Yare yare… . It might be just me being a whiny little brat who craves for positive attention; but I do appreciate some feedback on any chapters I post. I do plan on going back to these chapters, reflect before making some minor adjustments to make them better then they are now. For example; I forgot to put in an "ORA!" or two in the last chapter, as well as choosing to rename the second chapter so I can use its original name for this one, something I'll fix at some point that isn't anywhere near in this month nor next month, potentially. (Then there was the fact that my sick and sleep-deprived brain didn't realised the fact I posted the chapter while it was incomplete… Yare yare daze… .)

Sure, I admit; I'm doing this story mostly for fun and just going with the flow for now, since I'm not exactly in the best of conditions to make long-term plans right now. But I am trying my best not to write complete and utter garbage (probably failing. Spectacularly. Is just who I am, I think). So feedback would be appreciated.

I mean, I can see that this story has a high chance of ending up more popular (aka number of Favourites and Followers) than certain stories I see in the crossover archive that have far more words and/or far more chapters then this story, but are still around the 30s in terms of popularity. That's a pleasant thought, that can come crashing down by the possibility of me writing something completely stupid that only I find awesome at the time.

So, it's up to you guys to make sure I don't go too far. You all are also enjoying this story, and want to keep enjoying it, right? Suggestions would be nice. Like if you like how I completely italicise when characters speak in Japanese or another language that's not English. However, I can see there's going to be some confusion. When I'm trying to have a character emphasise a word in their sentence, I italicise it. When I have a character say a word in another language that's not English, I choose to italicise it because I don't have much other options.

So, if you guys like me to change the current writing style I'm using for this story, I can at least try out your suggestion.

Also, I just flat out like writing replies to reviews. Sorry to those who replied years ago. When I post the complete version of Chapter 2, I'll write in responses to your reviews as well.

January 26th 2017; Reply to Cloud502, who posted a review at January 21st 2017:
… Ha! Knew it! I am an asshole! Mwuahaha! Ha… . But in all honesty though, thank you for leaving a review. I'll say this; you're on the right track so far when it comes to character ages. Now, I know that's not saying much but I don't exactly want to spoil everything in the ANs now do I? Also, I'm googling that story you mentioned just because I'm travelling around this week so hey, at least I have something to read. Also, never saw much point in Favouriting and Following a story but hey that's your choice.

January 26th 2017; Reply to Guest, who posted a review at January 21st 2017:
Thank you! Hope I'll see you around. Too bad you can't leave a name so I have an idea which Guest is saying what but hey that's your choice. Also, kind of sad since I know there are trolls lurking around here who likes wasting everybody's time, including their own, by writing provocative "reviews". Fair warning to everybody who reads this story and writes a review; if I find the review too "trollish" then I'm going to flat out ignore it like it doesn't exist and not reply to it.

January 26th 2017; Reply to StrangerDenB4, who posted a review at January 21st 2017:
… You're a good friend, you know that? Anybody would be lucky to have you as a friend, and any woman would be lucky to have you as a husband. Me? Not so much. But, I'm glad that you swung by to leave a review that shows you care.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece or Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I also do not own any quotes, techniques, plotlines, songs, etc etc etc that originated from other series and sources. They all belong to their respective characters. I only own my SI and any OCs I created for the purpose of this story. As well as any backstories I may have to make for canon characters due to their own backstories not being released yet at the time of writing or vague to the point I need to add more stuff to justify their current characterisation.

Chapter 3: Journey Through The Emerald Forest

"Weiss! Weiss! Look! What's that?!" Weiss Schnee heard Ruby Rose call out from behind her. She could already guess that the child was probably pointing at whatever she wanted to see. As much as it pained her to do so, she chose to turn around and interact with the girl.

"What is it, Ruby?" Weiss asked, her voice filled with the annoyance she had ended up reserving for the cape-wearing girl. It would be miracle for her to go through the next four years at Beacon with this child as her partner. No matter how exceptionally talented she was, it didn't change the fact she was still a child and her mindset reflected that.

For Weiss, who was forced to grow up as fast as possible due to the circumstances surrounding her family life, interacting with the child-like and innocent Ruby was testing her patience to its utmost limit.

However, the slowly building contempt she had for the younger girl was completely shoved for shock and awe when she saw the blinding pillar of blue light in the distance.

What in the name of Remnant… ?

"What do you think that is… ?" Ruby asked, her voice too filled with shock and awe at the sight. Weiss, however, had no answer for Ruby. This too, was the first time in Weiss's life had she seen something like this.

She wouldn't deny the pillar of light had a certain beauty to it though. It almost reminded her of the light of the creatures summoned by the Schnee Family's Semblance, during the rare times she was able to witness a demonstration.

"I… I don't know… ." Weiss admitted to Ruby, as the light faded. She admitted it mostly out of courtesy. Not replying to Ruby would've been rude, while lying or making guesses had the chance of painting her in a bad light.

Her father made sure that manners were drilled into her head, as well as to always consider her image as a Schnee plus the image of the Schnee Family as a whole. To be anything less was completely unacceptable.

The two stayed silent as the light had left them starstruck that they were having trouble deciding on what to do next. Should they ignore the light, and continue on with Initiation? Or should they inspect what was the cause of the light, then report it to the instructors when they encountered them? What should they even say to each other after that spectacle? Saying anything else other than a decision might bring about an awkward atmosphere that neither girl would know how to deal with.

"… Let's check it out!" Ruby eventually came to a decision. A decision that Weiss was highly oppose to once her brain registered what Ruby had just said.

"What?" Weiss said, finding the notion ridiculous, with her tone reflecting that. "Have you forgotten that we're in the middle of Initiation?! We have to find the relics, not whatever it was that made that light!" Weiss scolded, trying to keep the other girl's eyes on the goal, not at whatever it was that gained her curiosity.

Ruby had been complaining how Weiss had been treating her like a child ever since they partnered up. How could she not when Ruby continued to act like one?

"Well, how do you know that wasn't one of the relics we're supposed to find?" Ruby suggested, causing Weiss to scoff at her attempt to convince her to find the source of the light.

"Please. If that was one of the relics… ," Weiss said in a tone that easily conveyed her doubt at the mere possibility of that being true. If it was; how in Remnant could Ozpin have something like that yet no one in history had recorded of such relics? Creating a pillar of light wasn't exactly a common thing, especially one of such size and magnitude. "… Professor Ozpin would've informed us of something like that happening." Weiss scoffed as Ruby frowned at her.

"Well, maybe Professor Ozpin didn't tell us because this is Initiation?" Weiss scoffed again at Ruby's attempt. Was this girl serious? She seriously wanted to waste time finding whatever it was that made light instead of securing her position at Beacon first? Especially after getting the chance of attending Beacon two years early?

"Ruby, I am not going to waste my time searching for something that's probably not apart of the Initiation." Weiss coldly stated to the younger girl. "If you want to waste your time, then be my guest. I actually am going to go and secure my position at Beacon." Weiss huffed before turning around and walking away, not caring whether Ruby was going to follow her or not. Maybe if she was lucky, the instructors who're apparently watching over them will see that her partnership with Ruby wasn't going to work, and that Ruby was far too young to attend Beacon, exceptional skills for a Huntress-in-Training of her age or not.

Ruby herself grumbled at Weiss's attitude but grudgingly followed her. Unfortunately, both girls were ignorant of the predator that's been following them for quite some time now… .

Shame on them for not noticing it too, considering the sheer size of it… .

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

"Grr… ! Getsuga Tensho(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!"

Star Platinum had been delivering unending sword strikes with Vigilante and Vendetta, before Ichigo pushed back with a Getsuga Tensho. A Black one, actually, due to him being in his Bankai. Blocking it with Star Platinum, who blocked the attack with Vigilante and Vendetta, I pulled myself back and created some distance between us. Due to my fighting style, I quickly reassemble the swords into the Fusion Sword.

My fighting style was similar to Killer B from Naruto; basically I always stay on the move with my blades unless I got my opponents pinned. When the swords are assembled, I go with slow but heavy attacks, kinda like Cloud Strife's Buster Basher moveset from the Dissidia Final Fantasy series. I kinda have too, since the swords are pretty heavy combined unless I channel Star Platinum's strength into my body.

However, at the heat of the moment… when I'm up close and personal with my enemies… I would summon Star Platinum's hands around me so that he could disassemble the blades and start using them by himself. Pretty good way to keep your opponent off-guard, for a critical moment. Star Platinum usually wields Vigilante and Vendetta, since their handles were long enough that he could wield them comfortably.

This leaves me with either Merciless & Avenger or Ascalon & Sidewinder to dual-wield. The blades that I didn't use in my hands are either holstered on my back or, taking a cue from Roronoa Zoro's book, held on my mouth. Merciless & Avenger, the sawed blades, had their handles designed so that they could combine at their flat pommels, whereas Ascalon & Sidewinder's handles were very thin and were designed to be magnetised to each other when they're too close. This makes it easy for me to hold both set of blades with my mouth if I had to.

Still, Ichigo's Black Getsuga was very strong. Far stronger then his usual Getsuga. I can probably block that attack about… two, three times? Maybe four if I feel particularly stubborn and didn't care about the risk of having either or both of my arms cut off.

Like the Stands from Jojo Bizarre Adventure, hence why Star Platinum is classified as the first ever Stand-Type Semblance; any damage Star Platinum takes is reflected back to me. Luckily, Star Platinum has far higher durability then me. To put in simpler terms; hit me with a Rasengan? It's going to hurt, a lot. Even with Aura. But Star Platinum can take a Rasengan far better than I can.

