บท 582: Incentive

"Best-hah-training-hah-EVEEEEEEEEEEEER!" A certain young woman cried out as she experienced the greatest orgasm in her entire life, courtesy of the mountainous man thrusting into her from behind before he spilled a load of burning hot seed directly into her womb.

If any of the few hundred or so women around her had seen this scene a week ago then they would have been completely stunned, but at the moment they were all struggling to retain consciousness after being pounded into blissful oblivion themselves.

"So how many was that?" Coco Adel asked breathlessly as she leaned back into the man, Alexander D. Morningstar's, chest, while one of her teammates fawned on him on the side. A bunny-eared Faunus by the name of Velvet Scarlatina.

"Five" Alex said with a slight smirk, while Coco's expression fell.

"Only five?! What am I supposed to do with ONLY five outfits to choose from?!"

"Sounds to me like you need to try again after getting some more training." Alex said while smacking her ass playfully, before pulling her up off of his cock, and lifting up Velvet to impale her on it instead.

"Ahn~!" The bunny Faunus moaned as his cock filled her, before she began to move with a speed and vigor that would have surprised anyone who knew her a 'week' ago.

They were second years at Beacon Academy, and only a couple of the 95% or so female students that had accepted Alex's generous offer of.....training.

There had been a fair amount of confusion at first when the entire female student body of Beacon found themselves in this strange place, including the first years that had yet to go through initiation, and one of their professors, Glenda Goodwitch. And naturally, there had also been a fair amount of skepticism and suspicion regarding the claims that their 'host', a man calling himself the Dragon Emperor, had made regarding why he had brought them there.

But then he showed them the complete truth regarding Remnant, including the brother gods and witch, Salem, who controlled the Grimm in her silent war against humanity.

Though parts of what he revealed were unknown to even Glenda, she readily confirmed the existence of Salem and her shadow war on humanity as one of Ozpin's confidants. This led to Alex's offer to help them 'train', which was obviously met with even more skepticism than his earlier revelation.

But with all of the impossible, magical, things they were seeing around them, such as the space-time orb, some of them slowly began to believe what Alex was saying. It also helped that they were free to do more than just 'that' within the space-time orb.

Aside from 'training', Alex also made it so that they could actually train to hone their combat skills further in the week until they returned to Beacon, as well as make numerous adjustments and modifications to their weapons and uniforms/combat gear with the help of his wives. Which they were all shocked to learn could put even armies to shame with their numbers, and strength.

The first one to try Alex's special 'training' was none other than their professor, Glenda Goodwitch, in order to make sure his claims were valid before she allowed any of her students to even consider accepting such a suspicious offer. And when they saw the things Alex did to her, and the state she ended up in afterwards, it was like a dam had burst.

Though a fair amount had been interested in Alex to begin with, for his looks and charisma if nothing else, the number of female students joining the trend grew by the hour until he had essentially bedded almost the entire student body, with the exception of Weiss and a few others that were holding out for one reason or another. Even some of the women in long-term relations had conceded to his 'training', taking a page from Nora's book as they took him up the butt to remain 'faithful' to their men.

Though Coco and a few others believed it was only a matter of time until they forgot their men entirely.

As for her own deal with Alex, Coco had been devastated to learn that they would only be getting their uniforms and one additional outfit of their choosing modified by him and his wives, which had entailed numerous enchantments to increase durability, protection, water breathing and even guarding against all types of weather like heat, cold, snow, and sand.

So Alex made a deal with her that she could have an additional outfit for every time she made him cum within a certain timeframe, which she impressively managed to do five times. Though she went a little bit over the time limit for the last one, Alex gave it to her anyways.

Unfortunately for Coco though, five was STILL not enough to encompass her massive wardrobe of designer clothes and outfits.

Once her turn was up though, Velvet was more than eager to take Coco's place on Alex's lap as she rode him, her breasts bouncing alluringly all the while.

Something that Alex had quickly learned after making love with Blake, as that was what she needed the most, was that it seemed as if all Faunus were naturally submissive towards him, and more than eager to please him.

It didn't take long for him to deduce that this was more than likely because of either their instincts to have a strong 'mate', or because of his divinities regarding the hunt and wilderness. Or perhaps it was both.

Either way, he was the object of near-devotion of the Faunus women, and Alex was more than happy to return their desires while also strengthening them like he had Blake.

Similarly to how he had turned Blake into a Werepanther, Alex was doing the same with just about all of the Faunus with their respective animal traits. Not necessarily changing them, but maybe evolving them.

