean?"

"Shiro got a big contract about a week ago. You were still recovering, and he gathered everyone he could find for the job."

"Which job?"

"... Mount Natagumo. They took the Mount Natagumo job."

"... that stupid, idiotic, braindead motherfucker! That job's practically a death sentence!" Qrow said, slamming his fist slamming into the wooden finish of the bar as he finished his exclamation.

"He thought the number of Grimm had thinned out enough that it might actually be doable. He was careful about this. He scouted out that mountain for days. He believed, with all his heart, that if there was ever a time to do the Natagumo job, it'd be now. It's the reason that so many people agreed to go with him."

After a few moments, when the tension was so palpable that Izuku could feel it begin to spread, Qrow sighed, and pulled out his scroll. "Who'd he take with him?"

"Practically everyone that frequents this place. Griffin, Raine, Kriess, Altham, Vaccaro, even Lunsford."

As he said their names, Qrow began crossing them from the list he'd made the day previous. Now, it had been filled to the brim with crossed-out names, to the point that Izuku could make out only one that wasn't. "... so... what's up with Shields, then? Any idea where she is?"

"She's dead."

…

"... Heather's dead?" Qrow said in disbelief. Izuku was practically in shock. To just say something like that, so unceremoniously, so casually... Lucas must've seen a lot of death in his day. "But that's... Oum, when did this happen?"

"About a month ago. She decided to take a job further north, near a place called Brunswick. Went alone. They sent a recovery team after two weeks of silence, but they never made it back. The entire area's been declared off-limits until further notice. I'm sorry."

Qrow, wordlessly, stood from the bar, and motioned for Izuku to follow him, not bothering with trying to be subtle anymore. Izuku, quite frankly, agreed with this attitude, not bothering to soften his steps as his boots echoed against the floor, the door closing behind him with a quiet click.

Qrow let out an exasperated sigh, clenching his fist as though preparing to punch something. Then, he let it go, ad took a deep breath. "Well... that was depressing. I'm sorry you had to see that, kid."

"Don't be," Izuku said. "I was going to have to see this side of hunter's work eventually. I... I get that it's not all Grimm hunting and stopping famous crooks. Hell, All Might's first lesson was that 'heroes don't always wear capes or wield complex weaponry.' But this is just the world we live in. Especially nowadays. All Might would've had to tell me about this eventually. I just... found out on my own, instead.

"... gotta say, kid, I didn't expect you to react this way," Qrow answered honestly. "I thought you'd be adamant about never using it at all."

"I probably would've. Before Beacon..." Izuku sighed to himself, unable, and unwilling, to finish his sentence. It was true. Before Beacon fell, he really would've been adamant about never using the darker, more grey-tinged parts of the hunter world. He was not so naïve anymore. Sure, if anyone else asked, his eyes were still filled to the brim with the same light he'd had in the old days. Still, that same light had lost some of the luster it once held. Beacon had taken its toll on everyone they knew. It was worse for some than it was others, and Izuku had certainly gone through a lot, but one thing was certain: no one who lived through that tragedy would ever be the same.

"Changing the subject... we still need to find some people to help us defend this place from the attack. Since all the mid-levels are gone, we're gonna have to go to some of the more organized groups," Qrow said.

"And... where are we going first, exactly?" Izuku asked.

"The best damn bar in Anima. Seventh Heaven."

(twenty minutes later, Seventh Heaven, Izuku's POV)

The place they arrived at was humble in its appearance, and, due to the hour, devoid almost entirely of customers. It was primarily comprised of a smooth, humble wood whose coloration reminded him of oak, with a large sign above the entrance reading "Seventh Heaven" in a bright yellow. While the other buildings were no less finely crafted, most were comprised of stone or brick, giving the place a unique sense that it was somewhere you could unwind and relax. An appropriate atmosphere to have for a bar.

As they entered through the single door, a bell ringing from the top to signify their arrival, Izuku took stock of the interior. The lightning had a slight auburn coloration, making the place feel warm and safe. There were a few tables and chairs scattered about, all within the same style, contrasting The Den's mishmash of furniture significantly, while a bar took up most of the far wall, with stool symmetrically lined in front of it.