I know this because Naruto once hit me with a Rasengan. Very early on, when we found ourselves in Remnant. He didn't take the news of my own world and my hobbies very well at first, so we got into a bit of a fight before Glynda broke us up with her telekinesis Semblance.

Ichigo disappeared from my Human eyes once again, before reappearing close by and disappearing from that position, then reappearing at another nearby location before disappearing. Rinse and repeat. It was clear that the Deathberry was using his fake Bankai's trademark… well, it's not necessarily an ability seeing as he was using his highly enhanced speed to run around me and creating afterimages of himself to confuse me as to where he'll actually strike next.

Really, creating afterimages weren't that difficult of an achievement. Even I freaking manage to make one, once. What was so amazing is how many freaking afterimages Ichigo was making. Not that was it all that useful in this fight, since I have an idea on how to counter this tactic. It won't even require me to use my eyes, even if my once near-sighted eyes have fixed themselves thanks to my Aura and Semblance. Star Platinum also gave me quite the healing factor. Despite the training I did alongside Luffy, unlike the Devil Fruit user I don't really develop any scars. I would say that makes sense, considering in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure; Jotaro Kujo doesn't seem to develop any scars despite the various wounds he gotten throughout his life.

Course, that could be just the manga author and drawer not bothering to put in little details like that unless absolutely necessary… but come on! I still remember Jotaro Kujo's battle against the Stand User of Yellow Temperance. His right pinkie finger was pretty much getting eaten alive!

Then again-ugh. Rude. Ichigo went in for a strike from my back. Some would say that's cowardly if it weren't for the fact I, figuratively and literally, have eyes at the back of my head. This was why I didn't bother to worry so much when Ichigo began making afterimages of himself. Star Platinum, inheriting his namesake's interest of self-preservation, quickly appeared behind me to grab Tensa Zangetsu's blade, drawing Ichigo in for a clean punch to the face.

"ORA!" Star Platinum cried as he punched Ichigo's face, yet through Star Platinum's eyes I could see that Ichigo pulled himself back as much as he could to lessen the blow despite being caught a bit of guard by Star Platinum reacting so quickly from an attack from behind. Yare yare, this might actually take a while, huh? Then again, it would be pretty foolish of me to think that a battle against Kurosaki Ichigo in his Bankai state would be finish in a matter of minutes.

I'm actually starting to lose track of how long we've been fighting. Personally, I'd like us to get to the relics before Ozpin decides to send Glynda to find us.

She's not going to show any mercy should we fail Initiation. And that we failed Initiation because we found fighting each other more important at the time.

Ugh… just thinking about it is giving me shivers… and the not good kind.

"Oi! Teme!" Ichigo cried out to me in Japanese. Huh, I honestly expected only Naruto to call me that. Then again, maybe he reserved that for Sasuke only? Or at least people he highly tolerates to the point that he begrudgingly likes them?

Pst. Tsundere Naruto… .

"What are you laughing about over there?!" Again, Ichigo cried in Japanese. I'm pretty sure he said laugh, and judging by his ticked off look on his face I have a pretty good idea on what he just said. "Are you even taking me seriously?!" Oh hey, he reverted back to English.

"Uh… yeah?" I replied back, somewhat confused.

"Oh really?! Cause it looks like to me that you're not all there!" Oh, very poor choice of words there, Ichigo. Then again, it's not like English is his first language. I think have an what he really meant though… .

"Considering what my hobbies are, I'd say that's a fair assessment." I grinned at him when I took a shot of myself. Sue me for being a… pessimistic, I guess is the appropriate description, idiot who really doesn't see much good within him, even after all this time. "In all honesty though, I am taking this seriously. I'm not just worrying about anticipating your next move all that much." I explained. Really, seeing that Luffy was the only one willing to train with me, fighting that simpleton pretty much killed my tendency of slightly overthinking things… as well as taught me to make room for small thoughts in a calm, if a bit pessimistic, manner.

"… Luffy?" He asked, and I just nodded in confirmation. "… Yeah, I can see him beating the crap out of you." He teased, and I just threw a small smirk in response. Was he trying to rile me up? Or was he just being honest? Yare yare, battling another living being… another person, is just as much a psychological battle as it is a physical one.

"Luffy is Luffy." I decided to give a simple statement. It was a true simple statement. Monkey D. Luffy is just… Monkey D. Luffy. A young boy who dreams of becoming the Pirate King, a title that would convey the world a simple message:

That he was the most free man in the entire world and no one could pin him down when he didn't want to be pinned down. Anybody trying so will end up with an asskicking.

Yare yare, it's actually kinda sad how any world would be far better then it currently should it be filled with more simpletons like Luffy.

"… You really care about him, don't you?" I hear Ichigo asking me, much to confusion. What is he on about now… ?

"Of course I care about him. He's my friend." I said it like it was the most obvious fact in the world. I picked it up from Luffy, that simpleton. Heh. "Heck, I care about a lot of people even if they're complete strangers. That includes you and Fishcake, by the way." I said.

"… I see… ." Ichigo… smiled at me? Like, he even closed his eyes when he did so, like he reached some kind of acceptance towards something. … I like to think I make a similar face sometimes, when I smile… .

And… he dismissed his Bankai?!

I frowned as Ichigo didn't lose his smile. "What are you doing?" I asked, a bit suspicious. Though, I did allow myself to relax just a tiny bit. If Ichigo wanted to continue this fight, he would've stayed in Bankai… well, that's what I believe. The fact he purposely reverted to Shikai either meant the fight's over or he decided to try another strategy entirely.

"Fight's over." Ichigo seemingly confirmed my thoughts.

"… Seriously?" I asked, in disbelief.

"Yeah." Ichigo said, in a way that kinda reminded me of Cloud Strife. … Considering they both have a penchant for black and carry big-ass swords on their backs… . "You don't want to fight, and neither do I, anymore. So what reason is there for us to continue to fight each other?" He asks, surprising me.

That… was highly mature of him. Like… damn. "That's… pretty mature." I complimented him.

He started rubbing the back of his head, somewhat sheepishly. What is with protagonists of anime doing that anyway? "… I got it from you, actually." He admitted, much to my surprise and shock. He… got it from me… ?

"… Me?" I asked dumbly, wondering how in the world he managed to do that.

"Yeah." He confirmed, as he placed Zangetsu on his back, it's bandages wrapping around the blade. I think I get how he got that thought from me now… . "When we clashed blades. I can… read your feelings, as it were." He confirmed. Huh, had he always had that ability early on? I thought he developed that later. "You were just fighting back because I was fighting you. In fact, I get the feeling you're the type who fight when they feel like they have to. Otherwise, you would stay away from conflict." He clarified.

His words caused me to think, as I and Star Platinum fully assembled the Fusion Sword before placing it on my back. I dismissed Star Platinum after that.

Only fight when I had to… huh?

I don't know about that. I am human after all. A person… .

And people were idiots and picked unnecessary fights.

"I see… ." Was all I found worth saying. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Right, let's get going then. We still got finish Initiation." I reminded him, and he gave me a firm nod.

"Right." He said with his own firm nod and firm tone of voice.

We set out from the area we fought at. I'm surprise the Grimm didn't show up to interfere, actually.

*Growl…*

Ah, never mind. There they are. Funny how they showed up right after we conclude our fight.

They were just Beowolves. Nothing too major.

"Grimm… ." Ichigo said, his eyes becoming sharp. Yare yare… I still remember Ichigo's face when he first encountered the Grimm. He looked like he was comparing them to the Hollows and found not much differences.

Which, I think, is exactly the case.

"Yare yare daze… ." I said in response to their presence. Seriously, give me a break. The problem with Grimm is that most of them are small fries and rarely does one encounter something large like a Death Stalker or a giant Nevermore. And that phantom-Grimm from the Volume 4 premiere. Since they are attracted by negative emotions, frustration or panic or whatever negative emotions one would feel in the middle of a fight would only attract more Grimm, making it a battle of stamina.

Which makes it sad. If everybody one Remnant had the basic training of Huntsman and Huntresses, they probably wouldn't be so pushed back against the Grimm. I think they'd probably only have to worry about the big-ass Grimm like the Goliaths. But hey, what do I know? I've only been here for about 3 months, not living here for my entire life.

"Bet you that I can kill more." Ichigo challenged me goodheartedly. Uh… okay? He was suddenly pretty friendly, compared to how he was throughout the past 3 months. Did it really just took one fight with both of us letting loose for him to loosen up around me?

"… Sure, you on." I decided to accept his challenge. It'd be good sport, anyway. "… Plus, we need to make for lost time." I voiced out this thought. "Glynda will kill us if we fail Initiation." I added as an afterthought. Boy, wasn't that the truth? After I told Ozpin about RWBY, he wanted us to attend Beacon alongside the girls… and putting Glynda in charge of our education so we'll past the exams required to attend Beacon.

… Course, Ozpin had to make a special exception for Luffy… who failed the written exam for obvious reasons… .

I see Ichigo shudder, as he seemed to realise our situation. Yeah, Mama Glynda was going to punish us should we fail. And-oh shit Grimm charge!

"… So… Blakey, what do you think that light was?"

