A Battle Fantasy in Remnant

Chapter Two
"Of course it's magic, what else would it be?"

-]l[-

The holoscreen behind Ozpin began changing once more, the pictures of team RWBY disappearing, and in their place the pictures of Matt, Natalie, Lance, and Anna appeared, sliding into line. Letters appeared under their names and began sliding into a list.

Ozpin stood calmly on stage and watched as the four made their way to the stage. "And finally… Matt, Anna. Lance, and Natalie. The four of you retrieved the Black Queen pieces. From this day forward you shall be known as Team Marlin... led by Matt!" On the screen, the letters formed the acronym MALN.

The assembled crowd cheered politely at the announcement of the last team, and soon spread apart to head off to their respective rooms. Ozpin gestured to the four newest teams to stay for a moment, and after the amphitheater had cleared of spectators he spoke once more. "All of you have been assigned dorms in building B-1, and details have been transferred to your Scrolls, along with information on the class schedule, facilities, maps, and mealtimes." He paused, glancing at team MALN for a moment. "For those of you without Scrolls, I recommend heading to the Student Supplies office located on the second floor and speaking with Professor Greene about getting those. Best get on your way. Potential Huntsmen and Huntresses like yourselves need sleep."

The teams immediately separated, most heading toward the doors that led outside, while Natalie dragged Anna and Matt toward the stairwell, Lance following behind at a slower speed. Just as they were about to start climbing, Ozpin called out to them. "Oh, and if you wouldn't mind meeting me in my office after getting your Scrolls, I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

Matt turned, climbing the stairs backward and shouted back, "Sure, old man. Whatever ya need."

Rolling his eyes, Ozpin turned and made his own exit from the room. "Hmph, so impolite." His cane, The Long Memory, tapped softly against the carpeted floor of the room and his free hand soon snagged his cup from where he had left it at the entrance to the amphitheater.

He walked slowly through the halls, sipping his cocoa, and thinking of his newest batch of students. Only time would tell if they were the ones that he had been looking for, but so far his expectations had not only been met, they had been exceeded. Miss Rose with her exceptional battle skills and silver eyes, Mister Arc with his remarkable learning ability and tactics, and of course, Miss Natalie with what she claimed to be magic.

And if it was, then there were new players on the field.

Soon, Ozpin reached his office, situated above the CCT and at the highest accessible point within Beacon. It was a simple room, a medium-sized circular area with a plain desk sat in the back. The walls of the room were filled with gears, except for the doors to the elevator and Ozpin's sleeping chambers. However, the most noticeable point in the room was undoubtedly the ceiling. Partially open to the sky and rising into a turret, the entire thing was filled to the brim with gears of all sizes and shapes, all spinning as they produced a calming ticking sound.

Ozpin strode through the elevator doors and took a seat in his chair, lacing his fingers together as he did so. It would still be a few minutes until MALN arrived, and he intended to make the most of it. A moment later Ozpin's head hit the back of his chair, and a slow exhale of air was heard throughout the room.

-]l[-

Matt led the way inside the Requisition Office, a small, square, plain room lined with shelves covered in every item that a student could need. At a counter in the middle of the room sat a brown-haired woman dressed smartly in slacks and a button up shirt. She glanced up at the newcomers, taking her eyes off a magazine she was reading, and spoke to them before returning to her reading.

"What'll it be?" Matt heard her ask, but was too busy to respond, busy inching his way toward the shelves lining the room.

At the silence that met her question, she looked up again, this time taking in the four students. "Ah, so you're the ones Oz mentioned. Hey! Stop that, Blondie!"

Matt jerked his hand away from a jar of Dust, and spun around, giving a bright grin to the professor. "Stop what? I wasn't stealing anything."

She responded with a disbelieving stare, and after a moment, Natalie stepped in, dragging Matt back to the group and apologizing to the professor. "Sorry, Matt still isn't used to the whole 'not stealing things' thing, you'll have to forgive him."

"Uh huh… well I'll be needing you to keep an eye on him then. Theft is looked down on, and it's my job as Head of Security to keep everyone in line. Now, what did you need from the office?"

