I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.

"Who are you?"

Johnny didn't know how to answer that. Yang and the others were still staring at the person who was apparently involved in this mess. Johnny just stood there in silence, awkwardly scratching his head, dismissing his katana.

"And what was that thing you did to Neo!" Melanie screamed at him. Her twin nodding beside her. "What if that hit us?!" Miltia screamed after.

"Relax," Johnny raised his hands trying to calm the two down. "You won't get hurt if that hits you. It only affects the person currently I am hostile to at the moment."

"Is that the…creepy ass fog around our feet?" Neptune asked.

"Yep."

"Gods. Oh, gods." He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. "Sun, just why did we have to get involved in this?!" Neptune screamed at his not present partner.

[Yang Xiao Long, Younger Sun Dragon]

Yang was still staring at Johnny. "You didn't answer me." She said, crossing her arms across her…generous chest. Johnny tried not to stare. He coughed in his hands, trying to think of how to explain his situation.

"Hmmm." Johnny thought a bit. "Torchwick and his pals hurt a friend of mine. I hurt them back." He said neutrally.

"That's not the whole truth, is it?"

"It is the truth."

"What was that about the dust explosion then?"

Johnny sighed. "Look. I'm just some guy. I wanted to know why my friend got attacked, so I tailed these two," He pointed at Torchwick and Neo. "And their buddies back to their base. I got caught by Neo there, and she triggered the dust to explode with her aura. I escaped before everything went to hell."

There was a lull in silence. Yang digested what the guy in front of her said. He looked casual; a black cap, long sleeved black shirt with a print of a snarling demon face, and rubber shoes. Aside from the katana, the man looked more like someone you'd find at a music shop than a huntsman.

"Well, what do we do with Torchwick and Neo now?" Johnny asked. "I kinda regret knocking Torchwick out now. Was gonna ask him some questions."

"We can just call the police on them?" Neptune said. Yang was still thinking, but groaned and nodded her agreement.

"Yeah, I guess. In a way, I guess we did better than our original objective. We got Torchwick!" She cheered and held up a high five for Neptune, who caught it, cheering as well.

"Well if that's all…" Johnny fixed his cap to his head. "See ya around, Junior. Thanks for the drinks." The adventurer said, walking to the exit. He stopped for a while, noticing the cane Torchwick was using as a weapon. He bent down to pick it up.

[Melodic Cudgel x 1]

The cane was well made. Johnny inspected it as he walked to the exit. It was full of dinks and dents, no doubt from the fight. He whacked it to his palms a few times. Feels nicely weighted as well.

So engrossed he was at the weapon, that he failed to notice the mass of bodies rushing towards him from the entrance of the club. Johnny was bulldozed and stepped on by the rest of Team RWBY and Sun.

"Let's go TEAAAM!" Ruby yelled, her Crescent Rose fully brandished. "We're here to bring you to justice Torchwick!" The red reaper said, in what she hoped was a heroic pose. Behind the teens, police and robot soldiers swarmed en masse, headed by a blonde haired woman with a riding crop in her hands.

Johnny groaned at the ground, cane still in hand. I should've just stayed at home. He thought.

]|[

After all the excitement at Junior's, Johnny found himself in an investigation room. There were three other people with him. A silver haired man holding a can sat across him. Beside him, the blonde haired woman he had seen at the club. She glared at him sternly, adjusting her glasses a bit. The other was a man in a white military dress uniform who glared at him as well.

Celestials above, chill out lads. He thought.

"So…What am I doing here, then?" Johnny asked the man in front of him.

[Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon]

"Mister…Lore, was it?" "Just Johnny please." He cut off the silver haired man, who raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Johnny then." The man leaned to the table and brought his hands together. "Can you tell me, why were you at the club?"

"Drinking some beer?" Johnny answered, raising an eyebrow.

"And the fact that Roman Torchwick was targeting you?" The silver haired man cut to the chase abruptly. Johnny was impressed at the man's ability to keep a straight face as he said that.

"He hurt a pal I know, so I pushed back. He didn't like that apparently."

"How about the dust explosion. Tell us more about that."

"Torchwick's plus one did that. Neo, I think that's her name?"