Blake Belladonna's Faunus ears twitched a bit underneath her black bow when her partner for her upcoming years at Beacon, Yang Xiao Long, mentioned that mysterious pillar of blue light. Her ears did so out of remembrance at the curiosity and interest she felt at seeing the light. Unlike Yang who didn't sense anything at all; Blake, perhaps due to her Faunus heritage, could sense the sheer power behind that pillar.

And something else within it. Something… dark. Beastly. Hollow even.

Almost like a Grimm.

Her instincts told her to stay away from the light. Whatever made it was very powerful and should it be not friendly… .

"Who knows?" Was Blake's chosen reply. While Blake had some interest in finding out what made that light, she decided to listen to her instincts and stay away from it.

"Think it was a Grimm?" Yang suggested. Clearly this was an attempt by the blonde girl to make yet another conversation. Ever since they partnered up, she had been constantly doing so to no avail since Blake resorted to short and simple answers.

Blake Belladonna was not a socialite. Yang Xiao Long was. That's a hurdle that'll take a while for them to cross.

"Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't." Blake curtly replied back.

A brief flicker of annoyance appeared on Yang's face before she schooled it. She was slowly but surely getting frustrated at all of her attempts at being friendly with the girl getting shot down. Seriously, what would it take for the girl to speak up a bit?

Yang decided to take a moment a bit to change tactics. Okay, so bringing up random topics wasn't going to get Blake to talk… what did she know about the aloof, dark-haired girl that could make her talk more than just one or two sentences?

Well, Yang knew that she seemed to like books. But all the books Yang liked to read were the heroic ones that she used to read to Ruby when they were younger, as well as the superhero comic books she occasionally read. So the topic of books was probably out due to their difference in taste.

Boys then? It was practically a girl's nature to judge any man they pass by, right? You never know when the hunk you pass by the street was actually a big crybaby who gets a bit too clingy if you gave them a chance, after all. Yang could to go for that topic, but she didn't really know whether the girl walking in front of her swung that way or batted for the other team.

She certainly had the Bellabooty to attract all the boys and girls to her yard.

… Oh, she was so~ using that at some point. It would be a crime not to.

Filing away that joke for later, Yang decided to hell with it and tried the topic of boys anyway. "So, see any guy that managed to catch your eye yet?" Yang asked. She knew a certain orangenette with berry delicious arms that she wouldn't mind spending a few minutes to get to know each other better.

Seriously, next time she saw Lucas, she was going to ask him to introduce her to that hunk. Maybe the blonde one with whisker marks too… . Those whisker marks made him look freaking adorable. Though she wondered if what it would say about her if she went after a boy who resembled her dad. They literally had bright blonde hair and mesmerising blue eyes.

Not the words she would used to describe her father's eyes, but it was just one of the descriptions she gotten of her father's eyes when his fangirls talked about him.

It was weird, creepy, and disgusting being surrounded by girls around her age who constantly talked about how they would love to be her dad's girlfriend. Like, seriously? When she was in the room with them? Just… why?

Blake stopped her trek, turning to Yang to stare at her with an almost dumbfounded expression. Understandable seeing that the topic came out of nowhere from her point of view. Was the blonde that desperate to hold a conversation with her?

Blake had the feeling that should she reply, the conversation would serve to bite her in the ass later on. Thus, she chose to turn back to the direction she was facing previously and continued her trek through the forest.

Yang wasn't about to give up though. "Oh, hey, come on!" She called out, running after the dark-haired beauty. "There's gotta be a guy that made you stop and stare, right?" She asked, not giving up on the topic just yet.

"I didn't came to Beacon with the intention of finding a boyfriend Yang." Blake cooly replied. Besides, what guy would want her anyway? From her species to her past with the White Fang, it would be a miracle for her to find someone who would be willing to put up with her problems and settle down with her despite it all.

Blake's words caused Yang to falter a bit, as only now did she realised the unintentional message this conversation was sending to the girl, though she wasn't about to give up. "Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the view when it's there, right?" Yang insisted. Because if she's not interested in guys, then she was either interested in only girls or flat out asexual.

Well, she's got four years to get to know Blake. Best she awkwardly found out her sexual orientation now instead of way later.

Blake let out a weary sigh, getting a bit tired of constantly rebuffing Yang's attempts of making conversation and getting to know each other better. Maybe if she gave the girl something, it'll shut her up for a few precious minutes?

"Fine." She grunted at Yang, though they didn't stop walking. Why should they when they were still haven't found the temple yet, as well as being within a Grimm-infested forest? It wasn't like they couldn't multitask, after all. "I admit I've taken a few glances at some guys." She admitted to the blonde, a small blush coming up to her face as she did so. While none of them compared to him, especially when who he was back then, Blake would admit she took a few seconds to appreciate some males she passed by in Beacon's halls.

It did help her find out that she had type; namely guys who seem to be quiet souls and dresses as such. It helps when they were seen reading books. She wasn't doing much a good job moving past him considering she found herself being highly attracted to guys who fit his image, such as the orangenette with the large sword on his back. Blake didn't know why, but she found the image of the orangenette with his clothes a bit fitting.

Yang let out an almost perverted grin at hearing Blake's admittance. Finally, something they could talk about as they searched for the temple.

"Need to take a break?" Ichigo asked as we continued our trek through the forest.

"No." I simply stated, holding my annoyance at bay.

Zanpakuto. Japanese for "Soul Cutter". Blades that could literally cut your soul. Normally, for the living; they don't have to worry about fighting against these babies because they are only reserved for the deceased who get too rowdy in their afterlives.

Keyword of course, being "Normally".

Unfortunately, due to special circumstances, Ichigo could now summon his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, within his living body instead of having to use his Shinigami Badge to separate his soul from his body.

Meaning anybody cut with the damn thing will take far longer to heal their wounds then they would otherwise. Plus, since Aura was being produced from the soul, it meant that Zangetsu can entirely bypass one's Aura and slice you like it wasn't even there.

Useful against criminals, not so useful during sparring or if, for whatever reason, Zangetsu ends up cutting an ally in the middle of a battle.

Strawberry, of course, manage to get a few shallow cuts in during our fight. And since they literally damaged my soul, they're not going to heal until my own soul heals from the cuts.

Doesn't help that for some reason, Star Platinum's durability isn't taken in consideration when Zanpakuto are being used to cut him. Probably has something to do with the fact that he's my Semblance… .

Luckily, we discovered early on how slow people heal when damaged by Zangetsu, so now Ichigo is very careful when using his Zanpakuto in battles. Thus, during our fight Ichigo made sure not to make any deep cuts. Otherwise he would have to carry a bloody partner bleeding to death throughout to Initiation.

We only discovered how ineffective Star Platinum's durability was against Tensa Zangetsu in that fight too, seeing as Ichigo and I never sparred with one another before. Lucky for me I didn't got so cocky to point I tried blocking a swing with Star Platinum's arm. Otherwise I would've lost mine.

That would've been ironic… especially considering a little sunny dragon's fate in Volume 3.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a break to get back some energy you know." Ichigo scolded me, as if he was my big brother. Heh, and he wonders why I keep thinking he's at least 17.

"How about I take a break after we get our hands on some relics? That way, I'm not going to torture myself with the thought that we have no more relics to pick up." I stubbornly said as I continued on. I'm imagining that he was rolling his eyes before I heard the sound of him following me.

We eventually reached the temple where Ozpin stored the relics, though we didn't see the actual temple yet nor any relics accidentally dropped right in front of us.

So, how did I came to the conclusion that we were at the temple, or at the very least near the area where it was at?

Well the sight that greeted me and Ichigo made it pretty clear we're, at the very least, very close to the temple.

What sight am I referring to?

… The sight of Team RWBY and Team JNPR being chased by a giant Death Stalker and a giant Nevermore.

"Are… they being chased by a giant scorpion and bird Grimm?" Ichigo asked in disbelief as he walked up to me. I can't exactly blame him. This wasn't exactly a normal occurrence, even by Remnant's standards. Hell, I went on missions with the Big 3 and Glynda yet none of those missions ended up with us being chased by giant Grimm at some point. Bare in mind that I had to deal with the luck of 3 protagonists who, by all rights, should've been stuck with such a situation.

Probably had something to do with Glynda supervising us, thus not letting anyone accidentally provoke any giant Grimm. … I still remember Luffy wanting to approach some nearby Goliaths that were passing through. If it was just one or two, then I would've been okay with it. But an entire herd? I was firmly on Glynda's side on the matter.

"Yup." I confirmed for Ichigo, popping the "p" as I did so with a tone that says the sight before us was the most obvious fact in the world. Which it was. Cause it's happening right before our eyes.

Ichigo snapped out of the disbelief he was in, and looked like he was about to jump in. I stretched an arm over his chest, blocking him from going directly forward. I looked at him with my usual deadpan stare. "Relax, they can handle it." I said, knowing that Ichigo's protective nature would end up with him interfering.

"What?" He growled at me. Everything about him, facial expression, tone of voice, body language… they all showed that he clearly disapprove of this choice of action.

I rolled my eyes a bit at this. "They'll be fine." I assured him, not wavering when I did so. If I wavered, he's not going to believe me and just jump in anyway. "It'll show them that they have good chemistry when it comes to teamwork." I added. Can't wait to hear that conversation of how the hell they managed to work so well against the Death Stalker and the Nevermore despite those encounters being the first time they all worked together as a team. Probably had something to do with how Ruby and Jaune took command of the others.

