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Chapter Text

Natsu Dragneel was a strong mage, also called Salamander from the famous Fairy Tail guild, he took part in several battles that he won with the support of his friends and guildmates using the magic of the fire dragon slayer. 

He was an athletic young man with slightly tanned skin, onyx eyes and spiky pink hair. He wore a black shirt with just one sleeve, white pants and boots, with his ever-present white scarf.

However, despite being powerful, he had a weakness that no matter how much he trained or tried to overcome, he could never get rid of the motion sickness he felt when traveling in any kind of vehicle, like the train he was on now.

"Wait a second... Why am I on a train?" Natsu asked himself, his eyes widening before he stood up unsteadily from his seat and looked out of the window.

The ocean, he was on a train traveling through the ocean. This didn't make any sense to Natsu, he remembered perfectly well going to sleep in his hammock at his house in Earthland, in the middle of the Magnolia forest, one of the furthest places from the beach.

"B-but, what the hell?" Natsu asks, his cheeks puffing out as he feels the nausea affecting him. "Why take me on a train?"

With that, Natsu fell to his knees clutching his mouth, grunting in pain as his stomach churned.

"I knew I shouldn't have listened to Happy... I shouldn't have eaten that Wakaba candy..." Natsu grumbled before grunting in pain again thanks to his stomach.

However, while he was in pain, Natsu heard another person grunting in pain, in a way that only a Dragon Slayer could emit when in a transport. With great difficulty, Natsu began to move around the small cabin he was in, grabbing onto things around him to steady himself until he managed to open the door leading into the corridor of the train carriage.

With that, Natsu continued his search, walking down the corridor and steadying himself on the wall until he found the source and couldn't help but be surprised by what he saw. Rogue Cheney, another dragon slayer, only he wasn't from his guild, to the extent that the two had even been enemies in the past.

Rogue had, like Natsu, an athletic build, with pale skin and long black hair that went down to his chin with part of it covering the entire right side of his face. He wore a gray shirt with an elegant vest with a scarf around his neck, underneath he had black pants with metal-framed boots, and he also had a black cloak with the symbol of his guild on the shoulder.

"Ro..." Natsu interrupted himself as he felt his nausea getting worse before calling out to the other person on the train. "Rogue?" 

"What?" Rogue asked, sitting down with difficulty before noticing Natsu staring at him, looking as nauseous as he was. "Natsu? What are you... doing here?"

"..." Natsu stared silently at Rogue before a tic mark appeared on his forehead. "And you think I know! I didn't even want to be here!"

"And how can I be sure it wasn't you who brought me here?" Rogue asked.

At that moment, the whole carriage rocked, causing Natsu to fall to the ground next to Rogue as they both clutched their stomachs, suppressing the urge to vomit.

"Okay... Good point." Rogue declared, receiving a look from Natsu, before realizing something else. "Frosch? Frosch! Frosch, where are you?" 

Despite all the nausea he was feeling, Rogue quickly got up and left the cabin, pushing Natsu to the ground. However, as soon as Rogue left, he felt his nausea attack him again, which made him fall to the ground.

"You idiot!" Natsu exclaimed, getting out of the booth and heading towards Rogue to apologize for what he had done.

"Eh? Natsu? Rogue?" Said a voice behind them, causing them both to turn around, with Natsu's eyes widening.

"Juvia!?"

Juvia Lockser was a mage from Fairy Tail, the same guild as Natsu. She was a well-endowed and very beautiful athletic woman with pale skin, long hair and dark blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a dark winter outfit that covered her entire body.

"Natsu, what's going on? How did Juvia get here?" Juvia asked the boy, who just stared at her.

"...Do you really think I know?"

"Oh... that makes sense, Juvia apologizes." Juvia declared before approaching Natsu and helping him up, steadying him on his feet, much to his surprise.

"J-Juvia?" Natsu asked, confused.

"Juvia is used to helping Gajeel on missions and you looked like you needed help, besides Juvia and Natsu are guild mates, so we should help each other!" Juvia declares, smiling at Natsu, who smiles back before his cheeks inflate again, which makes the girl smile nervously.

"Mr. Rogue!" Calls a new person approaching the fallen Dragon Slayer before helping him to his feet.

"Y-Yukino?" Rogue asks, surprised by the new arrival.

Yukino Agria is a mage from Sabertooth, the same guild as Rogue. She is a well-endowed athletic woman with white skin and short white hair with bangs framing her face, and light brown eyes.  She was wearing a plain white tank top with black straps and a plain black miniskirt.

"Ah, Yukino, are you here too?" Juvia asked in surprise, receiving a nod from Yukino.

"Yes, I woke up inside one of the cabins until I heard Mr. Rogue shouting, but I don't know how I got here, the last thing I remember was sleeping in one of the guild rooms." Yukino explained worriedly as she helped Rogue to her feet. 

"Y-yes... I was sleeping in my house too." Rogue declared, causing Juvia to frown.

"Juvia understands, Juvia was in her room at Fairy Hills, trying to sleep until Juvia woke up in one of the cabins." Juvia commented with a frown on her face. 

"The same..." Natsu mumbled, trying to calm his stomach.

"Damn it, be quiet, I want to sleep!" Exclaims a new person as he opens one of the cabins before freezing when he realizes where he is. "Why am I on a train?"

This new person, however, was someone Juvia and Natsu knew well. "Elfman!?"

Elfman Strauss was another member of Fairy Tail. He was a tall boy with white hair sticking up, black eyes and tanned skin with a scar running from his right eye to his cheek. Elfman wore an open green and yellow T-shirt showing off his torso with white pants and boots.

"Huh? Natsu? Juvia? What are you two doing here?" Elfman asks before noticing the other two mages present. "Hey, aren't you those Sabertooth mages? Are you the ones who brought us here?"

"It's okay Elfman, we're all in the same situation, none of us know how we ended up on this train. Anyway, Juvia thinks we should have a chat in one of the cabins." Juvia explains before entering one of the cabins, signaling for the others to follow. 

However, as soon as she opens the door, Natsu's eyes widen as he smells something familiar. He quickly raises his head and looks at the person inside.

"You..."

"Ah, Salamander... Long time no see." He greets Cobra, an S-class dark wizard whom Natsu and his friends defeated seven years ago, but there was something different about him.

He looked identical to when they first met.

Cobra was an athletic boy with expected red hair, brown skin and snake-like eyes and, like Natsu and Rogue, he was a Dragon Slayer. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with plain red pants and ordinary sneakers.

"What the fuck? Even though you're here?" Natsu asked angrily, causing Cobra to glare at him.

"If I knew, I wouldn't even be here. Besides, I'm also a dragon slayer like you, I'd rather be anywhere else than here." Cobra declares as all three Dragon Slayers feel the nausea worsen as they shrink away.

"We can decide our personal problems later, right now Juvia believes we should first understand the situation we find ourselves in and where this train is taking us." Juvia declares before gesturing for Elfman to sit down next to Cobra, which he promptly does. 

With that, Juvia places Natsu on Elfman's side before sitting down in front of the pink one while Rogue and Yukino sit down next to her. Once everyone was comfortable, or not feeling so bad about the trip, Juvia started the discussion.

"Juvia doesn't remember how she got here, but all the stories match up as to how we were brought here, we were all asleep. Now, Juvia is sure she wasn't doing anything different from normal, Juvia did her routine the same way she always did, without anything different and what about you?" Juvia asked, making Yukino and Elfman try to remember what they did last night.

"Well... From what I remember, there was a party at Sabertooth, it was Rufus' birthday, I ended up getting a bit drunk and sleeping in the guild rooms. But apart from that, nothing strange or suspicious happened." Yukino says thoughtfully, remembering something that happened out of the ordinary.

"As for me, I had just come back from a meeting with Evergreen and did some exercises before going to bed." Elfman commented, with Natsu and Rogue shrugging, nothing different had happened to them.

As the cabin fell silent, everyone heard Cobra sigh, causing the mages to look at the former prisoner.

"I didn't do anything different in my cell, but I noticed something different." Cobra said, breathing hard, trying to ignore his nausea, before continuing his story. "There was something spying on me, I saw a shadow of something staring at me from the cell door at times, but whenever I tried to see who it was, the shadow and the person disappeared."

"So whoever brought us here may have spied on us before capturing us..." Contemplates Yukino worriedly, exchanging a glance with Rogue.

"That's not manly at all!" Elfman exclaimed indignantly, receiving strange looks from Rogue and Cobra, who were not used to his expressions.

"Juvia has been spied on..." Juvia commented in an inexpressive tone with a black aura covering her before her gaze turned into a furious scowl. "By someone who isn't Gray-sama!?"

"Whoever did this is going to get quite a beating, don't you agree, Elfman?" Natsu asked weakly, causing Elfman to nod encouragingly.

"Yes!"

"...But why were we the only ones brought on a train?" asks Yukino in confusion, making everyone freeze before staring at each other. "I mean, I understand why they would kidnap some of us, as guild mages we've made many different enemies over the years... But what relationship could there be between us?" 

"And why would they make me younger?" Cobra asked, causing everyone to stare at him in confusion. 

At that moment, Natsu muttered something with his head against the wall of the cabin, causing Yukino to stare at him. 

"Mr. Natsu is right, there's no reason for them to have changed your age..." Yukino commented, receiving surprised looks from Elfman and Juvia.

"How did you understand him?" Juvia asks in surprise, making Yukino smile nervously.

"Well... I've had a lot of practice with Sting." Said the celestial magician, making stars appear in Elfman's eyes.

"How manly!" Exclaims the boy, making Yukino stare at him in confusion before pointing to herself.

"But I'm a woman."

"That doesn't matter." Juvia declares, crossing her arms, before looking at the people standing there. "We have to find out how, why we were kidnapped, so that we can return to our respective guilds..."

Juvia suddenly stops talking before looking at Cobra, with that she quickly continues. "And to take you back to your cell."

Cobra said nothing but stared at her angrily, but at that moment he could only wait in silence. Nobody knew what was going on and the best way for them to find out was to wait for the train to arrive at its destination so that they could find out something.

(Meanwhile, in the carriage behind them.)

"Urgh"

A groan escaped Yang's lips as she realized she was lying in a train cabin and slowly sat up, taking in her surroundings. Once she was fully awake, the girl looked around in confusion before getting up completely.

Yang Xiao Long is a very pretty girl with an athletic and well-endowed body, white skin with violet eyes and long curly blonde hair that reaches down to her waist. She was wearing a beige jacket halfway down her torso, showing an orange top with a black flame symbol on it, and black pants and boots underneath. Meanwhile one of her arms had a large gauntlet with small gun barrels sticking out of it, and her other arm was made of metal with the same weaponry as the gauntlet.

"Okay... I'm sure that wherever I was yesterday it certainly wasn't a train." Yang commented nervously before sniffling and preparing Ember Cecilia for combat.

With that, Yang opened the cabin door, stepping into the corridor with her gun raised, but before she could move any further, the cabin door in front of her suddenly opened.

"AH!" Exclaims a startled Yang, firing with Ember Cecilia.

"AAAH!" Shouts the person who opened the cabin raising a white shield with two golden crescent moons engraved on the armament, however this was a familiar symbol to Yang.

"Jaune!?" Yang exclaims in surprise, causing Jaune to lower his shield to look at the girl.

"Yang? You... How did you get here? No, better question, how did we get here?" Jaune asks in surprise as he stares at her before looking back down the corridor.

Jaune Arc was a colleague of Yang's whom he had met at Beacon, the hunter academy, he was the leader of the old JNPR team. Jaune is a tall, slim boy, getting more and more athletic, he has white skin and light blue eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with a hood at the back with white and gold armor covering his entire torso, jeans and boots.

"I really don't know, I was hoping you'd know... Aren't you even supposed to be with my sister?" asks Yang worriedly, making Jaune nod with a frown.

"Yes, I should be with her, just like you." Jaune declares, making Yang cringe.

"...Ehh, I deserved that." Assures Yang with a regretful look that makes Jaune nod before crossing his arms.

"It's good that you know that." Jaune declares before narrowing his eyes at Yang and pointing at her. "But if you abandon Ruby again, I'll kick your ass myself, do you understand?"

"...Okay?" Yang nods, a little confused by Jaune's animosity towards her, this wasn't how she remembered the goofy blonde from the other team. However, she couldn't ask him about it, as the doors of the other three cabins in the wagon opened revealing three people the two blondes knew well, Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren.

"Fearless leader!" Nora called, smiling at Jaune.

"Yang!" At the same time, Ruby shouted her older sister's name.

Hearing the shouts, Jaune and Yang didn't have long to prepare themselves before they were approached in a hug each. Yang was hugged by Ruby, while Jaune was hugged by Nora as Ren shook his head behind them, amused by the situation.

Ruby Rose was the former leader of the RWBY team and Yang's half-sister. Ruby is a short girl with pale skin, short black hair with red tips and silver eyes. She wears a black gothic dress with black pants and boots, and she also wears a large red cape around her with a red mechanism attached to her back.

Nora Valkyrie was a member of the JNPR team and a friend of Jaune. Nora is a tall, athletic girl with white skin and short orange hair and light green eyes. She wore a short-sleeved black jacket with a white shirt with a picture of a heart with lightning on it and pink fingerless gloves, underneath she wore a combat skirt and pink socks with white boots, and on her back she had a grenade launcher.

Lie Ren was a member of the JNPR team and Nora's partner. Ren is a tall, slim boy with white skin and long black hair with a pink streak, and pink eyes. He wears a dark green kimono with white pants and black boots, and carries two green pistols with a blade in them on his belt.

"Yang, is it really you? Are you really here?" Ruby asks softly, hugging Yang, who cringes at her little sister's words and the looks she gets from the last members of the JNPR team.

"Yes Rubes, it's me." The blonde confirmed, her eyes starting to tear up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you alone, I should have gone with you."

"You really shouldn't have." Nora declares with narrowed eyes to Yang, even though her head is still on Jaune's chest, as she hugs him.

"Okay, okay! I made a mistake, can you stop now?" Grumbles the girl.

"I'll think about your case." Nora mocks, sticking out her tongue at Yang. 

"It's okay, Nora, I forgive Yang. She needed some space too." Ruby assured her, making Jaune and Ren look at each other, but Nora didn't seem convinced.

"That's no reason to abandon you, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt... but if she doesn't comply, I'll break her legs." Nora says, before turning to Jaune again. "What are we going to do, fearless leader?" 

"I was thinking the same thing." Ren admits, moving closer to the group. "This train is totally different from anything we've ever seen in Beacon."

"Okay, the first thing we should do is stay calm and check our things, see if you still have your dust and supplies with you." Jaune declared, as he picked up his backpack. 

Ren took his backpack off his back and opened it, checking the state of his supplies and ammunition, something that was copied by the other people in the corridor. 

"Depending on the threats on this train, what I have might not be enough." Ren admits, in a worried tone. "We can only hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."

"Looks like I still have everything here, fearless leader." Assured Nora, saluting Jaune with a bright smile on her face, but when she realized what Ren had said, she quickly turned to him. "Ah, don't worry Renny, I can share my things with you if you need me to."

"Thanks Nora." Ren thanked her. Ren thanked her. "I think we should proceed with caution from now on. We could be anywhere." 

"So, my stuff is with me, but I was with the bumblebee before." Yang comments with a frown before looking back at the cabin he came from. "Only when I woke up, she wasn't in sight."

"Your motorcycle?" asks Ren, remembering that Yang used to call her bike a bumblebee.

"And you have another one?" Yang retorted. 

"Funny that you remember the bike and are worried that you left it alone..." Nora muttered quietly, receiving an elbow from Jaune.

"Stop it Nora, we can't fight amongst ourselves!" Jaune says in a scolding tone. "As Ren said, we can be anywhere. If we fight with each other, the chances of getting out of whatever it is become low."

"We don't even know if we're alone or not." Ren adds, in a serious tone. 

"Then we'd better have our weapons ready." Ruby declares, picking up Crescent Rose and transforming it into its sniper mode.

"I'm ready!" Said Yang, keeping Ember Cecilia ready in case she needed to strike quickly. 

At the same time, Ren prepared his pistols while Nora transformed her weapon into a giant hammer and Jaune prepared his sword and shield. 

"Ruby, Ren, stay in the middle, if anyone appears you shoot, Nora and I will stand by to fend off any enemies, Yang you protect them." Jaune commands, making everyone nod.

"Understood." Ren confirms, arming his guard. 

Meanwhile, in one of the still-closed cabins, Emerald was hiding with her eyes wide and covering her mouth.

Emerald Sustrai was a girl who was Cinder Fall's subordinate. Emerald is quite beautiful and well endowed with dark skin, short mint-colored hair and red eyes. Her clothes consisted of a top with a very generous neckline, made of a material similar to leather in white with brown edges, with a green bulge hiding her breasts, as well as equally white pants, with what looked like a mixture of boots and brown tights. 

"How the fuck did I end up here?" Emerald thought, before clenching her fists as she cowered inside the cabin, hoping she wouldn't be found. "And not only have I been kidnapped, but I've been put in a place that only has people who hate me. I'm going to have to deal with whatever's going on on my own, if I go near them, it's quite possible that they'll think I'm responsible for it and try to kill me. For Mount, Emerald, what have you gotten yourself into now?"

Letting out a sigh, Emerald began to think about a possible escape plan, practicing the same things that Jaune and the others had done to ensure that she wouldn't be defenseless if there were any threats on this strange train. With that, she prepared her own weapons, making sure they still had dust on them in case she needed it. Now, Emerald needed to be patient and wait for the best moment to escape from there and return to Cinder.

Meanwhile, Jaune and Yang's group moved into formation, keeping an eye on their surroundings, even if it was the corridor of a train, just so they wouldn't be taken by surprise by anything. 

"Jaune, I think we should try to go to the next carriage, try to get to the train driver." Ruby advises, looking at the door at the end of the corridor.

"Excellent idea, but we have to be careful, especially if we're not the only ones here." Jaune says, looking at the four corners of the carriage. "Something tells me we're not alone here. And I can't tell if that's good or bad."

With that, the group began to approach the door, with Emerald watching them intently through the gap in the door. Once at the door leading to the next carriage, Jaune stepped forward, standing in front of the door and between it and the whole group.

"Okay, let's go..." Jaune murmured before holding out his hand and trying to move the handle, which didn't budge. "What?" 

After that, the boy soon found himself struggling to move the object, which remained stationary, to the point where Jaune started banging on the metal of the door.

"Let's get this door down!" Yang suggested, already impatient.

Saying this, Yang pushed Jaune away from the door before she tried to open it herself, with the same result as him.  However, she quickly moved away, activated her countenance and punched the door, which remained immovable.

"...What the hell is that door made of?" Yang asked in shock and surprise, something that was copied by the others. 

After all, Yang was one of the physically strongest people they knew and if even she couldn't break it down, it was unlikely that any of them could.

"Either the material they used is very strong, or his countenance has become weaker, which I think is unlikely." Ren said, analytically. "If only that door had a lock, we could break it down somehow.

"Okay, we need a new plan..." Ruby declares thoughtfully before looking at Jaune. "Any ideas?"

"...I think we should take shelter in one of the middle cabins and wait for the train to stop." Jaune comments with a sigh, turning to look at the cabins. 

"And what, sit and wait until whatever's on this train comes after us?" Yang asks in frustration, staring at Jaune. 

"I don't see you having a better idea." Rebuts Nora, crossing her arms as she stands in front of Jaune and stares at Yang.

"I think Jaune told us not to fight." Reprimands Ruby, separating the two. "Neither of you are helping by arguing with each other." 

"All right, let's go, fearless leader," declared Nora, pulling Jaune into one of the cabins, followed by Ren and Ruby, who stopped to glance at Yang who was still standing there.

"Yang, are you coming?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.

"...Sure." Yang nodded cheerlessly as she looked at the former JNPR team, wondering why they, with the exception of Jaune, were so antagonistic towards her.

(At the same time, in the last carriage of the train.)

"Ninth!" Calls a voice causing Izuku to slowly open his eyes to find himself in a dark void with eight other figures staring at him with worried countenances. "Ninth, you have to wake up."

The figure who spoke was Nana Shimura, she was a rather beautiful woman with a curvaceous yet well-built figure. She has pale skin with a small mark below her lower lip, centered to the right with straight dark hair, kept at shoulder height with a short fringe hanging above her forehead in a bun, with dark eyes. Nana is wearing a sleeveless dark jumpsuit with a high collar, yellow elbow-length gloves and white boots, with a belt containing a small cape attached to the back up to the knee, as well as a white cape on her shoulders.

"Nono, you've got to wake up, something's not right!" Nana exclaims, shaking Izuku's shoulders urgently. "Wake up!"

(End of dream.)

"AH!" Izuku exclaimed, getting up while breathing heavily, trying to calm down. However, he soon realized that he wasn't in his UA room, but in a train cabin.

Izuku Midoriya is a student in Class 1-A of UA High's hero course. Izuku was a boy with a simple face, with an athletic and muscular body and fair skin with a few freckles on his cheeks, he had emerald green eyes and dark green spiky hair. He was wearing a white shirt with the kanji for ‘shirt’ on the front of it, as well as black pants and red sneakers.

Immediately, any sleepiness he might have had vanished when Izuku got up from his seat and opened the cab door, stepping out into the corridor. The boy looked around surprised and worried.

"That's not good, that's not good at all." Izuku commented before going back to his own cabin and looking at the window outside, his concern only increasing when he saw that the train was passing over the ocean. 

"AH! MY BABIES!" A voice exclaimed, startling Izuku, but it was a familiar voice. 

At that moment, the cabin in front of Izuku's was suddenly opened, revealing Mei Hatsume with a horrified look on her face, looking around frantically. 

Mei Hatsume is a class 1-H student on the Support Department course at UA High. Mei is a pretty, fair-skinned girl with pink hair that is styled asymmetrically with two longer strands on the right side of her face, and yellow eyes with cross-hair pupils. She wears a sleeveless black top with baggy black pants with a black jacket tied around her waist with black gloves and a goggle she built herself in a punk style.

"My cute babies! Where are my cute babies?" Mei asks in a desperate tone before noticing Izuku in the booth in front of her. "Muscles, you have to help me, I have to find my babies!"

"...Is that the part that worries you?" Izuku thinks with a flat look, seeing her despair at the lack of her inventions, but it's at that moment that he realizes something. "...Where are my notebooks?"

With that question, Izuku slowly turns back to the cabin he was in and realizes that it is empty.

"MY NOTEBOOKS!"

"MY CUTE BABIES!"

With that the two begin to despair when one of the other booths opens up as a new person steps out and looks at the two in despair. 

"Hm." 

Upon hearing this, the two turn to the new person and Izuku realizes that he knows her, it was Yui Kodai.

Yui Kodai is a student in class 1-B of the heroes course at UA High. Yui was a very pretty, tall girl with an athletic build, fair skin with shoulder-length dark hair and dark blue eyes and a generally neutral expression. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt with shorts and white sneakers.

"Ah, Kodai!? Are you here too?" Izuku asked, approaching the new girl, with Mei following, looking lost.

"Yes." Yui nods before falling silent, putting her hands in her pockets.

The three of them stared at each other in silence before Izuku snorted. 

"So, do you have any idea how we got here?" Izuku asks, making Yui continue to stare at him.

"No." Yui replied before falling silent.

With that, the three of them fell silent again before Mei stepped forward, grabbed Yui's shoulders and with a desperate look on her face began to speak.

"My cute babies! Have you seen any of my cute babies!" Mei asks desperately, making Yui stare at her, inexpressibly.

"No." Yui answered again. 

"Do you only know how to say 'no' or 'yes'?" Mei asked, with a confused expression. 

"No." Yui replied, not bothered by the question.

"AH! WHERE AM I? WHERE'S MY ROOM! WHERE'S MY STUFF!?" Exclaims a voice before a new person opens the door of one of the other cabins, a person Izuku knew well.

"That voice... Kirishima, is that you?!" Izuku asks, recognizing the voice. 

Eijiro Kirishima is a student in class 1-A of UA High's hero course. Eijiro is a tall, well-built boy with tanned skin, red hair, shark-like teeth and sharp eyes. He was wearing only black cotton pants.

"Midobro!? Are you here too?" Eijiro asked in surprise, looking at Izuku. "Where are we? How did we get here and... Kodai, are you here too? and..."

Eijiro paused as he stared at Mei for a few seconds before pointing at her. "Who are you?"

"We don't know where we are, given everything we've been through and knowing Director Nezu, this could well be a crazy test." Izuku comments. 

"I think it's difficult Midoriya, Nezu has a lot on his plate with the latest things that have happened between UA High and the villains' league. Even if it was a test for the heroes, there's no point in bringing Hatsume, who's on the support course." Yui explains calmly, looking at Izuku.

"Well, the director is pretty crazy sometimes, so that's not too hard to do." Eijiro pointed out. "Maybe he wanted Hatsume to help us escape from whatever that train is." 

"...Then why did he bring you here without your shirt? Or did he make me come in here in my nightclothes?" Yui asked inexpressively, making Mei stare at her.

