บท 562: Are You Robbing Me?

(A.N. RIP Akira Toriyama, the founder of many childhoods, and a man who's creation inspired millions all over the world.)

Winter Schnee stood tall and proud even as dozens of ferocious Beowolves surrounded her, the sound of their snarling filling the air as drool dripped from their mouths. Despite their ferocious attitude and bearing, Winter couldn't help but feel slightly dissatisfied since she had been hoping for a stronger opponent.

Well, their numbers would have to make up for it.

With a growl the first Beowolf lunged at her with its claws and fangs bared to rend her flesh, but Winter smoothly sidestepped it with natrual movements even as the others followed suit.

For several seconds she naturally dodged the claws and teeth of her opponents, her body moving on instinct after years of combat experience and instruction, but that wouldn't be enough to help against so many opponents without her fighting back at all. Sure enough, Winter soon became overwhelmed as one of the Beowolves raked it's claws down her back.

Normally, her Aura would be enough to guard against such an attack, but this time she had willingly allowed the claws to tear through her clothes before slicing clean through into her flesh. And naturally, Winter had expected the usual pain one would expect from receiving such an attack.

But, there was nothing.

Instead....

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Beowolf howled with pain and fury as ice coated the paw that had attacked Winter, only for it to shatter when it tried to put it's weight onto it.

Meanwhile, the gash on Winter's back showed no blood nor flesh, only a chunk of ice that slowly repaired itself after being torn open, and closed before her clothes themselves reformed as well.

"Amazing...." Winter uttered in awe of her new power, the power of the Hie Hie no Mi. It was one of the items called a Devil Fruit that they were able to purchase through the Chatroom shop with the points that they earned, but Winter hadn't bought it.

Instead, she had received the Devil Fruit as 'reward' for a certain surprise quest she had received the other day. A quest that, just by recalling it, the temperature around her plummeted further than it already was as a chilly expression appeared on her face.

"Ice Age." She declared cooly, and suddenly the entire area around her was covered in a layer of ice, not that it appeared any different from before. But the biggest difference was that all of the Beowolves around her had frozen as well, turning them into large ice statues that would shatter at the slightest impact.

With a wave of her hand, Winter did just that as she conjured several large sickles of ice that shot at the frozen Grimm, shattering them and ending their lives. But her expression hadn't changed as she recalled that humiliating experience.

"Fross?" Cried out the figure that emerged from her shadow with a worried expression on it's face, the Pokemon Frosslass that she had received before.

"I'm ok, Frosslass." Winter said to assure it, though her face was still crimson from humiliation.

Her expression remained the same as she desperately tried to think of something other than the price she paid for this otherwise amazing ability, which consisted of every ounce of her dignity and self respect. She even struggled to avoid likening herself to a prostitute since she had essentially sold her body for it.

Returning to her personal airship, Winter quickly turned it on and prepared to return to Atlas now that she had finished testing her new powers for the day. They truly were amazing, and gave her the potential to take on even entire armies without the need for Dust, or the risk of getting injured.

But the girls in the Chatroom were adamant in reminding her that the powers still carried numerous weaknesses, such as making her unable to swim and so on. Winter took their warnings very seriously, especially since in this world of Remnant there were numerous people with the power called Semblances, any one of which could give someone an ability that directly countered her.

Trying to get her mind off of her previously shameful actions that led to her acquiring the Devil Fruit, which indicated that she must've done well in the surprise quest, Winter turned on the radio to listen to any news that was going on in the world. Though that only added to her worries when she heard the report.

"And in other news, a shipment of Dust from the SDC(Schnee Dust Company) has been stolen by the White Fang! This is only the latest in a recent string of violent actions taken by the Faunus extremist group, and many believe that their actions will only escalate!"

Winter narrowed her eyes from the news as she turned the volume down, her mind wandering.

Though she was no longer considered a part of her family, Winter was still concerned about the direction the company was going under her father's command. Originally founded by her maternal grandfather, the company was now being dragged through the mud due to the numerous questionable practices being put into place by her father, such as the mistreatment of it's Faunus employees.

