Author's Note

This is a major crossover with Frost the Wolf. It's important because of multiple things.

1: The characters learn off screen for the most part, but only their skill. Any new abilities shall be in this, and any updates to the characters skills will be stated and explained in the beginning of the chapter.

2: They meet someone important to this story and Cheetara in general.

I needed to get this out of the way, but thankfully it won't affect the story that much.

Welcome To Beacon 1/4 The Fighting

When the Forgotten ones meet Lance

Ethan watched as the crowd of ponies dispersed. They seemed rather calm after the hour of explaining Twilight and Tigre went through.

“What a good sport.” Ethan chuckled. He took a bite of the sandwich Cheetara offered him as he laid back against the hay roof as he watched the sun start to set.

“Yes, that went a lot better than I thought it’d go,” Cheetara said.

Ethan gestured to Twilight and Tigre. “So… Should we jump down there?”

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t,” Cheetara said with a shrug.

“You go on ahead… I’m not built like you.” Ethan said as he got up.

“Okay, see you down there.” Cheetara said before running down to Tigre and Twilight in a blur of yellow and orange.

Ethan took another bite, but was shocked. The redhead threw his sandwich and pulled his Pistatore and shot it. Only to see the shot hit something metallic as the remains of the sandwich landed on some bystanders that gave him angry glares.

Ethan flipped them off, but they didn’t understand. They were flattered anyways. However, what did startle them was when a crack of lightning went off in the distance as Ethan and the others saw the lightning strike from where they were.

“Cheetara! Tigre! I think I did something!” Ethan shouted.

“What do you think you did!?” Tigre shouted back.

“I think I broke my electronic sandwich!” Ethan added.

“My CASTLE!!”

“That’s a castle? I thought it was a cheap toy…” Ethan remarked, only for Twilight to zap him with a spell, sending him off the building.

“Twilight! There’s some strange looking bipedal thing in the castle!” Spike exclaimed as he ran towards Twilight only to freeze in place at the sight of Tigre and Cheetara with Twilight.

“Bipedal…?” Ethan asked almost to himself.

“Can you explain what you mean Spike?” The Alicorn asked the baby dragon.

“It looks like them, but with a long braid and different clothing and stuff,” Spike said gesturing to Tigre and Cheetara.

“So a female…” Ethan said, caressing his chin in thought. “Or a Japanese character, either way, let’s go! Avengers, assemble!” Ethan did a wacky pose.

“Yeah...you do that, Ethan. I’m going to go see what he’s talking about.” Cheetara said before running in the direction Spike had come from.

“Oh god, what the hell did I fall into?” They heard from inside as Ethan and them cautiously approached the door.

“Yo! Someone in there!? I’ve got a laser sword I don’t know how to use properly!” Ethan shouted.

“Are you okay in there!?” Spike asked.

“Yup… I’m fan-freaking-tastic… Just all gumdrops and ice cream in here…” The voice groaned to himself, but the response from Ethan was not what it expected.

“Come out with your hands up and I might not shoot you,” Tigre told the being as he kept an arrow trained in the general direction of the voice.

“Can I come in?” They heard Spike and Ethan say at one point. Only for the voice to groan again.

“... I’m surrounded by idiots…”

“I thought you said that you were surrounded by ice cream!” Spike replied. Only for the voice to scream to himself.

“Okay, I’m coming out… But whoever thought it would be funny to throw my token into the wall of a crystalline castle I need to have a serious discussion with-.” The voice spoke as he stepped out to look at the group. “-them.”

“No idea what you’re talking about, but make any suspicious moves and you’ll get an arrow in you,” Tigre told him.

“Okay… For one… I have a name. It’s Lance… Two, I crashed here because someone shot my token and it landed into the wall of wherever I just landed.” He said as he held it up. “Three… I’m going to assume all three of you are Displaced.”

“Like I said, no idea what you’re talking about, Lance. No idea what a ‘Displaced’ is or what a ‘token’ is. I’m just going to continue to assume you’re an enemy until you prove otherwise.” Tigre replied.

“Okay, but I’m telling you three the truth… Did you three find yourselves crashing here after getting something you wanted?”

“Yes and no. Tigre and I got something we wanted, but Ethan had his picture taken before we all ended up here.” Cheetara told him. “How did you know that and why shouldn’t I let Tigre use you as target practice?”

“Because like you, the same thing happened to me and a bunch of people I know have had the same thing happen to them. I’m a displaced… Dimensionally Misplaced. I was at a convention and bought a small addition to my costume, only to arrive in the middle of my world and find out that I had not just a weapon… but powers.” He demonstrated as lightning churned in the middle of his hand.

“Huh, so the multiverse theory was right. You still haven’t answered the other part of the question about being target practice, Lance.” Cheetara said.

“Because I can help you meet other people that have been displaced. Hell, my cousin Sun runs a freaking Academy for Displaced.” Lance told them. “And you guys are lucky. I ended up in a world where Twilight and her friends are Superheroes.”

“Wait… You mean the power ponies!?” Spike asked, desperately.

“That’s them alright.” The response just caused the dragon to stare in awe at him as Lance looked back at Tigre and Cheetara.

“So, it’s the X-Men or something?” Tigre asked.

“More like the Avengers. Think Fluttershy with the abilities of the Hulk and you get Saddle-Rager.”

“Sorry, Fluttershy? Who is that?” Tigre wondered as he lowered his bow.

“Yellow Pegasus… Pink mane… takes care of animals?” Lance asked them before looking back and sighing. “Lives in a cottage with a chaos spirit named Discord?”

“Nope, not ringing any bells. We’ve only met Princess Twilight.”

“She’s one of my friends.” Twilight told them, levitating a picture over for them to see.

“Ah, okay. We saw the skittle pegasus talking to you earlier, but that’s about it.” Tigre admitted. That got Lance to chuckle as he looked at them.

“Maybe it would be best to continue this conversation inside.” He suggested. “I can explain a little more about myself, the Displaced in general and also answer some questions for you guys.”

“Sounds good to me.” Cheetara said as the group started to walk inside and situate themselves at the Dining room table.

“Wait… So are you a guy?” Ethan asked.

“Yes… Yes I am.” Lance replied. “I just preferred to grow my hair instead of get a haircut.”

