Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, one of the premier schools for those that protected the sentient peoples of the world of Remnant from the forces of darkness, sipped his coffee as he sighed tiredly.

He'd just finished a far too long call with the Council of the Kingdom of Vale, and as always it left him wanting to bash his head against his desk. Their moronic budget cuts due to the supposed time of peace they were experiencing, the unreasonable demands on his students, and their fretting over the upcoming Vytal Festival security due to the recent Breach Incident, as it was known (which should have worked as ample proof that budget cuts were the last thing they needed), was driving him up the wall. If it weren't for his long years of experience in dealing with fools, he might have done something he wouldn't have regretted in the least, like bash their skulls in.

Politics, unfortunately, were an ageless, necessary evil, as he'd long ago learned.

He looked up when the door to his office opened, admitting his deputy, Glynda Goodwitch. The stunningly attractive blond pushed her glasses up her nose as she strode towards him, heels clicking over the faint sound of the gears that constantly worked in the floor and ceiling of his office.

"You called, Ozpin?" She asked as she stopped in front of his desk.

Ozpin blinked, lightly pushing a lock of silver hair away from his eyes, peering at her over his own round spectacles. "…No, Glynda, I did not."

She was surprised before looking down at her personal Scroll system. "I have a message here from you stating that you needed to see me urgently. It was sent five minutes ago."

Ozpin set his coffee aside, sitting up straight, eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to respond when the door opened again. Both heads looked over to see General James Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy, striding into the office, pristine as always, his black hair grey at the temples. He looked serious and focused, as was usual for him.

"What is the emergency you messaged me about, Ozpin?" He asked as he made his way to the desk.

Now Ozpin was wary. Someone had obviously been pretending to be him. Why would they summon Glynda and Ironwood to his office, however? The answer was obvious. "I did not message you, James. Someone seems to have hacked my scroll and summoned you and Glynda up here."

It took a moment, but both other occupants of the room tensed and began looking around. The obvious conclusion for such a deception was an attack to take out the headmasters of two of the Huntsmen Academies in one fell swoop.

They were so tense that when the doors opened for a third time they all whirled towards it, ready to fight, James pointing his large revolver at the doors, Glynda holding her riding crop at the ready, and Ozpin getting to his feet and clutching his cane tightly. They all relaxed marginally when a disheveled looking man with black spiky hair and red eyes came out, freezing when he saw them all ready to fight. "What?" Qrow Branwen asked as he put his hands up.

Ironwood sighed in irritation as he stopped aiming at the drunkard. "Qrow, what are you doing here already?"

Qrow swaggered in, eyeing the General. "Good to see you too, Jimmy. And Oz sent me a message a week ago telling me to get over here immediately. Something to do with my nieces." When he saw Ozpin's raised eyebrow he stopped. "You did… right?"

Before Ozpin could respond, a female voice came from Ozpin's desk computer. "Sorry Mr. Branwen, that was me."

Ozpin felt his heart stop. "…Salem?" He whispered, making the others tense.

The form of a woman appeared as a hologram on Ozpin's desk. "Nope. I understand the confusion, we do sound a bit similar, but I've got nothing to do with her."

They all eyed the blue figure, noting the mischievous look in her eyes as she looked at each of them.

"Then who are ya, lady?" Qrow asked as he brought his flask up to his lips, taking a pull.

"My name's Cortana, and I represent a group of people interested in helping you in your fight against Salem and the Grimm." Cortana said.

"Help how?" Glynda asked next, eyes narrowed at Cortana.

Cortana turned to face Ozpin, who had resumed his seat. "Tell me, headmaster, what do you know of the multiverse?"

Ozpin rested his elbows on his desk, fingers interlaced. "There is a theory that states that there is a different universe in existence for each possible outcome of events, no matter how small. If that is the case, then there are an infinite amount of universes in existence, such as one where the Grimm have been exterminated completely, allowing us to live in peace, or conversely, one where the Grimm have utterly eradicated humanity."

Cortana smiled. "Gold star. But what if I told you that there are universes where things you consider fiction are facts of life? Where characters from novels, or movies, or comic books, all live and work and fight."

Ozpin digested this. "Are you suggesting you are from a world that we would consider fiction?" He kept his eyes focused on Cortana even as his companions all glanced at each other.

Cortana's smile widened. "Interesting how you jumped to that conclusion so quickly. You're close. Actually, I'm from one where you are considered fiction."