As before, there was a bartender behind the bar, absentmindedly wiping a glass clean of precipitation. Unlike the previous bartender, however, this one was both far younger and far more appealing to the eye. She was clearly beautiful, with softer features than most women her age, and long brown hair so dark that it nearly appeared to be black at the right angle, trailing down to her mid-back. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties, with a figure that would've been far more suited for a supermodel than a bartender, though the definition in her muscles, subtle though it was, was enough to give away the fact that she was more than likely used to fighting. Her clothing was mostly black leather, the bottom of a white tanktop peeking out from beneath her zipped up leather vest, exposing only the slightest bit of her midriff, with leather shorts that hung just above her knees and a leather skirt with a back portion that trailed all the way down to her ankles. Black leather boots and fingerless leather gloves completed her ensemble.

Most striking about his woman, however, as her attention flickered to the doorway, was her eyes. They were wide, filled to the brim with patience and maturity. They were also strikingly, hauntingly, ruby red. It was almost the same coloration that Yang's eyes took when she used her semblance or suddenly became emotionally distressed or particularly angry.

He wasn't sure why, but the familiarity he sensed from her wasn't due to just her eyes having a similarity to Yang's. Izuku had definitely seen her before, but he just couldn't place where. Maybe on TV, at some point? She probably had the training to be huntress, that much was identifiable from her physique, and the fact that she never had her back to the entrance of her bar. Who was she though? It was on the tip of his tongue, he could swear to Oum on that much...

Then, after a brief moment, the woman broke into a wide smile, placing the glass down as she practically leapt over the bar and nearly tackled Qrow into a bear hug.

"Holy shit, you're back! Where've you been, Feathers?" the woman said, her voice just a touch deeper than Izuku had expected, yet all the more soothing for it.

"Mostly hopping around the continents. I'd heard you rebuilt the place, but I wasn't expecting a total overhaul. Where'd you get the Lien for this?" Qrow asked.

"Oh, we have our ways..." the brown-haired woman said, a gentle, but still snarky, grin spreading across her lips. Then, her eyes flickered to Izuku. "Who's the kid? I thought you said, and I quote: 'the lakes of fire in the deepest pits of hell will freeze to tundra before I even consider taking on an apprentice.'"

"Erm..." Izuku said, clearly feeling a bit awkward.

The woman gave a slight chuckle as she relaxed, whispering, "Geez, he's too easy," in a good-natured tone. "Don't worry, kid. I know who you are. Izuku Midoriya, right? Nice to meet you," she continued, sticking her hand out for a shake.

"I-it's nice to meet you too. Erm... I'm afraid I don't quite know who you are. I mean, I kinda think I do, but I can't seem to remember from where," Izuku said, half to himself and half to the woman whose hand he was shaking. It was a bizarre experience, the first time around. Qrow, having grown used to such eccentricities from those bearing the last name Midoriya, gave a wry smile, happy to see something relatively normal out of the kid.

"Ah! Well, I suppose I should've introduced myself first. Well, better late than never, I suppose," the woman said. "I'm Tifa Lockhart. I think I might've been on TV once or twice, so I wouldn't be that surprised if you've heard of me."

"Understatement of the fuckin' century," Qrow muttered to himself, the same wry smile still on his face.

And suddenly, everything, literally everything, clicked into place for him. His mind flashed to various parts of her hunter career. How she'd started out as a member of the mercenary group AVALANCHE and eventually been given official hunter certification for being a part of the massive, eight-member team to handle a continent-wide crisis almost nine years back. It was one of the only ones that All Might hadn't been able to handle himself, mainly due to the reappearance of a massive school of Moldugas in Vacuo that had threatened to bury the main city in sand and death at the same time. That team had long since scattered across Remnant, but tales of their exploits persisted to this day.

And the reason Izuku had so suddenly thought Tifa was familiar, but hadn't been able to put a name to her face, was that he used to have a massive, semi-obsessive, unrequited celebrity crush on the woman for several months. Once he'd moved past it, it embarrassed him to the point that he tried to forget the experience altogether.

Still, Tifa continued talking, despite the cavalcade of emotions fighting a subtle, but noticeable, battle across Izuku's face. "You look a fair bit different, but I saw you fight in the Vytal Festival. You made one hell of a show. Cloud was actually pretty impressed, and that's saying a lot."

