Uploaded 11/16/2016
Edited 11/23/2016 - some document cleanup
Edited 12/16/2016 - Announcing winner
Welcome everyone!
I have a few ideas for a RWBY FF7 crossover but I can't settle on one. So here's my solution. A preview (of sorts) of each idea so you can get a taste of what the story would be like. At the end, cast a vote for which idea was your favorite and the winner will become an actual story from me! Now I know I don't have good history with finishing projects but I'm gonna change that! Anyways, the other ideas will be put up for adoption. Now onto the fun! Enjoy!
Idea 1 - Summary: After destroying Omega, Vincent awakens on Remnant and quickly learns a familiar evil followed him. Will he be able to prevent the nightmare on this world? - Title: Remnant's Nightmare - Main cast: Vincent, Sephiroth, Team RWBY - Probable character death
Status: Up for adoption
Ozpin sat in his office facing the massive window, observing the rather horrid storm blanketing Vale. Rain angrily pelted the window driven almost entirely horizontal by the fierce wind that surprisingly had not yet toppled any trees around the academy. Several hours ago he had given the announcement that all students must remain inside during the storm when it started getting bad. That was yesterday afternoon. He was hoping that the wind at least would subside long enough for the students to get out and stretch for a while but the storm was being unusually stubborn. A bright flash of lightning made him reflexively shut his eyes.
One…
Two…
Thr-
Thunder rumbled by and Ozpin took another sip of coffee. He noticed some lights down in the city flicker while in a different area, the less extravagant district, went dark. A soft sigh left him, this storm was something else. He heard the elevator arrive and open but he continued looking at the clouds. The tell tale sound of heels clicking on the floor told him it was his assistant and dear friend.
"The storm shows no sign of letting up yet," Glynda said flatly, merely stating a fact "And the students are getting restless. Which is understandable. Honestly I'm surprised no one has snuck out yet."
Ozpin merely hummed his acknowledgement. Another bright flash followed by a loud crash a full three seconds later. He was about to make another one of his wise yet cryptic remarks when a bolt of lightning lit the sky and a bright ball with a purple hue fell from the sky the next instant. A second later the rumbling thunder rolled by and another bolt of lightning appeared but this time a small ball with a green hue fell from the sky. Both small meteors raced down to Emerald Forest and disappeared into the leafy canopy.
"Well," Ozpin said calmly "You don't see that every day."
"Should we send a team to investigate?" Glynda asked, already thinking about who to send to the crash site.
"No need to send anyone out in the rain, miss Goodwitch." Ozpin told her "Meteors are completely natural and will still be there when the storm is done ruining our fun." Glynda gave a sigh.
"If you are certain."
Down in the dorms
tap tap … tap tap … tap … taptaptaptaptap … tap tap …
"Yang! Please!" Weiss shouted at her blonde teammate, who was annoyingly tapping the window. The girl in question looked over at the heiress and let a wicked grin spread over her face before:
taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap…
"Some of us are trying to study!" Weiss shouted louder "So for Oum's sake-!"
"Some of us are dying of boredom!" Their team leader, Ruby Rose, whined "This stupid rain is literally killing me!"
The blonde girl, Yang Xiao Long, shot to her feet and had her weapons ready in an instant "What!? How dare it even think of harming my sister!" Yang shouted in a playful tone "I'm gonna go out there and-" she was interrupted by a flash of lightning and the sight of a meteor piercing the clouds, closely followed by a second that had a different trajectory "Whoa. That's pretty cool." Yang's comment made the other three look out the window and spot the meteors.
"Wow. Meteors actually hitting the ground are really rare. Like once in a lifetime." Blake said quietly and then was almost surprised by a loud thud a second later. The sound was Ruby jumping off her bed.
"So let's go check them out!" the young girl announced.
"What? I'm not going out in this weather." Weiss shot back "And the headmaster said no students were allowed out until after the storm- Hey!" Ruby already had her gear ready and was unlocking the window.
"C'mon Weiss," Ruby said in an excited tone "A little rain won't hurt you."
"That's not a little rain. And I don't want to be caught breaking rules." Weiss reply in her tone that meant she was putting her foot down.
"Well the rest of us are going. So you can be our alibi." Yang laughed as she opened the window and jumped out.