This made them a primary target of the White Fang once they started taking a more extreme approach in fighting against the oppression they had experienced from humans, and was drawing more and more attention to their current questionable practices.

But as she started worrying about the future of the SDC with the Faunus, Winter also realized something that made her blood run cold(or was it hot since she was now made of ice?).

How would Alex react when he finally arrived in Remnant, and his children or wives were mistreated for being 'Faunus'?

(A.N. So I originally planned to give Winter an ability outside of a Devil Fruit since I had been using them so much lately, but all the ones I found were redundant or pointless, like Ice Make when she can use Glyphs, or Esdeath's ability until I saw that it drives the user insane. As you can see, in the end I just went back to Devil Fruits...)

***

"Amazing..." Uttered a woman with bright red hair that was styled into a high ponytail, as she poured over several samples of different metals. Metals the likes of which she, nor anyone else in the world of Remnant, had ever heard of.

Pyrrha Nikos was amazed at the reward she had received from the previous surprise quest, which was a package containing several samples of different types of metals from throughout the Omniverse. It was a reward perfectly suited to her for two specific reasons.

Firstly was her Semblance, Polarity. It allowed her to control even non-magnetic metals however she wished, which she typically used subtly in combat to make her opponents weapons miss her, or to retrieve her spear and shield.

Secondly was that she could imbune her weapons and armor with the different types of metal, making them significantly stronger than they already were after Lala's upgrades.

"What do you think?" She asked the little bipedal canine standing beside her.

"Ri!" Riolu barked in approval as it admired the metals as well. Pyrrha was already making plans to make a set of armor for it as well, to protect it when they fought against Grimm.

Of the different metals though, the two she was most interested in trying out was Vibranium, and Adamantium. The biggest problem she was having was figuring out how to actually rework the metals into her weapons and armor...

***

"Na na na na, na na na! Na na na na, na na na!"

As darkness descended on one city in particular, a solitary girl was wandering the streets dressed in red and black gothic attire, completed by a red hood that covered her head. Under the hood was a pair of headphones blasting one of her favorite songs, even as she entered a shop called From Dust Till Dawn.

The girl was in a good mood after spending the day talking to the other girls on the Chatroom about weapons and other cool inventions, mainly Lala and the two Bulmas. She still didn't quite understand how there could be TWO of one person, but the girl accepted it.

Currently however Lala was busy touring the lab of some genius guy in another world, something that one of the other girls in the Chatroom aid was supposed to be a 'euphemism' for something, but neither the girl nor Lala understood what she was talking about.

Anyway...

During their discussions the girl learned that the others didn't know about Dust, and when she described it to them they became interested in it and it's various applications. She of course focused on weapon augmentation and different styles of ammunition that Dust can be used for, but the others wanted to be able to test and see it for themselves.

Naturally, this led to the girl going to a Dust store to go and buy whatever she could with her allowance. By herself of course, since Yang was busy preparing to go to Beacon Academy. Normally the girl would be sad and lonely about her sister leaving in a few weeks, but with her pokemon Scyther to keep her comany she was ok.

Focusing on her current task though, the girl looked over the selections of Dust that the store had for sale to see how much she could buy with her savings. Soon however she became distracted by a weapons catalog on one of the back shelves, which she readily grabbed and opened to read.

As such, she missed the tinkling of the bell as a group of men dressed in black suits with matching bowler hats, and red ties and sunglasses, walked in after another man with a cane and orange hair. That was, until they started clearing out the stock of Dust from the store, and one noticed her standing alone in the back.

Feeling a rough hand grab her shoulder and spin her around, the girl found herself face-to-face with one of the thugs as he looked down at her angrily, gesturing to indicate her headphones as he did so.

"Yes?" She asked while lowering them politely.

"I said put your hands in the air, NOW." He commanded irritably.

"Are you....robbing me?" She asked confusedly.

"Yes!"

"Ohhh..."

***

At the same time, in an entirely different world, a celebration was going on in what others would only call an icy hell, but the people there called home.

