Hello folks this is the true chapter one of Eminence. I hope you enjoy. This will pick up where the actual story begins and we will see Naruto's team and his connection with them as well as start our first steps into his adventure.
To real quick answer just a couple of reviews:
I love the suggestions for his final teammate, you all knew immediately Mordred and Artoria we're going to be his teammates which I had hoped for, it was a bit of a teaser for the team I guess. Anyway some of you really almost had me rewrite it with your suggestions but I stayed strong, and kept my original plan.
As for his harem I know who all it entails. It is a pretty big list so more additional girls will not be getting added I'm sad to say. That being said some obvious changes will occur largely in part due to his team. These changes will make some things such as the girls in his harem make more or less sense as time goes on.
For those of you interested I want to invite you to a discord group hosted by AizenTheGoat that is a great place to interact, chat, and discuss fanfiction centered topics. Not that it is totally limited to that but within you could find discussion around concepts, reviews, or simply discussing various topics regarding stories either found or eventually posted upon Fanfiction. If you are interested in something like that come down and check it out using this link here → /EYDdRrnn
Anyway, let's move onto the story!
-Chapter One-
Team EMNA,
The Origin of the Knights of Beacon
Naruto chuckled as he caught the balled up shirt fired at his head. His partner and team leader was far too easy to tease. Even now, three years along the path to becoming official Hunters she could be so prudish when it came to him. Always caught between acting like a peer and a big sister, at least that's what Naruto assumed. He also knew there was another element that had recently entered into their relationship. After all Naruto was no longer that little teen she had encountered in the Forever Fall forest during the initiation.
No, three years had passed by like nothing since Naruto first came to Beacon and he was finally the age most first years were when entering. Seventeen. The boy had grown to be a strong three inches over the six foot mark and his harsh training and multiple missions alongside his teammates had further carved his already impressive physique into that of a warrior.
He knew the effect he had started having on his teammates. He'd always had a special place among the team as the youngest and the only boy. They were protective of him, often overly so, but now-a-days it was different.
"Are you sure you want me to cover up Erza?" Naruto asked jokingly as he caught the annoyed roll of her eyes and faint blush on her cheeks.
"Just get dressed, we have a mission brief in ten minutes and I still have to wrangle the other two." She said as she stood up and slipped on her jacket over her school uniform.
Naruto chuckled at his partner's words. She was an amazing person and he couldn't imagine having a different partner or let alone a better one. However she was a strict type, part of the reason she got along so well with their team mentor, Professor Goodwitch. She was a bit awkward though in dealing with others despite being a natural leader and efficient huntress in training.
She could come off as abrasive to some but he knew her roughshod method was because she was always trying to push the ones she cared about down the right path. He had picked up on that the first time they met.
Flashback
The brief overview given before the students were loaded up and taken to the forest was pretty much just a re-hashing of the same things Glynda had said in the auditorium. They would be dropped into the forest to survive for the next two days and the first fellow student they encountered would become their partner. Then between the two of them they had to defeat three different species of Grimm and collect a trophy from the bones that remained once the majority of their body disintegrated.
Sounded easy enough to Naruto and the others.
Most changed their minds when fourth years gleefully chucked them off the back ramp of the Bullhead as they flew over the forest. Naruto and a handful of others hadn't waited to be manhandled out of the craft, instead sprinting out the doors and aiming for a safe and stable landing in the woods below.
Naruto had crashed through the tree branches roughly and slammed into the ground with a small crater and loud thump. His aura, thanks to the nature of his semblance would almost always dwarf those around it and easily absorb the shock and damage such a fall would have normally given him.
Rising to his feet and drawing Bane off of his back, Naruto scanned the woods around him. He had already seen the black and white blurs moving in the trees the moment the first students had been tossed from the aircraft. It wouldn't be hard to find targets to hunt here. No, his primary focus at the moment was to find shelter to last a couple days. Preferably somewhere with nice solid rock outcroppings to protect him from surprise attacks at night.
As he set out toward the west, hoping to come across exactly what he was looking for he first walked into the path of a pack of Beowolves. Nearly fifteen in total he felt almost disappointed such a common species were his opponents. It was a strange hobby according to Qrow, but Naruto had taken to cataloguing as much information about the various types of Grimm he encountered and defeated. Everything from looks, habits, and abilities to the best way to kill them. Qrow often told him he would make an excellent professor one day if he kept it up. That didn't sound bad, but Naruto was sure it was something he'd only do several years into his career or after he retired from the field fully.
The blond stood waiting for the Grimm to come for him. Usual tactics when outnumbered. He wasn't disappointed as two of the creatures hurled themselves at him only to miss as he spun around them bringing his oversized blade around and up in a wide cleaving motion. It severed one of the monster's heads while chopping the second in half.
As was usual upon seeing some of their fellows killed the rest of the Grimm worked up into a frenzy and rushed at him. Naruto though had fought packs easily twice this size and had become especially skilled at fighting them. It was a far different fight than the day one had given him the scars down the side of his face.
"Same thing with every Beowolf pack." He grumbled as another Beowolf lunged at him only for Naruto to impale it on his blade and hurl it back off the blade into a charging second member of the pack sending both tumbling to the ground.
"Over and over, how does every pack only do the same old pack tactics?" Naruto wondered aloud as he removed three Grimm heads at once. He had yet to move from the small circle he continued pivoting in to face his foes.
The next four Grimm died as easily as the rest and Naruto was honestly disappointed. Hopefully the forest would have some decent challenges otherwise he was worried the next two days, let alone the next four years would all be a real drag.
Just as he was about to turn to surprise the Beowolf charging at his back a blade shot out of the sky and embedded through it's mask pinning it to the ground. The sudden action surprised him and the handful of surviving pack members. Even more so when several more swords matching the first burst from the trees and turned the last of the grimm into pincushions.
He wasn't sure exactly how whoever had done that did it, but he knew it had to have something to do with a semblance. Whatever it was, it was definitely impressive. Whoever was behind it was bound to be his partner too so he hoped they continued to impress.
