I do not own RWBY.

This has been lovingly dubbed The Chronicles of Syler. If, and that's a mighty 'if', if it gets to five full chapters, I will separate it from the Simulations and give it it's own file, under the mentioned name.

Part one is in chapter two.

Part two is in chapter four.

The Teacher

Glynda Goodwitch did not particularly like Syler Greene after their first meeting in the hospital. He was far too energetic. Far too open. Something about him reminded her about Jaune Arc, but not any of the boy's good qualities.

As she grew to know him, mostly due to exposure, she did not become any closer with the wild haired Scientist. His inquisitions into the history and evolution of the Faunus were almost racist. The only thing that kept it from being so was that, aside from questions about their specific anatomical differences, he didn't ask anyone else different questions when he would briefly interview them.

And then, to her awe, he had taken Mister Arc under his wing.

This untrained Scientist had taken this untrained child and turned him into a close match for Pyrrha Nikos in just under three months. Now, the partners would put on a showcase of a spar, once a week. The gap between them had been monumental at the beginning of the year. It was now within Jaune's reach to beat the Invincible Girl. It hadn't happened yet, if only because the Champion trained as hard as was healthy everyday to make sure she retained her edge, driven to further heights by her partner's exceptional growth.

More than that, seeing the two of them in the arena spurred on a lot of her students to train harder, that they might catch up to the two of them.

Syler would also fight each Friday, just before Pyrrha and Jaune, but he never won, always forfeiting after trying a new, extraordinary technique that had been thought impossible until he tried it. Just last week he had used the explosion from Cardin's mace to launch himself at the ceiling, where he stuck. The entire class, and Glynda herself, were struck speechless, staring up at the man that was standing upside down on the ceiling.

He had been declared as a ring out, because of that, but that he could do it was another surprise to many.

"What will you be doing next, Doctor Greene?" Mister Arc had asked.

"Well, in my spare time, I will be researching the possibility of unassisted flight, and will be drawing up schematics for an engine. The bulk of my priority however is being focused on another task."

Later that day, Glynda found herself in the basement of Beacon Academy, having been summoned by the headmaster. She found out why when she got there.

"This machine," Syler said, with more disgust in his voice than she had ever heard, before he spit to the side, "will do nothing but kill your intended subjects. This one is already dead," he said, pointing at the screens showing Amber's vitals, "and attempting to transfer her remaining, shorn soul to someone else will only kill that person and finish delivering her power to your enemies. The only thing to be done at this point is to release this young woman from the mortal coil, find your enemy, exterminate them, and hope that the next Maiden is your ally," his eyes and glasses had glowed as he looked at the young woman in the device, kept alive by machines.

"That may not be favorable," Ozpin said, "Our enemies are already powerful, this will-"

"Headmaster Ozpin," Syler's voice, still calm, had the quality of thunder as he interrupted the man, "This is not Science. It is guess work, slap-dash engineering, and the worst kind of hopeful optimism, if only because it would kill anyone you put into it. This might as well be a man using magnets to cure a broken leg, simply because he thinks they are magic. You will have to work for a real solution to your problem. To put it simply, pissing on a lily doesn't make it a yellow rose. Putting tubes, toggles and monitors on a suicide booth doesn't make it Science." The Scientist then headed for the elevator, not speaking another word on the matter.

"Headmaster?" Glynda asked, unsure of how to proceed. It was not often that someone contradicted Ozpin's designs. Far fewer were they that had good reasons for it.

The grey haired man stared at the Maiden in the transferal device with a sense of loss and mourning. He stayed that way long enough that Professor Goodwitch was about to call out to him again when he turned away from the unfortunate corpse that still had a heartbeat.

"Turn it off, Glynda. We will give Amber a proper burial tomorrow," He sipped his significantly cooled coffee and kept walking.

The blonde woman watched him go then turned to the machine. She took four large steps forward, apologized to the girl inside, then activated the shutdown sequence. Two minutes and sixteen seconds later, a yellow light coalesced over the body before shooting out of the room and into their undisclosed enemy.

She could only hope that they were ready when the fight came to them.

+-900909099

It was roughly two weeks before the Vytal Tournament. Glynda was overseeing another Combat class. There had been some hubbub throughout the year. Mostly centered on Team RWBY.