That… probably was the reason why they became the leaders of their teams.

Huh.

Ichigo glared at me, clearly wanting to go in there and help them. Again, I rolled my eyes at his heroic attitude.

Why?

Because he's acting like this wasn't an option. "I'm not oppose to you throwing a few Getsugas to distract the Grimm you know." I deadpanned at him, as he blinked in surprise at my statement. I mean seriously, I'm not heartless or anything. I'd like to go in there and help too, but I think it would be better for their teams if they win their battles by themselves.

Besides, killing giant Grimm during their Initiation at Beacon Academy. How was that not an ego-booster?

Plus, baby steps. They'll probably grow up to become giant Grimm slayers as if it was their hobby instead of their jobs. They gotta start somewhere don't they?

Ichigo gave me a nod of understanding before he Shunpo'd his way to the others. I, meanwhile, ran towards the direction the others ran away from. Hopefully, they came from the temple, I'd like to secure our positions at Beacon.

Ozpin never said we couldn't take more than one. Hopefully, Naruto and Luffy haven't already came to the temple and pick up a relic. Otherwise I'd feel like a jackass for denying two other students the chance to enter Beacon.

My original plan was to wait at the temple, and use Ichigo as a scouter to see if Naruto and Luffy were on their way here. If they take too long, we bust our asses getting to them and hand them the extra relic. Hopefully, there were still some relics who shared the same colour and piece type, so we end up on the same team.

If fate, destiny, or hell whatever it was that brought us here is on our side, we will be on the same team.

… Though I wonder what our team name would be. Doesn't help that it apparently depends on the team leader's first name that decides the first letter of the team name. Geez, how many names could they possibly come up with following the colour naming rule?

Ugh. Focus Lucas. Relic first, dumbass thoughts later.

I ran towards the direction Team RWBY and Team JNPR ran away from. And… there it is! The temple! And I see a few relics that were still there! Perfect!

… And wow, there were so many pieces for me to choose from. I mean, which one do I pick? I mean, the guys probably won't care which piece I use… . So I guess it'd be stupid for me to waste time picking one specific piece when any would do the job.

But still… these guys… . Ah mou, stop being stupid already, man! Just pick one and call it a day!

My eyes lingered on the black king piece, as well as the black queen next to it. I looked towards my left and saw the innocent white king and white queen pieces resting on their respective altars. Huh, now I wonder; did Ozpin paired these pieces by their colour or if they were of the same type? Considering there were only one king and queen for both colours. For the other pieces, they had to be the same type as well as the same colour, something that couldn't be used for the king and queen pieces.

… Ah man, why am I giving myself trouble for this?! I'll just take one of the black knights or rooks to ensure that Ozpin will-!

"Hey, you got the relic yet?!"

"Kya!" I cried out in shock at Ichigo suddenly appearing right behind me. I didn't even hear him, hence why I was so surprised.

We looked at each other for a moment, as what I just cried out sunk in. Ichigo stifled a laugh as he placed a hand over his mouth to help keep his laughter in check, though tears were practically coming out of his eyes plus he was using his other hand to point at me.

This, of course, was highly embarrassing for me as well as making me want to lash out violently. My face also felt hot, probably because of my embarrassment.

"S-Shut up!" I stuttered out, which probably didn't help my case as Ichigo continued his muffled laughter. My eye twitched at this as I wanted to punch Strawberry in the head to shut him up, though I settled with trying to hide my eyes with my hat. I even turned around so Kurosaki couldn't look at most likely red face.

Yare yare daze… sometimes I swear life in general was out to get me. This is one of those times.

Ichigo finally stopped laughing, and started apologising. In Japanese. Though, he quickly reverted back to English once he remembered that I only know a few phrases of Japanese as well as only having a general idea on whatever he was saying thanks to context. I just shrugged at him and said it was fine. Emberrassing as it was, it wasn't going to cause the end of the world, so there really shouldn't be any hard feelings over something so small.

"So, Oz-ossan chose chess pieces as relics?" He asked me, sounding like he was asking me to confirm it. Probably because I had foreknowledge about events of his life as well as the events of RWBY. Among other things… .

I nodded in confirmation. "Yeah." I simply said as I turned to the relics. The dumbass part of me insists on taking the black king piece because of how symbolic it was considering the Hollow within Ichigo's speech about the Horse and the King, as well as Naruto's and Luffy's respective dreams… plus I really liked the colour black… .

For some reason, Ichigo walked up to the alter holding up the black king piece, and then picking up the damn thing? "So, all we need is just one of these things and had back to where Oz-ossan and Goodwitch-sensei , right?" Ichigo asked, holding out the chess piece to me.

"Uh… yeah." I said, wondering why he picked up that piece in particular … Was I staring at it for too long and he decided to grab it for me? Oh… shit, ugh… I didn't mean to do that. "I don't know how the pairings for the king and queen pieces work though, so we might be better off taking a rook, knight or bishop." I explained, with Ichigo giving me a flat stare for some reason.

"Does it really matter?" He said, sounding like I was being stupid over something so trivial. "Considering how Oz-ossan talk to you about future stuff that's going to happen and how he keeps sending us on missions even when me and Naruto couldn't stand you at the time; so long as Naruto and Luffy takes the black queen or the white king, he's probably going to pair us up together anyway."

… Well, when he puts it like that… .

Deciding to hell with it, I decided to take the chess piece and pocket it. It's as Ichigo said, so long as Naruto and Luffy took the black queen or the white king piece, Ozpin will probably just go out of his way to pair the four of us up anyway.

"So now what?" Ichigo asked me. I don't know why, I honestly thought he'd go rushing back to help the others. Actually, that reminds me… .

"By the way, were you seen when you helped the others?" I asked. Flying slash attacks were a thing in RWBY, apparently. Pretty sure Blake threw on in Volume 2, but it's been a while so I don't remember as well anymore. Not like I could refresh my memory and check either.

"I figured you didn't want to, so I sticked to the shadows when I distracted the Grimm." Ichigo explained as he looked at the distance. It was the direction we came from and where the others ran to, so I'm guessing he was worrying about them.

"Good. I actually wanted you to sense if Naruto and Luffy were making their way here." I informed him, as I took looked at the direction the others went. "Come on, we can go look after the others while you do so." I said, beginning to walk in said direction.

I didn't here Ichigo following me though. "I thought you said they could handle it?" I turned around and saw him frowning at me with his arms crossed. He looked like he was analysing me… hm… . I guess I can see why… . First I acted like I was going to leave them to their fates, be it good or bad, now it looked like I wanted to make sure they were alright? I must be sending a lot of mixed messages.

"Multiverse theory, remember?" I said to him. "I'm not gonna be arrogant to assume that they'll be alright, despite my words earlier." It was… foolish of me to do so. The Omniverse loves screwing people over, after all. "Especially since we're here now and messing up the original fate of this world. For all I know, they're suffering horrible deaths just because I thought fate or destiny or whatever was going to keep them alive like their prime counterparts." I said, beating myself up over this foolish belief.

That line of thought was far too dangerous with Multiverse Theory in play. Luckily, it seems that Ozpin is still the good guy in this world, when it was entirely possible that me and the others ended up in a version of Remnant where the apparent good guys were evil while Salem and her cronies were the actual good guys.

Ugh, maybe Ichigo and Naruto were right to hate me. I'm probably playing with their lives without even realising it, under the belief that they'll be alright because the "plot" demanded it. Gotta get out of this line of thinking. It was way too dangerous and can get people killed.

Ichigo's frown towards me deepened, before his features softened. "Alright. Let's go." Was all he simply said, sounding like was going to let the matter drop for some reason. I'm a bit confused at this, though decided to roll with it. Every second we waste here, Team RWBY and Team JNPR were fighting for their lives and stood a real chance of dying as they were now.

However, before the two of us could take off; a terrified cry of "IIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOO!" froze us in our tracks before a yellow, black and orange blur suddenly appeared within our line of sight and hid itself behind Ichigo.

It was Naruto! … And the blonde shinobi looked deathly pale and was shivering in fear for some reason.

"Naruto?" The two of us ending up saying in surprise and confusion. Ichigo immediately began to pry the Fishcake away from him once he realised that he was caught in a death grip. "Let go of me you damn Fishcake!" He grunted, annoyed at how tight Naruto was holding onto him.

"No!" Naruto cried out in Japaense, as Ichigo's words caused the blonde shinobi to hold onto the Deathberry even closer and tighter. Whatever it was that got him so deathly terrified, it got to him to the point he didn't even care at being called a Fishcake. "I-I-Ichigo, you're a g-g-ghost, right?" Naruto asked the strawberry for the umpteenth time. Despite it being in Japanese, I heard the question and the terms within to know what Naruto was asking.

That's right, Naruto had a crippling fear of ghosts… and did not reacted well to Ichigo having "ghost powers", as it were, when we all gave explanations to each other when we first met.

Ichigo groaned at having to answer the question again. You would think the guy who had a fear of ghosts would let the matter drop after asking once, but whenever something spooked Naruto, it'll end up with the Number One Unpredictable Shinobi clutching to Ichigo in fear and asking that question so that he could sick the Substitute Shinigami at whatever it was that spooked him.