Velvet for example, who was a rabbit Faunus, could now turn into a large rabbit/human hybrid on top of a typical overly large rabbit form. Plus he added a cute little tail for her.

Needless to say that Shia was VERY jealous of that, despite basically being a planetary nuke bunny to begin with. ESPECIALLY with the Devil Fruit alex gave her.

Aside from the changes he made to the Faunus, Alex also helped a few of the girls with some of the more troublesome Semblances, as well as planting a certain seed in all of them.

No, not that kind of seed.

Magic.

Ever since the brother gods wiped out the first humanity and abandoned Remnant, magic had ceased to exist in all but Salem and Ozpin. The only exceptions were their daughters and the four seasonal Maidens, but they were created by Ozpin's magic to begin with.

Every girl Alex slept with from Remnant now had the potential to use magic planted within them, though it would be up to their efforts if that seed blossomed or not.

That, combined with the boosts they were receiving from having sex with him, their additional training, the modifications that were made to their weapons and clothing, AND the fact that they now had access to the Asoran job and skill system meant that Alex started to suspect there was going to be a Grimm genocide in the near future.

Alex admitted mentally that he was quite looking forward to seeing THAT right as he brought Velvet's hips down one last time, and flooded her womb with seed.

"Hnnn...!"

Velvet groaned as she buried her face in the crook of Alex's neck at the sudden heat filling her abdomen, making some of the girls that were watching start rubbing their own thighs together in anticipation. Except....

"And that's time." Alex said suddenly, confusing them until he added, "it's already morning outside the space-time orb, so you all better get ready for the day."

There was a collective groan/whine of protest at Alex's words, making him chuckle as he pulled Velvet off of his cock and gently set her to the side. He then stood and stated in a voice that all of them heard,

"Don't worry, this isn't a one time thing. I'll pass a key to all of you before you leave. Just insert it into a door, and it'll bring you straight to the Misty Manor from Remnant."

There was a collective sigh of relief at Alex's announcement, while several of the Faunus girls even started wagging their tails happily. What Alex left unsaid though, was that ONLY key holders would be able to pass through the door, preventing them from bringing anyone else unless he or his wives met them first. Plus the keys would also be enchanted to never get lost, and always return to their pocket/purse/keyring.

With them all preparing for the day, Alex made his rounds to collect everyone else since they were mostly scattered throughout the sub-space orbs for ACTUAL training.

One group amongst them was Yang, Pyrrha, Ruby, Blake and Nora, who apparently all befriended one another similarly to how they had done so in the show, with their group only missing Weiss, Jaune and Ren.

Alex took a moment and watched as Pyrrha charged in to attack a Behemoth, who swiped its massive paws at her shield only to be bounced off of the Vibranium in it. As she distracted it, a sleek feline-human hybrid leapt up onto its back before reverting to a cute girl with black hair and matching cat-ears, who pulled out her bladed guns and unleashed a flurry of bullets into its hide.

*RAAAAAAA!*

The Behemoth roared angrily as it changed targets to the pesky bug on its back, only for a blonde comet to come out of nowhere and land a powerful blow on the side of its head, right before she activated the gauntlet on her wrist to unload ALL of the shotgun shells loaded within it at once at point blank range.

Fury like nothing the Behemoth ever experienced filled it from having its face hit and shredded with explosive buckshot, but right as it turned towards Yang to tear her limb from limb, a hammer this time slammed into the other side of its head with a crackle of lightning.

"Here comes the thunder~!" Nora declared as she activated the grenade launcher within her hammer, lodging several grenades right into its face in an instant.

"GRAAAAAAAA!"

The Behemoth roared in both pain and fury as it reared up on its hind legs, giving a certain reaper the perfect opportunity to deliver the killing blow.

"Let's goooo!" Ruby cried as she flashed forward in a rush of rose petals, her scythe stuck out to the side to catch the Behemoth across the neck.

The blade sliced through the thick hide like a hot knife through butter, continuing uninterrupted all the way through the massive neck before coming out through the back.

As Ruby landed, she and the others watched as the Behemoth froze dramatically, before its head fell from its body as it collapsed. Spraying blood everywhere as it did so.

"Good work team!" Ruby declared, giving everyone a thumbs up.

"I'll say so." Alex said as he approached them, prompting all five of the girls to turn in his direction.

"Alex! Are you here to 'reward' us?!" Ruby asked as she zipped to Alex's side in a storm of rose petals, batting her eyes pleadingly as she did so.

"Not this time Ruby." Alex said while patting her head, making Ruby pout pitifully as he did so.

