Flesh To Aura Version 2

Summary: RWBY SI. So, let's review here: A B.R.O.B. thought it would be funny to chuck me onto the murder planet of Remnant and I can now turn into an actual honest to Primus Autobot, more specifically MY Autobot, Tac. Is it wrong that I want to cackle like an idiot right now? (Read Flesh to Metal Version 1 in order to not be lost please)

1. Preparing For Entrance Exams

Story Start: Our Universe, My Bedroom

It was instinct rather than hearing or sight that made me look up from my computer screen as I worked on one of my stories, that unquantifiable but no less important sense that had me glancing to the left as I just suddenly knew that someone was now in my bedroom with me. The sight of the cloaked figure leaning against my dresser had me give a startled jerk of my body but thankfully I didn't fall out of my seat. Unfortunately, my mouth wasn't as restrained as the rest of my body, a fact proven by my first words to the figure.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

The cloaked figure chuckled and said "Language Matthew."

I snorted and said "Sir, you are in my room uninvited, that's a bit more rude than me cussing at you."

I somehow knew the hooded figure was smirking at me as he said "And there's that wit that makes you one of my favorite humans to go to for entertainment, regardless of which version you are."

Version? My eyes narrowed as I said "I assume by version you are implying you are capable of traversing the multi-verse."

Now I could tell that the figure was grinning at me as he said "The Multi-Verse Theory is always one of your favorite non-provable things to believe in, it's what makes chucking you into new worlds so less irritable than if I did it to some close-minded fool."

My eyes stayed narrowed as I said "You've translocated 'me' before? That implies…" My eyes widened as the penny finally dropped for me and I said "Taifun."

"Good." The now identified R.O.B. said, though given his words, maybe B.R.O.B. fit him after all. Hearing that thought, he chuckled and said "Oh come now Matthew, you and I both know that I am not like that Bastard that chucked Cross into a One Piece world and then gave him a biscuit right off the bat just to see that gastrointestinal disaster. I at least give you tools to properly survive in your new world. After all, humans are rather squishy in the Transformers Prime section of the multiverse, aren't they?"

I should have been surprised at his words, really, I should have, but the fact that three other versions of me became badass autonomous robotic lifeforms in another universe after a highway crash because of a Randomly Omnipotent Being made far more sense than such a thing happening naturally. Actually, it looked like I had discovered who the 'drunk god' that dropped another version of me into Awakening was as well. Giving a sigh, I said "Alright Taifun, where are you sending me then?" It wasn't like I could actually stop the guy from doing this after all.

Taifun chuckled and said "I was thinking the world of Remnant would be a nice change of pace for you."

I frowned and cocked my head as I said "I don't know much about the source material I'm afraid."

Taifun's hood shifted juuuust enough that I could see the wicked grin he was sporting as he said "I know, you've only seen up to the team designation part of the show, but you and I both know you've read quite a few RWBY stories, including the LOOPS version, which gives you a bit of a head's up."

"Well there is that." I admitted, finally turning my chair towards him and leaning back in it as I said "So what's the trade off this time?" Putting me on Remnant as I was was even more of a death sentence then putting me in a TFP verse as a human after all. At least there the common human didn't have Grimm to deal with.

Taifun held up two fingers and said "You have two choices. I'm going to convert you to an age that would be appropriate for a Beacon student, though of course you don't have to go there if you really don't want to. In return, all of the converted body mass will go into expanding your Aura pool so that way you don't run out of it within the first minute. This Aura Pool will power one of two Semblances. You can either become your version of a War Mage OR, you can switch between your human body and Tac, though you will only be able to maintain your thirty foot tall form for five minutes before running out of Aura and turning back into a human. Though you could find a big enough water supply to convert to Aura and extend that time."

"I suppose the smaller version is a lot less Aura intensive?" I asked and Taifun nodded. It did make sense. After all, the material making said thirty foot tall murder bot had to come from somewhere so it would then follow that my Aura reserves would be making up the slack. I gave a sigh and slouched a little in my chair as I considered my options.

Option 1: War Mage

Four spell sigils, one on each palm of my hands and sole of my feet. EXTREMELY versatile since they had ten spell classes, Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Light, Dark, Gravity, Space, and Staff, with 'levels' from E to S and three spells per level, giving me a hundred and eighty spells total. However, with my Aura powering this version I couldn't know how often or long I could use the higher levels of spells before I ran out. There was no point in using an S Level Light Tsunami spell to wipe out hordes of Grim in one shot or an S Level Regenerate to give someone back an arm if it meant I lost all of my aura immediately after and was then just as helpless as any other shmuck on that planet until my Aura recovered.

Option 2: Tac

The ability to turn into a mechanized soldier with Vibrational Swords, two Energon Pistols, a Sonic Resonator Blaster, three missiles, and a mini forge. I of course had to assume said weapons would run off of my Aura. There was also the ability to transform into a jet making travel times much smaller along with enabling air combat. And couldn't forget the fact that I could turn into a giant on top of that. But the fact remained, my aura reserves would determine how long I could remain in said Autobot form. If I had access to at least a big enough stream then theoretically I wouldn't run out of Aura in a fight, and nothing said I couldn't carry water out in the field in a camel pack or something. Though if I wasn't able to keep at least the swords or pistols when I wasn't made out of metal I would have to buy back up weapons, which would be annoying.

I bowed my head in thought and considered my options for three minutes, going back and forth on which option would be the best one to keep me alive. Finally though, I gave a sigh and looked up at Taifun and said "I choose the Tac option."

