A quick foreword for those discovering this who aren't versed in Epic Battle Fantasy (likely most people who see it, given the rather small size of the EBF community compared to the RWBY crossover community). Epic Battle Fantasy is a turn based RPG series available on Steam, with 5 (the game with story is mostly based on) costing only $20, a quite nice pickup if you want some RPG fun filled with references to everything from Dragonforce to Fate/stay night.

I can't promise that I will always succeed, but I will be trying to explain a good number of EBF elements in this story, and if you need clarification on anything feel free to PM me and I shall do my best to respond promptly. With that out of the way, please enjoy...

A Battle Fantasy in Remnant

Chapter One
"We just got here and the wildlife already hates us!"

-]l[-

Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy glanced up from his cup of cocoa as his close friend and Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch strode into the room. She carried with her several sheets of paper, folders of documents, and the look of someone on a mission.

"Ozpin!" she called, and after making sure his attention was on her, slapped a folder of documents down onto the table, dislodging a number of pens. "We just had another group of applicants."

Ozpin let out a hum, as he picked up the folder and began to flip through it. "And what's special about these ones? You've only come to me for Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Arc before. You know I trust in your judgement."

"Not to deny students, apparently." Glynda muttered crossly. "The last four in the folder. They all applied together, and I felt that you would find them interesting."

Only a few pages into the folder, Ozpin skimmed through the next few dozen applicants before arriving at the four that Glynda pointed out. "Matt, Natalie, Lance, and Anna... interesting... no last names, and I can't think of any colors off the top of my head... Most interesting."

Glynda shook her head. "Well, yes. But I was more so referring to their lacking credentials and inability to write an entrance letter."

Ozpin glanced back to the sheets of paper, before chuckling at the transcripts.

Name: matt
Previous Schooling Experience: none
Age: 17
Letters of Recommendation: awhat now
Semblance: Natz says i dont have one of those
Weapons: swords

"See what I mean?" Glynda threw her hands into the air. "Mr. Matt can't even capitalize correctly, and we expect him to become a Huntsman? And just because his is the worst doesn't mean the others are that much better. The Natalie girl's is the best, and even she provides a nonexistent college as her previous schooling experience. Plus, one of them is even below the normal age of acceptance."

Quickly, Ozpin read over the other three to find that Glynda was correct. Before he looked back to Glynda to make a decision however, he first took a look at the pictures included with every application. After a moment of gazing, his eyes narrowed and he looked more closely at one of them. Finally, he looked back to Glynda, who immediately scoffed and threw her folder at him, an easy catch for the experienced Huntsman.

"Damnit, Ozpin. I know that look from Mr. Arc. Can we, for once, deny a student even if they 'look interesting' or have some kind of 'latent potential?'"

Ozpin stared at his friend, before his calm expression formed into a slight smile. "There's still initiation to go through anyways... I say we let them in. They look interesting."

Glynda let out a sigh before turning to leave. "It's on your head if one of them turns out to be a facist dictator."

"A risk I'll gladly take for such interesting new students."

-]l[-

"Oh look! Another blond swordsman... I wonder if its just fate for us swordsmen to be blond... Cmon Natz, it's always happening, in Final F*ntasy, X*noblade, everything!"

Jaune Arc had a scowl on his face as he heard the voices behind his back. He had finally managed to find his locker, thanks to the help of Ruby, and already he was getting made fun of—for being blond and having a sword of all things.

He waved Ruby and Yang on toward the cliff where Initiation was happening before he turned, ready to give a comeback to the gossipers. But, when they came into view he was forced to rethink his plan. Entering into the room were two older teens, one, a blond-haired boy wearing... was that a pirate outfit? And here Jaune thought his hoodie would be out of place. The second was an ginger-haired girl in a black dress, with various bows and amulets clipped onto it. In her hand she carried a black staff that was a good bit taller than herself.

Jaune forced himself to close his mouth and jerked his eyes away from the ginger's... sizeable assets in time to refocus on the conversation the two were having as they walked to the cliff for the Beacon initiation. Following them, both because they seemed to know where they were going, and also to eavesdrop, err, listen to their conversation.