"You sleep in a sweatshirt?" Mei asked confusedly, but was ignored by Yui.

"Wait, WHERE'S MY SHIRT?" The redhead asked, looking around.

"Kirishima, we're not in the dorm, if you went to bed without a shirt, it's unlikely that it came too." Izuku says, snapping his colleague back to reality. 

"...That doesn't change the fact that this is uncomfortable." Kirishima comments, looking at Mei and Yui, although the two girls don't even seem to be bothered by his condition.

"We have nothing to cover you with, so..." Izuku replies, shrugging. 

At that moment, Yui shrugged and started to take off her sweatshirt, making Izuku and Eijiro's eyes widen, but before they could complain or stop her, the girl had completely removed her sweatshirt, revealing that she was wearing a black sports bra. With that, the girl tossed the sweatshirt to Eijiro who continued to stare in disbelief.

"Good thinking Kodai." Izuku complimented the gesture, letting out a sigh of relief that she was wearing something under her jacket. 

"Hm." Yui nods inexpressibly before looking at the other two cabins in the corridor. "I think there are more people here."

"Maybe they know what this place is." Says Kirishima. 

"I don't think they probably do..." Yui comments, before looking at each of the three in the corridor with her. "Izuku's clothes are very wrinkled and his hair is messier than usual, Mei has a trail of drool dripping from her mouth, plus everyone knows she's the student who's been sleeping on the bench in the support department and as for you Kirishima, you've literally just woken up. We were all brought in in our sleep, the others in this wagon were probably brought in under the same circumstances."

"AAAAAH" A scream echoed through one of the cabins before the door was opened again before the door was opened again. "I KNEW IT! I WAS EATEN BY A TRAIN! OF ALL MY NIGHTMARES, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THIS ONE?"

"That's Kaminari." Izuku and Eijiro say, with the redhead trying to hold in his laughter. 

Denki Kaminari is a student in Class 1-A of UA High's hero course. Denki is a slim, average-looking boy with fair skin and spiky blond hair with a small black ray in it, with brown eyes. He was wearing pajamas with various images of pikachu all over them made up of a shirt, pants and a beanie.

"...That's a strangely specific nightmare." Yui commented before noticing how Mei had entered Eijiro's cabin to continue her search for her 'cute babies'.

"Hatsume, I don't think your babies are here." Izuku says. "With the amount of them you make, we would have found at least a few by now." 

"...Hatsume, you have a 'cute baby' in your head." Warned Yui, causing Mei to freeze.

Slowly the girl brought her hands up to her head before reaching for her glasses, making the girl's eyes widen. Suddenly she took off her glasses and looked at them, her eyes shining with happiness.

"Baby number 274!" Mei exclaimed tearfully, before hugging her glasses and being watched by the others.

"As Asui would say, 'cute'." Izuku says. 

"Call me Tsu-chan kero." The girl behind Izuku asked.

"Asu... Tsuyu?" Izuku asks, jumping up in surprise. 

Tsuyu Asui is a student in Class 1-A of UA High's hero course. Tsuyu is a light-skinned frog-like girl with long black hair falling to her waist and large dark eyes. She was wearing two-piece pyjamas with various images of frogs on them, and she also had a sleeping mask on her forehead.

At the same time, Denki screamed in fright before jumping into Eijiro's arms, who screamed in the same way. Beside them, Yui's eyes widened as Mei continued in her own little world, pampering herself with the glasses in her hands.

"Man, you look like Mineta, where did all that fear come from?" Eijiro asked, trying to calm down as he looked at Denki.

"You screamed too!" Denki retorts. 

"That's because you played Scooby-Doo with me." Eijiro retorts, putting his friend down.

"Guys, we should try to find out where we are." Says Tsuyu, interrupting the light exchange of barbs. "That train is very strange." 

"...Then we already have a problem." Yui declares before pointing at the carriage door, drawing everyone's attention, Mei included. "That door doesn't have a lock and it doesn't look easy to open, plus we're in the middle of the ocean, where would we go if we managed to open it?" 

"If only I had my baby Number 958, I could cut through that door." Mei says, with a cute little pout. 

"...Baby number 958? I'm afraid to ask, but which baby is this?" Eijiro asks, looking at Mei.

"Yes, it was designed for situations like this, you never know when Power Loader-sensei might lock the workshop with me inside, so I could use it to get out if I needed to buy something." Explains the crazy inventor. 

"...I'm in a nightmare, aren't I?" Denki asks, looking at the others.

"The only way we could be in a nightmare of yours would be if a villain with individuality that involves nightmares put us in the same nightmare, and since nothing strange, apart from us being here, has happened..." Izuku replied, shrugging. 

"...I wouldn't say that." Yui declares with a thoughtful expression. "Before I tell you what I saw, did any of you notice something like a smiling polar bear in a white suit watching you yesterday?"

"No." Tsuyu replied. 

"That was quite specific, but no." Replied Izuku. 

"I didn't see anything strange, apart from not having my things." Eijiro said. 

"...I'm having several nightmares at once, it's not possible." Denki complains, falling to his knees.

"You're not in a nightmare, man, get your fucking shit together!" Eijiro scolds, shaking Denki by the shoulders. 

"...Yesterday during class and in the cafeteria, I realized that someone was watching me, normally I don't bother with this thanks to... many of my classmates being attracted to me, but yesterday was different. I looked out of the window and noticed that bear I mentioned looking over the UA High wall at me, only when I blinked the bear disappeared." Yui explains with a thoughtful frown. "It was the same in the cafeteria, but he was standing in the middle of the school staring at me before disappearing again when I blinked."

"It's really kind of scary, but let's stop talking about it, Kaminari doesn't need any more reasons to be scared." Izuku comments. "We have to prepare for the possibility of being in a dangerous situation, we should draw up a plan of action, and preferably figure out how to open that door." 

At that moment, a noise echoed throughout the train before the loudspeakers started working.

" Dear passengers, in five minutes we will arrive at Quesadilla Island. Please return to your seats. "

"Quesadilla Island?" Eijiro asks. "I don't remember an island with that name in Japan." 

"That's because it doesn't exist, an island with that name must be in Latin America." Yui declares with narrowed eyes. "The name is Spanish."

"True, kero." Tsuyu agrees.

"We could be on the other side of the world now." Says Izuku in a direct and clinical tone, letting out an exasperated sigh afterwards. "Now how we got here is the question that won't go away." 

"We won't find out until we get to this island." Yui replied. 

Suddenly they were surprised by a screen that went up in each of the cabins, causing all six UA High students to enter the nearest one to watch the video.

(On Quesadilla Island.)

The train slowly approached a station that was situated on the island's beach, passing over a bridge that was above the sea. The vehicle slowly lost speed until it came to a stop on the island, but as soon as the train stopped the whole island began to shake.

At that moment, a huge wall rose from the ground, passing behind the station and rising into the sky, knocking down several pieces of earth and stones that were on it. 

Then everything calmed down and the train doors finally opened.

Immediately, Natsu, Rogue and Cobra came out of their carriage and threw themselves on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Whoever came up with the idea of bringing us here by train is going to die a slow death." Assured Cobra as he stood up, feeling better after the nausea had passed.

"First we have to find out where the hell this Quesadilla Island is, then you can go after whoever brought us here." Rogue says. 

"But don't get used to it, I'll put you behind bars again." Assures Natsu, standing up as he cleans his clothes. "Now where are we and... who are they?"

At that moment, Natsu pointed directly at the train where the UA High students and the Renmant hunters were getting out of their respective cars.

"I don't know who they are, but there are some pretty girls over there." Cobra says, before smiling mischievously at Natsu. "Speaking of which, where's that blonde girl you used to hang out with, Salamander? I missed her a bit."

"Lucy, I don't know... and stay away from her!" Threatens Dragneel. 

At this, Cobra starts laughing before putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Relax Salamander, I only have eyes for one person, you can have your blondie." 

"Mr. Natsu! Mr. Rogue, are you all right?" Yukino asked, approaching the three of them, followed by the other mages.

"Yes, we are, Yukino." Rogue confirmed. 

At that moment, the other two groups joined them, the hunters with their weapons in hand, ready to fight, which startled the UA High students.

"Hello, my name is Jaune Arc, a hunter from Beacon, these are my colleagues Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose, Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long, who are you?" Jaune asks, approaching the group with Crocea Mors in hand and despite his friendly tone, he was holding his sword firmly and had his shield up.

"Izuku Midoriya, UA High student and aspiring hero." Replied Izuku, reading Jaune's body language, prepared to strike back if the hunter attacked.  

"Yui Kodai." Yui introduced herself inexpressively, raising one of her hands to wave.

"Tsuyu Asui, Kero." Says the frog girl. 

"Eijiro Kirishima, those are some nice weapons! Very manly!" Eijiro says, nodding. 

"...THAT'S A VERY MANLY GREETING!" Elfman exclaims, approaching Eijiro.

"...YOU'RE A VERY MANLY GUY!" Eijiro exclaimed, now approaching the wizard, his eyes shining. 

At that moment the two shook hands firmly as they faced each other.

"I'm Elfman Strauss." Elfman declared with a smile, before the two smiled and began to laugh.

"There, he's found Tetsutetsu's replacement." Izuku laughed, a little disconcerted, before turning to the other mages. "Ah, that one with the pink hair and the air is Mei Hatsume, she's an inventor, don't take it personally if she starts to get a bit strange. And who are you?" 

"Ah, I'm Natsu Dragneel, a member of Fairy Tail, you've already met Elfman, he's also from the guild and this is Juvia Lockser." Natsu introduces himself before pointing to Juvia, who wave to the others.

"Juvia is Juvia." Juvia confirms.

"...She spoke at the third..." Ren begins, a little confused before Natsu covers his mouth with an urgent look.

"You get used to her way of speaking. Never ask her why, NEVER!" Natsu murmured softly to Ren, who nodded quickly. "Good!"

"I'm Yukino Agria and this is Rogue Cheney, we're from the Sabertooth guild." Yukino introduced herself, gesturing to Rogue.

"And I'm Cobra." Said the outlaw mage. 

"...I'm Denki Kaminari." A little embarrassed by the clothes he was wearing and how some people began to stare at him.

"Cute." Yang comments mockingly before receiving an elbow from Ruby. 

"Be nice." Ruby asks her sister. "It's nice pajamas." 

At that moment, the dragon slayers twitched their noses, sniffing the air, before giving the hunters a confused look.

"What about your friend inside the wagon, aren't you going to introduce her to us?" Natsu asks in confusion.

"Shit, how did he find out?" Emerald thinks wide-eyed, hiding in the train doorway.

"Friend?" Jaune asks. "We didn't see anyone from Beacon in any of the cabins we checked.

"Come out, we can smell you." Cobra asks, before grinning evilly as a black aura begins to emanate from his hand, which slowly changes into a scaled and clawed appearance. "Or if you prefer, I can force you to pieces." 

"Okay!" exclaims Emerald, making Jaune and Ruby freeze, recognizing the voice.

"Emerald!?" Ruby asked in surprise as she turned around. Jaune, on the other hand, remained still without turning around.

At that moment, Emerald stepped out of the train with her hands raised and a defeated look on her face. 

"Before you accuse me, I had nothing to do with this." Emerald said.

"..." Jaune remained silent before clutching his sword and suddenly turning to run towards Emerald, glaring at her.

Quickly, Emerald drew her weapons and used the blades to block Jaune's blow. The clash of the blades caused an air shift that kicked up dust, surprising everyone there, including the other hunters. 

"Bloody hell, have you got stronger?" Exclaimed Emerald, sweating as she tried to hold the boy back.

"You were on her team." Murmured Jaune coldly, staring at Emerald with a dark look, thinking of Cinder. "You helped Cinder to kill her!" 

At that moment, Emerald kicked Jaune in the stomach before jumping away from him before changing the mode of her gun and shooting him. However, Jaune wasn't just stronger, he quickly raised his shield, blocking the shots before lunging at her again. 

However, this time, Yang and Nora held Jaune back while Lie Ren stood between them with his guns ready looking at Emerald, with Ruby holding Crescent Rose in sniper mode aiming at the other girl.

"Okay, I don't know what happened between you two, but you'd better put this aside." Izuku asks, breaking the tension.

"Really? How about we take your best friend and let her kill you too, I'm sure you can put that aside." Rosna Jaune as he was restrained by the two girls, with Nora looking at him with concern.

"Unless someone knows a way to revive the dead by sacrificing the one who killed someone, killing her won't do anything." Retorted Izuku, causing Jaune to growl before relaxing his muscles, allowing the girls to pull him back. 

For a second Cobra considered bluffing about something like that, but he quickly disregarded it, he could have fun with them later, now his main concern was something else.

"...We have a problem." Yui declares before pointing to several screens around the station showing a timer marking 04:55 and ticking down. "Why do we have that timer?"

"We might have to find something, kero." Tsuyu supposes. 

"Shit." Xinga Jaune turns away from Yang and Nora, sheathing his sword and shield before looking around, noticing some strange pressure plates on the ground. "There are some pressure plates around, watch out for them and don't step on any until we figure out what we need to do."

"This is looking a bit too much like a minefield for my liking." Eijiro comments. 

"I thought you liked explosions, the way Bakugo hits you with his." Teases Denki.

"We don't have time to make jokes." Yui says, cutting off Eijiro's response. 

"Juvia found something!" Declares Juvia in front of three atris with open books on them.

Upon hearing this everyone approached the books, with some realizing that each book was in a different language, Izuku approached one as he read it in surprise.

"That one is written in Japanese..." Izuku murmured before looking at the other two books, not noticing the confused looks from the mages or tongue hunters he spoke to. "But these others of yours, I have no idea what language they are." Izuku tried to understand what was written in the book in Juvia's hand. He failed miserably.

"Are you dumb or something?" Cobra asked before approaching the book Juvia was reading before pointing at it. "This is clearly written in Eastern script, the common language of Earthland."

"...That book is in Remlisty, the original writing of Remnant." Ren comments as he approaches the last book while Jaune looks on thoughtfully.

"Each book is written in a different language for each of us to read, I think it might have something to do with what we have to do now." Jaune supposed, causing Izuku to nod, having already started reading the book.

"You're right." Warns Izuku, making everyone stare at him. "According to this book, the timer we received refers to a challenge involving pressure plates made of different materials, we must activate them in a specific order: four gold, four stone, four iron and four black stone, but we can't step on the wooden plate." 

"Isn't anyone going to ask what these fucking places are that the brats talked about?" Cobra muttered to the mages next to him, not having time to get an answer from the next person to speak.

"...I see, I guess we have no choice then, look for the signs, time is running out!" Jaune commands, receiving several nods before splitting up. Cobra sighed in indignation at being ignored on such an important question. He just spat on the ground in frustration and joined the search.

Soon everyone was running around the station looking for the right pressure plates and it wasn't long before the first person found one.

"I found a gold one!" exclaims Natsu, in the middle of the station, before stepping on it, causing a mechanism to echo beneath him. "Find the others!"

"I found another one!" Exclaims Kirishima as he steps on another gold plate inside the information booth.

"I found another one too." Declares Yukino as she presses the plaque inside the ticket queue.

"I found it here too." Warns Ren as he steps on the last gold plate inside the booth.

"Good! Don't go anywhere, the rest of you look for the stone plaques." Commands Izuku before noticing one of the plaques near the exit. "I found one!"

"Juvia found a plaque!" Declares Juvia as she steps on the plaque, standing next to a clock.

"I found another one, kero." Warns Tsuyu as she steps on the sign between the waiting chairs.

"I found the last one!" Cobra declares as he steps on the sign near the train.

While everyone was searching, Denki was running with some difficulty before stopping near the wall to take a breather before noticing a pressure plate on the floor, only it was made of wood.

"Hey guys! I found the wooden pressure plate!" Denki declared, looking at Izuku who was reading the book. "I have to step on it, right?" 

"What?" asks Izuku, turning to Denki before noticing the plate he was about to step on. "Kaminai, don't step on that sign!" 

Unfortunately, Izuku was unable to stop him, as Kaminari stepped on the wooden plaque causing a metallic sound to echo throughout the station, causing everyone to stare at him.

"What?" asked Denki in confusion as the others stared in disbelief.

At that moment several red lights started flashing while the timer turned red and time was now passing much faster than before, much to everyone's dismay.

"AAAH! I KNEW IT! I'M IN A NIGHTMARE!" Denki exclaimed, startled by the alarms.

"NOW YOU ASSHOLE, YOU CAUSED THIS!" exclaims Cobra angrily, glaring at Denki.

"Everyone get ready!" Exclaims Jaune before grabbing Ruby who was closest to him, hugging her while bending down raising his shield to protect them from whatever happened.

"Ah, shit!" Exclaimed Natsu before he and Elfman were engulfed in a sphere of water, courtesy of Juvia who had approached them.

"Yukino!" Calls Rogue as he grabs Yukino and activates the Dragon Force. 

However, nothing happened as the timer reached 0:00, causing everyone to relax and lower their defenses.

"...IT'S NOT A NIGHTMARE!" Denki exclaimed, relieved, before receiving a slap on the back of the head from Yui, who stared at him expressionlessly.

"Idiot."

Suddenly, all the screens inside the station turned on, showing an image of a paradise beach with an emoji on it.

: (

" Quack ." Declares a yellow duck with a bow tie that appears in the video, surprising everyone.

"...A duck?" Yui asks, looking at the animal, remembering the mysterious bear she saw.

"...A duck kidnapped us?" Denki asks, tilting her head in confusion.

"You were so close..."

The messages began to appear in subtitles as the duck spoke quack, which intrigued the majority, causing everyone to move closer to the screen nearest them to watch the duck.

"Anyway, I want to welcome you to… Quesadilla Island."

"...It would have been better if we hadn't been brought here by force." Yang mocked, crossing his arms and receiving nods from those around him.

"To enjoy this wonderful island… I’d like to ask you a favor: Restore power to the island."

When they heard this, most of them couldn't help but stare at the duck with puzzled expressions. 

"And why would we do that? Have you kidnapped us to fix the light? Is this a joke?" Nora asks angrily, causing most of them to nod in agreement.

"Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy your stay on Quesadilla Island."

" Quack ." Declares the duck before the screen fades out leaving everyone staring at it in confusion.

"That's it?" Emerald asks, looking at the screen with her arms crossed, looking annoyed. "No explanation of why they kidnapped us or what this place is or what the hell they want from us?" 

"Apparently." Yui agreed, nodding as she stared at the screen with narrowed eyes.

"...How should we restore the energy to this place? Does anyone have any ideas?" Jaune asked with a frown, causing everyone to look at each other, before the UA High students looked at Mei, who had a pensive look on her face. 

"I can do it, but I don't have my equipment here or the materials."  Mei comments before all the lights in the station go out, leaving them in the dark.

However, before anyone could do anything, Natsu raised his fist before being covered in fire, illuminating their surroundings. At the same time, Mei put on her glasses and turned a mechanism on them causing the lenses to turn green.

"...It could be worse." Rogue commented, looking around without seeming bothered by the dark.

"Okay, let's all stay calm, now is not the time to panic." Jaune declares before turning back to his friends. "Let's stay together with them for now."

"Interesting." Mei commented as she looked around. "I can see some kind of chest out there."

As she said this Rogue disappeared into the shadows scaring most people, before Mei saw him appear in front of the chest.

"Wow, a teleporting quirk, cool." Mei reflected, receiving a strange look from Yukino.

"Quirk? He just traveled through the shadows, sometimes he does that when he's impatient." Explains Yukino without understanding what that expression was that Mei used.

Suddenly, Rogue reappeared next to the others with a scowl on his face while carrying a book in his right hand and two others in the other.

"Looks like they gave us three books, just like the instructions for the pressure plates." Rogue explained, handing the books to Yukino, Izuku and Jaune.

With that, the three of them opened the books while Natsu helped light up the room so they could read, at the same time everyone else surrounded them.

"Okay, if that's right, it looks like we have two water wheels that power the whole island." Izuku explained as he continued reading the book, at an impressive speed that made Yukino and Jaune stop reading and stare at him. "We have to reactivate the power at the same time so as not to overload the generators, there are also instructions here on how to do this and... two incomplete numbers?"

"Numbers? Like coordinates?" Cobra asks, receiving surprised looks from the other mages. "What? Do you think any of those Oration six idiots knew how to read a map? Racer and I used to make most of the maps we used."

"Actually, that may be exactly it." With that Izuku picks up Yukino and Jaune's other books before putting them on the floor, turning all the pages until he finds them. "Look at this."

2()3 2)*)

29)3 2)8)

2(03 20*0

"You see? It's the same number, but we'd only know if we used all three books at the same time." Izuku explained with a smile before turning to look at everyone. "The right coordinate is 2903 2080."

"...Well done brat, good deduction, now tell me, how are we going to find that coordinate without a map?" Cobra asks with a frown, making Izuku's expression falter. 

"I... I don't know." Izuku replies with an embarrassed look, making Cobra roll his eyes before walking away.

"Great, we're stuck on an unknown island, in the dark, with a mission that we don't even know how to get to!" Cobra exclaims in disbelief, spreading his arms in irritation. "What a wonderful situation!"

"Relax, rattlesnake worshipper. If you have books with coordinates, then you must also have a map, it can't be that far from here, we just have to look for another chest at this station." Yang made a point of stating the obvious to Cobra, who didn't like how he was called that. "How about we take advantage of this break to get to know each other? It's not my thing to listen to someone complain without getting to know them."

"Listen here, you little shit!" Cobra was interrupted once again, this time by Natsu, who set his whole body on fire to improve the lighting and not give rise to a possible confrontation. Anyone looking from a distance would think it was a festive bonfire.

"Can someone help me light it? I don't want to do all the work here." Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion at the shocked and frightened looks on the faces of the hunters and heroes. "What?"

"Where did you get so much Dust to do that?!" Yang felt envious seeing how he mastered fire, he didn't seem to differ much in age from her and her friends, but in her view, this was a mastery of flames that would take years of practice to acquire. "And where do you keep it? I don't see any compartments for you to do that"

"What's Dust?" Elfman cocked his head to the right, seeing the cynical looks from the Beacon students.

"Good God, that fire Quirk knocks Todoroki's to the ground!" Denki exclaimed in amazement as he walked away, even the heat emitted by Natsu's flames was more intense than his classmate's fire.

"...What the fuck is a quirk?" Cobra asked with a scowl.

At that moment, an awkward silence enveloped everyone before Natsu snorted, drawing attention to himself.

"So, do you know Edolas?" Natsu asked, seeming to understand what was going on, much to the disbelief of his guild mates.

"Edolas?" Ren raised his eyebrow in doubt, becoming more tense as he saw the Fairy Tail mages tense up.

"Okay, it's worse than I thought." Natsu assured with a nod before turning to Juvia and Elfman, looking like he had discovered something big. "We're from different worlds! The name of the language, the writing, the weaponry. Everything is extremely different. Not to mention the places where each one spoke."

"Come to think of it, I've never really studied or seen records of countries with the names Earthland or Remnant," Yui commented, with Izuku and Mei agreeing with her.

Everyone was quite startled by this information, well... almost everyone, the mages were just frustrated by it, it's not as if they didn't already know about the existence of other worlds besides their own, the world of the zodiac spirits was a good example for that.

"...IS THAT A COMPILATION OF ISEKAI?!" Denki and Eijiro shouted together, with the blond crying rivers of cartoonish tears, and the redhead with his eyes shining.

"...What's an isekai?" Ruby asked, leaning towards Jaune, who just shrugged.

"That's without a doubt the shittiest conspiracy story I've ever heard." Emerald laughed, but inside she was terrified, perhaps because there was no way home, or being among the people who hate her most in the world and having no chance of escape.

"Enough!" Cobra exclaimed, releasing his magic, causing most of them to freeze with his energy, while Natsu stared at him, ready to fight. "I couldn't care less if they're from a different world or the fucking corner market, how the hell are we going to find these coordinates without a map!"

"I don't see you coming up with an idea either, we're all ears" Yang approached Cobra while clenching his fists. "Then how about we settle this peacefully, before I come down on you? I've had enough of you complaining and doing nothing."

"Come on, you little brat, I've killed more powerful mages than you for less." Snake growled as venom exploded from his claws. "You know what, fuck it, I'll find out for myself!" 

With that, Cobra walked away from the others and into the darkness of Quesadilla Island.

"Wait... Kaminari!" Izuku pointed at Denki, who was kneeling on the ground as he was ready to die of dehydration from tears. "Can you try energizing the station?!"

"There, I can see a set of wires over there that run through the whole station." Mei said, pointing to a metal box on one of the walls.

"Okay... I didn't understand that, but I'll try... eh, I recommend you stay away, unless you want to be electrocuted." Denki snapped his fingers as he approached the set of wires. "I warn you, if it gets any worse, it's your fault, Midoriya!" 

"Why are they calling each other by the surname Ren?" Nora asked her friend, who just shrugged.

With that, Denki held the circuit breakers while he waited for the others to move away.

"Everyone stay back! If you can, hide!" Eijirou shouted as he ran with the UA High students away. "Because now, Kaminari will be manly!"

