If you don't know, a "twot" is British slang for someone who's identified as an 'absolute waste of time'.

And if you're wondering why I added that one Japanese song you'll see soon, just read the bottom once you're done.

*[UNKNOWN ERROR: LOCATION NOT FOUND]*

Adrian was standing when he found himself awoken so suddenly. He was expecting some rowdy kids to be playing some prank on him, he'd have to give them a lesson or two.

But the environment told him otherwise.

The mountains were collapsing and charred in soot and the skies were dark orange as he felt his breathing shorten, the air shrouded in dust and the smell of smoke and fire riddled the air. He saw bodies, hundreds and thousands of bodies lie on the ground, some completely charred and other half-burnt, horror plastered their faces.

"Where… the fuck am I?"

He did the first thing that came to mind, walk. He walked and walked as he took in everything, the bodies he had to strain himself to walk faster. Was this Hell? Or somewhere worse?

He swore he had heard his name being shrieked in the wind like witches in the night.

Adrian also swore audibly when some of the corpses started to rise, some were missing jaws, arms, legs, eyes, all he could think of. Adrian was now just confused and scared, what would the dead want with him?

They all pointed, the ones missing arms tilted their heads towards a sight that only peaked Adrian's confusion. There was a forest, a true, green forest that stood like a sore thumb in this wasteland of a place. The trees were healthy and there was even grass on the ground.

And so, he followed where they pointed, and as he stepped onto the grass, the corpses collapsed and turned into dust. Adrian just rushed into the forest, not wanting to return to whatever or wherever he had woken up in.

But what was in the middle of it scared Adrian the most, the same nuclear device that had been transported to one of Black Mesa's parking lots stood right in the middle of it, and a man in HECU uniform had placed his hand on the device, slowly stroking it like some animal he loved. But he looked similar…

No, it couldn't be, it shouldn't be.

The man stopped, before turning around. Adrian's breathing stopped and he choked on what he saw, he even started crying as he collapsed on his knees. What he thought was truly correct.

It was him, in the flesh.

"Adrian, I need you to help me, to help us."

His body moved without his consent, his arms waved, his legs rose. He tried to stop himself but some invisible force prevented him from even trying that.

"No. No what are you doing to me!"

"Helping us."

"I DON'T NEED TO HELP YOU, NO."

His arm raised, and the button that would activate the device glowed in his eyes, this wasn't helping, he was bringing Armageddon to a place so serene and calm. His copy didn't even react as he smiled.

"Good Adrian, good."

"STOP THIS YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

He continued walking, he continued resisting, but it was fruitless. His hand finally found itself above the accursed button, his hand slowly going down. He could do nothing but scream as he made contact, and the world went aflame.

Adrian screamed in absolute pain as the nuclear flames consumed him, tore through flesh and burned everything. He heard his copy call out to him, and as he died, the words he heard would carry him somewhere he would pay for the rest of his life.

"This was all on you, Adrian."

*Adrian's Temporary Abode, Beacon Academy*

The first thing Adrian heard as he awoke from his nightmare was his heavy breathing as he jolted up from his bed, absolutely sweating like he had ran around the world. Then the ecstatic knocking was heard, someone was here for him.

He quickly got out of bed and put on his equipment as well as a Walkman and his Scroll before unlocking the door. Behind it was the various teams who were acquainted with him. CFVY, RWBY and JNPR.

"What in the Oum happened?! We heard you screaming and thought something had happened!" Ruby cried out and pulled him into a hug.

Velvet also hugged him alongside Ruby, "Seriously, I'm just glad you're okay. What happened?"

Adrian let himself calm down as he rested himself on the doorframe. "Just a nightmare, don't worry about me."

"What the hell do you mean?! Nightmares don't get you screaming your head off now, do they?" Yang interjected, clearly not convinced it was any normal nightmare.

"I gotta agree with blondie, what the hell were you having nightmares about?"

Questions and questions flooded and over-took Adrian as their concerns and worries piled over him like the worst landslide imaginable.

"C'mon, what was it about?"

"Are you okay?"

"Do you need help or anything?"

"Maybe you need to see one of the professors."

"Someone needs to call the nurse, Adrian definitely isn't doing too well."

Adrian gritted his teeth as the questions continued, and then he snapped.

"COULD ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP QUESTIONING ME?!"

The kids in front of him instantly froze at his comment, their jaws hung as they processed what Adrian had just said. Adrian soon froze as well, realising he had snapped and swore at a bunch of kids. Simple and caring kids.

"I… I need some air."

He pushed the others away as he made his way out of the dorms. For now, he needed some alone time, just himself.

"Humph, at least that loud-mouth idiot won't disrupt our sleep for a while." Everyone rolled their eyes at Weiss' comment.

"Seriously Weiss! He just broke down and you're worried about your sleep?!" Yang growled as the two got into a heated argument.

"Someone should go after him." Blake suggested. Everyone agreed except for the bickering two.

"Uh, ehehe, I think Blake and I need to uh, stop Weiss and Yang before they actually start fighting." Ruby rubbed her head and sheepishly smiled.

"Fine, me and my team will go look for Adrian." Coco stated.

"We will as well." Pyrrha nodded and smiled at Jaune, who jumped in surprise and quickly nodded.

While Team RWBY sorted themselves out, CFVY and JNPR went back to their dorms to change out of their pyjamas before starting the look for the Atlas Trooper. They checked high and low for any sign of him, he should've left some sort of trail yet he didn't, like he had floated away and disappeared.