"At least he has a shield, that's gotta be unique as a blond swordsman," Jaune caught the boy saying, stretching as he did so.

"I suppose that's true... hey, Matt. What's stopping you from getting a shield too? It would certainly keep you from getting hit so much."

The girl sounded much calmer than the boy, likely used to his antics, a feeling that Jaune knew well from living with his sisters. They had almost reached the cliffs now, and Jaune could see students lining up, including Ruby and her sister. Thankfully, there was still enough time before he got there for him to overhear the last of the conversation that he had been listening to.

"If I use a shield then my attacks won't be as strong. Plus, even if I get hit a lot I know that you'll always be able to patch me up!"

The girl, Natz, let out a sigh. "Even if I didn't patch you up, I doubt anything short of Godcat herself could keep you down."

"Damn right! It's a secret gene found in all blond swordsmen... un-put-down-able-ness!"

And for just a moment, despite the obvious insanity present in the two's conversation, Jaune took those words, and he remembered then. Perhaps these people weren't that bad after all.

And then Matt spoke again and Jaune lost all respect for him. "Say, Natz... Do you ever wonder where all the text boxes went?"

-]l[-

"I wonder what these launchpads are made of..." Lance mused, crouched on one of many metal rectangles sat within the ground. He was currently located at the site of Beacon's initiation, at the top of a cliff overlooking 'The Emerald Forest.'

"Nothing I'm letting you steal. Besides, we should be paying attention to the professor right now, I'm sure he's giving some good advice on how initiation works." Anna, one of Lance's closest friends, was the one who spoke. She stood to his side on another of the launchpads.

Lance gave a hum of agreement and turned his attention to the speaker. Natalie might've given a name to the face that morning, but that had been at least thirty minutes ago and, well, if it wasn't guns or bombs Lance had no reason to remember it.

"—That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Lance tuned out the shriek of a nearby girl before turning to Anna. "What say you, hunting buddy? Want to become, Huntsmen buddies?"

Anna let out an aggrieved sigh, a sound that Lance was very used to from their time working together, before agreeing.

"—make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

A slightly manic grin appeared on Lance's face at the words. "Oh, I like this guy."

Immediately he began thinking of what tools he could use, which guns, and so on. The headmaster might still've been talking, but Lance trusted Anna to recognize when he was lost in thought, and remember any important parts of the speech.

He finished planning just in time to hear all of the other students preparing for the launch, and in preparation he took the Nitro Bomber XL from his back, swinging it around to a ready position. With a grin to Anna, he was sent flying into the air, the powerful springs of the launchpad sending him soaring.

Within a few seconds, the sky was filled with prospective students, and Lance was able to see them all performing various feats of agility to slow their decent toward the forest below. Well, most of them were doing that, at least. Some just seemed to want to fly as far as possible.

Taking stock of his mid-air surroundings, Lance identified Anna's figure, flying somewhat parallel to him, and he spun in the air, pointing the Nitro Bomber at an angle that, if he did his 'math' right, should send him right to Anna.

An ear-splitting boom erupted from the cannon as it sent a blast of explosive energy flying toward the forest floor, and the recoil of the shot sent Lance himself spinning through the air, hopefully in the direction of Anna.

If the hand that had just snatched the neckline of his jacket was any indication, it had worked.

Immediately they began falling faster, Lance's momentum having canceled out most of Anna's own, and the forest floor began approaching rapidly.

"Hold on," Lance's soon-to-be partner yelled over the roar of the wind. A moment later a soothing note was played from her ocarina, and the winds around the pair picked up, the two were soaring along, the wind supporting their magically lightened bodies.

After just a few moments of flying in that manner, the wind lessened, and the pair dropped a dozen feet to the forest floor. Hauling himself to his feet, Lance glanced at Anna, their eyes meeting, before he reached into a pocket of his jacket and withdrew a compass. Glancing at it for a moment, he pointed through the forest.

"That's north, so to the northern end we go, I suppose. I wonder what kind of animals live here to get the headmaster to tell us to fight or die?"

