Hey.  Been a while.

You ever listen to a song, only to have a scene burst, fully realized, into your head?  I did, back in 2017.  Problem was, the scene in question was part of a crossover fic that I wasn't writing.  Not an early part, either, but very very late.

I tried on and off to write the story for years.  I must've tried to write the first scene a dozen times, but it never worked out.  It doesn't help that the primary setting isn't really my thing, and part of it is that I just didn't have the energy.

Couple of nights ago, I listened to the song again.  The same scene hit again... but I was feeling inspired.  It was like being a dorf in a strange mood.  The words would not stop. Two hours later, I had the whole scene typed out.  Figured I'd share.

This is the song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gjg3Ib-y54

*******************

The door to the Atlesian airship opened with a heavy thunk, Roman Torchwick sauntering out onto the deck as if he didn't have a care in the world.  "Terribly sorry, kid, but you won't be winning the day this time, whoever you are.", he monologued, looking off at the battles raging through Vale.  "There's far more going on", he continued, spinning on his heel as he waved a hand dramatically at the carnage, "-than any one Hunter can-"

Yep, he didn't even look at me.  Oh, this is gonna feel GOOD.

Roman gaped, poleaxed for a moment, before regaining his composure.  "Y-you sure you wanna do this, kid?", he snarked, lowering his cane to the ground.  "From what I hear, you're not exactly top of the class over at Beacon.  Tell you what- this ship's got a few Bullheads on it.  If you wanna get on one, go back down there, and go be a hero with the rest of the class, go right ahead.  I won't stop you.  'Case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of the biggest Grimm attack in history.  Do you really need ME", he said, motioning with one hand to his still-impeccable white suit jacket, "to make it worse for you?" 

I just grinned and planted my feet.  One hand reached up, grabbing a handle on my vest.

Roman scowled.  "Stupid monkey... I GAVE you a chance!"  His cane lifted again- aiming at the ground in front of me- planning a warning shot?- as he settled into a stance.  "What makes you think you can fight a master criminal like me?"

I pushed in on the handle, twisting it.  With a short electronic chirp, the gravity engine deactivated.  "You said it couldn't get any worse, right?", I growled out, a feral grin on my face.  "Good."  My hands came down, fists clenched in front of me.

Roman looked at my stance... then stood up and laughed.  "Th- ha!- that trick?  HA!  You think that- hehheh- SCREAMING a bit will- heh- actually help you?"  He snorted, brushing back his bangs with his free hand.  "Stupid monkey... we know all about your Semblance.  Doubling your power?  Don't make me laugh!  Twice nothing is still nothing!"

My grin just widened.  "Let's test that, then."

Then I reached into my spirit, and began to yell.  "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...."

The air on the deck- kept still by some Atlesian technomagic, no doubt- began to whip around us.  My Aura- my ki- flared to life, going from intangible to a visible glow.

Roman blinked.  "Huh.  He's not stopping.  I didn't know he could do that."

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...."

The airship began to shudder under us, the deck quaking.  Even over the rushing winds, we could hear the groans and screeches as the metal below us began to bend.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"

"Seriously, kid, this is getting rea-GAH!" Roman reached for his suit pocket, just before it exploded.  The burnt remains of his scroll were picked up by the wind, never touching the ground.  My own joined it- no big loss.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

As my ki reached its peak, the overstressed deck of the airship began to rip itself apart.  The sudden burst of power as I peaked finished the process, ripping panels clean off the ship.

Roman, stumbling on what was left of the deck, looked up, his eyes wide.  "W- what the hell ARE YOU?", he demanded, voice shrill with panic.

I smirked.  "What am I?  A Saiyan warrior", I replied, removing my fist from his gut.  "I'm going to go find a real fight now.  Try not to piss out all your blood!"  Then I crouched, and with a burst of ki- more than any three Huntsmen- launched myself into the sky.

*****

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Flight, I mused to myself as I burned through the sky, spinning idly around a skyscraper at the speed of thought, is the greatest thing ever.  I looked down, idly letting off a volley of ki blasts at a pack of Beowolves.  Seriously, my face is starting to hurt.  Why didn't I do this sooner?

I stopped to think for a minute, swooping down and punching a Boarbatusk in half.  Oh, right.  Suppressing my ki so I didn't attract Grimm.  That.  I spun my way up and around another building, suddenly alighting on an antenna, before barfing a blast up a pack of Nevermore circling the building. 

As it- and they- exploded, I took off again, laughing like the cares of the world had fallen off my shoulders.  Cat's out of the bag now, Ozpin!  I'm free!  FREE!  Nothing's gonna get me down now... and my ki is laced with joy right now, isn't it.  I came to a halt in midair, one hand swinging out to grab another Nevermore by the neck and squeeze.

