Well hey look who's not dead, me apparently. I'm just old and lazy now. How long has it been like 3 years now, ugh I'm old. Well that's enough gripes from me, might as well start actually writing the rewrite. I'll try my best not to drop it again under the guise of a rewrite. Also I'm probably gonna update the rating of this due to more recent volumes of RWBY.
Chapter One: Prologue
Over the dull groan of machinery and steam hissing, a faint echo of laughter is somehow heard over all the noise by a tall, skeletal man sitting hunched over a table. The man lets out a deep sigh, {This is the final time I tell them not to play here.} he groans as he stands and turns towards the source of the laughter. The coat tails of his white lab coat fluttering behind him, revealing his dark gray turtleneck, his black dress shoes clacking against the tiled floor as he begins trudging through the maze of machines.
"Ch-Chara we aren't allowed to play here…" mumbled a young bipedal goat monster as he tugged at the sleeves of his green and yellow striped sweater and anxiously looked around.
"Don't be such a baby Azzy," retorted a young human child in a similar sweater, "what's the fun in listening to rules?" Chara turned to look at Asriel, "Plus we're royalty, aren't we," questioned Chara in a devious tone, "what's the worst that could happen? A slap on the wrist?"
Asriel flinched at this before replying, " No the worst that could happen is tomorrow's news being of the young prince Asriel Dreemurr's mysterious death in a restricted area!"
Chara almost flinches at Asriel's sudden outburst before calmly recollecting themself, "Don't worry Azzy, I won't let anything happen to you," reassured Chara in a smooth voice, "don't forget we need to be quiet or we'll get caught. Now come on, this way." Chara motions for Asriel to follow before ducking down a hallway plastered with warning labels.
"Chara we shouldn't be going this waaaay!" Asriel called putting as he ran after them.
The echoes of a worried shout helps point the skeletal man further down the main corridor. {By the angel, these children have me on a wild goose chase} grumbled the man as he quickened his pace. Another echo of the young duo leads him to the hall leading to one of the Core's main chambers. His sockets widen as he realizes where they're heading and he begins to run down the hall hoping that they haven't gotten too far. His feet pounding against the tiles as he reaches the end of the hall into a large chamber with a deep hole in the center. He stops and quickly scans the room for any signs of the young royalty, breathing deep ragged breaths, yet he is unable to find any until he hears a hushed voice coming from an alcove of desks and computers. He takes a deep breath and sighs before approaching the desks. {Asriel and Chara Dreemurr please get out of under the desks and return home before I have to get the one of the Royal Guard to remove you.} he demands tiredly as he rubs his boney temples. A few words are heard exchanging before Asriel crawls out and looks down in shame with a hint of fear. Chara grumbles slightly before following Asriel out of under the desk looking defiantly away from the man with their arms crossed.
"I'm sorry.." muttered Asriel not looking up to meet his gaze while fiddling with the hem of his sweater. The boney monster nods his head before turning their gaze upon Chara who huffs but other than that stays silent. The skeleton then crouches down to the child's height with a slight creak of his bones.
{What do we say Chara?} he implores trying to solicit an answer from them.
"I don't have to say anything to you bone bag," spits Chara as they lock eyes with the skeleton. Asriel quickly looks between the two as he stumbles over his words.
"Ch.. Chara you don't need to say that, you'll get us in more trouble." Asriel blurts out attempting to de-escalate the situation. The skeleton breaks eye contact as he stands up and crosses his arms.
{I'll give you till the count of ten before I remove you myself.} he warns before he begins to count down. {One… two… three..} As he begins his count down Chara continues to stare holes into his boney forehead and Asriel begins to panic. {Four… five…}
At five Chara finally looks away with a huff, "Come on Azzy, it's no fun here anyways," they say before trudging off back towards the hall with Asriel quickly following behind.
With the children leaving the taller monster lets out a sigh as he approaches the large hole in the center of the room. {Luckily they didn't fall in. The King would have my head.} he muttered to himself. He stops near the rim of the fissure, peering into its depths. {We still need to fix a few things before the Core can truly start generating the massive amounts of power to supply the entire Underground with electricity,} he pointed out to himself, {well for the most part they'd be simple fix-.} The man is cut short as a dull crack rings in his skull and he teeters over the lip into the dark abyss below. As he falls he catches a glimpse of green and yellow before the man plummets deeper into the darkness. As he tumbled through the air any sources of light seem to disappear leaving the man to plunge further into the abyss. The man realizing what has happened beings to panic, clutching at the emptiness around him attempting to grasp onto something to stop his fall to no avail. {Damnit damnit, that brat must've thrown something at me while my back was turned.} he swore as a brief flash of a dim light passes by. {What the?} he mutters as another flash goes by, lingering slightly long enough for him to see himself yet seemingly more aggressive and full of disgust. Another flash showing yet another version of himself except this one is covered in a starry cloak staring absently into space. {What? What is this? What's happening?} he questions out loud as he continues his decent. Multiple flashes go by showing multiple versions of himself with slight changes to his appearance while doing different things, though most still involve science. {What is happening, can someone just tell me what is going on!?} screams the man into the void around him. The dim light engulfs him yet again except this time he is face to face with a vaguely bipedal pile of black sludge with a white ovular face. It's blackened eyes staring at him as it leans closer, while a white hand reaches from within its inky black torso towards him. A dull static filling his mind as the hand reaches closer to his face, barely a few centimeters from it, with the static droning louder with its advance.