The other three occupants of the room stared. "That's absurd." Ironwood said.

"I assure you, it's not." Cortana said simply. "In any case, I've contacted you to show you what could potentially happen in the near future, which I'm sure you'll find interesting, especially if you want to prevent some tragedies from taking place."

"What kinda tragedies?" Qrow asked interested.

Cortana looked serious. "Well, on a personal level, I figured you'd like to keep your niece Yang from losing an arm."

Qrow choked. "WHAT!?"

"More generally, though, preventing the fall of the Kingdom of Vale to the Grimm from happening sounds worthwhile, doesn't it?" Cortana asked just as seriously.

The group stared at her before Ozpin took a slightly shaky sip of coffee. "Yes, that does sound like a good idea…"

Cortana smiled as a video player opened up. "I'd suggest getting comfortable, this'll take a few hours. I'll be back when you're done. Oh, and forgive the quality in the beginning. They didn't have that many resources when they started." With that she disappeared and an animated show began to play.

The four Huntsmen glanced at each other before taking seats and getting comfortable.

Hours later, as the ending credits for the fifth season of the show they'd just watched rolled, all four of them sat, deep in thought.

Ozpin had his eyes closed as his mind whirled. Being slapped in the face with the failure of his best intentions was humbling, yet a part of him burned with pride for the students who he had seen rise up to the challenge, fighting back and becoming greater than he'd hoped in a shorter amount of time than he could have ever expected. It warmed him to know that the young people he helped guide could rise to the occasion when the time came.

That didn't mean that he wouldn't work to keep them from being put in that position in the first place, however.

Glynda was having similar thoughts. As the academy's primary combat instructor, it was her duty to prepare the children for what would come when they were forced to confront the darkness of the world. To see her charges be brought so low before rising again to stand taller than ever before was bittersweet. A fire was lit within her to make sure that they would be even better prepared now that she knew what was coming.

Ironwood had his eyes closed, still getting over the fact that his attempts to protect Vale had instead aided in its destruction. Being confronted with the consequences of his own hubris was a hard pill to swallow, but it also made him angry at those that had turned the weapons he had brought to protect the innocent on those they were supposed to defend. He promised himself that he would make sure that his enemies would never have the chance to do anything like it this time around.

Qrow was drinking the last of the booze in his flask, trying to deal with what he'd seen. It may have been in the form of a cartoon, but the sight of his niece losing her arm and subsequent depression had hit him hard and made him want to break something. Or someone. Like a certain bull faunus.

Still, seeing both of the girls become strong Huntresses that managed to save an entire Kingdom from falling like Vale did with the help of their friends gave him a warm feeling in his heart. He knew that their father, Taiyang, would be immensely proud, after his obligatory freakout, of course. And their late mother could rest easy knowing her girls had become so strong and self-sufficient.

They all returned to the here and now when Cortana's hologram reappeared. She was looking at them with a small smile. "So, I trust the last few hours were educational?"

"Indeed." Ozpin said. "Assuming everything has been going the same in our own universe, then this information will serve us well."

"Everything's been going the same, as far as we can tell." Cortana said. "I found the virus Cinder installed in your systems and have purged it completely while sending her false signals to make her think it's still working as intended."

Ironwood sat up, eyebrows raised. "How did you do that?"

Cortana gave a cocky smirk. "Please, General, I am a military AI specialized in cyberwarfare that is centuries ahead of your own abilities. It took me a couple of real world seconds to figure out Remnant's programming language, but once I did, it was child's play to find what I was looking for." Ironwood looked a bit perturbed at this knowledge, so her smile turned reassuring. "Don't worry, sir, I have no intention of using anything I find to cause any trouble. I would be interested in speaking with Doctor Polendina, however. I have some ideas he might find useful."

"I'll… see what I can do…" Ironwood said slowly.

"Alright, what you've shown us is useful for sure, but you haven't told us what you want in exchange." Qrow said bluntly.

"Qrow!" Glynda scolded.

"It's fine." Cortana said. "We're not really asking for much, actually. We want to help, and we'll do so either way, but we'd be more effective if our requests were met."

"What requests?" Ozpin asked.

"None of us have aura unlocked." Cortana began. "It's not really a thing in our universes. So if you could at least try to do so for us, we'd be a lot more combat effective. We'd also like recommendations for the best places where we can get weapons and other necessities. We'd like to experiment with mechashift weapons, which are also new to us. Finally, a place for us to stay, perhaps on Beacon's campus, would be helpful. We've been staying in a hotel in the city, but we'd prefer to be closer to the center of things. It would allow us to help protect Amber when needed as well."

