Harry sat under a tree overlooking the Emerald Forest near Beacon trying to think about what was coming and what he'd do.

Despite having information on the attack their enemies were planning, none of the Remnant natives or Harry's team could decide on what their response was going to be.

Letting the attack go forward while setting up counters was an option they were considering. It would allow them to use their knowledge of future events to its full effect. The virus that had been planted in the CCT system had already been dealt with by Cortana, so they didn't have to worry about the automated defenses turning against them, and Ironwood was still applying the screws to Roman Torchwick, who appeared to be close to cracking despite his bravado. Both facts would provide them a substantial advantage when added to the traps and tricks Harry alone could provide, to say nothing of his companions.

The downside of that option was that it would most likely cause at least some panic among the population of the world even if successfully repelled. Just the fact that it could even be attempted could make the Kingdoms act in foolish, unpredictable ways. Though that could still be of use, as the heightened state of awareness would help counteract some of the dangerous demilitarization that was much bemoaned among those who fought the forces of darkness.

There was, of course, also the fact that there could be casualties during the attack despite their best laid plans, something nobody wanted. That was the primary argument against that course of action.

On the other hand, they could round up the ringleaders of the attack and dismantle everything they had prepared, thus ensuring the Kingdom's safety.

It seemed like the obvious option, but there were some downsides. First and foremost, if they failed to capture or eliminate any of their targets for any reason, their knowledge of the future would become useless as they would then move in ways they weren't prepared for. If they missed catching Adam Taurus or Cinder Fall, either one could reorganize and attack by another vector, which could cause even more damage than if they let the attack happen due to the unpredictability of it.

There was also the fact that they then wouldn't have anything to incentivize the Kingdoms to increase their security and invest more in training new Huntsmen, both of which were badly needed, considering what the upcoming attack demonstrated about their enemies' capabilities.

The arguments over which path to take gave Harry a headache, and he was hoping the fresh air would be able to help him relax. Especially as he was dealing with his own dilemma that had been prompted by an observation by Beast Boy.

The green changeling had made an offhand comment that Harry might be able to increase his power by absorbing the Grimm like he had the demonic powers of Silent Hill. Curious if that was true, Harry went out on his own one day to experiment, wanting the solitude in case something went wrong.

It had taken some trial and error, but he found that he could indeed absorb one of the creatures of darkness' energy as his own. The side effects, however… frightened him.

He'd immediately felt the darker emotions he'd worked so hard to hold back slip their chains. He slaughtered the next group of Grimm he came across horrifically, making sure that their ends were long and painful, torturing the monsters with a gleeful, demented smile on his face.

He was horrified by what he'd done once he regained control of himself. True, the Grimm were literally soulless monsters that existed solely for the destruction of any and every human and faunus on Remnant, but that didn't change his actions. It made him extremely glad he'd gone at it alone. He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened had he had one of his friends with him, especially one of the girls. Those fears increased after what he dreamt that night.

Lara screaming, trying to fight him off, rage and horror in her eyes. Alice, sobbing brokenly, pure despair and betrayal in every fiber of her being as she was vio-

Harry smacked the side of his head, trying to dislodge the memories of the dream he'd had, the remnants of his disgust with himself at the arousal they'd brought churning his stomach. He sighed tiredly, trying to slip into the meditative trance Raven had taught him, unable to manage it as the memories tormented him.

Before his thoughts could spiral further he heard a familiar voice nearby. "Aaah!" There was a thud, and the tinkle of breaking glass, followed by… "Oh no! Weiss is gonna kill me!"

Harry looked over to find the red cloaked form of Beacon's resident reaper, Ruby Rose, rubbing her head as she sat on the ground, broken vials of multicolored Dust on the ground around her. His lips quirked up slightly, the amusing sight lifting his spirits a bit.

As the fifteen year old sat dejectedly on the ground, looking at the broken vials, Harry got up and made his way over to her. "You okay, Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up at him, silver eyes blinking before she blushed as she realized that he'd seen what happened. "Oh, hi. You were with Uncle Qrow the other day, right?"

"Yep. Name's Harry Potter." He glanced at the mess. "Having trouble?"

Ruby pouted. "Yeah. I probably shouldn't have been rushing while carrying all of this…" She sighed, dejected. "I'm in so much trouble…"

Harry chuckled before giving his hand a slight wave. Immediately the broken vials reassembled themselves till they looked like brand new. Then another movement of his fingers had the Dust swirl back into their vials, the grains of each distinctive color going into their respective container in a well-organized fashion. Finally, the corks fastened themselves snugly once they had been filled, sealing them securely.