"Speaking of blondie, I heard you two finally got hitched a couple years ago. That true?" Qrow asked as Izuku finally managed to reign in his emotions and took one of the empty seats as he began to properly organize himself again.

"Yeah. It... it took a while, but we're finally there," Tifa replied, her gaze falling down to her left ring finger as she fiddled lovingly with the silver band upon it, a stark contrast to the one with the engraved wolf's head on her right middle finger. "It feels strange. But it also feels... right."

"I'll say. I literally swore to whatever gods there were if you two hadn't properly hooked up by the next time I saw you, I'd lock you in a room and tell you to either fuck or talk. Or both. Seriously, there was just... so much sexual and romantic tension there. By Oum," Qrow said, somewhat exasperated.

"Eh. Only took you seven years to swing by," Tifa replied.

"Thought you two could use the courtesy," Qrow backfired.

"Erm... how do you two even know each other?" Izuku asked.

"Oh. Well, I actually used to frequent this place, back when the original structure was still standing," Qrow explained. "I actually took a couple of casual jobs, and they tagged along. Got to talking, and suddenly, two years go by, and I'm actually in a damn routine for once.

"Actually, where's Cloud at? I thought he'd be around. Most of the mid-level jobs are either done or in progress, so..." Qrow said, trailing off as he suddenly realized what time of year it was. "... oh. Shit. It's... Oum, I can't believe I forgot."

"... he still goes. To the church and the mountainside. Every year. I go with him most of the time, but this time... it seemed like something he had to do on his own. He actually asked to go alone, this year. I didn't like it, but I let him go. He'll be back in a day or two. Just... don't be too surprised if he seems a bit melancholy," Tifa said.

Despite his extreme curiosity, Izuku decided to neglect asking the obvious question. It was obviously sensitive. And private. He wouldn't ask who it was. Or when. Or how. Or why. It wasn't his business. No matter how much he wanted to know, the subject of death was never an easy thing to broach, even with the most stable of people.

"... well, it at least sounds like he's doing better. Say hi to him for me, yeah?" Qrow asked.

"Sure," Tifa said. "I think he'll be happy to see you again. You've got a place in the upper ring now, yeah?"

At Qrow's raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "Lucas stopped by a couple days ago. Said you were back, but didn't know for how long. I didn't want to get my hopes up, and you seemed pretty damn busy."

"I mean, you're not wrong," Qrow said as Izuku's eyes trailed from the wall to the corkboard, flitting through the various flyers until one in particular caught his eye. As Qrow's conversation with Tifa continued, laying out just how screwed they were in terms of a lack of assistance, Izuku scanned the flyer over and over again, to make sure he was reading the thing correctly.

It read: 'Come one, come all, to the Merry Men Mercenary Company! We're currently hiring record keepers, bartenders, and fighters of all kinds! Hope to see you in the woods!' Throughout were a few pictures of nondescript hunters, each wielding weaponry, though the most prominent one held a bow with an arrow knocked and aimed at the sky, outlined in a bright green. The address was near the bottom of the flyer, reading 'Located at Sherwood Guild Hall.'

But Izuku knew the name from somewhere. He couldn't forget how he knew it, or why. It was almost a charity, rather than a mercenary group. They were quite charitable with all of the extra money they'd managed to accumulate over the years, giving to the lower districts who couldn't provide for themselves in the long term. The M3C were so famous that they were almost synonymous with Mistral itself. It was also the original employment place of Ella Glass, the true name for the woman whose alias was Cinder Fall. He had to follow up on his research. It was decent, but it wasn't nearly as good as actually getting the information firsthand.

"Qrow? Why don't we try here?" Izuku asked, looking back to the feather-haired man as he pointed to the flyer he'd been inspecting so thoroughly.

"... I... I don't know, Izuku. They're good people, certainly better than me, but..." Qrow trailed off, his eyes almost clouding over as he slipped into memory for just a second.

"But?" Izuku asked.

"... well, first of all, I'm pretty sure she's still pissed at me, if nothing else," he said with a chuckle devoid of mirth. "That, and... look, I knew the guy who started that place. He was one of the best friends I've ever had."

"I don't see the problem-"

"Izuku," Qrow said, firmly, turning in his seat and giving him a stare that could stop a bull in its tracks. "I haven't been back to the M3C since Hisashi died."