Princess Yue of the Nothern Water Tribe watched as the best masters of waterbending amongst their tribe performed for them, bending the water in ways that most of their tribe could only dream of. Unknownst to them though, Yue was also streaming the display for Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, allowing her to see real waterbenders at work for the first time in her life.

Unfortunately Yue missed the last of the performance, as Katara abruptly said goodbye due to some kind of circumstance. As a result, Yue was slightly surprised when she heard her father, Chief Arnook, speak.

"Thank you Master Pakku, for that wonderful display!" He declared, leading the rest of the people present in applause as the master in question bowed respectfully, and departed alongside his disciples.

As silence returned to the grand hall, Yue listened as her father thanked everyone for attending the feast.

Feasts and celebrations were quite rare for their people due to the fact that they literally lived at the North Pole, and as such they were unable to form any farms. Instead their diets consisted of whatever they were able to hunt, with sea prunes and seaweed making up almost all of the vegetation they ate.

This time was an exception however, and Yue knew why that was as she glanced at one warrior in particular, who appeared exceptionally smug.

"Thank you all for coming tonight! I know we have little enough to celebrate in the last hundred years, but tonight is an exception due to a decision regarding the future of our great tribe!" Chief Arnook declared, earning him numerous applause along with mutterings as everyone wondered what the announcment was.

Yue couldn't help but to notice several of the men in the tribe look at her expectantly, both young and old. She was already past that age, so it was expected that someone would be decided to become her husband soon, and that someone would become the chief of the tribe after her father.

Unknown to them the man her father had decided upon was already chosen secretly, and this was just the night they decided to announce it. But, wether or not Yue would accept it was another story.

"Tonight I have the tremendous honor of announcing the engagement of my daughter, princess Yue, with a young warrior of great skill and repute. Many of you know him and had heard of him, young Hahn!"

At the chief's introduction applause once again filled the hall, as both Hahn and Yue stood to meet each other before the eyes of all of those gathered.

"Spheal?" Cried the little pokemon that had become Yue's closest companion ever since she had received it from Cynthia.

"Its ok Spheal." She told it soothingly, before approachign Hahn.

"Princess Yue. I, Hahn, offer you this necklace as a sign of our engagement before our tribe." Kneeling as he said so, Hahn held out a beautifully carved pendant on a length of blue ribbon.

Silence descended upon the hall as everyone awaited Yue's anticipated acceptance. But then something happened that none of them expected.

"Thank you, warrior Hahn, for your sentiments. But I cannot accept your betrothal." Yue declared, stunning everyone present, but none more so than her parents.

Turning towards them then, she continued firmly,

"My hand belongs to one other, a man of great power and leadership who the Northern Water Tribe would benefit greatly from a union with. A man, who we could never afford to offend. The Dragon Emperor."

Stunned silence met her declaration, until Hahn demanded angrily, "The 'Dragon' Emperor!?! Dragon as in the Fire Nation!?!"

Angry muttering met his demand, as the idea that Yue had accepted a betrothal from the Fire Nation spread like...well, fire, throughout the crowds.

"Silence!" Chief Arnook declared, bringing silence to the hall once more, before he turned towards his daughter with a rare expression of anger on his face. "Explain yourself Yue."

The princess opened her mouth to try and explain herself, but no sound came out as she tried to figure out how to do just that. Truthfully this was her own fault, as the engagement had been confirmed months ago, and was only being publicly announced tonight. She probably should have said something before now.

Before Yue could say anything to try and defend herself though, she noticed a notification on the chatroom that she opened, before there was a blinding light in front of everyone.

When the light faded it revealed another betrothal necklace, one made of ice that would never melt, bound in a black leather cord.

Every eye was on the necklace as it floated in mid air, before it slowly descended and wrapped itself snugly around Yue's neck. The ice pendant was cold, but not uncomfortably so to someone who lived literally surrounded by ice every second of every day.

And then it shimmered suddenly, before an image appeared in the air before Yue that everyone saw, one of a hulking man with wild black hair.

"Princess Yue is mine." The figure proclaimed in a booming voice, giving no room to argue or protest. Not that anyone would, as they all readily knelt before what they believed could only be a Spirit from the Spirit World.