"Team RNJR, Yang, over here!" Calls Ruby before all her friends follow her and hide behind the station counter.

"Elfman! Time to be manly!" Natsu shouted to Elfman, who roared to the heavens as he assumed his take-over.

"MAN!" Elfman's body was covered in a momentary green glow, only to disappear and his body become larger, with his skin covered in green scales and black claws all over his arms, back and tail, his hair replaced by a white mane.

"What the fuck?" To say that the students from Beacon and Emerald were surprised was elvish. They simply had no reaction to it

"Can you take it?! For him to try to energize the station, he must be something!" Rouge asked as he covered himself with shadows as extra security.

"I'M A FUCKING MAN! I CAN TAKE IT!" Shouted Elfman with a smile on his face, reassuring the mages behind him.

"THAT WAS MANLY!" Eijirou's shout was loud enough for Elfman to make a positive sign with his hand

"That's when it would be great if Laxus were here!" Juvia shouted, immediately hiding behind Elfman with the other mages.

"Yeah! All he had to do was eat the lightning and...wait..." Natsu stepped out from behind Elfman and stood next to him. "I'll try something! Are you okay, Elfman?"

"Be manly, Natsu!"

"All right then! You can let it all out! Pajama boy!" Natsu shouted, seeing Denki wave.

At that moment, Emerald ran behind one of the pillars while the rest of the UA High students hid behind the station's second balcony.

"Okay, let’s do it… and remember!" Denki was gradually releasing electricity through his body, even though it wasn't directed at the wires, the flashing lights. "It won't be my fault if you explode!"

At that moment, lightning exploded from Denki in all directions as the station was illuminated by the energy he produced, much to the dismay of the others who screamed in fright at what was happening.

(Outside the train station.)

Cobra had already gotten quite far from the station, but at that moment, a deafening thunderclap echoed behind him. Causing the wizard to pause before turning around and observing how the station was glowing.

"What the fuck is that?" Cobra asked, wide-eyed, before starting to make his way back.

(Back to the station.)

"2 million volts! Hahaha...uh!" Denki laughed before falling to the ground, tired and making positive signs with both hands, already acquiring his 'stupid face' as Jirou would say.

"That was..." The Hunters were frightened by everything they saw.

"VERY VIRIL!" Shouted Elfman and Eijirou, both punching the air, excited by the light show produced by Denki.

"Natsu-san... did what you wanted to try work?" Juvia saw Natsu standing still, until he turned around...chewing on one of the rays, while making a peace sign with his hand.

"Yes! I really can eat lightning...but it tastes awful!" Natsu spat towards the sky, watching the ray disappear into the clouds. "Hey! Kabitari, huh? Are you all right in there?" shouted Natsu, seeing him lying on the ground with his hand signs still raised.

"Wheeey" nodded Denki tremulously.

"..." Natsu looked at him, before shrugging and repeating the action. "Wheeey!"

"What the fuck did you do? The fucking station was glowing!" Cobra exclaimed as he entered the station, but he soon stopped when he saw Denki's condition. "...Is he brain dead?"       

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Nora approached Kaminari excitedly, grabbing him by the shoulders before swinging. "YOUR LIMIT IS 2 MILLION?! AMAZING! CAN YOU RELEASE IT ALL BIT BY BIT?! IS IT ALL AT ONCE?! WHEEEY?! WHAT IS THIS?! I LIKE IT! WHEEEY!"

"Wheeey" 

"Okay, I was wrong, they're both brain dead." Grumbles Cobra.

"What was that...?" Ruby asked herself without understanding how this was possible.

"I don't know... but that was incredible!" Jaune shouted, seeing the whole station light up.

"hm, 2 million huh? That gave me some ideas." Mei commented with a thoughtful expression as Izuku used the Black Whip to hold Denki down.

"Now... what do we do?" Ren stared at all the confusion in front of him without understanding how the situation had ended up like this, but he couldn't deny that it was amusing to see.

"Now we wait for...the Duck?" It was only when Izuku spoke that all the screens in the station turned on, with just one emoticon.

°-°

.

.

.

It continues in the next chapter.

Chapter Text

°–°

"Quack." Declares the duck on the station screen with a disappointed look.

"You've really brought the energy back to the island with this plan of yours, but... it's only a temporary solution, according to the system, you have a maximum of one day of energy before you need to energize it again."

"Again?" muttered Yui before looking at Denki, who was still fried in the brain, smiling and waving his hands in the affirmative. 

Yui wasn't the only one who came to this conclusion, Izuku, Tsuyu, Eijiro, Jaune and Cobra seemed to have noticed it from the way they looked at Denki.

"But don't despair! We guarantee that you'll be able to energize the island for good!"

Just then, they all heard a strange sound coming from behind them, it was as if a heavy object had fallen there, which made them all turn around. There behind them was a simple chest that hadn't been there before.

"What the fuck?" Cobra asked, staring incredulously at the trunk before looking around for anyone else. "Where did that come from? I didn't hear anyone approaching us."

"Yeah... I didn't smell anyone new either, and not even the trunk until it was placed there..." Rogue commented worriedly as he approached Yukino, who also looked worried.

"NIN NIN!" Natsu exclaimed, putting his scarf around his face and lacing his fingers together.

"Okay, everyone back off." Declared Jaune before approaching the trunk, causing Ren and Nora to stare at him in confusion.

"Jaune?" Calls Ren worriedly, holding out his hand to his friend.

However, Jaune ignored him and quickly opened the chest, closing his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, causing the boy to breathe a sigh of relief and open his eyes to see what was inside the chest. A look of confusion appeared on his face before he stuck his hand inside the trunk and pulled out some watches.

"They're watches..." Warns Jaune as most of the others approach him.

Despite this, Nora continued to stare at Jaune with a frown on her face.

"If you opened the present we brought you, you must have noticed the Q-Clocks. They are very useful instruments for you, as well as showing the time. They also serve as a way for you to communicate with each other, as well as showing the map of the region you've explored on the island." 

"Incredible!" Mei exclaimed as she took one of the Q-clocks from Jaune's hand and placed it on her wrist, which emitted a beep before the object activated and a circular holographic screen appeared in front of the girl.

< Confirmed user: Hatsume Mei. >

"...What a cute baby!" Squeals the girl looking at the Q-clocks with her eyes shining.

"Okay, this will come in handy, everyone take one of these Q-clocks for yourselves." Commands Jaune before putting his own Q-clock on his wrist, something that is copied by the others around with various 'confirmed users' messages echoing. However, one in particular was frightening, at least for one of them.

< Confirmed user: Etherious Natsu Dragneel. >

Natsu was terrified by this, he looked at the other mages around him to see if anyone else had heard it, letting out a sigh of relief when he didn't see anyone.

< Warning: Confidential information! The name Etherious will be withheld until further notice. >

"It's probably just a defect..." Natsu muttered, shaking his head, trying to ignore the clock's 'error'. "Etherious are demons, I'm not a demon...I'm not that..."

But meanwhile, Cobra's eyes were twitching, nothing was escaping his ears, and this certainly wouldn't either, and a shaky smile appeared on his face.

"Now that's insider information..." Cobra didn't know how to react to this; on the one hand, it could be very useful for him with the magical advice later. But on the other hand, he felt afraid, his vision of what Natsu is like now is completely different, and he didn't like how this vision affected him.

At the same time, Juvia turned to Natsu and noticed how he seemed to be affected by what he saw. A frown appeared on her face. But before she could say anything, Elfman was quicker.

"Natsu? Are you alright? You look a bit scared." Elfman came close and spoke softly to him.

"I'm fine, Elfman." Natsu lowered his watch and gave a forced smile. Elfman wasn't convinced.

"Natsu, it's not a man's job to hide something from his companions, I can see that you're not well." Elfman insisted, resting his hand on the fire mage's shoulder.

"It's no big deal, Elfman, that can be left for later, for now, we have to sort out the island's energy." Natsu relaxed his conscience as Elfman nodded in agreement, watching him walk away.

"Keep an eye on Natsu, he's acting strange," Elfman whispered as he passed Juvia, who shook her head with a snort.

"Your Q-clocks can be used now, immediately for your quest to energize the island. We're counting on all of you."

"Do I alone find it strange that all this is coming from a single quack?" Yang asked Ruby, who just shrugged. She was already accepting the bizarreness.

"One last warning, beware of the creatures that can lurk in the night, you can deal with them easily, but their quantity is what should worry you."

"Excuse me? Creatures?" Eijiro felt a bead of sweat run down his chin.

"Is he going to make us fight grimms?" Ren looked at the other hunters, receiving only groans of frustration in response.

"Are they going to be more Nomus!?" Denki asked, startled.

"That was fast!" Izuku shouted in surprise at how quickly Denki regained consciousness.

"You're really improving, man! The next step is to absorb energy!" Eijirou shouted, throwing his fist into the air. Receiving a surprised sigh from Denki.

"Huh? Am I back?" Denki asked in confusion before looking down at his hands and smiling as he raised his fists. "I'M BACK!"

"Why does that sound familiar?" Yang and Ren asked, before both looking at Ruby and Nora. The two looked at each other and nodded, now they knew why it was familiar.

While this was going on, Jaune was already setting up his Q-Clock with the coordinates, dragging the screen to the indicated place before marking the spot by emitting a small beep.

< Point of interest added. Name: Hydraulic wheel. Marked by: Jaune Arc. Location: 2903 2080. >

"Well, we've got the route mapped out." Jaune found it strange that the Q-clock map only had the station on it while everything around was dark to him, with only the point of interest Jaune had marked appearing in the darkness.

"Cobra, have you seen any creatures out there? You've been the only one to leave the station so far." Rogue questioned Cobra, who only snorted as he crossed his arms.

"Lots of trees, some rabbits, a giant wall and an abandoned city." Cobra shrugged, originally planning to try and explore the town, but unable to thanks to the light show. "But I also heard some strange noises, they sounded like bones rattling and grunting. Whenever I went to look, it was inside a dark place. Honestly, I didn't risk it."

"Okay... Okay, we can work with that." Jaune declares before making the holographic screen disappear from above his Q-clock before noticing that its screen had a yellow arrow indicating the direction they had to go. "Okay, we've got the location and the direction, I think we can go now."

"Before we go, I'd like to ask... how exactly are we going to connect the power? Because if we don't have the tools to do it, we'll be like a blind man without a guide dog." Denki asks with a frown. 

"That wasn't the best comparison, man..." Eijiro commented with a quirky eyebrow at him before pointing to Mei adjusting the lenses of her viewfinder. "Just leave it to her. Support course, remember?"

"Okay, let's do it, Natsu, you come with me, we'll lead the way, Mei you go in the middle, we can't lose her now. Anyone who's good at hand-to-hand combat stays on the sides and those with ranged attacks stay close to Mei." Jaune commands as he prepares his equipment.

"Who put you in charge anyway?" Cobra asked, pointing at Jaune.

"If you have a better idea, I'm listening." Jaune declared, looking at Cobra. 

"My ears," Cobra beamed with pride while Natsu groaned in annoyance. "I can hear anything from miles away, so if we want to avoid any kind of creature, my ears are the best option. Because if the noises I heard are right, the amount of monsters we'll have to kill won't be small... it's actually quite worrying."

"Okay, you come with me and Natsu at the front, let me know if you hear anything suspicious so I can warn those behind." Jaune nods with a tired sigh before looking at the others. "Would anyone else like to make a suggestion or reveal something useful to everyone?"

"Well... I don't think that would be very useful in this situation. But I can get tough, so maybe I should go ahead and take on the first ones who show up?" Eijirou tried to argue his position.

"Kirishima, I think you'd better stay close to Hatsume..." Izuku declared timidly. "Your quirk makes you pretty tough, perfect for taking heavy blows... so maybe you should act as a shield for her."

Eijirou only blinked twice and made a positive sign with his hands, accepting his role.

"Well, let's go!" Natsu ignited his body again, startling Jaune who was standing next to him.

"That's still very strange..." Jaune muttered, watching as the fire burned nothing but Natsu, not even the floor of the station.

Despite her leader's confident and logical attitude, Nora couldn't help but frown as she watched Jaune's back; something hadn't been right since they left Patch.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" No sooner had they all left the station than the hunters went into shock and disbelief.

"What?! Did something happen?!" The mages and heroes began to look around them for anything strange.

"I... don't see anything for that reaction." A confused Yui turned to the frightened hunters. "What did you see?"

"What do you mean what did we see?! Look at the moon!" Ruby pointed upwards, followed by the others present, soon returning their confused stares.

"Girl, are you retarded? What's so strange about the moon?" Cobra scowled as he pointed towards Ruby with an accusatory look.

"HOW IS THE MOON IN ONE PIECE?!" Nora, coming out of her state of shock, let out a giant scream, so loud that it forced the dragon slayers to cover their ears, with Cobra being much more affected, feeling his knees go weak for a moment.

"My ears! You son of a bitch!" Cobra shouted, held back by Elfman to prevent him from jumping on Nora.

"Wait... is your moon broken?!" Izuku for some reason found this information very interesting, much more interesting than it should have been. "That's incredible, and even frightening when you stop and think about it. How does it affect your world? Is the sunlight reflected correctly? Are there pieces of it flying and falling around? What did it crash into to end up like this? Do you have a second moon?"

"SHUT UP, BRAT!" Cobra, still held by Elfman, glared angrily at Izuku. "Then you'll be an astrologer! Now, we have to turn on the power to this damned island!"

"He's right." Declared Jaune, who despite being affected by the state of the moon, had to force himself to continue. "We can discuss it later, we should focus on the mission now."

"Are you sure you don't want to get some air first? This is shocking for anyone... I speak from experience," Natsu groaned in annoyance, remembering his adventure in Edolas.

"No, we can handle it." Jaune assured him before looking at his friends and Emerald, noticing the state they were in. "...Maybe we should keep part of the group here to maintain a safe base for us."

"No!" denies Nora, immediately shaking her head. "If the fearless leader goes on a mission, I'll go too!"

"That reminds me of someone..." Natsu comments, looking at Juvia, who just stares at him with a confused look, not understanding what he means.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong, Natsu?"

"Nothing Juvia, nothing..."

"Okay then..." Jaune nodded, seeing how most of his friends seemed to want to continue. "Let's get going then, follow me."

(Some time later.)

"Are we getting there?" Denki asks, a little scared, looking around the dark forest and trying not to stray too far from the rest of the group.

"We're almost there." Replies Jaune looking at his Q-Clock with Cobra and Natsu by his side looking ahead.

Yang let out a sigh as she moved her knees, it had been almost thirty minutes since they had been looking for the island's power source and she couldn't walk any further. 

"If only I were with Bumblebee here..." Yang thought with a dreamy expression as she remembered her bike, she loved it and missed it.

"Boring!" Shouted Natsu in a puff of fire into the air. "Doesn't anyone have something to talk about?!"

"Hey, watch where you're throwing that fire." Scolded Jaune, taking a step to the side, startled by the sudden fire.

"You scare too easily, don't you? I think that's the third time you've been like that." Mocked Cobra as his ears listened to the pure silence of the night.

"Look who's talking, the person who every thirty seconds threatens someone with death." Rebuts Jaune, checking his Q-Clock again.

"You're lucky my threats haven't actually led to your death. Be glad you still have a use for me, otherwise your body would be nothing more than a puddle of blood and decaying flesh."

"...He's right, Cobra is actually an S-ranked dark mage in our world, his body count is high." Yukino replied calmly, causing Natsu to snort, which made her quickly continue her story. "But of course, Natsu here defeated him, so we're safe."

"And he was defeated with a shout. He doesn't seem that powerful anymore, does he?" Natsu was amused to see the poison mage's hand turn into claws before he attacked a random tree, knocking it down as smoke poured out of the trunk. That will stick in everyone's mind as a warning of who not to mess with.

"Annoying salamander." Grumbles Cobra before stuffing his hands in his pockets before walking a little further ahead of the group.

As they walked, Ruby noticed how Izuku was looking at her and her friends with a curious look, the same one she had when it came to weapons.

"Hey, your name is... Isuku right?" Ruby asked, causing Izuku to startle and stare at her in surprise and nervousness.

"Yes... that's very strange." Izuku groaned in frustration at the whole scenario. "...and my name is pronounced with a z, IZuku."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ruby waved her right hand in response. "I saw that you're...how can I put this...interested in what happened earlier."

"About your moon being broken?" Izuku looked away, trying not to ask too many questions once again. "That's surprising for anyone." 

At that moment, Izuku felt an invisible twinge in the back of his neck; it was his shame at how callously his eyes were watching the hunters.

"Were you interested in the moon?" Yang asked, suddenly coming to Izuku's side, startling the heroic cursor. "What a pity, I thought the eyes were more on us"

After the little tease, Yang felt her sister's elbow hit her rib, seeing how it had no effect on Ruby or the others, but she soon noticed something else, the way Izuku reacted.

His eyes were tense with a small, nervous, trembling smile, and somehow his whole face was red, reminding her of a strawberry, but most importantly, somehow his reaction was even better than any she'd gotten from Ruby.

"Eh!? I-I wasn't looking, I swear! I mean, I was looking, but not at you. Oh, not that you're not pretty, you are. I mean..." Izuku began, before mumbling at a rapid pace, becoming more and more shy and stuttering. 

"Midobro is evolving!" Eijiro thought as manly tears welled up in his eyes, while next to him, Denki had a flat face. His face held a very obvious question.

"Why not me?" Denki thought with a frown.

"Hmm." Yui just stared at the scene, watching as Izuku's face blushed even more with embarrassment, as if he was asking for help to get out of this situation.

"Oww, look at him all cute and embarrassed. I like men like that." Yang teased, putting his arm around Izuku's shoulders and pulling him closer, making the boy blush even more.

"Enough Yang, you're already making the poor guy uncomfortable." Ruby tried to pull her sister's arm away from Izuku's shoulder. But she was squeezing harder than expected.

"Oh, don't worry, Rubes, he'll be quite comfortable later, when I've finished with him." Garante Yang winked at the boy.

For some reason, Izuku felt an instinct to turn away...only to see Kirishima and Elfman flexing their arm muscles as manly tears streamed down their eyes, their faces bearing a phrase as obvious as Kaminari's.

"That's the fifth step!" The light emitted by these two together only made Izuku look back at the path as he tried and failed miserably to pretend that Yang hadn't said anything.

Yui, on the other hand, just stared inexpressibly, not even seeming to be bothered by what she was seeing.  

"That's ridiculous." Grumbled Emerald from the other side of the group, watching Yang's antics. "We're stuck on an island thanks to a duck and all they can think about is flirting?"

"You'd better calm down, thinking too much isn't going to yield much apart from unnecessary stress." Rogue was direct, trying to keep an eye out for any movement in the shadows of the trees.

"And you're not stressed? Right now it's not like we have much choice but to listen to a duck." Emerald declares angrily.

"I've been in worse situations... the worst of which was quite recent." Rogue felt a sour taste in her mouth remembering the events of the magic games and the eclipse gate.

"Really?" Emerald asked in surprise, turning to him. "What were those situations? If you want to tell me, of course."

"Um... Imagine you were almost responsible for the destruction and death of several people in the capital of a great kingdom, during the busiest event of the year." Rogue's eyes became darker than they had been before. He looked at his shadow on the ground, and there it was, the one that had haunted his dreams for the last few weeks, that same look that had caused so much misery in his mind.

Upon hearing this, Emerald's eyes widened and she fell silent, remembering the Vytal festival and Beacon's attack. Although she hadn't led the way like Cinder, Emerald still had her share of the blame, even more so with the death of Pyrrha, who she herself had helped to hold back so that Cinder would kill her.

"...Yes, I think I know what you mean." Murmurs Emerald darkly, despite always obeying Cinder, what she did still left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I can tell you that I just wasn't responsible for it because my timing wasn't right at the time." Rogue commented, sounding even more sour at himself.

"I... I don't understand, what do you mean your time wasn't right at that moment?" Emerald tried to read the different ways this sentence could have gone, but she couldn't understand any of them.

Rogue only remained silent, and quickened his pace, an action repeated by Emerald. She was very curious about the wizard's response, both were in a way the same, but their endings were visibly different, and she wanted to find out what had happened to make the ending so extreme for Rogue.

"You've been staring at me for a long time, Kero. Is everything all right?" Tsuyu turned her face towards Juvia, who felt an embarrassed blush appear on her face.

"Sorry, it's just that your hands and face are very different from your colleagues. Juvia knows it's rude to ask, but can Juvia tell you why you look like a frog?" Juvia tapped her thumbs together, she now realized how insensitive that was."

"It's because of my quirk, it gives me characteristics and powers based on frogs. Kero." Tsuyu replied, bringing one of her fingers to her chin and looking directly at Juvia.

"Juvia understands..." Juvia couldn't help but find Tsuyu's gaze frightening, it was very firm and fixed. It was almost as if she was staring inside. "What's a Quirk? Is that what the Magic of your world is called?"

"Kero?" Tsuyu denied the question with her head. "A Quirk is a human mutation that happened a century ago, nowadays, 80% of the population has a Quirk... when you think about it, those born without a Quirk, called Quirkless, end up being the most unusual genetic mutations today. But what was that magic you mentioned?"

"That." Juvia just pointed at Natsu juggling his flames, then pointed at Cobra, spitting poison at random insects flying nearby with Jaune between them trying to avoid the flames and poison.

"Hm, not very amazing and different from what we already have in our world" Tsuyu was quick and to the point, as she usually is.

"Would you consider dragon-killing magic very incredible?" Juvia had Tsuyu's attentive gaze turned on her once again.

"Dragons? Like, real dragons?" Tsuyu's memories of Shiei Hassakai came flooding back. "I think the most dragons we have in our world are people with transformation quirks, like a heroine I worked for for a while, she could transform into a dragon."

"Our dragons are more like mystical creatures. They easily occupied the whole food chain, were huge, powerful, and had a very long life expectancy...at least that's what Natsu told Juvia." Juvia looked forward, only to see Natsu glaring at her and Tsuyu, he was listening to the whole conversation. "Nowadays, dragons are just legends told among all the magicians in the world, they don't even think that dragons were real, but after...certain events...Juvia can no longer deny that they existed." 

Juvia remembered her conversation with Gajeel about the dragon graveyard in Crocus, and she still gets a shiver down her spine whenever she remembers how dark and gloomy Gajeel's aura was when he talked about it. But her main memory of dragons still remains in tenroujima.

"..." Tsuyu saw how tense Juvia became as she lost herself in her memories. "I thought that was cute."

"Huh?"

"Your way of speaking, Kero. I like it, it's nice to see you speaking in the third person." Tsuyu saw Juvia relax her shoulders and let out the air she didn't know had been trapped in her lungs.

"Juvia thanks you." Juvia laughed a little at how direct the frog girl was.

"Kero!"

"Hey Ren." Nora called softly to her partner.

Hearing the tone she used, Ren approached her, standing next to her.

"What's wrong?" Ren asks her attentively, noticing that her gaze is on Jaune's back.

"Are you noticing something strange about Jaune too?" Nora asks worriedly, making Ren narrow his eyes at Jaune's back.

"Being honest? Yes, I've noticed something wrong with him too, ever since we left Patch." Ren replies worriedly before turning to Nora. "Besides, ever since we got here he's seemed more... tense and predisposed to getting into risky situations."

"Yes, but that's not all... he's gotten stronger too." Nora commented, frowning before looking down at her hand. "I almost couldn't contain him, Ren, if Yang hadn't been with me... he would have gotten loose and probably killed Emerald." 

Hearing this, Ren's eyes widened in surprise, and they both turned their gaze to Jaune, various thoughts and worries running through their heads.

"...Don't mention it to the others, we'll keep an eye on him for now and interfere if necessary." Ren declared, receiving a nod from Nora.

"We're going to be a long time or... AH!" Shouts Denki as he stumbles, falling face first onto the ground.

"...Shine some more light?" Jaune asks, looking at Natsu after seeing Denki face down on the ground.

"Ah, who put a pipe in here?" Denki complains as he gets up with a scowl.

"Pipe?" Jaune asks, kneeling down next to Denki, an action copied by Natsu and Cobra, who see a metal pipe in the middle of the forest.

With that, the rest of the group crowded around them as the three of them followed the path the pipe took and saw that Jaune's Q-clock was heading in the same direction.

"Maybe you're not as useless as I thought!" Cobra gave a strange smile as he slapped Denki on the back, who looked at him with a confused look before a frown appeared on his face.

"Hey, I'm not worthless!" Denki complains.

"Can you release all that energy again without looking brain-dead?" Cobra asked dryly and thickly, receiving a frustrated groan from Denki. "Just accept my compliment before I go back and reconsider."

"Come on, guys." Jaune commanded before heading in the same direction as the barrel, with Natsu at his side.

"Energy! Power! Let's get the power back on!" Natsu marched while singing his impromptu song.

"Salamander, will you do us all a favor?" Natsu turned and saw Cobra with a dead, dull look on his face. "Don't ever do that again. That was easily one of the worst things I've ever heard."

"Energy! Power! Let's turn the power back on!" To their surprise, another person started singing the song.