Ruby was wide eyed. "Wow. That was amazing! Are you related to Professor Goodwitch?"

Harry shook his head. "No. It's just something I can do." He held out his hand to help her up, which she gratefully took.

He could force her up against the tree and have his way with her right now. She didn't have her weapon on her, so couldn't fight him off, and a sound barrier would ensure he wouldn't be disturbed by people hearing her screams. It would be so eas-

Harry flinched as the thought went through his mind and he abruptly let go of her hand as she finished getting up, making her lose her balance slightly, almost falling again. "Wah!" She pinwheeled her arms to keep her balance before getting settling her feet. Then she looked at him, a pout on her face. "What was that for?"

Harry flinched and looked away. "Sorry…"

The look of adorable annoyance on Ruby's face melted into concern. "Are you okay? Did I do something?"

Harry shook his head vigorously. "No, no. I'm just… dealing with a side effect of my Semblance."

The girl cocked her head like a confused puppy. "Your Semblance…?" She scuffed her foot against the ground. "Umm, you wanna talk about it?"

Harry was surprised. "I don't want to bother you." He did his best to smile. "It's something I have to deal with." He moved back over to the tree and sat down against it, closing his eyes briefly.

Apparently that wasn't good enough for Ruby Rose, as she made her way over to him and sat down. "Well, you helped me out when you didn't have to. Let me return the favor, okay?"

Harry was silent for a bit, thinking, before sighing. "I have the ability to absorb energy to make myself more powerful."

"Really?" Ruby asked, perking up. "That sounds really useful. Is the boost permanent, or…?"

"Permanent, as far as I can tell." He said. "The problem is that, depending on the source, it affects my mind."

Now the red cloaked girl looked concerned again. "How do you mean?"

"I started out taking power from Grimm, killing them and adding their strength to mine." He said, obfuscating the truth slightly. "I didn't notice any difference at first." And he hadn't, at least when he was just passively absorbing Silent Hill's ambient demonic energy. "But after I took a lot of power from a very powerful group of Grimm, I realized that the power was affecting the way I thought." He sighed again as he let his head fall back to thunk against the tree's trunk. "When I fight now, I want to make my target suffer. When I argue with someone, I just want to beat my point into their skull." Another sigh. "When I see a pretty girl, my thoughts aren't… kind…"

Ruby looked up at him from where she was sitting. "So you flinched because you had a bad thought about me?" It took a second, but the penny seemed to drop, and her eyes promptly widened as she seemed to be trying to both pale and blush. "…Oh…"

Harry couldn't look at her. "Yeah… I don't want to hurt you, but that doesn't keep the urge to do it from tempting me."

Ruby bit her lip. The idea of what kinds of thoughts he might have about her scared her a bit, especially as she was now acutely aware she was weaponless, but he obviously didn't like the fact that he had them, and it made her want to help him. "Well, I think you're still a good person. You haven't acted on those feelings, after all. Sometimes I want to shave my sister's head when she annoys me, but I don't do it. I think that's what's most important."

Harry smiled softly. "Thanks, Miss Rose. My old teacher told me something similar. That doesn't keep me from worrying that I might lose my self-control if I ever have to absorb more negative energy, though."

"Have you tried meditation?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around her legs, knees near her chin. "My dad and uncle made Yang learn it to help deal with her temper." She looked slightly exasperated a moment later. "…Not that she actually does it…"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's one of the things my teacher taught me to help me keep control. The Flame and the Void, where I focus on the image of a flame and feed all my thoughts and emotions into it till I'm surrounded in an empty void where things can't affect me." He frowned. "It seems to become less effective the more power I gain, though…"

Ryuby hummed in thought. "Maybe… you need something more personalized?"

Harry turned his head to her, an eyebrow raised. "How do you mean?"

She shrugged slightly. "You know how in movies some characters have like, a chant, or a prayer, or something, that helps them focus? Like a powerful swordsman calling out his motto in an action movie to make his resolve stronger?"

Harry blinked. "You think I need something I can focus on that's more tailored to me?"

Ruby shrugged. "Well, I mean, it can't hurt, can it?"

Harry let out a thoughtful hum. "I… suppose not… I'll need to think of something that fits, though…" He turned to look at her with a smile. "Thanks, Miss Rose."

She smiled back before getting up, brushing the dirt off her skirt. "Happy to help. And call me Ruby, Mister Potter." She began picking up her vials to leave.

"Only if you call me Harry." He looked at her for a moment longer before speaking again. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Ruby."