Taifun stood up fully and said "Very well then." Suddenly going from my dresser to standing in front of me without seeming to move, he put a gloved hand on my forehead and said "Now I'm not going to lie here, the de-aging and mass to Aura conversion processes are going to be painful as hell so I think it's best if you're not aware for this." That was all the warning I got before my surroundings completely changed.

Scene Change: Remnant, Vale Shopping District March 1

I blinked as I suddenly went from sitting in my bedroom to standing on a rooftop. My body swayed as my mind took a moment to try and make sense of what it was perceiving now. Once I got my mental equilibrium back, I began taking stock of myself. I was still six feet tall thankfully, but my entire body was much thinner, my arms and legs lacking the muscle mass a decade of physical labor jobs had given them. Before I could lift roughly four hundred pounds at the extreme max. Now it was probably only two hundred pounds, though since I wasn't planning on using a war hammer as a weapon that wasn't really a problem.

I was wearing the usual for the time of year back home, jeans, t-shirt, and my favorite, and only, Carhartt jacket that had been with me since high school. A quick pat down had shown that once again, Taifun had been kind enough to send my phone with me, it resting in its usual spot in my left jean pocket. Apparently, he had also sent my wallet with me as well going by the bulge in the jeans' right pocket.

My inspection of what I came with came to an end when I heard the unmistakable sounds of gun shots. Instinctively ducking, it took a moment for me to realize no, I wasn't being shot at and still crouched I looked down in the street to see a little munchkin using her gun scythe to smack around some Mafia wannabe thugs.

"Huh, right at the start of the pilot episode. Well, you can't say Taifun doesn't have good timing." I mused to myself as I watched Roman Torchwick take a quick shot at her before making a run for it to a rooftop three buildings away. Watching him climb, I cocked my head and said "Hm, jump him as he gets to the roof or wait for the Bullhead in order to get both him and Cinder?"

I decided on the latter. Cinder would most likely run right away if I took Roman out right out the gate and while Taifun had said that the smaller version of Tac wouldn't run out of Aura as fast as the bigger version, he never said how long it actually would remain. It would be a rather bad end to the night and most likely my life if I converted back into my flesh and blood body while chasing a Bullhead over the city buildings.

Shaking my head from that morbid thought, I cocked my head and muttered to myself "Alright, now that that's decided, how do I switch forms-WHOA!" My yelp was due to the fact that a green light appeared at the bottom of my feet before shooting up to the top of my head, almost making me jump out of my skin. A moment later, I calmed down and glanced at my body. Seeing the green metal plating with black Celtic markings I said "So it's controlled mentally by thought, that's good to know."

I then noticed that there were icons and numbers floating at the top of my vision like what you would see in a HUD. First off was a small image of my current body, with the letters S and L stacked on top of each other next to it and numbers beside those. L had 5:00 while S had 59:55 and was counting downwards showing that it looked like I had an hour in my smaller form. Good to know it wouldn't wear off halfway during a battle so long as I didn't go all Attack On Titan. Beside the form counters was an icon of a pistol with the letters L and R stacked next to it, with the number a hundred next to both of them. So, a hundred shots from each pistol, most likely given their share of Aura at the start of each transformation, though I would have to experiment later to see if I could up that amount by pushing my Aura into the guns. There was another pistol icon next to it that had the symbol for sound waves coming out of the barrel with 30:00 beside it so thirty minutes for the Sonic Resonator Blaster in my right arm. The next icon was a pair of crossed swords, again with a stacked L and R next to it and the letters had another 30:00 so thirty minutes for their Vibrational function. Finally, there was an icon for missiles with 3 beside it.

I took that all in in ten seconds before I 'got my head out of the cockpit' so to speak and focused on the ongoing battle three rooftops away. Seeing fireballs being thrown cued me in that Cinder had taken over the fight. A crazy plan appeared, and shrugging to myself, I thought 'Eh, might as well try it.' And so, having absolutely no idea what I was doing, but willing to make the attempt, I did my best to focus on the hovering Bullhead trying to wirelessly connect with it. What? I was now a machine with a YF-12 Interceptor Jet as an alt form, and those had radio and other wireless based communication systems, it COULD be possible to access the bullhead's own systems. I outright cackled when an icon of said bullhead appeared in my vision and a quick 'glance' showed that I could access its systems.

Knowledge that my plan could work, my face shield slammed into place and I took a running leap, instinctively activating my boot thrusters to shoot up and out towards the bullhead. Roman, who at that point had been more concerned with what was happening against Ruby and Glynda Goodwitch only noticed my rapid approach in time to widen his eyes at the sight of me before I landed heavily on the top of the air craft. Instinctively activated magnetics in my boots kept me from toppling over as he tried to buck me off and I walked over to port side of the cargo section.

Cinder was helpful enough at that time to mark her position by throwing another fireball and I grinned behind my face shield as I gripped the top of the hatch and swung in, catching her square in the chest with both feet, causing the sound of bones snapping to ring out and flinging her into the other side of the cargo hold. As soon as I was inside, I activated the cargo hatch's door to close and brought the Sonic Resonator out, pointing it at Cinder before I cut loose, the sound bouncing around in the closed area causing both her AND Roman to clap their hands over their ears and yell out in pain. I quickly used my link with the bullhead to take control of the flight controls and put it on an autopilot controlled hover as I kept the assault of sound up for a few minutes.