"Jeez l'weez, this Adrian guy could be anywhere!" Nora shouted.

"Nora, don't. He'll hear us." Ren shushed his partner as she imitated a zipping action on her mouth.

"Where do you think he could be?" Pyrrha asked their leader.

"Oh! Uh, if he's taking in some air, he's obviously walking. Maybe around the academy." Jaune thought out loud.

"That's somewhere to truly start, we should split up and cover more ground." Pyrrha suggested to her team.

They all agreed as they spilt off to look for him. Nora decided to look for him in the kitchen and Ren had to follow her or she would do something disastrous. Pyrrha decided to look for him in the main buildings and Jaune went to the Main Avenue.

Jaune's venture provided to prove fruitful forever, as he saw Adrian standing in front of the statue listening to some music. Jaune ducked into a bush and used his Scroll to contact Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, I found Adrian! He's at the Main Avenue near the statue."

"We'll be there, you should try talking to him."

"Wait what? I-I can't, what if I-

"Jaune, don't doubt yourself, I believe in you."

Pyrrha ended the call as Jaune had started sighing. He mustered all his courage and snuck far from him before popping out and walking towards Adrian from behind, who hadn't noticed the boy knight's presence.

"Hey Adrian."

The man in question paused the song on his Walkman and turned to the boy, who stood there with a nervous smile on his face.

"Hey kid, what brings you here?"

Jaune walked to Adrian's side. "Well we were worried about you, so we went to look for you."

"And the others?"

"Uh, they'll be here soon."

"All of them?"

"No, just my team I think, maybe CFVY too."

"Huh, alright then."

Both stood, staring at the statue as the dawn's breeze washed over them. Both stood for a while before Jaune decided to pop a question.

"So, uh, have you… ever been thrust into something you never wanted to be a part of?"

"Yeah, yeah I have."

"What was it?"

Adrian hesitated for some time, before deciding it wouldn't be too bad to say it.

"A mission I knew nothing about, where I had to become de-facto leader."

Jaune suddenly came to realise Adrian wasn't all so different to him, both knew nothing of this place, mostly anyway, and both had been leaders, ones who didn't want to be those kinds of people in the first place.

Then he also came to realise it was getting awkward.

"So, uh, Adrian… what's that thing in your hand? I've never seen it before."

"Oh this? It's a Walkman, used to belong to a friend."

"Who was he?"

"Helix Lewin, he was a good friend, even if I didn't know him for very long."

"Where is he now?"

"Dead."

"Oh… I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be, he died a hero."

Jaune's apologies sounded genuine at least, that helped Adrian reel from his nightmare.

"Jaune!"

Both men turned around to see Pyrrha, alongside Ren who was dragging Nora along as she consumed her pancakes.

"Hehe, morning pancakes~"

"Nora, it's 4:56 am."

"MORNING PANCAKES!"

Everyone took the time to laugh, Nora was always quite the bubbly girl.

"How did it go Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"It went pretty fine." Jaune chuckled as their team reunited.

"What 'cha learn?" Nora questioned.

"Well uh-

"Helix Lewin," Adrian interrupted. "This was his Walkman." He showed it for them to see.

"Was?" Ren titled his head.

"He's dead," He decided to twist the truth a little. "Died to the Grimm, but died a hero too."

Silence practically took over as they had just realised they had forced out a pushy topic to Adrian. Guilt riddled them as the silence continued. Pyrrha was the one who broke it, standing to Adrian's other side and trying her best to place her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Adrian, why did you need to tell us?" Pyrrha asked the trooper.

"Hey, figure if you kids are going to stick with me, I'd tell you a few things. See it as an apology for shouting at you lot."

"Oh, well... We apologise as well for dumping all those questions on you when you were clearly stressed." Ren apologised, these kids were nothing but genuine.

"No worries, now how about a song?"

Adrian unplugged the headphones from his Walkman and played the song from the start. There were no lyrics but the starting instrumentals calmed the minds of everyone, even Nora was feeling a bit sleepy suddenly.

The lyrics had started perfectly as Team CFVY found them sitting by the statue. Coco was to say something but Adrian simply shut her up and told her to sit down and listen. The next few minutes had them humming to the tunes, apart from Nora who had fallen asleep on Ren's shoulder.

Team RWBY had settled themselves and found them all sitting down and humming to a song none of them had heard of at all. Ruby, Yang and Blake decided to join in but Weiss deemed it a waste of time and returned to their dorm to wait them out.

All hummed to the tune as the song soon ended. Everyone would've gotten up if the Walkman didn't start playing another song. Adrian had heard from Helix that "Patience" was the only song on it.

Then he realised he hadn't bothered considering Helix's playlists.

"Sneaky arse." Adrian mumbled to himself, he was glad he left a part of himself to the marine.

If there was one thing Adrian had learned during these musical hours, Helix had really liked Bee Gees. All their songs were on the Walkman and the disco ones had started playing first, so it was expected to see some of them jump up and start dancing.

"Damn Adrian, how come I've never heard of these guys?" Yang asked as she danced with her little sister.

"Oh, they were a local band from a village in Vacuo, they knew their music was one of a kind and so kept it that way even when they would die."

"That, is pretty understandable," Coco had Velvet in her arms as they danced. "These songs would be really good for the yearly school dance!"

Adrian chuckled to himself as he watched them all dance, even the quiet ones like Ren, Yatsuhashi and Blake had gotten up and moved to the rhythm, Disco was a special genre, and Helix had seemingly known that.

If only he were here now.