**** Much later in the story ****
She watched the mysterious man slowly walk towards her. Her normally predatory and calm gaze flicking around, searching for an escape. This situation was impossible. She had spent her life training to be the best, the most powerful among those she served alongside and yet this man, this monster, had ripped through everything. Roman and Neo were on opposite sides of the warehouse defeated but alive. Most of the White Fang that had been here were dead. Mutilated. The rest were dying of mortal wounds. And throughout the massacre, he had been calm. Clear. Bored.
Her back hit a container and something new happened. A foreign emotion raced down her spine and made her knees threaten to buckle. Terror. She thought about making a run for it, her terror brought that thought, but her cold logical side painted a gruesome image of her being cut down like so many White Fang just minutes ago. Now though, he was toying with her. An apex predator tormenting another predator, making it feel like the prey that was so thoughtlessly hunted and slaughtered. He stopped an arm's length from her and she refused to break eye contact, refused to show any fear, refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had won.
He smiled, she glared. He chuckled softly, she growled. He raised his right hand, she channeled what aura she had left. He tucked some hair behind her ear, she grabbed his wrist. She focused her fury into flash incinerating his hand, he started crushing her throat. They locked gazes, burning gold glaring into shining green.
"You remain because you are powerful and smart." His smooth, deep, voice rolled out perfectly calm. He was far too charming considering just how sadistic he was. "However, I have no use for those who prove to be troublesome."
A death threat without directly addressing it. That was her style. She knew he would not hesitate to kill her, seeing as how he was currently strangling her, applying just enough pressure to let her get a small amount of air. Not enough to live but just enough to draw it out for a long time, maximize the suffering, let the victim truly face death. His aura was refusing to relent to her fire burning at his arm. In the grand scheme of things a small surrender is much more preferable to death. So in the end, before her vision began to dim, she released his right wrist and his left hand eased off her throat but did not leave it.
"Now listen closely, Cinder." The man with long silver hair and cat eyes said in a way that made the woman feel like he was trying to seduce her "I have a generous offer for you and your minions."
Idea 2 - Summary: Sometimes an unexpected meeting can change your life. Jaune meets quite an interesting person after getting lost at Beacon. - Title: none yet - Main Cast: Sephiroth, Zack, Angeal, Genesis, Team JNPR, Team RWBY - No non-canon pairings planned
Status: Up for adoption
Jaune looked around frantically, trying to compare his surroundings to the map of beacon currently displayed on his scroll. He was lost and class would be starting in just a few minutes. Not a good way to begin the semester and this was supposed to be his chance at a fresh start as a new and better Jaune Arc. Since he was in the courtyard, still wondering how he got there, the blond teenager decided to take a quick break under a tree. He stood in the shade and took one deep breath before something came crashing down and scared him bad enough to make him jump back and fall on his rear.
A loud groan made Jaune realize a person had fallen out of the tree along with a large simply designed sword. The person was lying on their back but curled their legs up to their chest then with a powerful kick, flipped up onto their feet. When the person, now obviously a male, stood to their full height he towered over Jaune. Black spiky hair, bright blue eyes, a smile Jaune normally saw on Nora, and the black uniform of beacon.
"Oh, hey. A new kid." The black haired youth said before offering a hand to help Jaune up "Who're you?"
Jaune took the offered hand to stand up "Jaune Arc. Leader of team JNPR. You?"
"Zack Fair." The boy said with a smile as he grabbed his large sword and placed it on his back. Jaune was wondering how much the sword weigh "Member of team sage, senior student here at beacon, and official class clown." Zack produced a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Jaune. The blond was amazed to see that it actually had Zack's name, scroll number, and Class Clown printed on it.
"You seriously made business cards?" Jaune was wondering what kind of person he just met.
"Lesson one Jaune," Zack said with a grin as he threw an arm over the blond's shoulders "Always give it your all. Don't half-ass anything."
Jaune nodded but had a few other questions on his mind "Why were you up a tree?"
"I was enjoying the view from the top but the branch I was standing on broke." Zack thought for a moment about the current situation "Don't you freshmen have class right now?"
"Oh crap! Do you know where Oobleck's room is?" Jaune said quickly in panic.
"Follow me!" Zack answered loudly before slapping Jaune's back and taking off at a full tilt sprint.
Later, in the cafeteria
Jaune sat next to his team at the table they were sharing with team RWBY. Everyone was already digging into their lunch and chatting loudly. The blond was too focused on his food to contribute to the conversation but was snapped into reality when Pyrrha started speaking to him. A few minutes later another voice started speaking to him.