(Third POV)

Ruby Rose wasn't sure what was going on anymore. She and the huntress beside her had been fighting the Burn Dustcaster equipped woman for a brief while before out of nowhere this robot with wings landed on top of the bullhead before swinging down to kick the woman further into the bullhead. As soon as the robot was inside, the cargo hatch closed and a loud humming sound filled the air, seeming to come from the bullhead itself. Ruby and the Huntress were both tense as they kept an eye on the bullhead, but all it did was hover there for three minutes, that loud humming sound continuing.

Thirty seconds into this new development, Ruby had glanced uncertainly at the Huntress, who she thought was Glynda Goodwitch, Right Hand 'Man' of Beacon's Headmaster Ozpin, but the woman hadn't acknowledged the look, merely keeping her narrowed eyes on the bullhead, glyph out and ready to continue the fight if needed but not doing anything else. And so Ruby did the same, the pair of female warriors trying to be ready for whatever happened.

Still, for all of that, Ruby wasn't quite ready for the humming to suddenly cut off and the bullhead to begin lowering down to street level. Ruby and Glynda quickly sprinted over to the edge of the roof and looked down in time to see the bullhead land in front of a pair of cop cars and the cargo hatch open again. The robot strode out onto the street dragging a clearly unconscious Roman and the mystery woman behind him, blood trails coming from their ears, eyes, AND noses.

Glynda floated her and Ruby to ground level as the robot tossed his two captives in front of the cops' feet, a face shield sliding away revealing a surprisingly human looking face behind it. The robot nodded at the police officers and said "Gentlemen, I trust you know what to do with them."

"Uh, right. Thanks." One of the officers said, giving the robot a wary look before he and his partner grabbed the two villains and hand cuffed them before they dragged them into the back of one car before taking off, most likely to put the two into cells and leaving the last car and its two officers to continue trying to figure out just where such an obviously advanced robot had come from.

And then Ruby got the shock of her life as a green light appeared at the robot's head before shooting down to its feet revealing a blond haired blue eyed teenager with an unzipped jacket over regular street clothes. Ruby's eyes bugged out as she realized that the teen had a mech based Semblance! THAT WAS SO COOOOOOOL!

(1st POV)

I could feel Ruby fangirling as I shifted back into human form. Grinning as I stretched my arms upward, I turned towards her and Glynda and bowed my head at the elder of the two as I said "Madam Goodwitch, I hope you didn't mind me stepping in."

Glynda pushed her glasses up her nose as she studied me for a moment before she nodded and said "Your aide is appreciated young man." Gesturing towards the police, she said "Could you come with me and the young lady to the police station, we need you to give a statement about tonight."

I nodded in acceptance before I glanced at the car. With two police officers, Glynda, me, AND Ruby, it'd be a bit crowded. I got an idea that had me smirking and turning back to Glynda, I said "You guys go ahead, I'll follow from the air." And before anyone could ask what I meant, I turned back into Tac, crouched, leapt up into the air and transformed into my Jet Mode, hovering in the air above them.

Ruby's shout of "That is so COOL!" had me openly cackling before I said over my speakers "Waiting for you guys now."

Time Skip: Fifteen Minutes Later, Vale Police Headquarters

I understandably attracted a lot of attention when I landed and changed back on the parking lot of the HQ, more than one officer staring from their cars as I followed everyone else into the building. Inside, the cops asked for our IDs and while Ruby handed her Scroll over to be scanned then returned, I had a bit of a problem. I had pulled out my wallet and showed them the Driver's License held inside but given how the United States of America didn't exist here, never mind South Carolina, the police obviously assumed that it was some joke forgery. That and I didn't quite look like my older self. I simply shrugged and said "That's the only kind of ID I have."

It took a thorough pat down and the fact that my phone couldn't give them the ID they were looking for for the police to decide that my Driver's License would have to do, the officer at the scanning machine slipping it into a slot on the machine for a minute before returning it. Glynda of course was trying to burn a hole through my head with her intent gaze during all of this.

There was only one chair in the interrogation room we were brought to. A bit of an oversight that, though a police officer soon brought in a second chair for me sit on next to Ruby. I leaned back with a sigh, closing my eyes and leaning my head back while Ruby sat ram rod straight. A moment later, I opened my eyes and brought my head back forward and said "You have questions yes?"

"I do, but those can come after I deal with her." Glyda said, narrowing her eyes at Ruby who gulped at the sight. As Glynda began a slow walk around the table to start her little bit of intimidation/psychological evaluation of the Scarlet Speedster, I closed my eyes again and only listened with half an ear. I didn't open them even as Ozpin came in and spoke with her, then invited her to Beacon.

It was only as Ozpin said "And then there is you young man." that I opened my eyes and straightened up in my seat. Ozpin took a sip from his cup of coffee and continued "I must admit that you interest me greatly Matthew Bandstra. You are not in any databases whatsoever, you carry no weapons but seem capable of turning into some kind of robot that does which in turn is capable of transforming into an aircraft of unknown origin, you do not appear as old as the picture in the id you gave us though facial recognition shows that you are a 100% match to it once your picture goes through an aging program, and said ID is for a place that doesn't exist on Remnant. So tell me Mr. Bandstra, how did you wind up on Remnant at least a decade younger than you should be?"

"Say what?!" Ruby asked startled, glancing between me and Ozpin in confusion. Glynda I noticed had raised eyebrows but was otherwise remaining professional.