Ruby paused, staring at him for a second, before she smiled again. "I'm terrified of what you could be, Harry." He flinched slightly, but she continued. "But who you are… that comforts me." She smiled wider at his look of surprise before she began walking away, vials jingling in her hands. "Bye!"

Harry watched her leave before smiling. "Bye…" He let out a breath as he looked back over the expanse of the forest. "Even after seeing her adventures… She's very wise." He closed his eyes, smile widening. "'A simple, more honest soul', right…?"

Lara knocked on the door to Beast Boy's room. She'd just gotten back from a fascinating conversation with Doctor Oobleck, Beacon's History teacher and resident archeologist. Now it was time to have some lunch, but Beast Boy hadn't come out of his room in a while, and that had her worried, as she hadn't known him to miss a meal. "Garfield? Are you in there?" Her brow furrowed when she heard a soft groan. Worry mounting, she opened the door and walked in, only for her eyes to widen at what she saw. "GARFIELD!" She cried, scrambling over to his prone form.

Beast Boy lay on the floor, eyes closed and looking pale. He had trails of blood leaking out of his mouth, nose, eyes and ears and he didn't respond at first when Lara shook him after checking his pulse.

"Garfield, what's wrong? What happened?" She shook him, growing more alarmed by the second, only to sigh slightly in relief when his eyes slowly opened. "Garfield?"

He let out another low groan as he slowly focused on her. "Lara…?"

"Oh thank god." She gasped, taking hold of his hand. "What happened? Did someone attack you?"

Beast Boy blinked slowly, still slightly insensate. "Strained myself too much trying to learn to use it…" He said slowly.

Lara's brow furrowed. "Learn to use what, Garfield?"

"Martian." He said, just as slowly but a bit more surely.

She blinked, remembering the form he'd used to get information from the Trinity agent that attacked her home. "You've used your martian form before, Garfield."

Beast Boy slowly sat up, Lara hastily helping him onto his bed, where he lay down again with a sigh of relief, eyes closed. When he next spoke he sounded almost normal. "I've never become a telepathic being before, Lara. Back then I couldn't control it at all. I could have easily gotten more from that guy than just 'Venice' if I'd known how. Instead I kept getting thoughts from the heads of everyone there, and I couldn't block it out or focus on anything specific." He cracked an eye open to look at her, a small grin on his lips. "You're a really big prude, by the way. Even Alice had more interesting fantasies rattling around her head."

Lara promptly gained an atomic red blush. "Garfield Mark Logan!" She practically shrieked in surprise and embarrassment.

He chuckled a bit before wincing. "Ow. Anyway… Beacon has a lot more people in the same amount of space than were around when we were at your place, especially thanks to the tournament. It overwhelmed me with noise. I'm guessing natural born martians learn to use their abilities slowly while around adults that can close off their minds, so they don't get an information overload. I don't have that advantage, so whenever I try to use it I'll take in everything from everyone around me till I manage to learn how to filter it."

Lara frowned before reaching down to pick Beast Boy up, said bow squawking in surprise. "Oh, be quiet." She said. "You need to go to the infirmary. I'm not taking any chances. The blood your leaking says you might have brain swelling or something similar."

Beast Boy humphed but didn't put up a further fight. He was quiet for a bit, ignoring the way the students were staring as he was carried around. Finally he spoke. "Are you going to tell the others?"

"They need to know." Lara said. "And new rule. You don't try that again without one of us present to keep an eye on you."

The changeling pouted before sighing when he saw his friend wasn't going to budge. "Fine, fine…"

Satisfied, Lara continued making her way to the infirmary.

Master Chief carefully worked on the weapon in front of him in Beacon's workshop, an open scroll propped up against the wall displaying Cortana's face as she watched him work from the device's camera.

"Hmm… Seems my calculation was slightly off. Try the quarter inch pin instead." Cortana said, prompting the Chief to obediently do so.

They we're trying to modify a mechashift weapon they obtained specifically for the purpose of experimentation into being able to fire the type of ammo the UNSC used rather than dust rounds. Theoretically it should be easy, but Remnant weapons were surprisingly intricate despite being quite robust.

Cortana sighed. "It's too bad we won't be able to use Dust rounds when we leave Remnant. Ammunition that burns, electrocutes or freezes the target would be a game changer back in UNSC space."

"Even if Dust worked outside of Remnant, I doubt a single planet would be able to supply enough to meet the demand it would create in the UNSC, no matter how eager Jacques Schnee would be to try." Chief said as his steady hands carefully replaced a few parts going by the plans Cortana had on a side of the screen.