"Probably nothing, so don't expect me to just let you kill everything we come across."

"Aww, but the headmaster said to!"

"I don't care! They're probably just some nice bunnies."

-]l[-

"On second thought, the headmaster was correct, and they are not just some nice bunnies."

"And to think you and Natz have problems with me nuking things. This is the perfect example of why we shouldn't let the wildlife grow too strong!"

"Calling this wildlife is a disgrace to wildlife the world over. Clearly its some mutation brought upon by rampant militarization. Duck!"

"Thanks... And even when I was in command I never messed with bio-warfare. I know when to be nice to the planet."

"We both know that's not true. You literally carry poison gas in your 'hammerspace.'"

"Sigh. I suppose you're right. Well, as the resident nature expert here, do you have any idea why wolves suddenly turned black and got bone armor?"

"Nope! Also did you just verbalize a sigh? You know that the rules have changed and you don't have to do that anymore, right?"

"Habit."

"Suuuure. Then as the resident murder-expert here, you got any suggestions on how to kill our doggy friends faster?"

"A few. Stand back."

A deafening barrage of sound filled the clearing as bullets sprayed through the lupine Grimm, killing them near-instantly. A moment after it began, the hail of metal stopped, and the area was clear of the bone-clad menaces.

"I see your tank is here too."

"Neon Valkyrie is a miracle of technology! You think I would leave her behind just because we got sucked into another world? My entire arsenal is here, in fact!"

"I worry for this world."

"Only the nature-y parts, I'm sure. Now, the northern end of the forest shouldn't be too much further. Let us proceed."

-]l[-

"I wonder how NoLegs is doing?" Matt spun Heaven's Gate in one hand before slicing it through a Beowolf's neck. "I mean, he must be bored back at the school with no adventures to go on and no foes to defeat."

By his side, his girlfriend Natalie brought a fireball into existence before sending it flying at a group of Ursai that had grouped too close together, turning them to charcoal. She paused her casting, taking a moment to think about Matt's question.

"I'm sure he's doing fine. Are you more worried about him then Anna and Lance?"

"Pssh, they'll be fine. It's NoLegs' entertainment I'm truly worried about." And with that, Matt flung his sword spiralling through the last few Grimm, catching it easily as it flew back to him.

Their one-sided stomp finished, the pair began to journey to the north. After a few minutes of walking through underbrush and decimating the occasional Grimm, they arrived at their destination, a ruined stone temple, overgrown with vines and filled with chess pieces resting on pedestals.

"I think we should take one of each just to be safe," Matt proclaimed, leaning on his sword as he and Natz discussed which piece to take.

"No! It's obvious that it's supposed to be one each. What if by taking others we ruined someone's chance to get into the academy?"

"Well, if they don't get one, then its their own fault. They should've been faster." Indeed, Matt and Natalie were the first team to reach the temple, and thusly had the first pick of the items found there.

Eventually, they settled on taking a Black Queen, and had just retrieved it in time to see another pair of prospective students jog into the clearing.

"Aww, we're not first!"

The speaker was a girl with waist-length blond hair, a leather jacket, shorts, and a pair of gauntlets that had just discharged a shell into the air. By her side was another girl, this one black-haired, wearing black and white clothes and a bow tied to her hair.

"It wasn't a race," the bow-girl murmured, walking over to the relics and selecting one for her and her partner.

The blond seemed slightly disappointed at her lack of energy, but put a grin on her face anyways. "We'll make a thrillseeker of you eventually, Blake." She turned to Matt and Natalie and spoke again. "I'm Yang, this is my partner Blake. Howbout' you, handsome?"

"Natalie," the redhead took the lead in the conversation. "And this is my partner, Matt."

Noting the emphasis, Yang took a step back and held her hands up. "Easy there, I'm not looking to mess with anything. Say, have either of you seen my sister? Bout this tall, black hair, carries a scythe, wears a cloak?"

When everyone present shook their heads, Yang let out a sigh. "Well, I hope she's doing alright."