A tall redheaded girl dropped from a treetop in front of him with another two swords in her hands to go with the six embedded in the various disintegrating Grimm corpses. She wore a breastplate with a blue combat skirt and armored boots. The various swords that had embedded into the Beowolves dislodged themselves and took a hovering pattern around the girl as she confidently strode over toward Naruto with an appraising look in her eyes.
"I had that under control." Naruto said as she crossed across the forest floor over to him.
"I saw. You're strong, especially for someone your age, what are you sixteen?" She asked.
"Fourteen." Naruto replied, getting her eyes to widen. "If you knew I had it, why did you interfere? I was having a good time."
Her eyes filled with humor and she reached out to rub Naruto's head causing him to scowl at her. As he batted away her hand she chuckled and began sheathing her swords.
"You looked bored to me." She said with a small giggle but shook her head and looked him up and down with another appraising look.
"I jumped in though because I wasn't sure that it would count for both of us if I didn't help fight the pack. We are partners now after all." She smirked.
Naruto was silent for a moment but put away his sword, folding it into its carrying form and connecting it to the magnetic bandolier he wore. That was fair. He was more bored than anything with this pack of typical Beowolves. Plus she was right, they were partners now and it might not count for points if they didn't both kill the beowolves.
"I'm Naruto Branwen then, I guess." He said awkwardly, not really sure how to introduce himself.
"Erza Nikos, nice to meet you, partner. That really was some impressive fighting you did with the pack of Grimm. I thought I was going to have to help out but I guess you are here so early for a reason." She said with a friendly tone as she bent down to pick up the mask of one of the dead Beowolves.
"Thanks, that was a pretty cool move there at the end too." He replied as they began walking westward, no real destination in mind beyond the rocky cliffs in the same direction.
"That was my semblance in play. Magnetism. I can magnetize metal objects I touch and control them like that from then on. Or at least until I sleep next. What about you?" She asked.
"Mine's not really great for immediate combat. Essentially my Aura just grows exponentially stronger and at faster rates than others'." He explained.
"Hmm, so the fact you can swing that giant hunk of metal around like nothing...just lots of training?" She asked not totally believing him.
"Well it also helps strengthen my body and heal me faster." He answered clearly done talking about it. Erza backed off at the boy's changing demeanor. She didn't need to pry too much all at once. They'd be partners for years after all if everything worked out well enough.
"Well, let's go." She commanded, and Naruto seeing no reason not to just nodded as he followed.
The two students eventually made it to the rocks and began scaling the rugged cliffside to get a better vantage point of their surrounding area. Naruto was impressed that his partner kept up their fast pace as well as she did. She clearly wasn't raised in the frontier and wilds like he was, but whatever training she had received was top notch. Just like he considered his own.
It wasn't long before they had made a good way up the rock face and found a deep crevice that could make for excellent shelter. They just had to clear out whatever Grimm lived within and were making that deep buzzing noise.
"I really hate the bug types." Erza scowled.
"Huh? For me it's the snake ones. Just not a fan." Naruto replied, getting a shrug from the redhead as if to say 'to each their own'.
With that the pair drew their weapons and cautiously made their way inside.
End Flashback
The partners left their dorm room headed for the cafeteria, no doubt that their teammates would be there somewhere. Likely hoping to get a bit of breakfast before having to deal with whatever they were being assigned to for this mission.
"We're going to be late." Erza grumbled as they walked down the hallway and Naruto chuckled even as he nodded.
"I told you to keep an eye on them oh fearless leader." He joked, getting only a sideways glare from the beautiful redhead as a reply.
As they neared the cafeteria they could hear the tell-tale clattering and shouting of another of their teammates' episodes. Really the two only ever got along in the middle of a fight. Erza sighed lightly beside him but she wasn't that bothered. She tried to run a tight ship with their team but after three years she knew there was no changing some aspects of her teammates.
"Come on, we better get in there before they make too much of a mess." Erza said as she kicked the double doors to the room open revealing the pair of blonde's with weapons drawn in the center of a circle beside an overturned table covered in a mixture of milk, cereal, eggs and what looked like biscuits and gravy.
On one side the more petite of the two stood with her sword held in front of her in a guard position. She was roughly the size Naruto had been when he started at Beacon despite being nineteen now. She wore the school uniform though left her jacket open and the tip three buttons of her shirt undone revealing what cleavage she had, as if trying to confirm she was in fact a woman.
Opposite her was her twin, though it was usually hard to tell they were in fact twins. She was taller than even Erza and far more...developed in the chest area. She had the same three buttons undone on her shirt that her sister did but simply because she couldn't actually button them because her chest was simply too large. Where the first sister had light blonde hair and green eyes this one's were a muted blonde and her eyes were a yellowish golden color, giving her a mature and intense look.
"Mordred! Artoria! Enough, we're late!" Erza shouted into the room causing both girls to freeze and turn to look at their teammates at the door.
"Dammit!" Mordred shouted but still put away her sword and moved to join the rest of Team EMNA.
"I'm glad I didn't have to send that letter after all." Artoria said as she stepped alongside her sister folding her Lance back into it's sword form and sheathing it as well.
"Letter?" Naruto asked getting a nod from Artoria.
"Yes, the one I keep in my desk for when Mordred finally does something so stupid she gets herself killed." Artoria said with a completely stoic and serious tone.
"Shut your fat mouth." Mordred scowled.
"Hmm, Naruto...do you think I'm fat?" Artoria asked as she leaned into his side, pressing her thick hips and soft boobs into him. The younger boy blushed faintly but by now was used to Artoria using him to pick on Mordred.
"Leave him out of this! Besides, a good boy like Naruto would never fall for you, he needs more than boobs to be happy, bitch." Mordred snarled.
Artoria tapped her bottom lip in mock thought for a moment before tapping a fist into her palm as if realizing something.
"Good thing I have an ass for him to fall for too. Unlike the twiggy brat that keeps running her mouth." Artoria said with the faintest of grins at her sister.
Naruto sent a mental thanks to whatever God there was watching over him when Erza snatched up his wrist and yanked him out from between the two sisters. Simultaneously breaking up their fight and rescuing her partner from her teammates.