[James Ironwood, General]

"Enough!" The man in the military uniform slammed his fist to the metal table, denting it. "Who are you?! And why are you at the site when the explosion happened?!"

"I already gave you my ID, dude." Johnny shrugged. "And I told you. I tracked him and his goons to their warehouse."

[Glynda Goodwitch, Professor of Beacon]

"While we admire your…initiative to avenge your friend, Mister Lore," The blonde woman started. "Why did you not call the authorities when it happened?"

"I wanted to do it myself. Besides, I've seen the news. I found the White Fang and Torchwick faster than the authorities ever could have." Johnny answered truthfully, leaning back in his chair. The man in the military uniform growled at that, and the blonde woman placed a hand to his shoulder to calm him down.

"Johnny, you do realize than vigilantism is illegal right?" The silver haired man said. Johnny shrugged. "Are you going to arrest me then, mage?" He asked. Johnny's investigators eyes widened.

Thank you Warlic for the training! The way he stunned the room was cool, Johnny decided, inwardly cheering at his actions. Warlic trained him as part of his training to understand the flow of mana throughout all beings and life. He had seen it here in this world as well, on the dust, and that Cinder woman. This world was once magical, and now the flow of mana has either stopped, or had been stemmed. That's bad... Johnny thought.

]|[

As Johnny ruminated on the state of magic in this world, Ozpin's thoughts was racing. Mage? I have not been called that since…my first life, I think. Ozpin remembered his first life, when he was still a fledgling warrior learning the arcane arts.

He shook his head. Whoever this man, this 'Johnny Lore' was, he was someone who knows the hidden side of Remnant. And he had a suspicion that Johnny was the one that caused that wave of magic in the city recently. It cannot be a coincidence.

"How do you know about magic, Johnny?" Ozpin said in a severely serious tone.

"I use it?" Johnny created a small fireball in his palm. "I am a mage too, you know." Johnny then frowned. "You can't tell. How can that be?" He said, leaning forward to stare at Ozpin.

"I cannot. I suppose…I do not have that ability, Johnny." Ozpin said. Johnny's eyes frowned further. "Where did you come from?" The headmaster asked.

"Somewhere outside the kingdoms. Settled a bit in Piner's Heights after travelling to Vale, then just settled down here in the city recently." Johnny said. He had practiced this excuse to tell. He doesn't exactly trust people with the fact of him coming from another world.

"And this place you came from, people knew magic?"

"Yep. Quite common as well."

This was…gigantic news. Ozpin looked at Glynda and Ironwood, both still speechless at the revelations. If Salem of all people gets ahold of magic… Ozpin shuddered, daring not to think about it. He had to ask something else, however.

"There was a wave of magic, less than two days ago, that I have felt in the city. Was that you?"

"Hmm. I actually don't know." Johnny thought. "Less than two days ago, I was teleported here. That was what you probably felt."

Gods. Ozpin thought. Teleportation. Ironwood's head was already racing with possibilities. "Then, if you know that it was your…teleportation, what did you mean by 'you don't know'?"

"I meant I don't know who had teleported me here." Johnny said. "Or portaled me here? I don't actually know how I got here. I just know that I was napping, then I woke up in some alley in the city. I didn't feel the wave of magic you felt, though." The adventurer thought for a bit. "How about we find out together." He smiled. "Think of it as…magic training. An exercise on how magic feels."

"You teach magic?" Ozpin had to smile at that. Another teacher that also has magic. Quite a pair we make. He thought.

"I had an apprentice. Not in magic though, just in general adventuring." He wondered how Kyger was doing these days. Considering his siblings, probably doing very well. Artix's son show much promise.

"Let's try to bring this conversation back to topic." Glynda said beside Ozpin. The headmaster shot his right hand woman a slightly disappointed stare, who promptly ignored him. "What are your intentions, Mister Lore?"

"I want to find out what Torchwick and his gang is trying to do." Johnny answered truthfully. "That's it. If it's bad and will hurt other people, I'll stop him."

"We have already captured Torchwick." Ironwood said in a clipped tone. "What are you going to do now?"