Immediately, the two of them looked at Ruby who was singing the same song in the same rhythm as Natsu, but she quickly stopped noticing the two of them staring at her.

"A-ah, sorry..." Ruby lamented before hearing Natsu's laughter

"That's it girl with the weird iron thing! Sing with me!" Natsu pulled Ruby to his side and soon the two of them were happily singing along as they walked.

"Maybe suicide isn't such a bad solution..." Cobra contemplated the idea of taking the sword from Jaune's hands and putting it to his throat.

"Stop being grouchy, you sound like an antisocial old widower with no children!" Nora accidentally bumped her shoulder into Cobra's, who grumbled, "Wait a minute, I'm coming in to form a threesome!" 

And to Cobra's growing dismay, Nora joined the duo.

"...On second thought, genocide." Cobra mutters before moving on.

"Guys, we're here!" Jaune exclaims before jumping from where he was to the lower ground.

"Finally!" Denki's cry of satisfaction made Cobra shake his hand, wondering if it was worth the waste of magic.

They were now in a small crater with a small river flowing ahead, but in the earth wall there was a stationary water wheel with water flowing down it from a small hole further up the wall. 

Without waiting for anyone, Mei ran towards the water wheel, analyzing it with her glasses.

"Okay... that's easier than I thought, it'll just take a while." Mei comments, looking at the broken machine. "It's missing the blades, we'll need to make new ones... some wooden planks or logs can be used for this, but I need to stop the water or else it might not fit properly..."

"Leave that to Juvia." Juvia declares before holding out his hand, causing the water to start floating over the water wheel before falling into the river. "Juvia can keep the water away while Mei works."

"GREAT! Now we just need someone to hold the electric cable so I don't get electrocuted while I work." Mei asked, looking at Denki, who sighed, already knowing what he had to do.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it." Denki nods before grabbing the cable, unplugging it from the machine, causing sparks to surround him for a few seconds before disappearing. "Okay, I'm feeling the remaining energy... it's low, but I can keep it constant for a while."

"..." Cobra turned his head away, he thought he heard a grunt, but the silence continued, causing him to turn around with narrowed eyes.

He continued to scan the forest in the darkness before his eyes widened when he heard something, or rather several things at once.

"Salamander..." Cobra called, clenching his hands into fists, which made Natsu turn to him.

At that moment, all three Dragonslayers' eyes widened before Natsu, Rogue and Cobra positioned themselves in front of the river, in front of the machine.

"Guys... Fucked." Warned Natsu, his fists covered in fire.

At that moment, they all heard several moans, grunts and growls coming towards them. With that, everyone turned to where the Dragon Slayers were looking and their eyes widened at what they saw.

Monsters, there were several monsters approaching. Giant spiders the size of dogs, humanoid skeletons carrying bows and arrows, green, rotting corpses wearing what looked like clothes and armor.

"AAAH ZOMBIES!" Denki exclaims, frightened, looking at the green creatures.

"No." Yui replies without taking her eyes off the monsters in front of them.

"Shit..." Rosna Jaune before preparing Crocea Mors, placing herself next to the dragon slayers. "Natsu, we need more light around. Don't let them get close to the three of them."

"Get out of my way..." growled Cobra, taking a few steps forward, only to cough and have his mouth filled with poison. 

"Dokuryū no Hoko!" With that, a great jet of crimson poison shot out of Cobra's mouth, heading towards the creatures, causing a good number of monsters to fall to the ground, and others to melt from the power, while several others began to advance towards them.

Suddenly a bang echoed and the head of one of the zombies exploded, causing everyone to turn to Ruby who had Crescent Rose in her rifle mode, pointing it at the monsters. 

"Okay... I like that!" Natsu laughed before taking a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks.

"Kairyuu no Hoko!" With that, a large jet of fire shot out of Natsu's mouth towards the monsters, but Natsu also directed it around where they were, lighting up the whole place, burning some of the monsters' corpses. 

"Everyone attack and don't let them get close!" Jaune exclaims before using his shield to defend Rogue from an arrow coming towards him.

"There's not much to worry about." Cobra said, seeing the damage Natsu was doing. "They're... pretty weak, actually. It was a waste to use a strong attack on them."

"Eh... guys, there's more above..." A startled Denki commented, looking up from the crater they were in, there were more monsters approaching.

"...Maybe this will last longer than I thought." Cobra muttered, seeing more and more monsters. "Much longer than I thought."

"Full Cowling 5%!" Exclaimed Izuku as he was covered in a green aura of energy before jumping towards the monsters above and kicking one of the zombies, sending it through the forest, however the amount of monsters around the forest scared him. "There are too many!"

"Leave some for me then!" Exclaims Yang as she falls beside him causing her bracelets to activate, she smiles confidently before shooting at a spider that jumped at her.

After that she ducked allowing Izuku to jump over her and land a kick on one of the skeletons that approached her, soon the two of them began to fight hand-to-hand with each of the other creatures that approached.

"Ren, hand-to-hand combat, Nora creates explosions!" Jaune asked, slashing at a skeleton, breaking it into pieces before raising his shield to defend himself against another arrow.

"Okay!" Ren nods, readying his weapon before running towards the zombies, hitting it with a kick before shooting it, after which the boy jumps on the creature and shoots them all. 

As soon as he landed on the ground he readied his blades before blocking another arrow, at which point an explosion occurred in front of Ren before he shot ahead again, taking out more monsters. Meanwhile, behind him, Nora laughed as she wielded a grenade launcher to create several explosions around the clearing.

"How can a grenade launcher have so much ammunition?!" Exclaimed Eijiro, who was startled by the large number of shots being fired.

 "What I want to know is how a person our age is allowed to walk around freely with a grenade launcher!" asked Denki, who was desperately dodging several arrows, trying his best to avoid them hitting the handle in his hand. "Kirishima! I need a human shield!"

"Okay, leave it to me!" Eijiro exclaimed, running as his skin seemed to harden into a rocky appearance.

"Don't they ever run out?!" Ruby was beginning to worry about the situation, every time she shot down a monster, four more appeared behind. "If you could speed things up, I'd appreciate it!"

"I say the same!" Emerald was focused on the various skeletons that were targeting Denki, taking the opportunity to break the bones in his legs and head. "Where did all this come from?!"

Suddenly Tsuyu jumped on top of one zombie, using her legs to smash it to the ground before jumping on another. At the same time, Yui was picking up some stones he found on the ground before throwing them, increasing their size.

"How manly!" exclaimed Elfman, who was crushing the spiders around him, still in his human form. "How could you not hear them coming?! Didn't you say you had super ears?! Lying is not manly!"

At that moment, Elfman turned around, grabbing a spider with his hands before throwing it at other monsters before looking at Cobra, who was more focused on shooting jets of concentrated poison from his fingers, almost like smoke being directed by the wind.

"I wish I had that answer too! I just heard a grunt, and out of nowhere, monsters appear from every damn hole!" Snake growls as he feels a wind blow past his back, looking back to see Rogue splitting several zombies in half.

"Next time, be more attentive!" Rogue was turning her body into shadows, then wrapping herself around a random zombie, hitting it with a torrent of shadows in her hands. "Eiryū no Renjakusen!"

"Blimey, that's impossible... it's like they're multiplying." Jaune growled as he pulled his sword out of a zombie's head before hearing a strange sound, similar to a bomb about to explode. Slowly, Jaune turned to see a quadruped creature with a long body glowing.

Jaune barely had time to raise his shield before the explosion occurred, throwing him into the center of the group, near the water wheel. The boy grunted before getting up with difficulty while Nora seemed to approach him with a worried look on her face, still firing her gun.

"Fearless leader, are you all right?" Nora asked as the boy nodded tremulously before looking around at the conflict.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Natsu arrived with a two-legged kick at another similar creature that hit Jaune, throwing it away only to see it explode. "...that was quite sad and bizarre in a way. That thing literally killed itself."

"Don't let those things explode near you! Their explosion is too strong!" Jaune grunted before looking at Nora and Ruby. "Try to save your bullets and make every shot count... Jeez, we can't hang around here much longer."

Suddenly, Tsuyu appeared next to them, looking tired. "I think we could use that small town as a shelter or barricade some of the buildings while we rest."

"That's a good idea, but the water wheel hasn't been finished yet." Jaune comments, before turning to look at the progress.

On the plus side, Mei was making good progress, she had already put some of the blades on the water wheel and seemed to be working on the last few, Juvia also seemed calm, but Denki was another story. The boy was with only Eijiro helping him and attacking the zombies and skeletons to keep them away from the electric boy.

"Shit... Ruby, Nora, keep limiting the number of enemies approaching us. I'll help them." Jaune declares before running towards the two boys, ignoring Nora's worried call.

"Salamander! Can you take the front line?" Rogue called out to Natsu, who focused his gaze on her. "You just need to give your most powerful and far-reaching roar, there are already too many monsters ahead, and the guy with the shield is almost out of combat!"

"Using that here won't be a good idea!" Natsu was spinning his body upside down, blasting several monsters around him with his flaming feet. "Too much magic! I'm trying to save money! Not to mention that the range is enough to run half the island."

"Do you really think this is a good time to save up?!" Yukino had Libra summoned, throwing several monsters into the distance.

"Destroy everything, Natsu! It's what we do best!" Elfman was already assuming his Weretiger form, which for some reason frightened the exploding green monsters.

With that, Natsu took his distance and aimed at the largest concentration of monsters he could see. 

"That'll do some damage!" Natsu gathered a large amount of fire and lightning in his mouth, he was easily lighting up the entire battlefield with it. And turning his foot to steady his support. He roared.

"Raienryu no Hoko!" A great whirlwind of fire and lightning shot out, destroying everything in front of him. Natsu raised his head, and the blow flew up into the dark night sky, exploding into a bright light, with a wide trail of destruction on the ground.

"That was...insane!" Yang exclaimed, as he exploded a zombie's head.

"And there are still plenty of monsters left!" Izuku kicked the air, raising his full cowling by 20% on impact, with a large distortion of air trailing for 30 meters. "Hatsume, tell me you're done!"

"Just a second!" Mei asked as she seemed to fit the last wooden plate into the water wheel. "I'm done, electric guy, connect the cable and water girl, after it connects, let the water fall."

"Finally!" Denki exclaims before connecting the cable to the water wheel, which allows Juvia to stop holding the water.

With that, the wheel began to turn slowly, causing Mei to smile and turn to Izuku. "I've finished Muscles!"

At that moment, a light appeared in the sky, making Yui look up to see the sun rising. At the same time, the monsters as a whole stopped moving, surprising everyone.

"... So it's over now?" Ren asked, still in a fighting stance, surrounded by zombies.

"I think so..." Replies Jaune hesitantly as he approaches one of the zombies before poking it with his sword.

However, what Jaune didn't expect was for the zombie and all the other monsters to instantly burst into flames. This caused most of them to be startled by what had happened.

"By Mount!" Jaune exclaims as he jumps backwards raising his shield, only for the zombie to fall harmlessly to the ground as it seemed to decompose faster, leaving only a few pieces of rotting flesh on the ground.

"I'd even find that bizarre...but he's taking bizarreness to another level!" Emerald shouted, drawing everyone's attention...with everyone seeing Natsu holding a skeleton by its legs, which was desperately trying to escape...while the fire from its body was pulled out of Natsu's mouth, who didn't notice the shocked and flat stares he was receiving.

"That... I won't understand. Just accept it." Ruby felt her sanity slowly slipping from her fingers with everything that had happened today.

Suddenly all their Q-clocks activated, showing the holographic screen with the image of a beach before the same duck appeared again.

"Quack." Said the duck.

"Well done! Thanks for all your help, but there are a few things you should know."

"If it's another task... I'm not responsible for what I do with the first duck that appears in front of me." Natsu declared as he finished devouring the skeleton's fire, which was now nothing more than ashes.

"You may have seen a giant wall dividing the island, but we need your help with something. We need to locate the red buttons that are on each side of the wall."

"But that duck is pretty loose, isn't he... that was a strange thing to say." Nora questioned internally.

"But avoid breaking the wall, it was built to keep you safe. Thank you for your cooperation."

After that, the screens went dark with two words appearing: End of transmission.

"After what we've just had, I don't want to see what it would be like without this wall." Denki shook his shoulders at the thought of seeing an army of monsters. "It's like an action-rpg wave."

"Ah, we know that." Yang made a positive sign with his hand while he had a flat smile on his face.

"Well... what do we do now? Are we going to look for the buttons all at once, or get some rest? Like it or not, we've been up all night...and my muscles ache." Izuku was still feeling the strain from the increased impact of his 20% kick.

"I think we'd better rest, Natsu needs to recover all the mana he lost with that roar." Elfman pointed to the trail of destruction left by the roar, they could see that the trail was long, so long that they could only see part of the way. "That was powerful."

"I know!" Natsu smiled, trying to disguise the fact that he was about to fall to the ground from the sudden use of magic.

"Okay, there's an abandoned town nearby and we could use it as a temporary base until we're ready to look for those buttons." Jaune declares, tired and sweaty, the blast he received having drained more of his aura than expected.

"Well... can I ask you a question?" asks Emerald as she turns to Natsu, until she sighs and sits down on the floor. "HOW DOES ANYONE DO THAT?!" 

Seeing the trail of the roar was something that no one but the mages could understand how it had happened, even more so she who had only ever seen Salem do something of this level, Emerald had never felt as nervous and exhausted as she did now. "AND WHY, NO, BETTER. HOW DO YOU EAT FIRE?! THAT'S ILLOGICAL!" Exclaimed Emerald, ready to faint if it wasn't for Rogue putting his hand on her back to calm her down.

"He's done worse... much worse." Elfman laughed at the huntress's shock, he had often seen such reactions whenever he went on missions with the Dragon Slayer.

"How much worse?" Izuku was curious, and even frightened, by the destruction caused by Natsu, in Izuku's vision. It was something that would only be done in a fighting game.

"Worse than him destroying a tower made of crystals made of pure magic, just with the impact of hitting an enemy." Juvia remembered the tower of paradise, seeing that the fire dragon created by Natsu hit Jellal and destroyed the entire tower.

"Hehe! My reputation as Fairy Tail's most destructive mage was no joke!" Natsu laughed like a funny face, his tongue wagging like that of a snake. Cobra didn't like this sight.

"Okay... that's kind of worrying!" Izuku sensed a certain resemblance between the Wizard and Endeavor, but he wasn't going to comment on it.

"Right, now Elfman..." Natsu called out to his companion, who glared at him in response. "Carry me, I've used a lot more magic than I should have." 

With that, Natsu let his body fall, completely exhausted, onto his back on the ground. Elfman just sighed before carrying his colleague and following the others towards the city...

(Scene break)

Jaune walked calmly down an aisle of a market before opening one of the fridges and taking out several bottles of water, which he placed in a basket. After leaving the water wheel, they all headed into town, where they found an abandoned market, but one full of groceries.

"This place is strange..." commented Ren, feeling very uncomfortable with the place they were in. "It's a town with no one, but there are still groceries in perfect condition, it's almost as if..."

"As if we were in a city that had been hastily evacuated? A ghost town? A horror movie set?" Nora was quick with her words, trying not to show her own nervousness.

"I kind of liked it, kero." Fala Tsuyu had a large quantity of canned fruit in her own basket. "After the monsters, it's almost like a rainy Saturday morning here."

"Me too, my arms hurt from the zombie bites back there, so a place like this is perfect for now." Complains Eijiro, who scratched his arms with the monsters' tooth marks, even though they didn't manage to pierce his hardened skin, they caused a good deal of irritation to the skin.

"Are you sure you're okay, bro? Aren't you going to turn into a zombie or something?" Asks Denki, who was carrying a supermarket trolley full of snacks and, for some unknown reason, a set of plates and cutlery in his basket.

"That's the stuff of movies, a virus like that would only have an effect on an already dead body. Kero!" Tsuyu clarified.

"Calm down guys, first we'll recover and then we'll worry about what caused a zombie apocalypse... I never thought I'd say that." Jaune comments with a weary sigh.

"Did anyone find any lighters?" asks Juvia, jumping into the next room and waving her arm.

"I've got a box here!" Shouted Rogue from the other side of the market, with Natsu by her side, sucking fire from a lighter with deodorant.

"DON'T LET HIM EAT IT ALL!" Pointing her finger at Natsu, Juvia saw her guildmate's face contort into a scowl.

"I'M HUNGRY!" complained Natsu, with Rogue just shrugging and picking up another box.

"They're strange..." Nora whispered next to Ruby.

"Have we got everything we need?" Cobra, who was sitting on top of a random session, asked.

"Yes, I believe we have. Let's return to the others with what we have so far, then we'll explore the rest." Declared Jaune, receiving a nod from everyone.

"If they haven't made camp, I'm going to poison them." Said Cobra, grumbling as he looked at his basket of packaged meat.

"He's tiresome, isn't he? Always threatening." Grumbles Jaune to Ren, who nods silently.

"I heard that..." Cobra just looked at them both over his shoulder. Jaune and Ren disguised their gaze and picked up the pace.

(Meanwhile.)

"Okay, we're done." Declares Yukino smiling at her work and that of the others, quick camping huts she found inside the storage.

"Strauss and I are finished here." Informed Izuku, standing next to Elfman, both cleaning the ground around the camp.

"You can call me Elfman." declares Elfman, patting Izuku on the shoulder.

"You know this is a waste of time, don't you?" asked Mei, quickly and dryly, as she fixed the heater.

"At least we'll keep our camp dust-free." Stretching out his arms, Izuku sat down in front of one of the huts he had set up.

"Look at him all straight and doing everything for me. Keep it up and I'll get you for myself." Yang, who was lying down, winked at Izuku, who just turned away while trying to wipe the smile and shaky look off his face.

"Can you stop flirting with him? It's disgusting and uncomfortable." Complained Emerald, as she cleaned and checked her weapons for possible damage.

"You'll look disgusting when I punch your face until all that's left is a burnt skull." Yang punched the air, still lying down. Emerald grumbled and moved further away from the huntress, even if the situation didn't allow Yang to advance on her, there was no guarantee that the blonde would interpret the situation.

"I don't know what happened between you and that girl, but it's best to let you sort it out when we leave the island." Yukino held the Libra key in her hand, ready to avoid any confrontation. Yang just grumbled and snorted, turning his back on the others.

"I believe it was that key that summoned that girl in the dance costume?" asked Yui, who was now wearing a red sweatshirt she'd picked up at the market. She was quick to change the subject, sensing the tension in the room. "I remember you saying something to the effect of 'Open the spirit gate' or something like that."

"You're very intelligent. She's a spirit of the twelve zodiacs, which I can summon based on our contract." Affirming her magic, Yukino put away her key and sat down in front of her tent.

"So... what's your world like, what did you do there before you were brought here? In fact... How old are you guys?" Yang asks from his corner with a curious look on his face.

"I guess... explaining our world is complicated." muttered Izuku, who looked at Yui, asking her to try and explain it in a way she thought best.

"Our world is like an old hero comic book," Yui shrugged, looking at the confused mages and hunters.

"In a nutshell, in our world, humanity in some way that we don't know for sure, ended up evolving in a very peculiar way, which is basically our powers, which we call quirks. The crime rate was increased by powers, then more people with powers defeated others with powers, and nowadays, being a hero is a profession. I think that's the best possible summary of our world." Izuku explained Yui's summary, trying to be as clear as possible. "Basically, 80% of the population have some kind of power."

"80%?!" Elfman slipped on his own feet, while Emerald hissed in surprise. "Even though magic exists in our world, only 10% are mages!" 

Elfman couldn't help imagining what his world would be like if 80% of humanity in his world had the ability to use magic.

"Your world must be incredible, with almost everyone having powers, the technology and health must be ridiculously good." Emerald found Izuku groaning in frustration.

"I wish it were like that," Izuku grumbled as the attention on his world became greater. "Technologically, we've come a long way, but our health isn't so perfect. There are mutant Quirks. As the name suggests, it's an irreversible mutation in the body, which sometimes harms the person's well-being, sometimes not. One example is a friend of mine called Tokoyami, who has a crow's head instead of a normal head."

"Sinister." Yang shuddered as he imagined himself with a non-human head.

"Then there's the factor of prejudice and the screwing up of mutant quirks with extreme changes and..."

"Enough about our world, I want to hear about yours." Yui pointed at Yang and Emerald. Izuku was talking too much, and she wanted to hear the others talk about their worlds too, maybe that would shed some light on why they were kidnapped to this island.

"Really? He was giving a good lecture... better than Professor Port's..." Yang couldn't help grumbling at the end as she remembered those awful classes she'd had at Beacon, but Izuku's little blush was totally worth it. She was enjoying teasing him.

"Our world is in a struggle for peace and..." Emerald began, before Yang snorted.

"It was in a struggle for peace." Yang interrupted, focusing his gaze on Emerald, who looked away from her.

"With creatures we call Grimm. Our humanity has almost been extinguished more than once because of them. But we always evolved and survived." Explained Emerald, before Yang fiddled with his mechanical arm and pulled out a shiny cartridge.

"Mostly thanks to this." Yang tossed it to Izuku, who caught it awkwardly and stared at the cartridge. "We call this Dust, it has several uses, but the main one is for combat. This is what we can do with it!" 

With that, Yang punched with his other arm, with Ember Cecilia firing an explosion, which disappeared as it had no impact.

"That's incredible!" Exclaims Izuku, opening the cartridge and taking the Dust in his hand, he found it strange that a small amount of this Dust had the weight of a handful of sand and the appearance of a simple red crystal. "Is this something natural or made by human hands? How did you discover it? Can it be used as an energy source? Are there other types besides this explosive?"

While asking restlessly, Izuku pulled out a notebook and pen that he had picked up at the store with his Black Whip, ready to start writing.

"I have no idea, all I know is that they're natural, there are mines of it and various types of Dust." Emerald replies while Yang shrugs his shoulders, not knowing either.

"Uh, that's sad, I wish I knew more about it." Frowning, Izuku let the notebook and pen fall into his tent.

"What exactly are these Grimms you talked about?" Yukino asked, curious as to what kind of creatures these were to have such a...peculiar name.

"Guess what? We have no idea!" Exclaimed Yang, smiling brightly as Yukino, Elfman and Izuku stumbled. "Even though they've been together with us for a long time, we don't have much information, whenever one dies, it's disintegrated, simple as that. The most we know is that they have a lot of variety, along with a strange connection to negative feelings or things like that." 

With that, Yang stood up and shrugged before walking towards Izuku.

"I never paid much attention in history class, so I can't say much more than that." Yang held out his hand to Izuku, who understood and returned the crystal to him.

"Your world seems chaotic." Yui's comment made Yang turn his face towards Emerald.

"Now it's much more chaotic than before." Yang commented, making Emerald roll her eyes

"Will you stop it?! I get it!" Complained Emerald, who threw her hands up and pointed at Elfman. "You said your world had magic, what exactly is it like?"

"It's not that different from what the boy over there said, in fact it could be a mixture of your worlds." Elfman put his hand to his head, looking for a good way to explain magic in his world.

"In our world, magic is something natural, all living beings have it, even the lifeless have magic." Yukino explained as she picked up the Libra key again. "We mages use our magic like normal workers, but most mages choose the path of joining a guild and living off commissions."

"There are different types of magic, like Natsu's, which is a magic for killing dragons." Elfman went on to count on his fingers how many dragon slayers he had met in his life. "It's ironic to stop and realize that Natsu's magic is a lost magic, but we've seen at least seven users of it."

"Why is it a lost magic?" Yang asked Elfman, as he seemed to sink into memories.

"Because it's a magic that has been lost in time, there are no records of how to learn it or details about it." Yukino remembered the times she had asked Sting how his magic worked. "All we know, from the slayers, is that it can only be taught by a dragon, or absorbed from a lacrima."

"Wait a minute, keychain!" Yang interrupted Yukino and put on a confused face, along with the others present. "Are you telling me that dragons taught humans how to kill dragons?"

"How much love for your own race, huh?" Emerald comments sarcastically.

Before any more words on the subject could be spoken, the group that had been picking up supplies arrived at the warehouse.

"Hey guys, we're back! Everything okay here?" Greets Ruby, dropping her groceries and jumping on Yang to give her a hug, who returned the gesture with the same enthusiasm.

"Everything's fine, just talking about our worlds." Yukino replied as she took a packet of snacks from Denki.

"Midobro! Model exam summary Aizawa-sensei!" Eijirou asks, tossing a can of juice to Izuku, who takes it and opens it.

"Magical world, magic in everything, they have dragons, dragons teach magic to kill other dragons!" Izuku pointed with his finger at Elfman.

"A confusing world, with highly advanced weaponry based on explosive crystals! And monsters are linked to negative feelings!" Izuku pointed at Yang, who winked and punched the air with both hands, forming a heart in Izuku's direction. "Stop it!"

"Nah, your reactions are the best I've ever seen, you can be sure your life is going to take a Yang." Joked Yang winking at Izuku, receiving a groan from most of the other hunters while the mages and heroes stared at her in confusion.