“It’s kinda hard to tell with you being a japanese character and all… Well, we both are, but I look more manly.” Ethan said.

“You look like a twerp of a teen.” Cheetara stated.

“Technically, I have been displaced for over a year and in that timeframe, I’ve matured more than I thought. Besides…” He said as they finally noticed the ring on his finger. “I’m married and helping raise four kids.”

“... Okay… Should I be taking notes?” Ethan asked.

“That depends on if you would remember it or not. But if it’s in response to any questions you may have… then probably yes.” The Adept replied. “Speaking of questions, what would you like to ask me?”

“What’s a Displaced?” Cheetara asked.

“It’s short for Dimensionally Misplaced. Anyone who gets sent to their own version of Equestria as a certain character or with certain powers. I arrived as the protagonist based off of a game called Azure Striker Gunvolt, made by the creator of Megaman. Plus, summoning a Displaced can be compared to when you use a summoning in a final fantasy game.” He explained to them the best he could before looking back at them. “Anything else?”

“Where’d we summon you from?” Ethan asked. That was when Lance showed him the token from before and explained how he arrived in Twilight’s castle.

“All Displaced have tokens you can summon. This one is mine.” He told them.

“A hair pin?” Cheetara asked.

“It’s the same as the clip at the back of my braid… If you hit it or channel energy into it, you summon me.” Lance explained to them. Only for Twilight to remember something in that moment.

“Hey Ethan… Didn’t you shoot something before Lance… well… arrived here?”

“Uh… My sandwich.” Ethan remarked. “It shocked me, so I un-alived it.”

“It was never alive to begin with.” Tigre said.

“My token was in your sandwich?” He then asked, sighing as he looked back at the others. “Okay, out of all the things I have heard, that was the weirdest one yet.”

“I finally accomplished something without even trying…” Ethan said nodding proudly.

“...... Okay, next question?”

“How do we make a token?” Tigre asked.

“Well, that’s simple… Do each of you have an item that represents yourselves? If so, you focus your energy into it, say a few words that represent yourself and then send it into the void.”

“I don’t have any power, how does that work?” Ethan asked.

“Well, just focus on the saying. Do you have an item or trinket you want to use?”

“Not anything I want to get rid of.” Ethan said.

“You won’t get rid of it. The void sends out copies of the original item and lets you keep it.” He explained, showing the original token and also showing the one Ethan bit into. The bite marks still apparent.

“Some of us don’t really have much on them. Goliath only has a belt and a loincloth. So, is there a way to create something to use as a token?” Tigre asked as he thought of the three that weren’t with them.

“There is… What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, I already got something in mind for myself. I was just asking for Goliath really.” Tigre clarified as he took an arrow out of his quiver.

“I’ll just use one of my Item Boxes, it’s not like there’s anything inside of them.” Ethan said, showing off a red diamond shaped item. “You Cheetara?”

“Probably the Thundercat plate that’s in this costume.” Cheetara replied as she took the round Thundercat symbol off her chest.

“Aelita and Goliath might need something.” Ethan said.

“Yeah, both of them don’t really have anything besides what they’re wearing.” Tigre pointed out.

“Maybe a figurine of each of them?” Cheetara suggested.

“That’s retarded. Why not for Goliath a stone, and Aelita uses one of my handguns?” Ethan suggested. “Kaz can use his glasses.”

“Right, a stone. Very representative of a gargoyle that no longer turns to stone during the day.” Cheetara said sarcastically. “Doesn’t the token have to represent ourselves and thus Aelita using your gun kinda make that point moot?”

“How about a stone with Goliath’s claw marks in it while Aelita uses an image of her wings?” Tigre suggested.

“Sounds good. We’ll have to ask them though.” Ethan stated.

“Of course. So, now we just focus on these items and say a few words of introduction? Seems easy enough.” Tigre said as he fiddled with his arrow. He the nocked the arrow to his bow and thought of the words he wanted to say.

“I am Tigrevurmud Vorn, Lumiere, Knight of the Moonlight. If you have need of a highly skilled archer and hunter thrust this arrow into the ground.” Tigre said as he drew the arrow back and a black energy swirled around the tip of the arrow and extended back in a cone. “Now what? Actually, if I release this arrow then something is going to get destroyed. So...” That was when Lance used his hand to open a tear in the void right in front of them

“Shoot it in there.”

“Right, what about when it returns?” Tigre wondered before releasing the arrow in the tear in the void.

“I think the castle can withstand it.” Ethan smirked.

“Wait and see…” Lance advised them.

“So, that’s my token taken care of. Who’s next?” Tigre asked as he waited for his arrow to return. As the Arrow returned, Lance was able to catch it mid flight and toss it back to Tigre.

“I’m Ethan, if you need an asskicking redhead with a science fiction arsenal… Then call me I guess. Or don’t. I don’t care.” Ethan dropped his Item Box. “That right?” Lance nodded, sending the item box out into the void before yanking back the original one.

“I am Cheetara, call me if you need a speedster and staff master. Point this symbol into the sky and I will come running.” Cheetara said before tossing her symbol like a frisbee into the tear in the void Lance had opened. “So, should we go tell all of this to the others now?”

“I suppose. C’mon, let’s go.” Ethan said before making his way to the forest.

“Wait, that’s it? You’re leaving?” Twilight asked almost dejected.

“Something tells me that there are more than just these three… One did mention someone named Goliath.” Lance spoke up.

“Well, Twilight. Was there anything else you wanted us to for while we were here?” Cheetara asked.

“I kinda… Hoped you’d all stay at my castle.” Twilight said bashfully.

“That’s sweet, Twilight, and I’d love to, but we do have three more friends back in the Everfree and your ponies had some mixed reaction to just seeing Tigre. So bringing Goliath here is going to be a lot worse than that.” Cheetara replied.

“Let me guess… Gargoyle?” Lance asked.

“Yep, he’s a Gargoyle, but somehow doesn’t turn to stone during the day.” Tigre answered.

“Well, I would be interested in seeing him then.”

“He and the other two, Kaz and Aelita, are in the castle in the Everfree right now. Apparently we can move in with Twilight if I understand her correctly. Do you have any suggestions as to where we should stay, Lance?” Tigre said.

