I do not own Ruby.

Part One: The Scientist is in chapter two of Fragmented Simulations.

The Student

Syler, as it would turn out, was not at all able to fight. He had never been taught, never had the time. He had devoted himself to Science. He'd mentioned this several times. So, he would have to be trained.

It took less than a week of training with a member of staff for Syler to decide that he must devise a better way.

At the same time, in everything aside from his fighting prowess and world history, he was so far above his peers that it would have been worse than a waste of time for him to attend the lectures as a student. Thus, he was made into an assistant professor.

It was in his weekly meeting with Ozpin that he finally made a request that might have been considered unrealistic.

"Finally," the Scientist said, "I have devised a way of training that would suit me more than what I am currently undergoing. The only caveat is that I need a second, an… apprentice, if you will allow, to help construct a solid plan and regime. I would request the aide of a student for this."

"Oh?" the grey haired man intoned, "And who, exactly, would you like to aide you?"

"For that, I need your help. If I may peruse the files of some of the first years, I can determine who might best suit my current goals," he scribbled something down on his pad, then handed the headmaster the page, "And this is my theory for how you track Aura with your scrolls."

Ozpin looked at it for a moment, "Very good. I will send you the files, peruse them at your leisure."

Syler thanked him, and left, going back to his quarters, where he began to go over file after file with a fine toothed comb until he finally found the one he needed.

+-900090992

A knock came to the door of Team JNPR. Opening it, the four time champion of the Mistral tournament, Pyrrha Nikos opened the door to find the wild haired Assistant Professor Greene standing there.

"May I help you, Doctor Greene?" she asked. The young man had made no bones about how he would be addressed by the students in the first class he had been introduced in. He had earned his doctorate, several times over, and he would be called by his title.

"I am looking for your partner, Mister Arc, actually," the Scientist said jovially, "Is he here?"

A frown crossed Pyrrha's face then, "No, he is not. I believe you might find him with his new friend Cardin Winchester, of Team CRDL. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hmm," he looked the young lady in the face and said, with no malice in his tone, "No, I think not. I need someone that hasn't been beset by the limitations of current philosophy. Have a good day, Miss Nikos."

"I- thank you?" she tilted her head at him, but he was already moving down the hallway to find his wayward target.

Just as Pyrrha had suggested, Jaune was with Cardin and his team. Anyone paying any attention at all would be able to see that he wasn't happy about it.

"Mister Arc," Syler said, interrupting what Cardin had been about to say, "Please, come with me. There is a matter regarding your file that I wish to discuss."

Jaune's eyes twisted into an intense frown and he turned a glare on Cardin, "You told!"

"No!" the red haired teen barked back, "I didn't tell-"

"If this is about your false transcripts," Syler began, adjusting his glasses, "Then you have nothing to worry about. The staff already know and, honestly, they don't seem to care. It's not even well hidden. It's even got a little message on the side, commending your determination."

There was silence for a moment between the teen boys, "What?"

"Yes, your application was allowed because, apparently, you are the first to have the balls to fake it until you make it. They even had to add a rule about it. Anyone that tries it again will face a punishment most severe," he then tapped his watch, "Now come along, Mister Arc. We have less than forty five minutes before your combat class."

"Hold on!" Cardin said, the large teen stepping forward, "Jauney boy was about to help us on a little project of our own."

"Irrelevant," Syler said without hesitation, "Mister Arc is the only one in this entire academy that has the potential to aide my experiment and, as an assistant professor, my orders supersede yours," he fiddled with his scroll, holding it in front of his face for a moment before looking at the redhead again, "You may, of course, go above me to have him given back to your project team, but until then," he turned to the blonde, "Come along, Mister Arc."

"I said no," Cardin almost barked and grabbed the Scientist by his shirt, "He stays with us. Or else."

"Is that a threat?" A grin spread across Syler's face like a hyena baring its teeth and his glasses gleamed under the light.