"Hey Jaune!" A loud friendly masculine voice rang out "Who're your friends here?" Jaune looked over to see the black haired boy, Zack, from this morning sitting down beside him. Looking back Jaune saw the other seven pairs of eyes on him.
"Oh, uh, this is my team. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren." Each waved in turn as Jaune introduced them "And that's team RWBY. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake." They also waved in turn "Guys this is-"
"Zack Fair," Zack announced, cutting off the blond. He could tell it was because Zack was energetic like Nora, not intentionally rude "Senior here at Beacon, official class clown, and member of team sage." Everyone nodded but Pyyrha also raised an eyebrow.
"Who else is on your team?" The redhead asked politely.
"My best friend Angeal, my frenemy Genesis, and our strong silent type leader Sephiroth." Zack answered quickly, just because of his obvious energetic nature that was seemingly good at controlling. His gaze flicked over to the door of the cafeteria and in a moment he was standing on his seat and waving his arms "Hey guys! Over here!"
The two first year teams were soon joined by three young men in the beacon uniform. One with auburn hair, blue eyes, and a sword with an ornate hilt at his left hip. One with straight black hair, groomed sideburns, and a light chin beard; on his back was an astoundingly huge sword. The last one had no weapon with him, was taller than the others, had long silver hair, and bright green eyes with slit pupils.
"Would it kill you to act normal for once?" The auburn boy groaned at Zack as he sat down.
"Probably not but why take the chance?" Zack laughed while the auburn boy groaned and facepalmed.
Blake and Yang shared a look as the all too familiar scenario played out in front of them. But their silent conversation was interrupted by their team leader blurting out a question.
"Are you a faunus?" Ruby loudly and quickly asks the silver haired boy who merely lifts an eyebrow at first.
Idea 3 - Summary: With dreams of becoming a great huntsman, Cloud has high hopes for his time spent at Beacon Academy. (FF7 characters in RWBYverse) - Title: none yet - Main Cast: team RWBY; Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Nanaki (as a Faunus), as team CYTN (citron) - No non-pairings planned but very possible
Status: Up for adoption
Cloud stepped off the transport with his duffel bag in hand and his sword carefully wrapped and slung on his back. The majesty of Beacon Academy was truly breath taking. He could not stop himself from staring in awe at the truly wonderful sights. Vale was already high above Nibleheim in basic life quality but Beacon stood high above the city. Both figuratively and literally. Even though he had only just barely passed the minimum requirements to attend this prestigious school, he was going to work his ass off. He had to if he wanted to be like his hero, the living legend-
Cloud's internal rambling was cut off by a girl shoving past him hard to get to the closest garbage bin and promptly vomit. The first thought through Cloud's mind was pity for whoever was teamed up with someone who got airsick. Having had enough of gawking at the sights Cloud adjusted his sword and started walking up towards the school, his home for the next four years.
"Cloud!" He heard a girl's voice call out.
He turned to see a brunette girl in a black leather outfit running towards him. Just before she stopped and threw her arms around him he realized who it was. It had been years since he had seen her and his childhood friend had really grown and not just vertically. Cloud knew he had a blush growing on his face from feeling the pressure on his chest. Thankfully Tifa pulled away after a moment and gave him a smile. The blond had to fight every teenage boy instinct to keep his eyes on hers and not look down at Tifa's chest.
"Its so go to see you! I'm so happy you got into Beacon too!" Tifa said cheerfully, nearly squealing with delight at seeing her oldest friend again.
"Y-yeah. Good to see you too, Tifa." Cloud stammered. He was glad to see her but it really knocked him off balance. Not to mention she was gorgeous now and he's not exactly an expert at talking to girls.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot you're not big on the physical contact thing." Tifa apologized nervously "So um-" she was cut off by an explosion and soon after the yelling of another girl "Oh geez…"
"C'mon. I'd rather not get involved in that." Cloud said, prompting Tifa to follow him towards the school.
At the peak of Beacon Academy
"I really don't like this idea, Ozpin." A male voice said from a scroll laying on a glass desk.
"I know, James. But this is the first time in almost twenty years that Midgar is willing to join the Vytal festival in a foreign kingdom. We must be willing to put a bit more effort into getting Midgar to join the festivities because of how isolated they have been." Ozpin said back.
"Have you even read the reports on the state of Midgar? On Shinra?" James snapped at Ozpin.