Smirking, I leaned forward and said "I figured that if anyone would guess it that it would be you Ol' Ozzy. I'm assuming you've heard of the Multi-Verse Theory?" At Ozpin's nod, I shrugged and said "Yeah, turns out it's not really a Theory anymore. I was just relaxing in front of my computer working on some fanfiction of mine when a Randomly Omnipotent Being, R.O.B. for short, showed up and said he was going to toss me into Remnant. Keep in mind, Earth, the planet I'm from, has no Aura or Grimm, and while being a physical laborer meant I had plenty of muscle in my arms and legs, I wasn't exactly the most fit guy out there. Thankfully, the R.O.B., or Taifun as I know him, doesn't have a B for Bastard in front of his title so he wasn't going to send me as I am where I would just become a Grimm chew toy. You see, Taifun likes to think of himself as a pretty fair guy, dealing in Equivalent Exchange to give someone a way to survive in the new world he tosses them into. This time, he took away a little over a decade of my age and took those years and the body mass I lost and converted them into Aura, which in turn supplies the power to run this form."

I stood up and once again the green line appeared. When it finished going up my body, I spread my wings and said "This form is Tac, a Cybertronian, an Autobot to be exact, and a character I created in one of my stories. Cybertronians are autonomous robotic lifeforms from the planet Cybertron. There are several 'branch' species of them, and going into them all would take too long, but the relevant part is that there are two main factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons. These two factions have been at war for eons, a war that the Decepticons started when they tried to take over Cybertron. Their war ravaged the planet though and so their war took to the heavens. There are several different series set around this premise, but all of them are the same: victory by the Decepticons means death or slavery of all other sentient life."

I could see the glow from Ruby's star struck gaze out of the corner of my optics. Glynda Goodwitch herself had a severe frown on her face as she considered this for her fictional enemy, probably drawing a couple of 'far stretch' comparisons with the Grimm and their big bad Salem. Ozpin meanwhile calmly took a sip of his coffee and said "So, Mr. Bandstra, you said you came up with this form in one of your stories. So what exactly is it that you have made this form capable of?"

I nodded and began holding up fingers as I said "I'll cover the utilities abilities first I think. First off, all Cybertronians run off a substance called Energon. This body had been given a water to Energon converter in order to make it so that it could always have a ready source of Energon. Earth is 70% covered in the stuff after all. I'll have to check of course, but I'm pretty sure that that converter has been switched from Energon to Aura. Secondly, this form has two sizes, my current size, and the 'normal' Cybertronian size that is about thirty feet tall. I've got an hour run time for this size before I run out of Aura and change back but I can only maintain the larger form for five minutes so I need to make every second of that time count in a fight. Next, while the YF-12 Interceptor Jet that I turned into on the way here is my primary vehicle mode, I can scan other vehicles and turn into them as well. In my story, I had over two dozen different vehicles 'stored'. Unfortunately, it seems that that data wasn't included when I jumped worlds so I'll have to stock up as it were on Remnant vehicles. Moving on, given how this body is robotic, I'm capable of wirelessly linking up with anything with a computer in it while transformed. This body has a hologram projector that can cover me in a hologram to hide this metal form." I briefly shimmered into prequel-trilogy Han Solo before I dropped it and continued "Finally I have what is called a mini forge that can take raw materials and turn them into whatever I want." The left compartment on my forearm popped up and I pulled out the mini hammer. I tapped the interrogation table and it flashed white. What had once been a plain table made out of relatively cheap metal was now a table made out of titanium alloy with the Autobot symbol in the middle. As Ruby gave her expected "Coooool." I glanced at the Mini Forge and mused to myself "Hm, I felt the drain on my Aura from that. I should probably see if it's possible to make a couple of Zero Point Energy Modules I could hook this thing up to when I want to use it."

Shelving that thought and putting the Mini Forge away, the compartment on my right arm opened revealing the weapon on it and I said "As for weapons, first off, I have this. It's a Sonic Resonator Blaster, and it basically does what it sounds like, blast sound waves at whatever I point it at. I can control how high and low the pitch is as needed."

"I assume that was what caused the loud humming sound we heard when you were inside of the bullhead." Glynda said with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded and said "Yeah, I thought it would be the best way to apprehend those two if I fired it off for a few minutes in an enclosed space."

"Which we appreciate greatly." Ozpin said, toasting me with his coffee cup, then immediately after took a sip out of and said "Please continue."

I nodded and said "Right." Pulling my swords out, I held them tip down on the table and said "These guys have a vibrational component in them, making it possible to cut through practically anything."

Sheathing the swords, I drew my right Barretta looking pistol and said "These Pistols fire energy shots. They WERE Energon based but are now Aura based, and I've got a hundred shots in each before I need to recharge them. And then I've got three of these."

My chest armor opened up and a Hughes missile slid out of the right side which I connected to the rail of my pistol. Ruby let out a yelp and quickly scooted her chair away and Glynda visibly tensed up at the sight. Ozpin though, cool cucumber that he was, merely raised an eyebrow and took another sip of coffee. Hefting the missile equipped pistol, I said "This is a Hughes AIM47 Falcon, originally called a GAR-9. It is a very long-range high-performance air-to-air-missile. This bad boy is capable of BVR, or Beyond Visual Range kills at 100 miles, and can travel at Mach 4."

Putting the missile back into my chassis caused Ruby to let out a sigh of relief even as she began looking excited again. Glynda untensed and said "An impressive weapon to be sure, but please do not wave it about so carelessly next time."

I gave a shrug and said "It's not like I had armed the thing, but fair enough."

