Issues of Post-Game Crossovers: Tales of Symphonia and RWBY

Chapter 1: Why are we here?

Spoilers for Tales of Symphonia Ahead! It's a great game, play it!

I don't own the rights to either Tales of Symphonia or RWBY. I make no money off of this work, and only do this for my own amusement. Legal immunity.

Text Key

"Speaking" "Thinking" "SHOUTING" 'Summons' [Sound Effects]

With that, We Begin

'Once upon a time, there were two gods. These gods were brothers and every day the older would go down to a particular planet and bless it with life. The younger brother would then follow, and destroy whatever the older had made. Before long, the older brother grew wise to his brother's schemes and made helpers to protect the life he made.

'He created the graceful and mystical elves, along with the hardy and skilled dwarves. Working together, they wounded the younger brother with a sacred fire made from the light of their souls.

'Enraged, the younger god created his own race to destroy his brother's work, and named them demons, and gave them the ability to create monsters to serve them.

'Grieved by the deaths of his children, the elder brother pleaded with the younger to stop their endless rivalry. The two gods worked together to create one last race; humans. With the power to both create and destroy, they were to left alone to decide their own fate.

'The two gods agreed to create separate homes for their creations, and so the elder created Derris-Kharlan and the younger created Niflheim. But the younger brother did not abide by this agreement. He left behind one demon, his most powerful. The humans gathered together to kill the demon, but it was too crafty. It fled, leaving behind its body.

'Without a body, the spirit wandered throughout the land, leaving ravenous monsters from parts of its power. For thousands of years it ravaged the land until people forgot about the gods and demons, and could only fight the monsters that endlessly streamed from darkness itself. Humanity rose to the challenge, and beat back the monsters, but eventually even the strongest will grow weary and fall when victory cannot be grasped. It is only a matter of time.'

"But perhaps, victory is in those simpler things, which you have long forgotten. Help can yet come from unexpected places, and the power of a sacrifice is no small thing."

-ToS/RWBY-

Four young adults of various ages stood in the middle of a lush forest, surrounded by hordes of bone-plated monsters. The eldest of the group, a ninja girl with black hair, gave a sigh and addressed the group's red-clad leader. "Lloyd, why are we here?"

One wolf-like monster leapt forward to attack, but fell to the ground when a golden halo casually arced through its hind legs. The thrown weapon completed its circuit and returned to the hand of a blonde with white clothes and ethereal butterfly wings. "The Goddess Martel created us to love one another and make the world a better place!"

Undaunted by the crippling its wolfish brother, a bear-like monster attempted to tackle the dark-haired girl. She stood her ground, and when it came close enough, she pummeled it with paper talismans. The bear looked vaguely insulted for a moment, before the tags exploded and destroyed its head. "I'm not talking about why we're alive in general, Colette. I'm asking why we're out here in this forest on an entirely different planet"

Losing all hesitation, the monsters all charged forward in an unorganized mass. Then a sound caught their attention. A silver haired boy with pointed ears was chanting. "Infinite Power, Grant me thy strength. Meteor Storm!" A barrage of magic meteors fell from the sky and decimated the charging monsters. "You're the one who volunteered first when Lloyd asked if anyone would go down with him for reconnaissance! I don't understand what's so complicated."

Sheena nimbly leapt over a charging boar monster and assaulted it with her talismans. "I just want to be sure that we're all on the same page here, Genis. I thought we were going down to the city to find a way a way to blend in and learn about the situation of this world that Kratos found. That doesn't seem to be what we're doing."

The leader in red wove through the remaining monsters, rapidly removing heads and limbs with his twin swords. "Dad said that the world had mana, but that he also detected the presence of demons. We're establishing the threat level of the area. Plus, we need to scout the surrounding area to be able to explain how we got here. I don't think that telling whoever we meet that we arrived by space bending sword will lead to much trust." He casually sliced the wing off an attacking bird monster. "So we need to be able to believably play of the county bumpkins, as Zelos would say."