***

"Yippie!"

"Mime Mime!"

"Yippie!"

"Mime Mime!"

"Yippie!"

Ty Lee cried out cheerfully as she lightly tossed her little Mime Jr into the air over and over, a game the little pokemon thoroughly enjoyed as she giggled and flailed her little arms about happily.

The game continued until someone knocked on the pole outside Ty Lee's tent, and she caught Mime Jr one last time before looking over and saying, "Come in."

The flap was opened by none other than the circus ringmaster, who smiled warmly at her as he said,

"Good evening Ty Lee. I just came by to give you a letter that arrived." Handing her a rolled up slip of paper as he said so, Ty Lee readily accepted it believing it was a message from her family.

Ty Lee's parents were nobles from the Fire Nation while she was one of seven identical septuplets, which was part of why she ran away to join the circus since she didn't want to be part of a 'set' for her whole life. Despite that though, she maintained a decent enough relationship with her family, with them often sending letters back and forth.

Just as Ty Lee began to unroll the parchment though, she caught sight of the crest of the royal family at the top.

"Oh! It's from Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed with her usual bubbly positivity.

"Mime?" Mime Jr asked her worriedly, apparently sensing the unease Ty Lee wouldn't even admit to herself was there.

Ty Lee however unrolled the parchment all of the way and read what was written, before she turned towards Mime Jr and declared, "Azula is coming to see us! Isn't that exciting?"

Despite her upbeat attitude and expression though, Ty Lee's hands began to shake just so slightly at the thought of meeting one of her oldest friends again.

***

"Amazing..."

Suki couldn't help but be amazed as she looked over the items she had received from the Chatroom, which had been rewards for the last surprise quest.

Like Winter, Suki had only gone through with the quest to avoid the punishment, and still felt deeply ashamed for doing so. Especially when she thought about how she had been caught in the act by her fellow warriors.

She couldn't deny that the rewards she had received from it were quite amazing though.

Basically, they were plans and diagrams for numerous tools and weapons that would greatly enhance their combat capabilities, like small capsules that would explode into clouds of smoke when broken, or blades that could be attached to their wrists to be sheathed or unsheathed with a simple wrist movement. Most amazingly though, was the numerous scrolls she received that detailed numerous combat styles that she and her fellow warriors could learn.

"Wow captain! You got all this just for a sexy pose?"

"Do you think we can do that too?"

"I want to get some cool stuff just for getting naked and stuff too!"

"What about our own Cubone?"

"..."

Needless to say, after the previous situation her squad found her in, Suki had finally come clean about where she had gotten all the new weapons and armor from before, as well as where Cubone came from. Not to mention WHY they had found her in the position they did before, sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream, completely naked while spreading her pussy open.

Surprisingly, they had believed her pretty easily. Though Suki had sworn them all to secrecy, lest the entire island learn of the Chatroom and Alex.

Unfortunately, that led to them all wanting to join it as well to get the same 'perks' Suki was getting, despite her trying to explain to them the dubious nature of it, as well of Alex himself. Their response was simply that if access to the Chatroom could help protect them from the Fire Nation, should they decide to attack, then it would be worth it.

***

"MAN THE WALLS!"

"GET THE CHILDREN TO SAFETY!"

"I WANT MY MOMMY!"

Panicked voices and cries echoed throughout the entire water tribe as the few people living there ran too and fro, some to cover, and others to prepare for battle. Unfortunately for them, their oldest and 'most experienced' warrior was a boy of eighteen who had never actually seen battle. At least, not since he was a literal child.

Only a few younger teens joined him as they prepared and readied their weapons, all while the black snow ominously fell upon the village.

Sokka and Katara had seen the black snow before, along with all of the remaining adults, and it was always a precursor of a raid by the Fire Nation. The last time they had seen was several years ago, the same day their mother was taken from them.

The only question was, why now?

They had nothing, WERE nothing. There was no reason for the Fire Nation to appear, unless it was to exterminate them once and for all.

"THIS WAY EVERYONE!" Katara ordered as she directed people to safety, while Sokka rallied all of those capable for combat.