Ozpin considered it. "I believe that is all more than doable. Do you have someplace where we can perhaps meet the rest of your team?"

Cortana smiled.

A couple of hours later the group of teachers arrived in a small café in the outskirts of downtown Vale. It was a cozy place, decently full of people enjoying their drinks and pastries.

Qrow was the first to see the group they had been told to look for and pointed them out to the others. As they approached the large table the group had claimed they studied the people who had already given them invaluable information.

The most noticeable one was a large mountain of a man, face lined by age and conflict. He had extremely pale skin, with a firm mouth and a strong jaw, close cut brown hair and striking blue eyes. He looked up at them as he drank his coffee, studying them with a calculating gleam in his eyes, determining how best to take them down.

Sitting beside him was a young woman in her mid-twenties or so with long brown hair, a pretty face, and brown eyes. She was drinking tea with a smile and turned to look at them when they approached, her eyes studying them like her companion did.

Another girl, this one younger than the first, sat drinking her own tea with closed eyes, seeming relaxed and content, her black hair hanging down her back in a wave, contrasting with her pale skin in a pleasant way. When her eyes opened they were revealed to be a pretty and striking shade of green.

On the other side of the table was a young faunus boy. He had green skin and hair along with pointed ears, which didn't really tell them what kind of animal traits he had. He was a bit on the short side, and was going to town on a piece of cake, ignoring everything else.

The last boy was about Beacon starting age. He had raven black hair that sat messily on his head and reached halfway down his neck. He had black tattoo like markings on his slightly pale skin in odd patterns. He too was drinking tea, and he smiled when his emerald green eyes caught sight of them. "Ah, good of you all to join us." He said as he set his tea down.

Ozpin and his comrades pulled up seats as a waitress came over and offered them menus. Once she was gone he turned to Harry. "Well, we could hardly refuse after what you've already done for us. May I ask which of you is in charge of your little team?" He knew better than to assume the older man had to be the one calling the shots, though Ironwood was already looking at him, expecting him to do the talking.

"We're all partners." The green boy said with a smile. "But Harry is the one who usually calls the shots in combat and takes the lead outside of it. We haven't really incorporated the Chief into our dynamic just yet."

"Chief?" Glynda asked.

The older man spoke up. "That would be me. Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117."

As Qrow groaned something about more tin soldiers Ironwood eyed the Chief with greater interest. "A military man. I'm curious as to why you aren't taking command in that case."

Chief shrugged lightly. "In military matters I have more experience, but I'm not a diplomat, and not as experienced in things such as dimension hopping as my companions. I know to leave such things to those competent in doing so."

Ozpin smiled as the waitress returned to take their orders. "A wise man knows when he's not the best man for the job." Chief nodded in thanks.

"Alright then, I believe introductions are in order. Chief already told you who he was." The older of the two girls said with a smile. "My name is Lara Croft. I'm an archeologist. Beside me is Alice Liddel. She's studying to be a psychologist/psychiatrist. The one in green is Garfield Logan, though he also answers to his call sign, Beast Boy, as he's part of a team in his home world of crime fighters. Lastly is Harry Potter. If you were to give him a profession it would be anti-terrorist specialist, as he's fighting a group of racist terrorists in a civil war back in his home."

Ozpin frowned at that. "I'm sorry to hear you have a problem like that." He told Harry.

Harry waved it off. "No worries, professor. Nothing you can do about it."

Glynda, however, was frowning severely as she looked at Garfield. "Why would you allow yourself to be given such an obviously racist call sign as 'Beast Boy'?"

Garfield blinked. "Wha? Oh…" He said as he realized what she meant. "Thanks for your concern, Miss Goodwitch, but I'm not a faunus. We don't have those on my home dimension. I'm called Beast Boy because of my special power, my semblance. I can turn into any animal I want."

Qrow, understandably, looked interested, turning to Garfield as he poured some booze into his recently arrived coffee. "Any animal?"

Garfield nodded. "Yep. From an ant to a whale, anything I want."

The drunk's eyebrows rose. "That's useful." Garfield gave a toothy grin.

"So…" Harry began, taking another sip of tea. "Cortana says you found our information useful, even though you got it a bit… unconventionally."