A moment later, Matt flipped his sword in hand and pointed it into the sky to where a girl in red hung onto the feathers of a giant Grimm raven for dear life just feet away from a second huntress in white. "Is that her?"

"Yep. Five Lien that ice-queen is her partner?" When nobody responded, Yang glanced back up to see what everyone was paying so much attention to and was just in time to see Ruby lose her grip.

A quiet yell began, slowly growing louder as Ruby started falling toward the ground. Right when Ruby was about to hit the ground, a burst of wind erupted, catching her in her fall and settling her onto the ground.

"Thaaaaaanks!" Ruby shouted, looking around for her savior.

"No problem," came the response as another pair of students stepped out of the trees. Matt recognized them, having saved the world multiple times alongside them. Anna, the (sometimes overly-) nature-loving archer, and Lance, a gun-loving lunatic. Together with Matt and Natalie (and NoLegs!) they made up the Epic Battle Fantasy team.

Currently, Anna was dressed in a red dress. She had a small blue elephant on her head, and carried with here a bottle-covered bow, and an ocarina. Behind her came Lance, dressed in his usual black military clothes, cap included. Slung on his back was a large cannon, and holstered at his side was a smaller—though still sizeable—pistol.

"Ohmygod, is that a tiny elephant!? Can I touch it?" Ruby was immediately by Anna's side, barely keeping a few feet of personal space between them as she questioned the green-haired girl on the choice of headgear.

Anna was overwhelmed by the girl's attention, and gave in quite quickly. "Uh, sure, go ahead."

While Ruby was fawning over Anna's elephant, another team arrived, seemingly having ridden to the temple on an Ursa. After it inevitably collapsed in death, its riders—a pink-haired girl and a black-haired boy—both joined the greater group. They introduced themselves as Nora and Ren, and retrieved a relic as they did so.

"She's falling," Blake quietly commented, bringing the attention of the group back to the sky where, indeed, Ruby's partner had lost her grip and was falling toward the ground. Anna retrieved her Ocarina and was preparinged to summon another burst of wind to slow her fall, when two more figures came soaring through the air,—one a red-haired girl with a sword and a shield, and the other a blond-haired boy, also with a sword and shield. Matt recognized the boy as the one he had commented on earlier that day.

All three flying students collided with each other, ending up in a heap beneath one of the many trees in the area, causing the standing students to give a simultaneous wince at the landing. Then there was the crack of wood breaking, and a tree was uprooted and flung toward the pile of students from somewhere in the treeline.

Matt heard the blast of gunfire, and a micro-second later Ruby flew in front of him, crossing the land between the two groups of students in the blink of eye and coming to rest right in the path of the log, scythe already spinning to slice the wood apart.

"You alright, Jaune?" Ruby asked the blond-haired boy she was defending, stabbing the scythe into the ground and aiming down the sniper sights for any targets within the forest.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks," Jaune muttered, rising to his feet and offering to help Pyrrha and Weiss up, an offer that was only accepted by his partner. "We—that is Pyrrha and I—accidentially awoke a pair of Death Stalkers from the cave where they were staying. They've been following us all the way here."

"Gotcha," Ruby nodded to her friend, before spinning her scythe and launching off toward the woods, right in time for the trees to explode into the clearing as the two Death Stalkers arrived. Firing once more to launch herself into the air, Ruby spun through the air, scythe prepared to slice through the Grimm.

Unfortunately for her it was not to be. The other Death Stalker imposed itself into the line of her attack and caught the scythe blade with its stinger, sending Ruby flying into the ground.

Matt caught the eye of Ruby's sister as she herself began moving to protect her sister, and within moments the two blonds were both standing in front of Ruby, their weapons readied.

At an unspoken command, they both rushed forward, engaging their respective Death Stalkers in combat. Matt danced around its strikes and stabbed at weak points, while Yang just pummeled on the thing, taking hits like there was no tomorrow. Such an enemy was no real challenge against the swordsman who, just a few months previous, had saved the world.