Genis struck one of the wolf monster on the head with the mace-like ball of his weaponized kendama, caving in its skull. "Lloyd, did you just repeat what Kratos told you?"

Lloyd paused, letting a scorpion's stinger embed itself in the ground right in front of him. "No… I didn't use the exact same words, No." he split the scorpion in half before finish his response. "And I came up with the country bumpkin thing all on my own!"

A loud trumpet interrupted their conversation. An elephantine monster lumbered into the conflict. Colette used her wings to fly up to the face of the monster before turning back to the rest of the party. "Wow! It's so big!"

Genis and Sheena sighed in exasperation. Lloyd shouted a warning.

The blonde angel turned around and reeled in shock at the sight of its trunk raised to strike.

"Rising Falcon!" Lloyd flew into the air and struck the base of the trunk. The appendage was severed and dissolved in a shower of petals. "Genis, target its front right leg with Earth spells, announce when you're ready. Sheena, boost us. Colette, focus on the eyes. I'll wound its other legs to keep Genis' target in place. This is our first real threat, let's go!"

-Five Hours Later, Vale Weapon Shop-

The four young adults stood awkwardly in a line as a balding middle aged man looked over the weapons they recovered from the corpses of the monsters they killed. None of them had any idea what any of the weapons were worth, what the money was worth, what even passed for money, or even if taking abandoned weapons was frowned upon.

After a long period of silence, the man looked up. "I assume you folks ain't from around here, and I don't care to know where you're from or where you got these. The kingdoms have got a constant demand for weapon parts like these, and most no one asks where they're from. So, I'll take the parts, but I ain't touching the dust so long as all these robberies on stores and transports keep going on. I emptied my shop of all that stuff and I'm not having you making me a target again." He gave a glare before lighting up in greed and rubbing his hands together. "So then, the deal. I'll remove the dust containers and give them to you, no charge. For the parts…" he eyed the heap of assorted weapons running his tongue over his lips. "gunna need to strip 'em, price 'em, wait for the discerning customer who wants exactly that piece…. I'll give ya, let's say seven thousand total and two thousand to have never seen you four. Five thousand, and you cover your buts; that'll get ya set in vale for a month and you keep the dust. How's about it?"

The four foreigners stood at a complete loss. Lloyd came to a decision and put a hand down on the pile of weapons. "I'll take them apart myself. If people here don't buy complete weapons then I'll sell the materials."

The man gained a sly smirk. "Alright then. You take apart the weapons and I'll make up the difference in information. Anything you need to know, right at your fingertips." He slid a glass looking tablet in front of them. "That's a scroll, the latest technology that connects you to everything humanity has ever made." "Latest model too, so those parts had better be good. You're just lucky I thought you'd notice the wear on my old one, otherwise you'd be getting it used."

"Alright, Koton. Seven thousand and the scroll for the parts and any information on us is free game. That sounds fair."

-Vale—

"We got scammed! Those parts sell for ten times that, and you could get the scroll for under a hundred!"

"Let it go Lloyd. We still got what we needed."

"No, don't let it go! Who knows how many other needy people that guy has scammed! Lloyd, let's go back and teach him a lesson!"

"Not you too, Sheena! Colette, do something to distract them!"

Said blonde didn't hear the request, as her attention was held by a small grey dog. "Rocco! He looks so cuddly!"

Lloyd and Sheena stopped before letting go of their anger for later. They already paid for a hotel and the scroll told them that there was a nearby store willing was to buy dust and was open for another hour. They could spend a couple of minutes playing with a dog and it wouldn't change anything, right?

But of course it did, that's what always happens in fairy tales.

A group of men in suits and entered the dust shop. One of said men exited the shop via the front window. A girl in a red cloak and combat skit rose to take the criminals down with skill and style. Gunshots rang out and the pavement was scarred. The dog was cuddled. Somehow the last one completely monopolized the blonde's attention as the rest of her team raced to the source of the commotion.