"I highly doubt Mr. Bandstra would wave around a missile if there was a chance of it firing Glynda." Ozpin said with a small smile before he turned back to me and said "This body your Semblance provides you with is quite powerful Mr. Bandstra, but I believe we should move onto other matters. You claim your planet does not have Aura or Grimm, yet you still know what those are. Care to elaborate?"

Nodding, I shifted back to human form and sat back down on my chair as I said "There was a television show called RWBY, spelled R-W-B-Y that focused mostly on her team."

I pointed at Ruby and her eyes grew wide as she also pointed at herself and asked "Me?! I'm going to be a teamleader?!"

"If things go the same way as the show? Yes." I said with a grin before I turned back towards Ozpin and continued "I've only seen the first eight episodes of the source material which had covered tonight up to team assignments, but thanks to other sources I do know about a good bit of other stuff, though I unfortunately don't have any dates for you."

"Pity, however, I will gladly take any information you have for me." Ozpin said with another sip of his coffee. Seriously, how much of that stuff could that mug hold?

Shaking my head from that distracting thought, I took a deep breath and looked upwards as I said "Let's see, I know that Ruby has a pair of Semblances, her 'normal' Semblance which is speed boosted and her 'dojutsu' or eye ability that as the name suggests rests in her Silver Eyes. I don't know the specifics of it, just that in the show it one shot a giant dragon grimm." Ruby gasped out a surprised "Whoa" and I hummed before I continued "I know that her team in the show was her partner Weiss Schnee, her sister Yang Xiao Long, and Yang's partner Blake Belladonna. I know the other three girls' Semblances. I know that while Blake is a former member of the White Fang, she joined when her parents created it and it was still a peaceful organization, and that she got out when she could no longer stand how it was turned into a terrorist organization. I know that Team JNPR will become a valuable partner to Team RWBY, and that it is composed of Jaune Arc, his partner Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and her partner Ren Lie. I know what their Semblances can do and that while Jaune gets in on false transcripts, he plays a key role in what comes up in the future, especially since his Aura Boosting Semblance saves Weiss Schnee's life. I also know that he doesn't get his Aura unlocked until Initiation, when Pyrrha does it. I know that at some point either very recently or very soon, the Fall Maiden Amber is going to be attacked and half her powers will be stolen by Cinder Fall, who is the woman we caught tonight. That power is the reason why I took her and Roman down so hard in fact. In the show, the other half of Amber's Maiden powers was meant to go to Pyrrha Nikos, only Cinder killed Amber before the transfer could be made giving her that half as well. I know that Cinder Fall is working for Salem and has the White Fang working in turn for herself. I know that she would have orchestrated a Breach of Vale through a train rigged with explosives and later she would do something similar during the Vytal Festival. Part of the Vytal Festival attack would have been taking over Atlas' mechs, which was possible due to their operating systems being so rudimentary even I could do it with my one high school level class of computer coding, never mind what I could do while in my Tac form. Let's see, I know Ruby's Aunt Raven is leader of a bandit tribe, though I didn't actually see any of that part of the show. I know what you are Ozzy Osbourne, and that when your current body dies you'll share headspace with a farm boy named Oscar Pine."

I suddenly let out a cough and rubbed at my throat. Glynda used her telekinesis to fill a cup with water from the water jug that I hadn't noticed was in a corner of the room and floated it over to me. Toasting her with it in thanks, I emptied it in one go before I put the cup down on the table and continued "I know that Cinder Fall has two people under her direct employ: Mercury Black, who had his Semblance stolen by his father, however that works, and uses his two prosthetic legs to fight, and Emerald Sustrai, who has a mental Semblance that she once used to make Yang think that Mercury attacked her after their match in the Vytal Festival was finished making her shoot him in the leg. Not to mention how she made Pyrrha kill Atlas' android, Penny, who Ruby had befriended."

"She did what?!" Ruby hissed in anger with fists clinched, and I wasn't sure if it was what happened to Yang or her future friend that made her angrier.

"Miss Rose, please calm yourself, if that does happen to your sister here, I shall handle it, and I shall do everything to ensure this Penny's survival as well." Ozpin said and Ruby grumbled something before relaxing. Nodding, Ozpin looked at me and said "Anything else Mr. Bandstra?"

I nodded and said "Yeah, like we saw tonight, she's also got Roman Torchwick working with her. No clue about his Semblance, but he's got a partner named Neopolitan, or Neo for short, who's got an illusion based Semblance, which shatters if it's broken. She uses an umbrella and a cane sword hidden inside said umbrella to fight. Girl's default form is a tiny woman at 4'10", Pink, White, and Brown hair, Heterochromatic eyes, whitetail jacket, brown pants, black gloves, and black and white boots with very high heels. I'm not sure if she's partially mute or just voluntarily, but every video I've looked up before that had her in it had her silent. Finally, I know the members of Salem's 'inner circle', though except for Cinder and one other, I just know their names." Ozpin showed the first bit of interest at that, leaning forward the slightest bit. At his gesture, I said "Tyrian Callows is a scorpion Faunus, and I'm pretty sure he's ten feet past the insanity cliff, believing Salem to be his goddess. Though given the fact that literal witch is thousands of years old, I can't blame him for that. The other two members that I know are Arthur Watts and Hazel Rainart. I think I recall something about Haven Academy's headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart, being an informant of hers, but I can't verify that."

Glynda and Ozpin both had frowns as Glynda said "Sir, if Leo's turned…"

"I know." Ozpin said quietly. He closed his eyes for a long moment and Ruby said "Sir? You don't actually think a Headmaster would be a traitor do you?"