"Yes Naruto, I'm a ghost." Was Ichigo's go-to-response at hearing that question. "What is it this time?" Ichigo asked, though I think he had a similar thought to me; Luffy probably pranked the prankster again. Usually the straw hat wearing boy achieved this with some scary stories he had picked up from his homeworld as well as some local folklore here at Remnant, but sometimes Luffy went out of his way with an elaborate prank (elaborate for Luffy's standards anyway. Sometimes I wonder if he gotten someone like Coco to help him with the prank) that spooked Naruto senseless.

"G-G-Ghost Grimm!" Naruto cried out, causing me to blink. Oh yeah… we did cover an almost phantom-like Grimm with Glynda during our lessons. What was it called again… ? A Geist, I think.

Yeah… I think team RNJR (Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Ren) faced off a Geist Grimm during the Volume 4 premiere. Yare yare daze… a Geist Grimm was seriously what spooked Naruto? Then again, reading about it in a book and seeing it in real life was entirely two different things… . Seeing the thing possessing the rocks or the trees probably spooked Naruto so badly that he probably ran from it after that.

"Ghost Grimm huh?" Ichigo translated, sounding exasperated. Yeah, know my pain of having to deal with you idiots constantly… . "Alright Naruto, where did you last see it?" He said, again sounding like a big brother. This time he was sounding and acting like an elder sibling about to show the younger sibling there was nothing in the dark spooky closet that was going to jump and scare the living daylights out of them.

I know he has two younger sisters and all, but I think he's slipping into the role of big brother too easily when dealing with us… . Then again, considering Luffy was one of the biggest idiots in the history of idiots while Naruto… wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the toolbox… .

Any thoughts I had immediately paused themselves when I felt the ground shook as well thunderous booms echoing from a specific direction. Soon, a hulking figure made out rock and trees approached us, easily just as the tall as the trees within the Emerald Forest thanks to the clearing we were in making it easier to make the comparison. Red veins spread throughout its limbs, that were made out of rock and were apparently being held together by the various tree roots wrapped all over it instead of being held by an invisible force like most objects possessed by a Geist Grimm.

Its head was shaped like Groot, the Guardians of the Galaxy character of Marvel. Though, unlike Groot who had nice eyes to look it as well as an adorable enough face, this thing wore a white mask with red markings all over it, just like any Grimm. The mask had a singular hole that glowed ominously red, showing that it was indeed a Grimm despite not having the black skin/fur or bony white protrusions all Grimm were infamous for.

Honestly, this thing would look intimidatingly badass if it weren't the fact it probably was planning to kill us.

Didn't stopped me from whistling at appreciation at its appearance though.

… And now I feel people staring at me in a flat-kind of way. I turned to see that it was both Naruto and Ichigo who did so, despite Naruto still clutching to Ichigo. They were both clearly unamused by my whistling at the Grimm's appearance, so I gave a sheepish grin in response.

But, seeing Naruto was here… . "By the way Naruto, you wouldn't happen to see Luffy, have you?" I hoped the two partnered up, especially seeing that they were the ones who first entered the forest. Life would truly be a bitch if they didn't end up partnering up.

Naruto's response, as well as Ichigo's oddly enough, was to point me at the direction the Geist Grimm was. Confused, I turned towards the Grimm again… .

"HEY, LUCAS!"

… Oh God, please no… !

"Oof!" I cried out as I got the wind knocked out me by Luffy the Rubber Human Rocket for the millionth time. We unceremoniously crashed into the ground, with Luffy laughing all the way. "Luffy… why… ?" I wheezed out, a hand raised in the air before I gave up and let plop onto the ground.

"Hahaha!" Luffy merely laughed at my misery. Though, he quickly stopped laughing and pulled me out of the way when the Geist started attacking us with one of its large fist. Oh… so much for that temple. And all the chess pieces. Hopefully they were durable so any remaining students may still pass Initiation. They should still have the chance, seeing as the temple crumbled because of the shockwave of the attack instead of actually being hit by it. "Man, this guy is so rude. He's been attacking me and Fishcake nonstop ever since we found him." Luffy huffed as he set me on the ground before helping me up.

Luffy's words gave me an idea on what happened though. Luffy went exploring, Naruto followed him, they ended up discovering this Geist and it's been chasing them ever since. Looks like their protagonist luck has finally caught up with them.

But still, I don't get one thing. "It looks pretty strong, but how come you two have so much trouble with it to the point that you can't beat it by yourselves?" I asked. I mean yeah, they're not nearly as powerful as they could be, but at this stage, especially after the training I did with Luffy, they should theoretically be able to handle this Grimm by themselves just fine. So how come they didn't, Naruto's fear of ghosts notwithstanding?

As if hearing my question; the Geist in question quickly manipulated the tree roots around one of its arms and shifted them in a way that they ended up being shaped after a double-edged blade of a sword. "… Oh." I said, in awe a bit at the sight of this before the Geist went in for another strike. Me and Luffy quickly jumped out of the way, me using Star Platinum to give myself a far higher jump then I would've otherwise whereas Luffy is easily able to jump very high thanks to his rubber body.

Not far from us I see Ichigo and Naruto doing the same thing… though then I see Naruto quickly latching onto Ichigo in mid-air. I guess it was too much to ask for Naruto to put his fear at bay once the fight kicked in… .

"Yare yare… this might be a bit challenging for us." I noted with narrowed eyes as I glared at the Grimm. This Geist isn't anything like the ones we were taught about by Glynda, nor was it like the one Team RNJR faced. The fact that it's using both rocks and trees at once, as well as being shape its tree roots into weapons showed how old and experience this damn thing is.

Makes me think it was probably sleeping before Luffy found it and woke it up.

Whatever, at least Vale will able to rest easier knowing that one old Grimm will be out of the picture after we're done with it.

"Luffy… !" I called out to the future Pirate King, though I noticed that he was no longer by my side and instead charging towards the Geist at impressive speeds with steam coming out of him to show that he entered Gear Second. Goddammit Luffy… !

"Gomu Gomu no… !" I hear Luffy call out as I begin running towards him, using Star Platinum to increase my running speed. I see Luffy pulling his arms back at absurd lengths, with his palms open. I knew what technique Luffy was going to use now. At the very least, we'll be able to see how freaking durable this thing is. "… Jet Bazooka!" Luffy cried out as his arms snap back into place. Due to how extremely fast his arms snapped back thanks to Gear Second, they looked like they momentarily disappeared with a slight sonic boom occurring where his arms were as well as larger boom hitting the Geist, though it managed to block it with it's free arm.

I can see that it took some damage from the attack. Heck, using Star Platinum's better eyesight, I can see Luffy had left deep handprints into the Geist's tree roots. "Nice one, Luffy!" I cheered for him. I quickly used Star Platinum to jump and grab him in the air, as due to the Geist's large size; Luffy was helplessly falling from the air until the Geist struck back or Luffy reached the ground.

"Jet Pistol!" I hear Luffy crying out, a small sonic boom later as well as the sound of something getting hit makes me deduce that Luffy took the chance to take a quick throw one quick punch at the Geist.

I quickly regrouped us with Ichigo and Naruto… with the Fishcake still latching on the Strawberry. It was kinda hilarious actually. If it weren't oh so very sad. And I don't exactly mean that in the mocking way either, considering Naruto's status an orphan. A certain Naruto/RWBY story I read gave a very good explanation as to why Naruto was so afraid of ghosts to the point that it was practically crippling him.

Yare yare… it made me want to punch the idiot and hug him. Punch him to remind him that he had friends now that wouldn't mock him, too much, about his fear and hug him to assure him that it was alright to be afraid and that he was now surrounded by friends who refuse to let him suffer alone.

"Luffy, Naruto, Ichigo… let's do this together." I said, as we all faced the Geist.

"Yeah." Luffy said, deactivating Gear Second to conserve energy and not minding that I grabbed him from midair.

"Sure… ." Ichigo said, though his tone made it clear that we still got one problem.

The chattering teeth was also a very good reminder.

"Naruto, you do remember that it's a Grimm and thus, you can kill with a Rasengan, or hell; a kunai if you get a lucky shot in, right?" I bursted the Uzumaki's bubble, and the chattering teeth immediately stopped.

"… Oh yeah." Naruto said dumbly in English as I could feel his brain continued to process this information.

Then suddenly he was right in front of me, as if he was leading the charge. "Alright you bastards, let's do this!" He roared as he "rallied" us together.

"Yare yare daze… ." I sighed with an exasperated smile. I turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, mind throwing a few Getsugas?" I asked him. "Let's see just how thick those arms are." As strong as Luffy was in Gear Second, all of his attacks were still concussive and thus would have a hard time breaking through thick objects. Since Getsuga Tensho was a flying slash attack, hopefully it can cut through the tree roots instead of forcing us to punch our way to it's mask.

"Got it!" Ichigo said as he charged up a Getsuga. "Getsuga Tensho(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!" Ichigo roared as he let one fly. And as expected, it left a deeper wound than Luffy's attack did. Probably had something do with Zangetsu being a Zanpakuto while Grimm were soulless beasts hell bent with exterminating humanity and Faunus kind. Don't know why the soul cutting sword was so damn effective against these soulless beasts but hey, can't really complain now can I?

… However, the victory cheer was cut short when we all saw the damn easily patching itself up. It didn't even use any nearby trees or rocks to do it, the wound closed itself whereas Luffy's handprints filled themselves, making it look like the Geist wasn't damaged at all.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy… .

"Got any other bright ideas?" Naruto sarcastically asked as the Geist began charging at us, forcing us to spread out.