They danced for a few hours to various bands Helix had compiled onto the Walkman, some even showed some of their dance moves to the others. Yang was the best overall.

If only they saw me, heh. Adrian checked the time, 7:04 am, they had been dancing for some time now.

"Alright you lot," Adrian turned off the Walkman as the teens all looked to Adrian. "You should get ready for classes, think they start at about 9:00 am or something like that."

"Aww, it was getting fun!" Yang pouted in a sarcastic manner.

"He's right though, we should get ready. We have plenty of time too." Blake added, but they all agreed with her as they waved goodbye to Adrian and went back to their dorms. He was suddenly jumped by a ringing as he scrambled to get his Scroll. Seeing it was Ozpin, he answered immediately.

"Ozpin?"

"Hello Adrian, since you are awake, I'd like you to come to my office immediately. We and my staff have concerns that must be resolved."

"On it sir, I'll be there."

Adrian put away his Scroll and made his way to Ozpin's office. He had almost forgotten about the nightmare thanks to those kids.

Maybe Remnant wasn't so bad.

*Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy*

When Adrian had reached Ozpin's office, he had seen the faces of the various professors, but they all shared something, the faces of anguish. Adrian made the quick assumption that if Oobleck wasn't drinking as much from his mug, he was clearly troubled.

Adrian took his seat and sat down. And then Ozpin spoke.

"It is good you are here Adrian, we have looked through your journey through Black Mesa, and I am saddened of the fate of your allies, and disappointed in your government for not realising their situation."

"I'm pissed too sir, they were good people, and yet America, land of the free, not even Uncle Sam had their backs."

Port spoke. "The fauna of Xen and this 'Race X' is certainly interesting-

"And the flora too." Peach interjected.

"Yes yes, all of it is interesting. But we have our concerns placed elsewhere." Oobleck ushered the two to stay quiet.

Goodwitch, strangely, took a chair from the sides and put it next to Adrian's one, facing him as she sat down. "Our concerns fall on you, mentally. You've made it abundantly clear that your violence peaks when losing allies and worse, this could affect you strenuously if you were to lose anyone else. Don't get me started on the skulls you caved in when in rage."

"That is why we have decided to put your through weekly mental checks," Ozpin bluntly stated. "Your condition may worsen within due time, and it would help if we knew of your problems."

"I understand, sir." Adrian nodded.

"Please, call me Ozpin. You're not a student."

"But you are my superior."

"Hmm, that is true." Ozpin took his mug and drank from it.

"Now onto other matters. Your housing issue has been solved and a guest house will be given to you for the time you will be here. Your scroll is the only means of entering, others will have to get in through means of forced entry."

Adrian nodded, Ozpin continued.

"Furthermore, attending classes will be an optional choice for you in exchange for as I said, your skill-set in personally assigned missions."

"I'll attend, not fair for them to see me lazy about, plus some more knowledge from you lot would be nice."

"Understandable. And my last concern, I'd like to make a request."

"And that would be…?"

"I saw you with Team RBY, JNPR and CFVY. You have the qualities of a good leader, and a better friend. I want you to look over them and help them on their missions if they assigned them, but that is up to you."

"I'll think about it sir."

"Thank you, Adrian, you may leave now. I've sent up a student to direct you to your new home, I suggest you make haste to not keep them waiting."

Adrian nodded before heading off to the elevator to get to his home, giving a thumbs-up to the professors for no distinct reason, but they all smiled at his actions.

"Say, who did you send to lead Adrian to his home?" Goodwitch asked as the elevator descended.

"Adrian's first challenge." Ozpin simply answered as he took another sip from his mug.

*CCT Tower, Beacon Academy*

Adrian tapped out a rhythm with his boots as he descended to the lower levels of the CCT Tower, a new home, new education but most importantly, a new life.

Adrian couldn't stress enough to himself about the new opportunities that were in front of him. He would probably never know about what happened to Earth after Black Mesa, so he would need to try and discard it and think of what to do now.

These thoughts rushed his mind as he went through the lobby of the CCT. Most of the staff had been notified about the 'Atlas Trooper' as friendly waves went towards Adrian's way, of which he waved back.

Another thought came dominant, who would be the one directing him to his new home? Surely it be Velvet since the two were already acquainted with one another, or perhaps Jaune considering they had talked for a bit earlier in the day.

The voice that confirmed his thought however surprised him.

"Adrian!" A stern and cold voice rung out. Turning around Adrian groaned internally as he knew who were his directions to his home.

Weiss Schnee, the stuck-up bitch as he would call her. Adrian had initially thought of Weiss as just inconsiderate, and maybe even just a little introverted due to her distrust of him yesterday, but after hearing that Weiss had straight-out refused to join the early morning music session as she called it "an inconceivable waste of time", Weiss just became stuck up and worse, an even bigger brat than he thought.

"Uh, hi Weiss." Adrian made the shallow attempt to be as welcoming as possible, but Weiss definitely wasn't buying it.

"Dispense the pleasantries! I don't have the time for your nonsense. I'm going to lead you to your home, so be quiet while I do that." Weiss snapped at the marine as she waited for a response.

Adrian went completely blank for a few seconds, just thinking what had just transpired in front of him. Then he spoke.

"Oh, sure thing."

Weiss had thrown out such a 'Weiss-y' response it genuinely rendered Adrian confused for some time. Shaking his head, he let the girl lead the way, none of them even uttering a single word during their walk, only glances which Weiss couldn't see under Adrian's mask.