Within just a few seconds, Matt finished his own Death Stalker, impaling it with a blade of rock from beneath, stabbing it through its vulnerable underbelly, and he was able to turn to help Yang. Meanwhile Ruby had set up her sniper rifle once again and was taking pot shots at the scorpion Grimm.

Once that was dealt with, the trio turned back to the rest of the group to find that they were engaged in a battle against a swarm of Ursai and Beowolves. Jaune and Pyrrha were back to back against a circle of Beowolves, the redhead seemingly tutoring Jaune mid-battle. Nora was in the thick of things, swinging her giant hammer like a vengeful war goddess, while Ren stood back and used his twin guns to take advantage of the openings she made.

Beside Ren stood Lance, taking calculated shots with his hand cannon, firing off between two and six shots every couple of seconds. Anna and Natalie were taking shots with their own various types of magic, Weiss (as Ruby's partner had introduced herself) was freezing Grimm, and Blake was nowhere that Matt could see, hidden like a ninja.

The tide of battle was already in the favour of the students, but once Matt, Yang, and Ruby finished their Grimm they were able to join and turn it from a one-sided battle to a rout. It was after the last of the Grimm was dissolving that Jaune let out a slight squeak and pointed a finger to the sky. "I-I was hoping that we'd seen the last of that one." In the sky above the group was the giant bird Grimm, the Nevermore.

Yang's eyes erupted, going from a calm lilac to a burning red, and she yelled, "HOW MANY MORE GRIMM ARE THERE!? CAN I JUST ASK MY SISTER HOW HER DAY'S BEEN?!" It was clear to everyone present that she was about to explode, when Natalie stepped up and patted Yang on the shoulder.

"It's fine, I've got this one."

The redheaded magician raised her staff toward the Nevermore and focused her eyes slightly, before flicking the head of the staff downward slightly. A burst of energy emanated from the girl, but nothing seemed to happen. Ruby was about to ask, but Natalie raised one finger to request a moment, and then it happened.

In the sky right below the Nevermore an elaborate magical circle appeared, filled with concentric circles and intersecting points. It spun rapidly, and then a moment later the sky where the Nevermore had been was filled with a massive glowing white beam of energy, erasing the Nevermore from existence and leaving nothing, not even feathers behind.

When Weiss turned to look at Natalie after the attack, she seemed shocked that the mage didn't even look winded, but instead looked good as new, as if she had regained energy from the attack.

"W-what the hell was that?"

Natalie smiled, giving a peace sign with two fingers. "Magic!" And then she turned to the group and smiled like nothing had happened. "Alright! Let's grab our relics and get to the cliff!"

-]l[-

High above the students, and on the cliff where they were supposed to head, stood Headmaster Ozpin and his Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch. One of them had a well-earned smirk of satisfaction, the other a flabbergasted expression.

"I told you they would be interesting."

-]l[-

Real quick, the cover art is shamelessly stolen from the EBF5 Grand Gallery, and is 'Jump Into Battle' by Abaresque.

Well, this is something new for me. Epic Battle Fantasy 5, a game I only just beat a few days ago (34 hours playtime) and RWBY, a show I watched on release for the first three seasons, and then dropped halfway through S4 and haven't watched since. This is gonna go amazingly, I'm sure.

I'll be taking some liberties with the exact effects of some EBF5 spells and weapons. For example, if Anna can make a 'hurricane' and 'tempest' then I suspect she can make more gusty winds. Additionally, the 'light' status effect, presumably makes people lighter. I'll be changing things like that.

Additionally, the EBF team I've taken here are all level 36, and have beaten the final boss. They are endgame characters, and will be powerful as such. That said, a lot of their power is in Hax and attack potency, and less in durability, so I'm uncertain how they will scale to the RWBYverse.

RWBY-wise, it's been a couple years since I've seen the show, but I'll be doing my best to rewatch and get caught up on it while I write this. Until then, I hope my characterization is close enough to work for all of you RWBY fans.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in review or PM, and besides that, I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! No guarantees on when the next one comes out though.

Fav/Follow if you enjoyed, and please leave a review, each one motivates me to write more!

Til next time.
-Berix