"I wish that I could say that I don't Miss Rose. Unfortunately, we must consider the possibility. Because if we don't, and it turns out that he actually is, then terrible things may happen that we could have prevented." Ozpin took yet another sip of his coffee before he opened his eyes with a sigh and turned their gaze on me as he continued "I thank you for all of this potential information Mr. Bandstra. Be assured that I will look into all of it appropriately. On another matter, could I interest you in joining Beacon alongside Miss Rose?"

I blinked at the seemingly straight out of left field question and cocked my head as I said "Alright, Ruby I can understand, but why me? Disregarding the fact that I pretty much don't exist here, wouldn't that make the number of students off balanced?"

Ozpin sighed and said "I'm afraid that there is already a rather big difference to this world and the show you witnessed. Jaune Arc is dead."

"Say what?!" I hissed, my eyes widening. No Jaune, no JNPR. No JNPR, no JNRR when RWBY split up and Ruby goes with Jaune, Nora, and Ren on whatever mission those guys went on after the 'Fall of Vale', never mind the fact that Jaune had helped Weiss recover from poison at some point.

"I learned about it from his parents who are good friends of mine. He died two days ago in a hit and run." Ozpin said, pulling out his scroll and making a few types and swipes on it before putting it away again. A moment later, Ruby's scroll and my phone both let out tones, mine my Text Message alert, which I suspected was also what Ruby's scroll just gave. Her gasp at whatever she saw on it had me glance at her out of the corner of my eye before I slipped my phone out of my pocket and looked down at it. Sure enough, there was a text message from an unknown number. Ozpin had somehow scanned my phone's number and sent it to me. Confirmation that iPhones and Scrolls were compatible set aside, I opened the text message and frowned at the image displayed on my phone.

It wasn't pretty. Both legs were clearly broken, as was the right arm, marks on the skin showing that the arm had been caught under a set of tires. Blood pooled from where the kid had hit the side of his head on the street and his chest cavity was collapsed, more marks that lined up with the ones on his arm showing that the guy had gotten the full weight of the vehicle on his chest. Even if paramedics had been on the side of the road when this happened he wouldn't have survived.

'That's Jaune alright, poor kid, without his Aura unlocked, he never stood a chance.' I thought to myself with a frown. A frown which only grew as another thought hit me. 'Sonnuvabitch! Taifun sent me here to replace him, didn't he?! Not have to go to Beacon my ass.' Sighing, I said out loud "Well, that's just Prime." I looked up from my phone and across the table at Ozpin as I said "My condolences Headmaster, it looks like you lost a student before he ever set foot in your school."

"So it seems." Ozpin said with a solemn nod of his head before he looked back up at me and said "And in light of this and the information you provided about the team young Mr. Arc would have led, I find it particularly interesting that you would appear in a location that led to us meeting on the same night I met with Miss Rose. Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

"Gibbs Rule #39- There is no such thing as coincidence." I said absently. I ignored the raised eyebrow look Ozpin gave at that and sighed. Running a hand through my hair, I said "You want me to lead JNPR in place of Jaune."

"That would be the optimal scenario, yes. However, as I'm sure you know, the initiation has a small degree of randomness to it when it comes to creating teams. It's quite possible that someone else will become a part of JNPR, or even none of the other three members will be on a team together. What I am therefore asking is for you to fill a now empty slot. What happens after that we will have to take as it comes."

I considered for a long moment before I gave a deep sigh and nodded as I said "Alright, I'll have to link up with Vale's version of the World Wide Web and download everything a new Beacon student should know before their first year but I think I can make this work. Headmaster Ozpin, I formally accept your invitation to attend Beacon Academy."

"I am glad to hear it." Ozpin said with a smile, offering his hand which I shook. Releasing my hand, he said "Don't worry about the paperwork, I'll handle it. On that note though, do you wish for your name to remain the same on it or would you prefer to take up a new one that would fit better in this world?"

"Hm, yeah, Bandstra is a rather unusual name for this world isn't it?" I mused to myself before I hummed and said "Since I'm taking over Jaune's slot, I think Tac Arc would be a good homage to him."

"Very well then, Tac. I look forward to seeing you during Initiation. Miss Goodwitch well ensure that you are covered when it comes to the necessities until then." Ozpin said with a final nod to me before he walked out.

Or rather, he started to walk out only to pause as a harried policewoman rushed in. She leaned in to whisper something to Ozpin who gained a severe frown at what he heard. One hushed conversation later the policewoman left the interrogation room and Ozpin turned back towards us. Still frowning, he said "It seems that Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall are now back in play."

"Neo." I growled, instantly understanding how the two could have escaped, or rather, been extracted given the condition I left them in. At Ozpin's confirming nod, I said "Well that's just Prime."

"Indeed, but with us now aware of them and their connection to Salem, we can plan accordingly. That is for me and my allies to worry about though. For now, I want you and Ruby to focus your attentions on your time at Beacon. Am I clear?" Ozpin asked firmly.

Ruby nodded rapidly a few times while I gave a single nod though I also said "Just don't expect me to stand by if we happen upon them again."

"That is acceptable." Ozpin said with another nod before he turned around, only to pause and turn back as he said "By the way, you'll be needing this. Consider it a consulting fee." He flicked a card at me shuriken style and when I caught it, I looked down to see that it had a small sticker on it saying "1,000 Lien". Looking back at him with a raised eyebrow, Ozpin smirked and said "I'm certain you will need to buy a fair amount of stuff tomorrow before you come to Beacon. It wouldn't do for the school to have a student who had only one change of clothes outside of the school uniform after all."