The redhead was not put off and said, "And what if it is? What are you gonna do about it? You're not even a real professor."

There was an audible click. It was not a gun loading a round into a firing chamber. It was not a mechashift weapon transforming.

It was the sound of a text message being sent.

"Mister Winchester, you now have detention with Professor Goodwitch. That click was a message sent from my scroll to hers with your picture and informing her of why," the grin grew impossibly wide, "You might assume, at this point, that it would be alright for you to accost me further, seeing as you are already in trouble, but I would advise against it. After all," his entire body lit on fire and Cardin reacted quickly to release him, "I was made assistant professor for a Good Reason. Come along, Mister Arc."

The blonde quickly followed after the man who swiftly snuffed out the aural blaze. Cardin glared after them and muttered to himself.

"If I'm not in trouble, what is this about, Doctor Greene?" Arc asked after a few minutes.

"Nothing major," Syler shrugged, "I have a project that needs more than a single person to conduct. You will be the test group, so to speak."

"Test group for what?"

"Why, changing the world, of course," the Scientist grinned again. He whirled back around, adjusting his glasses as he went. "Do you know what training to fight entails, Mister Arc?"

"Um," the blonde scratched his head, then gave an answer, "Well, you practice, I guess. You do moves and stances and stuff, until it becomes instinct, right?"

"Exactly!" Syler said, "Absolutely barbaric, is it not?! Repeating the same actions again and again, brute forcing the body into a pattern so deeply ingrained that you don't even think about it!" he almost yelled, "And they consider this a good thing! They will tell you, 'Don't overthink it,' or, 'You're thinking too much'! Can you believe it?!" he stopped for a moment, seeing the teen backing away, and calmed himself, "Mister Arc, where I come from there is an old proverb that goes something like this: I think, therefore I am. Have you heard of it, by chance?"

Jaune took a moment to look at the obviously disturbed assistant professor, thinking about what the man had said, "Yeah, I've heard that before, I think. It means that, because we are capable of complex thought, we are capable questioning our existence. The question itself provides the answer. Is that right?"

"Right enough, I'd say," Syler nodded, "As such, I have decided to find a way to lay to rest that barbaric method of training that has not changed in thousands of years. And we are already equipped with the perfect tool to lay a foundation for our path," he glowed green again, "Aura."

By this point the two of them had made it to an unused classroom, where Syler took a seat behind the desk and gestured for Jaune to take the seat directly in front of it.

"Alright," Jaune said, following what the Scientist meant, "But why me?"

"That is simple enough," he pulled his scroll out again, "According to the latest update to your file, you are passing all of your academics with acceptable grades, with a particularly interesting result for your classes in Special Tactics and Advanced Planning, placing you several leagues above your peers. Most important for our project, however, are your results in Professor Goodwitch's Combat class. You are, to put it bluntly, failing."

Jaune had been dreading this moment. He knew it was coming, but hearing about his inadequacies was never his favorite thing.

"That makes you the perfect candidate for this project. I need someone, like myself, that has not been ruined by years of a flawed philosophy," he steepled his fingers in front of his face and continued, "Do not misunderstand, Mister Arc. We are not going to be wasting time in here, chatting about girls and comparing comic book notes, waiting for a super power to strike us from the the clear blue sky. We will be pushing our strength and flexibility to a standard far above what we are now, and, during these training sessions, we will be attempting to control our Aura. Your peers use it daily, instinctively, to strengthen themselves, make them faster and more durable. We will be doing nothing of the sort."

"What?" the blonde asked, "I don't understand."

"Alright, let's try something," Doctor Greene stood up, "Channel your Aura."

Jaune took a deep breath and focused his mind as best he could. After a long moment, a layering of white covered the boy.

"Alright, now move the entirety of it to your right hand."

"What?" Jaune's concentration wavered, "Can that be done?"

A grin split across Syler's face like light glinting from a drawn blade.