Naruto chuckled as she began to lecture them on how to act better. As usual Mordred crossed her arms and huffed while Artoria stared at Erza with half lidded eyes both not really listening to their team leader but too used to her lectures to argue.
Flashback
Naruto and Erza made their way out of their makeshift shelter the second morning of the initiation exam for Beacon with an additional bone mask from the Lancers that had turned the caverns inside into a sort of hive or nest.
Both had a new appreciation for their partner. Naruto had suspected Erza had excellent control of her semblance but actually watching her use it was something else entirely. Seeing the accuracy and speed she picked off any Lancer's either outside his range or slipping around him Naruto was a little surprised she hadn't gone into the academy at an earlier age like he himself was.
Erza likewise had realized just how prodigious her younger partner was. His strength and skill had been obvious earlier when he cleaned out an entire beowulf pack. Now though she had been getting an excellent presentation of just how agile and quick he was. Even with his massive heavy weapon.
Both had realized just how perfectly they complimented one another in combat. Erza was no slouch in close in fighting, but her semblance made her a terror of an opponent at range and perfect for covering the blistering fast and powerful force of nature that was Naruto. So with Naruto in the face of the Lancer Grimm and Erza providing support and cover with her floating blades, they were a nightmare to try and fight.
After wiping out the Lancers the two had bedded down for the night taking turns for lookout. A small breakfast of rations Naruto had thankfully kept on his person and they were setting out to find their final target.
They traveled for most of the day. Disappointingly finding mostly only the boney remains of other Grimm taken out by students. They also found a great many of their fellow student hopefuls. All dead, most cold having not made it past the first day.
"Such a waste." Erza said sadly.
"Only the strongest can be Hunters." Naruto replied. He was saddened of course but the amount of similar sights, not to mention the method in which he'd had been raised had largely numbed him to such things.
"Still there has to be a better way." She argued as she closed the eyes of a blue haired girl and did her best to cover her modesty after her outfit had been nearly torn off along with whatever took her arm.
"Maybe. But it's a proven method. Same one the nomad tribes use. Strong survive and defend, weak either die or serve from the safety of the strong." Naruto said with a shrug.
"That's pretty cynical, Naruto." Erza said as she glanced over at him a bit sadly. The scars on his face and arms made her realize he must have been forced to become strong from a very young age. She could understand that to an extent. Her own childhood had been anything but easy. Then again, she wasn't covered head to toe in scars and entering a school for trained killers at fourteen.
The pair continued on in silence for a while. The forest was awfully quiet. Eerily quiet. It was odd being as the place truly was beautiful but the creepy quiet and lack of animal sounds along with the occasional corpses or Grimm remains and spent shell casings made it a surreal experience. It even had Naruto on edge. In the end this place was different than the frontiers and wilds. There were many grimm there but they were wide open places. It took till now to settle in that Forever fall was in effect an inescapable basin filled to the brim with Grimm of many kinds.
Erza noticed the shift in her younger companion. He had already been cautious and alert but now he was tense and seemed to have surrendered some sort of restraint. As if he had noticed something.
"Naruto, what is it?" She asked the boy.
"Nothing yet...but that's kind of the problem. This whole place is one giant nest. It's a training ground for a reason. How come we are hardly encountering any grimm right now?" He asked.
"Maybe most of them have gone after louder groups or they got wiped out in this area?" Erza suggested.
"All of them? Even with all the dead students we found?" Naruto suggested back.
Erza followed his example and became even more cautious and on edge as they crept through the forest. Occasionally the eerie silence would be interrupted by a distant scream or bout of gunfire. Once even a strange red bolt of lightning from around a mile east of Naruto and Erza had blasted through the canopy of the forest.
They decided it was a risk but possibly an acceptable one to at least investigate what that was. Both hoped it was a semblance of some kind. Naruto wanted to fight unique Grimm, but he wasn't really all that interested in a hard fight against some crazy powerful monster spitting out lightning. Despite their worries, the chance that it was other students that could be teamed up with for the final twenty or so hours of the test was too good to pass up.
So they changed course and made their way toward the possible fight. It didn't take long for them to begin hearing more common sounds of a battle with grimm. The snarls and harsh bark-like sounds they often made among the more common variants filled the once silent woods along with the sound of slicing blades and a pair of other students carving up a pack of Ursa like it was an everyday chore.
Erza stopped Naruto from interfering as the two girls ahead of them carved up the last of their opponents. Unlike with Naruto, Erza wasn't sure if Partners could share kills with other partnered pairs. Best to let the other two get the prize they had done most of the work to acquire.
As they watched on, the two girls continued to wrap up their work. Naruto remembered them from the auditorium. The sisters that had been making a bit of a scene while arguing with one another.
The red sister, Mordred if he remembered, had red lightning arcing up and down her broadsword and she took the Grimm head on. She fought somewhat similar to how Naruto did, though she was honestly a bit less of a berserker than he was. She was more agile and faster though. Which helped keep her well ahead of the large forms of the Ursa.
The black clad sister, Artoria, had a lance-like weapon that crackled with dust generated energy ending the Ursa she pierced with the tip of her weapon easily in different elemental attacks. Any that drew too close however she smoothly shifted her weapon into a sword form and cleanly slew them as they drew in for their attack.
"They're quite skilled." Erza said as she watched the two girls fight.
"I wonder who's better? Us or them?" Naruto said before glancing up at his red headed companion catching the smirk on her face as she winked at him. He cursed mentally as he blushed and looked away hearing the tinkling laughter of his partner ring out beside him.
He wasn't the only one as both of the women they had been watching had just finished the last of their Grimm opponents and had heard the laughter. They turned to Naruto and Erza and after a brief moment of hesitation returned their weapons to their sheathes before slowly approaching the newcomers.
"Enjoy the show?" Artoria asked with a raised eyebrow and a hand still on the hilt of her weapon.
"We simply didn't want to accidentally steal your kills." Erza replied while raising her hands in a placating manner. Mordred grinned at that while Artoria seemed to again hesitate as if thinking before slowly nodding and releasing her hand from her blade.