"True, but I could see it being reserved for elite troops like SPARTANs." Cortana said. "I still find it hard to believe that a relatively advanced people like those on Remnant don't have any space presence at all, not even a single satellite. You'd think they'd have come up with an alternate fuel source to make up for the fact that Dust only works in Remnant's atmosphere."

"The blueprints you've provided for UNSC tech should change that." Chief assured her as he closed the rifle up again. "I think it's ready for a test fire." He said as he loaded in some standard UNSC ammunition.

Cortana eyed the weapon with a critical eye. "Seems so. I'm confident in my calculations, so it should work."

He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just admit you were wrong about the pin?"

The AI's eyes narrowed. "I'm a goddess among AIs, yes, but even I'm not perfect."

"Yes, your highness." The soldier said in deadpan, his eyebrow rising a bit higher before he made his way to the firing range, bringing the rifle up in a practiced motion. Taking a second to get used to the weight and grip, he promptly pulled the trigger, watching with satisfaction as the bullet was fired without any noticeable problem, hitting the bullseye at the far end of the range cleanly. "Test one is a success."

"Excellent…" Cortana smiled. "Now we need to check for any problems with the weapon after it fired."

The Chief switched the rifle to its melee form, a medium sized mace, and gave it a few swings, noting that there didn't seem to be any problem with it when swung. He moved to a test dummy and swung the mace at it a couple of times before looking it over, not finding any issues. Then he moved back to the table, getting ready to pull it back apart to check the individual components. "Everything seems to be working so far. This will quickly become standard issue once we submit the principles for the mechanisms to UNSC R&D for them to test your designs."

Cortana nodded. "Yeah, they'll be a big hit when we get back…" She said softly.

Chief continued like he hadn't noticed her go quiet at the end. "We'll obviously continue collecting anything on value as we travel with this team. I'm already considering this a salvage mission. It might take us a few years to get back, but the things we'll be taking back will be worth it. It'll also give you time to crack the secret to Metastability, so that you won't have to spend time in one of ONI's labs." He said blandly.

Cortana's head shot up as she stared at the Chief. "John, you…"

He turned to look at her with a serious look. "I'm not an idiot, Cortana. I know what returning will mean for you if we don't have the answer to what Harry did to you." He turned back to the weapon and began removing the outer casing. "Spending some time procuring new technology with Harry's team will give you time to figure it out while providing something to show for our time away. The Didact has been defeated, and the Halos are being decommissioned. While we could probably be of use, we aren't needed yet."

If she could, Cortana would have been crying right then. "I can't believe you'd do this for me, John…"

The Chief glanced at her. "It's not the first time I would have disobeyed orders for you." Then he refocused. "Now, let's go through this weapon. I don't see any damage to these parts. Do you?"

Cortana shook her gratitude to her friend off before focusing on the weapon. "I don't see anything. I'll need to do a better analysis with the armor's systems, but for now…"

The two continued working for a while longer, enjoying the relaxed time together.

Alice sat in the school cafeteria at breakfast, eating some oatmeal while trying to ignore the loud conversations of the many students filling the room as she read a psychology text on her scroll and made notes on a notebook she had beside it.

Before leaving the UNSC Infinity, Cortana, mostly as a test of her capabilities, had downloaded the entirety of the information stored on every computer of the ship. This included the files of the ship's doctor and on board psychologist. There were many reference texts among the data, and Cortana had graciously provided Alice access to them.

This was an enormous opportunity, as those texts were literally centuries ahead of her own time. So much new information had been discovered, so many myths debunked. It gave her insight she never would have been able to get otherwise. So she began to devour the books ravenously.

"Excuse me, do you mind if we sit here?" A familiar voice asked, and Alice looked up to find teams RWBY and JNPR standing around her, Weiss having been the one that had spoken. "Thanks to the students from the other academies, the cafeteria is very full."

Alice glanced around to find that she was right, the place was packed. It was honestly a surprise that nobody had approached her before this. She looked up at the white haired girl. "Of course, feel free. I'm simply studying, so as long as you're not too disruptive I do not mind. My name is Alice Liddel."

As the students sat down Yang looked over at her. "Whatcha studying? And which Academy are you with?"

Alice shook her head. "I'm not a student of any of the Huntsman Academies. I'm studying psychology and psychiatry."

Yang blinked. "Oh. No offense, but what are you doing here then?"

"You're one of Harry's friends, right?" Ruby asked after she consumed a strawberry.

Alice nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm a member of his team. You've met Harry, then?"

Ruby nodded, ignoring how her sister was scrutinizing her. "Yeah. He helped me out when I had a bit of an accident with some Dust vials yesterday. Are you his therapist?"

Alice shook her head. "No. Not yet, at least."

