Geoff examined the partially destroyed helmet he held in his hands, walking steadily and easily as the rest of Team LADS and GENTs hobbled along behind him. Dropping his arms back to his side, he considered how lucky he was, getting to drink literally gallons of fine Whiskey instead of having to fight for his life. Turning to look at his friends, all of them battered, and in the case of Lindsay, and assumedly Ryan, broken in some way.

"Ray?" Geoff asked, slowing for a second to walk next to him, "Didn't you drive us here?"

"Are you fucking kidding?" Ray scoffed, turning to Geoff with a confused look on his face, "After the earthquake, all the underground shit at Beacon got fucked up! So now, even if I did sneak into the garage, like I already totally don't do, mostly because I'm Puerto Rican, I'd have no way of getting the cars out! It's just another useless place I shouldn't fucking be, like America!"

Geoff pulled back and let Ray stomp on ahead, being slightly taken aback as he listened to him angrily yell about "Rockstars" and not being able to "...access my fucking garage!"

Behind Geoff, Ray was probably the least harmed of the group, his astounding agility proving quite the benefit.

Geoff shrugged and chuckled silently, thinking about the amount of experience Ray had with moving quickly to avoid conflict, recalling his line about 'being in America', making Geoff giggle loudly. He stopped and leaned against a pole, watching the rest of his comrades shuffle and hobble their way past, like a pack of old ladies on their way to a bingo night.

With Ray trudging off up ahead, the now passing pack was led by Gavin. Geoff noticed very little visible harm on the Brit; however, his awkward waddle as he cradled his crotch, accompanied by the squeaking noises he would make every few steps, brought Geoff to assume that Gavin may have an issue.

"Oooh! My bloody knob!" Gavin cooed painfully, glancing at Geoff as he sidled up next to him, "Ooh, My testes have gone all gammy Geoff!"

"Jesus, did you fucking twist them again?" Michael asked annoyed by let another display of Gavin's incompetence, "Keep that up and you and," Michael paused, looking at Lindsay, causing them to both chuckle evilly.

"You and Meg won't be having any big-nosed babies at this rate Gavvy," Lindsay chirped, sounding surprisingly upbeat considering she was nursing her broken arm in a sling made from Ryan's long-discarded trench coat, much to his distaste.

Gavin stopped dead in his tracks as Lindsay sang out his little-known girlfriends name teasingly, Geoff followed suit, stopping mostly due to a mix of intrigue and amusement.

"OoOoH!" Geoff exclaimed in the girliest voice he could muster, "Who's this Meg character?"

"Uhh!" Gavin squawked, eyes darting around anxiously, "Ahh! None of your business!" He shouted awkwardly, waddling away from the pack as fast as he could, squeaking as he moved.

"Hey Gavin!" Michael chuckled, half-cupping his mouth with his hand to ensure the Brit, and everyone else, could hear him, "If you don't want to get your nutsack twisted again, you could just staple your balls to your leg or something!"

Geoff cringed audibly, slamming his legs together at the thought, feeling the pain of what Michael had just described in his own crotch. As he took his next few, rather awkward steps, stretching his legs to work out the pain, Geoff examined Michael and Lindsay, Michael running to catch up with Gavin, Lindsay in tow close behind, moving as fast as she could without hurting her broken arm, laughing happily.

He smirked, his moustache tickling his upper lip as he watched the pair playfully tease the Brit. His view of this became obstructed as two more of his teammates, Jack and Caiti, shuffled in front of him.

Jack and Caiti each had one of their arms over the other's shoulder, helping each other down the street, past Geoff. While they had not announced any sort of relationship commitment, everyone could already tell, much to Geoff's voyeuristic delight, watching them and chuckling as they limped past, leaning cutely, yet purposefully on each other.

Geoff sighed as the realisation hit him. He, and he suspected Ray, would forever be known as 'The Ones that got a Girl after Gavin.'