"Right, thanks for this." I said with a nod hefting the card before putting it in my wallet. Ozpin nodded before he turned back around and left the room.

Goodwitch led me and Ruby out of the police station after that, Ruby quickly heading over to where Yang had just pulled up on her motorcycle. The blonde had looked ready to launch a raid on the police headquarters as she took off her helmet but her attitude quickly did a 180 when Ruby came up to her and gave her a hug while beginning to chatter excitedly. Yang smiled down at her even as her eyes flicked towards me and Goodwitch for a moment before focusing back on Ruby fully.

Shaking my head at the sight, I said "Well that's her taken care of, where are we off to?"

"To a hotel that is nearby. Beacon shall pay for your stay there for the next two nights and then it will be time for you to come up to the school. I trust that you shall do as you said earlier and will have downloaded everything you need to know by that time as well as procured everything you need with your newly acquired funds." Goodwitch said, a raised eyebrow at the end.

I nodded and Goodwitch gave a curt nod of her own before she led me to the hotel I would be spending the next two nights in. She stayed just long enough to check me in then write where and when I needed to be in order to join the other students heading to Beacon before she left.

Time Skip: March 2

First thing I did after eating the complementary breakfast the hotel provided me was to go back up into my room and fill up every pot, pan, pitcher, and cup with water. With source of replenishable Aura at hand, I shifted forms, settling on the hotel room floor rather than the bed or any of the chairs, unwilling to risk what would happen if they had to try and take my new weight. Once settled, I took an unneeded breath and said "Alright, time for some Matrix style learning."

It took me a minute to properly figure out how to access something invisible like the Vale's CCT network, but once I did, I had a search bar up on my HUD and I said "Alright, let's start off with Vale education requirements for beginning Hunters and Huntresses." The search bar filled in with those words and soon I had a list of links detailing various subjects. I briefly skimmed the contents of the links before I set for all of the information to download. As a progress bar appeared for that, I changed the search bar to Vale Maps. Maps of the city and the country appeared and I chose the ones that looked the most detailed and put it in my downloading queue putting them in front of the Education ones (I really should have checked for Maps before Education, oh well). Third search was for a comprehensive list of Vale laws. Finally, I looked up sword styles that could use two blades. I didn't have a Wrecker to teach me in this world and I didn't want to be just flailing around with my two blades like an idiot. True, the knowledge I gained most likely wouldn't give me muscle memory to use in my human form, but so long as I had the knowledge to use the swords properly then I could work towards getting that muscle memory.

One of the styles I found actually had my jaw drop for a moment before I blinked five times and asked "Are you freaking kidding me?!" The style that I had found was for either single or double sword use but that wasn't what had me so flabbergasted. No, it was the sword that the style was made for, metal versions of the Type 1 Energy Sword that the Sangheili/Elites of Halo used. The website I was looking at even had a diagram for how the swords should be able to fold into the handles for storage purposes. Gaining a savage grin, I said "Oh hohoho, yeeees! I know what I'm making with the forge after I make it a charging station. I might even be able to make it so that it has both metal and plasma blades. Being able to use the metal ones once I've drained the plasma one's charge would be perfect and make for a nice surprise if I'm fighting a large group."

Plan for my 'human use' weapons in mind, I stuck my hands in all of the water containers and absorbed their contents, causing the timer for maintaining my current form to gain an additional two hours of transformation time. I made a note that it seemed that the ratio was one gallon of water equaled one hour of run time before I turned on my hologram, grabbed my wallet, and headed out of the hotel room. I had supplies to buy.

As my downloads continued, I hit Vale's version of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, grabbing a bookbag and a duffle bag, basic necessities like shampoo/conditioner, body soap, toothbrush/toothpaste/floss, deodorant (Hunter grade of course), multiple changes of clothes including underwear and socks (Mostly casual wear from that store), and to cap it off, a box of the equivalent of this world's pop tarts, Chocolate frosted Peanut Butter of course, and three bags of Root Beer Barrel hard candies to last me for the first few weeks. (I have a sweet tooth, so sue me.) The last two things I bought as an afterthought were a camel pack that could hold 70 ounces (Or 0.54 Gallons, so an extra thirty minutes of run time), and a gallon of water.

Keeping the gallon of water in reserve for now, I stored it and the camel pack in the duffel bag as I went to a more specialized store that catered to Hunters and grabbed two sets of durable clothing to wear out in the field. I'd buy more as I got more money, those outfits were expensive. I made a note to look into changing glass into genuine gemstones at a future point, though the question of how I would actually sell them would have to be addressed first. Maybe get in touch with Junior…

My downloads finally completed themselves halfway to my third stop for the day so I dropped my transformation and spent thirty minutes on the next bench I saw just sitting there with my head back and eyes closed as the information settled into my now organic brain. When my raging headache finally settled down, I rubbed my forehead with both hands and said "Right, note to self, don't binge download several thousand pages of information in one go."

Wishing I had thought to buy the local equivalent of aspirin when I was at the supercenter, I got up and made my way to my last planned stop for the day, a store that sold metalworking supplies. A metal bucket (Usually used to hold hot pieces of slag metal or scraps for recycling), a ten foot coil of copper wire, and three sheets of two by two feet of aluminum later and I had everything I thought I should buy today.