"Gear Second!" Luffy cried out, pumping his legs and stretching his blood vessels to enter his Gear Second state. He quickly began jumping and running around the Geist, confusing it with his sheer speed. Seeing how the thing didn't have good eyesight, Ichigo decided to join in using Shunpo. He wasn't as fast as he was in his Bankai state, and it took him considerably more effort, but the Substitute Shinigami was clearly helping Luffy in distracted the Geist.

They even took quick shots at it when they could, eventually frustrating it to the point it began lashing out with various roots as whips, protecting it from all sides and forcing the two back.

They immediately regrouped towards me, with Naruto joining us once he saw the others regrouping. The Geist lost track of us, and quickly begin searching around. I quickly dragged them towards the shadows, much to Luffy's protest.

"Quiet Luffy, I'm almost done thinking." I shushed him, with the usually cheeky boy huffing in response. Yare yare, is he always like this in One Piece or was it something else entirely?

I replayed the situation in my head again and gave it a quick review. Despite its healing, the thing didn't seem all that durable. Well, it was made out of trees and rock, and those things weren't all that useful against any of us. We could break rocks and trees easily if we have to. … Or need to. Okay, so we can break that thing apart easily. And it wasn't all that fast, something we all have in spades with Naruto being the slowest out of all of us. However, those roots were going to be a problem since it could easily lash out.

Ichigo and Naruto could step back, Ichigo with Getsuga Tensho and Naruto with his Shadow Clones, but Luffy had no such option, nor did he have Haki to protect him from the attack. He had his Aura unlocked, but I'm afraid it'll get drained too quickly against such an attack, assuming that Luffy didn't end up wasting it all beforehand. Well, I have extra swords. I could possibly pass them to Luffy and he could use them to cut through the roots when they lash out.

"Alright, I got a game plan!" I informed the group. "Four of us, four limbs. We all take one. Me and Ichigo will take an arm whereas you and Naruto will take a leg, Luffy." I quickly informed them as the Geist looked like it was going to attack again. "Think you guys can handle that?" I taunted them with a grin.

They all just smirked at me in response. They all gave me their own personal affirmatives before we quickly dashed towards the Geist, who had morphed its hands into hammers to defend itself once it saw us.

"A Geist?!" Glynda Goodwitch exclaimed in shock as she witness what it was that Uzumaki Naruto and Monkey D. Luffy had been running away from, for the most part.

"Quite an old one as well." Ozpin noted in a grave tone as he watched the four boys from other worlds beginning to fight the Possession-Type Grimm. "To think that such an old Grimm had been living near the Kingdom's borders without any one of us even realising it… ." Ozpin muttered, mostly to himself as he looked like he was silently cursing himself for allowing such a threat to be so near to Vale.

Glynda herself looked like she was busy entertaining her own thoughts as well. "The ability to regenerate any damaged limbs instead of possessing other objects to replace them… as well as shape any of its limbs into weapons… ." She muttered, noting the Grimm's unique abilities. It was because of these unique abilities that made it easy to see how older and experienced this particular Geist was compared to the common Geists that a Hunter can encounter in the world.

Glynda turned to Ozpin, her voice resolute with the suggestion she was about to make. "Ozpin, I suggest we put Initiation on hold for now. We need to get the students out of there before that Geist kills anyone." Everything about her made it clear that she wouldn't be budging on the matter.

Ozpin, however, decided otherwise. "No." He simply said as he continued to watch over his soon-to-be new students. From Team RWBY who were facing off against the Nevermore to Team JNPR who were facing off against the Death Stalker. Now, it was Team… LINL's turn to face a giant Grimm.

Team LINL… yes, that was a suitable name for them. From what Lucas had told him of their pasts… these boys realised the importance of bonds. A name like that was very suitable for them, especially since they were named after an old hero Remnant had long, long ago… . A hero who always wore green, and ended up reminding people of the colour when his name was mentioned… .

Seeing how the team was fairing, Ozpin supposed that it was only fair that the Grimm was quite old. A common Grimm wouldn't require all four boys to face it, even if it was a Geist Grimm. The four of them together could easily wipe out any common Grimm that they had to face. It was only the older ones like the Geist they were facing or the Goliaths that would require them to work together to win.

Glynda apparently didn't see this though. "What?" The way she said that sounded like she had been offended… and betrayed.

Ozpin held back a sigh. "I understand that you are concerned over their well-being Glynda… ." Understatement. Ozpin didn't know how but Glynda had quickly grown to accept her role as a mother-figure of sorts for Team LINL, even if she didn't verbally said anything of the sort. Perhaps it had something to do with their ability to connect with others… but it was a bit jarring for Ozpin to watch the stern woman act so openly concerned (as open Glynda would allow herself to be anyway) for four boys that she only knew for 3 months.

… Them spending 25% of their time with her in her office probably had something to do with how fast they all ended connecting with her. Then there were the missions they went with Glynda as their supervisor… . One of the best ways to make hearts bond to each other is to make them face adversity together, after all.

"… But with both know that those boys, as they are now, are far more powerful than the various alumni that had graduated from this academy." Ozpin continued, looking her in the eye. "Put your faith in them, Glynda. I believe that they're the type to live up to that faith. If not now, then later." Ozpin advised, remembering how Lucas also informed him that Ichigo, Naruto and Luffy will suffer losses in their future should they not grow quickly strong enough by then. It reminded him that reality would not always be so kind, and would force you to suffer terrible losses to as a way to keep you humble, should you not fall into despair. The decision of picking yourself up after a terrible fall that can make you throw in the towel and lash out to everyone around you… that decision rests solely upon yourself.

What Glynda asked next made Ozpin think he should've chosen his words a bit more carefully. "And if they're dead by then?" Her eyes narrowed, and she very much looked like a woman who was about to rush in to protect her children.

Honestly, it was almost scary how quickly the boys had wormed their way into her heart. It made Ozpin wonder if they could do the same for her, should she be exposed to them long enough.

Ozpin held back a sigh as he gestured to their Scrolls. "Look at them Glynda." He asked, not as her superior, but as her friend. "Do they look like they're struggling against that Geist?"

Despite hesitating, Glynda did so, attentively and exclusively watching the video feed of her boys fighting against the powerful Geist. Ozpin decided that it was best for him to watch over the other students now that Glynda was focusing on the boys.

He was starting to see why Lucas ended up saying "Good grief" and "Gimme a break" in Japanese all the time… .

"Odama Rasengan(Big Ball Spiralling Sphere)!" Uzumaki Naruto roared as he and his clone rushed towards the left leg of the Geist with a basketball-sized Rasengan in their hands. Slamming the giant Rasengan into the Geist, the blue sphere of destruction began tearing away at the Geist's tree parts, even reaching towards its "bones" made out of stone.

The Geist wobbled a bit from the blow, even forced to take a step back. Something the pinkish, steaming Monkey D. Luffy immediately capitalise by going for the other leg while pulling his open palmed hands back. "Gomu Gomu no… Jet Bazooka!" He used the technique once again, due to its sheer concussive blow outweighing all of his other techniques.

Thanks to their combined efforts, the Geist lost its footing and began falling towards the ground. Naruto and Luffy immediately backed away so that they wouldn't be caught by the shockwave the Geist will inevitably produce once it hits the ground. Thanks to Luffy's immense speed in his Gear Second state, he was able to pick up Naruto and get the two of them away relatively unharmed.

In the air, Kurosaki Ichigo and Lucas Bloodedge patiently waited once they saw what Naruto and Luffy aimed to do. Once the Geist hit the ground, Lucas screamed "Now! Destroy its limbs now!" as loud as he could so that everyone could hear it, before flying off towards it's left arm. Seeing this, Ichigo also headed towards the Geist, aiming for the right limb while drawing Reiatsu into Zangetsu.

"Getsuga Tensho(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!" Ichigo roared as he sent a few waves of Getsugas towards the Geist's right arm, hitting their mark as the Geist slowly got up. Continuing to channel Reiatsu into Zangetsu, Ichigo held his Zanpakuto in a reversed grip before stabbing it into the Geist's right arm, sending out a wave of Reiatsu into the Geist that ended up destroying a small area of its arm.

"Star Platinum!" Lucas roared with his eyes flashing ice blue as he flew towards the Geist's left arm. His Stand-Type Semblance soon manifested itself fully, arming itself with Vigilante and Vendetta while Lucas armed himself with Merciless & Avenger, placing both Ascalon & Sidewinder into his mouth and keeping them in place by gripping their handles with his teeth.

"ORA!" Star Platinum roared as he stabbed the Geist's arm with the two swords, Lucas also joining in by stabbing in the twin sawed-blades. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" The Stand-Type Semblance began chanting as he and Lucas continued to stab the Geist with their swords at impressive speeds, going up and down towards the giant Grimm's arm as they attempted to cut it into tiny, unusable, pieces.

Luffy and Naruto quickly rejoined them, with Luffy dropping off Naruto at the left leg before taking off for the right. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)!" Naruto cried out as he made the cross hand signal of the Shadow Clone Technique, with a large amount of clones spawning on top of the Geist's leg in poofs of smoke. The clones immediately began helping one another create a Rasengan, before slamming the small blue ball of destruction on the Geist's defenceless leg.