"Sooo, why are you hanging around then? Want to change partners? That sounds like a plan. Artoria you can have the squirt. You always were good at babysitting Jaune back home." Mordred rattled off quickly as she walked toward Erza with her hand extended in greeting.
"Squirt? I'm bigger than you." Naruto said with a quirked eyebrow getting a small smile from Artoria and another small laugh from Erza.
Mordred froze before glancing over at Naruto and finally really sizing up. It didn't take long before her grin spread wide and she practically latched her hand onto Naruto's in greeting. She pulled him in close and even gave him a sideways hug causing him to go rigid in her grasp not that she seemed to mind that much as she quickly released him.
"I changed my mind, you get Red, I want the mouthy one." Mordred said with a look toward her sister.
"You're the mouthy one though." Artoria said simply as she brushed past the squawking Mordred to shake Naruto and Erza's hands herself.
"I'm Artoria Arc this is my little sister Mordred-" Artoria began only to be interrupted by her 'little' sister.
"Twin. We're twins." Mordred said sharply, glaring lightly at Artoria.
"I specifically said little, not younger...even though I am nine minutes older." Artoria said blandly though the amusement in her eyes was easy to see for Naruto and Erza as they all watched Mordred twitch slightly at her sister's teasing.
"Oh you think you're so big and bad. I'll-" Mordred began only for Erza to step between them. Causing the argument to end before it truly could wind up.
"Enough, this is hardly the place to argue like little kids. We have an exam to finish." Erza said.
Both sisters looked at one another before turning to Erza with heat in their eyes. Naruto cringed faintly, he knew this was about to suck. Just some basic natural instinct told him that he wasn't going to like this. He ended up being very right as the three girls all began tearing into one another.
Erza demanded they both stop fighting and listen to her. Artoria sniping out initially at only Erza but occasionally at Mordred too, seemingly just for the hell of it. Lastly Mordred was shouting at Erza, asking who exactly she seemed to think she was. Especially benign as she and the squirt hadn't even introduced themselves yet.
Naruto sighed as the conversation spiralled and he knew better than to step into the middle of it. It was better to let it run it's course, he assumed.
Sadly, as should be expected in a forest filled with beings that were drawn to negative intent, an argument between three strong willed people was something of a dinner bell. The ground rumbled ominously and a piercing shriek cut through the sound of the group arguing.
"They're coming." Naruto said as he suddenly drew Bane and it reassembled into the massive blade.
"Right, Artoria, with me we'll provide cover for them. Mordred you got whatever made that noise and Naruto whatever is about to come out of the ground is yours.
"Who put you in charge?" Mordred snapped.
"Just do what she says. You have a swarm." Naruto hissed.
Mordred followed his eyes with her own gaze, locating the appropriately dubbed swarm of harpy-like Razorwings. Naruto turned his attention back to the quickly forming depression ahead of them. The ground sank before blossoming up almost like the earth itself had taken in a big breath. Then it exploded outward with a massive wormlike monster tearing through the ground and twisting before diving down toward the group of students.
"Change of plan! Mordred and I will take the Razorwings, you two handle the Blindworm!" Erza called. There were no arguments this time, just four well trained hunters in training snapping to what they knew best.
Naruto covered the ground between him and his target quickly. He was soon swinging his sword against the thick armored hide of their opponent leaving deep gashes and grooves in it's armored exterior. He easily avoided the creature's attempts to catch him in it's maw, but even with his strength and sharp blade of Bane he wasn't hurting the creature in front of him.
"It's some sort of mutation. The harder ground in Vale over the loose sands of Vacuo made this thing's armor almost impenetrable!" Artoria called out as she unloaded several dust rounds into it with her transformed anti-material rifle.
Naruto nearly shouted back that he could tell. But just as he was about to a second section of ground dipped and then began to swell.
"Shit, another one!" He shouted before diving out of the way.
"We don't have the tools for this!" Artoria cried as she danced around the worm's barbed tail that had ripped out of the ground beside her.
"We need to-" Naruto began only for Erza to interrupt and finish his sentence for him.
Again, with almost unnatural fluidity for a group that had just met, the foursome changed targets. Naruto activated the mechashift function on Bane transforming the massive blade into a chaingun. He let the feral grin spread onto his face as he planted his feet in a solid base and angled his weapon upward at the swarm of Razor wings.
The deafening roar of his gun as it burped a continuous series of rounds into the aerial targets was music to his ears. The standard rounds he had loaded were more than enough to chew through the little creatures but still he had to make it quick. He didn't have unlimited ammunition and while bane held enough to normally outfit seven hunters it also ate through it's supply faster than all seven could hope to keep up with.
He wasn't the only one unloading on the enemy though. Artoria's rifle was honestly overkill for the light frames of the Grimm they were killing at the moment. Her rounds turned even the boney armored portions of the little monsters to a fine powdery mist upon impact.
Nearby Erza kept one worm busy while using her blades to create a floating stair case for Mordred who wielded he own transformed weapon. Now armed with a rocket launcher the petite blonde lined herself up with the mouth of the beast before squeezing the triggers and sending a high explosive rocket with fire dust added straight down it's throat.
"Eat that you big bastard!" She hollered as the explosion sent her further up into the air and allowed her to line up a shot on the second Grimm worm.
It tried to close it's gaping maw to prevent a similar date to it's sibling but the explosives Mordred was packing didn't actually need to be inside the creature to bypass it's armor. They were rockets after all.
A massive blast took the creature's entire head off and tossed Mordred down roughly against the forest floor next to her sister and impromptu comrades.
The four hunters in training were silent for a while. Each of them catching their breaths and waiting for the next set of grimm trying their luck. It never came and slowly the silence grew into Mordred chuckling, followed by the others one by one joining in until all four were laughing.
"That was amazing." Erza said with a smile getting bods and grins from the others.
"We make a good team." Naruto added in getting agreements from the others.
"Yeah...about that...who are you two?" Mordred asked, causing Naruto and Erza to realize they hadn't actually introduced themselves yet.
They broke into laughter once again before introducing themselves to their new friends.