“Well that depends… Beacon Academy has dorms, but I think Twilight can find ways to accommodate if she were flexible.” He said, looking at the alicorn.

“Beacon a-what-amy?” Ethan asked.

“Beacon Academy… I told you that my cousin runs a school for Displaced in his world.”

“... His world… What, you want us to enroll?”

“It’s your choice really, but since you’re all new to being a displaced and the school is focused on helping New Displaced then it might work… Still, your choice.” Lance advised.

“We can handle anything that comes our way. Right guys?” Ethan asked.

“I can handle anything until they get close in. Then I’m kinda screwed.” Tigre admitted.

“That’s why you have us to cover for you, Tigre.” Cheetara said as she brandished her staff.

“Hmm… I think I might have an idea… You all sound so confident… So how about we do a test spar. All six of you against me.”

“Six on one? Isn’t that going a little too far, Lance?” Cheetara asked in concern for Lance’s well being.

“Sometimes experience outweighs strength in numbers… Plus… It lets me see how all six of you can coordinate as a team.”

“Okay, but I can already tell you that our coordination is lacking. There hasn’t been all that much action since we got here about a week ago.” Cheetara admitted with a blush of embarrassment.

“Quantity over quality.” Ethan said. “Let’s head to the castle. Twilight, you can cheer us on.”

“I’ll go ahead to tell the others then.” Cheetara said before dashing away in a blur.

“Ugh, let’s hurry up…” Ethan groaned. Lance just chuckled… This was going to be fun.

“And that’s how I met Lance.” Aurora, a filly ghost in Lance’s bracer told Twilight.

“We’re finally here!” Ethan said slightly annoyed.

“About time you showed back up, Ethan. How’d the intro go?” Goliath said from the castle’s rampart.

“It went surprisingly smooth. Oh, and we met this gir- I mean guy.” Ethan pointed at Lance who was behind him. Only to get a punch in the shoulder which sent him to the ground.

“Haha!” Kaz laughed.

“And now we’re fighting him six on one. Cheetara told us that much already. She forgot to tell us about the intro, though.” Goliath said as he looked at Lance.

“Apparently, Ethan flipped off a few passerby’s when they stared him down, according to Tigre.”

“That fits with his personality and bodes ill for when they see me. Do you really believe that you can take all six of us at the same time?” Goliath asked as he glided down to land in front of the group.

“Trust me, I have a lot of different tricks up my sleeve.”

“We’ll see how well those tricks do against us then. Hopefully, there won’t be too many injuries on you by the end of this.” Tigre said in a cheerful voice.

“Okay… But first,” He said as he put two fingers on his forehead. “You need to find me.” Within seconds of that, he disappeared from sight, leaving all six of them stunned.

“Crap, he turned invisible. Well, let’s see if he still leaves a shadow or footprints then.” Tigre said as he backed up against a tree as he searched for signs of Lance.

“Come out and fight us, coward.” Goliath said in frustration as he looked around in panic.

“Guys, it’s simple. Just listen and you’ll find him.” Cheetara advised before swinging her staff at the area she believed Lance was in. Only to hit nothing as Ethan leaned back against a wall.

“Or I could use my Goggles.” Ethan said, pulling out his tech. “They show things the naked eye can’t see.”

“That works too. Freaking advanced tech base.” Tigre grumbled as he stayed on alert.

However, before Ethan was able to put them on, A hand from the opposite side of the wall grabbed him before sending him flying.

“There he is!” Tigre shouted and fired at the area Lance had been in. Only to miss as he launched several shots at the group and caused them to scatter. All while grabbing a stick and using it to hit Ethan with it like he was teeing off at a golf course.

“Fore!”

Ethan yelped in pain as he went flying. Aelita sent an energy sphere at where Lance was. While Tigre fired more arrows at the area Lance was last known to be in. The Adept himself countered by using his Flashfield to block all the incoming projectiles before disappearing again.

“Where’d he go this time?” Cheetara asked in frustration as she put her back against Goliath’s to help cover their blind spots.

“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to get my claws on him.” Goliath said as his eyes darted back and forth in search of their elusive opponent. Only to have him get blindsided as it showed the Adept on a chandelier. Using the energy blades that were on his guns, he cut the chain holding the chandelier up before darting out of there again, causing the piece to drop on them.

Meanwhile though, Twilight was very concerned with what was going on and trying to convince Aurora to talk Lance out of this. “Aurora, this is insane. Is there any sort of thing that we could do to help them? Anything at all?!”

“Not really.” Aurora responded.

“Seriously? Is there nothing we can cast?”

“Perhaps something heavy.” Aurora suggested.

“But he might kill them!”

“That would be wonderful for the test!” Aurora said happily.

“AGHH!!!”

“Retreat!” Ethan yelled running away followed by Aelita.

“Right behind you!” Tigre said as he fired some arrows in random directions in hopes of hitting Lance for once.

“How is this a test of our abilities if we can’t even connect?” Cheetara asked as she got out from under the chandelier with Goliath.

“Guys! We gotta work together!” Ethan yelled.

“I’ve got the bad feeling that he’s gonna pick us off one by one.” Aelita said. Only for her to realize that Lance was right behind her.

“Bingo!” He snapped, catching her off guard and sending her into Cheetara with a quick jab punch.

“Fuck!” Ethan said pulling out his Saber and attacking randomly.

“Try catching this!” Tigre challenged and fired three arrows at Lance in one shot while Ethan attacked the long haired man. Lance countered the attack from Ethan and used the blades on his guns to cut the shots as he kicked Ethan into Tigre.

Lance kicked Ethan in his sensitive spot again, which forced him to kneel.

“That was dirty!” Aelita shouted as she landed next to her older brother.

“Definitely not what a knight would do.” Tigre agreed as he stood next to Aelita.

“I’m not a knight. I’m an Adept… And I’m starting to think that was decent enough… for a warm up.”

“W-warm up…?” Ethan asked, his voice a higher pitched.

“I wasn’t using most of my abilities because I wanted to see how you would react and what your attack methods were…” Lance told them. “Besides… I don’t go invisible.” When he said this, in the blink of an eye, he was behind Ethan with guns drawn.

“Oh shit… He teleports…” Ethan said, too scared to move.