When they arrived they were struck with the image of a single girl standing in the midst of five unconscious men with one man left opposing her. Then they realized that they had no idea what was actually happening.

"Genis, are either of them half-elves?"

"No, but they have more mana than civilians. We can interrogate them once they're finished."

The plan was executed with slight modification when the man let loose with a fire spell and fled. Fortunately, he cornered himself on a rooftop and the party was able to follow.

"Persistent… Red brought some friends. I'm afraid I can't play with you, I have a date with a fiery witch. Now if that bloody witch would just SHOW UP…"

Meanwhile, said red- clad witch was busy struggling with a dog loving blond who was trying to force an apology for scaring a dog.

The distraction gave time for the red cloaked girl and a blonde woman wielding a riding crop to arrive on the roof. The fleeing man gave a relieved sigh as he saw his escape vehicle finally arrive.

The side door opened and a woman in a torn dress threw a blonde onto the roof, followed by multiple gouts of fire. Green spheres surrounded the four interlopers, protecting them. The older blonde and the cloaked girl were forced to dodge, losing the opportunity to attack. The blonde girl called for one of her companions to help the huntress.

Roman crawled into the ship and put out a small fire that had started on his pant leg. "Had a bad break-up? Couldn't keep relationship problems off the job?"

The woman's response was silent, but the heat of the glare convinced the man to head to the cockpit. His hand was almost on the control when the he was thrown to the side. The ship bashed against one of the buildings. He barely managed to gain control of the craft and tried to fly away but a force pulled him back.

Meanwhile, the woman in the body of the dust plane was attempting to fire a clear shot against the blonde huntress, but the ship was tilting wildly and the four children who blocked her opening salvo were standing as guards. As her thoughts raced, she gave a growl. "Everything is off. First that girl spooked Roman, now a huntress with a team of apprentices are doing far too well at preventing our escape. The little girl knew where the ship was hidden; she was waiting. Do we have a leak? Heads are going to roll once we get back. I can't believe I was forced to go this far." The design on her dress began to glow and flames sprouted across the rooftop.

The heroes scattered. The blonde woman dodged, but noticed that the scythe girl was about to dodge into a trap. She caught the girl by the hood and dragged her to safety. "They seem to be handling themselves well, but they're out of their league. Whoever this woman is has training and isn't afraid to kill. I have to let Roman go to save the children."

Without any opposing force the bullhead flew away, leaking a thin trail of smoke. The blonde woman watched the ship leave and gave an internal sigh. She turned to the five young adults with a teacher's glare and speech ready.

But there was only the cloaked teen still on the roof. The other four were already pursuing the criminals' ship with personal flying craft that one of them must have summoned. She took note of their appearances and resolved that she would ensure proper punishment was meted out later.

The cloaked teen had no idea of the ideas in the huntress's head, and was busy staring at her new idol. "Can I have your autograph?"

-Vale Interrogation Room—

"What you did was incredibly dangerous! You and your friends fought opponents of unknown strength, pursued an unknown criminal, and tried to stand in the middle of a duel of huntresses, and they pursued without assistance! It's utter luck that your blonde friend was still alive. I realize that the pressure to fit in can be a motivation to do many foolish things, but I will not allow your group to walk away thinking that you are invincible heroes! Now tell me about your friends and I'll lighten your punishment."

"Ummm, I never met them before. I thought they were with you. They were all, 'whoosh!' and 'pow!' And they made those shields, and there's no way those mimi dust planes aren't special hunter tools!"

The stern woman pushed up her glasses. "No, they were not 'with me', nor does that excuse you from punishment. You mean to tell me that you thought you could take down a hunter-trained wanted criminal by yourself? You put yourself and others in grave danger."

"…They started it."

A strike landed across the table from the woman's riding crop. The two held eye contact for a second before the woman gave a sigh. "Unfortunately, your punishment is not up to me. There's someone here to speak with you."