"And you don't need to be 'rewarded' anyways!" Yang declared as she tried to insert herself between Alex and Ruby to separate them.

This caused Ruby to turn her pout towards Yang, while Alex just cocked a brow at the elder of the two sisters.

"Aren't you the one that had your tongue up her ass the other day?"

"PFT! HAHA!" Nora laughed boisterously, while everyone else chuckled lightly at Yang's expense.

"I DIDN'T KNOW!" Yang immediately tried to protest.

"Even though Ruby is the only person I know of who's ASS even smells like roses?" Alex pointed out.

"Yep~! And I'm proud of it!" Ruby followed up with pride.

"GAAAAAH!" Yang yelled in frustration as she walked away. Alex was sure she'd have started pulling her own hair out by now if she didn't treasure it so much.

"So if you didn't find us to pump more baby batter into us, why did you find us?" Nora asked curiously and bluntly.

"It's almost morning at Beacon, and I figured that I would let everyone know personally instead of just sending them a message through the Chatroom. Especially since there're still several girls who aren't a part of it." Alex explained, glancing pointedly at Blake as he said that.

Nora wasn't a part of the Chatroom either, since she still considered herself loyal to Ren, but Blake was still debating on if she truly wanted to join it or not.

Her reason stemmed from Adam using coercion to manipulate her and him treating her akin to property that BELONGED to HIM. That, combined with his increasingly violent nature and bloodlust was what drove her to abandon the White Fang, and seek refuge within Beacon.

To her the Chatroom, despite its MANY advantages, felt akin to admitting that she BELONGED to Alex now instead. And while her instincts as a Faunus were telling her to accept, along with her seeing that Alex was NOTHING like Adam during the last week within the space-time orb, Blake was still apprehensive about accepting.

Blake's mind was still debating or joining or not even when Alex took his leave a few minutes later, and even all while she and the other went to rinse their bodies off before going to school.

Now THAT was a strange thought to her, considering everything that had happened to them since the opening ceremony 'yesterday'.

Alex meanwhile went to find the last two that needed to be told what time it was, which wasn't too hard to do once he spied the large pillar of ice in the middle of a desert.

Inside, the ice pillar was hollow to give the two sisters within more than enough room for their training as they clashed repeatedly, one with dual swords while the other used a rapier.

"Remember Weiss, you don't need to worry about defense now unless you're fighting specific opponents." Winter Schnee said as her younger sister instinctively dodged her slash.

"I know! It's just hard to adjust my fighting style..." Weiss snapped, before explaining sheepishly.

"I understand entirely." Winter said as Weiss proceeded to thrust her rapier at her, fighting all of her instincts to avoid the attack as it pierced her eye,and even came out the back of her head. But there was no blood.

Instead, around the points where the sword entered and exited her head, there was only broken ice while Winter's vision was slightly obstructed due to the blade, and no pain.

Weiss shuddered slightly from the fact that she had literally STABBED her own sister in the eye, before slowly pulling the rapier out of her face.

"Excellent thrust, full of strength and fully committed." Winter praised casually, pretending as if her heart wasn't thundering in her chest from that as the ice slowly closed around the wound. Even she was still having trouble adjusting to their new powers sometimes, but there was no way she would tell Weiss that.

She then proceeded to sheathe her blades, prompting Weiss to do the same as they ended their sparring match.

"Though I say that we mostly no longer need to worry about defense, remember that there ARE several counters to our abilities. Within Remnant though, I believe we only need to worry about flame Dust." Winter explained, while Weiss nodded slowly to indicate she was listening.

"Don't forget Haki!" A new voice stated suddenly, before all of Winter's clothes mysteriously vanished so that she was completely naked while a pair of hands groped her breasts from behind.

"You-!" Winter groaned as Alex molested her, fighting back a moan thanks to his expert machinations.

And it certainly didn't help when he slipped one of his hands down below, snaking his finger into her folds despite Weiss standing in front of them.

"Don't..." She gasped while grabbing Alex's hands with both of hers, yet she made no attempt to remove them.

This was quite possibly the thing Winter realized she 'hated' the most about Alex over this last 'week', that he was able to instantly render her putty in his hands no matter where they were, and who was with them. It was as if all attempts to remain serious and professional were moot point in his mere presence.

"W-Weiss is here...." She said to try and dissuade him from putting it inside her right then and there.

"And? Should I have her join?" Alex whispered sensually in her ear, as if the aforementioned little sister was not currently glaring at him with the utmost hatred.