...Ozpin, you magnificent bastard!  That was your plan ALL ALONG!  I'm having so much fun, the Grimm aren't even FEELING everybody else!  Chuckling to myself, I looked down at the street- ooh, fun!- and swooped down to land near team RWBY.  Good to see them doing what they do best.

Weiss noticed me first, following through on a perfect lunge with Myrtenaster, only to rip her from the disintegrating corpse of a Beowolf, and stomp up to me.  "Where have YOU been?", she demanded with a scowl, her eyes alight.  "I tried to call you, but your Scroll-"

Love to see you like this, Weissy, but we don't have time now.  "Scroll's gone", I replied through my happy grin, crossing my arms.  My eyes lit up with ki, beams burning through the Grimm running up behind her.

"How'd you manage that?  Drop it off an airship or something?"  She jumped, landing on a Beowolf, the tip of Myrtenaster landing directly in the back of its head as she landed.

"Blew it the fuck up", I retorted, letting out a spinning kick.

"What, did it have an opinion?", she snarked back, firing ice at something behind me.

"That's your job", I replied, not missing a beat.  Weiss turned away for a second, before lashing out into the sky with a burst of fire at- are they EVER going to run out of Nevermore?!  "Did I miss anything important?", I asked, jumping up to grab a Deathstalker by the tail, pull it over my head, and- WHAM- slam it into another pack of Beowolves.

"Not much!", Yang chimed in, letting out a three-hit combo.  "Just that big dragon... thing... flying through town... OH!- and an emergency call from Beacon!"  She started firing at the ground in front of a charging Boarbatusk, forcing it to turn and slam into a nearby wall.

"What dragon", I asked, puzzled.  "I didn't see any... oh."  The sentence died on my lips as I looked up, beholding the largest Grimm I'd ever seen.  "That thing is HUGE!"

"Yep!" said the breeze zipping past me, death floating by on the petals of a rose.

I'm not sure any Huntsman could kill something like that.  It'd take enough firepower to destroy a city...
My smirk returned in full force.
Firepower I just might have.

"I've got a skill that can kill that dragon.  Problem is, I have to stand still and charge it first."

Yang dropped out of the air next to me- "You need us to cover you, right?  How long?" -before leaping forward into a punch.

I thought to myself, idly dodging a Grimm as it swiped where I was standing.  "Gonna take a bit.  Fifteen seconds?  Twenty?  Think you can do that?"

Ruby blurred out of the air in front of me, Crescent Rose embedding itself blade-first in the road.  "Sure thing!", she chirped, letting out three shots at a distant Beringel.  "Ready?"

I shuffled in place, lining myself up, and leaned forward.  "There's gonna be a five-syllable verbal chant.  I don't know how much backblast this one has, so when I hit four?  Brace."  I then leaned forward and to one side, cupped my hands together, and began to focus.  "Ready."

Ki began to flow, curling into a ball, accompanied by a distinctive sound.  "Kaaaaaa....."  This is so cool!

A pack of Beowolves charged, only for fire and wrath to land in their path.  With a twirl, Yang dropped a vicious axe kick on the alpha's head, burying it in the ground.

I stayed in place.  "....meeeeeeeeeeee....."  The swirling, warbling sound of the technique began to increase in pitch.

A Nevermore dove for me, talons outstretched, only to fall apart in a swirl of wind.  The corpse didn't so much as touch my face.

I looked up at the dragon- more like a wyvern, I think?, and shuffled my feet slightly to one side, correcting my aim.  "Haaaaaaaa......."  The pitch of the technique increased even higher- it even SOUNDS ominous!

A Griffon jumped from a nearby building, clacking its beak- only to slam that beak straight into a glowing white circle.  It recoiled, trying to take to the air, only for a pair of shadows to land on its back, tearing its wings from its body in identical strikes.

I focused deeply, compressing the ki in my hands to its utmost.  "MEEEEEEEEEEEEE...."  To my satisfaction, everyone- RWBY first, followed surprisingly by the Grimm- cleared the area.  I even saw Ruby hit the deck, working her jaw and covering her ears.

The sound stopped.  The world stopped.

I swung my hands forward. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Ki burst forth like a raging river, a wave of glowing blue soaring into the sky.  The pavement beneath me cracked, windows shattering in nearby buildings, but my eyes were locked on the tip of the wave-

-which struck true.  The wyvern ROARED with earth-shaking force as my beam struck its shoulder, inky blackness bubbling and burning away under the irresistible light and heat of pure weaponized Life.  It turned its head to face me, red eyes burning hatefully, and opened its jaw.