Long, strenuous, awkward as hell, all things describable to Adrian's predicament as they continued walking. Adrian feel that he needed to pop a question, but knew instinctively that Weiss would just fire back with her own snarky comment, and the loop would continue.

Well, he could try to break that loop, effort didn't hurt anyone.

"So, Weiss," Adrian started, which earned a glance from Weiss, gaining the heiress' attention. "Why didn't you join us earlier?"

"Tch, why would I waste my time with such trivial things?" Weiss fired back. Adrian tried to make a comment but she shut him up with a simple gesture. "Thanks to you, I woke up 4 hours before schedule and a huntress should be adequately rested to learn, which I am not."

"Well, I didn't sleep well either Weiss, we both got crappy sleeps today."

"Just shut up and keep walking."

"Weiss, jeez," Adrian stopped dead in his tracks which had Weiss turned around with an unamused face. "Why do you have to be like this?"

"What gave you the right to question me?" Weiss snarled.

"Basic right? Right of respect?" Adrian shrugged, of which Weiss replied by turning the opposite direction and walked once more, not even turning back to see Adrian still stationary.

"Hey, you're not just going to leave me here, right?!" Adrian questioned, she didn't respond though and Adrian sighed as he ran to catch up.

"We're here." Weiss simply announced.

Adrian took a good look at where he would be staying, either forever or if Beacon's staff could find him a way back to Earth. The guest house was practically the most modern-looking thing in Beacon Academy, the design of the exterior so intricate he couldn't put it into words, or perhaps he was too lazy to do that. A finely-placed gate barred the house from the two and a gravel footpath led the remainder of the walk.

"Huh, better than I thought." Adrian put it simply.

"Before I go, take this." Weiss seemingly took out a key from nowhere and shoved it into Adrian's face, of which he bluntly thanked her and took. "Now if you excuse me, I have things to attend to."

Weiss turned away from the trooper and paced off into the distance. Adrian stared as she became nothing but an indistinguishable blur as she made distance. "Not even a posh good-bye then." He put the key into the gate's keyhole and twisted it, unlocking the gate.

Pushing it open and then closing it once he was inside, he made his way to the house, following the footpath in front of him. He whistled out a peculiar tune about cowboys and outlaws before reaching the door, the last step. Then Adrian could do what the house had to offer.

"Now, if Ozpin was correct," Adrian fished his Scroll from his pocket. "This should work… I think."

Shifting his Scroll over the door's digital lock, it took a while for it to unlock but when it finally did, Adrian gripped the handle ever so hard and pulled down with all his strength, tumbling down onto the floor as the door flew open due to Adrian's weight.

"Ah, finally, home sweet new home." This was a whole lot different from relaxing. Getting up from his position, he decided now would be a good time to get a grip of his surroundings and see if the staff had left anything of his here.

The living room's couch served to hold a few new crates, two to be exact, of which not even Adrian knew Ozpin had possession of earlier. A single note also was left on one of them, which Adrian plucked from the cate and read.

Forgive me for any inconveniences, inside are items that will benefit your status greatly. I am aware of your doubt, and any inadequacies will be removed swiftly.

- G-Man

Strange, the G-Man was helping him once again, and Adrian felt it wouldn't be the last time he would encounter that suit-wearing enigma. Shrugging it off, he opened the crates to find extra gas-masks, helmets and PCVs, presumably for if the gear he had come into this world broke.

"Nice." Adrian made a simple comment. Deciding he would hide it later, Adrian spent the next few hours exploring the house and testing out everything that was inside, sure it was much like back at Earth, but Adrian made sure that was the case.

"Well, nothing new here." Adrian dug for his Scroll and checked the time. "8:00 am, I'll get there in about 10 to 15 minutes, I'll just wait for the rest of them." Adrian's attendance was optional, so he had no uniform on as he locked the entrance door, walked for a bit to lock the gate, and walked once more to the first class of the day.

*Professor Port's Class, Beacon Academy*

The walk to Port's class was uneventful most of the time, the students who had seen him fight during the Initiation waved at him, some decided to have quick talks and one or two even asked for an autograph. All the attention was nice, but unnecessary for a man trying to hide his life.

Reaching the class, Professor Port was busy at his table tending to his weapon, Adrian expected this as no teen would come to a class early to his knowledge. Port held a simple smile at the soldier as he made his way down to face Port.

"Ah, Mr. Shephard! I didn't expect you to be here considering the choices Ozpin gave you." Port gave the trooper a good handshake, of which Adrian returned.

"Well sir, more tabs on the Grimm via personal experiences would be nice. It's no good being unfamiliar with things you don't know about." Adrian commented.

"Hmm, true. Welcome to class Adrian! You may sit on the left, second row. Oh, and come see me after class, I'd like to discuss the weapons you had upon arrival." Port added while placing his weapon on a display above the boards.

"Got it." Adrian made his way to the assigned seat and sat down, taking out the Walkman and headphones, but not before Port noticed the small musical device and raised his brows in intrigue.

"I see you hold Mr. Lewin's device, I'm warmed to see you still hold onto it." Port eyed the device in Adrian's right hand.

"Why wouldn't I? He risked his own life and possibly his own family to get out with me. I just wish he were here now."

"No need to dwell on the past Adrian, I'm sure Mr. Lewin has done his deeds and earned himself a good place beyond."

"I'm willing to agree, sir." Adrian decided not to plug in the headphones in and turned on the Walkman, the first song that came up surprised Adrian more than Helix's apparent fanaticism to Bee Gees, and Port for it being very foreign to him.