A sudden thud with an audible crack snaps him from the vision. Pain splintering into his skull as he reaches for the source, feeling a long crack web along the back and top of his cranium leading to his right eye socket. He hisses in both pain and slight disgust and finding the crack. The skeleton opens his eyes to see more of the blackness he was trapped in before. Releasing a grunt as he gets up of what he assumes to be a floor and looks in what assumes to be up to be greeted with more darkness.
"I believe you would like out of here." said a deep, staticky voice from behind the man who quickly whirls around to locate the source of the voice. A humanoid figure made of static stands before the man with its hands tucked behind its back. "Because I can get you out of this place if you'd like," stated the figure lightly gesturing in a general sense, a jingle of chains echo throughout the space as the chains linked to bands around the entity's wrists sway with the movement, "although there will be a slight price."
The skeletal monster gazed at the entity before him before speaking. {Where is here? Why am I here?} he sputtered out looking around in a mild, returning panic.
"This is the Void, where everything begins and ends," states the entity lifting its arms wide in a grandiose way, "and you are here because it is your time to be here. Not to end your tale, no no quite the opposite, you are going to begin a new tale."
The skeleton begins to sputter out multiple questions, {Who are you? No what are you? More importantly what do you mean begin a new tale?} he jabbered out before the entity raised a hand towards the man's face to stop him.
"All questions find answers in due time but more pressing concerns are at hand here, from what I can tell you have roughly, say twenty to thirty minutes before the Void engulfs you," says the figure pointing towards a nonexistent watch on its wrist, "so I'd wrap up the questions for now." The darkness of the floor slowly ebbing its way up the skeleton's legs causing more panic series of questions.
{What do you mean engulf? How do I-} he rushes before being cut off by another hand raise.
"Nope no more questions from you, just answer my question. Do you want to get out of here?" interjects the figure.
{Ye-yes I want out of here,} blurts out the skeleton, {what do I have to do?} The entity waves their arm to reveal a body length mirror rising from the abyss.
"You simply need to go through this gateway when I tell you to," they say as they lean slightly on the upper corner of the frame, "just remember there is a slight price." The skeleton steps towards the gateway and looks inside to see a large campus with multiple buildings cluttered together while a massive tower juts out of the center, glowing with a soft green light.
{What is the price?} asks the skeleton as he turns to face the figure.
"The price is the memory of you, your very existence will be forgotten of in your previous world," states the staticky figure, leaning in slightly as they continue, "it's a simple deal, you basically get to begin anew in a different world with no one mourning your disappearance."
The man is taken aback by this news with a hint of existential crisis in his boney face. {I-I can't, there are people who need me to be there. I can't just leave them on their own.} responds the man with the fear and dismay almost oozing out of his voice.
"Don't worry those, uh things you made won't be in danger without you, they'll be fine," the entity coos, "they already have connections with people because of you, people will forget about you but not them. Now then your window of opportunity is closing fast, the Void is rather persistent today." The man notices that the darkness has reached his torso and looks back at the gateway pondering his choices before coming to an answer.
{Fine I'll go, tell me about this place.} he answers while gesturing to the mirror.
"Ah, Remnant, more specifically Beacon Academy in Vale. Remnant is rather strange compared to what you would say is average. They're technology is far beyond yours, due to the power of a substance called Dust," explained the entity, "now don't let the name fool you, it is not made of the remains of dead monsters, no, dust is solidified magic as you'd put it, that forms naturally in this world." The entity then drags their hand across the surface, moving the view to a heavily covered forest where a black bear-like beast covered in white plates and spikes roams. "That is a Grimm, a soulless creature that feeds off the negative emotions of humans. The humans of Remnant use dust along with a special type of magic that they naturally have called aura. Aura is the manifestation of their soul and can be used to protect them or used to power abilities that the inhabitants have. Although there are more than just humans and Grimm in this world." The entity touches the gateway once more and drags it to a ragged looking part of a city where multiple humans with animal parts wander, ranging from simple ears to tails and antlers. "There are the Faunus, inhabitants similar to humans with the slight exception of animal traits. Being a man of science you hopefully understand at least some of this." says the entity looking back at the skeleton who stares in wonder.