"I don't know. Wouldn't you like to find out?" he spread his hands wide, "Or what if we could channel it to our eyes, and see how much Aura an opponent has, or locate the Grimm? What if, instead of making our bodies faster and stronger, we use it to make our minds stronger? To think faster? What if we could use Aura to analyze a situation in less than a second and make a detailed plan to deal with a situation?"

Jaune just looked at Syler, realizing exactly how crazy this man was. Any sane person would look at what Syler just said as the mad ramblings of an idiot who knew nothing of the world. His training methods would lead to nothing. After all, if any of this was possible, why had no one else done it before?

'But then,' Jaune thought, 'Did they say the same thing about the first person to use Dust or Aura to fight?'

"I'm," the teen hesitated, "I'm in."

"Splendid! From this point on, you will spend Professor Goodwitch's Combat class, and two hours afterward, with me, focusing on the goal of Aura Manipulation and Non-combat Application. At the same time, as I said, we will be strengthening our bodies and gaining more flexibility. We start today. Eat a hearty, protein rich meal, and meet me in the gym thirty minutes afterwards. We have much to do."

+-900900902

A week hence and Pyrrha was worried for her partner once more. After being found by Doctor Greene, Jaune had joined a training project that was extremely experimental.

The first thing that came about from it was that Jaune came clean to his teammates about why he had been hanging around Cardin. Ren and Nora took the revelation of his forged transcripts with a shrug each and they treated him the same as before. They decided not to tell anyone else, unless it became absolutely necessary.

The second was that Jaune stopped showing up to the Combat class. Goodwitch never questioned his lack of attendance, so it was apparently approved by the faculty, at least.

The third happening, however, was the most worrying for her. Every night, two hours after the last class of the day, Jaune would hobble into their room, lay down in his bed and simply sleep until the next morning.

"Are you alright, Jaune?" she asked him after the second night of this.

The smile he gave her, tired though it was, lit up the room with his genuine happiness, "I'm sore in places I didn't know could be, tired, questioning my desire to grow stronger. I haven't felt this good since I was seven and decided to be a huntsmen."

Pyrrha looked him in the eye and smiled back, "Alright then. Please, do take care."

"It's alright, Pyrrha," the blonde said, laying on his bead, "I get to relax on the weekends."

And so it was. Jaune would hobble to bed each evening, eat a large meal of a specific diet beforehand, sleep almost all day Saturday, and spend sunday with his team and friends. It went this way for the better part of two months, then a small change occurred.

During each of Goodwitch's classes, either Doctor Greene or Jaune would be next to the professor, watching each spar closely. The next month, finally, the two of them were not just observing, but attending.

"The next match will be Syler Greene and Yang Xiao Long," Goodwitch announced.

"Good luck, Doctor," Jaune said, patting the assistant professor on the back.

"I believe I will need it, lad," Syler nodded to the teen. He removed his labcoat, an accessory that he wore nearly everywhere, and instead was left in his dress pants and green tank top. He wore a pair of simple, but hard soled shoes.

"Are both fighters ready," Goodwitch asked, with both of their ascent, she then said, "Begin!"

Yang watched the young man closely for a second, noticing an odd glow in the lenses of his glasses. She stepped forward to probe him with an attack.

The Scientist dashed forward, meeting her by the second step. Her fist lashed out and he dodged, then sent a punch at her face. She knocked it aside and slammed one gauntlet clad fist into his ribs, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him into the air.

Not far, though. His hands, glowing green, slapped down onto the arm she punched him with, gripping it and he kicked forward, hitting her in the stomach.

To her surprise, she barely felt it at all. That could have done Yang some serious damage, but it didn't.

"Oops," Syler said, having danced back, "didn't quite get the timing right, on that one." He held his fists up before him, like a seasoned Boxer on the defensive, but it was obvious he wasn't one. His reactions were fast, amazingly so, but he wasn't using any style that the blonde girl recognized.

She cocked her gauntlets, loading rounds into the chambers, "Let's see how you deal with this, Doc!"