LOVE THAT DOES NOT REACH
- SHIGAOKA UTAHA

"Oh, I don't understand this sadly, but it's quite calming none-the-less." Port noted as the lyrics began.

"Me neither sir, probably some Asian song. Looks Japanese seeing the name." Adrian didn't mind it anyway, as the tune entranced him into liking it despite the foreign nature.

"Japanese?" Port questioned, intrigued by this new word.

"Oh yeah, unlike this world where everyone's on four different "kingdoms", Earth has about six land-masses we call 'continents' not counting the one that's freezing cold and then smaller ones we call 'countries', each having their own towns and cities. That also means there's a wide range of languages to learn. Chinese, Mexican, Spanish, French, all with their own unique words and cultures."

"And you're saying you've populated your entire planet?" Port eyes opened wide in dwindling doubt.

"Correct, we don't have Grimm there, but we fight over ourselves for our own reasons." Adrian shook his head.

"Hmm, unfortunate, but correct once more as these "countries" aren't as united as the kingdoms." Port mused.

"Yep, they only look for mutual benefits, and more power if they need it." Adrian and Port spent the next few minutes listening to Helix's various songs before some students started entering, of which Adrian turned off the Walkman and shoved it into his one pockets.

Time passed by as Adrian watched a few more students enter. Fishing out his Scroll, he checked the time. "8:58 am, two minutes left." He whistled a tune as the time passed on, until there was only 13 seconds left until it would begin.

"Twelve…" Adrian counted in his head.

"Eleven…"

"Ten…"

"Nine…"

"Eight…"

"Seven…"

"Six…"

"Fi-

Adrian saw the colours of Team RWBY and JNPR burst through the door, falling onto either each other, the floor or an unlucky student. They all looked roughed up, their uniforms and hair a complete mess as some of the students around them laughed at their situation.

"Students, now is not the time for laughter." Port stated as the class quieted down. "As for Team RWBY and JNPR, I suggest you sort yourselves and sit down."

Said teams got up and got themselves looking appropriate for class before going to their seats. Ruby and Yang eagerly waved of which Adrian returned, Blake took a quick glance at the soldier before looking back down and Weiss held an annoying glare at Adrian, of which he simply shrugged.

Jaune and Pyrrha simply smiled, Ren did a quick nod. But Nora decided something else was necessary.

"HEY ADRIAN!" She shouted as loud as she could which earned a quick chastising from Ren. Adrian shook his head and chuckled.

Port waited for the teams to settle themselves before starting. "Alright! Welcome, huntsmen and huntresses in training to my class! I am Professor Port, responsible for teaching you lot the dangers of the Grimm and how to effectively combat them!"

He paused, waiting to see if the students were listening. Some were, including Adrian who was already noting things down, and some were not at all. Port sighed internally, at least some would learn. He continued.

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

Awkward silence filled the room with Port's awful joke. Adrian saw Ruby jolt up from her nap, and he sighed in mere disdain. First class of your damn school life and you're already making a joke out of yourself!

"Woo! Nice one Port!" Adrian felt Port's pain of trying to entertain his students, it reminded him of drill instructors shouting indecent words at troubling recruits. Port needed some credit for trying anyway.

"Thank you... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..."

Port gave the female students a wink and a click, both made said students extremely uncomfortable, especially Yang who gave out a discomforting and quiet groan. Port glanced at Adrian, who simply shook his head rapidly and gestured for him to basically cut the crap.

"Ahem… Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"Ayyyy-yep!" A male student with black hair and goat horns rose from his seat and cheered, and was met with glances from everyone. He sat back down, embarrassed with himself.

"At least you tried kid." Adrian nodded at the boy, who gave a thumbs-up before both looked back at the professor.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

The story to some, was just incoherent babbling. To others, it was interesting to hear but nothing too important on. To Adrian, this tall tale hit him personally. A story about Port's plump nature, his grandfather's status as a legendary Huntsman, and his quest to overcome all the negativity of said nature and make his older man proud.

It reminded him of his childhood, although that brought along bad memories. So, he continued hearing Port's story, reaching a part where his younger self had come home after a beating from bullies.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man, experienced and confident despite his age. 'Peter', he told me..."

Then ranting on about how he had stolen his grandfather's weapon to prove himself worthy of carrying the Port legacy, Adrian noticed Ruby in the corner of his eye showing her team a drawing. Glancing over, Ruby was messing around once more, holding a crudely drawn Professor Port renamed "Professor Poop" and blowing a quick raspberry.

Blake smiled at Ruby's antics, Yang chuckled and gave her sister a high-five, Weiss groaned and slammed her head onto the table, annoyed beyond belief and Adrian felt a vein pop in his head, but ignored it and Ruby's behaviour for now.

"Ah-heh-hem!" Port coughed slightly as he saw Ruby messing around, of which she hid the paper behind her back and sheepishly smiled, thinking Port would just continue.

But he didn't.

"Miss Rose, mind I ask what you've been noting, or perhaps, drawing? Don't think I did not notice! An expert Huntsman or Huntress must juggle their priorities to survive!" Ruby stammered, but was saved when Adrian raised his hand.

"Sir, I'll take care of this." Port nodded and Adrian proceeded with a light chop to the back of Ruby's head before snatching the paper from her as he tried to numb the pain, crumpling it up and placed it on his desk while murmuring "Fuckin' twot" under his breath.

Port thanked Adrian before continuing. "And as I saved my mother from that mangy Beowulf with my sheer tenacity and love for my family, I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero, and a worthy carrier of the Port name!"

