Wow! Can't believe how many views, reviews, favorites, and follows I got just for the prologue alone! I'm glad that you all found it interesting! And now it is my hope to make this fic just as entertaining as the previous one. Oh boy, do I have surprises in store for all of you.

That said, unlike the God Slaying Wolf where I introduced the whole premise of Ragnarok and its rules in the 1st chapter, things will be progressing a little more slowly in this fic at first. Given all of the characters involved, this slower pacing is meant to ensure that everyone gets a moment or two to show some personality and the likes.

That also said, once again my semester marches on. No idea how things will go, but as always, I'll make sure to try and keep a regular writing schedule.

Now onto the chapter!

Chapter 1

Roman Torchwick considered himself to be a smart guy, as well as strong. After all, one doesn't get to be as renown a criminal as him by being stupid or weak.

And yet, he had spent the better part of the past week as well as last night trying not to be so stumped. Crime was his business, his enterprise, his way of life. But stealing Dust, no matter how large in quantity, had never been his thing until meeting up with his current business 'partner' of a sorts: Cinder Fall.

"Tch, what a scary lady…" he muttered upon thinking of her.

It had all started out relatively simple. The black haired woman in red had approached him a while back, looking for his help in a little 'operation' of hers…. The thing is, in a startlingly brief amount of time, Roman had found himself all but serving as her henchman in all but name. And to this day, he still knew next to nothing about what her plan entailed. He was very much in the dark and it was something that he despised.

And in all honesty, he was growing sick of it. It was enough as it is working with Cinder and her other two lackeys, that grey haired punk and green haired thief. But then he had found himself working with members of the White Fang of all people too! Now, he didn't hate Faunus – not entirely at any rate – but being forced to work with them in any capacity was something that left him feeling just a little miffed. That this all too was part of Cinder's plan was something else that just ticked him off.

"Should I just cut my losses?" he questioned aloud, reaching for a cigar.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Roman all but froze, damn near dropping his cigar as he readied to put it in his mouth. Turning around, he spotted Cinder herself walking through the door of their little hidey-hole right now.

Cinder, in spite of her beauty, gave off a dangerous vibe, the kind that damn near had Roman on edge and ready to flee if she started swinging. He knew he was a good fighter and all, but Cinder was a cut above him. And given the sort of resources she had at her disposal, Roman would rather not be on the receiving end of it.

"What's the matter, Roman? Already tired of hanging around me?" Cinder asked playfully.

Roman's right eyebrow twitched. He never did quite like how overconfident she sounded, his fear of her be damned. "Maybe. Maybe not," he retorted, now composing himself and putting the cigar in his mouth. "I'd definitely feel a lot better if you'd ever actually tell me why we're going through all of this trouble. Especially now since we may have hunters and huntresses on our tail…" The criminal thought back to his encounter with Ruby and how she had been saved in the nick of time by Glynda. He was no fool; he recognized a huntress when he saw one. Especially since in her brief battle with Cinder, the two of them had seemingly been evenly matched.

Seeing him begin to reach for his lighter, Cinder reached out with her hand, stopping him. And then her eyes glowed fiercely as she called upon the power of her flames. With deliberate slowness and ease, she lit Roman's cigar for him. As she did, she chuckled lightly. "Don't tell me that you're afraid of a few hunters and huntresses…" she mocked.

"Hardly. But it will make things harder." Roman could only roll his eyes. He gave his cane a little twirl as he began to pace about. "Stealing all of this Dust for you isn't the easiest thing in the world, you know. And if they get on our case, that only makes things much harder."

"Have some faith in me, Roman; I'll get things done… but at my own pace." Cinder smiled mysteriously as she spoke those words. "And as for my plan… don't worry. Soon enough… soon enough I'll let you in on it."

Roman puffed out some smoke. Holding his cigar in his hand, he pointed it at Cinder. "Right. Well, I plan on holding you to that." He then began to head for the door. "I'm heading out now. Gotta get some sleep."

Cinder watched in silence as he left. And once he was fully out of earshot, she laughed a little.

Really now, Roman's attitude towards her… oh well, it mattered little. While his skills certainly proved invaluable to her, it'd only be a matter of time until he became expendable. And as for him finding out about her plan, well, that wasn't going to happen.