"Get away from Winter you beast!" Weiss snarled as she drew her rapier and pointed it right at Alex's face.

"How scary~!" Alex said playfully, putting his hands up as he did so like Weiss was truly threatening him.

Though more than a little bit of Winter was frustrated at the interruption, she stepped away from Alex while trying to compose herself as well as she could while still being completely naked. If not, then things were bound to result in her laying on her back while Alex used her as his own personal cum depository. Again.

Trying hard not to think about her first night in the space-time orb, Winter coughed lightly before saying her thanks.

"Ehem! Thank you Weiss. This is neither the time or the place for such....distractions."

Trying her best to ignore Alex's widening smirk at her words, Winter asked him, "is there a reason for you to seek us out?"

"Now that you mention it..." Alex said, as if he had forgotten why he had found them to begin with.

"It's almost morning in Remnant, so I thought you two would like to get ready before returning to Beacon/Atlas." Alex explained, reminding Winter of one of her greatest concerns since Alex absconded with her.

"Right... What shall I tell general Ironwood?" She asked worriedly, knowing that he had probably heard about the events of the previous night, especially after her disappearance.

"Whatever you want." Alex replied casually, not quite caring what the man knew about them.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. It's not as if he's capable of doing anything to us. And if he even tries, then I'll remove Atlas from the face of Remnant." Alex stated seriously, making a cold sweat that had nothing to do with the ice around them run down her back.

Not that she could argue with him.

Whenever Alex wasn't playing with her body, and she wasn't training Weiss, Winter had been at work studying Asoran technology and militant capabilities. And needless to say that her conclusions terrified her to no end.

Though they did have a standing military/policing force, the scariest thing that Winter learned about Asora was that nearly the ENTIRE population can be mobilized if the need ever arose, like they had during a conflict in what was called Earthland when one of Alex's children were kidnapped.

Within a matter of hours a global power was wiped off the planet permanently by the 'civilians' of Asora, with NO direct help from Alex himself.

Then there were those who were actually counted as active combatants, such as the Peerages and numerous guilds that could be found in Asora, elite combatants that would be more than a match for their entire military if the need for combat ever arose.

"Do you need a detailed document of our numbers or anything to give to him?" Alex asked, stirring Winter from her recollections regarding Asoran might.

"..."

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you want me to give you a detailed document regarding who we are and what we can do? It would help make things a little easier to explain to Ironwood."

Again, Winter was left speechless at the audacity of Alex and his complete disregard for secrecy and propriety. But also, it wasn't like she didn't understand his complete lack of caution since there was nothing they could do against Asora anyways if it came down to it. This would merely be a flex on Alex's part to taunt Ironwood and show the difference in strength.

"Haaa... I suppose..." Winter said with a sigh of resignation, before accepting the drive Alex created a second later. She didn't even question any part of it since, regardless of how much he denied it, Alex was VERY much a god that could do godly things, like creating something out of thin air.

"Thanks... I'll head back first."

Saying so, Winter left to try to calm herself down and clean up before reporting back to Ironwood, which she needed to do as soon as possible. However, in doing so, she left Alex and Weiss alone together.

"So do you want to be dropped off at the baths or-"

"Shut up. There's something I need to discuss with you." Weiss stated in her haughty Weiss way.

"Oh? And what is that?" Alex asked while cocking a brow at her. But then he found the point of rapier tapping the underside of his chin.

"Listen well. From now on you will NOT lay a single finger on my sister, or otherwise perv on her in any shape or form. Got it?"

"Oh? And what if I refuse?" Alex asked with a wry smile at her demands, only for Weiss to shift the point of her rapier so that it was directly pressing against his neck.

"I see." Alex said thoughtfully, before grabbing her rapier with his bare hand.

"W-what are you-?" Weiss sputtered, before her eyes widened in shock as Alex took a step forward so the tip of her rapier sunk into his flesh.

"What? It's not like something like that will work for me." Alex said with a smirk, making Weiss's eyes widen in both surprise and disbelief.

"You-?!" Weiss exclaimed, before jerking her sword to the side. And to her surprise, there was no resistance as the blade sliced right through Alex's neck and fingers. But there was no blood.

Instead the several fingers readily reattached themselves, while the opening in his neck sealed itself instantly and seamlessly.

"You know, I'm almost insulted that you thought I'd be so easily threatened." Alex said while maintaining his annoying smirk.

Meanwhile Weiss' arms were shaking at her anger and frustration at being unable to 'help' her sister, since she knew there was no way Winter liked the way Alex treated her. What Weiss didn't know though, was that it wasn't that Winter didn't like her treatment at Alex's hands.