A gray-haired man walked in bearing a plate of cookies and a coffee cup. The baked treats were placed in front of her. "Ruby Rose. You have silver eyes." The man took a seat and motioned for her to eat. "Why don't you tell me where you learned how to fight."

-Vale Hotel, Hour Later—

The four young adults walked into the hotel room and threw themselves onto the beds. Lloyd Lifted up his arm and let it fall. "I'm sorry. We couldn't catch them because I wasn't paying attention."

Sheena immediately leapt to his defense. "Lloyd, There's no way we could have predicted that an arrow would come through the wall of the ship, much less that it would be poisoned. Besides, I'd much rather have you alive than criminals any day."

"Thanks Sheena. I-"

"You know, it probably is for the best that we didn't catch them. We'd probably have to give information we don't know yet and gather more attention than we want. Rushing into that situation probably wasn't your smartest idea Lloyd."

"Shut up Genis! We can't just ignore people suffering right in front of us; right Colette?"

When she heard her name the blonde perked up. "I'm just sad that I can't give that lady her tablet back, it fell out when we were wrestling in the ship. I bet she's wondering where she lost it. She'll probably be relieved to know that we have it."

-Criminal's Airship—

The woman moved to pull out her scroll, but found nothing. He anger flared, but she quickly brought it under control. "It must have been that blonde child. She could easily withstand my weak attacks and knew I couldn't use a lethal level of power without risking damaging the bullhead, so she put on the act of being an airhead to get me to drop my guard and steal my scroll before allowing herself to be ejected. Clever bitch. That meeting was no accident, someone turned traitor. I'll need to find and eliminate the leak, and remake my plans. I have a lock, but it will only buy time. That scroll only contained contacts, but I'll need to silence them before they can be used to trace me. The queen will need to know of this."

-Vale Hotel—

"Colette, I don't think she'd accept it back from you. She did try to kill you, she 'd probably think you were trying to kill her."

"Oh. But Sheena tried to kill me before, and now we're friends; I'm sure we'll become friends soon!"

"Sheena's special, Colette. Most people aren't as nice as she is. I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"He he, Sorry."

A knock interrupted the moment and the gray-haired man walked in without waiting for an answer. "You know, for four individuals who should stick out so much, you are a rather difficult group to find. I was fortunate that Miss Rose caught your name amidst the confusion, Lloyd, Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find this reservation in your name." The four teens readied their weapons. The man took a sip from his mug. "Do you know who I am?"

Lloyd closed his hand around the pommel of his swords. "You know far more than you're telling, just like Kratos. What's your scheme?" The words carried perhaps a bit too much venom after the betrayals he and his team had suffered in the name of a plan.

The man merely gave a small smile and took another drink. "I am Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon. We are a school dedicated to training those who fight the monsters of Grimm. You showed promise, and I would hate to see it rot in prison for illegally infiltrating the kingdom or have you be claimed by Atlas for interrogation. I would like to offer you protection as students of my academy."

Genis sat up at the offer but said nothing. Lloyd looked around the room, lost in memory. "We've been used as pawns before. Then a friend opened our eyes. You hunted us down specifically, what do you really want?"

Ozpin took another drink from his mug and pulled out a scroll. A surveillance feed of their fight against the monsters was showing. "The grimm have existed as far back as human history records. They have no souls and their only drive is to destroy humanity. They are attracted and empowered by negative emotion, yet I see the four of you standing fearless and calm in the middle of a swarm. The grimm have been an impossible question, but I have the feeling that you are connected to the answer." He walked to the end of the room and looked out the window. "I will not and cannot force you to attend Beacon. But know if that if you do choose to attend you and whatever goals you have here will be protected. Anyone from your home is welcomed to take refuge at Beacon while you learn there." He turned back to the door and placed four envelopes on the room's table while leaving. "If you do decide to attend, fill out the forms and come to campus in two days. I'm sure the rest will sort itself out."