And any objections that Izuku had suddenly died on his tongue. Tifa's eyes quickly found themselves busy with studying the floor. The green-haired inheritor remained frozen from the genuine shock. Qrow remained where he was, unmoving. There was a single, undeniable implication that his words implied. His father was connected to the M3C. Either through association or direct membership. Officially, much of his father's records had been sealed, and he couldn't access anything beyond his title and the records of the weapons he preferred. This... this could change a lot.

But Qrow clearly had a past with the M3C. Judging by his reaction to the suggestion of working with them, it likely hadn't ended well.

"... Qrow. We don't really have any other options," Izuku said. "As far as we know, they're the only ones with both the motivation, and the resources, to do something like this.

"I don't know what your connection to them is. I don't know what my dad's connection to them was. But that doesn't matter right now. We need all the help we can get, and right now, we can't afford to not at least ask. If you don't want to talk to them... I'll understand. You clearly have some history with them. But I'm still going. And if you're willing, I'd really appreciate it if you came along. You know a lot more about this stuff than I do."

…

"... anyone ever tell you that you're way too damn convincing, when you need to be?" Qrow said, raising his head and stretching his neck, audible pops coming from him as he did so. "Alright. I guess it's about time I went back there, anyway."

"You sure?" Tifa asked. The question wasn't accusatory, or hostile. She simply waited for confirmation that he was really ready to do this.

"Yeah. I've been running away from a lot of things, in the past twenty years. It's time I started facing some of that stuff," Qrow said, then looking to Izuku and continuing, "I think I still remember the way to the place. C'mon."

As Izuku followed the red-eyed reaper out of the bar, he glanced back for the briefest moment, to see Tifa waving goodbye, with a smile on her face that could only mean a simple, yet all the more meaningful, expression.

'Thank you.'

(meanwhile, the house, Oscar's POV)

"Left hook!"

I can see it, Oz! Oscar thought to his counterpart as they sparred hand-to-hand with Ruby, whose punch he had just blocked with his own outstretched palm. He quickly tried for a follow-up attack of his own, only to have it blocked by Ruby's forearm. He countered this with an attempted headbutt, but quickly found himself on the ground when she darted to the side and managed to get his legs out from under him with a quick sweep of her booted foot, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"That was... the single worst counter-attack... ever. Of all time."

Don't give me that! I haven't been at this for nearly as long as you. Oscar thought as he stood once again. Falling onto your face, even with Aura activated, still hurt a lot. With Oscar's level of inexperience, a fall like that almost broke his concentration entirely. He was getting better, but the improvement was slow going.

"So... do you want me to step in?"

How would that help me get better?

"It won't. Well, not immediately. If your body continues to acclimate to the presence of my soul, then you'll begin to inherit my muscle memory at a far greater rate. That isn't to say that you shouldn't continue to try and improve on your own, but it will be a great deal of help. That, and I need to teach Ms. Rose a very valuable lesson about combat that she seems to have not taken to heart quite yet."

And that is?

"That you cannot dodge forever. If she learns nothing else from this, she should learn what it's like to get hit and keep fighting. She'll never be Yang in terms of hand-to-hand, but it's something that everyone needs to learn eventually. Especially in a hunter's line of work."

.

..

...

… you're just tired she keeps managing to dodge most of what I'm throwing at her, aren't you?

"By the brothers, it is so painful to watch."

Well... alright. Go ahead. It's not like I'll make much more progress anyway.

"Thank you," Ozpin said as they swapped positions, Oscar's eyes glowing amber before settling into a greener hue, signaling the switch in 'pilot.'

"Well, Ms. Rose, that was decent display... for a bare beginner," Ozpin said, his old voice blending with Oscar's before settling on the boy's normal tone of voice. "Now... let's see how you fare against an opponent you cannot avoid."

Ruby suddenly looked rather sheepish, and even a bit afraid. She was no longer facing a farm boy fresh out of the countryside. She was now facing one of the most experienced combatants in all of Remnant. And that prospect, understandably, scared the crap out of her.

"O-oh! Erm, maybe we should take a break-"

"Ms. Rose, you aren't even winded, and I need no such rest as Oscar might. Standard rules apply. Nothing that's too painful or can't be recovered from quickly, no shots to sensitive organs, and the first to take four of seven is out. Now then...