"Oh fuck that!" Geoff protested, talking to himself and shaking his head in disgust, "I ain't lettin' Gavin show me up. I wonder if any of the chicks at beacon like cool shit, like video games, and chainsaws!" He laughed as he walked, observing his friends in front of him, when suddenly, something caught his attention.

"Two, Four, Six," Geoff counted in his head, pairing his friends with one of his fingers, "I'm Seven. Hey! Where's Ryan?"

Almost on cue, a pained groan rang out from behind him. A deep voice, unlike any other.

Swivelling on his heels, Geoff swung around and was met with the most depressing sight of the evening.

Ryan, barely able to support himself, limped along as silently as he could; trying, and struggling to disregard the immense pain he was in. He gingerly continued forward, using the wall next to him for support.

"Hey Bachelor Number two," Geoff chuckled, trying to cheer up his teammate with his usual, badly timed humour.

"Leave, me, alone." Ryan groaned, his voice an equal mix of anger and depression as he puffed out the words with a deep breath, his gaze not leaving the ground.

"Wow dude, what the fuck?" Geoff scoffed angrily, his squinted eyes burning into the shoulders of the hunched figure "I was just tryin' to fuckin' help."

"I, I don't need your help," Ryan hissed, turning his head towards Geoff for a second as he spoke, beginning to liven up a little; becoming louder as he became more irate, "I said, leave me alone."

"Jesus! Let me get you a fucking cane, you grumpy old bastard!" Geoff shouted back sarcastically, running his fingers through his hair before pointing evilly at Ryan, who was now looking back at him, "Fuuck me! No, wait, Fuck YOU!"

"You're a mean drunk, you know that?" Ryan coughed, standing up straight for a second, before immediately hunching back over in pain, "I mean you have a real drinking problem."

"Ha-ha- No." Geoff laughed, immediately becoming quite serious as he turned to stare Ryan right in the eyes, causing the man to chuckle,

"I am the real drinking problem."

After what had seemed like forever, the lock jingled once more, and the door swung open, once again revealing the dark, lightly furnished hostel dormitory.

However, something was different.

Flicking on the light switch, Geoff strolled into the room, being the first of the two teams to notice the sealed letters sitting atop each bed.

Everyone made their way to their respective beds, and took hold of the letter.

They all sat down on the edge of their bed,

They all opened the letter, simultaneously,

They all began reading,

And they were all left in pure and utter shock.

The entire school was silent, even the usual cool breeze that blew through the corridors was gone.

The students were there, but the life was not.

The school was dead, due to a lot more than just structural and physical damage.

Emotional damage was also currently taking a rather large toll.

Recently, the school had lost someone very important, someone special to everyone, someone who had been an inspiration to all.

His name was Monty.

Team LADS and GENTs sat near the stage at the front of Beacon's main hall, dumbfounded by the amount of people that continued to flow in through the auditorium door's, filling up any and all available space they could find.

In the middle of the stage, at the front of the room, was a white coffin, lid closed, covered in Red Rose Petals.

The halls doors closed as the last few stragglers squeezed their way in, and with a few moments of silence, Headmaster Burns took to the stage.

He positioned himself behind a podium, standing slightly to the right of the coffin.

"Mourning the loss of our friend, Monty Oum, who has passed away at 33 years old," Burnie announced, his throat already tightening as he spoke, forcing himself to continue. "Monty was the most talented fighting instructor we have ever had the privilege of working with, and I'm, I'm sure all of you, here today, have some kind of amazing, fond memory of him, and everything he did, In all the years he worked with Beacon Academy." Burnie was beginning to struggle, stuttering more and more. With a quick sniffle, he pressed on, "We have a few, Teachers and Students that have prepared some, some, eulogies, today. And, ahh, I would like to welcome, my boss, the Training Academy Chief Advisor for the Vale Region, Mr Matt Hullum, to the stage, to say a few words about, about Monty, and how great of a guy he was."