"Oh, dear," Syler said, hopping a bit further back, "Well, no time like the present to test this theory," he grinned over at his apprentice, "Eh, Mister Arc?" He took a wide stance and his hands glowed green again, "Ready when you are, Miss Xiao Long."

Curious at what he was going to do at such a distance, Yang stepped forward into a punch that activated the firing mechanism, sending a blast of Red Dust at the assistant professor.

"Ha!" The man barked, grasping the blast with both hands and sliding back more than a few feet.

Most astonishing, however, was the fact that Doctor Syler Greene had caught, caught, the small explosion and held it between his shaking hands, visibly straining to keep it contained. Even as he was doing that, some noticed that his head was glowing as well, his wild hair seeming to spark occasionally with green flame.

Making sure that his hold was tight, Syler took the still wobbling explosion, just waiting to burst into one hand, "Professor Goodwitch," he said, his voice ringing out across the room, "Whether this succeeds or fails," his legs glowed now as well, and he pulled back the arm holding the blast, "I forfeit after this attack." With that, and a small roar, Syler threw it back, with at least half the speed.

Yang was stunned, but not so out of it that she didn't dodge the blast. She was almost ready to send another couple dozen rounds his way, when Goodwitch ended the match.

Looking at him, the assistant professor was barely on his feet. Bent over, hands on his legs, sucking in deep breaths and sweat pouring off him. The battle had been short, disappointingly so, but whatever he did to catch her shot must have totally drained him.

After a couple of minutes, he stood back up a grin on his face.

"Thank you, Miss Xiao Long," he said in his usual chipper tone, "That was most informative."

"Yeah, I'll say," the girl said, thinking about what she just saw, then turned to look at Jaune. He was a goofball, almost as dorky adorable as her sister, and weak. He also never lost a strategy war game and his tactics were hard to follow, but impressive. And now, he had been training with the guy that just caught a shotgun blast with his bare hands.

"I dare say, Mister Arc, that we could not have asked for a better starting point," Syler said as he put his lab coat back on and pulled out his trusty pen, quickly scribbling notes, "Obviously catching the blast is unrealistic, in terms of continued Aura use, but this means we can quite easily redirect a shot. We will have to see how this works on other forms of munition. Perhaps we can requisition various ammo types from the smith… and a gun of course. I believe my stipend here should be plenty enough to pay for the weapon of my choice."

"Agreed, Doctor," Jaune said, a slight smile on his face, "That was still super cool, though!" he was practically bouncing in place, "I can't wait for my turn!"

"Very well," Glynda Goodwitch interceded, "If you are so eager, here is your chance," she took a deep breath and said, "Jaune Arc against Cardin Winchester."

"Aw!" Jaune almost whined, "He doesn't use long range attacks. Can I have someone else? Miss Belladona, maybe? Ooh, ooh! Pyrrha! Can I please spar with Pyrrha?!" he excitedly begged the professor. The woman looked to Syler. He just shrugged and gestured for her to make a decision.

Looking into the eyes of the young man whom, just three months ago, was dreading each fight, Glynda was almost put off by his enthusiasm.

"I suppose that will be alright," she turned to the class, "Change of plans, Jaune Arc will face Pyrrha Nikos. Retrieve your weapons."

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out eagerly as they both walked to the locker room, "Pyrrha, would you please do me a favor, first?"

The red headed girl looked to her partner and saw, not fear or regret, but happiness, confidence. He… he did not fear the thought of facing her in a battle. He was eager for it.

"Yes?" she asked quietly, "What can I do for you?"

"Would you please shoot at me, before taking it to close range? Doctor Greene and I have theorized that it would be possible to catch a shot, but he took a really big risk, doing it. Now, however, we know it's possible. And we need to test it a little further," he smiled at her as he pulled Crocea Mors from his locker and attached them to his hip, "It obviously eats up a massive amount of Aura to catch and contain a Dust round. I would like to see how much it would take to deflect a round or two, if you would be willing."