However, Yang could never have predicted the small laugh he heard coming from Izuku.

"I kind of liked the joke." Izuku admitted, until he felt a squeeze on his shoulders and was suddenly caught in a bear hug by Yang. Izuku didn't understand what had happened and couldn't help blushing when he felt the girl so close...

"YOU'RE A REAL ANGEL!" Yang shouted, pulling Izuku even tighter into her embrace.

"The impossible has happened..." Ruby was wide-eyed, her hands shaking in disbelief.

"I died in the explosion?" Jaune put his hands on his chest to check his heartbeat.

"Each to their own mood." Ren answered no one, and sat down in a random chair nearby.

"So this is the end of times...?" Nora asked the winds as she rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"...What?" Izuku's question went unanswered.

"...Okay, ignoring the love-struck couple, we should plan the search for those red buttons." Cobra declared, leaning against one of the storage boxes.

"Can't we do this another time? Because it's not even an hour since we went to fight those monsters. The 'fearless leader' even got blasted in the face." Natsu argued, eating a packet of beef jerky.

"He's not your fearless leader, he's our fearless leader!" Nora exclaims, pulling Ren to hug Jaune, but she soon notices Ruby sitting next to Yang and pulls the redhead too. "And her too!"

"It's just that I've forgotten his name." Natsu admitted, scratching the back of his head with a blank face. He saw Nora threaten with her eyes before pointing at her gun, making it clear that she was going to shoot him with her grenade launcher.

"My name is Jaune, Jaune Arc." Jaune declares, trying to ignore the fact that Nora was crushing him.

"So, now we need to rest, Jaune over there took a blast at close range, and I spent a lot of magic. We've got all day to do this anyway." Natsu commented before sitting down in one of the tents next to Juvia, who was taking off his hat.

"Juvia thinks we need to get ready to do this later today or tomorrow. Juvia would rather not face those monsters again." Juvia declared tiredly before taking one of the water bottles for herself.

"We have to remember something, the duck said that this wall is to protect us, if we faced all that with the wall, imagine without it." Ruby commented, pointing her finger at one of the windows at the front of the warehouse, overlooking the great wall in the distance.

"...Yes, personally I'd rather we rested today and picked up those buttons tomorrow." Jaune commented tiredly as he began to take off his armor. "But we might have a while to do this mission, so I don't know the best choice."

"I think it would be better if we rested for at least thirty minutes and then started looking for the buttons. Kero." Added Tsuyu, exhausted looking worriedly at Jaune, he seemed to have a red stain under his sweatshirt.

"I agree with her, we'd better get enough rest to start looking during the day, we've got plenty of time considering it was dawn a little while ago." Rogue's statement relaxed the others who wanted to rest a little more.

"Ah, good... then wake me up when we go to look for those buttons." Jaune asked before his vision darkened as he fell, the last thing he heard was someone shouting for him.

Chapter Text

As Jaune began to lose his balance and fall to the ground, Cobra quickly held him up before his former teammates got up in concern.

"Jaune! / Fearless leader!" Ren and Nora exclaimed, running over to the boy.

"Someone go find something to help, downstairs!" Izuku used his Black Whip suspended in the air like a bed to lay Jaune down.

"What happened to him?" Asked a worried Juvia as she approached, watching as Nora and Ren removed his armor and sweatshirt, which by the way had a childish drawing of a rabbit on it, but no one commented when they saw his abdomen.

He had a horrible burn, red and bloody with a purple patch around the wound. As soon as she saw the wound, Nora seemed to freeze at the sight of Jaune's blood before standing up and taking a few steps back.

"He's all messed up." Cobra stated the obvious while still watching everyone together. "Didn't anyone hear the little green guy over there tell someone to get something from the market to fix him up?" 

Cobra didn't have time to react before he felt his body jerked to the side as a trail of rose petals flew past him to the floor below.

"That's new..." muttered Cobra before looking at Jaune's state and pulling away, it wasn't a situation he cared about anyway.

"I-It doesn't make sense... His aura should have protected J-Jaune from any harm." Stuttered a startled Nora with wide eyes as she looked at her fainted friend while Ren searched for any other injuries on him.

"Does anyone here have any knowledge of first aid or anything like that?!" Elfman asks, starting to rummage through the warehouse for anything useful that might help now.

"Stand back." Yukino asks, kneeling down next to Jaune before looking at the wound before going to his head, opening his eye before picking up a small crystal to make it light up. "Okay... he's just unconscious, his lungs are weak, but he's still keeping a good rhythm. From the marks and swelling, he must have one or two broken ribs, but the burns are worrying, we need to take care of them first. For now, I need a first aid kit and some cold water."

Yukino saw Juvia jump to her side as she transformed her body into a large bubble of water that was positioned on Jaune's abdomen. The celestial mage was surprised by what had happened before she remembered who else was with them and turned to Juvia who was holding out her hand to Jaune.

"Juvia will take care of it, just let Juvia know when to stop." Juvia declared, receiving a nod from Yukino.

"Thanks Juvia, now we need some burn cream and some sterile bandages." declares Yukino with a thoughtful look before snapping her fingers. "Guys, there was a pharmacy down the road from this market, could one of you go there?"

Immediately after saying these words, the shower of roses reappeared, knocking down the entrance door to the warehouse and transforming into Ruby with several medical kits in her arms, even still holding a bag full of medicines with her teeth.

"I brought everything I could. Is that enough?" Ruby asks, accidentally dropping the bag before it is caught by one of Izuku's Black Whips.

"How convenient!" Yukino exclaimed, taking one of the kits from Ruby's hands.

While Yukino was working on Jaune, Nora was sitting against the wall staring paralyzed at her fearless leader being treated and for a second, she saw Pyrrha in his place. Team JNPR was a family and although they had become RNJR thanks to Ruby's entry, that didn't change the fact that they were a family.

Nora lived alone for a long time until she met Ren in the destruction of their city, Kuroyuri, after which they traveled all over, training, killing Grimm until they entered Beacon where they met Jaune and Pyrrha, making their family even bigger. They were happy and then Pyrrha died and none of them could help her.

It wasn't unusual for hunters to die, but Pyrrha wasn't just a fellow hunter to them, her death affected them all. Nora couldn't go through that again.

Ren came to her side and sat at the foot of the wall. She expected him to say something, a consolation, a philosophy, anything, but he was the same as her, recovering in the silence of his own world. Nora wasn't going to pull him out of his own recovery just to help hers, so all that was left was to do the same as him, to calm down in the silence.

"...That doesn't make sense, Blondie may not be the best of fighters, but his aura should protect him from something like that." Emerald commented with a frown, looking at the fainted Jaune.

"I'd even ask what aura is, but the situation isn't very good for that." Rogue's comment was low, only to Emerald, who nodded. More worried about how it might affect her

"As if you care about that, you're probably thinking of finishing what you started in Beacon." Declares Yang with narrowed eyes looking at Emerald.

"Yang..." Ren stared at the blonde, who ignored his warning and still remained focused on Emerald.

"No Ren, you know it's true, she helped kill Pyrrha! And now is the perfect chance for her to continue." Rosna Yang with her eyes turning red approached Emerald.

Emerald didn't hesitate, she immediately drew Thief's Respite and fired a warning shot close to Yang's body, who ignored the warning and lunged forward with her fist ready to go in with a punch, with Ember Cecilia ready to fire. However, before the fight could continue, Yang was caught by several branches of Black Whip holding her down while Rogue appeared next to Emerald, lowering her weapon.

The thief swore she could hear Thief's Respite cracking inside with Rogue's grip.

"Enough! This is no time for infighting, whether we like it or not, we're stuck on an island alone full of monsters. We mustn't fight amongst ourselves now, not when one of us is injured." Rogue declares, looking at both Yang and Emerald.

The first to give in was Emerald, who slowly lowered her gun before putting it back in its holster. After that, Rogue turned to Yang and frowned seeing that she was still staring at Emerald, but her lilac eyes were now red with only Izuku holding her.

"Yang, please calm down, we can't fight now, like Cheney-san said." Begs Izuku sweating a little, feeling the strain of using the Black Whip too much affecting his body.

"...Okay." Yang mumbles after calming down, deactivating his semblance. 

After that, everyone was silent for a few seconds with only Yukino and Juvia tending to Jaune's wound.

"This isn't going to work." Cobra declared, suddenly standing up and putting his hands in his pockets, making everyone stare at him. "Look, I'll be honest, I hate most of you and I can't see how I could stay in this group."

"And you think you're going to get any better on your own by any chance?" Asked Elfman, who turned to Cobra.

"I think at least I won't have to watch my back and every word I say if I'm alone." Cobra rebutted without bothering with the question. "Didn't you just see that the blonde almost killed the green one over there? It's like that all the time here. I've already survived the tower of paradise, this island can't be that difficult."

"And he's just put a curse on us!" Denki exclaims, shivering as a chill runs down his spine.

"This isn't the time to say that, man..." Eijirou said quietly next to Denki, who sighed softly.

"Anyway, that was just a warning of what I'm going to do. If you want to stay in this group, that's up to you, but don't count on me." Cobra declares before starting to gather up the few things he's got, storing them in a backpack.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you off that easy?" asks Natsu, who stares at Cobra as his hand begins to inflame. "I don't know if you remember, but you're still a criminal, and I'm not going to let you off the hook."

"True, but let me tell you something Salamandra, here I'm not and yet who would I kill? There's only us here, and my main concern isn't with you." 

"How about myself?" Natsu's answer came with a small flaming aura forming around him. "My main concern now is going to be how long it takes me to break your face and lock you up with us."

"This is getting intense..." Mei murmured next to Yui, who nodded.

"Yes."

"...Salamander, are you an idiot? you still don't even know where you are or have any supplies, plus you have an injured person, how do you plan to keep a prisoner?" Cobra asks incredulously, looking at the fire dragon slayer before shaking his head. "Believe it or not, I'm doing you a favor by leaving."

"Let him go Natsu." Yukino's words turned Natsu's wild gaze in her direction. "We can deal with him later. You know that." 

"You heard her, Salamander, I'll see you around." Cobra declared before leaving the warehouse they were in. Unbeknownst to him, Emerald also stared at his back before frowning, maybe she should leave too.

Her situation was similar to his, most of her... colleagues hated her and would rather kill her now or lock her up, the best chances for her would be out there, alone.

"He's right, we can't stay in this group." Emerald declares with a sigh before doing the same thing as Cobra, grabbing her few belongings and supplies to try her luck outside.

"What?" asks Rogue, looking uneasy at the girl's decision. For some reason, he had expected something like this after her first interaction with the others in her wagon.

"Look, you get on well with each other, I don't, it happens." Emerald explained softly to the boy, after all, he was one of the few who treated her in a friendlier way, so she would treat him the same way. 

With that, she stood up with a backpack on her back before leaving the warehouse as well.

"Um...Yukino." Rogue felt her guildmate's gaze on her. "Can you manage in this group with them or on your own?"

Upon hearing her guildmate's question, Yukino sighed, she wasn't irritated by the question, in fact she had been expecting it. Despite Rogue's reputation for having a cold heart and not caring about almost anyone, this was the furthest thing from the truth, he had a bad habit of trying to see the best side of everyone, trying first to understand his opponents' motivations before confronting them. 

Normally this wasn't a problem when Rogue was with Sting, he was his partner and knew how to deal with Rogue's attitude. But ever since the big magic games in which they had faced Rogue's evil counterpart, he had seemed more energetic in his mania for trying to help people with regrets. 

Yukino was sure that this was why Rogue had approached Emerald, he had noticed the 'darkness' in the girl, as well as something that could redeem her. Taking a quick glance at Natsu and the other Fairy Tail members, Yukino knew he was in good hands.

"You can go, Mr. Rogue, I'll be fine with Mr. Natsu and the others." Yukino assured his friend, smiling.

Rogue didn't say anything, just nodded and picked up his supplies to throw into a random bag found in the storeroom, then disappeared into the shadows.

(Outside the market.)

Cobra let out a sigh as he looked around the deserted city street, focusing his magic on his ears to try and see if it was really empty, but he soon turned to see Emerald walking up to him with a backpack on her back. 

"You're the second to leave the group... I must say I'm not surprised." Cobra comments, looking at the girl who just narrows her eyes at him.

"I must say the same about you." Rebuts Emerald, not trusting the wizard in front of her.

Before Cobra could retaliate with a comment, his expression quickly changed to surprise as he looked at something behind the girl. 

"Now that's a surprise." Cobra comments, making Emerald turn to see Rogue behind her holding a backpack as well. "Rogue Cheney, the black dragon of Sabertooth, are you abandoning the group too? And you even left your guildmate with them?"

"What morals do you have to say that, Cobra?" Rogue snapped back. Cobra hissed.

"Fair enough." Cobra admitted, keeping his hands in his pockets. "Where are you going anyway?"

"...I haven't decided yet, I was planning to look around the city before deciding, and you?" Emerald asks, causing Cobra to nod. 

"While we were in the forest, I realized that there were some caves nearby. I intend to use one of them as a shelter." Cobra answered honestly, to the surprise of Rogue and Emerald.

"You really are a Cobra, you'll even take shelter in the places of one." Emerald jokes, making fun of the poisonous wizard's choice of location.

"Very funny, huh?" Cobra felt his hand starting to turn, but he regained his composure and normalized his hand. "Now that I've told you mine, I think it's only fair that you also tell me what you're each going to do."

"...I'm just going to accompany you." Rogue declares, startling Emerald who turns to face him in surprise. "Two minds think better than one."

"I'd play with your face, but I'll keep quiet." Cobra turned his back and started walking, while giving a backwards peace sign. "Don't attack me, and I won't attack you. Goodbye." 

"...Seems fair enough." Grumbles Emerald before turning and starting to walk away, with Rogue following. "Why did you want to follow me?"

"Just because of the similarities from earlier." Rogue replied. Emerald blinked twice and led the way again.

"You're the dumbest guy I've ever met." Emerald commented, but her tone didn't match what had been said, it sounded lighter.

"Maybe." Rogue shrugged and started looking at the functions of his Q-clock.

Unbeknownst to them, the whole conversation was being watched by a figure on top of the market roof, the figure glanced at Cobra and the pair walking away before picking up a bubble blower.

"HA HA HA!" With that, soap bubbles began to fly.

Suddenly, Rogue's eyes widened and he turned completely alert with shadows covering his fists. He quickly looked around, frightened for any enemy, but only saw the empty street.

"Emerald, I think we should hurry... just in case." Rogue advised, receiving a nod from Emerald.

Rogue didn't know what had happened, but out of nowhere all her magical senses screamed the same thing: danger.

(Scene break, some time later.)

The atmosphere in the warehouse was still strange... in fact, it was more bizarre and uncomfortable than strange. Even though an hour had passed, a very uncomfortable silence remained as Yukino tended to Jaune's wounds.

"So..." Eijiro began before falling silent, he had no idea how to break the ice at that moment. "That's not manly at all!"

"Hold still there shark, I'm looking at this engineering marvel in the shape of a scythe!" Mei exclaimed as she looked at Crescent Rose lying on the floor, she had taken the weapon from Ruby who was sleeping against Nora.

"Hey!" Yang picked up the weapon from the floor and put it away from the AU student. "I don't remember my sister letting you get your hands on that."

While all this was going on, Izuku was sitting analyzing his Q-clock in a corner with the blanket covering it. The boy pressed the buttons with a slight frown before turning on the holographic screen with the map, which made him notice that he could see a dot on his map that had his face on it, and that there were now more regions showing.

"So, we can't see each other's location, but if we discover new areas they'll be added to everyone's map..." Izuku murmured, zooming in on the city, seeing that now it wasn't just the market street that was showing up, the whole city was on display and it was smaller than he had expected, the size of a neighborhood at most.

"Hey, can you take care of that? You seem to be the only one who can make her obey anything." Yang asked as he tossed Crescent Rose back into her compact mode on Izuku's lap, with Black Whip holding the weapon unconsciously.

"Ah, of course Yang." Izuku nodded distractedly as he continued to analyze the holographic screen of his map.

"What are you doing on the map? I don't see anything much in this area." Yang questioned as he sat down next to the boy.

"It's gotten bigger, we only explored this street from the market to the pharmacy, but now the whole city appears." Izuku explained, still unaware of the girl's proximity. "I think the map updates as we explore, the more we explore the more areas we have on the map."

"I see, so it's like an open-world RPG. Like the Smallsoft ones, right?" Yang rested his chin on Izuku's shoulder, resting his head there as he listened to the heroic student's explanation.

"Yes, exactly..." Izuku nods before the map shrinks and another screen appears showing an image of him with a few slots next to him showing each piece of clothing he was wearing and several empty squares underneath. "Yeah, like an open-world RPG and... wait, Smallsoft?"

At that moment Izuku turned to Yang and his eyes went wide. She was practically leaning against him with only a few centimeters between them.

"Oh, an inventory... I thought it was small." Yang opened his own Q-Clock and saw the same function, with a square occupying a numerical amount of Dust. "Any other functions?"

"I-I..." Izuku stuttered, cursing his own shyness. He had gotten used to talking to girls after joining the AU, but he never got along when it got on a more physical and intimate level.

<Q-Clock detected. Yang Xiao Long / Izuku Midoriya, would you like to add Izuku Midoriya / Yang Xiao Long to your contact list?>

"Huh?" asked Izuku in confusion, turning to his Q-Clock, which now had Yang's image on it with a green '+' and a red 'x' symbol, as if they were two buttons.

"Contact list is it?" Yang looked at the message on Izuku's Q-Clock before pressing the '+' instead, earning an incredulous look from him and a blush from the boy, at which point she pressed the same button on her own Q-clock. Getting what she wanted, Izuku's Q-Clock now displayed a list, with Yang at the top while the rest remained empty. "Now let's see what it shows about me."

Yang pressed on her icon in Izuku's Q-Clock list, soon showing a 3x4 photo of herself and a full front and back avatar of herself, with a brief description of her.

<Name: Yang Xiao Long | 18 years old | Birthday: July 28th | Height: 5'8 | Occupation: Huntress | Weapon: Ember Cecilia |>

< A cheerful, energetic and bright young woman. A direct and confident person. A fighter in its purest definition. Her arm is still missing. >

"Okay... that's a bit bizarre." Yang had a slight tremble in her voice as she looked at his description. She could see his description, but there was more going on down the page. About 20 more lines from what she could see at least.

"I-I, can I have my arm back?" asked Izuku, stuttering and blushing before Yang pulled him to himself, holding him in a hug while looking at his screen.

"No." Yang denied as she went back to reading, putting her chin back on his shoulder and practically brushing her cheek against his.

Izuku looked startled at the girl before looking around for anyone who could help him before noticing Yui staring at him with an inexpressive look.

"No." Was all the girl said before lying down in her sleeping bag.

Izuku then turned to Eijirou, who was talking to Elfman, until he looked at Izuku and understood the request with his eyes...and he started waving his hands. Izuku knew what this was, a form of communication that Mina and Kirishima had done to ace Aizawa's tests, and that somehow even the teacher didn't know, but apparently Izuku had learned. Fortunately, Eijiro understood the message.

'First of all, I'm proud of you, Midobro. The hands moved slowly, with Eijirou flashing a bright smile. 'This will help your shyness with women!' 

Izuku gestured quickly with his only free hand.

'Help me, Kirishima, please!

'No.'

Yang just watched the exchange of gestures without understanding anything, and turned to the Q-Clock of the boy trapped in his arms, continuing to read his own description, after losing hope, Izuku turned his gaze to the holographic screen and widened his eyes after a few seconds, something that was copied by Yang.

"...I take that back, that's not bizarre, it's scary." Yang commented as Izuku paled.

There in front of them were Yang's measurements. Izuku felt sick and ashamed to see the measurements and couldn't take his eyes off the photo screen.

Just then, everyone else whistled, showing a new screen.

<Warning: An unintended function has been noticed on the Q-Clock device, all devices have been updated. Unfortunately, devices that have already used the function have continued to use it only on contacts that have already been used. Thank you for your understanding.> 

Izuku felt his face contort into a nervous smile, sweat pouring down his face when he saw Yang open his contact list and look up his measurements with eyes shining like stars.

"If you're going to do this, do it when I'm not looking!" Izuku exclaimed, using the black whip to cover Yang's screen.

"Let me see this treasure!" Yang exclaimed as he tried to remove the branches of the Black Whip from his screen.

While this was happening, Ren watched the exchange between the two with an incredulous expression. 

"I...I'm not going to comment on that." Ren muttered as he tried to make his mind believe that what Yang was doing was a way of distracting himself from what had happened to Jaune.

Just then, Nora, who was still asleep, slipped one of her arms around Ren's neck before pulling him to her, doing the same thing with Ruby.

"...I have other problems to deal with now." Ren reflected, trying to breathe.

(Meanwhile with Cobra)

Cobra was already far from the small town, running in no certain direction, just exploring the island as much as he could. He wasn't sure how long he would stay in this place, so he needed to find out as much as he could. He had already understood the main function of the Q-Clock, the map, the further he walked, the more was recorded, and that's what he was doing now.

"This is getting repetitive..." complained Cobra, who had stopped under a tree while picking an apple off the branch and eating it. "There's no way this is just a normal island, these monsters don't make any sense."

Cobra had passed a large tree some time ago, he could see the zombies and skeletons there, in the shadows as they didn't advance on him. He had already understood that it was because of the sun, but the spiders weren't affected like them, and yet they were just ignoring him.

"Tks, the more I think, the less I understand this place!" Cobra exclaimed as he threw down the rest of his apple and began to run wildly again.

The minutes had become hours, and those hours had turned the sky orange in a beautiful and dangerous sunset. Cobra had to find shelter, and fast. He could easily deal with the monsters, but the quantity was worrying, and he didn't want to have to fight a giant mass of monsters.

"Damn, I'm running out of time." Cobra complained as he could already hear the grunts of monsters beginning to emerge from a cave he passed by.

Cobra was so focused on the sounds around him that he barely noticed when he was getting close to what looked like a community, which he had only noticed when the giant statue blocked out the sun in front of him. To Cobra's eyes, it looked like a slum built around a major tourist attraction, which was precisely the statue of a man with both arms outstretched. His Q-Clock had a notification.

<Congratulations. You have just arrived at the coordinates 3167, 1685, 83, finding Morro do Xerê, one of the public locations on Quesadilla Island, here you are in a neutral region, safe from monsters and other residents.>

"... Better than nothing." Grumbles Cobra before entering the place, seeing the many empty houses and stores. "It doesn't change yet, it's very strange, but on the bright side, I have a place to stay today."

Cobra walked up the hill, realizing that it really was a slum, but there was something strange about the buildings, they seemed to be watching him. He didn't understand his feeling of nervousness about the place he had discovered, but he just went in search of some house so that he could stop and see how his Q-Clock worked completely, he wanted to see all its functions, and this was a good time for that.

"I hope this has more useful things besides the map..." Cobra commented as he passed through a door at the highest point of the hill and closed the door.

(With Emerald and Rogue.)

"Shit, it's getting dark... We need to find somewhere to shelter." Grumbles Emerald as she runs with Rogue across the plains, next to the wall and the train station.

"At this rate we might not be able to find..." Rogue began, before stopping suddenly, her eyes widening as they took on a purple hue.

Noticing that Rogue had stopped, Emerald stopped running to stare at him in disbelief until she realized how different his eyes were, flashing with the purple hue. Slowly she approached him, weapons in hand in case any monsters appeared. 

"Rogue? Are you all right?" Emerald asked worriedly, making his eyes return to normal before he faced her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Come on, there's a shelter nearby." Rogue declares

"What's it like?" Emerald asks, before seeing Rogue running in a different direction, and hurriedly chasing after him. "Hey! Wait a minute! Where are we going?"

"Trust me, he told me we were close." Assured Rogue as he climbed a hill and stopped as Emerald caught up with him.

"Him who?!" Emerald asked angrily when she reached Rogue's side. In response, he raised his arm and pointed in front of them.

With that, Emerald turned to the place her colleague had pointed to and her eyes widened at what she saw. A white tower made of marble with a shiny purple crystal in the middle of it, holding a second tower floating on top of it, and surrounding the tower was a spiral statue of a black dragon with the body of a serpent. The tower was in the middle of the water with a small bridge connecting it to the island.

"What the hell is that?" Whispers Emerald, stunned by what she sees.

"A shelter." Rogue replied as he climbed down the column and approached the tower, followed by Emerald.

The two quickly reached the bridge, when they noticed the monsters appearing around them, some of which they didn't know either. This new creature was humanoid, with long, slender limbs, equally long fingers and a face with only purple eyes. These monsters carry blocks of earth surrounded by a purple aura. 

"What the hell? There's more of those things!" Exclaims Emerald in surprise, about to shoot, when Rogue suddenly grabs her arm and fires.

For a second, Emerald couldn't see anything as she felt the icy wind, but there was a touch of Rogue's shadows, which seemed to have a comfortable warmth with all the cold around. Suddenly her vision returned and Emerald saw that Rogue and she were now on the bridge, with the monsters ignoring them, as if they couldn't see them.