There was no applause as Mr Hullum took to the stage, palm cards in hand, his forced, professional stance not matching the emotionless face he wore, obviously tremendous at concealing his emotions.

"Our friend, inspiration, and co-worker, Monty Oum, passed away yesterday afternoon at 4:34 PM," Matt began, taking long, deep breaths between sentences, trying his utmost to maintain his professionalism. "He was surrounded by people who loved him very much. Ten days ago, Monty suffered a severe allergic reaction to a Death Stalker sting that left him in a coma. Although he fought bravely, his body was not able to recover. During his time in the hospital he was well cared for, and never in pain at any time." At this point, even Mr Hullum was struggling, "As for honouring Monty, we will do that in our own way. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place, in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to. Monty was 33 years old. We, love you, Monty."

"We love you, Monty," Professor Oobleck whispered from his seat, the only sound to pierce the silence following Matt's speech, only just loud enough for Team LADS and GENTs to hear.

Retaking his place at the podium, Headmaster Burns inhaled deeply.

"I would now like to invite, two of our First-Year teams to the stage," He sighed, removing his glasses and wiping the lenses on the corner of his suit-jacket, "On the behalf of everyone here today, I feel they will speak for all of us, with what they have to say."

Team LADS took to the stage first, having the shorter of the Team's Eulogies.

"Words can't describe the sadness I feel for the loss of Monty Oum," Michael choked, walking to the coffin, placing a Rose atop of it, "My thoughts are with his wife Sheena, and his family. I'll always love you, Monty."

"To the man who gave me a voice, the courage to create, and invaluable friendship," Lindsay trembled, holding the rose above her head as tears began to roll down her cheeks, "He was taken away far too early." She placed her rose alongside Michael's, and moved towards him, falling into his arms as she began to sob quietly into his shoulder.

"He was one of the most talented people I've ever met," Gavin trembled, shaking his head, adding his rose to the pair on the coffin, "Such a loyal, kind friend. I am so lucky to have known him. Rest in Peace Monty Oum."

"I grew this for you," Ray sighed, placing a large, extravagant rose with the steadily growing collection. "Rest in Peace Monty. I'll miss you buddy. Keep Moving Forward."

Team LADS left the stage, Lindsay clinging to Michael as the group of four walked down the stairs to the side of the stage. Making their way back to their seats, they passed by Team GENTs, heading towards the stage, it being their turn to pay their respects.

Taking to the stage first, was Ryan, who, given his innate ability for speech writing, remained completely silent. As he reached the coffin, he kissed his rose, before placing it down with the rest, his head following, proceeding to lean down and lightly kiss the head of the coffin, the most delicate action anyone had seen Ryan perform in their life.

"Goodbye Monty, you insanely talented badass," Geoff coughed, dropping his rose onto the pile, patting the coffin softly as he stared off into the distance, glint of nostalgia in his watery eyes, "There will never be anyone like you again, and the world was a better place with you in it."

"My first real Monty experience was when we were working on Alternate Stances and fighting Styles in our Daily Combat Training Class," Jack smiled, reminiscing, "As we were practicing, a few of us could hear a faint noise of heavy metal. We looked over and here our teacher was, sitting at his desk, head on his hand, sunglasses on, absolutely blasting heavy metal in his headphones. I waved at him, to let him know that he should probably turn down his music as to not melt his brain. He didn't respond. I waved again. What I didn't realize was that this was my first glimpse of Monty's powered down mode. The dude was asleep. It was then that I knew that this guy was something different. Monty was a special guy, and his legacy is going to live on. I'm going to miss him."

As Jack laid down his Rose, headmaster Burns once again moved to the Podium.

"And now," he stuttered, wiping his nose before gesturing to the final member of Team GENTs, "A final word, from student, Caiti Ward."

Burnie quickly moved offstage as he struggled to hold back tears, Caiti waiting until he had completely disappeared before beginning, not wanting to upset him any more.