"Ah… I forgot. Lance, what was it again?"

The boy being questioned reached into a jacket pocket to remove a small notebook, upon which Matt could see various scribbles and also the word 'SCROLLS' scrawled in all capital letters. "Ozpin wanted us to get Scrolls so that we'd be able to get inside our rooms… though I'm sure we could find easier ways inside that don't involve invasive technology that's obviously used to spy on us—ouch! Anna, I was only speaking the truth, no need to hit me!"

The professor let out a sigh, and rolled her eyes at the party's antics before rising from her desk and striding over to a cabinet set against the back wall. Matt stopped paying attention a few seconds later, as she began inputting a password, and instead browsed the rest of the supplies within the room, making a mental note for later.

"Here you go," Matt heard the professor say, before the whooshing of an object flying through the air caught his attention and he whipped his sword off his back and through the air to stop whatever vicious attack she was planning against him and his team. A moment later, his Scroll fell to the ground, sliced in two and sparking slightly.

Matt blushed, "Oops, I hope I don't need that…"

An even longer sigh came from the professor this time, and after she rubbed her forehead for a moment she reassured the blonde. "As long as one of your teammates is with you, and or willing to lend you their Scroll, you will still be able to get into your room… You will need something for combat class though… take this, and don't break it this time."

She waited for Matt to be looking at her before throwing the object, and he was careful to catch it with his hands, not his blade. Taking a look, it was small and shaped like a watch, and so he clasped it onto his wrist. A quiet beep later, and a small green light appeared on it.

"Good, it works," the professor muttered, before speaking up. "Now get out of my shop before you break anything else."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lance and Matt chorused, before the team left the room, headed off for…

"Lance, where are we headed next?"

"The headmaster's office."

"And where is that?"

"..."

"Ah, good to know."

-]l[-

A small alarm sounded from Ozpin's desk, bringing him awake, and he calmly leaned forward, retrieving his cup of cocoa from his desk and taking a quick sip to settle his nerves. That alarm was set to sound whenever the elevator leading to his office began moving. It was something that he had set when Glynda first caught him napping on the job and threatened to remove the cocoa packets from his desk.

A few seconds later and Ozpin was leaning forward, fingers laced, and elbows rested on his desk when the door to his office slid open, allowing Matt and his team entrance.

"You wanted to see us?" Matt questioned the headmaster, as his team spread out to stand in a line.

"Yes… Did you know that Glynda didn't want to let you into the school?"

Ozpin could see Matt's surprise at the change in subject. "The blonde lady who keeps glaring at me?"

Ozpin chucked. "Yes, she's the one. I told her that I would let you in because you were interesting to me. She didn't take kindly to that reasoning."

"Interesting?"

"Yes. And I like to think that you proved me right during the initiation."

A happy grin blossomed on Matt's face, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, Natz did show off a bit."

Ozpin remembered just what he had seen of Natalie's utter destruction of the Nevermore, both with his own eye and from the surveillance cameras set up in the woods.

"Yes. A bit," he replied, voice dry. "That actually brings us to why I asked you to come here. Natalie, could I ask you a question?"

The girl in question stepped forward, clasping her hands together. "Of course, Headmaster."

"Wonderful. Then, that ability you used to defeat the Nevermore, may I ask what it was?" Ozpin kept a careful gaze on the girl he was addressing, as well as the rest of her team, watching for any reaction to his question.

A reaction he wasn't prepared for was Natalie flashing a grin and giving a peace sign with her hand while exclaiming, "It's magic, just like I said!"

Always a skeptic, Ozpin asked for more. "Do you mean a Semblance?"

"Mmm, nah. Don't have one of those."

Interesting. "And it's not Aura either?"

This time Lance stepped forward. "Nope. We're not from around here and don't have either of those. When Natalie says that it's magic, it's magic."

Most remarkable, Ozpin thought, and then after realizing his students were waiting for him, repeated out loud. "Would you mind telling me how you came to possess this magic?"