Ozpin nodded as he sipped his coffee, letting out an appreciative hum and knowing he'd be returning to this café. "Yes. We were discussing countermeasures on the way here. Dealing with Roman Torchwick would be a good idea, but we disagree on how."

"Bribe him." Alice said, speaking for the first time. "From the show it is clear he is solely cooperating in order to survive. Offer him what he wants and, not only do you have an excellent source for any information the show didn't provide, but a useful combatant if absolutely necessary."

Ironwood frowned at the thought of bribing the red haired crook, but before he could speak the Chief put in his two lien. "I agree with Alice. Ignoring a potential information source is unwise, especially when getting that information is relatively simple and painless."

The general growled low in his throat but conceded. "I'll consider it…"

"Any other ideas?" Garfield asked.

"Make sure that little bitch, Emerald, can't frame my niece for an unprovoked attack. Or anybody else, for that matter." Qrow growled.

Lara nodded. "That would help keep the negative emotions that the Grimm would be attracted to down."

"Making sure the students can carry their weapons during the tournament would help in the event of an attack, as they'd be able to fight back." Glynda put in. "The problem is that it is against tournament rules for them to be armed outside of matches."

"Say you are eliminating that rule for this occasion only, as you want to make sure that the students are best able to protect themselves and others in case of another event like the Breach. Hell, it's even the truth." Harry said with a small smirk. Glynda nodded thoughtfully.

"We have time to brainstorm further later." Ozpin said. "I have arranged for some of the visitor's quarters to be prepared for you all to move into Beacon, which will give us ample opportunity to plan."

Alice nodded gratefully. "That will be helpful, thank you."

"Alright." Qrow began. "Now, you all want your aura unlocked if possible, right?" At their nods he glanced at his companions. "Well, I don't see any reason not to head to your hotel rooms and get it done now so you can get used to it before the fireworks start." He gulped down the rest of his coffee.

Ozpin nodded in agreement as he took a last sip of his own. "Agreed. We're ready whenever you are."

Lara waved the waitress over and paid the bill before the group got up and headed out.

Before long they reached the hotel the dimensionally displaced group had been staying in. The Remnant natives were surprise to find themselves in the penthouse suite. "You have more resources than I thought." Ozpin murmured.

Lara smiled. "Harry is quite wealthy in his home world, and he was wise enough to convert a portion of his money into jewels, gold, and other tradeable goods he carries around with him in case he needed to leave home and didn't want to worry about currency conversion. It's served us well, as it makes sure we have enough money for whatever we need whenever we jump."

Qrow was looking around. "Sure you want to stay at Beacon? No offense, Oz, but this is a lot nicer."

"We don't need luxuries." Alice said as she tapped a computer on a desk, Cortana appearing on the holographic screen, smiling as looked at everybody from the computer's camera. "Beacon will be better in the long run, as it'll let us help out better."

"Alright, let's get this done." Ironwood said. "Who wants to go first?"

The group looked at each other before Lara stepped forward. "I suppose I should. I'm the most vulnerable member of the team, as I don't have any special powers and abilities like they do."

Glynda stepped forward and smiled at her. "Relax, young lady." As Lara let out a breath the teacher put her hands on her shoulders before beginning to speak. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Lara began to glow with an earthy brown color, the light extending an inch or so from her skin. Alice clapped happily as the others smiled, Chief eyeing her with interest.

Glynda stepped back, breathing a bit heavily. "How do you feel?"

Lara looked at her hands, curling her fingers into fists. "I feel... I don't know how to describe it. Safer, I think..."

Glynda smiled. "Good. You will need to train in order to use your aura effectively, of course, but this is a first step."

Lara nodded as the glow faded, and she stepped to the side as the Chief made his way forward. "I would like to go next."

Ironwood was the one to move in front of the Chief with a serious look on his face. He set his hands on the super soldier's shoulders and repeated the words Glynda spoke. The Chief promptly began to glow with a dull, olive green color, which his companions found amusing, much to the teachers' confusion.

"I'm looking forward to using the armor sensors to get a better handle on what that did. Especially once I have that aura monitor installed." Cortana said, a giddy smile on her face. Then she cackled. "Oh, if the Covenant didn't fear you before..."

Chief shook his head. "Calm down, Cortana. I still need to learn how to use it."

Qrow stepped forward next, taking a sip of booze he'd gotten from a decanter at the ensuite bar. "Alright, who's next?"

Beast Boy stepped forward eagerly, a wide smile on his face. Qrow grunted and nodded.