First, for roughly three days, Miss Belladonna had gone missing. Probably something to do with her previous ties to the White Fang. This had lead the other girls on a merry chase all around Vale, until it culminated in a confrontation at the docks between Team RWBY and a visiting student by the name Sun Wukong, arrayed against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang members that he was using for muscle. Torchwick got away, but that was hardly surprising. That despicable man had been dodging fully fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses for years. A fresh team of Huntresses in training, no matter how prodigal, would hardly be able to do better.

The second time was essentially the same confrontation, except it was executed at great speed, on the highway through town. It had also involved a stolen, Atlasion Military Heavy Armor Assault Platform. The nickname of the vehicle was the Paladin, for the connotations of righteous strength and protection. Its first debut was as a weapon, piloted by a known criminal, trying to kill four teenage girls and two boys.

It failed.

Now, the woman stood, observing another spar between one of her students and one of the visiting Mistral students. It had just ended, actually.

"Next will be-" Glynda began to say, but was interrupted by one of the visiting students from Haven Academy.

"Yeah," said the teen she knew to be Mercury Black, "I'd like to challenge Pyrrha Nikos." He was already making his way to the arena, as if already expecting her to agree to his demand.

She frowned and said, "No."

The boy stumbled, "What?"

"Miss Nikos has a previous engagement for the last spar of the day," Goodwitch explained simply.

"Well, surely the Invincible Girl," he almost used air quotes as he sneered the title, "Can handle one extra little fight before that."

"Mister Black," her voice did not waiver, or growl, or thunder across the room, but the teen felt like there was a blade at his throat, none the less, "Go back to your seat. Now."

"Now, now, Professor Goodwitch," Syler said, "No need to be so hasty. It is rather obvious that this young man wants to burn some energy, probably make a statement about how strong his school is. I need an opponent for today, anyway," he took off his coat, "Come along, young man. Let's put on a good show." The Scientist handed his weapons, a rather large revolver and a twelve foot chain whip, to Jaune Arc and made a show of stretching. As usual, he was wearing a green tank top, grey slacks, and a pair of simple, hard soled shoes.

Mercury seemed to look into the crowd for something, then shrugged, "Sure, why not?" He stepped into the ring, and took up a stance, his left leg forward, his hands curled into fists.

"Mercury Black Versus Syler Greene," Glynda announced, "Begin!"

Mercury tilted his weight forward, about to take a step forward that would lead into a dash that he would use to start several vectors of attack. The boy got halfway through the planned course of attack when the assistant professor slid forward with his shoulder, smashing it into his chest and knocking the air out of him.

Now, for some, that might be a metaphor, a simile, for a smooth move. For others it would mean that they had gotten through Mercury's guard and knocked him down.

For Syler it meant exactly what the word said. The Scientist was sliding around the arena, now, as though he had skates on his shoes, though he very clearly had none. The only hint of what he was doing were the green lines of light that he left behind before they faded.

"Hmm," Syler said, drifting along the floor, "This is quite strenuous on my reserves. I could probably keep this up for only a few more minutes. Best get on with it," he turned to the other teen, "Alright, lad," his grin was somewhat manic as he visibly dropped a half inch to the floor, and held his arms out to his sides, "Give me a good hit."

"What?"

"Hit me," the wild haired young man said, "I'm testing something in a controlled environment. If it goes wrong, we have medics on hand," his smile had become less like a monster in the dark, waiting to strike, and more friendly, "So, with that in mind. Please, hit me." with his back to the students, Syler couldn't see that the grey haired teen made eye contact with his team leader, then shrugged.

"Whatever you say, kid," Mercury said, missing it as his opponent's eyebrow twitched. He couldn't fight Nikos, but he could hurt this guy. Make it look like a training accident. That would hurt the Arc kid, which would hurt Nikos.

Not the cleanest plan, but it was what he had.

The grey haired teen launched himself forward with one push from his powerful, artificial legs. He brought one knee up, feinting a hit to the sternum while chambering a round into his ankle mounted shotguns.

Syler didn't move an inch. His eyes still glowed, his grin stayed in place, and he simply let the assassin pretending to be a student attack him.

The knee stuck the redhead in the chest.

Only, it didn't.

Mercury tried to recover from the failed attack by spinning into a roundhouse kick. It slammed into Syler's jaw.

It missed and he kept spinning.

That leg came down and Mercury donkey kicked him, very center of his chest. He felt the vibration in his leg to indicate it. He didn't know what weird trick this guy was using, but he got him this time.