End Flashback
Following that the group had simply passed the day by the king back toward the cliffs so they could return to Beacon. Artoria and Mordred had evidently already collected a mask prior to Naruto and Erza running into them and while one mask of the worm was gone for good, the second went to the sisters while there were more than enough Razorwing masks to go around.
They had been more than happy to be placed together on a team. Erza was made their leader and the rest as they say was history.
Now they were perhaps the most well known team at Beacon. The quartet of Juniors were team EMNA. Team Eminence, though Naruto and Mordred often complained that it didn't fit properly. Still the word Eminence got them extremely well. They all had a certain air of authority and confidence about them. Even more so than other accomplished teams.
Team EMNA had been the first to be given their mentor and the first to begin escorted missions under Glynda Goodwitch's mentorship. They had also been the first to begin missions without a mentor. Most not doing so until their third year but Team EMNA beginning only a month into their second year.
That was enough to give them a sort of celebrity status among their peers, but for Headmaster Ozpin, it was time to begin taking the steps beyond that. He knew Team EMNA was meant for astounding things in the world. Their pedigree was impeccable and their skills were already proven.
However, to ease the worries of his right hand, the team's own mentor and den mother, Glynda, he decided on a final test to prove it to her. She would ride out with them and observe from a bullhead as the team handled their job and grade their performance.
She had been still rather salty about how soon the team, especially it's youngest member, were taking part in an A-class cleansing. Few fourth years even took such jobs without their mentor, but Ozpin had reminded his assistant that Eminence was anything but an ordinary team of students.
Each of them had started down their path as hunters as children, in different ways perhaps but they were literally born and raised for this and Ozpin did ever so wasting resources in his war against Salem and her Grimm hordes. After today new symbols of hope would be seen across Remnant. It was what he had once wanted for team STRQ, but he was sure this time things would work out.
After all, Naruto and Mordred had stacked the deck in the team's favor on any mission since the start of their third year. The headmaster almost wanted to tag along to see their creations in action first hand.
As Team EMNA walked into the room, Ozpin glanced over at Glynda who eyed her proteges with her typical piercing gaze. He had to hide the smile behind the brim of his mug as the four teens simply smiled back at her and warmly greeted her cracking through her cold stern exterior more easily than even he could.
Glynda stepped over to the four students and laid a hand on Erza's shoulder while she adjusted the collar of Naruto's uniform.
"Why is it that only Erza ever properly wears the uniform?" She asked with mild humor already knowing the answers.
"Feels like a leash." Naruto said nonchalantly.
"I have to be free and open somewhat. I run hot." Mordred said as she crossed her arms under her modest bust.
"Too tight…" Artoria shrugged, causing the headmaster to ensure his eyes were averted. Naruto didn't hold such standards though and received a small flick to the nose from his mentor while Artoria sent him a small grin.
"I have told you to get bigger shirts." Glynda said with some annoyance toward her fellow blonde. She hadn't expected a response and neither had she gotten one.
"How do you all feel? There is no shame in allowing a more experienced team to handle this." Glynda asked. Her voice lacked any obvious worry, but they had grown used to her fiddling nature when worrying for someone when she began straightening Mordred's uniform.
"We're ready, I think. Naruto and Mordred's project worked just as they planned in all the field tests and we even used it on a pair of missions into the frontier recently." Erza said. She was always confident in her team. Her partner and Mordred had a gift for mechashift weaponry. They had been working on some revolutionary items almost since they started at the academy. Now those items were fully functioning and she couldn't feel safer or more proud of them.
"That may be so Miss Nikos, but I have yet to even tell you the mission rating." Ozpin broke into the conversation, making the room turn to look at him.
"So... it's something big then?" Mordred asked bluntly. Ozpin chuckled as Erza and Glynda both sighed.
"Yes it's….big. Team EMNA I am hereby offering you your first unsupported A-class cleansing mission. Glynda will accompany you to observe but not interfere unless your demise is certain. However you know how quickly a Grimm can kill so do not count on her to rescue you from your mistakes. This is the closest to a full blown field mission as a qualified Hunter any student has ever taken. Do not take it lightly." Ozpin said before calmly sipping at his coffee.
He grinned behind his cup as the expressions of the four students didn't grow worried or pale or any typical example of fear most would show at being told they would be taking an A-class mission and possibly dying. All as a teenager. Instead, as he had predicted, their faces hardened and their eyes all but glowed with determination.
"What is the mission headmaster?" Erza asked after glancing to ensure her team was as invested as she was.
The silver haired man withdrew his scroll and tapped on an application activating the large screen on one side of the room with detailed maps and diagrams. The group stepped closer as Ozpin himself began to point at the material.
"This is an aerial view of the town of Greenmarket. It sits on the crossroad of five important roadways and a rail line near Vale's frontier perimeter. Six days ago a protest march for Faunus rights moved through the town as it has a sizable Schnee Dust Company supply depot. Two days afterward a scuffle between SDC security and the White fang protestors left one protester in the hospital and the entire town on the brink of violence. While the majority of White Fang marchers have moved on, a massive buildup of grimm from the event has been identified north and west of the town. As of this morning the Grimm number in excess of one hundred creatures, primarily Beowolves and Ursa but larger, more dangerous variants are also present. They will be upon the town's defenses by tomorrow night...at the latest." The headmaster briefed them.
The students were silent. A bit shocked not only by the actual situation and seriousness of the mission but by the way it was all being laid out before them clearly. That only lasted a moment though before they began approaching the screen to get a better look at the exact situation. Grimm gave off an energy signature that, at some point, they had developed technology to detect similar to thermal imaging.
The black spots on the map were so close together and so built up that the imagery for the region looked as if a stormcloud was sweeping in on weather radar. What's more the diagrams showed that the town's defenses were formidable. That is they were formidable for normally sized packs of grimm. A fully fledged horde like this was something else though. The shirt thin walls and defensive turrets and cannon wouldn't hold them off long enough for the populace to properly evacuate. That was without so many news crews and remaining White Fang members present.
"Evacuation?" Erza asked.