"Let's begin."

(meanwhile, the Branwen Tribe Encampment, Raven's POV)

It had been a long week. A very long, very stressful, week. First had been the appearance of even more Grimm. They were used to dealing with them, at this point, especially after Raven had finally returned from Beacon, with all of the knowledge that entailed her time there. The second was the interference of that mercenary group, the Merry Men Mercenary Company. If she'd actually managed to get Weiss Schnee into her custody, she could've racked up a fortune in ransom fees from either her family or the White Fang. She didn't want to deal with a man like Jacque, but the man was practically made of money. Money that the clan needed desperately. She wanted to deal with The White fang even less. They were out for blood, especially these days. But that Lien... Raven didn't know what would've happened to the girl, but she convinced herself that the Lien would've been worth it. Even if she hated herself even more for going through with it.

The third, and final thing, only causing her headache to worse, and making her wish desperately for a fresh pot of tea, was the news on Vernal's lips. The young woman looked to be in her early twenties, with tan-colored skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm, and wore a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appeared to spike up behind her neck. She also wore maroon-colored pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh, along with dark brown knee guards that went down to her brown boots.

Sucking a breath in through her nose, and running her hands over her forehead to make the aching dissipate for the barest of moments, Raven turned to her long time apprentice and asked, in as controlled a voice as she could manage, "What did you just say?"

"A blonde woman's come into the camp. Has Shay's team with her. Beat 'em to a pulp with barely any effort, if what they're saying is true. She... asked for you, specifically," Vernal answered, suddenly nervous from Raven's restrained tone.

Raven sighed, sweeping her bangs out of her face as she reassured Vernal, "Relax. It's not your fault. It's just been one thing after another this week. The Grimm, those fucking mercenaries and now..."

She didn't continue. Only five people in all of Remnant could walk into her camp like this and have the audacity to ask for her directly. Summer and Odin were both dead, Qrow wouldn't come to ask her fr an audience if the world were starting to end, and Taiyang... she wasn't sure what Taiyang would ever come to the camp for, and that honestly terrified her. So, that left Yang Considering the description, brief though it was, it could only be her.

So, she stood from her place on the rough wood flooring, and reached for her helmet. Then she stopped herself. No. If she came out there bearing a mask, Yang would most try to shatter it. She probably could, too. Reluctantly, she let her helmet rest on its mantle, feeling somewhat exposed without the comfort it had begun to provide her after all these years.

Raven emerged from her tent without her swords. She would not do battle this day, and the whole tribe would know that. Gathered around the entrance to her tent were many of the members she had picked up over the years. Those who had survived the wilds for years without any semblance of a home. Faunus and human alike. She honestly had no care for who descended from whom or any of the bullshit racial politics that had pervaded everywhere she'd been in her travels, with the only seeming exception being Vacuo. She took a similar approach to her tribe as she did the desert dwellers. As far as she was concerned, if you could survive the wilds, and meant her people no harm, you were welcome in her camp.

In the center of it all, at the base of where her eyes lay, was her daughter. Yang. It had been some time since she had laid eyes on her. Her hair was the same length that it had been when she'd last visited Patch. Her right arm was out of its sling and without the masse of bandages she had seen adorning it before, though a bright orange bandanna was covering a large section of her bicep. Likely where the cut had been made.

She flickered away from the bandanna and instead focused on her daughter, meeting her eyes. They were ruby red. Almost a reflection of her own eyes. But there was something burning in there. Quite literally. A flicker, every few seconds, giving off the distinct presence of a flame concealed behind her iris. Yang was, quite literally holding back her rage, and it showed. Her frame was taut and ready for a fight. An attitude that wasn't unwarranted. Their ruthless reputation was well earned. They had killed before. It wasn't pleasant, and no one in her tribe, to her considerable knowledge, enjoyed it. They did what they had to for the sake of survival.

But, it seemed that her daughter's tension came from an entirely different source of anxiety.

"Raven. We need to talk," Yang said, moving closer before her people began drawing weapons. Raven held up her hand, stopping them from attacking as Yang reached to stairs up to her tent. She knew this day would come, one way or another. It was a day she had dreaded for nearly twenty years. But it was here. And no amount of delays were going to keep it at bay any longer.

