Special thanks to the writers of the DCAU as well as Kevin Conroy for heavily inspiring the character of Fu McGinnis through their portrayal of Batman.


15 BP January-April (60 years before team RWBY)


January

Peter stood in front of his entire village with the Beowolf wrapped in chains behind him. His best friend, Fu McGinnis, approached him in awe of what he had done. Her ears threatened to poke out of her hood as she looked at the beast he had captured "wow, Peter, I didn't think you could actually do it."

Peter handed her the chain and walked home to change out of his tattered clothing as the villagers stared with mouths wide open in amazement.


February

The party was quite merry. It was Peter's birthday as well as the one-month marker since he had captured the beast who was now named Edgar. The townsfolk kept Edgar in an abandoned storm cellar that had been reinforced to keep it from escaping. Peter appeared happy and festive for the masses but in truth he was not. One month ago he had discovered that he wasn't human. He poured himself a glass of punch and grabbed a slice of cake before silently slipping into the background and finding a solitary place to clear his mind. He didn't eat much.

Arthur saw the guest of honor disappearing into a nearby building. He followed the boy. He needed to talk to this boy. When he found Peter he was sitting in a corner of a dark room sipping his punch with an uneaten plate of cake next to him. Arthur spoke to the boy "you know what you did really was extraordinary."

Peter jumped from the sudden noise and turned towards the stranger "no, it really wasn't. I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't've done."

Arthur nodded "true, but you did something that no-one else could've done. You saved a lot of people. And I think you can save more."

Peter looked up "how?"

Arthur smiled at the boy "I'm building a team. A team that I hope can turn the tide of the war. I think you should be a part of it."

Peter shook his head "no, I'm not your man. I got lucky. I'm no hero."

Arthur Put his hand on Peter's shoulder "that's not what the people outside have been telling me."


March

Ozpin stood in line holding his falsified identification. He looked at the man holding the stamp. The man was carefully reading the medical history of another recruit. Ozpin looked at his papers memorizing his latest last name backwards as he knew he would need to. He eventually was standing in front of the man with the stamp and handed his papers over.

The man skimmed over the false papers before asking the usual questions "can you spell your last name backwards for me?"

Ozpin recited the letters "E. L. A. G."

The man looked over the picture and compared. He asked his next question "how stupid do you think I am mister 'Gale'?"

Ozpin dropped his smile and then tried to save his chances one more time "what do you mean?"

The man answered "you spelled your name backwards far too quickly and you knew exactly how to hand me your ID to help me scan it even though you couldn't see the scanner. You look exactly like this picture right down to the amount of stubble. And no-one ever fills out the bottom four lines on the third page unless they're really desperate to get in. You faked these papers and more than that, you've done it several times before. Nice try though."

Ozpin took back his fake papers and asked the man "could you maybe give me a few minutes before you call the cops?" He got no response. Ozpin quickly walked out into the rain dropping the identification into the trash on the way out.

Arthur approached the man in the rain and grabbed his arm before he could run "could you come with me please?"

Ozpin followed the man who he assumed to be an officer. They walked into a room with a table and two chairs. Ozpin sat down. Arthur dropped a large file onto the table and started flipping through it "Michael Jones, Shannon McCormick, Jackson Mercury, and now Owen Gale. I believe the real one is Ozpin, correct?"

Ozpin looked up at the officer and nodded "you missed Garth Middleton."

Arthur told him "You know you are the most determined person I've seen in a long time. Why do you want to join so badly?"

Ozpin answered "I want to help people. And I can fight too."

Arthur interrupted "except that you might accidentally hospitalize a teammate."

Ozpin winced at the mention before responding "that was five years ago. I've learned a Lot since then."

Arthur looked at him carefully "indeed you have. So you want to help win the war?"

Ozpin looked up at the man "more than anything."

Arthur smiled at him and stamped some papers before sliding them across the table "well ok."


April

Peter sat in the house that for his whole life had been his home. This would be the last night he would spend there before joining Arthur and his team. He had already said goodbye to everyone and packed up all his things, at least almost everyone anyway. He had yet to tell Fu that he was leaving. He lay on his bed and tried to sleep before his train early the next morning. He failed.

Fu knew that her best friend was leaving. He hadn't told her but she had seen him packing and saying goodbye to everyone else. She had even found out what train he was taking the next morning. She was planning to ambush him at the station before he left. She set her alarm with enough time to get there an hour early so that she could be there whenever he showed up. She tried to sleep in the meantime. She failed.

The next day Peter arrived at the station with all his bags in hand half an hour before the train would arrive. He paused when he saw Fu standing on the platform in front of him.

She looked him in the eye "Why weren't you going to tell me?"

Peter looked at his feet "I wanted to. I don't know why but i hate goodbyes. How did you find out?"

Fu was displeased "Does it matter? You should have said goodbye."

Peter responded "I know. I'm sorry."

Fu threw back her hood revealing her bat ears and fangs "Hey, look at me." Peter looked up at her as she asked him again "You know that you can tell me anything. Why weren't you going to tell me?"

Peter looked her in the eye as he gave his honest answer "Because i didn't want to lose you. If i said goodbye then that made it real."

Fu nodded in understanding "I get it. You wanted to be gone but you didn't want to leave." Peter shed a tear as she continued "You should've known that you'll never lose me. We've been friends longer than i can remember and that's not about to change anytime soon. But you really should've told me. What did you think would happen?"

Peter shook his head "I didn't think. I'm sorry."

Fu shushed him "No need for that. I'm here now." They sat on the bench to wait for the train. Fu didn't even raise her hood. She knew he was more comfortable when she had it down. She asked him "Where are you going?"

He looked past the wall opposite them into his own thoughts to find the answer "I don't know. wherever people need help. There's a team that i've been invited to join. A team that's going to help win the war."

Fu looked at him and smiled "I guess you always were a hero at heart. I think this team is lucky to have you. Who else is on it?"

Peter remembered what Arthur had told him over the phone "Right now it's just me and 2 other people. Arthur Arc and Ozpin. Arthur says that he's tracking another potential recruit right now."

Fu turned towards him "Arthur Arc? Do you know who he is?"

Peter shook his head "should i?"

Fu told him "Arthur Arc is the only reason remnant wasn't blown out of the sky instead of our moon. He almost died at the battle of Mt. Sol. He was poisoned by a shadow oak and crawled his way to the top of the volcano. He forged his sword and shield in the fires of the mountain and cut out his own infected flesh with the red-hot newly forged blade. After that he walked all the way to the whispering caves and single-handedly lay siege against the Grimm. He was the one that shattered the crystal before the day of dark alignment and saved the world. Your friend is a legend."

Peter felt his head spin at this new information. He sat there in thought for a moment before he realized that this was the last time for several years that he would get to talk to his best friend "I'm glad you came. There's no-one who i'd rather have with me now. After i'm gone what will you do?"

Fu turned away for a moment in thought "I don't know. I guess i'll just keep doing the same. stay in the shadows. Steal what i need from those who won't miss it."

Peter frowned at her "You can't live like this forever you know. You're not happy on the run. You have to promise me that you won't be alone. Get a job. Make some friends. You have to promise me that you'll have someone to talk to while i'm gone."

Fu looked up at him and nodded "Ok, I promise."

Peter pulled up her hood and gave her a one-armed hug. They sat on the bench leaning against each other for several minutes. Fu heard the train approaching and turned to Peter "Your ride is here."

Peter stood and picked up all his bags as he walked over to the train. He stopped at the door and turned towards his lifelong friend with a smile and said the only thing that needed to be said "Goodbye."


Up next: May