“Teleporting...can you teleport like this?” Goliath asked as he tackled Lance away from Ethan. Only to blink out again and onto a nearby ledge.

“... Does that answer your question?”

Ethan sighed in relief.

“Yep, it does.” Tigre said as he fired at Lance once more. Ethan joined him in firing as Aelita covered their backs.

“Need I point out that this is only one tool in my arsenal?” He asked, dodging Aelita’s shot and using his Flashfield to block the rest. Switching clips to Vasuki, Lance began firing a different series of shots as they hit their target after deflecting off of walls or hard surfaces.

“No, but you’re kidding yourself if you think you can hit us so easily.” Tigre said as he did his best to dodge the shots that came his way.

“Speak for yourself, Tigre. Not all of us can dodge shots as well as you.” Goliath grumbled as several shots hit him. “How’s everyone holding up?”

“I’m okay, but this is getting tiring.” Cheetara admitted.

“Okay! You win!” Ethan said, shutting his Saber off. “We need training.”

“That was the point I was trying to make…” Lance replied, landing from above once again. “Now, before I let you follow me to Beacon… I want you to try and hit me-.” His sentence was interrupted when Ethan blasted him directly in the face.

“Oh fuck! It actually worked!”

He was taken aback once the smoke cleared to see that there wasn’t any signs on wounds on his face or anywhere else.

“Oh fuck! That didn’t work!” Ethan yelped.

“I knew that wouldn’t work,” Everyone turned to see Aurora standing next to Twilight. “Lance is a bit of a badass.”

“Aurora, Language.”

“So, you want us to stop trying to hit you and hit you?” Goliath asked.

“I was just trying to prove a point. If you try to fight an opponent without knowing a bit about them, the results will not turn out to be the way you hoped.” He told them, showing his fingers recovering a little from one of the stray arrows from Tigre hitting him. “As in the old phrase… Know thy enemy.”

“Yes! I actually hit him! I didn’t think any of the arrows connected at all! I mean it was pure luck, but I’ll take what I can get at this point!” Tigre said excitedly.

“It was just a scratch.”

“Still a hit and that means I wasn’t completely useless like I thought I was moments ago.” Tigre countered.

“So, how do we fight an unknown opponent then? Cause that’s probably going to be the grand majority of our fights.” Cheetara said with her hands on her hips.

“Take the first few moments to watch them and see what kind of moves they have. If you can pay attention to anything that could be a potential weakness, you can exploit it… For example…” He turned to look at Ethan. “Ethan has absolutely no idea how to use his equipment.”

“What’s there to know, sword goes swish swish, bad guy dies.” Ethan said.

“Okay, point taken, but you disappeared on us so not even I could observe you for long and I’m used to observing cheetahs for a living.” Cheetara countered.

“If you can’t see, use your other senses. Hearing is one major component… Also, regarding Ethan… Did he have any knowledge of martial arts at all before ending up here?” Lance asked. The silence that followed next was the only thing he needed to hear to answer his question. “Okay, that settles it… You need to learn how to use a sword before you can use a laser sword.”

“The only one of us who had any sort of training with their current abilities and/or equipment before becoming like this was Tigre.” Goliath informed Lance.

“Well then… This is either going to be fun or not depending…” Lance told them as he snapped his fingers and opened a door to Beacon. “Follow me… It’s time for you to see the Academy.”

“Going to school again is going to suck so much! I graduated from college already and everything!” Cheetara complained as she walked towards the door.

“Not that kind of school,” He informed them as they stepped into Beacon’s Grand hall. Catching all six of them by surprise. “This kind of school.” They took a few moments to look around at the sights around them and a few of the people passing by. But stopped once something landed on Cheetara’s head.

A banana peel.

“Who’s monkeying around?” Ethan asked.

“Immediately with the puns I see?” Another voice boomed as all six of them looked up to see a guy with blond hair, long jacket and cargo shorts hanging from the ceiling by a monkey tail.

“Gross! Could you not drop a banana peel on me the moment I enter a room?” Cheetara said as she tossed the peel away from her.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to enter the room.” He replied back, looking at the Adept. “So Lance, I guess you’re the tour guide for this group?”

“How do you two know each other?” Aelita asked.

“Remember when I told you I had a cousin?” The Adept asked. “Well, you just met him. Meet Sun Wukong… Founder of Beacon Academy.”

“He’s the founder?” Tigre asked in surprise.

“Well… We can definitely expect shits and giggles. I’m in.” Ethan said.

“I’m in as well if it means I can learn how to use this new body of mine.” Goliath said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“When do we start?” Tigre wondered with a shrug.

“I know there’s gonna be paperwork…” Ethan whispered to himself. “Please don’t let there be paperwork.”

“Just a simple form to keep on record… Before we have you visit Asphyxious.”

“Asphyxi-what?” Aelita asked.

“One of our teachers on campus… He’s a lich.”

“A what now?” Cheetara asked.

“An undead necromancer. Like a zombie, but they continuously bring themselves back from death. They’re usually sentient.” Aelita explained.

“Neeerrrrrddd!!!” Ethan laughed.

“Actually, she’s right. Just be careful around him though.” Sun informed them. “He’s also part dragon.”

“Okay~ Um, what do we do now? Go to class?” Tigre inquired.

“I thought we had to fill stuff out…” Aelita said.

“I think the founder of the school would have told us if there was any paperwork or anything else we needed to fill out, Aelita.” Cheetara said before hugging Aelita from behind.

“Fill out the forms, then I’ll let someone give you a tour of the campus.” Sun replied. “Oh nice, Dawn’s back.”

“Is Dawn another teacher here?” Goliath asked.

“Actually… She’s a student.” He said as she walked in, looking at the group as she looked back at them.

“Well, nice to see that you’re showing the new students the ropes,” She replied, twirling a pair of dual revolvers with blades attached to the end of them and a chain with them. Before she looked back at Ethan. “Who’s this little cutie with the blush on his face?”

“His name is Ethan and I think you broke him.” Goliath said with a chuckle.

“E-Ethan Waber!” Ethan said, shaking his head. His face was red and he was getting sweaty. “I’m sorta the leader...”

“Nice going dipshit.” Kaz remarked.

“Ethan plus pretty lady equals nervous sweats apparently.” Goliath commented.