And thinking of her plan, Cinder was honestly amazed at how things were progressing. All of the experiments were going well enough, but much more still had to be done. And in order to ensure that things would go well, more Dust will ultimately be needed.

"Looks like we'll need to get some more in another week or so…" Cinder pondered, thinking over things.

Thinking on the particular threats to her plan, there wasn't much to genuinely fear. At least from the hunters and huntresses. Oh sure, she found them impressive and everything, but they could still be overcome easily enough. Especially if academies such as Beacon were dumb enough to send out the younger ones to try and take on her little underlings. No, the people that genuinely worried her… were the magi.

Yes, she was very much aware of their existence. She knew the kind of power that a single magus could possess, the kind of unique abilities that one could unleash. Magi were heads and shoulders above hunters and huntresses. She should know; her master was one – a magus.

He had entrusted her with a certain task and that's exactly what she plans on doing: completing it. And while he gave her a good deal of leeway in how to go about it, she knew that sooner or later her master would lose his patience. That wouldn't be good for her or anyone else. She should count herself lucky that for the time being he was too focused on arming the others… still, she shouldn't remain idle for too long.

"I guess, just to be on the safe side, we'll have to move the schedule up a little…" Cinder thought to herself.

Despite the difficulties that undoubtedly would accompany her task, she couldn't help but look forward to it. "Show me what you got… magi of Beacon."

The next week, one Weiss Schnee sat quietly in the classroom of her next class. She was alone as the rest of her team was out in the cafeteria, still very much enjoying their lunch from those two cooks Ryuichi and Miki.

She let out a very longstanding sigh. Today wasn't exactly a great day for her. It wasn't a bad day by any stretch of the term, but it wasn't a particularly great day either. This was mainly because she was still thinking over her new team.

It's been a whole week since the initiation has come and gone and during that first week of actual classes, she's had to put up with quite a bit. From having to furnish their dorm room in the early morning before class, to trying to take class seriously while her teammates didn't to simply having to put up with their quirks… well, Weiss was feeling more than a little tired.

Oh sure, she had talked with one of her professors, Peter Port, about it and had received a brief yet enlightening speech from him… but still, she was finding herself hard-pressed to fully adjust to team RWBY; their personalities, from Ruby's adorkability and social awkwardness to Blake's calm and enigmatic nature to Yang's lively and outgoing attitude, were taking their toll on her as they clashed with her more reserved personality.

"Those three can be such a headache…" she muttered, quietly looking over her class notes, having already finished her lunch and having nothing better to do for now.

"Something troubling you, Ms. Schnee?"

She nearly fell out of her chair from surprise at the sudden new voice. Looking towards the door, she spotted who had just spoken.

Entering the classroom was none other than Naruto, who was once again in his little 'disguise.' Although Weiss couldn't tell, he was feeling a little annoyed; looks like the past week of hunching up his shoulders like this was finally taking its toll on him, causing him to feel just a little achy right now.

"Professor Namikaze? What are you doing here?" Weiss asked. His class was always in the early morning, so needless to say that it's already come and gone for the day. She knew that he did teach class at other times for the 2nd and 3rd years, but even then, he taught no class in this particular room.

"Just enjoying the view," he replied, motioning towards the window. This classroom was one of several that had a great view of the land beyond Beacon Academy and thus was one he favored whenever he didn't have to deal with anything else during lunch. He'd be with Miki, but she was on duty as a cook still. Hanging out with Ryuichi was also a no-go for the same reason. And Hanako had once again gone looking around the academy and he had no real amount of time to go looking for her. So this was really his only choice. He couldn't help but take a brief second to marvel at how quickly he had established a routine here in Beacon. Nonetheless, he still focused on Weiss. "And my question?"

Weiss blushed in embarrassment, realizing that she had just bluntly asked her professor his reason for being here instead of answering his question. "Ah… well, it's just my team, professor."

"Hm… team RWBY, right?" he asked for confirmation, walking up to the window. As he did so, Weiss could only look at him in confusion, realizing he still had his eyes closed. Why or how is he even looking at the view offered from here?

"Yes, that's right." Weiss' answer was succinct and quick, but still she couldn't help but continue to talk. "Well, I've already spoken with professor Port over it."

"And yet whatever the problem is, it's still bothering you." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement on Naruto's part.