"We can't change anything in Midgar while the kingdom chooses to be isolated from the rest of the world. Trying to do so will provoke a much unneeded and extremely costly war." Ozpin said calmly "I have done my research and this is the best way. Even if Shinra's presence in Vale causes tensions, they have many resources that would greatly aid our efforts."
James gave a sigh and was silent for a time "I trust your judgement, old friend, but I can't say I actually support this choice to spoil Midgar during the festival."
"I did not expect you to. All I ask is you try to not antagonize any Midgar officials."
Idea 4 - Summary: Team RWBY find themselves on the world of Gaia after an encounter with a mysterious Grimm. There may not be Grimm on Gaia but there is no shortage of monsters… (post AC: FF7) - Title: None yet - Main Cast: Team RWBY, AVALANCHE - No non-canon pairings planned
Status: Up for adoption
"Ugh… what the hell happened?" Yang asked. Whatever hit she had sustained made her feel groggy and very nearly made her slur her words.
"Good question…" Blake reply not daring to open her eyes or make any unneeded movements just yet.
"Where are we?" Weiss asked her usual snippy tone "Doesn't seem anything like Forever Fall."
"Girls…" Ruby chimed in "We need to get moving…" there was no missing the unease in her voice.
The other did their best springing to their feet and took in their surroundings. It was all far too reminiscent of Mountain Glen to them. No green in sight, broken buildings, piles of rubble, shattered roads, but the key difference of being deathly silent. Above were shredded metal structures, enormous bulbous structures that looked almost salvageable and in one direction was a frighteningly tall structure leaning at a perilous angle but it was quite a distance away.
"I agree with Weiss." Yang stated "Where the dust are we?"
"This doesn't look like seem like any city in Vale or Atlas." Weiss confirmed.
"This doesn't look like any city on Remnant." Blake clarified.
"I really don't like how quiet it is…" Ruby squeaked and started looking around again but was very sad to learn Crescent Rose was nowhere in sight "You have your weapons?" Another turn allowed her to see her team members inspecting their weapons. She was crushed by this development but kept her head held high for her team "Okay team-!" She nearly yelled.
All three other girls shushed her.
"Right, right. Okay, what do we do first?" Ruby commanded/asked.
"Ruby," Yang prodded "Where's your scythe?"
"That Grimm knocked it out of my hands before it used that big attack…" Ruby reply with a defeated tone before bouncing back the next instant "But I'm gonna my baby then kill that Grimm!" She once again spoke a bit too loudly.
"Ruby! Hush!" Weiss hissed. Ruby nodded.
"So first we scout for a place to make camp." Blake said in her usual stoic voice.
"But try to make sure there is water nearby." Weiss added with a smile.
"Do we head towards the death tower or away from it?" Yang asked. Team RWBY turned to their weapon-less leader
"Away from the doom tower." Ruby decided. While not at expert on survival, she did know they were more likely to find water outside a ruined city.
After what felt like hours of walking through the ruined city they were getting close to the edge of it, they assumed. The entire time it had been the same. No green, dirt, dust (just the regular kind), ruined buildings, mangled steel, piles of rubble, and the crushing silence. The huntresses in training were getting jumpy because of the complete lack of life. Normally they would have encountered at least three groups of Grimm by now, yet the silence persisted. This city was truly dead. Passing the edge of the city was not anymore uplifting. As far as the eye could see in any direction was merely desolate wasteland.
"Where the hell are we!?" Weiss shouted at the sky, her voice echoing into the distance "And where are all the damned Grimm!?"
"Weiss!" Yang whispered harshly. Weiss reigned her emotions in.
"I'm sorry but this silence is killing me!" Weiss whispered back "First we're attacked by that weird Grimm, sent to who knows where in Remnant, and now there is nothing! Like there is no way there are no grimm here!" The heiress was having trouble keeping her voice down.
"Hey," Blake said to get her team's attention "I think I see a camp over there." There was in fact a camp in the distance and team RWBY made that their new destination.
Hunger started setting in after another hour of walking and remaining on guard for any surprise Grimm. Yet again, there were none of the creatures of darkness. This area went from strangely devoid of them to suspiciously lacking Grimm. On the other hand, the camp Blake pointed out turned out to be the outermost part of a shantytown. Rubble, wreckage, salvage, and newer looking trash was what this impromptu town on the border between wasteland and ruin was made of. The four girls were beyond confused by the sight of such low quality living, and people that looked barely alive, unprotected from the world and yet surviving. With questions burning their minds and hunger starting to prod at their bodies, the four walked up confidently but cautiously.