Those who didn't listen sat in silence, unsure of what had just happened while those who did applauded, Adrian being the loudest.

"You're the man Port!" Adrian managed to conceive from his lips.

Port bowed. "Thank you all! And so, the moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honourable and stalwart when plights introduce themselves!"

Ruby didn't give a single care of Port's words as she made a balancing act with a pencil, book and apple as she made a stupid look on her face, earning the approval of Blake and Yang but the anger of Weiss and disapproval of Adrian.

"A true Huntsman of Huntress must be dependable, and ready to protect those who cannot fight their fights!"

Ruby however, had fallen asleep once more in the first class of the year. Weiss was clearly in pent-up rage as her muscles tightened and her nails clawed at the desk to calm herself. Adrian used Ruby's crumpled drawing as a projectile, throwing it at her head accompanied with a "Wake the hell up kid!"

"And a Huntsman or Huntress must be strategic to fight, well-educated to decide, and most importantly, wise! The power of wisdom shall give you victory against the enemy!"

Ruby meanwhile, was no-so subtlety picking her nose as Weiss subtly shook violently and quietly screamed. Adrian burrowed his hands onto his face, giving up on trying to get Ruby to concentrate.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss suddenly surprised everyone by slamming her hands onto the table with her rage amplified and raised her hand, growling in the scariest way she could.

"I do, sir…!"

Port laughed a hearty laugh. "I like your attitude Miss Schnee! Now come and face your opponent! Remember what I've said, and you shall succeed!"

As she swiftly got herself up, Adrian looked at the cage in front of him, and could hear the comments of various students in the class, including that of RBY.

"Jeez, what was up with her?" Yang asked. Blake simply shrugged and waited for the upcoming fight.

"Well, perhaps she's reaaaally pumped-up representing Team RWBY! We should cheer her on!" Ruby gleefully spoke, painfully unaware of what had transpired beforehand.

Adrian knew however, seeing Weiss being twice as angry at Ruby as she made petty attempts calming herself. He had read a book on Dust yesterday and found that the SDC was one of the top exporters of Dust, Weiss being one of the family members of the owner. She was sophisticated unlike Ruby, so it made sense.

He just hoped her anger didn't control her as his did back at Black Mesa.

Weiss stepped out as Adrian pondered on the thought, fully dressed in her combat attire and her rapier by her side. She was fully determined and ready, shown with the stance and attitude she was expressing as she unsheathed the rapier from her hip and faced it towards whatever was in the cage.

"Go Weiss!" Yang pumped her fist up into the air.

Blake decided to join in their antics as she held a flag that had come out of nowhere. "Fight well!"

"Look at the flag Weiss!" Ruby cheered to the snowy girl "You're representing us! Team RWBY!"

Weiss bared her teeth and lowered her rapier, growling. "Ruby, I am trying to focus thank you very much!"

Ruby lowered herself, along with her team at Weiss' comment. "Oh, sorry…" Ruby blurted out.

ADRENALINE HORROR
- KELLY BAILEY, HALF-LIFE OST

Adrian saw whatever in the cage was thrashing about and getting more violent, and even heard a squeal come out from it. He knew what the Grimm was, and Adrian hoped to himself that Weiss fight efficiently.

Port had his axe ready as he aimed for the lock. "Alright! Let this fight… begin!"

Port sliced the lock clean off and the Grimm in the cage immediately attack as it rolled right towards Weiss, of which she utilised the rapier to block the incoming roll and rolled aside, getting up and tightened her grip on the rapier.

Boarbatusk, Adrian thought. This'll be interesting.

Both opponents took the opportunity to study one another. While the Grimm was pacing, and waiting for the right turn to attack, Weiss left no chance as she used her glyphs to speed herself up and skewer the beast in the skull, which would've happened if the rapier didn't get stuck between the Boarbatusk's, well, tusks.

Weiss gripped onto her rapier even harder as she put all effort into loosening the rapier, being tossed around as she soured up and pulled it with much more force once the Boarbatusk landed her onto solid ground.

Crap! She's letting herself get angry. Come on Weiss, calm the hell down. Adrian keenly watched on. This isn't good, Boarbatusk's going to take advantage of this.

"Come on Weiss, show that Grimm who's the boss around here!" Ruby cheered.

Weiss shot a frightening glare as she wished she could shove some cloth down her throat and shut her up. In that train of thought however, the Boarbatusk took the chance to jerk its head back and exploit Weiss' lack of attention at the time. The rapier clanged as it impacted the ground, far away from Weiss.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port heartily laughed as the match continued.

Dammit Weiss, don't lose here now! Adrian leaned in closer.

The girl in question looked for the Boarbatusk, which was conveniently barrelling right towards her. Rolling out of the way as to not get crushed, she managed to run to her rapier and place herself in her normal stance as the Boarbatusk recovered from hitting a desk.

Adrian pondered once more. Alright, now that she's got the weapon, brute force isn't cutting it. Exploit a weakness or-

"Weiss, go for the belly! There's no armour underneath!" Ruby loudly suggested to her struggling teammate.

That works too.

Weiss growled like some sort of bedtime monster and faced Ruby, her face teeming with sweat and he face expressing the meanest face possible, all the while legitimately screaming at her like a mother who had found out her kid had done something wrong.

"Stop telling me what to do… YOU DOLT!"

The entirety of Team RBY stopped cheering as they blankly stood quiet, processing what Weiss had just let out. Adrian just sighed.