The sisters were alike in that they had grown up being only able to display excellence as 'Schnee' girls, or face their father's disappointment. Not only that, but to others they were known almost exclusively as Schnee's, and NOT as Weiss and Winter.

To Alex however, the Schnee name was nothing.

What was the heiress of a company to a man who had literal princesses, queens, and even goddesses attending to him whenever he wanted them? Not only that, but they would never need to maintain an air of dignity and refinement around him since Alex couldn't care less about all of that.

It was for that reason that he would play with Winter so openly in front of Weiss, not to humiliate her, but to try and make her open up and acknowledge HER desires and wants. It was also the reason that Winter didn't even fight back when Alex started molesting her a few minutes, and why she retreated so quickly before getting pulled into his rhythm.

But Weiss was completely unaware of this, despite going through the exact same upbringing as Winter.

"So what will it take to get you to leave Winter alone?!" She demanded angrily, to which Alex pretended to ponder momentarily.

"Well, if Winter herself asks for it, or if I have some incentive not to touch her." Alex replied honestly, as a plan began to form in his mind. One to make Winter more honest with her wants, while also making Weiss take the initiative.

Thankfully the huntress in training realized EXACTLY what Alex was getting at when he mentioned 'incentive', which only increased her fury as her heart struggled to make a decision. But when she thought about the 'suffering' of her sister, Weiss made her choice.

"Fine." She growled as she sank to knees in front of Alex, and pulled down the shorts he was wearing to reveal his cock.

As Weiss saw it up close she had to admit it truly was impre- er, grotesque, while an allur-er disgusting scent entered her nose.

Shaking her head slightly and steeling her heart, Weiss grabbed the flaccid penis with her hand while opening her mouth to take it inside. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Ooh.... That feels nice." Alex said as Weiss wrapped her lips around his cock, slowly taking him further and further into her mouth. And as an added bonus, Weiss' interior temperature was as cold as ice thanks to the Devil Fruit he had given her, just like Winter.

It also reminded Alex of Mizore and Tsurara, though their bodies were nowhere near as cold as Weiss' was now. It created a fresh experience of stimulation for him as she took more of his length into her mouth, coupled with the look of absolute loathing she had as she looked into his eyes, even as she willingly serviced him.

Alex then used his control over time to manipulate it in order to give him and Weiss as much time they needed. As a mere blowjob was NOWHERE near enough to be an 'incentive' for him.

***

Though Alex would be busy elsewhere, Remnant would go through numerous changes over the first several weeks after his appearance. Which would only be a prelude of the massive changes to come.

Firstly was the emergence of a new group within Remnant to combat the Grimm, calling themselves the Companions.

They were all great warriors that used no aura as they fought the horrible monsters, instead relying only on their strength and physical prowess to slaughter their opponents. They would also recruit any who showed promise to their ranks, teaching them to fight back against the Grimm while also instilling the ideas of glory in their heads.

Meanwhile, numerous groups within Remnant were also seeing changes as strangely competent women joined their ranks.

Lil' Miss Malachite, the second most powerful person in Minstrel and leader of the notorious Spider gang, for example would find herself with a new employee that she would not necessarily recall hiring. Despite that, Lil' Miss' mind told her that Xuelan had been with her for years now, and was completely and utterly loyal to her, while also being one of her strongest fighters.

Similarly, Sienna Khan, High Leader of the White Fang, had two new members amongst their organization despite 'knowing' that they had been serving her for years now, twin girls with cat-like features named Ni and Li. However for some reason the two of them had a fierce rivalry with Adam Taurus, who Sienna was already angry at due to Blake leaving them.

Cinder Fall meanwhile found herself picking up a new 'stray' to take under her wing, a young girl named Mira with blue hair, surrounded by the rapidly vanishing bodies of numerous Grimm that she had defeated. But as the girl joined her along with Emerald and Mercury, none of the three of them noticed the slight smirk on her lips.

Roman Torchwick was another who had recently picked up a 'stray', though he and his attendant, Neopolitan, were both under the impression that the woman, named Isabela, had been with them for a few months now.

Willow Schnee, wife of Jaques Schnee and mother to Winter, Weiss and Whitney Schnee was growing increasingly confused with each passing day, not sure if it was because of her belligerence due to constantly drinking the pain away, or something else. The reason was because of a woman named Yubelluna that her memory recalled working for her husband as his secretary for years, yet the cameras that she had secretly installed showed that she had only been there for a few days or so. Eventually Willow elected to ignore it as she searched for another bottle of alcohol.