NOT QUITE RIGHT!  Gotta correct!  Should just need a little to the right...  I twisted my hips slowly, walking the beam over to- THERE! -land directly in its mouth, then dug deep.  "HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  The Kamehameha kicked again, almost doubling in size, as I poured even more energy into the wave.  The wyvern, bubbling and dying under the initial beam, tried to force its jaw shut-

-only to instead swallow the added burst of power I threw at it.  The thing swelled up, looking for all the world like an overfilled balloon, as its entire hide began to bubble, then froth, then-

BOOM

-explode.

I lowered my arms, panting.  "Grimm... murdered."  After a few seconds of catching my breath, something else popped into my head.  "Wait, Yang... you said there was an emergency at Beacon?  Is it still going?"

Not even bothering to reply, my ki burst forth, launching me into the air like a rocket.  Gotta hurry... that's gotta be the mastermind...  I put everything I could into it, burning through the sky like a comet- at that speed, it took mere seconds for Beacon to be in sight.  Headmaster's in the tallest tower... I feel him and Pyrrha and- who is that?  No time to check- I'm going in!

I aimed right at 12 o'clock on the clock face, bursting through the window in an explosion of glass- If I put myself in the middle, I should be able to- -kicking the Headmaster's desk aside, skidding down the middle of the office- and snatching a black, glass arrow out of the air before it could reach my classmate.

*Nailed it.*

(09-11-2025, 11:54 AM)Jinx999 Wrote: He did say that Empathy is made up, woke and "dangerous"; so, in accordance with his beliefs, I have decided to not feel bad about his death.

1. RMS: English as a Foreign Language.
   

I wonder which came first, "giddy-up" as the command for a horse to run, or "giddy" as the word for feeling excited and energetic?

1. RK: This is canon for Yumeiro Pâtissière, and it's also true in the real world. Wood strawberries are subtly different from other strawberries. Should you want to taste-test for yourself (and I recommend you do), the French company Bonne Maman makes both strawberry jam and wood strawberry jam. RMS:  Count yourself lucky if you can find their wood strawberry jam.  It doesn't seem to be available in my area. RK: Then I'd best provide links, at least to their Canadian website: Strawberry jam and Strawberry and Wood Strawberry Spread.
   

We kind've slipped into extra innings there. Anyway, here's Wonderwall Threads of Destiny (the other OEX meat).

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21188/...67-revelry

click here

Effect: Summons a waterfowl of unusual size to batter and bedevil Doug's opponents

There's doing things the quiet way, then there's doing them the Doug way... and then, sometimes, you want to really draw attention and drive enemies into a frothing rage. This song works like a video game Enrage taunt, immediately drawing the attention of any hostile beings within LoS/hearing range and provoling them to attack him. It also super-charges his chaos field effect with a bias toward action-movie set effects like onjects that should be reasonably sturdy breaking or crumpling under impact like sugar-glass and cardboard, reduced damage from falls and collisions, or random patches of fire and explosions, which somehow utterly fail to burst eardrums, throw shrapnel around, raise the local temperature to unendurable levels, or spread out of control.

click here

Effect: Summons a simlacrum of an elderly but relatively spry woman named Myrtle, with all the powers and abilities of an iconic Jewish Grandma (baking and cooking, gossip gathering, cheek-pinching, guilt trips, etc.) plus an effect that fills Doug's AoE with cool air for the duration. Somehow, despite only being a two minute song and seeming to move at grandma speed, she is able to complete any single kitchen task, gossip session, or a guilt trip lecture that feels like it lasts for hours within the duration, though as long as you're on her good side she's quite the sweetheart and all you have to fear is a broken diet and perhaps a few pointed questions about your romantic status.

Remember when you could see that headline on the old-fashioned hamburger tables? Not far from the adverts of Ely's Cream Balm ("A particle is inserted into each nostril and is agreeable"), as I recall.

Since my dad's passing, my mom has been trying desperately to get moved out of the apartment where he lived his final years (and spent his final weeks) and back into the townhouse where we'd dwelt since 2004 (and where I was still spending my nights). Over the last few days, with help from a handyman of her acquaintance, we've been making it happen. Tonight is the second night Mom will be sleeping over here (the first having been a test last week); last night was her last night in the apartment, if all go as planned.

We expect to have everything moved out of there by Wednesday, which is also the day the townhouse's Brightspeed connection will be turned off. Thursday morning was a hot flashback, Xfinity will be dropping by to transfer the connection from the apartment, hopefully with the expedience they promise in their adverts. If you can't contact me any time from Wednesday afternoon to about Thursday lunchtime, that's why. As always, the Mgt. apologizes for any convenience this may cause.