"Already started. You can see that it will take time though. Best case scenario is you divert the horde and the people can be safely evacuated till the military can purge the whole region. If that fails you are to distract the horde long enough for us to provide temporary shelters to those who can't be evacuated in time. Then an air campaign can begin to clear the valley with minimized risk to remaining civilians." Ozpin explained.
"But, then the town would be destroyed. All those homes and the livestock...the community would never recover again." Artoria said.
"Yes." Was all the man said as he clicked on a marker and the screen shifted to show a picture of a faunus family.
The man of the family was a large broad shouldered panther faunus. He didn't really need an introduction. Ghira Belladonna was the leader and practically the embodiment of the White Fang movement. A pacifist at heart that believed in peaceful change, he was not afraid to defend his people from violence if he absolutely had to.
The woman beside him was a beautiful cat faunus and was well enough known for her own part in the movement that she too needed. No introduction.
"This is the Belladonna family. No doubt you are more than aware of the power couple that is Ghira and Kali. They lead and organize the White Fang and it is thanks to them that things in Greenmarket didn't spin further out of control. Ghira has been helping prepare the defenses of the town and even bolstering it with White Fang members. Kali has helped to organize the evacuation of families and elderly as well as the local hospital. However, the important part of this photo is this girl here." Ozpin said as he pointed at the couple's daughter.
"This is twelve year old Blake Belladonna. Her parents have largely kept her from the spotlight but she has long participated in the White Fang's cause. She has yet to be evacuated along with several other children and families currently staying at the local high-school. I am showing you this because that girl is in effect the princess of White Fang and legitimately the princess of Menagerie. This girl and dozens more like her are why you will not fail this mission. Understood?" Ozpin asked with a more Stern and commanding voice than any, even Glynda had heard before.
"Understood." It was Naruto who answered.
The group turned to the only boy of team EMNA as he began to walk out the room. They gave him a questioning glance. He smirked back at them confidently.
"You said it yourself, Headmaster, we will not fail this mission. We need as much time as we can get though so it's best we suit up and hurry out there as soon as possible." He then swept out of the room without a look back. Already knowing team EMNA was close behind him.
Ozpin and Glynda stared after them as they disappeared. Ozpin felt pride and joy swell inside him as his plan was coming together. Glynda felt similarly, though less for Ozpin's plan and more for the fact that the team she had mentored was coming along so well. She was only their senior by eight years...eleven in Naruto's case but still they had long moved beyond the typical mentor and student relationship. Which is why her expression suddenly darkened considerably and she turned to look at her leader.
"For the record I dislike you using them like this. I know you didn't orchestrate the whole thing but you stranded those new screws and the children there on purpose to get publicity for Eminence. It's crossing a line, Ozpin." She scowled at him harshly.
"It's war Glynda. We have been over this. They will inspire hope in all of Vale and eventually all of Remnant. That is the greatest weapon against her and the Grimm." He said as he turned away from her and returned to his desk.
Glynda frowned at the dismissal but knew there was no more conversation to be had. She made a decision as she left the room though. Eventually, Eminence would realize Ozpin was too manipulative for his own good and she was ready to take their side when that break eventually came. She knew she wasn't the only one as well.
The time to armor up took practically no time at all. Naruto and Mordred had ensured that feature in the earliest incarnations of their design. After all, they knew their team would have to be able to suit up quickly and on the move.
Now Glynda looked across the airship's cargo hold as the team ran final checks on one another. They looked menacing and heroic in equal measure.
Erza, their leader, had the most traveling set. Her face left clearly exposed and gaps showing off her well developed figure peeked through the shining silvery armor. Connected to her back a sectioned set of feather-like armor plates shifted and clicked as they moved almost like wings. Each one was controlled by Erza mentally. They could move to any part of her body and protect it or if desperate, be disconnected and used as a small blade. Completing her look was a thin sharp halo styled crown made to carry on the feathered look of her armor.
Mordred similarly had shining armor, though hers was white and red in color. Much bulkier and more protective than Erza's, Mordred's armor was more traditionally knight-like though it bore horns like a bull. While not the whole set would shift around like Erza's feathers, Mordred's helmet and gorget could be retracted and locked into place on her torso with a specific series of facial movements. Her armor's specialized function allowed her to use her semblance to overcharge it just like her weapon and increase her strength and speed immensely.
Artoria's was similar to her sister's. However where Mordred's was white, Artoria's was an obsidian black. Her armor was the bulkiest among the girls, largely due to needing to compensate for the additional size of Artoria herself. Like Mordred's hers easily retracted as she desired though she had ensured Naruto allowed for her legs and cleavage to be revealed when she did so. Insisting that she needed those sections of her body to be able to breathe. Mordred disagreed but as much as she helped the mechashift aspect of the armor project was primarily Naruto's wheelhouse.
Finally Naruto himself was easily the largest of the team, despite being the youngest. His beast like armor was a darker black than even Artoria's. Where hers seemed to shimmer and had red designs like veins crisscrossing the armor, Naruto's was a matte black with the only variation being the helm which looked like an abstract version of a snarling Beowolf. It was menacing and honestly he looked far from any kind of hero, especially when coupled with the massive Bane, he carried over his shoulder. His armor was sharp with even the gauntlets ending in sharp claw like fingers.
As disturbing as Naruto's armor appeared, the truly horrific part was the design that was to interact with his semblance. A proper order of facial twitches and small protrusions would inject themselves into Naruto's body, bypassing his aura and jumpstarting the secondary aspect of his semblance giving him a boost of strength and power to keep fighting.
"Professor Goodwitch. We're ready." Erza said as she approached the woman.
Glynda looked at the young red head's face before taking the look of the entire team side by side again. Erza and Naruto beside one another and the twins on either side of them. She hated how much she could see what Ozpin saw. A new symbol. Just what he wanted. She just hoped they were as ready as they looked.
"Alright. Goodluck to all of you. If things get out of hand, call for support immediately. I am here to help you if you absolutely need it." She said getting a series of nods or a thumbs up in Naruto's case.