"Gomu Gomu no… Jet Stamp!" Luffy cried out as he stretched his right leg upwards before slamming said leg onto the Geist's right leg. Due to how high he stretched his leg as well as the impressive speed it came down, the attack did much more damage then it would've otherwise. "Mada mada da!" Luffy cried out, using the momentum to position himself above the leg. "Gomu Gomu no… Jet Gattling!" Luffy said as he immediately began throwing punches as hard and fast as he could towards the leg. Constant booms echoed due to how fast Luffy was throwing his punches, even looking like he was rivalling Star Platinum's impressive punching speed, perhaps even surpassing it because one couldn't even see where Luffy's punches were exactly ending up.

However, the Geist just had enough of these damn humans trying to destroy it. It was able to push itself back up before either of them could do actual damage to it, and summoned various tendrils made out of its roots to lash out at the four young men.

"Luffy, Naruto!" Lucas called out to the two as Star Platinum furiously sliced at the tendrils to keep them at bay. Just as Lucas threw Merciless & Avenger into the air, Star Platinum threw Vigilante and Vendetta at Luffy's direction before catching the twin saw-blades. He continued to protect his master with the swords as Lucas took the chance to put Ascalon & Sidewinder into his hands and throw them to Naruto.

"Thank you, Lucas!" Luffy called out with a heavy Japanese accent as he caught the two large swords. While he was no means a master, or all that decent swordsman, Luffy was familiar enough with the blades thanks to training with Lucas and began using them to defend himself from the tendrils, using a combination of the momentum of each swing and his Gear Second speed to keep himself out of harm's way.

"Tch!" Naruto let out as he used his clones to protect himself as well as stepping stones to catch the twin short swords. He grudgingly admitted to himself that the swords were a better alternative than his much smaller kunai, as Naruto now had an easier time cutting tendrils away should he'd be unable to dodge them in time.

Ichigo however had some trouble. The tendrils were coming in fast, too fast for him to cut them with Zangetsu due to his Zanpakuto's large size. Using Getsuga Tensho sparingly, he was able to keep the tendrils off of him for the most part, however they soon enclosed on him and began wrapping themselves all over him.

"ICHIGO!" The other three young men cried out at seeing their comrade being engulfed by the tendrils. Despite wanting to do something about it, however, the Geist wasn't going to let him and continued the wooden tentacle onslaught. It approached Naruto and Luffy, who were on the ground, with heavy stomps as an attempt to crush them with its feet, while it shaped its hands into large claymores and tried to hit the flying Lucas with said claymores.

"BAN… KAI(FULL… RELEASE)!" Ichigo roared from within his wooden prison, the sheer power of his Bankai being release being enough to blow away the wooden spherical cage he was trapped in.

"ICHIGO!" His friends cried out in relief at seeing that the Deathberry was fine and well, despite his capture and possible demise.

However, Ichigo didn't reply back to them. Instead, for a moment, he stayed from where he stood, staring at Tensa Zangetsu with serious eyes before he quickly turned to the Geist with a cold glare. Using his Bankai speed alone, he disappeared from everyones' view as the Geist tried to grab him with its tendrils again.

The Geist soon found those tendrils completely cut to shreds, with Ichigo's trail of destruction making it realise that the Substitute Shinigami was closing in on its face, fast. It quickly morphed one of it's claymores back into a giant clawed hand to cover its face, causing Ichigo roar; "That's not going to save you, bastard! Getsuga Tensho(Moon Fang Heaven Piercer)!", drawing his black-with-a-red-outline Reiatsu into Tensa Zangetsu's blade before firing a Black Getsuga at the Geist's clawed hand.

It was easy to see that the Black Getsuga was far more powerful than its regular counterpart, as it looked like the technique was able to almost cut all the way through the Geist's thick hand and reach its masked face. The force of the blast was even able to make the Geist take a few steps back.

"Gr… what's with this stupid tree?! Just go down already!" Luffy huffed a complaint at seeing how durable the Geist Grimm was, crossing his arms despite holding Vigilante and Vendetta. Though, the carrier of the Will of D. was sweating profoundly, due to using Gear Second constantly. At this rate, he was going to end up paralysed from hunger and exhaustion, needing one of the others to carry him.

It frustrated Luffy how a mystery ghost possessing a bunch of trees and rocks was able to push him so far. If he was this weak; how was he going to protect his comrades from the strong opponents that'll show up when he returns to his home and continue his journey to find One Piece?!

Stronger… he had to get even stronger after this. And for that to happen… he's gotta take this mystery ghost down!

"Guess we're just gonna have to hit it harder, dattebayo!" Was the conclusion that Naruto came up with as he stood by Luffy, hearing the straw hat-wearing boy's complaint. Though, he noted to himself that he felt a considerable drain in his Chakra. His stunt with the mass Shadow Clones, with a good majority using the Rasengan during the attempt on the Geist's left leg, was probably the reason why he was feeling a bit winded.

Even after all the training he did with Ero-sennin… as well as the training he did while he was stuck in Remnant… a stupid ghost possessing rock and trees were enough to start pushing him around?! How was he going to bring Sasuke back to Konoha like this?!

Yeah… no way he was going to lose this fight. He still had to meet up with everyone back at Konoha and bring Sasuke back! And after all he went through, there's no way a dumbass ghost was going to be the one that brought him down!

Ichigo and Lucas soon joined them, with the intent of revising their current strategy clear in their eyes. "This isn't working." Ichigo stated the obvious, causing Lucas to roll his eyes.

"Obviously." He couldn't help but say. Ichigo glared at him for his smartass attitude, so Lucas decided that he best moved on before they got into another argument. "This thing is thicker and healing faster then we thought. Not only that, it sure as hell smart enough to use as much as its potential as a living tree as it can." Lucas noted, seeing that Grimm was now busy healing itself to bother with them at the moment.

"So what? We'll just hit him harder!" Luffy said with determination, with Naruto wholeheartedly agreeing with that simple statement.

Lucas gave a smile of acceptance at Luffy's simpleminded thinking, though quickly drop the smile. "A good enough plan, in theory. The problem is where we should hit him." Lucas emphasised, before pointing towards the head of the Grimm. "There. The Geist should be hiding at the head. We rip off the head, the body will crumble and that Grimm will be ripe for the picking." Lucas theorised.

"Problem; that thing probably knows that to." Ichigo interrupted. "It immediately tried protecting it's head when I was heading straight for it. It's not going to let us get in a free shot. Not easily, anyway."

"We're all heavy hitters." Lucas waved off Ichigo's concern, walking forward ahead. "One at a time; we all strike with a force that's enough to knock the damn head off. So even if it blocks with one of its hands, the force of the blow will be enough to move the hand out of the way and letting somebody else get a shot at its head." Lucas suggested as he looked back to others. He blinked when his mind came up with a plan that he could only described as completely, and utterly dumb that the three in front of him probably won't even agree it.

"… And I know exactly how we'll go about this… ." Lucas found himself saying, despite believing that the others would never agree to it.

A few minutes later… .

"For the record, I think this is a pretty stupid idea!" Kurosaki Ichigo called out to Lucas Bloodedge, as he held Monkey D. Luffy by his arms. The straw hat-wearing boy looked surprisingly uncomfortable, for some reason.

"I don't see what you're complaining about! You're not the one whose about to be slingshotted or being used as a trampoline!" Lucas said back to him, holding Luffy's legs underneath his armpits. With the distance between the two as well as Ichigo standing on the air, Luffy was diagonally stretched at an angle that allowed Uzumaki Naruto to be slingshotted towards the Geist's face. To give the blonde the momentum required, Naruto had created a handful of clones who'll stand on each others' shoulders as well as pull Luffy by his waist.

How the hell Lucas came up with such an idea and why the other three actually went along with it will forever make even the brightest, dumbest and most insane minds wonder.

"Besides, it's better then just hacking at its legs so that its head will come down and be within our range of attack as well as be completely defenceless!" Lucas called out to Ichigo, his tone making it clear he was teasing the substitute for something that occurred in Ichigo's past.

Ichigo blinked in confusion, along with Luffy as they wondered what the hell Lucas was talking about. That an incident that occurred early on in Ichigo's career as a Substitute Shinigami flashed through his mind, reminding Ichigo exactly what Lucas was referring to.

His face showed mortification as well becoming red due to embarrassment.

"O-Oi!" Ichigo stuttered out, making him curse himself for doing so for it was not helping defend his case. "It was a good plan!" Was the best he could come up with on short notice.

"No, no it wasn't! And you know it!" Lucas said, chuckling to himself as he somehow knew Ichigo's reaction.

"Can we just do this already… ?" Naruto deadpanned towards them, his clones sharing their originals' flat look.

"Ha~i, hai~!" Lucas sang, with Naruto giving him a look that said "Never do that again", though Lucas apparently didn't see it.

"Alright guys! Let's do this!" Luffy cried out in Japanese, though both Ichigo and Lucas could feel that the future Pirate King's body wanted to snap back to it's normal shape. "Gomu Gomu no… !" Luffy called out, with the clones taking this as their cue to pull back.

The real Naruto braced himself as he made one more clone to stand alongside him, helping him create a Rasengan before dismissing the clone. Within his mind, he demanded something from his tenant. "Oi! Fox! Time to pay some rent!" He mentally growled at the being that had ended up ruining his childhood.

He could hear the fox growling back, but nonetheless felt the Chakra of the Nine Tails Demon Fox coursing through his Chakra Network and fuelling him and his Rasengan with far more energy and power than usual. His eyes turned from their ocean blue to blood red, with his pupils going from round to slitted, as Chakra resembling transparent red flames surrounded him, just like when Lucas was surrounded by his golden Aura when he flew.

