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Izumi Miyamura: Xover - Chapter 78
🕑 Added 2025-04-12 01:27:28 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Ruby Pov.
"Noo! Noooo! What have you done!? " Merlot exclaimed furiously.
"It's over, Merlot, give up! " Mom exclaimed forcefully. Merlot glared at her before snorting.
"I wouldn't be so sure, hunter. I guess we'll end this with a bang! " Merlot said with a crazed grin.
"What are you playing at, Mer-"
*BOOOOOOOM!!!!!*
The entire facility shook violently due to the explosion. I could feel my bones shaking.
"Fucking lunatic!" Mom exclaimed in horror. Merlot started laughing maniacally before the image cut out. Wait, right at the end that was- "Ruby, we have to run! " Mom pushed me without hesitation as another explosion rocked us once more.
"Where to?!" I exclaimed in panic, all the doors were closed, damn Merlot! Mom gritted her teeth, grabbed Sundered Rose, and her weapon instantly turned black. She quickly ran towards one of the doors and cut through it like butter.
"Let's go!" Mom exclaimed as she started running. The explosions were getting closer and closer. We had to leave quickly.
"Mom! Can you match the speed of my last attack?! " I asked quickly.
"No! Of course not! I am fast, but that was ridiculous! Wait! Get out of here, quickly! Don't worry about me! I'll find the exit!" Mom exclaimed as we ran. She didn't know where we were going, but we should be near an exit.
I had to move quickly! There is no time to think! What had Izumi said about my quirk?! Oh yeah! Something about breaking me down to the molecular level wasn't important, but I could take other people with me! I stopped for a few seconds and watched Mom keep running.
"Ruby?!" Mom asked in confusion and panic, just as an explosion echoed practically next to us. One of the walls was completely destroyed. Godspeed. The ground beneath me cracked as I kicked it hard. I aimed for Mom in front of me. Just as I was about to collide with her, I turned into a storm of petals and absorbed her.
Even as a storm of petals, I maintained my Godspeed, so in a split second, I was against a wall. I returned to my form with Mom in my arms, who seemed disoriented. I turned around and braced my feet against the wall. Godspeed . I turned into a storm of petals again. I kept repeating this several times. While I continued spinning through the paths.
I could feel the strain on my feet. Godspeed was too demanding. It caused too much strain and overexertion on my legs. Izumi had forbidden me from using it more than a couple of times in a row. The only reason my legs stayed together was because of my aura, which was rapidly depleting as I used it and kept from losing my legs. But it was necessary; the explosions kept echoing every moment.
At the last turn, I finally saw an exit. It looked like a huge vent with a bunch of pipes coming out of it. I didn't care; it was an exit. The moment I hit the wall, I shot out again with another Godspeed. Finally, outside!
Even in my Rosestorm form, I could hear a series of increasingly loud explosions. We left just in time as an explosion blocked the exit I'd just taken. The entire Merlot facility was completely destroyed. It wasn't time to stop; I looked around to get my bearings.
I propelled my Quirk upwards and crashed into a radio tower, the highest point visible at the moment. The metal warped as I used one last Godspeed on it. I could feel my aura cracking, but I gritted my teeth and kept my Quirk going. This time, I didn't stop traveling but instead crossed the entire island in a few seconds until—bingo! Our departure!
We landed hard in front of the Bullhead we'd landed on. Once we returned to our forms, my legs gave out completely, and I collapsed to the ground, thoroughly drained. I could barely feel my legs; they were shaking so hard.
"Bluurghh!" I looked at Mom, who was kneeling down, vomiting all over herself, completely pale, her eyes disoriented. Still, she stood up, gagging one last time, but swallowing with a bitter grimace as she shakily stood up and wiped the vomit with the sleeve of her costume.
"N-next time, let me be buried by the-Blugh- by the explosions." Mom moaned, completely sick.
BOOOOOMM!! A huge explosion made us jolt once again. That one had been awfully close and outside the facility. I gritted my teeth.
"Damn Merlot! You planted explosives all over the island?! " Mom exclaimed in disbelief as she approached me. "Can you move?!" Mom lifted me up with little effort.
"N-no, I can't feel my legs for a few minutes!" I moaned as I held on tightly to her, holding on only with her help. Mom lifted me up easily and quickly boarded the Bullhead, hastily propping me up on one of the seats and running to the pilot's seat.
In no time, we were in the air, watching the island practically destroy itself.