In Atlas, a team known as the Ace Ops also recently gained a new member, a young woman with an impeccable record within the Atlas military despite the fact that no one within their military seemed to recall her. Either way, they were all glad to have Karlamine with them as they fought the Grimm.

And in a place that felt as if it belonged to another world entirely, known as the Land of Darkness, the witch Salem smiled viciously at her two newest Pawns. They were a pair of young women dressed in maid attire, named Marion and Barent, who had slaughtered all of the Grimm between them and her palace. So of course she readily welcomed both women into her service, after showing them just how 'futile' any misconceptions about killing her may be.

Meanwhile, in the four academies prized for training huntsmen and huntresses, new students appeared that had never been there before, despite their records and fuzzy memories stating otherwise. In Beacon Academy was Mihae, at Atlas academy was Siris, at Shade academy was Shuriya, and at Haven academy were the twins, Ile and Nel.

...

In the present though, a certain figure was walking through Atlas as the people went about their lives, not at all knowing that things were about to come crashing down around them. The thought made her smile evilly as her shoes echoed on the stone streets of the floating city.

Beside her was a young boy, her son, who was fidgeting awkwardly due to a certain appendage being temporarily removed via magic, lest he face the same discrimination and bigotry that his father experienced during his visit here. Which was the very same reason why the woman planned to bring the entire city to ruin, from within of course.

As she made her way to a certain location, Atlas academy, the man she intended to meet was reviewing the data on a drive given to him by one of his most trusted officers, Winter Schnee.

She had debriefed him completely on the man known as the Dragon Emperor, and explained the details of the events of the previous night that could have brought ruin to their entire nation.

At first he was furious that Winter had not informed him of the existence of the Dragon Emperor, especially since such an event took place that could have been disastrous. But then Winter pointed out the fact she would have had no way to prove his existence, even if she used something she called a pokemon, her Froslass, as proof. And while James Ironwood couldn't help but to inwardly agree, he still chastised her for not telling him.

She had then debriefed him on EVERYTHING she knew about the Dragon Emperor and his homeland, a place known as Asora, before presenting him with a drive containing much more in depth information. And once Ironwood finished viewing all of it, his mind quickly turned to turmoil at how badly they had messed up.

If even a fraction of the things in the drive were true, then Atlas had potentially ruined the most advantageous alliance they could have ever had before it even started. Ironwood was especially angered at the fact that he could have negotiated to have Asoran forces help him in the fight against Salem, but that could only be considered a pipe dream now.

"Damn it Jacque!" Ironwood swore in a moment of momentary weakness, directly blaming the man who was singlehandedly responsible for the lingering discrimination against the Faunus in Atlas.

Though Faunus hate was still prominent throughout the entire world, aside from their homeland of Menagerie, it was worst in Atlas largely due to the Schnee Dust Company, and their inhumane practices. Not only did Jacque Schnee's treatment of the Faunus bolster hate and discrimination against them in Atlas, but the retaliation from the White Fang was also fueling the growing animosity between the two races in Atlas.

For every step Ironwood tried to make towards cooperation between them, it was like he was being forced two steps back.

And now the discrimination against the Faunus looked as if it would well and truly bite them in the ass, and the man in question wasn't even a faunus!

As his mind began to wander over everything, Ironwood felt a sudden calmness overtake him that helped to organize his thoughts as he took a deep breath. Yet again, he was thankful for his Semblance, Mettle, for its invaluable help in running Atlas.

Just as he calmed himself, Ironwood received a call from his secretary.

"Sir, I have a young woman here to see you about opening trade with Atlas?"

"Hm? Send her in." Ironwood said, right before his office doors opened to admit a breathtakingly beautiful young woman.

She had golden hair that was styled into twin drills on either side of her face, a figure that would incite even the most stoic of men to war, and a bust that put anyone Ironwood had met to shame.

Thankfully, Mettle helped to keep any wayward thoughts under control as Ironwood maintained perfect eye contact with the woman as she approached his desk, with a little boy beside her that shared her features. A son or little brother perhaps?

The young woman stopped short of his desk, and grabbed the sides of her dress while performing the most pristine curtsy he had ever seen while the boy bowed beside her.

"Greetings, esteemed general Ironwood. It is an honor to meet you."

"The honor is mine madam, though I believe you have me at a disadvantage." Ironwood replied respectfully.

"You can call me Ravel, general. Ravel Phenex."