“Wait til you meet Nicko.” Lance chuckled.

“Wait, did she just call my brother ‘cutie’?” Aelita asked.

“She did, but my question is: who’s Nicko?” Tigre asked.

Dawn chuckled as she looked at the group. “You mean my dad? He’s a teacher here.”

“You’re so screwed!” Kaz laughed as Ethan ignored him.

“Uhm… S-so… W-what’re you doing h-here a-again D-Dawn?” Ethan asked then cleared his throat. “So uh… You seem pretty good with that weapon…”

“Why thank you, I’m flattered.” Dawn said, going over and lightly kissing Ethan’s forehead… before he collapsed to the floor. “Yep, he’s a keeper.”

“If you say so, Dawn. Can we start filling out the necessary papers so we can start learning to fight properly?” Tigre inquired.

“Sure,” She replied, handing out the necessary forms for all of them.

“Thanks. Are we going to be learning about anything else besides how to fight properly while we’re here?” Tigre inquired as he and the others began filling out the forms.

“Where’s the sign up sheet thing!?” Aelita suddenly yelled.

“Huh? Right here. You okay there, Aelita?” Tigre said and handed Aelita a form to fill out. Shortly after each one of them filled out the forms, Sun took them, rolled them up in the form of a scroll and took out a lighter. Surprising everyone.

“Calm down, this is how I send these to Twilight.” He assured them, a green flame being emitted as it consumed the forms and sent them off in a whisk of sparkles. “The lighter emits the same green flame that Spike would use so that way I can easily send them to her.”

“Didn’t know any of that until now, but it’s good to find out about. What do we do now?” Goliath asked.

“That’s simple… Dawn, can you escort them to the training grounds?” Sun asked.

“Certainly,” She replied, looking at Ethan. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Oh, uh, I am. No need to worry about me.” Ethan cleared his throat after speaking.

“Uh huh, just try not to stare too much, Romeo.” Goliath teased.

“I’ll remember this hornhead…” Ethan grumbled.

“What’s a friend for if not to give each other a hard time in situations like this, Ethan? Besides, I’m sure you’d do something similar if I was in your shoes.” Goliath replied with a chuckle.

“Are you two done with your ‘male bonding’? There’s more pressing matters at hand right now.” Cheetara said as she walked over to Ethan before leaning close to Ethan and whispering, “I’m rooting for you, Ethan.”

“Thanks.” Ethan blushed as he replied.

“While we’re travelling to the training grounds we should try to figure out the roles each of us are going to take.” Tigre suggested. “I’m fire support/sniper, Kaz is a non-combatant until he gets training, Goliath is our tank/melee fighter, Cheetara provides battlefield control with her running, Ethan seems to be an all-arounder and will be best as an adaptive role, and Aelita is in the back with me as another support role. Does that seem about right?”

“Sounds about right. I do adapt well.” Ethan said.

“I was mainly thinking about the different kinds of weapons and abilities everyone has, but it’s good to find out a bit more about you.” Tigre replied with a smile.

“Good to see how everyone has certain skillsets… However, there is also the fact that with these advantages… there are also disadvantages too.”

“That's true, but it's not like each of us is going to be able to be able fight on our own at Lance’s level, right?” Tigre said, unsure if what he'd said was actually true.

“Yes… but there are some above his level.”

“You’re kidding, right? The six of us put a single scratch on Lance and you’re telling us that there’s people above his level of fighting?” Tigre said in disbelief.

“Why else do you think we would have to train you? Besides, other Displaced have lived over 1000 years and have more experience than you.”

“... Uh… You have a good point.” Ethan shrugged.

“So, the biggest thing would be to work on our weak points, I’d guess.” Goliath chimed in.

“I’d say working on our fighting skills. I’ve never even hit a person.” Ethan said begrudgingly. “So, who wants to go with Dawn to the training ground thing? Uh… Where is it?” That was when all the others looked up and saw a particular sign above his head. One that was pointing to the left and had the caption ‘This way, Dumbass’ emblazoned on the front. “What?”

Aelita burst out laughing, and pointed behind her brother. Ethan turned around and his eyes narrowed and he grumbled. “Whose idea was this?”

“That would be me…” All of them turned around to see a new figure emerge next to Nicko and Dawn. A figure that, to them, they had never seen before. One with numerous different animal parts for arms and legs which, upon arriving, caused Dawn to sigh a little. “I just thought I would give the leader of this group a… proper greeting.”

“Was that really necessary, Eris?” Nicko asked her as he folded his arms.

“Come on, Nicko. I was just trying to have some fun with these guys.” Eris giggled, looking back at them. “Besides, I wanted to see how the kids were doing. Moondancer too.” With that, Dawn rolled her eyes and folded her arms for a moment. But the next thing the group heard lead to them staring back at Ethan.

“Hello to you as well, mom.”

“Oh my gosh…” Aelita said, before laughing again. Ethan gulped.

“Uh… H-hi…” Ethan squeaked.

“Oh look, the little guy is blushing!” Eris chuckled before looking back at Nicko. “I’ll leave you two to them. Dawn, play nice okay? You wouldn’t want to break them apart too early now.” With that, she phased through a nearby wall and left both the Rune Slayer and the Crimson Rose with the forgotten ones.

“W-well… That was… Strange…” Ethan said nervously. Aelita then jumped in front of him and bluntly asked:

“What was she!?”

“That… is a draconequus. Half Dragon, Half pony, full on master of Chaos Magic and basically does anything that she pleases,” Nicko replied. “That and she is the daughter of another draconequus I know named Discord.”

“Ah… She didn’t look half pony-” Aelita was cut off by Ethan who shoved her out of the way.

“Aelita, don’t be indecent!” Ethan shouted.

“That is honestly how it is described. There’s only a few amount of them in the world. Rather the universe itself…” The Rune Slayer replied, looking back at them. “Don’t worry, she won’t mess with you guys… my wife just has a way of… making an entrance at times.”

“Yeah… No joke there…” Ethan grumbled. “Now, can we please get to that training zone?” By then the group had already walked to where Nicko and Dawn were, finding themselves in a wide open circular room that would almost resemble an arena.