"... yes. I believe we do," Raven replied, silently leading the way inside her tent as her daughter followed with tension in her back and fire barely contained in her still red eyes.

(meanwhile, Sherwood Guild Hall, Izuku's POV)

Izuku wasn't sure what he was expecting Sherwood Hall to look like. From the general attitude of the group at large, he expected something humble in design, but still large enough to house their considerable numbers. He was not expecting the place to be three stories tall with music of a folksy type echoing out of it while it sounded like a party was going on inside.

"Huh. I knew they'd expanded over the years, but... damn, he really managed to pull it off," Qrow said to himself, just as surprised by the place's size as Izuku was. It was primarily comprised of a large number of wooden logs colored a deep, forest green, with windows lining all three of the floors and warm light spilling freely from them, and a large sign that read 'Sherwood Guild Hall' in a fancy black script. Despite this, however, it gave off a pleasing air of humble welcome, like you could walk right in, laugh, joke, and drink with anyone inside, and no one would mind in the slightest.

Izuku felt his lips curl into a small smile. One that he didn't bother trying to hide. He hadn't had many reasons to smile on the road, and he wanted to savor the ones that came his way. He suspected that, eventually, he might not have so many later on.

"Guess it's time. C'mon," Qrow said, beckoning to Izuku as he led the way inside. To entrance had two swivel doors made of oak, like the ones you'd find on some bars, only larger, and made to be sturdy. They swung open without much resistance, and Izuku's senses were immediately assaulted by the diversity of sounds, sights and smells that comprised the place. Music echoed from a far corner of a room, with a band holding medieval era instruments and playing a similarly dated tavern tune. Voices spread words out in a loud rush of chatter, a thousand conversations and topics on a hundred different lips.

Slipping inside without much notice, Qrow glanced to the side, and gave Izuku a reassuring smile. "I'm gonna go find the guy who's in charge of this place. In the meantime... relax for a bit. It's been a long day."

"Erm... okay," Izuku said, legitimately surprised that Qrow would tell him to do that.

"Hey, last time I was here, this place was basically a hangout for outcasts and oddballs. Not much seems to have changed in that regard, but do be careful. Otherwise... have fun," Qrow said with an exaggerated salute, quickly weaving his way through the crowd and towards the stairway, leaving Izuku in the hall.

The green-haired inheritor understood what his mentor was trying to do. Really, he did. The last few weeks had been incredibly stressful, despite the short reprieves that they had. However, one thing that definitely hadn't changed with Izuku was this: he hated, hated, hated crowds, especially if he had to deal with them alone. They made him want to curl up into a ball and hope no one noticed as he had a bit of a mental breakdown in complete silence.

He had more composure than that, but he was still very uncomfortable, so he stayed to the side of the room, keeping his hood covering his face as he made his way to one of the corner tables as another song began to play in the background.

Eventually, he managed to find a relatively isolated table, and sat at it, his back to the corner of the room, with Tempest leaning on the nearby wall. It was a bit unwieldy to sit with the weapon holstered, especially in straight-backed chairs, so he started to get into the habit of leaving the weapon to the side, but well within his reach.

After a few minutes of waiting, patiently sitting there, watching the tavern-goers walk by in a swirl of diverse shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, slowly but surely, bit by bit, he became more comfortable. After a while, he even felt confident enough to pull his hood down. He did still finger at his half-mask, though.

"You new here?" a man's voice said from the side. Izuku turned his eyes to him, and looked him up and down. He dressed simply, but practically, with leather boots and archers' gloves adorning his limbs while his pants and shirt were a mixture of greys and greens. He wore a simple cloak that covered most of his body, though he left the hood down, exposing a face with sharp angles, fair skin, narrow green eyes, and short auburn hair with a short beard to finish the look.

"Yeah. I'm just waiting for a friend of mine to finish up some business," Izuku said.

"Mind if I join you, then? Must be a bit boring, just sitting here by yourself," the man offered, a gentle, genuine smile on his face.

"Well... not really. I mean, sure, I'm not really talking to anyone, but it's pretty interesting to see all these different people interact. I haven't seen a lot of that," Izuku answered.