"...What was that?" Emerald asked, turning to Rogue who looked relieved. "You know what, I don't care, just don't do that again..." Emerald still felt chilled from the past sensation.

"Okay." Rogue nods quickly, still not looking at Emerald. 

"Now... what the fuck is this place?" Emerald asks, seeing the top tower levitating. "Maybe that's like a Dust crystal?"

Emerald wondered, seeing that the crystal wasn't even connected to the top of the tower. She wasn't going to question it.

Just then, the two Q-clocks beeped, causing Emerald to raise hers to see a new screen appear.

< Congratulations. You have just arrived at the coordinates 3127, 2412, 108, finding The Big D Tower, one of the public locations on Quesadilla Island, here you are in a neutral region, safe from monsters and other residents.>

"From other residents? That's good to know..." Emerald reflects as she reads the screen of her Q-Clock before pressing a few buttons with a frown. "Jeez, you can't show me any more information about this place, can you?"

< This is the dragon tower. A temple built in honor of a powerful dragon who once lived on the island and, after his death, the old inhabitants created this place using the crystal that contained his soul to create a refuge from the monsters. >

"Oh, yes." remarked Emerald, who gently turned to Rogue, who still wasn't looking at her, before she started towards the entrance.

However, she soon stopped halfway across the bridge before turning around to see Rogue standing there.

"What are you doing there? Let's get inside soon." Emerald called impatiently.

"...I can't." growled Rogue as he turned once more to look at the countless monsters outside the bridge. His fists were clenched as he trembled, the shadows around him began to sway closer to the boy, but he remained still.

Emerald didn't know what was going on, let alone what to do in this situation, all she could do was stand back and hope that whatever was happening to Rogue didn't affect her.

(Scene break, the next day.)

Jaune let out a small groan as he woke up, opening his eyes slowly before getting up with difficulty. Once seated, he felt a burning in his stomach, causing him to look down and open his eyes wide when he saw himself covered in bandages. After that, Jaune stood up and grabbed a black shirt from beside him. Looking around, he realized that he was alone too.

"What? Ruby? Ren? Nora? Where are you?" Calls Jaune as he gets up, looking for Crocea Mors.

"Ah, you're awake, what a relief." Yukino declares, approaching Jaune with a relieved sigh.

"Ah yes... Yukino right?" Jaune asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Yukino. "Where are the others and what happened yesterday? I just remember blacking out."

Upon hearing this, Yukino approached him, placing her hand on his forehead, before Jaune suddenly pulled away, glaring at her.

"Why did you do that!?" Jaune demanded, startled.

"I was checking to see if your fever had gone down, you look much better than yesterday... something that honestly surprised me, your healing was faster than expected." Explained Yukino, looking pleased with what she'd seen, but still looking confused. "Anyway, everyone's across the street, it looks like there's a restaurant there."

Jaune nodded distractedly before looking at the makeshift camp and turning to Yukino. 

"Where's my stuff?"

(Some time later, in the restaurant.)

"What's wrong with you?!" Denki shouted as he watched Natsu and Elfman devour everything they could in a matter of seconds.

"...And I thought Yang ate a lot." Ruby commented, watching the two eat with a startled and disgusted expression at the way the two devoured everything.

"Hey!" Yang complained, but she was ignored.

"Hey! Give it a rest! We literally haven't eaten anything since we arrived on the island. We need to replenish our strength!" Natsu informed while eating a whole chicken in a few bites.

Elfman tried to speak, but his mouth was too full for his words to be anything more than unrecognizable sounds.

"So manly..." Eijiro whispered, impressed by what he saw, before a determined expression appeared on his face as he began to grab more food for himself. "I won't be left behind!"

"Not even Fat Gun eats so much in so little time..." Izuku muttered as he stared at the pile of empty plates next to the two mages. He imagined himself eating all that... and felt sick just imagining it.

"Well... Natsu has the stomach of a dragon, so he's going to eat a lot. Elfman, on the other hand, is literally several monsters mixed into one being. They've both always eaten a lot in the guild." Juvia said, remembering the eating competitions that the Dragon Slayers and Elfman always took part in, humiliating all the other competitors.

"That doesn't justify the manners. Kero." Asui declared as he finished his meal.

Despite the chatter and good humor around the table, Nora and Ren were the only ones who didn't seem excited although the boy managed to hide it better as he ate his meal, but Nora was hunched over her food.

"He'll be fine Nora, Jaune is... Jaune is stubborn." Ren declared calmly, making the girl stare at him.

"Pyrrha was too..."

The two were quiet after that, something Ruby noticed and frowned at, not knowing what to do to help them.

"Okay, next!" Natsu laughed as he finished another plate and threw it onto the pile next to him, but he threw it harder than he should have, and it ended up spinning as it flew.

It's in these moments that we see that fate has its favorites and its underdogs.

"They're in that ... AH!" Yukino explains to Jaune who opened the door and only had time to duck, pulling the mage with him as the plate flew over their heads.

"Sorry!" Shouted Natsu as everyone stopped eating and turned to the pair in the doorway. "Ah, he's awake!"

"FEARLESS LEADER! / JAUNE!" exclaimed Nora and Ruby before the two of them caught Jaune in a hug, causing him to cry out in surprise before falling to the ground taking the two of them with him.

"Hey, hey, let's take it easy. He's just woken up, give him a break." Yang ordered as he grabbed Ruby and lifted her up by her hood. This action was repeated by Ren, who held Nora by the shoulders as he lifted her off Jaune, who groaned in pain at the sudden impact.

"I'm fine, just catching my breath." Jaune declared, getting up with Yukino helping him. 

With that, he looked around the table to see everyone who was there and quickly realized that not everyone was there.

"Where are the others? Rogue, Cobra, Emerald, I remember they were with us before we blacked out." Jaune commented, looking around the restaurant.

"They left a few hours ago." Yang replied, throwing Jaune a piece of meat. "The little pink guy over there even tried to keep the rattlesnake worshipper, but he ended up putting his foot in it anyway."

"Are you seriously not going to talk about your problem with Emerald?" Ren raised an eyebrow in doubt.

"Unnecessary."

"Emerald left?" Jaune asked with wide eyes, looking at Yang. "The girl capable of creating illusions and an assassin left? She left the group to plan anything that could kill us, did she?"

"If it's any consolation, your friend over there tried to kill her...even though she almost got shot." Mei commented loosely, more focused on the functions of her Q-Clock.

"..." Jaune remained quiet before sighing. "It doesn't matter now, let's finish our meal and look for those buttons."

"Before I forget..." Nora turned her body, picked up her Magnhild and slammed it in her sledgehammer mode into Natsu's feet. "That's for almost hitting our fearless leader with a plate."

Natsu glared at her, then looked down at his feet, following this movement twice more, before drawing in air, and roaring.

"AAAAH!" Natsu felt her toes being crushed, and screamed in pain and anger, while a spit of fire involuntarily came out in the midst of the scream.

"Hm." Murmured Yui, observing the interaction while eating a salad.

(Meanwhile, with Cobra)

Cobra didn't understand why, but a feeling of satisfaction rose in his chest that forced him to smile. At the same time, he got up from the bench he had been sleeping on. When he arrived in 'Morro do Xêre', Cobra looked for the best house until he found 'Boi Gordo's' boteco, where he ended up sleeping after drinking a few bottles.

"Damn... I was hoping this was a crazy dream." Grumbles Cobra as he walks into the bar looking for some snacks in addition to the bottles of booze. 

As he searched, he turned his attention to the Q-clock with a frown, he knew he would have to look for those red buttons.

But Cobra sensed something, not only sensed it, but also heard it. Quickly, he turned around and roared the most powerful poison he could create, only to destroy the walls of the "fat ox" and his target remained intact. And Cobra didn't expect his target to be...a bear with a human body? He didn't know how to describe it in front of him. It seemed like a fantasy, but Cobra knew it wasn't, and it was making him slightly nervous, only made worse by the sound coming from the neck of the ‘bear’ in front of him

"HA HA HA. HA HA HA." A metallic voice echoed as the bear stared at him. "Good morning, what are you doing?"

(Back to the restaurant)

Now the situation was something Juvia couldn't help but smile about, with Elfman holding Natsu back to prevent him from attacking Nora, while she stood behind Ren, sticking out her tongue at the Fire Mage.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Natsu shouted as he let fire out of his mouth. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"Calm down, Natsu, you've taken worse blows in guild fights!" Juvia tries to calm down the dragon slayer, who glares at her with an annoyed scowl before pointing at Nora.

"SHE ATTACKED ME WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER!" Natsu exclaimed angrily, trying to free himself to attack Nora, who continued to mock him, hiding behind Ren.

"You've already taken one... actually several sword blows from Erza, from Erza." Retorts the rain mage, with an inexpressive face.

"Oh... that's true." Natsu agreed, his eyes widening and nodding as he calmed down.

"...Nora, stop antagonizing him, we need to be ready to look for the buttons." Declared Jaune after finishing his meal as he stood up, causing Ruby to frown at him.

"Jaune, are you sure you're well enough to go on this quest? You haven't healed yet." Ruby asks, concerned for her friend, making him turn to her with a smile.

"I'm fine Ruby, don't worry, okay?" Reassures Jaune, even though hardly anyone in the group seems to believe him. "The less time we take, the quicker we can figure out what to do next."

Suddenly, Jaune was pulled by Natsu, who put him over his shoulder before pointing to the door.

"Then let's go, fearless leader!" Natsu exclaimed, smiling at Nora with the nickname she had created for Jaune. The look Nora sent Natsu made his smile contort into a sneer.

"Great, looks like I've become the little princess." Jaune thought, sighing, being carried by Natsu before his friends followed.

"...They're pretty lively, don't you think? Kero" comments Tsuyu with her finger on her chin, looking at Yui who just nods.

"It's like seeing the 1-A students, only without all the scandalous nature of some of them." Yui comments calmly, sipping a glass of water. 

(Scene break, in the Dragon Tower.)

Emerald let out a yawn as she moved away from the wall she used as a sleeping support, enjoying the smell of the salt water. One of the few things she could praise about the tower was how pleasant the air was thanks to the surrounding ocean, completely different from the deserts she was used to.

It was still scary that she was in another world with so many people out to kill her. The good thing was that she wasn't alone in this, Cobra didn't seem to get along with the other people in her dimension either, but Rogue for some reason wanted to accompany her, which she was really grateful for, without him she would never have found this temple.

At least Emerald wouldn't have to deal with Salem or Mercury.

"How come these situations always happen around me?" A heavy sigh came out of Emerald as she walked out of the temple, heading towards Rogue who was watching a few monsters hiding under some trees in the distance. "Why do they just burn off the sunlight? That doesn't make any sense."

"I think the better question is how there are zombies on this island." Rogue's question wasn't directed at anyone, more like a question to the wind than anything else.

Emerald didn't like the idea that the wizard could be such a stealthy person even in daylight, it was scary to see someone who could literally walk into the shadows be so silent, even out of them. But she was grateful that he was with her, it is better to have such a person as an ally than an enemy.

"I guess that's one question I don't want to know, even if the answer was right in front of me." Emerald checked her Q-Clock, looking at the time and again seeing Rogue's description on the holographic screen. While they were resting in the tower, Emerald discovered the contact list function and added Rogue...the descriptions were quite strange.

< Rogue Cheney - A shadow wizard from the Kingdom of Fiore. Very reserved, but sociable to a certain extent. His future worries him a lot. >

< For more information on his contact, become close to him and new information will be added as time goes by. >

"...I'm not a Shadow Mage, I'm a Shadow Dragon Slayer." Mumbles Rogue, having heard the description of Emerald's Q-Clock.

"And your element is..." Emerald's answer only left Rogue quiet, understanding what she was getting at. "I think it's even better this way, just brief, non-committal information."

"That's not to say you're right, but you're right, brief information is better than nothing sometimes." Rogue agreed, before looking at the map on her Q-Clock, seeing the part that had already been explored before noticing something, an area with a different coloring. "What's that?"

"What?" asks Emerald, turning off her Q-Clock before walking over to Rogue and looking at his map.

"We have a search area, see? It's here in yellow." Explains Rogue pointing to a yellow circle taking up part of the map and a part outside of it, on the other side of the wall.

"Okay... any idea how we can get to the other side?" Emerald crossed her arms as she looked at the map.

"If it was night, I could use the shadows to get to the top of the wall and then get down there... but right now, I can only think of those plants on the wall, we could use them to climb." Rogue comments, looking at the wall.

"Anything to avoid having to face a horde of monsters." Emerald checked how much dust she still had in her compartment, but her biggest concern was her weapons, she wasn't sure if they would last another horde of those with her and Rogue together.

"No, no ideas." Rogue declared with a scowl as her eyes flashed purple again. "...Wait, I've got one now, but it's going to be bumpy."

"Like I said. Anything to avoid the monsters." Emerald shrugged, waiting for the explanation.

"...In that case, I need you to hold me steady." Rogue declared, turning to Emerald.

"...Okay?" Emerald forced herself to ignore the lack of explanation, but jumped on Rogue's back and held him firmly, just as he had said before. "Now what?"

"Are you sure you're holding on tight? The chance of you releasing me through the turbulence could be great and even fatal." Rogue declared before looking at the wall. 

"Hm..." Emerald took Thief's Respite and used its chains to bind Rogue around his waist. "Satisfied now?"

"Okay, now I hope you don't miss your target." Rogue declared as he built up energy before the two of them dissolved into shadows.

Emerald felt cold amidst the infinite darkness she saw while she was with Rogue, it was cold, empty, and strangely cozy, but above all, desperate and haunting. It was as if she were drowning endlessly in a sea that didn't exist. And a few seconds later, the darkness ended.

Now that the darkness was gone, she looked around, and saw that they were high up, very high up, it was the top of the wall. She quickly and desperately detached herself from Rogue, her body trembling and her skin pale, even though she had done this before, Emerald had only one thought about traveling in the shadows.

That she hated it endlessly.

"Don't ever do that again..." Emerald turned her frightened face to Rogue, who turned and approached her. At that moment, she fell to her knees on the floor before vomiting.

Seeing this, the purplish tones in Rogue's eyes disappeared as he approached Emerald, holding her and rubbing her back.

(Scene break.)

"If I've understood this area of interest correctly, the buttons must be somewhere in this region." Declares Izuku as soon as the whole group has arrived in front of the wall.

Jaune nodded at Izuku's words, walking in front of the group to look at the vines attached to the wall before looking up, noticing something near the top of the wall. It was like a small stone platform.

"Guys, I think I've found one of the buttons." Jaune declared in surprise, causing the others to look up too.

At that moment, Mei narrowed her eyes using her quirk to get a better view of what they were looking at.

"Yes, it's definitely one of the red buttons, but... how do we get there?" Mei declared with a frown, turning to the others. "Nobody here can get there, can they?"

"I can." Announces Natsu as he stares at the button with his arms crossed. "Probably."

"Okay... that's good, really good, but there were two buttons, where's the other one?" Jaune asks with a scowl, making the others look around, searching for it.

"It's on the other side of the wall." 

When they heard the new voice, they all turned to Cobra who had just arrived, but he had a sadistic, cruel smile on his face that reminded Natsu of when they had fought before.

"...How do you know that?" Izuku asked, placing himself in front of Mei, which Yang noticed and also got into combat position.

"Because I got it." Cobra commented, walking towards the wall, passing through everyone while holding up a folded map between his fingers. "And it looks like we're not the first people to try and find these buttons, I found this while exploring yesterday, it looks like there's some kind of passage that leads inside the wall."

"...What's the trick?" asked Izuku, for some reason his head was throbbing, as if warning him not to trust Cobra.

"Climb and hope you don't fall straight to the ground." Cobra replied dryly and indifferently, giving a simple shrug.

Izuku still seemed bothered by something, but he didn't press the issue any further; they needed to find out more about these buttons and get to them. Even if the person offering help was someone who looked like a villain.

"Who's going to the other side?" Natsu directed his question to no one in particular.

"...I'm going and I think Eijiro should come along." Jaune declared, glancing at the wall before turning back to Cobra. "Most of us should stay here just in case, but does anyone else want to come with us?"

"I want to go too!" Nora raised her hand frantically.

"No, Nora, you're staying here." Jaune declared seriously, crossing his arms.

"I disrespect your authority!" Nora made an x sign with her arms as Jaune sighed.

Jaune quickly takes Nora by the arm and walks away with her before stopping and looking at the others, making sure they are well away from each other.

"Nora, I need you and Ren here." Jaune declares calmly, keeping an eye on Cobra and the others in the group. "I only trust you two completely right now, I need you to stay here with Yang and Ruby, as well as protecting the others, if it really is a trap by Cobra, we'll need the heavyweights here, I'll take Eijiro who is a walking shield just in case. Remember what the mages said? Cobra is a criminal and a murderer, we need to act with our heads now."

"...I really don't have a choice, do I?" Nora grumbled as she glanced at the great wall. "All right, I'll stay here...even though I don't think I need to."

"Thanks Nora." Jaune thanked her before the two returned to the rest of the group. "So... shall we go?"

(Scene break.)

"Wow... that was pretty fast, actually." Natsu commented, as he landed on a small platform on the wall, he had just arrived there using only his fire to propel himself there.

"Please... let us know when you're doing this again!" Eijirou grumbled with dizziness and body shock at the rapid impact of Natsu's flight, who just held on to him, along with Jaune.

"I think I'm getting used to it..." Jaune let his thoughts slip from his mind as he released Natsu's grip and stood up.

"Maybe I won't get used to it." Eijirou admitted as he tidied his hair. 

Cobra looked at them briefly before opening the door that led to a large corridor that seemed to go from one corner of the wall to the other and smiled as he noticed another door on the other side, with that he turned to the three who had accompanied him.

"Yes, thank you for your help." With that, Cobra kicked Eijiro pushing him off the platform before turning to Natsu and Jaune. "Now, Salamander you can choose to fight me or take the boy, you don't think he'll survive the fall."

"I'M ALIVE!" Eijirou's sudden shout drew the attention of the group, who now saw him suspended in the air by the tendrils of Izuku, who was climbing the wall using more branches to propel himself upwards.

"...You've got to be kidding me." Cobra mutters, looking directly at the button, which makes Jaune's eyes widen.

With that, Cobra moves towards the button, something that is copied by Jaune who manages to press the button first. At the same time, Natsu lunges at Cobra with his fist on fire, only for the assassin to dodge the blow by taking a few steps back.

"What's going on?!" Izuku asked, landing on the wall support while Eijirou was in his arms.

"Unmanly treachery! Get him!" Eijirou pointed at Cobra, while he was still avoiding Natsu's blows.

At that moment, Cobra managed to open the door and run in, followed by the others who immediately noticed the other door, understanding what he was up to.

"Don't let him reach the door!" Jaune commands, running with his sword and shield in hand.

"Midobro! Throw me!" Eijirou only stiffened his body and crossed his arms over his face. Izuku got the message and propelled himself with the Black Whip, turning his body, and throwing Eijirou with all his strength, opening up a vacuum of air. He couldn't tell if Eijirou's screams were war cries or cries of pressure.

Cobra's eyes widened when he heard Eijirou approaching him and he promptly jumped to the side, causing the redhead to run past him and hit the ground with a thud, creating a few cracks. 

"Damn... It's nothing personal boys, but I need to press that button, so get out of my way!" Cobra declared as his arms began to change to a more reptilian appearance with a poisonous, acidic mist rising from them.

For a moment, Cobra heard a loud bang before he felt a pain in his shoulder, forcing him to step back. With that, everyone turned and saw Emerald standing next to Rogue, the girl holding her guns pointed at Cobra.

"I honestly don't care much what you have against each other, but from what I've seen and noticed of you, I don't think it's wise to let you push that button." Comments Emerald with narrowed eyes, his guns still pointed at Cobra.

To the chagrin of Cobra's ears, another loud bang hit his ears, only this time it wasn't a gunshot. It was Izuku, sinking his feet into Cobra's chest, who took advantage of the shock of the shot to attack. The impact threw Cobra a good distance.

"Son of a bitch!" Cobra growled angrily.

"Receive Midobro's heavy foot!" Eijirou cheered, finally managing to pull his arms free.

Seeing that the situation with Cobra was almost under control, Natsu took the opportunity to run towards the door, breaking it down, before seeing the button on the wall. With that, he ran to it and pressed it, causing all the Q-Clocks to emit a whistle.

<00:59>

<00:58>

<00:57>

"A...countdown?" Jaune stared at the timer for three seconds.

"After we press the buttons?" Emerald continued, his eyes beginning to widen.

"We have to get out of here... NOW!" Emerald shouted as she ran and pulled Rogue out of that corridor.

At the same time, everyone started running as the countdown continued until they were outside the wall, arriving at the platform where they saw the city and their colleagues fleeing the wall, probably having seen the countdown.

"...We're going to have to jump." Jaune comments, looking nervous.

"Then let's jump!" In a burst of courage, Izuku, who didn't even know where he came from, used his black whip and tied it to everyone. Covering his body with the full cowling once more, he leapt as far away from the wall as he could, looking once more at the time remaining on his Q-Clock.

<00:30>

<00:29>

<00:28>

"It took us 20 seconds to get out of the corridor! The fall will be another 10! We'll have to get away from something like this in 18 seconds!" Izuku shouted as he saw the floor approaching. "Arc-san!"

Jaune looked at him and looked at the ground, understanding quickly and taking the lead. He opened his shield and prepared for impact.

Jaune hit the ground with a shuddering arm as he felt his shield-holding arm break, but at least he was still alive. He looked around and saw how the others seemed to fall more safely than him, Cobra holding onto Natsu who was using his flames, Rogue and Emerald using a roar of shadows to slow their fall, Eijiro stiffening his whole body and Izuku seeming to float with difficulty before noticing how he floated with a surprised expression.

Jaune didn't have long to think because the next moment, he was already on Natsu's shoulder again, with Eijirou on the other shoulder, who was running as fast as he could, even using his flames in a form of boost. And Rogue was following inside the shadow that Natsu had left, with half his body sticking out while Emerald was sitting on his shoulders and holding on with all her might so as not to be thrown by the force of the wind.

Suddenly they all heard a bang behind them, as well as a strong gust of wind and shaking that knocked everyone to the ground for a few moments before everything calmed down. With that, they stood up and their eyes widened as they saw that it wasn't the whole wall that had exploded, but only the part where they had been standing before, while everything else remained intact.

There was no time to think, however, as a large amount of debris was flying towards both groups. The landing party was lucky that most of the debris fell further ahead. However, Izuku was not so lucky, as he was hit by one while still in the air, and the pain in his back was severe.

In a desperate effort, Izuku threw the black whip to catch himself on the ground and hold on to the huge chunk of wall to avoid being crushed. The marks of his feet dragging on the ground went a long way, before he finally stopped and pushed the piece of wall forward. His body fell to the ground, his forehead bleeding, he was exhausted and possibly had one of his hands broken, he couldn't tell if it was broken because he was used to his arms being torn apart...but he could very well tell that one of his legs was indeed broken.

"Fuck..." Izuku became unconscious.

"Fearless leader!" Jaune couldn't think long before he found himself being crushed in a hug by Nora, who began inspecting him and Ren for any injuries, both of them getting quite upset when they noticed their leader's broken arm. 

"Yukino! Jaune's arm is broken, and Midoriya is in an emergency! We need your help!" Ren warned, prompting Yukino to run over to them, while Tsuyu arrived near Izuku to inspect him alongside Yang.

However, before anything else could be done, all the Q-Clocks activated and began transmitting the Duck again, who stared at them with a disappointed countenance and a sad melody playing.

<You shouldn't have done that... Pushing the buttons wasn't the mission, you were supposed to find them.>

"What?" Cobra looked incredulous at the information as his eyes widened. "But... he said that... Son of a bitch." 

<So I have to tell you the bad news... You'll NEVER be able to leave.>

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Natsu shouted in fury at his Q-Clock. "HOW CAN WE NOT LEAVE?! DON'T FUCK WITH ME, YOU UGLY DUCKLING PROJECT!"

<Since you can't ever go out again, make sure you're comfortable.>

"Is this a joke? Are you kidding me? I almost got killed!" Exclaims Emerald looking furiously at the holographic screen.

"It can't be real, can it? Someone will come after us, Dad, Uncle Qrow, Weiss, Blake... one of them will find us, won't they?" Ruby asks in shock.

"That's not fair at all!" Exclaimed Kirishima angrily to the screen while being supported by Denji who looked worried. 

<In order to help you, we've taken the liberty of preparing a gift that will help you a lot and for this we're going to divide you into pairs.>

"We don't want that! We want to leave!" Elfman looked at his Q-Clock in the same state of fury as Natsu. One of them had almost just died, and this is what they got in response? He was ready to destroy that watch.

Even with his indignations, the screen of his Q-Clocks changed to the initial holograms once again, ignoring the complaints and setting the doubles.