"Today we lost a friend," She spoke, her voice calm and driving, "We lost a mentor, an inspiration, a visionary, an enigma; a part of our family. I'm not going to attempt to write any kind of summary of Monty's life. That's not my place, nor my intention today. My intentions are to let you know that it's okay to be impacted by this. It's not silly, pathetic, random or weird. If you're here, chances are Monty has made an impact on your life somehow, and this tragic news will impact you. You will feel something, and that is not only natural; it's normal. I want you to know that the support, compassion and kindness you've shown each other is indescribable; but sometimes we need a little more help than we'd like to admit. I struggled with words then, and I'm struggling now. I love you, Monty. We, Love you."

Caiti laid one final rose upon the white coffin, the silence in the room only interrupted by intermittent, grieving sobs emanating throughout the hall.

The coffin was slowly carried from the amphitheatre by the eight friends, walking it cautiously to a nearby airship, where Headmaster Burns had been waiting.

# Red like roses #

The following flight was the most solemn event ever experienced by almost everyone aboard the airship. As the ship landed and the rear doors opened, the friends found themselves on a rather precarious Cliffside of the Snowy Forest.

# Fills my dreams #

It was freezing atop the cliff, yet the temperature didn't seem to bother any of them. Stepping onto the snow-covered plateau, the blizzard-like gusts of wind collected the rose petals that had been resting on the coffin, sending them spiralling away, a brilliant tornado of red, drifting off, over the edge of the cliff, spreading them far and wide.

# And brings me to #

They bowed their heads as the coffin was lowered, the whistles of the wind masking the sound of the grave being filled. When they raised their heads, the ground patted flat, and snowdrifts were beginning to creep their way onto the exposed ground, blending with the already present snow, until the ground was completely unrecognisable.

At the very edge of the cliff, just above the freshly covered soil, was a tombstone, engraved with something resembling a freehand drawn loop, with simplistic birds scattered around the lower half. A pattern that, upon closer inspection, read 'Monty Oum'

This, was Monty's Symbol.

# The place you rest #

After a few minutes of silence, Team LADS, Team GENTs, and Headmaster Burns, re-boarded the airship, and began their flight back to Vale, no one wanting to speak. No one needing, to speak.

As the ship disappeared into the snowy haze, and the snowdrifts began filling in the Team's fresh footprints, four figures began to emerge from the blizzard, trudging their way towards the recently erected altar.

The four figures stopped before the altar, all in a line, all clad in armour.

One Cyan,

Another, Steel,

The third, in Black,

And the fourth, in White.

Head's bowed, eyes closed, hands clasped in front of themselves, the armoured team paid respects of their own.

Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the four figures straightened, turned, and began walking back the direction they had come, quickly disappearing into the storm, the only remaining trace they were there being their footprints.

But, as always, memories of where you have come from, and where you have been, will all disappear over time…

What you do in between those temporary footprints, however; is what defines you, and ensures that you are remember for more than just a few, fleeting footprints in the snow, only to be blown away and forgotten.

What you do with your time is what defines you, and defines why you are remembered, and time is short.

So never, waste, a second.

Keep Moving Forward.

Author's Note:

Well, that was a deep one, how are we all?

Now, to clarify a few things, during the eulogies, if they sound familiar, that is because I have actually used tweets and journal entries from the characters' real-life counterparts, given that my style is to quote characters in another, appropriate context. Did it work out alright?

Now, I would like to say, Rest in Peace, Monty Oum, you were taken far, far, too soon, and you will be remembered forever, in minds, in hearts, in stories, films, shows, and songs. Rest in Peace.

Really, apart from that, this chapter is really quite different from anything else I've done so far, so if you'd like to tell me how I did, feel free to Leave a Review!

Support is always appreciated guys, and you can always Follow or Favourite if you'd like!

I'm going to end this here by saying that, I love you all. You are all truly amazing people, all of you, and never forget it!

Alright, have a wonderful month, see you soon, and Keep Moving Forward.