"Well... that's Mistral for you. Despite a lot of progress, some people just... refuse to let go of grudges. I can't entirely blame them. The Faunus war only ended a scarce twenty-two years ago," the man said, slipping into a seat. Izuku didn't object. In truth, it was comforting to have someone to talk to about... well, something. He could only do people watching for so long. "Still, I think the fact that some people use that war as justification for an attitude towards an entire species... oh! There I go again. I'm sorry. I get carried away sometimes."

"It's alright. I know the feeling," Izuku said, a sheepish smile on his own face. It had reminded him of his own rants, in a way. "I usually got way too excited about hunters and weaponry and stuff. It can be... well, problematic."

"Heh. You've got that right," the auburn-haired man said. There was a brief moment, a flicker between seconds, when his eyes glowing a sudden white under his hood, drifting to Izuku's cloak before snapping back to his face. It was so sudden that Izuku thought it was a trick of the light. There weren't a lot of people with optical semblances, and the ones who did were often fairly notable.

"Say... where'd you get that cloak? I haven't seen many like it, but I remember a guy who used to wear one that looked like it," the man said. His voice and smile were friendly, but there was something there that felt... accusatory. As though he may have stolen it.

"... it was my father's," Izuku said. He tried to look normal but failed. The feeling of loss, of missing a man he'd never met... it always came unexpectedly. Especially whenever he talked about the man at any length.

The auburn-haired man was silent for a moment. The green-haired inheritor could hear the gears ticking and clunking along inside his head. Then, realization came to his face. And he asked, "Was... was his name Hisashi? Hisashi Midoriya?"

"Yeah. I'm Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

Suddenly, the man's hand was on his shoulder, and his hood had been pushed back, allowing his face to be revealed. His hair was shoulder length and tied back in a tail, though some stray strands framed his face. He had a hard look to him, with stubble that looked rough to touch, with a sharp jaw and nose contrasting his softer cheekbones. What stood out the most, however, were his eyes. They were grey in nature, and narrow, but they seemed bright all the same. Izuku knew this man. He'd seen the man's picture when he'd been researching Ella Glass, in addition to the times he'd come across reports of assistance and charity relating to the city of Mistral.

"My name's Robin. Robin Hood. We have... a lot to discuss."

A/N: So... this took a lot longer to write than I wanted it to. To be entirely honest, I wanted it to be even longer than it already is! Like, a lot longer. Unfortunately, that plan would've taken me way longer to write and edit. As much as I would've liked to do that, needless to say, that just wasn't gonna happen. And what with COVID-19 basically leaving me stuck at home five days out of my week, finding the motivation to write hasn't been easy. This eventually became what I mentally dubbed "The Chapter from Hell," even though it's probably my favorite one so far.

So, this is the first half of what was originally intended to be a much, much longer chapter. Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! I look forward to getting the second one out to you guys as soon as I can! And now:

Review Responses:

wyattbillings63: I know! I actually have a session of D&D planned for today, but we're doing it online instead of in person. It's weird, not sitting at a table and doing it that way.

Guest-Questioner: Ah, Limes, the tamer and basically softcore versions of Lemons. Yes, I am aware of them. I might include some Lime-flavored scenes in this story, but it really just depends on whether or not they'd feel appropriate or add anything meaningful. And yes, I am going to strive to keep writing this despite the mass quarantine measures. It's not going as well as I hoped it would, but I'll strive to keep writing regardless.

Guest: You too!

DragonSlayerMax: It took way more time than I wanted to actually write this thing out fully. I was going through a serious case of writers block at the literal home stretch. Thankfully, I've overcome that, and I hope that this chapter was worth the wait.

Thunder Dragon: Yep! I actually really like mystical weapons, and Ruyi Jingu Bang is simple in concept, being a size changing pillar and all, but it's surprisingly versatile in practice. I've actually seen one adaptation of the weapon from God of Highschool (which is amazingly ridiculous and awesome) where it actually become the stage for an entire battlefield.

Kaiser Dragon: Eventually. There's still some stuff that has to happen before then. I want all the relationships that happen in this series to have a believable progression, whether they're platonic or romantic. Either way, I'll do my absolute best to make that happen.

Ikki: We'll just have to wait and see about that.

Madmagusmax: That is true, and while there will be some teasing involved, I think most of them are just going to be like: "Finally!" Though I will have no limit on how much Shoto will tease him.

Next Chapter: May 29th

Seeya in the next one!