Natalie thought for a moment, exchanging a quiet conversation with her team before shrugging and returning her attention to Ozpin. "I've always had the capability, most everyone from where we're from can do magic, most just choose not to, or never had a teacher." She paused. "...Basically I found a teacher in my university who was willing to teach me, and I learned. Since then I've been practicing with my team."

"Remarkable. I wasn't aware of any such land in Remnant." Ozpin mused aloud.

"Oh, that's cause we're not from Remnant," Matt blurted out, flinching slightly as he was smacked on the head by Natalie.

Ozpin gave himself a moment to file away that information before nodding and speaking once again.

"I see… If you four don't mind, could I ask one final question to affirm my decision to allow you into my school?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you. The question I ask is this: do any of you hold any harmful intentions to my students or the people of Remnant?"

Immediately he was met with an unanimous response of 'no', before Natalie spoke over her team. "While Matt may steal things, Lance wants to put guns into orbit, and Anna has a bad habit of being too nice, none of my friends would ever hurt someone who didn't deserve it, and as best as we can tell, no one here does."

Ozpin was grateful for the answer and said as much. "Then I shall trust your judgement. Thank you for speaking with me. Now, it's getting late, and I don't believe you have unpacked yet. Might I recommend heading to your rooms now?"

Lance let out a yawn, not bothering to cover it, and nodded to Ozpin. "Ahhh, that sounds great, I can finally unpack my grenades."

And with that slightly concerning line, Ozpin's most mysterious students left his office, leaving the green-haired headmaster to slump back against his chair. Retrieving his cup, he took a small sip, grimacing at the cooled drink, before replacing it on his desk.

"All things considered, that could have gone much worse… I should probably tell Glynda about them not having Aura for her combat class… Though it would be more entertaining if I didn't."

With a chuckle, Ozpin stood, and took the back door from the office, heading to his private chambers to sleep. Today had been a long and stressful day, and some rest would be important before the first day of school tomorrow.

-]l[-

The morning dawned bright, a clear sky dominating the window of team MALN, as the four heroes awoke from their nighttime rest. A yawn came from the youngest member of the group, as Anna, the first to fully awake, rolled out of her bed and collapsed onto the floor, sheets tangled around her, and eyes spinning from the bump to her head.

The noise brought her partner, Lance, out of his own slumber. Reaching under his pillow, the black-haired boy retrieved a grenade which he threw at Anna (pin still in, importantly), jerking her out of her stunned state and getting her to rise to her feet and head off to the rooms' connected bathroom to shower.

While the green-haired archer got dressed, Lance took a moment to check on the other two members of team MALN, and was unsurprised to see Matt still sleeping, though Natalie still being in bed was an odd sign, as she was usually the most on time of the whole group.

Stepping across the room, Lance gently shook Natz' shoulder to bring her to wakefulness. When, after a few moments, she didn't wake, Lance grumbled in dissatisfaction and moved on to Matt with a solid whack to the head.

"Oi, Matt. Nat isn't waking up, any idea why?"

The blonde being questioned let out a great yawn, before rising to a sitting position on his bed. "Oh yeah… we, uh, talked about this last night. You know how Natz was in university before she joined the party, right?"

"Mmm, that was before I kidnapped her… yeah I vaguely knew that, she doesn't talk about it too much though. What does it have to do with her sleeping in?"

Matt rubbed the back of his neck, an increasingly common display from him. "Well you see, when she was in university, she barely slept, her classes kept her busy, so when she realized that we were headed to university again, she wanted to get as much sleep as possible before having to go to class."

"Makes sense."

Both boys turned to see Anna exit the bathroom, student attire donned, and quiver and bow strapped to her back. Noticing the stares she was getting, she shrugged. "What? No reason to go defenseless."

"No… it isn't that," Matt denied. "It's just odd to see you in something so uniform."

"Mmm. Well you two have to wear it too, better get to it while I wake up Natz."

"Wait, you mean I have to wear a uniform!?" Lance shouted in dismay. "I was always the one to set the uniform, not to be forced into it... "

"Deal."

With a dejected sigh from Lance, the boys headed to the bathroom to change into their own uniforms, leaving Anna with the unenviable task of waking Natalie. As she did, she heard from down the hall the sound of a whistle, followed closely by the scream of a girl around her age.