"Summer! Ruby! Are you okay?! " I heard Uncle Qrow's panicked voice from my earpiece.
"All right Qrow, we're safe and sound inside the bullhead, a little battered, but fine. We're heading to the rendezvous point," Mom said calmly.
"What- how- the explosions started so recently! How did they come so fast!? The bullhead must have been on the other side of the island! " Uncle Qrow asked in confusion. Mom snorted.
"Ruby drove us. It turns out she can move really fast," Mom said amusedly as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
"Ruby?! Are you okay, Kiddo? " Uncle Qrow asked in a calmer voice, although we could hear the tension in his voice.
"Uncle Qrow… I can't feel my legs… they're going to have to amputate them," I whimpered out loud.
"WHAT?!" Uncle Qrow squealed loudly, I grimaced while smiling.
"She’s joking, Qrow. Just a little overexertion. She'll recover in a few minutes." Mom said quickly, but she looked at me with a smile while giving me a thumbs-up. I laughed in amusement. After all, maybe Izumi was rubbing off on me too much.
"Don't scare me like that, kiddo, I'm not that young anymore." Uncle Qrow groaned.
"Sorry, old man." I laughed before yawning loudly. Mom just looked at me. She stood up and walked over to me.
"Rest easy, Rubes. You did a good job." Mom stroked my head while patting me. I fell asleep quickly.
I woke up… not completely rested, but I am feeling much better. My aura still wasn't at its maximum, but it had recovered enough to surround me once more. I could feel my legs slightly tense, but I could move them normally. They were a little cramped and a little weak. But I could walk fine, maybe a little slowly. I should rest for a couple of days.
I looked around and was still lying inside the bullhead, but we were definitely not in the air anymore. I tiredly stood up and exited the aircraft. It was already completely dark. Once I was outside, I saw a small camp where Mom and Uncle Qrow were talking to two blonde women while looking at several screens. Mom was the first to notice me and lifted her head from the screens.
"Ah, Ruby! How are you? " Mom asked as she quickly approached.
"Still on shaky legs, but okay! I speak from experience, it will pass in a while! " I said confidently.
"Experience? Does it happen to you very often that you overexert yourself with your quirk? " Qrow asked with a frown.
"What? No, I was talking about when I have sex with Izumi, my legs t-" I closed my mouth so hard my teeth ground together, and I looked at the group in almost horror. Uncle Qrow had paled several degrees.
"Way to go, Ruby!" Mom exclaimed with a shit-eating grin as she reached out for a high five.
"Summer!" Qrow exclaimed, causing Mom to roll her eyes as she lowered her hand. "I really don't need to hear about my niece's sex life." Qrow growled as he turned around and pulled his flask out of his coat. Mom laughed and winked at me as she extended her fist. I bounced off the balls of my feet and bit my lip. I barely hesitated. I fist-bumped Mom, causing her to smile widely.
"Ahem," interrupted one of the two blondes, the one with green eyes and dressed like an office worker. She had an irritated expression as she looked at us. The other blonde raised her hand and stepped forward.
"Miss Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you and see you're well." The blonde woman smiled. She had clear blue eyes and smiled softly. She was wearing a rather elegant white dress. I blinked a few times.
"Uh... nice to meet you?" I tilted my head in confusion. Mom laughed and stepped between us.
"Ruby, this is Salem, headmistress of Beacon. And the grumpy blonde is Glinda Goodwitch," Mom introduced. My eyes widened, and I straightened up.
"I-it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss-Madam-Headmistress-Madam!" I said in a panic. I heard Mom and Uncle Qrow's amused snorts. Traitors!
"No need to be so formal, Miss Rose," Headmistress Salem said playfully. I bit my lip but relaxed my posture. "Now, we've been reviewing the body camera footage, and we'll be reviewing it a few more times, but just in case, do you notice anything out of place or anything that catches your attention, Miss Rose?" Headmistress Salem asked. I frowned.
"I... don't think so, at least nothing I didn't point out at the time, sorry," I said after hesitating for a few seconds. Headmistress Salem shook her head.
"It's fine, it's no problem, the cameras are more than enough. Now, you said that that... creature-"Headmaster Salem spat as if disgusted by it "-was a nomu. What do you know about them? " Headmaster Salem asked.
"She was there during the USJ attack, she saw the creatures called nomu firsthand," Mom added from the side. Both blondes' eyes glittered slightly, and they looked at me curiously. I gulped audibly and tried to gather my thoughts.