With that she popped the release and hit the button engaging the cargo bay doors. Wind screamed into the aircraft as the four teens readied themselves to launch out into the air. Below them they could see the horde of Grimm they would drop onto rushing through the woods toward the walls of Greenmarket.
"They are far closer to the town than predicted. We need to make a big impact to slow them down." Erza's voice crackled over her communicator as her helmet slid into place looking like the face of an angelic woman.
"Roger that." Mordred responded. Naruto stepped up beside her and the two tanks of team EMNA hurled themselves into the great blue yonder.
As the pair fell through the air they prepared for their entrance on what would soon become their battlefield. Mordred began building up the power of her semblance, red arcs of electricity crackling along her armor and sword as she screamed through the air toward the horde below.
Naruto lacked the direct combat ability that his teammate's semblance offered. Instead a mixture of wind, lightning, and gravity dust ran through conduits built into his armor and weapon as he fell. Similar to Mordred, crackles of lightning and pulses of pure black energy wafted off of him leaving a trail of black smoke behind him as he went.
The trip down was short. Their transport hadn't dropped them from too terribly high, only slightly higher than those during the initiation to Beacon three years prior. Still, the drop coupled with the prepared blast from their armors created an explosion as the pair of students impacted the ground. A ring of forest along with the Grimm that scrambled through it was destroyed in a sudden explosion.
Naruto stiffly stood back up from the braced position he had impacted the earth with. Mordred likewise shook out the stiffness from the rough landing. The pair took only a second to look around at the surroundings. Several yards of forest had been replaced with a sizable pair of craters and the woods smoldered with fresh flames.
Those Grimm nearby but far enough away to be spared the blast slowly regained their senses and turned to size up the new arrivals to the forest. Snarls and a semblance of barks began to echo through the horde as the creatures turned from their original paths toward this new possible threat that had suddenly arrived in their midst.
Just as Erza had wanted the horde slowed to combat this new threat to it's existence. Already creatures streamed into the newly made clearings to confront Naruto and Mordred. They were met with rockets and bullets from the pair's respective weapons before the two tanks of the team charged forward in their own assault blades at the ready and carved into the ranks of the Grimm monsters.
From the steel walls of Greenmarket, the people at first watched in shock as the two hunters suddenly appeared from the heavens and began slaughtering the Grimm. Their shock didn't last long though as they watched the pair of hunters in training work. Cheers and sobs of relief that hunters had come began to spark up and down the defenses of the town as people called out their support to their saviours who had seemingly appeared like angels sent from above.
Their cheers died down as a third figure slammed dropped just outside their walls covered in dark armor and armed with a long high powered rifle. The figure was clearly a woman as her armor was partially receded back showing off her figure and head. She took aim at some of the largest and most dangerous of the grimm squeezing off deadly accurate high-explosive rounds intended to drop a Grimm with a single blow.
She only held their attention for a short time before a fourth and final figure approached. Where they had initially compare their reinforcements to angels sent from above, this final figure truly fit such a description. Shining silvery armor coupled with flawless pale skin on a very womanly physique and long flowing red hair, she was beautiful as she seemed to glide down on wings made of steel. It really was like they were being rescued by angels given form as the battle picked up pace behind them and they watched with awe as the floating woman used pieces of her armored wings and multiple floating swords to stab and slice members of the grimm horde bold enough to continue on toward the town. She didn't move a muscle the entire time simply held her hands out as her weapons and semblance did their job.
"They're amazing…" One voice whispered.
"So these are what hunters are like?" Another asked.
"No, these four are something on a whole other level from the usual hunter." A deep voice replied, catching the attention of a handful of the wall's protectors.
"Chief Belladonna!" One of the White Fang members said, standing in a semblance of attention at the approach of the White Fang's leader and ruler of Menagerie.
"Relax, I'm here to see what these four can do as much as the rest of you. If their entrance is anything to go off of though I would guess we are about to see something for the history books." Ghira Belladonna said with a grin as he watched the four warriors work.
A part of him hoped that one would be a Faunus. He wouldn't hold it against them if none were, but the publicity his cause could get if he won them over...no, even better. If they were all human and saved this town, perhaps he could get them onto the White Fang's side and finally make some real progress.
"We should lend a hand. Get the guns trained away from the hunters and give them some support." Ghira bellowed. Even those not part of the White Fang obeyed. Things had changed in Greenmarket since this whole mess had started and side by side the people of the town and White Fang were ready to work together if it meant survival.
Up above, Glynda watched from the circling Bullhead as her students tore into their targets. Some would think the four of them were reckless in their approach. Naruto and Mordred essentially placed themselves at the heart of the Grimm horde while Erza and Artoria acted as a first line of defense between the Greenmarket walls and the monsters outside.
The Deputy Headmistress kept an eye on her tablet as she monitored the statistics of the four down there as well as the news feeds of the handful of camera crews still recording what should have been the fall of the town of Greenmarket. Ozpin's plan was working astonishingly well. Every major network was showing one thing only. Soon an anonymous tip from one of her fellow professors would start to tip off the crews as to who exactly was doing all the work out there and four new legends would enter the tales of the people of Remnant.
Watching below as Naruto flipped over a charging Dread Hind, she smiled lightly as he snatched a hand onto the antlers of the massive beast and yanked it's head to the side giving him all the space he needed to bury the blade of Bane into the monster's throat and force it into the ground. As if in perpetual motion, he rolled with the momentum of the dying creature's collapse and rose back up while swinging the blade in a wide arc cleaving a pair of unlucky Ursas in half and taking the limb of a third.
Mordred similarly tore through her opposition, aided by well aimed shots from her elder twin that kept anything from catching her with her back turned. By now the horde of grimm had stopped advancing on Greenmarket. The renewed hope and optimism of the defenders coupled with the sudden devastating attacks from within their own ranks had turned the mass of death into a confused circus. Easy pickings for the likes of team Eminence.
That being said, the horde was still massive in scale compared to the students. In the hours it had taken to fly to the town the mass of grimm had grown to nearly double what their early estimates had shown. This had helped to slow the mass down in its movement toward Greenmarket, however the horde had grown so large that the center of the swarm no longer needed to sweep into the town to break it's defenses.