{I believe I do, as long as one has a soul they have aura correct?} he asks looking at the entity.
"Yes so you'll have your own Aura and maybe even a Semblance. Oh look at that your time here is almost up, but before you go remember the name Ozpin," replies the figure as they slide the view back to the campus, "now then be ready, this won't be a soft landing." Before the monster could reply the entity pushed them into the gateway.
Ruby Rose stick close to her sister's side as they arrived at Beacon, looking up at the darkened tower with the green lights in the distance. "Wow.." both her and her sister stand in awe at the size of the academy. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" comments her blonde, older sister Yang Xiao Long. Ruby quickly loses interest in the school as her attention is on the multitude of weapons all the students have on them. She begins to draw on about each of them before Yang pulls her back to reality.
"Ow! Ooww!" cries Ruby as Yang pulls on her hood.
"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons." comments Yang as she lets go of Ruby's hood.
"Just weapons? They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!" she squealed excitedly as Yang sighs.
"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" she says while pointing at a rectangular red box resting on Ruby's lower back.
Ruby quickly grabs it and it transforms from a box to a large mechanical scythe and holds it close to her. "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just like seeing new ones, it's like meeting new people but better…" the replies becoming quieter as she continues.
Yang pulls Ruby's hood over her face as she chuckles, "Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" Ruby pulls off her hood and looks towards Yang with a hint of sadness, "But... why would I need friends if I have you?" she questions Yang.
"Well…" she begins before a group of people rush past Ruby and surround Yang before heading towards the building, "Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!" called Yang as Ruby was left dazed muttering to herself about how she doesn't know what to do before falling over and knocking into a trolley carrying white suitcases.
"What are you doing?!" demanded a white haired girl as she stood over Ruby. Ruby begins quickly getting up before apologizing to the girl.
"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" shouted the white haired girl in response to Ruby's apology.
Ruby picks up a case and stands in front of the girl, "Uuhhh..." she mutters before having the case snatched from her hands.
"Give me that!" says the white haired girl before opening the case and pulling a phial of red powder. "This is Dust- mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!" retorts the girl.
"Uuuhhhh..." replies Ruby as she tries to respond before she's cut off once again.
"What are you, brain-dead?" says the white haired girl as she shakes the phial in her hand. "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!" she shouts shaking the phial closer to Ruby's face causing a cloud of it to float in the air.
"I... I know..." coughs Ruby as she begins to inhale some of the Dust.
"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?!" yells the white haired girl before Ruby sneezes setting off all the dust in the air.
As the explosion of multi colored energy goes off a ripple appears in the air as it contorts and shatters with a sharp crack. A figure in a now inky black cloak falls from the distortion into the center of the smoke cloud with a solid thump. The white haired girl begins to respond as the smoke clears but is cut short as she sees the figure lying face first in the ground. {By the angel, you could've given a bit more warning than that.} groaned the figure in a deep voice that sounded off. The figure begins to rise as Ruby rushes to help them up.
"OmygoshI'msosorryareyouok?" she quickly blurts out until the individual looks up at her from under their cloaks hood.
{I believe I'm fine..} replied the hooded figure replied before Ruby quickly hopped back and readied Crescent Rose.
"Grimm!" yelped Ruby as she swung at the supposed Grimm in front of her. The white haired girl drew a thin rapier from her hip and a third girl with black hair pulled out a black pistol a knife blade jutting from the top and aimed it at the target. The blade of Crescent Rose sliced through the air but stopped short of its target due to a cartoonish looking bone coated in a purple light hovering in the air next to the hooded figure. A quiet yelp is heard from the cloaked individual before they realize they aren't about to be sliced in two.
{I assure you I'm not a Grimm, I have a soul like you lot,} replied the assumed Grimm, {I was told to remember the name Ozpin. Does that have any meaning to any of you?}
Ruby pulls her scythe from the bone for it to disappear afterwards, "Professor Ozpin is the headmaster at here Beacon.." replies Ruby who then gets a stern look from the white haired girl.
"Why would you tell them that? We don't know if they are an enemy or not!" she complained.
"I agree with the heiress on this," said the third girl who slowly approaches with her weapon still fixed on the cloaked figure, "how about you take off the hood and tell us your name." The figure raises their hands slowly and takes off the hood of the cloak revealing a bleached white skull with a crack running up from the right eye socket.
{I am W.D. Gaster.}
Tada end of chapter one of the rewrite, it took surprisingly less time than I thought it would even with me getting side tracked every thirty or so minutes. Well follow if you're new and review to ask questions or just to give your opinion on this, just remember constructive criticism. Well I guess see ya next chapter hopefully next week.