Beast Boy ended up, surprise surprise, glowing a bright, verdant green, slightly brighter than his skin. When Glynda stepped forward to unlock Alice's aura, her glow was a bright, periwinkle blue. She smiled, pleased.

Finally only Harry was left, and as Ozpin stepped forward to unlock his, Harry took a deep breath and looked into Ozpin's eyes. "I want you to be careful when you try to unlock mine." He said seriously.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I'm hardly going to harm you, young man, even if I fail."

Harry shook his head. "It's not me I'm worried about..."

Ozpin frowned, but set his hands on the tattooed young man's shoulders. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and-" He stopped when he saw Harry's eyes widen and jumped back with an aura enhanced leap when his danger sense screamed at him. He barely managed to evade a burst of dark energy that tried to slice at him from Harry's body, said boy kneeling down and wrapping his arms around himself, gritting his teeth as the dark energy roiled and bubbled around his form.

The teachers had drawn their weapons, but Harry's friends stepped forward. "Harry, get control!" Alice cried, holding herself back from reaching out to him lest she be attacked as well. The others were just as helpless, simply watching as Harry tried to control the writhing energy.

Beast Boy knelt in front of Harry, his eyes serious. "Harry, remember the meditation exercise Raven taught you. The Flame and the Void. Feed everything into the flame, every emotion, every feeling, till nothing is left but the void. Let the void envelop you, so not even Samael's corruption can touch you."

Slowly but surely, as Beast Boy repeated his instructions over and over, the energy began to calm and shrink before finally fading back into the markings on his body. Harry was left sitting on the ground, panting harshly and sweating heavily from exertion. Once they were sure it was safe, Alice launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his body and pulling him close as he began to shake from the after effects.

Qrow was the first to speak. "What the hell just happened?"

Lara rain her fingers through her hair. "I guess Harry won't be having his aura unlocked..."

Ironwood's hand was still on his gun. "That doesn't explain anything."

"We'll explain later." Cortana said seriously. "Right now, let Harry take some time to recover."

The teachers were clearly unhappy with it but Ozpin nodded. "Very well. We'll take our leave for now, and we can speak further tomorrow, when you come to Beacon."

"We'll be there." Cortana said.

Qrow pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Chief, who was standing and watching everything with wary eyes, even after the weapons had been put away. "Here, tinman. Name and address of the best weapon store in Vale. Have fun."

Chief took the paper with a nod, and the teachers left shortly thereafter.

Lara knelt beside Harry after they were gone. "Are you going to be okay?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just need to get a hold of myself. Let me take a nap, then we'll head out and check out that store."

The others nodded, and Alice helped Harry to his room, where he collapsed in bed.

It was an hour before closing at Dusty Steel, and the shopkeeper, a cute young mouse faunus, was bored out of her skull. One would think that the shop would be packed with the Vytal Festival Tournament right around the corner, but the place was dead. She sighed as she flipped another page in her magazine before looking up when the bell for the door sounded and five people entered. She straightened up and put on her best smile. "Hello! What can I help you with?"

As one of the people, a very large, strong looking man that had to be a professional Huntsman, reached to one of the racks laden with all sorts of weaponry and picked up a war hammer one handed like it was a toy, testing its balance with a couple of swings before mechashifting it into it's alternate shotgun form, the older of the young women approached the counter, her brown eyes glinting. "Do you do commissions?"

The shopkeeper brightened. Something told her this group was going to be quite lucrative. "Anything you want." She assured.

Her customer's smile widened.

Hello all. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Not much action, as it's an introductory/transitory one, but we'll get there.

So yeah, new world is RWBY. I love this show, even though I admit it went downhill for a bit. Still pumped for the new season.

So everybody but Harry got Aura unlocked. I always intended it to be this way. It's another way of pointing out how Silent Hill fucked him up. Still, he can work around it.

A couple of people have expressed concern that the cast is getting too big. Honestly, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I admit I'm worried about whether I'm a good enough author to implement what I have planned in a satisfactory fashion. By the time the fic is over, Harry's team is going to be massive. And it'll need to be, because they'll be fighting beings that make Samael seem like that elementary school bully that tormented you but that with hindsight just was just a pathetic child. That will take an army to support Harry, and an army he will get.

Whether I'll actually do it well... *shrug* We'll see. I'm hopeful.

I don't believe I have anything left to say. Please read, review, and if you want a say in what I write, donate to my Pat A Ron at dotcom /athanmortis.

Till next time, laters.