"Um," she looked at the teen boy. He wasn't looking at her, instead he had removed his dress shirt, revealing his back to her. When he first arrived, he had been… skinny, almost emaciated. It hadn't been lithe muscle that covered his frame, just a lack of fat.

Now though, he was starting to show the results of his labors with Doctor Greene. There was a tone to his back that had not been there before. A thickness to his arms. A definition to his frame that was… Well, it was attractive to the teen girl.

But more than that, more than anything, it was his shoulders. Shoulders that, before all this, bore the weight of his own bad choices, constantly slumped forward from denigrating comparison of himself to others and finding himself lacking. Now, they were held straight and high. He looked to be four inches taller, just from that, and he had not been short to start with.

And that made Pyrrha happy.

"Certainly," she said, "I would be happy to help."

Jaune had just pulled on his limited edition, ultra rare, Pumpkin Pete's Bunny Hoodie, and turned to smile at her, "Great! Thanks, Pyr!"

+-900909902

At the same time as those two were preparing for their sparring match, Syler was speaking with Glynda.

"You see, Professor Goodwitch," the young in body Scientist said, "Aura is the key. As you well know, it can enhance the body. But I had a thought. If it can enhance the body, why not the mind?" he explained it easily to her, not caring if anyone overheard. It wasn't a secret, afterall, "More than that, it can strengthen parts of you separately, if you so choose. Mister Arc and myself have been exploring this for the last few months and have made startling progress, as you see," he grinned.

"That explains some of what you did, I suppose, but will Mister Arc be alright? His performance in the last combat session he participated in was… less than satisfactory," the woman said, managing to appear intrigued and annoyed at the same time.

"Oh, I'm not sure of Mister Arc's victory, but he will put up a far better fight than you might think. I will freely admit that he has obtained better combat control over his Aura. Once we got the idea we wanted in action he took to it like a duck to water. I've been spending more time in the Non-combat Applications. But, seeing as he is the one who really wants to be a warrior for the good of all, it is not at all disappointing to see him overtake me in the field of combat," Syler smiled and pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

As he was finishing saying that, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos came out of the locker room equipped for battle.

Jaune stood at the far end of the arena and Pyrrha had Milo in its rifle form.

"Begin!" Goodwitch with little preamble.

Like Syler, Jaune took a wide stance, his hands glowing white. The difference came from his head. That is to say, his hair began to lift into the air, not spiking upwards so much as floating lazily, like he was in water. It swayed and drifted to and fro, leaving little trails of white mist wherever it went. This was matched by his eyes, which had also turned white and glowing.

Pyrrha took aim, then fired a shot. Jaune's hand lashed out and pushed the shot aside, almost faster than the redheaded girl could perceive. Taking a look at Jaune's Aura on the holographic display, she saw that it had barely gone down a single tick.

Her confidence boosted by that, she took three more quick shots at the boy whom she had a most obvious crush on. Just like the first one, he batted these aside, taking almost no damage from the attacks.

"Mister Arc," Doctor Greene said, "Try one more, with a spin, then take it to close quarters."

"Yes, Doctor!" he then tapped himself on the shoulder, "Right here, Pyrrha."

The girl just nodded, aimed and fired. At first she feared that his technique had failed when it looked like he had caught the shot in his shoulder and spun with it, only for him to go a full three hundred and sixty degrees, launching the shot back at her with the centrifugal force the spin created. Pyrrha hastily pulled up her shield, blocking it, but that had been surprising.

Jaune was grinning, "That was Awesome!"

"I quite agree," the Mistrali Champion said, her own grin forming, "Close range now?"

The boy nodded, drawing his sword from its sheath and lighting his legs with Aura as well. He crouched lower to the floor, placing one foot far forward of the other.

There was the sound of cracking stone and Pyrrha's eyes widened. She barely pulled her shield up in time to block the series of strikes and slashes that came her way. To the watchers there was the staccato sound of dozens of sword strikes in only a few seconds. They knew that Jaune was using his sword to attack, but the only thing they could see of the blade were silver streaks where light bounced off the ancient metal.