None of the other said anything in reaction to this transformation, not even Luffy. This wasn't the time for questions. Instead, it was the time for action.

"… Trampoline!" Luffy finished the name of the technique, causing the clones to let go and send their original flying towards the Geist.

"Grr… ! Rasengan(Spiralling Sphere)!" Naruto roared as he flew towards the Geist with almost purplish Rasengan, with the image of a fox with cartoonishly long ears roaring with the Rasengan in its mouth appearing Naruto's hand without the blonde releasing it.

The Geist could sense the amount of hatred that was being produced by Naruto's transformation, and was able to react in time to Naruto's attack. It raised one of its clawed hands and blocked the purplish Rasengan, though the small sphere immediately expanded into a very large one once it made contact with the hand. The power behind the enhanced technique was enough to blow apart the Geist's hand, as well as make it stumble back as Naruto was blown away from the shockwave of his attack.

"Luffy, catch him!" Lucas ordered Luffy, with the scarred boy immediately entering Gear Second again to rush off and catch Naruto. "Let's go, Ichigo!" Lucas said, his fiery golden Aura surrounding him again, as Ichigo said, "Yeah" as he began producing dark Reiatsu that contrasted the light of Lucas's Aura.

They immediately took off towards the Geist unguarded face, forcing it to use its other hand to defend itself. It even managed to form its hand into a shield shape as Ichigo reached it first thanks to his Bankai's speed. "Go fly!" Ichigo roared in Japanese as he coated Tensa Zangetsu with his dark Reiatsu, making him look like a dark rocket of sorts. The sheer amount of Reiatsu he was pumping through the blade was enough to tear through the Geist's shield, with the Grimm barely dodging the attack itself by tilting its head.

However, this left it defenceless against Lucas who had summoned Star Platinum. "You're ours!" He roared alongside Star Platinum.

Yet, the Geist still had a few tricks. It used its wooden tendrils to trap Lucas in a similar sphere that was used to trap Ichigo. "OOOOOOORRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Star Platinum roared as it cut through the sphere with the combine Fusion Sword. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Star Platinum roared as it began hacking away at the tendrils so that Lucas may reach the neck of the Geist's possessed body.

Once they got in close enough, Star Platinum handed Lucas the Fusion Sword before he began to furiously punch at the Geist's neck with impressive strength and speed. "ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Star Platinum continued to roar as his punches began tearing a hole into the Geist's neck.

However, instead of going all the way through, Luffy made Star Platinum kick them away from the Geist. "I told that you're ours, right?!" He said with a grin towards the Geist as he flew away, before flying off to the side and revealing Monkey D. Luffy heading straight towards the Geist at impressive speeds, thanks to being thrown by Naruto and Ichigo earlier while Lucas had been punching the Geist with Star Platinum.

"I'll smash you to bits you dumb tree!" Luffy roared, biting his left thumb so hard that blood began flowing out of it. "GEAR… THIRD!" Luffy grunted out before blowing into his thumb's open wound, having bitten so hard that the wound reached to his rubbery bones. Luffy exhaled air into his arm, the air distributing itself equally that his left arm was growing into ginormous sizes. Luffy immediately began transferring the air from his left arm to his right, inflating his chest as the air flowed through.

"Gomu Gomu no… !" Luffy muttered under his breath as the air continued to transfer between his arms. Once the transfer was complete, he reeled his right arm, which had become giant-size in comparison to Luffy himself, back. "GIGANT PISTOL!" Luffy roared, looking the Grimm straight in the eye with a heated glare of determination before punching the Geist with his enlarged fist.

Thanks to Lucas laying a foundation with the hole he punched into the Geist's neck, the giant punch began tearing the Geist's head away from it's body, eventually sending it flying away from the main body. Due to it's large size, it didn't fly too far away from the battlefield, but Luffy did send it flying quite far.

Seeing that they accomplished what they planned to do, Luffy allowed himself to deactivate Gear Third by blowing the air out of his body, flying around the area due to the amount of air he had stored. Eventually, he ran out and began falling towards the ground.

"I got him-ttebayo!" Naruto told Ichigo and Lucas, running off to catch the falling straw hat pirate.

Ichigo and Lucas however, didn't reply. They knew the battle wasn't over quite yet. Ichigo could sense that the Geist was still alive. Due to Grimm lacking souls, there was an inherit wrongness to them that he could sense. Lucas knew it was still alive because he was using Star Platinum's eyesight, and could see the Geist flying away to safety now that it was so far away from it's body.

"I see it." Lucas informed Ichigo. He summoned Star Platinum and took with aim with Vigilante, storing away the twin sets of swords onto the special holster he was carrying strapped to his back while holding Vendetta due to having only four holsters maximum. "Give me a boost." Lucas asked Ichigo as Star Platinum prepared to throw Vigilante.

Seeing what Lucas was planning, Ichigo merely said, "Wakata." as he gripped Tensa Zangetsu with both hands.

"ORA!" With a mighty roar, Star Platinum threw Vigilante at high speeds, with Ichigo throwing in a nameless flying slash attack that mostly resembled his Getsuga Tensho. Ichigo's attack collided with Vigilante's flat pommel, giving the sword a powerful boost that headed straight towards the fleeing Geist's head.

Turning around, the Geist saw the instrument of its demise.

Then it knew no more.

Ichigo could sense the Grimm had died, due to the wrongness dissipating into the air. Also, Lucas's look of disgust at the apparent gore he saw using Star Platinum's eyesight was a good indicator.

"Yare yare… ." Lucas said, turning around while tilting his head downwards. "It's finally over." He said, letting his exhaustion show. His legs wobbled, and he fell towards the ground.

Though Ichigo caught him in time. "I gotcha, partner." Ichigo said, using a voice that showed he had accepted their partnership despite the past 3 months.

Lucas gave a weak, exhausted smirk. "I thought your partner is Zangetsu?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Smartass." Was all he felt like he needed to say as he helped Lucas up, draping Lucas's right arm over his shoulders.

Naruto soon approached them, carrying… a chibi Luffy?

Ichigo gave the blonde a dumbfounded look, which made the blonde freak out.

"O-Oi! Don't look at me! He was like this when I caught him-ttebayo!" Naruto's face and voice showed just how freaked out he was at Luffy's reduction in size.

The fact that Luffy was giving out his trademark carefree laugh wasn't exactly reassuring, for some reason.

"Yare yare daze… ." Lucas muttered, as Ichigo had the feeling he said that mostly to himself. "It's fine. It's just the drawback to Gear Third. He'll be back to normal soon enough." Lucas informed them. It took Naruto a few seconds longer to properly translate what Lucas said, but both he and Ichigo let out a sigh of relief at knowing the straw hat pirate was going to be fine.

"THAT. WAS. AWESOME!" A voice cheeringly crying out cause them to jump. Turning around to the source of the voice, they saw a group of people that Lucas had informed them about early on.

Team RWBY and Team JNPR, who Ozpin wanted them to watch over during their years at Beacon. Assuming they don't find a way to send them all back to their homeworlds by graduation, that is.

The one who cried out was Nora Valkyrie, who had shit-eating grin of excitement on her face, one that highly resembled Luffy's. The rest however were still stuck looking awestruck or just flat-out shocked, for some reason.

Silence reigned between them all for a moment, until it was broken by Lucas Bloodedge's next words, which had a certain whine to them.

The mix between a sigh and a groan that came before them, sounding equally as whiny, didn't help.

"Yare yare daze… ."

PLEASE NOTE: Due to me worrying about whether or not I'll make it to my self-imposed deadline in time, I decided to cut the scene where Ozpin christens the teams and their leaders. So, forgive me if it felt like a cliffhanger of sorts when I tried my best to make this chapter end properly. Don't worry; eventually I'll get around to updating this chapter with aforementioned scene, as well as other scenes that I wanted to add in, but ended up not doing so.

Such as a scene between Naruto and Luffy discussing their lives in Remnant as well as Lucas. And scenes of Team JNPR since I already put in Team RWBY in this. Even though it's not in this chapter (currently), it doesn't mean it didn't happen off-screen. I may choose to add it later, or I may not.

Personally, I like to think I'm making some progress with my horrible tendency of writing whenever I only feel like it. I mean, I'm at least finally spending all of my nights (so far ever since I've updated this damn thing) writing.

You know, I think I've lost the ability to… get in the characters heads, as it were. It might be because of me being sick, but I really don't think I'm characterising the characters anywhere close to their canon characterisations. Yare yare… just thinking about this makes my head spin and makes me want to die in a hole somewhere… .

So, what do you all think of the cover image? I end up growing to like it a lot more than I thought I would, even Naruto's white background. I think it's best seen like when the RWBY girls were revealed; each character placed horizontally as oppose to vertically. Seriously, they contrast each other perfectly. From the colours they represent, their hair colours, to their backgrounds. I love it. (For those who wonders about the old cover; it was supposed to the symbol for my SI/OC)

Also, out of curiosity; I wanted to know if some of you want a 3rd POV ver. of this story. I'm probably going to call it; "The Majestic Tale of Four Idiots". Reading that, you know that my SI's tendency of being quiet is because of him being lost in his own thoughts, or any facial expressions he makes is because he's thinking of something else during his "narration". Plus, battles might be better since I don't have to write my SI's thoughts in the middle of the fight and instead focus on describing the fight entirely.