As the door closed, the four young adults looked at each other. Genis spoke first. "I think we should do it. We need to learn more about the world, and what better place to learn than a school."

Colette beamed, "It will be just like Aselia again! We'll make so many friends!"

Sheena stood up and stamped her foot. "We can't trust him! Just because he runs a school doesn't mean he's a good guy. The Imperial academy did terrible things, and that was a school!"

Lloyd gave a sigh seeing where the discussion would end. "I don't trust him either, but it's better to stay close and learn what he's scheming than go blind. Plus, it may be a place we can stay with the rest of the group without raising suspicion."

Sheena gave a light sigh but said nothing as she took one of the envelopes and began the task of filling out her personal information. The other three followed and worked on their own forms in silence… for about a minute. Colette raised her hand like she was in class. "For race, do you think I should put down human or angel?"

-Chapter 1 End-

Omake after the author's notes

Any updates are contingent on interest and my mood. Next update will be issues of Omniscience.

This will be a new series that interweaves the worlds of Tales of Symphonia and RWBY. The story will take place largely on Remnant. Since Rooster Teeth went out of their way to make their hunters rather videogame-y, I'll do my best to make the game elements fit into the RWBY lore. In line with that, the Symphonia characters will continue to rely on their exspheres, and not unlock their aura. Exspheres will give a boost to specific attributes and defense far beyond what aura does, but lacks its versatility. The Symphonia cast will not get semblances, or be able to use dust. They will be stronger than almost anyone they meet, but only in their own specialties. Victory is not assured for them. They'll outclass almost everyone still in beacon because of their experience, but they're meant to fight as a team. Individual sparring going to be fun to think through, though.

The deeper comparison going on is the sheer method of problem solving, and how information is used.

-Omake, If They Didn't Pet the Dog—

Roman Torchwick strode into the dust shop with his crew of hired thugs behind him. The moment the door opened, his eyes were assaulted by a boy in a painfully red suit. He would have continued with the theft anyway, but the teen bore two sheaths, and Junior would charge him extra for any injuries to the hired help.

So he instead bit back on the violence and instead settled for mockery as caught the boy's attention. "Haven't you ever heard what they say about people in red shirts?"

The youth turned to face him with a retort, but stopped as he saw the hair.

In the poorly lit shop, a terrible mistake was made. The orange hair seemed red, and the face was mistaken for a different flamboyant personality. "Zelos? What happened to you? They cut your hair, made you put on extra make-up… Was it a girl? Is this punishment?"

The confused boy was shaking him by this point, and Roman was off balance from the surprise. It was all he could do to let out an irritated denial. He had to get things under control again. The goons were starting to snicker, and he couldn't work with a damaged reputation. "Watch the hands! This suit is custom made!"

By this point the commotion attracted other attention. A pre-teen with silver hair gave the criminal a quick look before shaking his head. "Custom suit? He isn't too far gone if he still has his vanity. Someone in this world likely put him under an illusion."

The swordsman nodded. "I'll try to make him remember himself, you and the rest of the party try to find the spellcaster. Be sure to stick together."

The brat nodded before holding out a wallet stuffed with lien. "Take this, Colette said that some Orange haired Narcissist in a white suit dropped it. You'll probably need all the money you can get."

Roman searched through his pockets and felt his world slowly begin to unravel. This was really happening. Everything he knew about the world came apart at the seams as he was overpowered by a kid and marched out of the shop accompanied by the laughter of the men who were supposed to help him rob said store.

One the laughter died down and Roman was out of sight the hired goons looked at each other, only just realizing that their employer had been kidnapped right in front of them. "So, uhhh, what are we supposed to do now?"

"The guy paid in advance. I'm just gunna' consider this the easiest day of work I've ever had."

"Sounds good. First round's on me! Caveat entor, Sucker!"

Meanwhile, a girl in the back of the shop was completely oblivious to what she had just missed out on stopping.