As she did so though, Katara couldn't help but to wonder, did she bring this upon her people?

She knew Ty Lee in the Chatroom was a part of the Fire Nation. And while Katara had been suspicious of her at first, along with Suki and Yue, Alex had personally vouched for her while Ty Lee herself said she was not personally invested in the interests of the Fire Nation. She ran away from home to join the circus after all.

Such questions had to wait until they were all safe though, and as the last of the women, elderly, and children fled further inland from the village, Katara turned and made her way to the village gate/wall. She called it a wall, but it was little more than a pile of snow that surrounded their village, while the gate was mostly made up of driftwood and large bones from hunting/fishing.

Already there was Sokka along with the few other teens and children that could be considered old enough to fight, though they definitely wouldn't be if their fathers and the other warriors were here.

"Katara! What are you doing here?" Sokka demanded angrily when he saw her.

"I'm going to help." Katara declared firmly, leaving no room for argument. She had been working with Lapras and her scrolls ever since she acquired the Chatroom to hone her ability, and now she was NOT going to sit by and do nothing when the Fire Nation was on their doorstep.

Even if Sokka wanted to argue he couldn't, as the ship creating the black snow came into view when it rounded one of the icebergs filling their cove.

It was dark and made entirely of metal, powered by burning coal that discharged thick plumes of black smoke into the air, which in turn created the black snow. The sleek design along with the burning coal alowed the ship to slice through the water at speeds their canoes would never even come close to matching.

The ship was traveling so fast, that upon reaching the edge of the ice it plowed right through it and continued charging towards them.

The ground shuddered beneath their feet as the ship cut through the ice, which in turn collapsed Sokka's watchtower that was made out of snow. It only stopped when it was just short of the village gate, before the front of the ship dropped into a ramp to allow dozens of soldiers to march out from within.

They were all dressed sharply in red Fire Nation armor, and armed with long lethal looking spears. Not that they needed them, as every Fire Nation soldier was capable of fire bending as well. It was what made them so deadly and dangerous to confront.

Sokka and the other warriors stood vigilant atop their wall of snow, while Katara was waiting just within the gate for her cue to join the fight. She watched through a gap in the gate though as the Fire Nation soldiers approached them.

"Well, this place is even more of shithole than I thought it would be." The man in the lead sneered in contempt while looking around.

"What do you want?" Sokka demanded of them, his boomerang poised to be thrown.

The same man who spoke before sneered as he looked back at Sokka, and said lazily, "We aren't here for you, ya little pissant. My orders from Commander Zhao are to find the last waterbender in the South Pole. Don't bother trying to deny it by the way, we have a reliable source."

As he said that, one of the men that had been too old to go to war with others, and escaped with the others earlier appeared from around the other side of the village.

"It's a girl!" The old man declared as he hurried to the side of the fire benders. "Her name is Katara, and she's still in the village somewhere!"

"I see. Thank you for your information." The Captain of the fire benders said to the man, who snorted as he demanded,

"If you want to thank me, then get me out of this frozen hellscape. I'll go crazy if I have to stay in a place where my balls freeze to whatever I sit on any longer."

"I see..." The captain slowly said. "You're tired of the cold..."

"Yes! Just take me somewhere warm!" The old man demanded irritably.

"Don't worry. I will."

The moment those words left his mouth, the captain lunged forward while sending a stream of fire from his fist that consumed the man entirely.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The sounds of the man's screams filled the air as he was burned alive, along with the smell of burning flesh as he flailed around to try and put the fire out.

Despite him dying though, neither Sokka, the other teens, nor Katara tried to help him. After all, this meant he had been a long time spy and traitor for the Fire Nation, and he had readily sold her out the moment Katara had started to openly practice her water bending.

But, with her existance exposed already, Katara saw no need to keep waiting as she joined her brother up on the wall.

"You wanted me, now come and get me!" She declared, waving her arms as she did so to make water rise from the endless snow and ice around her. And as she did that....

"LAAAAAAAP!"

With a cry, Laprus leapt out of the ocean from behind the ship, summoning a wall of water along with her as she used Surf.