I needed a cab to get all of my purchases back to the hotel (There just wasn't enough room for all of that metal.) Fortunately, the hotel was one that catered to Hunters so they had a basic workshop for basic weapons' maintenance. It didn't have a forge of course, but it did have basic tools and there was a wash station for when you needed to clean a weapon part which made it perfect for what I needed.

Shifting into my Tac form, I converted the gallon of water I had brought, then for good measure, refilled the jug and converted THAT water as well before I set the metal bucket, one of the sheets of aluminum, and two thirds of the copper wire together, bucket on top of sheet, wire in bucket. Ejecting the micro forge from my left arm, I held it near the supplies and said "Well, here goes nothing."

Five taps of my hammer later, I had the final product. I had used multiple taps in order to 'transfigure' the materials into the final project in 'stages' of complexity, thus making each change take less Aura then it would have taken to make the change in one go. I still had to add an Aura charge in the middle but the end result was worth it. There was a water to aura/electricity converter sitting in front of me. It looked like a two foot metal cube with a funnel coming out of one side, a power level gauge on one of the sides connected to the funnel, a hole that I could put the micro forge's handle in to transfer the power to it, and a bunch of power outlets for other things to hook up to, from the regular three hole socket to USB ports. I had also had the foresight to put roller wheels on each of the bottom corners and a retractable handle for easy transport. I could either pour five gallons into the converter in one go and store that amount of aura until I needed or I could pour a constant amount of water in and have the aura automatically transfer to the forge if it was connected.

Grinning at the sight resting on the workbench in front of me, I rubbed my hands together and said "Now to make something really badass."

Time Skip: The Next Day, March 3, En Route To Beacon

Tempting as it was to fly to Beacon in my YF-12 jet form, I decided that it would be better to take the air ship, which led me up to now. The air ship had left its dock twenty minutes ago and I was making my way through it to find Ruby. I had already spotted the three members of my possible future team as well as Weiss and Blake on the two top levels. I think I just about gave the latter a heart attack when I winked at her then mimed zipping my lips.

That had me chuckling as I climbed the stairs down to the bottom deck (we had boarded from the top section in the Vale airport for some reason) and immediately locked onto my target. Spotting her and Yang standing together looking through the windows at Beacon, I stepped up on Ruby's side that her sister wasn't occupying and said "That's quite a sight, isn't it?"

"Matt! Er, I mean, Tac!" Ruby said, her eyes lighting up at first before she turned sheepish as she realized her mistake.

"Ruby." I said with a slight nod of my head.

"Oh, and who might this be?" Yang asked, nudging Ruby in the ribs and grinning as she teased "Has my sister found a boyfriend already?"

"Yaaaang, stop it. He's just the guy who helped me the other night." Ruby said, pouting at her bigger sister.

"Uh-huh, and the two names thing?" Yang asked, eyebrow raised.

"I prefer my nickname to my original one." I said with a shrug.

A shrug Yang returned before she leaned in with a serious look on her face and said "So 'Tac', tell me honestly, what are your intentions towards my little sister?"

"Yaaaaang, stop it!" Ruby whined.

I though snorted and said "Yang, I've spent maybe thirty minutes total around her, most of that in an interrogation room, we're nowhere near dating, heck at this point, we're not even proper friends yet."

"We're not? But I thought-" Ruby said, trailing off at the end with a slightly hurt look.

"Ruby, we had one short fight and a debrief together, that makes us acquaintances, not friends. Give it a few more interactions between us to see if we're actually compatible with each other first eh?" I said, giving the little reaper a kind smile.

"Okay." Ruby said, giving me a small smile as well.

Smile turning to a grin, I continued "But that said, I think you'll be interested in a little something I made yesterday."

"What's that?" Ruby asked with a cocked head, and Yang's eyes showed interest as well.

"Get a load of this!" I said, bringing one of the hilts clipped to my belt up and pressed one of the two triggers on the hilt and with a snap-hiss! sound a pair of plasma blades shot out in a tear drop shape. I had the satisfying experience of seeing Yang's jaw drop as I proudly said "I give you the Type 1 Energy sword. It can pretty much cut through anything, though it unfortunately has a ten impact limit to it. But that's okay, because it has back up blades as well." I turned off the plasma blades and unfolded the metal ones which almost seemed to gleam with wicked intent. Smirking at the stars I could see in Ruby's eyes, I asked "So, what do you think? Not bad eh?"

"That is so cool!" Ruby squealed, yes, squealed as she began fangirling over the weapon. Yang though groaned and said "Oh great, now you've got her started."

I smirked at the bombshell and said "Why Yang, I thought it was the job of an older sibling to be supportive of their younger sibling's hobbies."

A stuck out tongue was my answer and I laughed at the sight before turning my focus back to Ruby. If she was excited now, wait until I offered to upgrade Crescent Rose for her.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my Profile. Please look at the poll if you haven't already, at the time of posting this, it's only got thirteen votes so far, and that's nowhere near as large a sample size as the thing being voted on deserves.

Well, this turned out even longer than Version 1's intro chapter. Honestly, I probably should have held off on making the charger and Type 1 swords until a future chapter, but in my mind, it made sense to get back up weapons as soon as possible. There will be times where it's not a good idea to be a super heavy robot after all.

Anyways, hope you guys liked this one, it's time to get to the One Piece section of my roster. Again, make sure you participate in the current poll, it deals in whether I will add one final story to my roster this go around. I would like to have at least a hundred votes so that way I have a proper data set to work off of, so please vote, otherwise I'll think I have to put it to a coin toss.