This went on for only a few seconds before Pyrrha countered, by stabbing at him with her weapon in it's short spear form, forcing him to back off. She switched it to a sword and lunged in, striking back at him with attacks that were just as fast and fierce as the barrage she had just endured. The difference between the two of them was that Jaune did not use his shield to deflect her attacks.

Instead, the blonde met her, blade to blade. This went on for a solid minute, the two of them slashing and stabbing, blocking, deflecting and parrying, at speeds none of the other teens had seen from the two warriors before.

Just the last week, Pyrrha had been sent alone against all of Team CRDL, and had walked through them with as much effort as person might use to walk through a door. It was clear, now, that they would not be the only team that she could have done that to. She had obviously been holding back a lot.

The fight changed pace again when Jaune leapt into the air and slashed at her from above. Pyrrha could see the grin on his face and it was matched by one of her own. She parried his attack and jabbed at him with her spear, only for him to spin and bat it aside.

Jaune landed behind her, even though she twirled around to face him in less than an instant and pulled his sheath from his belt, and gripped it like a second sword in his off hand.

Pyrrha found herself having to make liberal use of her semblance for the first time in the fight, if only to move her shield to catch more of his attacks before they hit her. This had to be one of the most entertaining fights of her career. She just couldn't predict him. He had no style, not really, and he seemed to strike from any direction that suited his fancy.

This boy, this man, was her partner. Jaune Arc, the guy that treated her like she was his actual friend outside of the arena, whom had a good, kind heart with a noble goal, and the person who was now driving her to her limits in this spar.

Before, Pyrrha could be said to have a crush on the boy. Now, she might actually love him.

A black glow surged over her form and Pyrrha's own attacks became swifter and began to creep through Jaune's defenses. The cost was a few of his own, marking her where her defenses lacked for the briefest of moments.

To the class, and Professor Goodwitch, all they really saw was the two students dashing all around the arena, coming together again and again in explosive clashes that rained sparks around them.

It went on for another three minutes before, as Jaune started to wane, Pyrrha finally managed to get the decisive blow with her spear, sending the butt of it into his chin, then twirling into a kick that sent him rolling across the arena.

Silence reigned, now that the sound of metal clashing against metal had faded. The only two sounds that could be heard, truly, were the gasping breaths that Pyrrha took, her chest heaving, and Jaune groaning as he slowly got back to his feet, rubbing his chest.

"Dear Lord, Pyr," the boy said with a wincing grin, "You are a titan. I give," looking to the hologram, they saw that his aura was only a few ticks away from the red, while the champion's was at about twenty five percent.

"That was…" Goodwitch began, "Impressive. You have improved beyond anything I could have imagined, Mister Arc. You, Miss Nikos, have shown a level of skill that, now, has only been seen twice, at your age," she gave a pointed look to Jaune, "You have both done very well."

The blonde walked over to the redhead with a smile, one hand still holding his chest while his chin began to bruise. Pyrrha felt alive, excited, joyous and, just very slightly, sad. Sad that it was over. Sad that Jaune had lost, that he would probably not challenge her again, not like this.

"So," Jaune began, still smiling, "Same time next week?"

The girl snapped her eyes up to his, seeing the genuine request, the eagerness. The Challenge!

"Absolutely," she said in a tone that said she would like nothing more than to fight with him again.

"Sweet," the boy said, "It's a date."

+-90090993

A/N: A few of you might have noticed that I have more than slightly flubbed the timeline here. Part of it is because I may or may not have forgotten some of the sequence of events in season one. The other part is because Syler's presence has caused change. The trip to Forever Fall happened, with the exception that Cardin didn't try to get Jaune to hurt his team, the entire class being under harsher scrutiny from Goodwitch. This led to Jaune playing the role of Butt Monkey for a bit longer.