The Schnee heiress nearly flinched at his words. The professor had hit it right on the head. "In a way," she said a little curtly. "It's just a little hard to fit in with them. Our personalities… kind of clash."

Naruto nodded his head. Listening to Weiss' words, he thought back to his much younger days, back when he had still been a teenager. He recalled his days as a genin and the interactions he had had with his fellow genin. Especially his sister Reiko, who had long since joined the dearly departed. Thankfully by way of natural means, not some sudden and painful death in combat. That said, it still kind of hurt to think of her. After having repaired the bond with her and his parents, Naruto had grown very close to them all, making their deaths of old age rather painful as they weren't magi. It had hurt a little more when he had eventually had to reveal to them the truth of what he truly is after they had noticed him not aging upon hitting his mid-20s. But even then, they had taken his – and the rest of team magi by extension – secret in complete stride and had done their best to uphold the secret from others too. Ultimately, it had made their passing all the more painful as he continued to live on, but he was all the stronger for it; even after revealing his magus status to them, they had still loved him dearly and he would hold that love within him until the end of his own life and beyond.

It was with all that in mind that he spoke. "You know, when I was younger, I went through something similar, Ms. Schnee."

"Really?" Weiss perked up at those words, having not honestly expected to hear that. Intellectually, she knew that she had never been the only one to go through something like this, but to hear of it was something new.

Naruto nodded. He now turned around, facing her. "Yep. I'll spar you a lot of the details, but there were a handful of people that I didn't exactly 'click' with. But overtime as I got to know them, I was able to get along with them pretty well. I'd go as far as to say that they became good friends of mine." Then he smiled softly. "And one person I couldn't get along with… was my own twin sister too."

He watched in silence for a moment as he saw Weiss react, surprise on her face. "Yeah, she was always a pretty energetic girl, kind of like that Nora girl running around here. Her attitude…. Along with other circumstances at the time, made it hard for me to particularly like being around her. I tended to keep to myself, kind of like a lone wolf…" He paused. "But ultimately, that all changed. Eventually, those other extenuating circumstances were resolved, I actually bothered to get to know her and others… and before I knew I had established strong bonds with them all, my sister especially." He sighed contently as he thought back on those old yet very fond memories. It still amazed him at how close he and Reiko had grown once Ragnarok was all over. Hell, when she had finally started to date and all, he had even gone as far as to do the typical 'hurt my sister, I hurt you' threat to the guy taking her out on the date.

"I… I see," Weiss said quietly, mulling over these words. First Peter Port talked to her about her team and attitude towards them and now here was another professor giving her something akin to a lecture on the same topic. "Thank you, professor. That was… pretty enlightening," she then said, noticing the time and seeing that class would be starting soon.

"Hmm, you're welcome. I hope my words helped a bit," Naruto said. He too took note of the time and turned to leave the classroom. "Oh and one quick thing."

"Yes?" Weiss looked perplexed. Was there something else of importance that professor Namikaze had to mention?

"When you see your leader, tell her next time I really will smack her upside the head," Naruto said nonchalantly. "This morning marked the eighth time she's fallen asleep in my class. And while sitting in the front of my class too." He did his best to hold back the sigh. He knew that the current material he was teaching was still pretty boring and that Ruby was still only a 15 year old, but would it kill her to try to stay awake? He was starting to doubt his own teaching ability because of her.

"Err… okay?" Weiss answered uncertainly.

Nodding at Weiss' (supposed) response, Naruto left the classroom.

Elsewhere in the academy, lunch was beginning to wind to an end. It was almost time for the next class to start. Granted, the students still had almost 15 whole minutes before their next class, but given the size of the academy and their tendency to walk rather than run anywhere outside of combat practice, the fifteen minutes gave them just enough time to get to class lest they risk their professors' ire.

And so it was with this in mind that the remaining three members of team RWBY began to walk towards their next class, which Weiss was already at.

"Ah, that sure hit the spot!" Yang commented, actually rubbing her belly. She never would've expected the food here at Beacon to be so healthy yet delicious. Seriously, it ought to be a crime for food to be that good, she felt.