Many people they passed looked them over and looked away. Any questions they asked went unanswered as the obviously poverty ridden people ignored them. Only one person spoke to them and the only words from them was a warning about the town. Before they could ask for clarification they were approached by a couple men in dirty and tattered blue uniforms with an emblem, a red diamond with SEC vertically down the middle, on the shoulders. Both were holding rather powerful looking assault rifles, in Ruby's opinion.
"You ladies seem lost." The one on the left, brown hair and eyes with a short scraggly beard, said in a friendly tone.
"Need some directions?" The other one, short black hair with no facial hair and sunglasses, asked kindly. Ruby bounced up to speak with them.
"Oh that would be awesome!" Ruby said in her loud cheerful voice "What kingdom is this? What happened to the city? Where's all the plants? Where are the grimm? What kind of guns are those? Do they use standard rifle rounds or something larger? Are they able to use other kinds of ammo?" Ruby asked far too quickly for the soldiers to keep up.
Blake took stock of the area and noticed something very foreboding. The faunus was aware of people slowly and casually leaving the immediate area, going so far as to redirect others that had been coming their way. She gave Yang a light nudge and motioned to the suspicious behavior with her eyes. The blonde followed the look and mentally prepared herself for a fight, getting her aura ready. The two soldiers were just laughing at Ruby's enthusiasm.
"Come on girls," the brown haired soldier said with a smile "We'll get you safely away from these street folk and our commander will get you pointed in the right direction."
With hesitance from the older three girls team RWBY followed the two soldiers to a damaged, but still functional, building at the base of one of the giant bulbous structure. It was guarded by more people dressed as soldiers with guns. The black haired soldier spoke quietly to the one in front of the door and the guard slipped inside. A few minutes later the door slid open to reveal another soldier but judging by his hat and mildly better uniform he must of been a higher rank.
"Ah, our new guests." This new man said in a friendly tone but his grey eyes were hiding something dark.
"Where are we?" Weiss all but demanded of the man. The soldier looked ready to laugh.
"I take it you're not from around here. In that case, let me welcome you to Midgar, the biggest shit hole on the planet."
Idea 5 - Summary: Resurrected on the world of Remnant, Aerith is given an opportunity to help train future guardians of the light. How will Aerith fare at Beacon Academy? - Title: A New Class - Main Cast: Team RWBY, Aerith - No non-canon pairings planned
Status: Winner! My story.
"So, miss Gainsborough." Ozpin said as he looked over the information on his scroll "Tell me a little about yourself."
"Um…" Aerith put a finger to her lips as she thought about what to say "I like to garden and I make sure to always smile." She said with a nod.
"A friend of mine mentioned you have a rather rare ability to heal." The wise man stated while making sure to meet her gaze and return the smile. Aerith nodded.
"Yeah I can use my power to heal." Aerith said with a shrug. She never found her Cetra power all that strange.
"A very uncommon ability here on Remnant." Ozpin stated "Now why don't we get to the main reason you're here. To put it bluntly, we know you're not from Remnant so it begs the question, where did you come from?"
Aerith was actually glad they he decided to not dance around the topic "My world is called Gaia. It has been through a lot but it has finally reached peace. Maybe. Hopefully. But um, yeah. I was brought here by the goddess Minerva."
Ozpin and the blonde woman shared a look before the grey haired man replied "You expressed an interest to remain here at Beacon. I hope you understand my concern about this but I can't allow you to remain here until you have proven that you are trustworthy. And we will need more than claims of being delivered by a goddess." He spoke with a soft tone and a smile but Aerith could hear the underlying warning.
The young Cetra woman silently pondered how to prove to them that she could be trusted. She did not exactly have much solid evidence with her to back up any story about Gaia. So she opened her mind to the lifestream of Remnant, listening to the voices of the passed. With much effort she narrowed her focus onto Vale and continued to narrow it down. There was one standing out from the rest. They shone brighter than the others but were quiet. Broken. Aerith focused on that spirit and the spirit respond by focusing back. There was her answer.
Aerith opened her eyes not realizing she closed them and not knowing how much time had passed. She reached out and placed her hand on Ozpin's "Amber doesn't blame any of you for what happened."
So there they are. Previews of 5 different ideas I have. As a reminder, whichever one gets the most votes will become a written story from me. The others will be up for adoption
Please leave a Review and vote!