"I- I understand that they are creatures biologically modified to have various quirks. Uh… they have like the DNA of several people inside them. The one we faced in USJ, well, the one that appeared since I didn't face him directly. He had two main quirks, 'super regeneration' and 'impact nullification'. He was cut into pieces and regenerated completely. The only thing that hurt him was the anti-regeneration ability of the sword, but it only left scars and didn't stop him from moving, so he didn't feel pain in any way or he could ignore it. Then All Might came super angry and beat him with 5 hits with all his strength and sent him flying, like, knocked him thousands of meters in the air and landed in the forest."
"They found him completely still in the woods, not moving, so he couldn't do anything without orders. But other than that, he was completely fine, so either he withstood All Might's force, or he regenerated from the damage he did. Either way, he was completely healthy when the heroes found them. And… uh… I think that's all?" I said in a single breath, I saw the four people blinking in my direction. Headmistress Salem was the first to react, and she nodded slowly.
"...I see..." Headmistress Salem said slowly. "And about Merlot's creation? What do you think of it? " she asked after a few seconds, my mind still racing.
"She was different... she seemed to be a Nomu, at least before Merlot turned her or fused her with a grimm-" I shuddered strongly "- she had several quirks, the generation of fog, her steps were too silent for someone her size to be natural, and super regeneration, well, Grimms can't regenerate like that, right? " I asked, confused.
"No, at least not as fast as that creature did," Qrow growled. I nodded.
"Then super regeneration too," I said simply. Headmistress Salem nodded.
"So you think the same as Summer," Headmistress Salem hummed before nodding. "That certainly helps. We'll have to contact Japan to get more information on the USJ accident."
"We still need to see the footage and information Summer acquired from Merlot's terminal," Glinda added. Director Salem nodded.
"At least with Merlot dead, we can try to recover something from the island. I'm sending a group of hunters to try to recover anything they can. There shouldn't be any more problems," Headmistress Salem said. Qrow groaned loudly.
"As long as you don't send me to supervise the group-"
"Merlot is alive," I said without hesitation as I interrupted the group. All four people turned to look at me, and I blushed slightly.
"What are you saying?" Headmistress Salem asked, frowning. I opened my mouth before closing it and looking down.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt!" I apologized quickly.
"No problem, Miss Rose, but how are you so sure Merlot is still alive?" Headmistress Salem asked. I timidly glanced at Mom, who was frowning. She didn't seem upset with me, but with the situation in general. She gave me a tired smile and nodded. I swallowed.
"I... can we watch the replay from before Merlot's broadcast was cut off? There's something I want to check," I said timidly. Headmistress Salem looked at me for a few seconds but nodded. She quickly manipulated the tablet and handed it to me. It was the body camera I'd been wearing, so the point of view, while somewhat different from what I remember, was exactly as I'd seen it.
I watched as Merlot began to self-destruct before laughing out loud and immediately paused the video.
"Here!" I pointed to one corner of the video. I quickly zoomed in. I hadn't been crazy.
"Is that it, dust?" Qrow asked, confused. I shook my head.
"No, it's fog," I said solemnly. "Black and purple fog. The same one used by the teleporter that attacked the USJ." That froze the four people in front of me. They began to pale before Mom groaned loudly.
"I have to stop forgetting that teleporter!" Mom exclaimed in frustration.
"All of us do, Summer," Headmistress Salem said, frowning. "We're not used to an enemy with that much mobility. But that's really a problem. If Merlot is still alive and keeps creating more of those creatures…" The group fell into solemn silence. Until the principal sighed wearily. "Summer, I'll have to ask you to return to Japan indefinitely."
"I was already planning on it. Even if he's dead, I'd rather hunt down a ghost than let Merlot loose again. The last time he disappeared, he created that monstrosity." Mom grunted, and the group nodded. Headmistress Salem looked at me and smiled tiredly.
"Good job noticing, Miss Rose, and excellent work on the island. Even though Merlot escaped, the mission was a success. Congratulations, you can rest easy," Headmistress Salem said with a weak smile. I grimaced.
"I'm sorry." I said simply, the principal shook her head once more.
"Don't apologize. It's better to know about this now than to let it go. We'll catch Merlot no matter what," Headmistress Salem said determinedly. I nodded and remained silent. I guessed this wasn't completely over.