Her younger sister agreed. "Mhm!" She all but literally had stars in her eyes. One of the cooks – Miki – had even been nice enough to give her a few personally made cookies. By far the best ones she's ever had. "Those cookies were just amazing!" she almost squealed giddily.

"Yeah!"

Blake simply rolled her eyes, seeing how her fellow two teammates were acting. That said, she did have to agree. She never would've expected the food to be so delicious here. "I guess you do have a point."

"I do have a point!" Ruby replied.

"She does!"

Now Yang yawned a bit, stretching in such a way that it would've drawn a considerable amount of male attention. "But… now off to class…" At that, her voice just lost a little bit of its usual spunk.

Ruby sighed, nodding in agreement. As much as she wanted to be a huntress, going to class can be pretty tough given how some of the material taught doesn't seem all that… well, interesting or relevant. Not to mention how, as leader of team RWBY, she'd still have to do her best to do what her position entailed: leading. At least she's been making some headway with that. Even Weiss seemed to be opening up a little, so that must count as a success of some sorts, right?

"Don't worry! I'm sure it'll go well!"

It was roughly at the same time that all three members of team RWBY finally took notice of the 'extra' voice that had been hanging around them.

Turning around, they were rather surprised by who they saw. Namely a young woman that looked no older than her mid-20s. She had long light blond hair tired up into two side ponytails, held in place by black and white striped ribbons. Standing at roughly the same height as Yang, the young woman also sported a slender yet remarkably curvaceous figure and well-endowed figure, somewhat shown off in the black mobile knee length skirt she wore along with the white sleeveless shirt (none of team RWBY would quite call it a tank-top given its appearance) and brooch she had on. What really drew their attention was how soft her facial features were, making her look more akin to a teenager rather than someone in her mid-20s as the rest of her body appeared. Her eyes were the most gentle of pinkish in color, like that of a sakura tree.

This person was none other than Naruto's magical weapon, Hanako herself.

She looked at the three RWBY members with a big smile on her face. "Hello.~" she said chipperly. She waved to them with one hand. The other hand was currently being used to hold a few cookies, the same kind that Ruby had just mentioned.

"E-Er, hi?" Ruby replied, unsure of herself. She knew she was socially awkward and all… but this… girl? Young woman?... seemed to really stand out. She seemed friendly though.

"I'm sorry, but just who are you?" Blake then asked, quirking an eyebrow. She could tell that Hanako wasn't a student, but she didn't appear to be part of Beacon's faculty either.

"Ah, I'm Hanako," the humanoid magical weapon introduced herself, bowing a little sheepishly. The cheery expression she had on her face was throwing the girls for a loop; it made her look noticeably younger than she appeared. "Sorry for just butting into the conversation… but I couldn't help but just agree with you!" She motioned to Ruby.

"Me?!" Ruby exclaimed, surprised by how Hanako had suddenly motioned to her. But then she regained herself and realized what Hanako meant. "Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "You mean the cookies?! So I'm not the only one who thinks they're amazing?"

Hanako nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Miki-chan sure does make great cookies." Befittingly, she took that exact moment to eat one of the cookies in her hand before passing another one to Ruby. The younger girl all but melted as she ate the cookie and before Blake or Yang knew it, they were once again walking to class with Hanako in tow, who was chatting happily with Ruby.

"Well…" Yang began. She was actually rendered silent by Hanako's appearance just now. But seeing how well along her sister and Hanako were getting, she managed to regain her wit. She even smiled at the scene. "Now that was pretty sudden. She seems interesting though." She grinned now, looking to Blake.

Blake slowly returned her blond friend's grin with a more subdued smile. "I suppose…" But though she wouldn't say it aloud, she was kind of getting a bit of a strange vibe off of Hanako. It was almost as if she wasn't quite human. But she clearly wasn't a Faunus either, unless she was hiding something in her hair or under that skirt… well that last bit sounded perverted, the Faunus silently reprimanded herself.

That aside, it was this feeling as to why she had sounded a little on the cautious side just now when she had asked Hanako to introduce herself; she simply didn't seem 'normal,' for lack of a better word.

But at any rate, she so far clearly wasn't a threat to her or anyone else. So the cat Faunus ultimately decided to just let things play out for now. Who knows? Maybe it's just her mind playing tricks on her, somehow looking for a threat that simply isn't there.