<Natsu Dragneel e Ruby Rose.>

<Izuku Midoriya e Yang Xiao Long.>

<Jaune Arc e Juvia Lockser.>

<Elfman Strauss e Mei Hatsume.>

<Cobra (Erik) e Tsuyu Asui.>

<Emerald Sustrai e Rogue Cherney.>

<Eijiro Kirishima e Yukino Agria.>

<Lie Ren e Yui Kodai.>

<Denki Kaminari e Nora Valkyrie.>

<The next objective is for each pair to find a place to build their own house, at the end of which the pair that builds the best house will receive a special prize.>

<And remember... Enjoy Quesadilla Island! ^-^>

With those words, the message ended, and the next thing they heard was another bang. Everyone turned and saw Natsu blow up one of the large wrecks with one punch, there was no magic in his fist, he was furious and soon began to scream to release his anger and the sound was more like the roar of a beast than a human.

"Wonderful! Not only do we now have no way out, but two of our people are injured and we've been split up in pairs with people we don't know!" Natsu continued punching the debris in front of him in a state of uncontrolled fury. Being held by Juvia in a giant water bubble.

"CUCURUCHO!" Suddenly everyone turned to Cobra who looked furious shouting at the sky. "Come out you bastard! That's not what you agreed! The buttons have been pushed!"

"Cobra...who's Cucurucho?" Juvia asked, looking at the villain. His gaze darkened, already understanding where this was going, in his free hand, a small disc of pressurized water was already forming.

"It's the bear, that damn bear said that if I pressed the buttons he'd guarantee that I'd be left alone with Kinana here..." Reveals Cobra angrily before turning to the sky. "And the buttons were pushed! You saw the explosion, didn't you? I almost died in it, so come out and keep your end of the bargain!"

Before Cobra could say anything more, his face was hit hard, not with one fist, but with two. Elfman's fist was so full of magic that it had a violent aura emanating from it. And the accompanying fist was Yang's, his eyes red with a brilliant intensity, Amber Cecilia was activated by the blow.

And Cobra, without reaction, had his body thrown and dragged a long distance, until it collided with three more pieces of debris and fell to the ground. It took him a good few seconds to get up and wipe the blood off his face, with a large shadow hanging over him, and Cobra looked up to see a frightening sight.

Natsu, in his state of uncontrolled rage, with his arms in a pair of fiery vortices, burning so brightly that they seemed to sizzle. He wasn't using one of his normal techniques, he was using one of his Metsuryū Ōgi.  

"COBRAAA!" 

Suddenly everyone was surprised by several soap bubbles harmlessly falling on them, but to Natsu's shock, they put out his fire. Soon everyone heard the sound of blowing with some approaching footsteps, at which point Cobra opened his eyes wide looking behind the group, causing them to turn around to see a humanoid white bear, blowing a small soap bubble blower.

"HA HA HA! HA HA HA! What are you doing?"

Chapter Text

“HA HA HA! HA HA HA! What are you doing?”

Natsu saw his flames being blown out with the bubbles, but he couldn't care less about that now, using his fall so that when he hit the ground, he could explode the flames on his legs and use them as momentum, spinning his feet in a whirling ring of fire.

“KARYU NO KAGIZUME!” 

Cucurucho, meanwhile, didn't even move, he just let himself be hit, but to Natsu's surprise, it didn't even seem to hurt him, the most he managed was to open up the ground below and behind him with the explosion and push him off, burning a bit of his blouse, along with his tie. With that, the bear groaned in annoyance and grabbed Natsu's leg and threw him into a wall with impressive speed, causing a crater and cracks to appear in the wall with the impact.

Natsu, still not caring about the damage he had received, was already about to move in for another attack, and in the next second, he was trapped inside one of the bear's bubbles.

“NATSU!” Calls Jaune, advancing with his sword raised and aiming at Cucurucho, accompanied by Ren and Nora.

Cucurucho turned towards the three of them, before blocking Jaune's attack with a sword that had materialized in his hand. The sword was black with a dark, almost burnt wooden handle. As Jaune thrust his sword, Nora, next to Cucurucho, fired a shot with Magnhild to accelerate and strike a blow to the bear's head.

The next sight shocked the hunters: Cucurucho's head spun around like an owl's, and in the next instant, it spun back and returned to its normal position. Immediately afterwards, Cucurucho spun around, causing Jaune to fall before receiving a kick to his stomach that threw him towards Nora.

Before anyone else could get up or start another attack. Their Q-Clocks turned on their holographic screens, giving the vision of the duck once again. 

“Quack” 

<Precious guests, I guess there's no reason to use violence, right? We don't want to trap any more of you in containment bubbles.>

“Get me out of that bubble and maybe I'll stop!” Natsu complained to the hologram on his watch. And in the next second, the bubble burst, dropping him to the ground. 

“Quack quack”

<Now, I hope you'll calm down. First the introductions, this is Cucurucho in front of you, he'll be taking care of your accommodation on Quesadilla Island.>

“HA HA HA! Good morning!” Exclaims the bear in a cheerful, robotic tone with an ever-present smile on his face, as if he hadn't just thrown two of them through the air with ease.

“Does that bear only know how to laugh?” Emerald grumbled uncomfortably when she saw the voice box on the neck of the being in front of her.

“HA HA HA! It's good to stay in a good mood!” That voice box was very uncomfortable to watch pulsate.

“Enough! I don't care if it's good humor, who you are or if I'm going to be stuck here forever, what I want is our deal.” Cobra declares angrily, advancing towards Cucurucho and pointing his finger in the bear's face. “You promised me that if the buttons were pushed you'd guarantee that Kinana and I could live in peace and together without the damn magic council chasing me and guess what? The buttons have been pushed, where's Kinana?”

“HA HA HA! I think there's been a flaw in our agreement! The agreement was for YOU to find the buttons, but apparently that's not what happened. So I think that, unfortunately, our agreement can't be carried out.” Cucurucho answered Cobra, while dusting off his clothes, his blouse and tie being reconstructed. Another laugh echoed from his voice box, but this one was full of satisfaction.

“What? You didn't say that, you son of a bitch!” Cobra exclaimed, but Cucurucho continued to smile brightly at him.

“We've been sabotaged since the initial idea of the buttons...” Rogue squeezed his eyes shut as his teeth gritted. “We were never going to have an exit option from the start, were we?”

“Quack.” Continued the duck, making everyone turn to the screens.

<It doesn't matter, you'll get more out of here. But don't worry, Cucurucho here is going to give you important information for your survival on the island so that your stay is as good as possible! Enjoy Quesadilla Island!>

With that, the holographic screen turned off, leaving the island's residents alone with Cucurucho. Everyone turned to the bear looking apprehensive, with the renmant hunters preparing their weapons if they needed them.

“HA HA HA! You don't have to be so afraid! You can ask me anything, I'll be happy to answer!”

“What restrictions do we have? And is it just one island or a whole?” Mei saw that no one was saying anything, so she gave the opening word to their questions.

“HA HA HA! There is only one restriction at the moment! You can't leave the archipelago, the other restrictions will be added as your stay goes on!” Cucurucho declares, smiling at them. “But don't worry, the island has plenty of resources for you to use as you wish.”

“What if we tried to leave? What would happen?” Denki finally got over the sight of Cucurucho's head spinning and concentrated on the information.

Cucurucho just smiled at him, seeming to laugh for a brief moment. “The island has several species of animals and creatures that might be of interest to you: bees, wolves, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, jaguars, fish and several others.”

“He ignored my question... ” Denki felt a slight irritation, soon to be forgotten at the memory of the same bear throwing Natsu into the wall.

“We haven't forgotten about you either, hunters and huntress.” Cucurucho declares, as he turns back to the residents of Renmant. “ Quesadilla Island has several different reserves of Dust in its caves and underground, as well as various other resources: iron, gold, diamond, solid ethenane, among other materials.” Cucurucho exclaimed, waving his hands in front of his face. “We mustn't forget the enchantment materials either and...”

“And what happens if we try to leave the island?” Eijirou reinforced his friend's question, stiffening his arms at Cucurucho's brief glance at him.

Cucurucho stared at Eijiro briefly before continuing his information. “The island has several magical reserve points scattered around and some monuments, as some of you have discovered. These places are neutral regions where your powers, magic and weapons will automatically fail if you try to fight another resident because they are safe places for everyone.” 

“Listen here, you little teddy bear project!” Yang approached Cucurucho as he stood face to face with him, staring at each other without looking away. “We've already asked you twice, and you've dodged twice. Then the third time you can't do it anymore. What happens if we try to leave the island?”

Cucurucho stared at Yang for a few seconds before grabbing her by the arm and collar and throwing her into an upward spin. The hunters despaired and Ruby tried to keep up with her, which proved ineffective because Cucurucho was holding her cloak.

He pointed to Yang screaming in the sky, when suddenly a fog appeared in front of her, which she ended up walking through. Shortly afterwards, she passed through the fog again, still screaming as she spun in the sky. Cucurucho took two steps to the left and placed a bubble next to her, looking again at Yang, and moving her bubble a little further to the right. Yang then fell into the bubble, not hitting the ground and with a face frightened by the shock of his possible near-death.

“HA HA HA! When a guest tries to pass through the boundaries of the archipelago, the fog will rise up and block their path, throwing them back onto the island! Look in front of you!” Cucurucho pointed at the fog once more, as it cleared and revealed the view of the sky once more. “ You just had to wait for me to reveal it to everyone! I still had more important things to talk about than the fog!”

The hunters quickly went to Yang, who fell to the ground after the bubble burst, his body shaking from the terror of his fall seconds ago.

“Moving on, as you can see, there are many monsters on the island, and the same thing is happening all over the archipelago. Zombies, skeletons, giant spiders, creepers, endermans and various other creatures, but don't worry, the vast majority of them can only come out at night and are born out of darkness. But be aware that there are some places that have nests that create unique monsters around the island in hidden dungeons and underground temples, but these creatures are trapped in their nests and can't leave them...at least not in large numbers.” Cucurucho informs us before looking at Natsu, Rogue and Cobra. 

“You should also watch out for dragons. In the archipelago, there are some that are hidden and others that roam and fly freely everywhere. They don't usually leave their territory, but you should be careful. Just as there are hostile dragons, there are peaceful ones. Of course, as long as you don't pose a threat to them.” Cucurucho saw all the guests startled by the information about dragons roaming freely around the island, especially the mages, who had already had too many bad experiences with dragons to let this detail pass.

“You've got to be kidding us...” Elfman squeezed his fingers between his eyes as he tried to digest the information about the dragons.

“It's shit after shit...” Cobra grumbled as his eyes remained furious, still not believing that he had been tricked by a bipedal bear in a dress suit.

“That's the third time in a row...” Juvia groaned in anguish and frustration at the information.

“Sure, it's a lot of details for you to worry about, I can't deny that, but how about this: About the competition to see which pair of you will have the best housing? I'll give you until tomorrow night at exactly 10pm! Whichever pair has the best one will receive an extra prize! A request, more specifically!” Cucurucho, creating more soap bubbles, was distorting behind the bubbles. 

“HA HA HA! May the best win!” And before anyone else could say anything, the bubbles burst, and along with them, Cucurucho, who disappeared into them, leaving only a puddle of soap on the floor for everyone.

“So... what now?” Denki asked no one in particular, waiting for anyone to answer.

“Now to do as he said, I guess...” Yukino began as all eyes turned to her. “If they've separated us into pairs, then they must have a way of making sure we stay that way.”

“Do you think they'll do anything if we don't stay in pairs?” Elfman recovered from the information about the dragons.

“That bear literally threw Yang miles away from the island just to show that running away is impossible. Keeping the pairs by force shouldn't be difficult for them.” Yukino turned her gaze to Eijirou, who stared at her in surprise.

“Calm down, are you really thinking of taking this doubles thing seriously?” Eijirou asked, returning his arms to their normal state.

“You want to test your luck?” Yukino saw Eijirou mutter before turning her head away. “I know that neither of us wants to pair up with people from another world, but we don't have a choice, for now, the best thing we can do, is to go with the pairs, and explore the archipelago, we can join up at any time ahead. But right now, in our situation, there's nothing we can do about it.”

“...She's right” Ren got up from the ground and turned to Yui. Understanding the message, she shook her head and got up to follow Ren. “Let's go back to that town, let's collect more supplies. After that, it's each pair going their separate ways.”

“You can't be serious, but what about our team, Ren?! We can't stay apart!” Nora tried to reason with her friend.

“Nora...Ren's right.” Jaune stood up too, lowering his aura as he checked to see if there were any gaps left in his broken arm from a few moments ago.

“But...”

“We won't be like this for long. Only until we register the island on our watches.” Jaune opened the holographic map on his Q-Clock. It showed the entire path they had followed, then zoomed out to show the proportion of the island compared to the path they had recorded.

“We'll all be together again, Nora...” This time it was Ruby, who put her hand on her friend's shoulder. “It won't take long, we just have to...”

“We need to secure our shelters on the island.” Yang, who had recovered from being thrown through the fog, completed her sister's line of reasoning.

Nora looked at her friends, then at the destroyed wall and the others. Before clicking her tongue and lowering her head. “Right, I agree to separate us...but only for now!” She turned to Denki and hurried past him. “Come on! We have to find somewhere to shelter...” Denki looked at the others in his group, seeing them nodding.

Nora turned to face the others in her world, then began to run, with a surprised Denki struggling to keep up. “DON'T FORGET! WE'LL BE BACK AT SOME POINT! AND WHEN WE DO, TEAM RNJR WILL NEVER SPLIT UP AGAIN!”

Those from Remnant heard his shout, keeping their eyes on his running figure. With the exception of Emerald, everyone knew how Nora was feeling, and they didn't like this feeling being shared at all, but for everything to work out, they would have to go on like this for a while.

But with a single sentence, all the weight of this farewell disappeared.

“The city's the other way!” Eijirou shouted, seeing the girl stop running, pick up her Magnhild and stand on the head of her hammer mode, and in one shot, fly towards the city, catching Denki by the hood of his pajamas in mid-flight.

“You ruined the whole scene...” Yukino felt her eyebrow twitch as she saw Denki screaming and writhing in the air.

“I think we'd better... all go and get our things too.” Rogue felt a large bead of sweat on the back of her head, with Emerald agreeing without paying much attention to it, keeping his focus on the broken wall, or rather on the corridor inside it that seemed to be intact.

Slowly and disgusted by the event of the wall, they all walked back to the city, again, just in time to see Nora and Denki shooting through the sky, with Denki's scream this time being more desperate, as Nora only gave him an initial squeeze on the leg, before releasing him during the flight, the last sight of the two, was Nora trying to hold him once again.

.

.

.

They want to believe that Denki is all right.

Rogue frowned as he looked at some of the materials in the store he was in, most of which could be useful like nails, hammers and saws, but the question still remained: How could he build a house? Despite having lived with a dragon in the wild all his childhood, Rogue had never had to build his own house, having lived mainly in caves.

It also didn't help that he would have to share his future home with Emerald who, although he wanted to help, neither of them knew each other well.

“Hey Rogue.” Calls Emerald as she approaches the dragon slayer, standing next to him while no one else is near them.

“Yeah, Emerald?” Rogue doesn't keep her focus on the conversation, her priority has become looking for a good place to build a house.

“I think I have an idea of where we can stay and build a shelter.” Emerald comments in a low tone so that only the two of them can hear.

“That dragon tower?”

“No, although it's a good idea, you didn't manage to get in last time, and if this 'game' is in pairs you need to get into the house.” Emerald shakes her head with a sigh.

“Hmm...” Rogue once again frowned at that feeling from the tower. “So what do you suggest?”

“The wall, its corridors were well lit, which prevents monsters from entering and you're practically the only one who can access them using your shadows without attracting attention. Unlike you, some here really want me dead and it's one of the safest places there at the moment.” Emerald explains, taking a look at the materials in the store. “We just need to close up the blast holes and we could make a hut or something on top of the wall.” 

“I could cite many reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea, but I don't want to have to explore this island right after a situation like that.” Rogue slung her bag over her shoulder and started walking. “Let's go to the wall.”

Emerald nodded and the two of them left the store without anyone seeing them.

(With Cobra and Tsuyu at the supermarket)

Tsuyu didn't know what to do. Actually, no one there did, but for Tsuyu, it was a little more complicated. After all, it's not every day that you have to team up with a murderous villain and depend on him to survive in an archipelago in an unknown part of the world. 

It only got worse seeing that Cobra only took enough supplies for one person. But before she could think of anything, he suddenly stopped in front of her without turning around before speaking.

“You stay away from me, and I won't take my anger and frustration out on you. Understand?” Tsuyu could smell the poison becoming more apparent with his words.

“Sounds good enough. Kero.” The next thing Tsuyu saw was Cobra leaving the market and heading towards the forest. 

She won't lie, part of her was very grateful that Cobra chose to keep his distance, but the other part was worried about how this could lead to trouble. If what Yukino had said earlier was true, then there was a good chance it would have consequences for her.

(Some time later.)

It had been a few hours since they had separated from the others, and Tsuyu, now alone, in her changed clothes, leaving her pajamas in her backpack, was walking along a small dirt track with no clear direction. She just followed the trail, hoping to find another town or even a house at the end of the dirt road.

“I don't think anything's really going to happen. Kero.” Tsuyu let out a sigh as she looked back at her Q-Clock. Opening her contact list and seeing Izuku and Eijiro, they were the only ones from her world that she managed to add to her list, since Yui and that Ren guy simply left before she got her things, and as for Mei, Tsuyu only had time to see her and Elfman running the other way down the road, so there was no time to add her.

Once again looking at her colleagues' descriptions. Eijirou was nothing special, but Izuku really made her curious.

< Name: Izuku Midoriya | 16 years old | Birthday: July 15th | Height: 1.66 | Occupation: Heroic Aspirant | Quirk: One For All.>

< A young man with a sweet and soft heart, but a frighteningly brilliant mind. Everything in his being screams and embodies the word hero. Ghosts of centuries-old failures guide him to victory.>

Tsuyu wasn't going to lie, the part about the failures left her confused, and even a little worried about her friend's mental well-being, but the last line made her even more curious about the new enigma she saw in her colleague.

< The last child of a legacy of eight past and ruined generations. >

Tsuyu didn't expect to find out much about her colleague, but she also didn't expect to find out much or nothing at all. But she already had a certain theory, and it all started with the name of her colleague's quirk

“One for all...” Tsuyu could be many things, flighty, sincere, even stupid at times, but if there was one thing she wasn't, it was stupid.

She remembered the incident in Kamino, with All Might's victory and retirement over that haunting being who revealed the truth about All Might to the world. She's not going to look at Izuku's quirk and say it's a coincidence. All Might revealed a lot about it during the interviews after that fight.

That was All for one, an extremely dangerous villain, who was thrown into Tartarus in a matter of hours. His quirk that allowed him to steal and force other quirks on the people who followed him through the underworld, that he was the main mastermind behind the league of villains. In her vision, All for one was like the devil of heroism, and Shigaraki, his successor.

But now she saw the name of Izuku's quirk in front of her.

Tsuyu couldn't help feeling bad about suspecting her friend, but she had always found it strange that Izuku always changed the subject when his quirk was a topic by just calling it a 'super power'. But she thought it was because he had awakened late, as he himself said, so he would have a lot to learn about himself in a very short period of time.

But the similarity was too high to go unnoticed, the names complemented each other, All Might seemed not only to be very close to Izuku, but also to know a lot about his quirk, and recently, with the appearance of the Black Whip, she couldn't help but theorize.

Could All for One be connected to Izuku in some way? All Might too? Could Izuku have something to do with the League of Villains? Any relation to All for One? Izuku was always uncomfortable when it came to 1-A's parents. He could talk openly about his mother, but he never said anything about his father, always changing the subject, claiming that he was just an employee who worked abroad.

But the coincidences were too much even for her. A villain with a name contrary to her power, a power to steal and give other powers, a second quirk appearing literally out of nowhere during training, and a suspiciously distant relationship with her father...

Could it be... 

That All for one could be his father? 

Tsuyu just stopped walking and let out a heavy sigh as she squinted between her eyes, seeking some mental relief after thinking so much.

“ God, I sound like Todoroki with his conspiracy theories...” Tsuyu then took another step, and suddenly, the whole landscape around her changed, she was now in front of Xeré Hill. With Cobra by her side, just as surprised, soap bubbles rose from the ground, while Cucurucho's silhouette appeared. “Kero...” Her key word came out in a frustrated groan.

She had gotten herself into trouble.

(With Jaune and Juvia)

Juvia watched as she and her new partner, Jaune, moved away from the abandoned town and their other colleagues. She didn't like the idea of being separated in such unfamiliar surroundings, even though being a capable mage still brought with it various dangers that could always overcome them if they weren't careful.

“Juvia doesn't like it.” Juvia commented loudly, making Jaune turn to face her.

“Yes, I know what you mean, I don't like it either.” Jaune agrees, before activating his Q-Clock to analyze what little of the map everyone has explored.

“Do you have any idea where we could stay? Juvia thinks it's a good idea to look for one of those neutral zones.” Juvia suggested as he took a protein bar from his backpack.

“Not yet, as far as I can see there are three local places listed here.” Jaune declared, pointing to three points on the map, as well as the icons of Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren moving away from him and Juvia. “The ‘morro do xerê’, The big D tower and the abandoned city that is called Spawn.” 

“What the hell is 'xerê'?” Juvia stared at the map on his Q-Clock, seeing that hill listed, including the icon of Natsu passing the ends of the island.

“I don't know.” Jaune commented uncertainly, but shook his head. “But I don't think we should go there, there may already be others going to those same places and we don't know if they're friends or Cobra, and frankly, I think he'd try to kill us if he could then...”

“You can make your guess a certainty. Cobra is much more dangerous than he appears to be... much more dangerous.” Juvia remembered Team Natsu's conversations and reports during the mission when they met him.

Before either of them could continue, Jaune's Q-clock beeped as a small chat icon appeared with an unknown profile picture. Jaune and Juvia exchanged a glance before Jaune pressed the icon causing a chat screen to appear.

<Hello, Master! You don't know how much I've been waiting for this day!>

“What the hell? Who is it?” Jaune asks in surprise, which only increases when he sees his line being written in the chat.

<Forgive me, Master, but for your mental well-being, I'm afraid I won't be able to answer that question for now!>

Jaune exchanged a glance with Juvia, who looked just as confused as he did, before turning back to the chat. “What do you want?”

<I want to help! After all, this is my obligation to you. The coordinates will be on your device in a few moments.>

“...Help me? Your obligation to me? What the hell does that mean?” Jaune asks, getting more and more impatient. “Coordinates for where?”

<...I see you really don't have any memories, that's unfortunate. But to answer your question, to your home. You're not too far away, so come here as soon as possible, the monsters in this area are...more active than usual, so to speak.>

After that, the conversation screen disappeared, returning to the map before a new point of interest appeared on the screen. Jaune looked and saw that they were close in a way, they just had to move on, but it still brought up doubts in his mind.

“So Arc-san...” Jaune felt fear creep up his spine as he turned his back and saw Juvia removing water from a small puddle a few meters away and shaping it into a whip of highly pressurized water. 

“What did he mean by no memories...” Juvia eyed the hunter carefully. If she understood correctly, then he already had something to do with the island she was trapped on. Which already made him an untrustworthy person. “I think the whip in Juvia's hand explains how much Juvia trusts you now.”

“I don't know! I swear I have no idea!” Jaune exclaims, turning away from the mage. “Gee, do you think I have any idea what's going on here? I was kidnapped with my friends by a bear and a duck and now I don't know what you want to talk to me about? None of this makes sense to me!”

“Juvia doesn't trust your words... but she doesn't have any better options at the moment.” Juvia let the water fall to the ground before continuing on her way. “When we get to the coordinates, we'll talk about it. I'll see if it's worth trusting you.”

Jaune nodded hesitantly before looking at the coordinates on the Q-clock.

<2394, 1251, 91>

“What if it's a trap?” Jaune asks after a few seconds looking at the screen.

“So Juvia solves it fairy tail style...” Juvia let her magic power form around her, Jaune could see the various pools of water beginning to levitate. “Generating as much destruction and damage as possible.”

“I hope that's enough...” 

(Some time later)

As they walked, Jaune suddenly stopped and looked around before looking back at Juvia.

“Hey Juvia, is it just me or have all the trees changed color now?” Jaune asked, pointing to the trees with red leaves around them, although he was sure they hadn't all been green for five minutes.

“Yes, they have. Keep going.” 

“Okay, okay... is that a flashlight?” As soon as Jaune turned around, he couldn't help pointing to a small lantern that seemed to be sticking out of a branch of one of the trees.

“Go there and check it.”

Jaune couldn't help but cringe, ever since he had received that message, Juvia had become colder towards him, suspicious of him, which Jaune didn't blame her for, he would have been suspicious of her too if it had been the other way around. With that, he approached the lantern, confirming that it was indeed what he saw and not only that, there was also a small dirt road with some golden bricks.

Slowly, he knelt down and rubbed his hand in the dirt, realizing that it was a brick road covered in dirt.

“...It's a road.” Jaune murmured before beckoning Juvia to come closer.

At that moment it was as if a breeze blew past Jaune making him look at the road with a confused look, a feeling of calm was taking over him. Slowly Jaune stood up before starting to follow the path of the road.