"Sounds like the other teams are having a real fun time waking up… At least there's WiFi here so Natz can't complain about that."

An affirming meow came from the final member of team MALN, NoLegs, the mascot and battle-cat of the group. The team had retrieved him from Matt's locker on their way back to their rooms the night previous, and he had already settled in.

"I'm glad you understand my pain, NoLegs."

-]l[-

First class of the day, Grimm Studies. As a self-proclaimed Grimm killing prodigy, Ruby was very excited for this class and the advice it would surely give her to improve her Grimm killing methods. She just couldn't wait to see what Beacon Academy, the Beacon Academy had set up for their teaching methods, oh, whoever was teaching this must be the bestest and smartest Hunter to ever raise a gun, if they were given the position of teaching Grimm Studies at the most prestigious academy in Remnant!

"Monsters! Deeeeeeeemons. Prowlers of the night-"

Aaaaaand nevermind. Paying-attention-Ruby was gone, replaced with falling-asleep-Ruby. Goodbye cruel world, for it could only be the cruelest of worlds to provide Beacon with such a teacher as Professor Port.

Eh, this class couldn't be too important.

"Ha-haaaaa!" Ruby was jerked from her nap by the professor, awfully rudely, shouting the class into awakeness. Didn't he know that they're trying to sleep?

"And you shall too-" shall too what? What would she 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..."

Oh, did that man just flirt with her sister? He was gonna get it! Yang deserved someone good, not some boring teacher…

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

While Ruby was thinking of her growing dislike for the man, a couple students behind her cheered at the speech, including one voice she recognized as the blonde who fought alongside Yang against the Death Stalkers. Seriously? They actually buy this?

"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..."

Oh god why did he have to tell a story... Ruby immediately lost attention, only catching snippets of the story as she began to sketch on her notepad. First, a body—a large circle took over the center of the paper, quickly followed by the designs of the professor's suit. Stick figure arms, and single lines for legs that went into simple boots followed, before it was completed with a circle head and detailed hairline. Ruby had just finished drawing in stench lines emanating from the professor and was about to write down a title for her drawing when a hand reached from the desk behind her, stopping her from finishing the drawing.

Turning, Ruby saw the same girl who had caught her yesterday, one of the members of team MALN, elephant once-again attached to her green hair. "Hey, uh, Ruby was it?" the girl asked. "Uh, I wouldn't recommend badmouthing our professors so early on… like I get the urge, believe me I've wanted to say such things about people before, but you might get an impression that's not actually what they're like… Look. What I'm trying to say is this: don't judge people too early…" The speaker chuckled slightly, pulling back. "I hope that got through, my friends usually think I'm an airhead for reasons I'm sure have nothing to do with my plant obsession…"

Ruby thought about it for a moment. "No, I get it. If I judge a book by its cover, I might miss out on some amazing story. That's smart, I guess. Thanks for the advice!"

"Of course. By the way, my name's Anna." The girl tossed a glance to the professor before returning to Ruby. "Oh, and you might want to start paying attention again soon, the story is almost over."

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

-]l[-

"Hmm… Now that didn't seem to go very well."

Ruby spun around, startled. Her teammate Weiss had just walked away from their conversation after saying that she shouldn't be leader, and now Headmaster Ozpin had snuck up on her? Well, if Ozpin was here, then there was a question she wanted to ask him.

"Is she right?" Ruby choked out. "Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin chuckled slightly. "That remains to be seen."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's only been one day. Ruby… I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?"

Ozpin paused, letting Ruby take in his words. "Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?"

"But how can you know that I'm the right leader for this team? Yang is stronger, Weiss is smarter, and Blake is calmer. Wouldn't any one of them have been a better leader?"

Ozpin took a sip from his cup, considering her words. "In all my time on Remnant I like to think that I've gained some ability to read people, and see the potential in them. None of the leaders in your year were chosen for the same reason. For you, your skill and openness to learning helped solidify your position, since I knew that if you had a shortcoming, I could trust you to overcome it with your incredible determination."