"His conspiracy doesn't end there, man." Johnny said seriously. "I found his boss, too." He smiled.

]|[

Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood left the room and entered the one beside it, watching Johnny through the one-way mirror.

"This is…a development I was not expecting." Ozpin said. "The fact that there are other practicing users of magic out there…"

"How about the fact that Torchwick was working for another? This means Johnny has found the true masterminds for the robberies and that…incident." Ironwood said. "We have to move now. We have to know who exactly they are and arrest them. We don't even have to think what they are going to move next, we can just get that out of them once we capture these people."

"Is his words truly dependable, however?" Glynda asked. "I meant his intentions. Call me cynical, but I do not think he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He had just admitted to having assaulted Torchwick's lair because his friend was hurt."

"I choose to have him with us." Ozpin said abruptly. Both Ironwood and Glynda turned their heads at his words so fast that it was a miracle they didn't get whiplash. "I do not even want to gamble what would happen if Salem got his hands on him. We keep him with us, so we can at least watch him."

"Did you even hear a word of what I said?" Glynda said exasperatedly. "We don't even know who he is!"

"I agree." Ironwood said. "This is an incredibly dangerous move. Who's to say he isn't a spy of Salem already? Who's to say that his supposed background was even true? Who's to say if Johnny is even his real name?"

"You cannot deny that magic he showed us, though, James."

"That was not my point Glynda," He told the blonde professor, who grinned at him a bit. "And you know it. I meant that nothing about him is verified and trustworthy. How can we bring someone in on OUR secrets, placing on him the trust of the lives WE are beholden to? I cannot imagine it."

"I don't know if I can trust him with the lives of my students either." Glynda conceded Ironwood's point.

Ozpin nodded. "I understand. Truly I do. We have lives at stake in this war. But if he is a threat to other people, we would be the closest to stop him. If he is a threat, we would be able to stop a tragedy before it happens. If he is not, then it means we gained a powerful new ally." He said firmly. Ironwood and Glynda digested his words, and nodded. "We bring him in to our circle, have him at least prove his intentions, then decide what to do. Is everyone in agreement?" Both nodded at Ozpin's decision.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The three of them turned at the one-sided mirror.

Johnny grinned. "I heard all that~~!" He sing-songed. Their eyes widened at his announcement, their hearts dropping to their stomach. "Don't worry! I am an ally of Good! I won't hurt innocents!"

]|[

Well technically correct. Johnny thought in his mind. He was an adventurer aligned with Evil, and Empress Gravelyn was in a truce with the Kingdom of Good, Swordhaven, so technically, he wasn't lying about being an ally of Good. And he won't hurt innocents. He wasn't a monster. Gravelyn is less 'evil' and more 'edgy' though. He smiled at the memory of his liege and dear friend.

Well, I just want to relish in this moment for a bit. He chuckled, staring at the mirror looking smug, knowing that his three interrogators were just behind it. Gods, he loved having Extrasensory Perception.

]|[

Qrow and Winter shared a tense silence in the elevator. Both normally detested each other and tried to stay away from each other unless the situation demands it. This is one that demanded it however.

Both had been called to Vale by their bosses. After that attack, they had each booked a flight to Vale the latest.

When the elevator doors opened, both had been greeted by a sight they didn't expect.

"UNCLE QROW!" "Winter!"

A red blur charged into Qrow and grabbed him in a hug. Weiss was also excited to meet her older sister, and rushed to her, but held herself back and gave an elegant curtsey. Winter had to smile at her adorable little sister.

Yang approached the scythe users and gave her uncle a punch on the shoulder that resounded with a meaty 'thwack'. "Heya drunkle Qrow." She greeted with a large grin.

"Brats." Qrow said in a raspy chuckle. He ruffled Ruby's hair. "What are you doing here?"

"WE CAUGHT ROMAN TORCHWICK!" Ruby cheered excitedly. Yang smiled a shit eating grin to her uncle. Even Weiss had a smug smile on, pleased with herself. Their other friends whooped happily in the background. Blake was smiling happily for the first time in the past few days. Small steps. She thought.

"…What?"

It was the only thing both Qrow and Winter could say after that.