Jaune leaned forward to look at Ruby, ignoring the loud sounds of Nora devouring her pancakes next to him to unknowingly ask the question Alice wanted to. "Why do you think she's his therapist?"

"Did he do something?" Yang asked, looking tense and a bit angry.

"No!" Ruby held up her hands, trying to calm her overprotective sister. "We talked yesterday. He was dealing with the side effects of his semblance. He looked like he could use some help…"

Alice frowned before sighing. "That means he's been hiding his problems from us. I'll need to have a talk with him. That isn't something he should deal with on his own." She smiled at Ruby. "Thank you for trying to help, Miss Rose. I'll make sure to do something about this."

Ruby nodded. "Okay."

Pyrrha leaned forward, brushing some of her crimson hair away from her eyes as she looked at Alice. "So, if you're not a student, may I ask why you're here?"

Alice nodded amicably. "My friends and I are specialists when it comes to security and combat. After the Breach, Ozpin brought us in to help secure Beacon, improving the current security measures, just in case."

Ren was the next to speak. "Makes sense, though considering how many prospective Huntsmen there are here I'm a bit surprised he'd go through the expense."

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Alice said simply.

Weiss nodded. "True. It's the Headmaster's responsibility to ensure the student's safety. It doesn't matter if they can protect themselves, he'd still be negligent in his duties if he didn't." She looked satisfied with what she'd been told. "I'm glad he's being proactive."

"Are you looking forward to the tournament?" Ruby asked with a smile.

Alice nodded. "I am. It promises to be quite a spectacle."

"We've been training non-stop!" Nora burst in. "Team JNPR is going to sweep the entire tournament, just you wait!"

Yang slapped a hand on the table, the competitive spark burning in her eye. "I'm sorry? I think I didn't hear you right. You meant to say Team RWBY is going to win the entire thing, right?"

As the teens began to good naturedly bicker and egg each other on, Alice sighed, resigned to not being able to continue studying. She glanced over to see the only one of the teens that hadn't spoken, Blake, looking dejected as well, gazing mournfully at her book.

Shaking her head, Alice went back to her meal.

Beast Boy ran into the team's common room, bouncing with eagerness. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! It's starting soon! I want to get good seats!"

"Chill out, BB." Harry said with a chuckle as he put on his enchanted coat. "We've still got time before the fights start."

The changeling was practically vibrating in place. "I don't want to miss it. It's one thing to see the fights as an animated show. This is going to be so much more awesome!"

Lara finished lacing up her boot, smiling wryly. "We won't miss any of it, Garfield." She stood up. "We all ready?"

Alice stepped out of her room and nodded as the Chief slipped a knife into his boot, his weapon strapped his back. "Ready.

"Alright then." Harry began heading out the door, already able to hear the excited chatter of those heading out to see the tournament as well. "Let's go have some fun." The others fell into step behind him.

Hello all. Another chapter done, and with this I've reached thirty chapters for this fic. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it's been over a year and a half since I started it, so it's a not inconsiderable undertaking.

Anyway, this is another breather chapter. I thought up some more things I wanted to look in on after the last chapter, so I decided another one before we got back into the thick of things wouldn't hurt.

The part with Harry and Ruby was because several people have talked about wanting Harry to absorb the Grimm/Salem's powers, and it seemed to me like they didn't really consider the consequences of that, only the cool factor. Which is considerable, I admit. I wanted to show why Harry couldn't just wander into the middle of the Emerald Forest and absorb every single Grimm in there.

Don't worry, though. The next world will give Harry a major upgrade which I've laid the groundwork for here. *grin*

The other part I wanted to look in on was Beast Boy. I always intended for his martian transformation to have a downside. Otherwise he's just too OP with it. I just couldn't find any place to fit the scene till now. I know some people might feel it's a copout, but it makes sense to me, and it's necessary to the story.

Chief and Cortana… A lot of people have this impression of the Chief as a machine who'll follow orders no matter what, but he isn't. He does what he believes is best, and yeah, he's been indoctrinated into following orders since he was a kid, but he's been shown in the series and tie-in media to lie to superiors and disobey orders when he believes it's the right thing to do. His refusing to terminate Cortana in Halo 4 is just an example. So I wanted to show that he's willing to do what he can to help his friend.

And I wanted to show that Alice was still focused on becoming a shrink, and that her resources to do so have been enhanced thanks to Cortana. You've got to admit, medical books from the future are a game changer for anybody. I also wanted to introduce more of the RWBY cast, even if it's in a minor role for now.

Alright, I think that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed. Please review, and don't forget my Pat A Ron /athanmortis.

Till next time.