Ruby nodded, eagerly taking in his words. "And Jaune, Cardin, Matt? What about them?"

Ozpin chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Your friend Jaune was chosen for his latent potential, incredible tactical mind, and ability to make friends. Within this school, Jaune has the most ability to become a leader of something more than a Huntsman team. Mr. Winchester…" Ozpin trailed off, giving Ruby a moment to digest the new information about her first friend.

After another dozen seconds of waiting, Ozpin resumed his speech. "Mr. Winchester is a case where I'm certain he will grow up to be a powerful and trustworthy ally, who, while you may not agree with him or call him friend, you will always be able to trust him to stand beside you when needed… Even if he may not seem that way right now, I have a strong feeling that he shall grow up when needed."

"I see…"

"And lastly, Matt. His reasons for coming to Beacon are his own, but his team has been together for much longer than any other Beacon team, and all share very different personalities, proving Matt's capabilities as a leader and friend. I suspect that he and his team shall bring many surprises during their time at Beacon. I hope I've helped assuage your fears about being made leader, and perhaps given you something to think about."

"Thank you, Headmaster. You've definitely helped." Ruby gave him a smile, before the pair split up and headed their separate ways. Ruby had barely made it around the corner before she bumped into the girl who had advised her during class, Anna.

"He's right, you know? It has only been one day," Anna spoke, patting Ruby on the back.

"And I get that, but it just seems like I was chosen to be leader for other reasons than he gave… I'm the youngest in Beacon ever, but it just feels like preferential treatment since everyone is so much better than me."

"Nah girl, you gotta have confidence in yourself. I'm the youngest member of my team, and while I'm not the leader, I am plenty strong. But I wasn't at the beginning of our journey. When I joined them I was honestly a bit scared of each of them because they were just so much stronger than me, but they still trusted me to watch their backs, and because of that I was able to grow super strong, just like them."

Anna blushed, "I'm rambling again, aren't I. Well, just try your best to be a leader, perfection isn't required, or expected, so to just try your best and always work to improve when you need it is all that someone can ask of you."

Suddenly, Anna was pulled into a hug, letting out a squeal at the sudden contact. Ruby, arms wrapped around the very slightly older girl, spoke. "Thanks for the pick-me-up, and the help in class. Weiss would've been even more angry if I had shown her the picture, I bet."

"Probably. And I'll help you anytime, gotta pass it along, y'know!"

"Then uh, how do you study?"

"'How do I study?' Lots of coffee, late at night."

"That can't be healthy… my sister says that I shouldn't drink coffee."

"Exactly! That's why you shouldn't study!"

-]l[-

Well. Blake, Weiss, and Yang got even less screen time this chapter (And did I even mention JNPR?), but it was also a mostly Ruby & Anna focused chapter. I have plans for the two of them… or maybe I don't, and I'm just winging everything. I did my best to skim over the more boring (imo) parts of the chapter, so you can just assume that nothing really changed in those sections, and I expanded a bit upon Ozpin's speech to Ruby about team leadership.

Anyways, this entire chapter consisted of a ton of dialogue. Chapter one was Initiation, all 4ish episodes of it, this chapter was Badge and the Burden (ft. stolen dialogue), and the next chapter will probably be Jaundice+Forever Fall, ft. Jaune, maybe-NPR, and probably Matt.

I hope you guys enjoyed this long, dialogue-filled, filler chapter, and next chapter we should probably get a bit more action. While writing this chapter it felt a bit weaker, and like I was just retreading scenes w/ minor changes in dialogue, but I suppose I'll see how you guys feel about it. Changes should start getting major around chapter 4 (Docks!) when Lance is gonna show up w/ big guns. Anyways, those are the temp plans, and I hope that everyone is enjoying this story so far.

I said that I planned on getting this chapter out before Xenoblade DE released in my other story, but I kinda failed that, only reaching a ready-to-edit chapter fifty minutes after the game released. Once again, no promises on when the next chapter will be up, though I'll be attempting to get it out before my birthday, June 28th, so within a month.

And, if you did enjoy, please favorite and follow, and if you have something to say or just really want to brighten up my day, then please leave a review as well!