“Technically… you just arrived.” Nicko said as he went up to the seats. “Now, I know what Lance told me, but I’m going to do something different. Instead of watching you fight all at once, I’m going to see how you fair individually.” It was in that moment that Dawn had a small box in her hand with a few pieces of paper as he had each one of them get one piece.

“What’s that?” Kaz asked fearfully.

“You’ll see,” Dawn assured her. Once everyone had a piece of paper, she put the box away and then asked them to do something. “Now unfold the paper and tell me what number you received.”

“One.” Ethan remarked.

“Two.” Cheetara added.

“Three…” Kaz muttered.

“Four.” Goliath said proudly.

“Five!” Aelita squealed. Tigre stayed quiet, knowing that he was six and anyone else knew he was six.

“What the hell does this mean?” Kaz asked.

“The numbers represent the order in which all of you will be fighting,” Nicko explained. “Since Ethan has one, he’s going first. It’ll be followed by Cheetara, you, Goliath and so on. It also means that I’ll be getting a few more… participants to see how strong all of you are.” With that, he then looked at Dawn before looking at everyone else. “Now stand off to the side of the Arena. Ethan’s fight is about to begin.”

“Who am I fighting?” Ethan asked. This only lead to a silly smirk on Dawn’s face as Ethan then heard the spinning of chains.

“Me.”

“Oooh, good luck, Ethan,” Cheetara said with a sympathetic expression.

Ethan backtracked. “I can’t hit a girl! I’ve never even punched a real person!”

“It doesn’t help that you think she’s cute,” Goliath mumbled before walking away with the others to the edge of the arena.

“I hope my brother survives.” Aelita stated nonchalantly.

“They’re here to teach us, Aelita, not kill us.” Cheetara said comfortingly.

“I know, but Ethan looks about ready to have a heart attack.” Aelita replied, looking at Ethan’s shaking form.

“Well, it is his first time actually fighting. So, most of that shaking is probably nerves more than fear, I think.” Goliath said thoughtfully.

“S’not like I have a choice, though…” Ethan mumbled to himself as he summoned his Sevara Saber in his right hand, and his Pistatore Handgun in his left one. ‘Doesn’t help that I have only the weakest weapons in PSU…’ He thought. Just as Dawn’s weapon was inches away from his face. The chain blade was attached to a revolver on the other end. But that wasn’t the least of his problems.

The thing was… Dawn had two of these… and one was aimed at his head. Click… clack… BANG! Ethan was barely able to duck in time. He rolled on the ground before sloppily shooting at Dawn with his laser gun. Which she was able to dodge quickly and easily while having the other end of her chain tripped Ethan, causing him to faceplant on the ground. Ethan got up quickly for a guy who never exercised much, and changed his strategy. He started running towards Dawn, shooting more precisely than earlier as his blade disappeared.

The Crimson Rose smirked as she ducked for cover before deflecting some of his shots with her weapon. “Well… someone’s getting the hang of it… Looks like I don’t need to go easy on you anymore.”

When Ethan was close enough, his gun vanished and his sword appeared in his hands and he took a swing. Dawn dodged the attack and flipped backwards, kicking Ethan in the chin first before throwing out her chain blade at him. Of course, this wasn’t any normal attack. This was Bloody Chain, an attack that allowed Dawn to strike an enemy and pull them towards her. Which, unfortunately for Ethan, caught his Jacket in the process.

“Damn it…” Ethan growled before he was pulled towards Dawn in the attack. But in the process he took a swing in hopes that they’d at least hit each other. His gamble paid off as his intended attack and hers collided, causing the area to shake a bit before having them back off.

“Nice counter…” She smirked, readjusting herself. “I’m beginning to think that with time, you can be better at the skills you have.” As Ethan was getting up though, he saw the Crimson Rose look up at him and give Ethan a small wink. Making his face blush instantly as he fell back down on the floor.

“Huh, did she just break Ethan?” Goliath grinned.

“With a wink,” Cheetara smiled. “I guess it’s my turn now.”

“Great, I was wondering when I don’t have to get bored,” Another voice spoke up as Cheetara and the others turned to see Sun hanging from the rafters with his monkey tail. “Sup?”

“Um, you?” Goliath said uncertainly.

“No, I mean how are you?” Sun chuckled as he leapt down from the rafters and onto the arena floor. Just as Dawn picked up Ethan and took him off of the fighting grounds. “Hey, Nicko. Mind if I have this one?”

“Go for it. It’ll give me a chance to call Anson and Noctis while you’re at it.” Nicko smirked. “Just play fair.”

“If you say so. I wasn’t sure Dawn was playing fair though-.” That was when a shot whizzed by his head as Dawn was still holding one of her guns while another arm held Ethan.

“You were saying?”

“... I’m sorry?” The faunus said, before looking at Cheetara and getting out both of his weapons as they formed a staff before taking up a stance. “Anyways though, this should be a good chance to practice my skills.”

“Hmm, monkey man vs cheetah woman. Both using a staff. This’ll be interesting,” Cheetara said and she walked out onto the arena floor as she took her staff from her bracer and extended it.

“Goliath! Dawn broke Ethan!” Aelita shouted.

“And took him away afterwards,” Goliath chuckled.

“This will be interesting indeed… word of warning though… my weapon is more than just a staff.” He smirked, shortly before making the first move and swinging diagonally, barely missing Cheetara’s head with the first strike. This was followed up by two vertical swings, the first barely missing Cheetara while the second one almost hitting her wrist in an attempt to disarm her. Cheetara ran behind Sun in a blur of yellow and orange before swinging her staff at his feet in an attempt to end the fight quickly. That was when Sun though, turned into a holographic figure of yellow light as it exploded in front of her, causing up a cloud of smoke and making it harder for Cheetara to see.

“You got guts, that’s for sure.” She heard him say, before hearing something move. “But you need to be able to expect the unexpected.”

“But that makes the unexpected the expected,” Cheetara replied as she ran away from the movement she heard to gain some distance from Sun. Only to hear something different as she turned around to see Sun again as he caught her off guard.

“True, but with every opponent, you don’t know what to expect.” He then said. Splitting his weapon as they formed what appeared to be a pair of nunchaku.

“Huh… More animal parts.” Kaz remarked. “Lot’s of furries here.” Aelita smacked him.

“I’m not a furry! I’m a digital angel!” Aelita shouted at him.