Great, she's no longer in any condition to efficiently finish this some other way, she can only go on with Ruby's decision now. Adrian rubbed his temples as the fight went on.

The Boarbatusk, taking advantage of Weiss' brief anger leapt and rolled itself into a ball, charging at the unsuspecting Huntress-In-Training still fuming over Ruby's idiocy. She heard the squeal come close and barely managed to summon a glyph to block the roll, flipping it and exposing the underside.

Weiss back-flipped upwards and summoned a speed glyph behind her, launching herself at the vulnerable Grimm as she drove her rapier into the belly of the beast, it squealing in pain as it met it's untimely death. The class cheered alongside Port while Adrian and RBY remained silent.

Weiss took some time to let the adrenaline falter and rest, panting and coughing profusely before standing herself up and shakenly bowing.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port complimented the girl who had given her 100% into killing the creature of Grimm.

I'd say otherwise, Port. Adrian said to himself. Sloppy tactics during the fight, let her anger get to her too, distracted too much. She made that fight harder than she needed it to be.

Port gave a light slap on Weiss' back which earned him a smile from the girl. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Adrian got up from his desk and went to Port, watching Weiss quickly stomp her way out with Ruby eventually tailing behind her secretly. The trooper and professor watched the students make their way out.

"Enjoy the lesson?" Port asked Adrian.

"Yeah, the story was nice but I didn't learn much extra about the Grimm, although the fight gave me some tabs on Weiss at least." Adrian replied, Port slowly nodded his head.

"I'll make sure I fix that." Port stated. "Tell me, you weren't the only one who saw what was going on, were you?"

"Just me sir, I assume we're talking about Weiss." Port nodded at Adrian's assumption, which had the trooper swear under his breath.

"The last thing this academy needs are a divided team. I remember Ozpin requested you remedy any of their problems, will you follow up on that?" The professor asked.

Adrian took some time to think before answering. "I'll try. Weiss just needs some space for now, I'll go look for her when the time's right."

Port lent out a handshake for Adrian to take, of which the trooper did. "I know you will. Godspeed Mr. Shephard."

*Cafeteria, Beacon Academy*

Being Adrian's "mission" to mend any of the requested team's problems, the first place he decided to go was the cafeteria, not to eat but to simply discuss. Making his way there, he opened the doors leading inside, and was blasted with the volumes of voices and eating.

Adrian scouted for where Team RWBY would be sitting and found Ruby waving him over to a vacant seat. Sprinting over, he greeted them all before sitting down, noticing that Weiss was missing and Team JNPR was also with them.

"So, you come here to eat?" Ruby cheerfully asked.

"Uh, not really. Just wanted to talk for a bit." Adrian answered.

"Well we're delighted to have you here." Pyrrha was very polite for her age.

"YEAH!" Nora raised her fists up into the air and fell off her seat.

"Nora…" Ren went to pick her up and a discussion soon began.

"Did you guys see Weiss? She just came in, ordered her food then went out without even saying hi." Yang started off.

"You should give her some space." Blake suggested, which they all generally accepted.

"What was with her anyway?" Jaune asked the rest. Most replied with shrugs or didn't answer.

"Thanks anyway." He rubbed his head at their silence.

"We should make her pancakes!" Nora eagerly said as she recovered from her fall earlier. "Pancakes always make me happy! Why can't pancakes make her happy too?"

"Nora, everyone is different from one another. We cannot ensure Weiss will feel happy eating pancakes." Ren bluntly stated to the ecstatic girl.

"No shame in trying!" Nora attempted to rush off and find Weiss but was held back by Ren, blank as ever.

"Nora's kinda right. I mean me, Blake and Ruby are her team. We should at least comfort her." Yang said to the others, Adrian shook his head as Yang held a face looking like she had been personally offended.

"Trust me Yang, the last thing we want is a still ticked off Weiss. Let her blow off some steam, then you go look for her." Adrian stared into her eyes expecting an answer.

"I… guess that makes sense." Yang, defeated, went back to eating her food.

Many of the teens would've started to ask Adrian questions now, but those thoughts were short-lived when insults started to be heard behind Adrian.

"Look at her, think those ears are real?"

Everyone on the desk turned around to see Velvet being bullied by four boys, all instantly knew the boys in particular were Team CRDL, a first-year team who took it upon themselves to bully Velvet during break. Adrian hardened up, but watched to see what Velvet would do, and if she followed up with his advice.

[Meanwhile…]

Coco watched as her partner's rabbit ears were being pulled and verbal threats and insults were thrown at her, angered even more by the fact that the "Atlas Trooper" made no attempt to intervene at all.

Once the bullies had left, not before spitting on the girl as she descended into crying her heart out. Coco gritted her teeth and cracked her knuckles, intending to give Adrian a lesson on how she dealt with bystanders.

She would've done so, if Yatsuhashi didn't grip onto her shoulder.

"Let me go, Yatsu." Coco gnarled.

"No." Yatsuhashi gave a blank stare to Coco, which she returned with a growl.

"I can't just let him get away with this!" Coco interjected as she went to forcefully unhand herself from her teammate.

"Listen." Yatsuhashi pointed to where Velvet was, and Coco turned to see Adrian comforting Velvet. Getting closer by a few paces, she listened into their conversation.

"Velvet! Velvet listen to me!" Adrian attempted to get Velvet speaking, shaking the rabbit faunus.

"I-It didn't work Adrian!" Velvet sobbed as she found difficulty talking. "T-they didn't l-listen!"