"Matchlight One to Hunter Operations…" A voice called over the communicators briefly drowning out the small amounts of chatter of the four students coordinating their fight below. Glynda quickly took over the communications center from the Vale trooper that normally manned it.
"This is Huntress Operation Commander, go ahead Matchlight." Glynda said calmly, though she was beyond pleased that the air support was close enough to run direct transmission rather than bouncing communications through one of the CCT support towers.
"Matchlight One with Matchlights two through five enroute to your Ayy Ohh to engage in a bombing run on direct request from Ozpin and the National Council. Clear your team out of the target zone, one minute out." The fighter-bomber pilot responded. That wasn't a lot of time but it would be enough. It had to be enough.
"Understood." Glynda simply replied before keying up the headpiece that ran the communications for Team EMNA.
"Team, air support is one minute out, you need to pull back to the town now. They will be dropping a payload on the entire horde." She took a sterner tone to get her point across and was pleased by the simple agreements from the teens.
They quickly began retreating toward the town walls. Naruto gradually backpedalling as he unloaded his chaingun with every twelfth round either an incendiary or explosive dust round. The Grimm were kept at bay as his team scaled the short walls of the town and joined with the defenders there, receding their helmets allowing for the citizens of Greenmarket to see for the first time just how young their saviours were.
Finally, just as the aircraft began to scream past them in the sky above, Naruto reached the walls and leapt up to join his team, receding his own helmets and armor to allow him some freedom of the stuffy environment of his menacing armor. The surprise among the defenders of Greenmarket at the young looking women was doubled by the scarred youth that stood beside them.
Shaking off his surprise Ghira approached the teens and greeted them warmly, shaking their hands. As far as he could tell, they were all human. Still they seemed completely unbothered by the fact he was faunus. These four were the future he was working toward. Humans able to interact with faunus as easily as their own race. He looked forward to Kali and Blake meeting the four of them.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask for their names the ground shaking thump of missiles and bombs impacting the forest floor where the grimm stood pulled everyone's attention back to the woods beyond Greenmarket's walls. A roaring cacophony of the first set of explosions was drowned out by the second and third and so on. Five times, one after another the forest exploded into fire and smoke taking the horde of grimm with it as it turned to ash.
"A little overkill." One of the townspeople manning the wall with an old rifle commented with a slight frown.
"It's never overkill with grimm." Erza said as she and her team checked one another over for any damage or injuries.
"We'll need to head out and mop up any stragglers but after that and our earlier assault most of the horde is gone for good." Artoria added.
"I'll call Glynda to check with the scans." Erza said, stepping away from the group briefly as Ghira and the others closed in to properly run introductions with their reinforcements.
Six hours later and the last packs of surviving grimm had finally been eliminated by Team EMNA, on camera no less. The situation had quickly become a strange one for the four teens. The moment the camera crews had caught wind of the four hunters who 'saved' Greenmarket were mopping up the remaining grimm they demanded to follow along to catch more footage of them in action.
To the team's shock Glynda had agreed and escorted the news teams herself. What was more, Ghira and his family had practically glued themselves to their side since they had introduced themselves to him. He had practically tossed his daughter at them.
The girl was around Naruto's sister's age, and likewise his teammate's younger sibling's ages as well. It was kind of nice to have her asking all the childish little questions someone her age usually had for hunters. They really felt like full fledged hunters with the little girl timidly asking for stories about what it was like to be hunters and on a team together.
By the time they piled back onto the bullhead headed for Beacon they were getting alerts on their scrolls from news headlines all focused around them. The so called Knights of Beacon as they had been dubbed were being lauded as the newest heroes of Remnant. Something that didn't sit very well with the team. Each of them feeling as if the bombers had been what had done the job and not they themselves. Glynda had eased some of the worries saying they had made a huge impact on the horde by themselves and that those same bombers would have been unable to do anything at all if they hadn't kept the horde from moving out of the target area.
By the time they reach Beacon evidently Ozpin had already held a brief press conference speaking nothing but team EMNA's praises. Now they were not only the Knight's of Beacon but were getting moniker's of their own largely based on their armor and abilities.
Naruto was suddenly the Beast of Beacon, pictures of his ferocious armor and weapon mid-use and his face with focus on his red eyes and scars made him out as some sort of bad boy rough and tumble warrior.
Erza, as if to be his complete opposite, had become the Angel of Beacon. Her revealing but beautiful armor had made the connection easy, not to mention her semblance seeming to levitate her off the ground and multiple blades. She had quickly gained her own following of fanboys and girls across Vale who wanted her or wanted to be her.
Mordred was the Storm of Beacon. Her red lightning and aggressive assaults in the fight plus her brief and bold personality in the short meeting with the townspeople had made her out as a tomboy. Something she seemed conflicted by but Naruto felt was perfectly fitting for her.
Lastly, Artoria had become the Shadow of Beacon. She had slipped away from most conversations with the townsfolk of Greenmarket and likewise with the news crews. However her mysterious and mature appearance and dark armor...not to mention her attractive figure had easily made her as popular as Erza and her sister among the populace of Vale.
Everything had gone just as Ozpin had hoped. Better in fact. The Headmaster had already been contacted by Kali and Ghira to organize the Knights to lend a hand to Menagerie in exchange for some negotiations with the Vale Council regarding trade policy.
Another chance to increase the potency of his newest weapon against Salem had practically fallen into his lap and he looked forward to seeing just how powerful of a tool team Eminence would prove to be.
Alright so that is the chapter.
I hope you all enjoyed and liked who ended up being on his team. For the next couple chapters we will primarily be focused on getting to know them and by extension their families as they live their new life as arguably some of the most well known names thanks to Ozpin's manipulations.
I know some of you want Naruto to be distrusting and suspicious of Ozpin, but he hasn't really had a reason to doubt him yet. Needless to say the more they realize that Ozpin is purposefully using them like posterchildren of Hunters they will begin seeing him for what he really is.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed, expect another chapter sooner rather than later.
Till Next Time.