“Crap, I thought he was in the other direction,” Cheetara said in alarm and began to run to separate herself from the faunus. Cheetara breathed heavily once she was far enough away. “How was...he in two...places at once? And man, I’m out of shape.”

“You can do it Cheetara! I believe in you!” Aelita shouted encouragement to her friend.

“Thanks, Aelita! And smack Kaz really hard for me! I’d do it myself, but I don’t think Sun’s going to let me!” Cheetara called as she kept a wary eye on Sun. All the monkey faunus did was smirk as he looked back at her.

“Seems like you are trying to figure me out…” He said, just as the smoke cleared and Cheetara was able to see the spectral creation of the faunus some distance away. Where she first was before backing up and running to Sun again. “Well, now’s your chance to piece everything together.”

“It seems like you’re able to make a projection of yourself while a smokescreen covers your movement,” Cheetara said in analysis.

“That… is partially right.” Sun replied, pointing to the clone as it began to move. “You see, myself and a few others in this world have a Semblance, or special trait. For me, it’s making a pair of spectral clones of myself that explode on contact. However, I’ve been tinkering with my abilities and trying some new things with it… Remember when the explosion happened that created the smokescreen? Well, that was clone #1.” Just as he said that, the second clone dashed towards Cheetara and detonated a few inches from her location, having her focus on defending herself from that attack on the right and leaving her left side exposed.

Which was where Sun was a few seconds later. “That was clone #2… and this,” he said, pointing one of the nunchaku at her. “...is where I am.” Once that was said, Cheetara had to quickly use her staff to block the dust based shotgun round that was fired at near point blank range, close to hitting her by a few inches. Cheetara continued her swing to try to bring one of her staff butts into Sun’s temple. But Sun was quick to block and dodge, even going as far as to try and use his tail to trip and have Cheetara fall. Cheetara used the momentum of her fall to begin back flipping away, but not before aiming a kick at Sun’s chin.

But the faunus dodged the kick and smirked. “Trying to copy Dawn now are you?” Earlier, the Crimson Rose did the same maneuver to Ethan and it hit dead on. Not so much this time around as he saw this one coming. “I have to admit, you’re doing pretty well. Better than that Ethan fellow earlier.”

“Thanks, my eyes are used to seeing fast things due to studying cheetahs back home and now being Cheetara I’ve got faster reflexes,” Cheetara told Sun before charging at the faunus at full speed with her staff pointed at Sun’s chest. However, what caught her by surprise was when Sun put away his weapon and then used his hands to block and disarm the Cheetah as his tail now held her staff.

“You may have fast speed and reflexes, but combat can be a different story,” Sun then said, offering a hand to help her up. “However, you did a good job today, so you pass in my book.”

“Dang, couldn’t even land a single hit,” Cheetara said and took Sun’s hand. “Thanks, that means alot coming from the director of this combat school.”

“No need to call me any fancy titles, I’m just the founder… if you want to meet the headmaster, I suggest talking to Twilight or Ozpin.” He said to her, looking at Nicko. “So who’s next?”

“M-me…” Kaz muttered feebly.

“Well, this is interesting,” Another voice said as they turned to see another face next to Nicko. “Are you sure that one can defend themselves?”

“Patience Anson,” Nicko said. “Just have faith… which reminds me, is Connor here?”

Sun then turned to Nicko, raising an eyebrow for a moment. “Really Nicko? You want to bring your nephew into this?”

“I’ve been helping him with his training along with Anson and Dawn, so I think it’s for the best if he tries another opponent besides one of us,” The Rune Slayer insisted, just as another figure appeared next to Anson and then hopped down from the railing.

“Heh, looks like Kalinkas is gonna get his butt whooped!” Aelita said with a laugh.

“Which reminds me,” Cheetara said and ran up to Kaz before whacking him on the head with her staff. “That’s for thinking pervy things about me.”

“I’m not into you, dang it! I just said that Sun was a furry!” Kaz shouted before stomping onto the arena.

“You called them both furries, Kaz.” Tigre sighed.

“That just means they dress as anthropomorphic animals! There’s nothing perverted about it!” That conversation was interrupted when the young sword knight at the other end planted his sword on the ground and stretched his arms.

“Can you three please SHUT UP ALREADY!! I’m wanting a fight, not a screaming match-.”

“Connor, be respectful!” Anson retorted.

“Sorry dad…” He mumbled before pulling his blade out of the ground.

“I apologize as well. I only meant to point out a fact not keep the argument going,” Tigre told them politely.

Kaz coughed. “I-I don’t have any p-powers or cool weapons! How am I supposed to fight him?”

Anson sighed, looking at Kaz. “Connor’s sword has a blunt edge unless needed specifically for fighting massive creatures and… Hey Nicko, can you see if there’s anything with Kaz that we can’t see?”

“Let me check…” Nicko said, hopping down and with a little bit of magic, looked at Kaz. “Hey Kaz… did you notice that you had something in your back pocket?”

Kaz nodded, and pulled out his red scanner. “Yeah, it’s my scanner. It’s useless without an arena. Not a typical one like this, a… Battledrome, that’s the word!” Kaz shrugged as he turned it on. “Why?”

“I have a feeling that there’s more than meets the eye with this…” Nicko said, returning to Anson. Only a few seconds later did the scanner beep a little and then said something.

“KidChaor, battle mode online.” It said in a synthetic male voice. A list of creatures along with and an empty slot appeared.

“Oh my god… This is…” An evil grin formed on his face. “The… Best… Day… Ever!” He then dragged one of his favorite creatures into the slot along with a Battlegear and a couple Mugic’s. He then placed his hand on the creature, and the scanner vanished. Suddenly, he was enveloped in a blue, blocky light that caused everyone in the arena to cover their eyes.

When it finally stopped, Kaz was gone. Replaced by a large red bulky male.

“Uh… Hi?” Connor said, still shocked and trying to process what just happened. Just as his father and uncle were talking amongst themselves.

“Do you think Connor is going to be okay?”

“Oh I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Anson assured his brother. Before hearing the shouting from the arena floor.

“HELP!! THIS RED MONSTER THING IS TRYING TO EAT ME!!!”