With that in mind, Blake and her two teammates and one magical weapon continued their trek to class, Ruby's and Hanako's enthusiastic conversation garnering some attention from other students around them.

Elsewhere in the world, there was a man hard at work. The room he was currently in appeared to be some kind of laboratory, though its exact features couldn't quite be made out; if anyone were to come by this place, they'd find the room to be almost pitch black, making it impossible to make out anything about the room or its current occupant.

And this darkness didn't bother the man in the least. He had long since trained himself to function this well in complete darkness. And besides, it wasn't as if he was in the midst of any experiments. In fact, he was simply reviewing the results of the latest experiment. And as he had expected for the most part, it had gone well, though it was clear there still was much to be done.

"So it truly is possible for Dust to 'mix' like this…" he muttered, taking a second to calmly rub his chin in thought.

He was, however briefly, broken from his thoughts when he heard a knock upon the door. But he was by no means startled by this disruption; he had, after all, called for this person to come to him. "Enter."

The door just several yards from him opened, letting in a blinding amount of sunlight, enough to keep the arrival's features obscured. But the person was most definitely a male.

"Sorry to bother you, captain… but you called for me?" the person asked.

The man, the captain, nodded. "That's right." He turned around in his chair, fixing the younger man with his startlingly golden eyes. "But before I get down to business… how are the modifications? Everything feels well?"

The young man nodded. "Yes. I feel just fine, stable. Say the word, captain, and I can do pretty much anything you ask of me."

That got yet another nod out of the captain, one of approval. "Good. With that in mind, let me tell you something: I'm giving you a task. A rather important one."

That got the young man to stand up straighter. "A task?" he asked excitedly. "And what will it be?"

"After many years of research, investigation and more, I've finally confirmed the existence and general locations of all the 'ancient' magi. You've done quite well against magi around your age and somewhat older, but now it's time to truly field test your abilities." The captain paused, taking a moment to get up from his seat and pass a scroll towards the young man, who took it and looked at the information on-screen. "You'll be heading to Atlas. There, lies not just one, but three 'ancient' magi. All of whom you can quite clearly see on the scroll provided. It doesn't really matter which one you choose to fight, assuming you do get to fight just one of them… but be sure to study them carefully. The more information you can get on their abilities, the better. And if it looks like you may die, retreat."

The young man nodded. "Of course!" he answered. But then he cocked his head to the side in slight confusion. "But if I get a chance to kill one of them… what should I do?"

"If that does happen, then by no means hesitate," the captain said.

The young man nodded. "Got it. I'll get ready to leave right now."

"Good. Dismissed," the captain said and as soon as those two words left his lips, the young man turned around and left, off to complete his new task.

Waiting for a brief few seconds to stand around in silence, the captain went back to his chair. As he sat down, he considered how things were moving along. His apprentice, Cinder, seemed to have been making some headway in collecting as much Dust as possible, though now it seems her operations have hit something of a speed-bump in the form of hunters and huntresses.

"Hmm…" the captain muttered, leaning back in his seat a bit. "It certainly wouldn't do if our Dust collection slows; the substance is a necessary component of my experiment." He fell silent, now debating what option to take. Although he said Dust was necessary, that was just a tad bit off; it would be possible for him to put off experimentation for the time being, switch over to his other 'sample,' which was much more abundant than Dust thanks to its unique properties… but he's already made considerably headway with Dust and it wouldn't feel quite right to just give up on it for now.

And it certainly wasn't as if hunters or huntresses would prove much of a problem. He was more than certain his Holy Knights would triumph over any of the warriors of this era. Still, if possible, he'd like to hold off on using such blatant force. The longer he and his forces remained out of the public's sight, then it would make his experiments all the easier to do in relative peace.

"Oh well…" he then said, shrugging his shoulders a bit. He supposed he didn't have to make a decision right here and now. Cinder may have started to lag behind in her particular task, but he still had plenty of Dust on hand to carry on for a while longer.

He'll just have to wait until then. Perhaps until after his Holy Knight just now completes his new task.

So what do you think guys? Was I able to keep the RWBY characters in character? I hope I did. If not, then I'll do my best to do better from now on!

You can also expect them to naturally get involved with a number of things going on in this story. And I can guarantee you that those events will be most action packed.

Until the next chapter, everyone! Take care!