“That doesn't look very reliable...” Juvia grumbled, watching his partner follow the brick path, with her trailing behind him. “Any wrong sign, Juvia knows she'll have to blow him away.”

Jaune kept walking until he came to what looked like a broken bridge and on the other side was a black and red castle that seemed to emanate raw magic to Juvia's surprise.

“Is that one of those solid ethenan points that bear said?! That's a lot of magic! Almost like the tower of paradise, no... there's more!” Juvia thought for a second about sending these coordinates to Natsu, so that he could arrive and break everything. If there was one thing she knew, it was that magic concentrated in a building would lead to trouble.

However, she soon realized that Jaune hadn't noticed that the bridge was broken, he was walking towards the edge of the bridge and didn't look like he was going to stop.

“He's not going to fall off, is he?”

He kept walking dangerously close to the edge, making Juvia very aware of how high they were.

“Oh no, he's going to fall.” Juvia formed a water whip with his arm and wrapped it around Jaune, pulling him close and slapping him in the face. “Wake up!” 

As soon as he received the slap, it was as if she had broken a spell, causing Jaune to scream and look around in astonishment, taking a deep breath.

“What? Where!?” Jaune exclaimed, startled, before noticing Juvia in front of him holding him back. “Ju-Juvia? What happened?” 

“You almost took a leap of faith from a ridiculously high bridge. That's what happened.” Juvia pointed below the bridge.

“What? B-but how? I'd only just found a road and... How did we get onto a bridge?”

Juvia just shrugged as he pointed to the brick street behind them.

“Juvia just wants to know how we're supposed to get over that bridge. Juvia could easily throw you across, but I'd stay here, so...” Juvia saw Jaune clearly wince at her statement. “But are you all right? You looked like a moth going into the fire.”

“I don't know... I... it's like there's a blank space in my head...” Jaune declared confusedly before sitting down on the floor looking exhausted, causing Juvia to scowl at him; he was looking like the victim of a charm at that moment.

“Next, try talking to... whoever the guy with the coordinates is. We'll figure it out later.”

Suddenly several lanterns around the bridge lit up before stopping at the edge. After that, the two saw a kind of golden aura flying from the lanterns towards the end of the bridge, entering the ground creating a kind of golden magic circle before the same light emanated from the other side of the bridge. Soon the light disappeared, leaving the two of them staring at the bridge in silence. 

“...What was that?” Jaune asked in surprise.

“Solidification or barrier magic. One of them.” Juvia pulled a stuck root out of the ground with her whip, and threw it at the place where the glowing circle appeared and to the surprise of both of them the branch disappeared with a shimmer before appearing on the other side of the bridge, in front of the castle. “Passage spell... we got through. Let's go.”

With that Juvia held out her hand to Jaune, which he gladly accepted before getting up with her help. After that, the two began to approach the edge of the bridge before they both stepped on the magic circle that appeared to be some scratches in the floor of the bridge and the next moment they were in front of the castle gates.

“That's bizarre...” Juvia felt a shiver run down her spine from the teleportation.

“Yes... Do you think the door is locked or will it open automatically?” Jaune asked, looking around for a key.

Before Jaune could continue looking for the lock. Juvia did the unexpected. She kicked the door, but the door didn't even move or look scratched from the attack.

“...Yeah, I guess that'll do for an answer.” Jaune commented, looking at the door. “I wonder if there's someone there to open the gate for us?” 

<But of course, Master!>

Suddenly, the castle doors were thrown open. Jaune and Juvia stared at each other before looking back at Jaune's Q-Clock.

<Aren't you going in?>

Jaune and Juvia exchange a look before entering the castle with the doors closing behind them.

Unlike the others, who made their way along the dirt road or through the forest. Elfman and Mei were running up a stream. While Elfman was running, holding Mei on his right shoulder, she was checking the functions of her Q-Clock once more, to make sure everything was okay.

“Just a little more man-man, we'll find what I want!” Mei then opened her map and saw how far they had traveled from the city to this point. It was long to say the least.

“We've been following this stream for almost an hour, what exactly is the reason for this?” asks Elfman in confusion, making Mei stare at him.

“Simple, we're looking for a waterfall. Since it would be of great help to us, I want to use the energy of a water wheel!” Mei adjusted the zoom on her glasses as she looked further ahead, seeing a wall of earth with a small waterfall.

“Don't you think it's better to leave these things for later? We're in too delicate a situation to want to do something this advanced, we don't even have a place to hide at night.” Elfman made a great leap, climbing the wall while holding onto Mei with one arm and using the rest of his body to scale the wall.

As he finished climbing, the sight he saw destroyed his doubt of a few seconds ago. In front of him was a large lake, with a waterfall as wide as the lake, the surrounding vegetation was vast, after all he could see a small natural sugar cane plantation in the sandier areas of the lake. But there were two things that caught their attention the most.

The first was a house with a hydraulic mill made of worn wood, but still usable, seeing that it was still turning normally. The house was small, but from Elfman's view, it could be usable for a short period of time.

The second thing that caught their attention was a large hole in the wall next to the house, with a sign and bracket at the entrance, but they couldn't read it because of their great distance from the house.

“THAT'S CONVENIENT!” Mei shouted with joy as she jumped off Elfman's shoulder and ran towards the large hydraulic wheel. Leaving Elfman standing still as he contemplated how lucky they were to find everything together in one place.

“Really convenient...” Elfman ran after Mei, seeing her jumping around the wheel while shouting some of her lines about raising her babies faster than she thought.

As he passed the side of the cave, Elfman stopped when he saw something flicker momentarily. Taking a step into the cave, he picked up a piece of stone from the ground and watched as the sunlight reflected off it.

“Hey! Miss, can you tell me what that is?” Elfman shouted to Mei, who stopped inspecting the wheel and jumped off it, heading towards the wizard inside the cave, taking the stone from his hand, letting out a happy sigh, along with a small giggle from the girl.

“That's the answer we needed, we'll settle here!” Mei exclaimed, smiling, before turning to face the abandoned house. “We'll have a fixed base, a copper mine, a workshop, a power generator! Just perfect!”

“...Copper?” asks Elfman, confused and not understanding why this would be important, which makes Mei turn to him, smiling even more.

“Copper is the real engineer's treasure! Everything that uses a battery needs copper or gold, and here we have a mine full of it! That's a complete jackpot!” Mei explains, sounding like a mad scientist before looking at Elfman. “First we'll settle here and soon, we'll go after the energy girl and Sparks so that we have unlimited energy for my future cute babies!”

With that, Mei ran off happily, while carefully holding the piece of copper, leaving Elfman standing in his position completely confused by the events.

“What a strange girl...”

(With Izuku and Yang)

“That place again...” Izuku, once again covered by the glowing shadows, found himself standing in front of the empty space of the one for all.

“Damn, kid, what is this already? The fourth time you've come in here?” Izuku turned calmly towards the voice. It was Banjo, along with the other carriers. But this time, they were all sitting on red thrones of varying sizes

Izuku tried to speak, but again, just like every other time, his body and mouth were covered by shadows.

Izuku was no longer surprised by this, although he was still frustrated that his ability to speak remained impossible.

“Don't even try, kid, you still can't talk here.” Banjo shrugged as the others sat and stared. “But the way One for all is going, you'll soon be able to.”

“...The state of One for all should be the least of our problems right now.” En raised his head as he leaned forward in his seat. “We've been kidnapped to an island by a humanoid bear that looks like it came out of a B horror movie... managing to overcome even the danger sensor.”

'Danger sensor?' Izuku turned to his scarred predecessor with curiosity. Even though he couldn't speak, a question he'd been keeping to himself was answered, even without meaning to.

“...It's the Hikage's quirk, when our quirks merge with One For All we can share them between us.” Explained the first user thoughtfully on his throne. “That's worrying indeed, getting past the danger sensor isn't easy... nor should it be possible.”

“Well, getting past the danger sensor is a bit... tricky, at least, with that bear getting past it, we know he didn't mean to be dangerous...” A man got up from his seat and approached Izuku, facing the boy. “We haven't met yet, have we? I'm Shinomori Hikage, the fourth user.”

“...He put us on an island with zombies, skeletons, fucking living dead people exist here and they tried to kill us! Giant spiders! How is that not wanting to harm the ninth!” Nana slammed her fist down on her throne, gritting her teeth.

“Hummuhum...” Izuku mumbled impossible words again, observing how the various predecessors used them. Turning to Hikage, and straining enough to lift his hand to a length.

“Nana...please.” Yoichi raised his palm towards Izuku, reminding her why they had called the last user.

“...Sorry about that.” Nana sighed and gave Izuku a brief nod. “I'm Nana Shimura, the seventh user of One for all.”

"The seventh user...the master of All Might!" Izuku would have been more excited if his situation allowed it. However, once again, forcing his arm, he tried to greet Nana, but failed in his new attempt.

But at that moment, Izuku realized something, or rather, someone was missing in that space. He could see almost all of his predecessors from One for all, with the exception of All Might who was just a glowing silhouette that had completely disappeared.

“I think he noticed.” Hikage leaned back in his throne with a solemn expression.

“Hmm!” Izuku looked everywhere around him in search of the ghostly, flaming figure that was supposed to be All Might. It should have been easy to find a yellow figure made entirely of energy, but he saw nothing of him anywhere apparent. “Humph hum?!”

“Kid, we don't know how or why the eighth isn't here, and frankly, I doubt we'll be able to say anything right now. But...it seems he's no longer in One For All.” Banjo squeezed the temples of his head as Izuku assumed a state of shock and disbelief.

“And maybe some of us won't be here next time.” Nana looked at Yoichi this time, who nodded before raising his hand, showing that it was blurry, as if it were becoming transparent.

“...I'm Kudo, second user of One for all.” Izuku looked at the furthest figure in the group. A man he found surprisingly similar to Bakugou, except that his hair was red and there was a large scar on his face. His clothes were very reminiscent of a military uniform, green pants and vest, over a black uniform and a pair of outlines. “The fifth may not have understood what's going on, but I think some of us might.”

His words set Izuku's expectations sky-high, his master disappearing from their quirk, and the reason doesn't seem to be something very favorable to him. Banjo grumbled at Kudo's words, but kept waiting for the answer, just like the third, fourth and fifth. “The one for all is developing inappropriately, it's gradually overloading this island instinctively...and we're the fuel being used to feed it.”

Izuku felt his eyelids sting from the way his eyes widened, the One For All was sentient?! He couldn't believe it. Of course, he already knew that there were quirks that were almost beings in their own right, like Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, but knowing that his quirk fit the same model was somewhat terrifying.

“That shit is just unbelievable! How come we never realized that One For All was a living quirk?! We've been here for practically centuries!” Banjo threw his arms in the air while the others stood like Izuku.

“We've never fully understood how my quirk works, but I never expected it to be some kind of living being apart from me either...” Yoichi felt everyone's eyes on him, almost as if he were the only source of any idea of an explanation. “I apologize to everyone, as well as trapping you here, I'm also making you die a second time...”

Izuku felt his chest go cold at the former's words, he sounded so...miserable in Izuku's eyes and instincts. His voice carried heavy sorrows that he hardly thought he would ever see alive again.

“No problem, I went into this knowing that death would be an option... I have no regrets and if I'm going to die a second time, let it be by your side.” Hikage nodded to Yoichi and the others.

“Back to the point... As we can see, Toshinori was the first to be used as gasoline for this out-of-control car. But...he was still alive.” Nana looked at the throne that once belonged to her student in there, bringing her finger to her lips and biting down in concern. “I don't think he's dead, but... that means he's even lost whatever spiritual link he had with us. We can't even get an answer in here.”

“That doesn't matter now. What matters is informing the ninth about it.” Yoichi once again turned to Izuku, who wasn't much different from Nana at the moment, awakening from his reverie when he was called by the former. “Ninth, I apologize for what I'm putting you through, and for what I'm about to ask of you. But you need to get stronger even faster than before, it won't be long before I'm used as a battery too...” 

Izuku saw Yoichi raise his hand, and saw that his arm was showing more and more in front of him, but very slowly.

Yoichi scowled at his arm. “If you can't keep up with this new evolution of One For All, you'll die, and everything we fought for will be lost...With the eighth absorbed, you were able to use the seventh's Float, I believe this can be repeated, every time one of us is consumed, a quirk will be activated, and from what I could see of the Float, it's improved.”

Izuku felt Nana grab his shoulder from behind, her face full of concern. Izuku then turned to the other users, in a show of strength, he raised his arm, and closed his hand, his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes burned with determination.

“Don't let it all be for nothing, Izuku. Don't let it!” Yoichi, whose face had fallen after his explanation, raised it to face Izuku, his gaze crying out for his request to be fulfilled.

Little by little, Izuku felt space collapsing around him, while the other users disappeared one by one in glowing embers. “Don't let my brother win!” And just like that, Yoichi was gone in the same white embers, while Izuku's eyes darkened.

Various sounds echoed, making Izuku slowly open his eyes and realize that he was no longer inside the One For All, but lying on a wooden bench with his head resting on one of Yang's legs, who seemed to be resting while drinking a bottle of water.

“Where...are we?” Izuku's voice was slurred, he felt his throat begging for something to drink when Yang lowered his head to face him.

“...That's actually a good question.” Yang shrugged as he continued walking. “Since you were asleep, I just looked in one direction, followed a road and arrived here after a few minutes of walking.”

With that, Yang casually brought his bottle to Izuku who drank it happily, until he suddenly opened his eyes wide and realized something.

“My bones!” Izuku looked at his hand and his healed legs, squeezing his previously injured limbs to make sure he wasn't imagining things. “But...I remember breaking my legs.”

Izuku turns to Yang, hoping for an answer. She just shakes her shoulders. “As much as I saw how it happened, I just don't understand. That... that bastard bear just took an apple that looked like it was made of gold and fed it to you, after which you started glowing and it looked like you were healed...”

Izuku looked at Yang with a blank stare, trying to understand how an apple could do that.

“Yeah, I was like that too when I saw that there are magic apples.” Yang shrugged.

“Right, I won't argue...Er...why are we alone? And why are we inside a church?” Izuku began to pay more attention to his surroundings, he recognized that kind of architecture from the few Western churches he had visited

“Why did that Teddy Bear project separate us all into pairs, and leave us to fend for ourselves on the island as if we were in a trashy survival TV show?” Yang smiled sarcastically at him, a nervous tic clearly visible to Izuku.

“Oh, I see...” Izuku frowned before standing up and looking around the church, realizing how big it was. “And this church? How did you find it? I don't remember seeing it in the town we were in.”

“I followed a road, on the other side of the wall, and brought it here. Apparently this place is a public place, a neutral region...” Yang commented as he stood up next to Izuku.

“Safe zone?” Izuku opened his Q-Clock and expanded his map, seeing a large circle marking around the church, pressing on a small question mark icon next to the church, his Q-Clock emitted a description.

<Congratulations. You have just arrived at the coordinates XXXX, YYYY, ZZ, finding The Church, one of the public places on Quesadilla Island, here you are in a neutral region, safe from monsters and other inhabitants>

“All right, church.”

“Definitely a church.”

“Did you take a look at it while I was unconscious?”

“No, I preferred to look after you, even though the macabre Teddy Bear used that shiny apple, I don't trust him. What if it hurts you somehow?” Yang sighed angrily as she looked at the bench they were on earlier.

With that, he noticed how she had placed two backpacks there with a first aid kit and a few bottles of medicine.

“I appreciate the concern.” Izuku used Black Whip and picked up one of the backpacks, checking inside it to see what Yang had gathered.

“Don't worry about it, we're partners now. We should watch each other's backs.” Yang commented, looking wistful at what she had said.

Izuku stared at Yang for a few seconds, noticing the hurt in his words. He quickly decided to change the subject. “Then we should start searching the place. Anything against it?”

“No, actually, I think we should set up a temporary base here. Until we find somewhere better.” Yang added while frowning at him. “Why don't you sit down and rest while I search the place? You've just woken up from a faint, not to mention your legs and hand earlier, you should rest a bit more.”

“I've been worse... I'm not kidding, I've been in worse states than you've seen.” Izuku felt his body and hair stand on end with memories of his past confrontations. Muscular had a strong focus on such memories. “I think walking a bit would be better, I don't like standing still when I can do something.”

“Fair enough, but try to take it easy.” Yang quickly stood up before walking away from Izuku towards the atrium.

Izuku watched Yang walk away, she wasn't well, he could clearly see that. But unfortunately, he also knew that now was not the time, let alone the right place to try and help, he needed to concentrate on rummaging around and trying to find something that could be useful.

“Ugh!” Izuku grunted lowly as he stood up, even healed, he still felt that phantom pain in his limbs. Suddenly, his mind went back to Yoichi and Nana's words

“The float is improved”

Staring at his legs and arms, Izuku activated One For All.

He felt his body light, lighter than it used to be with the one for all running through him. And in an instant, his body flew rapidly towards the ceiling.

“Uh!” In a desperate move, Izuku launched the Black Whip at the ground, avoiding hitting the ceiling and breaking the roof of the church, lowering the percentage of the One For All and returning to the ground. With a heavy sigh full of frustration, he began to walk, each step a slight, piercing pain.

“Quirks really are a mess sometimes...”

An explosion rang out as a large rock was blown up and hurled, making its way through a very dense and closed forest.

It was Natsu who had done it. His face could be described as pure, savage fury, as he continued to smash his way through everything in his path, even without magic, the wizard exuded an immense bloodlust.

Ruby stood back a little, watching as her new partner went into a fit of rage and couldn't help but shudder, but it wasn't because of the way he was acting. No, what was going through her mind was something much worse.

“For Oum, he's got Yang's temper, let's hope he doesn't have her moods too.” Ruby shuddered at the thought of her older sister's jokes.

Ruby shrugged her shoulders as she watched Natsu kick another large rock and see it fly away, knocking down the trees in front of him. However, he suddenly stopped and stood still, causing Ruby to take a few steps back, not wanting to be caught up in her partner's wrath. 

Suddenly, Natsu roared into the heavens on his fiery breath, its force and sound great enough that Ruby had to cover her ears as she watched the great beam of brilliant fire soar into the clouds. Reaching the end of his furious attack, he sat down on what was left of a tree destroyed by the rock, and sighed, turning his gaze to Ruby, who was still covering her ears.

“I'm sorry, but I needed that.” Resting his eyes on his hands, Natsu's face remained lowered, covered by his hair, as he tapped his foot on the ground.

“Oh, that's okay, I'm used to letting my colleagues vent their frustrations...” Ruby laughed nervously as she remembered her old team. “But are you better now?”

“... I'm on an island out of my world that's impossible to escape, with only two of my guildmates who are separated from me, and being forced to be a double for a girl I have no idea who she is... no. I'm not okay.” Natsu spat out his words without even looking at Ruby, still keeping his eyes downcast.

“Oh, right, yeah... that's really bad... Sorry about that.” Ruby shuddered at his response.

Raising his eyes to Ruby, Natsu saw his colleague's upset face. With a sigh, he stood up. “I'm sorry, it's just...damn, it shouldn't be so one-sided.”

With a click of his tongue, Natsu clenched his fists as he stared at the sky. “There should be a way out of here...damn, it's not the first time I've been trapped in another dimension. But... it's the first time that something's really stopping me from leaving of my own free will.”

“...Have you ever been trapped in another dimension?” Ruby's eyes widened as she looked at Natsu. “That's incredible! I just stopped a robbery and got into the Beacon Academy early... Although I don't think I can be too proud of that... What should we do?”

Natsu watched the girl in front of him, he saw how Ruby had an anxious and insecure posture, her gaze was wavering.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at what was going on behind Ruby. Behind the huntress, he saw the astral figure of Happy, frightened when a mission was more difficult than it should be. “I'm really going to have to imitate Erza now...”

Approaching Ruby, Natsu pointed at the girl while putting a serious look on his face. “We should do exactly what that... that weasel said, we have to find somewhere to stay, I don't want to have to deal with another horde of monsters so soon. But first I must understand how this thing works.” Natsu complained, looking at his Q-Clock.

“Got it... Huh?” Ruby blinked, looking at something behind Natsu. “...Natsu, do you also see a gray person in armor carrying a flag over there?”

“... Huh?” Natsu lost all seriousness as he looked back. Seeing the path formed by his previous state of rage, and seeing that he had entered what appeared to be a desert. In the background, he could see not just one of the people Ruby had said, but a group of them.

“...Shouldn't we be alone on this island? Are they monsters?” Ruby asked quietly, without taking her eyes off the group staring at them.

“I have no idea... but poor them, look at those eggplants...!” Natsu's lips were quivering at the sight of the group members' noses wiggling in the breeze that had just blown past them. “Will there be any oxygen left for me to breathe? Haha!”

Before Ruby could react to what the dragon slayer said, their Q-Clock beeped, revealing a red screen with an exclamation mark.

<Warning!>

<Beware! You have encountered the Pillagers, they may seem harmless, but they are monsters that are not affected by sunlight, more resistant, aggressive and brutal. Their origin is unknown, but they never walk alone.>

<Pillagers are hostile beings armed with crossbows and swords found on wandering patrols, in marauders' outposts or as participants in raids.>

“...”

“...”

“Yeah, they're monsters.” Natsu let his shoulders slump as he received the notification.

“Yeah...” Ruby gulped as one of them roared in a way that reminded the girl of a Grimm.

Immediately, the girl pulled out Crescent Rose and fired at the creature, knocking it backwards. However, the Pillager soon got up with soot covering it from the shot and part of its face destroyed, covering its wound while the others ran to attack, with the same Pillager getting up and going to attack as well.

“...Okay, maybe they're complicated to deal with.” Natsu wiped his eyes, not believing what he saw in front of him.

“I used an explosive bullet...” Ruby muttered with wide eyes.

“We'll leave the shock for later, now we have to sort these things out!” Natsu roared his flames at the ground, raising a wall of fire and smoke, blocking the advance of the monsters in front of them.

“Right!” Ruby nodded, switching her weapon to scythe form.

Natsu roared, firing a blast of fire towards the Pillagers, burning them, but to his surprise, it didn't slow them down, they continued running towards him.

Suddenly, Ruby leapt between the spinning Pillagers while using her scythe to slash at them, but this didn't seem to bring them down. The girl looked surprised, before using the Crescent Rose blade to block a blow from one of the Pillagers, noticing that his sword was made of steel, covered in scratches and dried blood.

She quickly moved, letting her opponent pass her by, and spun her scythe around, managing to decapitate the Pillager who finally fell to the ground, dead.

“What annoying little guys!” Natsu was already fighting two at the same time, one was trying to cut him down with a sword, which the wizard could easily see was being worn down and used, while the second was shooting with a crossbow from a distance. Holding the last arrow shot at him still in the air, Natsu kicked the sword-wielding Pillager in the wrist, causing him to drop the hilt of his sword, then piercing his forehead with the arrow he had caught.

Ruby's eyes widened as she held Crescent Rose, seeing the blood staining the blade of her scythe. The girl heard a scream behind her and turned around, raising her scythe to block another sword blow, but this time she was thrown backwards. As soon as she hit the ground, she raised her weapon and shot Pillager in the chest, knocking him backwards.

The next second, to Ruby's surprise, a sword stuck out of Pillager's head as he fell. Looking to the side, she saw that Natsu had thrown it. The wizard once again jumped to escape a string of crossbow shots. Focusing her gaze on the more distant shooters in the group.

"We've run out of patience with you!" Covering his feet in flames, Natsu kicked the ground and a rope made of flames was thrown at the shooters, hitting the ground and covering their vision. 

To the shock of the pillagers, Natsu passed through the cloud of smoke, both fists covered in flames, and struck the chests of two of the three remaining shooters. The flames tore through the monsters' chests as their bodies fell to the ground, their chests open and burnt.

Seeing that Natsu was still fighting, Ruby looked at the fallen Pillager and saw a small crossbow with a quiver of arrows beside it. She quickly put away the Crescent Rose and picked up the fallen weapon along with the quiver, aimed the weapon and fired an arrow, hitting one of the Pillagers that was approaching Natsu, effectively knocking him out.

"Guren...!" Covering his Arms in flames, once again with the same whip effect as before, Natsu spun his arms around, his flames sizzling and grunting as he enveloped the rest of the Pillagers still standing. "Bakuenjin!"

As the smoke from Natsu's blow subsided, the girl realized one thing, the dead bodies previously on the ground were no longer there. Ruby had only heard 'fuush' and the bodies had disappeared, all she could see was small clouds of smoke disappearing into thin air.

Before she could continue thinking, Natsu grabbed her by the hip and ran back into the forest. Shouting in surprise at her partner's action, she made sure that Crescent Rose was securely fastened to her belt while holding the crossbow tightly.

"We've got to go! There are more of them coming!" In one leap, Natsu entered the forest, this time on a side further from his previously formed path. 

Looking back, Ruby saw that Natsu was right, she could see many more Pillagers in the distance, along with two bizarre mounts that she couldn't identify. But then she realized something, before the trees blocked her view of the desert.

"Was that a tower?"