“Unless of course he was attacked by some sort of devil like monster thing…” The infinity sword said with a sigh before turning back to the arena. “Which is the most stupidest way to continue the plot sequence but-. Oh my god, it’s actually happening.”

“Chaor!!!” It screamed.

“Holy… and I thought I would scare the ponies,” Goliath commented.

“Shit… I’ll never mess with him again…” Aelita said, eyes unblinking.

“Now… Let’s see what you’re made of, runt!” Chaor said, grinning. Only to see Connor’s eyes narrow and his ears twitch as he grit his teeth.

“What… did you call me…?”

‘Oh my gosh! What did I say!?’ Kaz thought.

“Uh oh…” Nicko said, catching the others attention.

“What’s ‘uh oh’?” Goliath asked worriedly.

“There’s one thing that Connor takes from me… with not so good results…” Nicko told them.

“Uh, sorry… This new form’s messing with my head.” Chaor apologized. Only for fury and anger to form around Connor as he stared down the beast in front of him.

“Never… call me… A RUNT!!!” He roared, some new energy wrapping around his sword as he held onto his blade. He knew for a fact that he shouldn’t try this yet. But if he were to hold his ground in this fight, it meant that he had to take a risk. His knees weakening a little as he yelled. “ARMAGEDDON BLADE!!!”

“And now he’s lost it.” Nicko groaned, facepalming himself. “Whenever I tried training with him, he keeps pushing himself to use second job class skills, even if he’s only the first Job class. It won’t be long until this runs out… Plus, there’s another bad thing too.”

“And what would that other thing be?” Cheetara inquired.

“Since his body isn’t used to the skill, it’ll strain his muscles and kill his speed. He would be a sitting duck compared to your friend.” Nicko said, looking at his brother. “I’m sorry Anson. I try to keep telling him not to do that-.”

“Don’t apologize. If worst comes to worse, we’ll just stop the match.” Anson sighed. “I just hope he knows what he’s doing.”

Chaor groaned. He was glad about what Battlegear he chose. He summoned his Torwegg and placed his hands on his hips. “This’ll be fun…” Connor planted his feet, waiting for if his opponent was to make a move. But when he heard that, he believed that the creature was mocking him and proceeded to charge in with his Rolling Smash skill, which was a somersault forward that did moderate damage. But Armageddon Blade made the damage increase a lot. Chaor yelped, then used his Battlegear to shoot into the air before he could be hit.

“I want one of those…” Ethan muttered to himself.

“Coward! Get back here!!”

“Not until you ca-” Before he could finish that sentence, the engines cut out and he fell… On top of Connor. “Ugh…”

“Urgh…” The Sword Knight groaned from being crushed. “Why you… get off!” He said, trying to hit Chaor, but didn’t make it budge. “I said… GET OFF!!” That time though, Connor resorted to a mid jab kick that put Chaor… in a lot of pain afterwards.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” Chaor screamed as he changed back into Kaz and was significantly lighter. Giving Connor some breathing room as he crawled out from underneath.

“S-sorry I-.” He was going to apologize for a moment, until he noticed Kaz and tilted his head. “K-kaz? W-where were you during that w-whole fight?” That only caused Anson to sigh and for Nicko to facepalm himself as the youngster looked back at them. “Did I do s-something wrong?”

“Not necessarily wrong…” Nicko sighed. “Other than having your anger get the better of you, you were fine. But for future warning… that monster you fought was Kaz. His abilities revolve around shapeshifting.” Once that was said, the young knight had a horrified expression on his face and hurried back to where Kaz was.

“I’m sorry for getting mad!! I didn’t think that red brute monster was actually you!! Please forgive me!!” Now the youngster was sounding like he was pleading for forgiveness as all it did was make his father sigh as he watched his son be a little… overdramatic.

“That… he got from his mother.” Anson chuckled, looking at them. “Sometimes Connor can be just as overdramatic as Pinkie.”

“Kaz turned into a giant monster with a jetpack…” Aelita said in a deadpan tone. “I can see why he’s that way.”

“It’s… It’s okay… I shouldn’t have called you a runt, I think turning into Chaor messed with me a little…” That was when Nicko sighed.

“If you call a little being that… eh, what the hell. Both of you are good now. So who’s next?” Connor asked, only for a small white light to emerge and an adult like figure with black leather clothing walking in.

“So this is all the commotion that’s going on. I was getting curious when Sun told me that there was a fight occurring in the training hall, yet I never expected this.”

“H-hi Noctis!” Connor panted, him and Kaz taking a seat at the side of the arena.

“Who’re you?” Aelita asked.

“That’s my brother… Well, one of them anyways.” Dawn sighed. “The other one isn’t at Beacon yet, mostly because we are concerned that he is like an older version of Connor given how angry he gets when being called short.”

“So, Edward Elric?” Tigre wondered.

“Who?” Aelita asked.

“Anime.” Ethan stated dully.

“Pretty much… He threw a former teacher named Mr. Blueblood into a wall after he called him little as a way to intimidate him…… Let’s just say that he’s Blue-broken nose right now.” Dawn chuckled. “Still, Noctis himself is a strong opponent… Hey brother, wanna participate in the next fight?”

“Sure I guess, I needed to brush up on my skills after that last training with you and Connor.” He said, taking off the gloves he had on his hands as he stepped into the arena. “So who am I fighting?”

“Wait, brother?” Ethan asked, only to be ignored.

“That would be me.” Goliath answered and walked towards Noctis as he unfurled his wings.

“Hmm… Well, I guess this will be interesting.” He said, having some silver light be channeled around one of his hands. Once he threw his hand forward, everything else changed.

“Holy-” Ethan flinched, suddenly glad he’d faced Dawn.

“Well, looks like you’re not so easily intimidated,” Noctis smirked, retreating most of the weapons and summoning one particular one in his hand. “Let’s see how good you are in combat.”

“If you're sure you're done showing off.” Goliath grinned before charging at Noctis and swinging his claws up in a diagonal slash. Noctis disappeared, reappearing behind him as he threw the sword at Goliath’s feet before warping to it and kicking him in the shoulder.

“I don’t show off… Only if I want to, but not right now.” Goliath was spun around and sent a few feet away by the unexpected kick. He growled and closed the distance before he began trying to punch Noctis in rapid succession.