"I saw, and you tried your best okay?" Velvet was still crying and Adrian grabbed her by the face cheeks and had her stare directly into his mask. "Listen to me kid, when you're confronted by bullies, you got to see if they're the type that listens or not."

Adrian pulled her face closer to his. "These guys obviously aren't the ones who would listen. But I am damn proud you tried to stand up for yourself, you've helped yourself and your team, and me as well. Now what will you do?"

Velvet sniffled and wiped her tears away. "Try again?"

Adrian patted her on the head, which surprised and flustered Velvet. "That's your choice, but if they continue after you've tried everything, just scream out 'Goose 7', I'll kick their asses if I have to."

Velvet pulled the trooper into a hug, crying her last tears onto his PCV. "Thank you… Adrian."

Adrian let her take her time before she ended the embrace and stood up. "Just doing what's needed." He got himself up and walked over to RBY and JNPR's tables, taking a quick glance after settling down and seeing Coco hug her partner, Yatsuhashi and Fox looking on.

"Nice hero work Adrian!" Yang complimented and offered a fist-bump, which he lazily accepted.

"Thanks." Adrian looked around and saw that Ruby was missing from her seat. "Where's Ruby?"

"She said she wasn't feeling too well and needed fresh air, I would go but like you said, I should give her some time." Yang answered solemnly.

"Any specifics?" Adrian waited for an answer.

"Yeah, one of the trees behind the cafeteria." Yang gave out.

"I'll check it out then, at least see what's up with her." Adrian got up from his seat and started to walk out.

"That's contradictory to what you said earlier." Blake said as she read her book. Adrian replied with a shrug before walking out and going behind the cafeteria.

Why does the first day have to have so many problems? He thought to himself.

*A random tree, behind the Cafeteria*

Adrian saw the petite form of Ruby huddled behind a tree. Scouting the area, he went forward and faced her as she looked upwards to see the still scary sight of Adrian's gas-mask. She jerked upwards, but calmed down when she recognized Adrian.

"What are you doing here?" She said to Adrian, lowering her head again.

"Checking up on you." Adrian saw that she had recently been crying, seeing tear stains on her arms and tinges of red in her eyes. "This is about Weiss isn't it?"

Ruby shuffled back and huddled herself tighter. "H-how'd you know?"

"I saw what happened during class. Now tell me, what happened after class?" Adrian asked for her story. Gulping, Ruby let her limbs flail down as she told what had happened.

Weiss ended up sending her rage towards Ruby with full force, stating with the study and experience she had, she should've become leader, no doubt about it. She then talked with Ozpin asking if her place as leader was a mistake, which he replied with a statement about his own mistakes and her title as leader.

"I agree with Ozpin, being leader's a daunting responsibility, and it's not about the skill you have in battle but rather if you've got what it takes for others to follow you." Adrian leaned back onto the tree, processing the story.

"I could have people following me, but what about the skills? Weiss is better than me at that." Ruby whimpered out.

"Then do what you should do, learn from your mistakes, perhaps let Weiss teach you how to be a leader. Being one isn't just also about being the strongest there is, but also being able to be efficient and willing to learn as well." Adrian assured her.

"That's easy for you to say. You're smart and you know how to fight too, you're a better leader than Weiss and I combined." Ruby shot back at Adrian.

"I didn't want to be a leader."

"Wait what?" Ruby had to process what Adrian had just said.

"I did-n't want to be a lea-der. That title was handed over as soon as my sergeant died, not earned or given." Adrian explained.

"Adrian…" Ruby stared in fear but Adrian continued none-the-less.

"Look Ruby, you may not want to be a leader, but you just have to put up with it. Shit happens sometimes and when it comes with it, you keep rolling. You may not be able to compensate with Weiss' skill, but you can with the morale you've been giving to everyone."

"But-

"No, if you don't want to be a leader, then leave this academy and never come back. But if you do, then confront Weiss head-on, no setbacks, just you and her. Don't leave her hanging like this, she'll hate you even more for that." Adrian stated.

"A-are you sure?" Ruby stammered and stuttered.

"Positive. We'll go look for her, okay?" Adrian got up and held out a hand.

"We can do that." Ruby got herself up instead of taking his offering.

"Then let's begin. Follow me."

The two got up and walked, hopefully they'd find Weiss in time.

Hey, this one didn't take as long now, did it?

Anyway, you may have seen how I made Weiss' fight with the Boarbatusk more difficult. I decided for this as a way to push the message of "Weiss really hates Ruby for suddenly waltzing into Beacon and becoming leader". I've also had Ruby doubt herself a lot more, of which I'll be doing a lot with this fanfiction of mine.

As for "Love That Does Not Reach", yes I know it was released far beyond Adrian's existence on Earth (2017 to be exact) and yes I also do know that the song is some sort of remake or remix of "Todokanai Koi" from the visual novel "White Album 2" (which honestly nearly fits within the fact that Adrian was taken somewhere before 2009, and the original song only being released in 2010) but god damn it took only one listen for me to just adore it, I had to add it in somehow, even if it's a bad choice.

Adrian's nightmares will also be a plot point, it'll be explained eventually.

Time to answer a question:

WowohWow0 - Knowing that Spore Launchers can survive being out of water for quite a bit (basically Adrian just takes one and it survives even after the Gene Worm's defeat), it's currently in the possession of Professor Port and is safe, although I'm making it so that growth into an adult Shock Trooper is completely halted when out of water.

Next chapter, it's teacher time. Adios for now.

- MimicLegend