"Ow," the Scientist said, "A good hit. I couldn't take too many of those, I think." He rubbed his stomach, then took another open stance, "Once more, Mister Black. The test is not yet complete."

"What did you do?" The teen asked, a frown on his face, "I know I hit you, but then I just… didn't."

Syler nodded, "Perhaps I'll tell you after our match."

One last look at his team leader, and Mercury went back on the attack. Only one out of every seven actually struck the Scientist.

After a few minutes, Syler said, "Enough. I forfeit, Professor Goodwitch," he turned to the young man that was his opponent, "Thank you for your help," he held out his hand, and Mercury reluctantly took it, "And in the future, please refer to me as Doctor Greene. It is a title that I have earned, I assure you."

The grey haired boy just rolled with it, saying, "Sure, whatever you say." The two of them parted ways, Syler going to stand with Jaune and Professor Goodwitch, Mercury to take a seat with his team.

"Final bout of the day," a soft murmur started as Goodwitch spoke, "Jaune Arc Versus Pyrrha Nikos."

For Glynda, the fight happened like many before it, the partners both displaying speed, grace and strength far beyond their years. Even now, she felt awe at their display. But she hid her dropped jaw easily behind a stoic face of disinterest. It was made easier as it warred with the urge to smirk at the absolutely gobsmacked expressions on the foreign students' faces. Especially so of the arrogant boy that had attempted to demand… anything of her.

Mister Arc and Miss Nikos had long ago outpaced their peers, and were now approaching a level that she felt might be difficult for third year students to take on with a regular chance for success. The show they were currently putting on only showed just how prodigious their talents were.

Pyrrha was the very spirit of dedicated training and strength through persistence of spirit. Jaune, on the other hand, could be the poster boy for mind over matter.

The match eventually concluded as it usually did, with Pyrrha just barely eking out a victory over her once weak partner. As usual, Jaune did not appear at all dismayed by this. Instead he lavished honest compliments on the girl. Also as usual, the pair kissed and then made their way back to the locker rooms while the class filed out.

"What did you do against Mister Black, Doctor Greene?" Glynda asked the young-old man beside her.

"Nothing truly impressive," he shrugged, "I simply made the majority of my body completely frictionless. It had the benefit of redirecting any attack that came my way, save a few that hit dead straight. I'm certain that my opponent had discovered this, which is why more of his attacks started getting through towards the end."

"Fascinating," the woman said under her breath.

"Isn't it, though?" The teen grinned and made his way back to his private chambers.

+-9009909092

It was all going to hell. The Amity Colosseum was being brought down by massive Gryphin Grimm. The Atlasion robots were attacking civilians and distracting Huntsman. White Fang members were everywhere.

Most importantly, in the sky above them, roaring so loud and long that windows broke and the ground shook, was a Grimm Dragon the size of a mountain. No joke it had actually been part of the nearby mountain range.

Glynda gasped as she saw a fiery explosion eclipse the top part of Beacon Tower, where she knew Ozpin to be. Or, perhaps where he had been.

Things were beginning to look more and more bleak by the second. People were dying, the Grimm and White Fang never seemed to end. Their own dreadnaught class airships were crashing into one another. If they weren't being taken apart by the freaking Dragon.

Not a single monster, robot, or Faunus terrorist came near to harming Glynda, but so many were trying that she couldn't make it to the Academy with any real speed.

The dragon roared again, the ground shook, a flash of pure white light nearly blinded, her and the monster fell from the sky.

"What the-"

It was already dissolving. It was in two pieces. The left half was the left of its skull, left arm, and one of its wings.

"What was that?" One of the White Fang said under their breath.

No answer was forthcoming, but that was the turning point. Like a switch being flipped, the robots turned off. With their attention no longer split three ways, it was far easier for the Hunstmen to deal with the Grimm and terrorists.

"Glynda," James Ironwood said as he came forward, most of his synthetic skin stripped away to show his prosthetics, "Where is Ozpin?"

The woman turned towards the destroyed tower. She didn't even make the full turn when it felt like she'd been shot and darkness consumed her vision.

The last thing she heard was James shouting her name.

+-90900900999

When Glynda Goodwitch woke up next, she wasn't sure how long it had been, but her head felt like she'd had it smashed, from the inside out, by a thousand hammers.

"Ow…," she groaned. She heard the rustle of fabric. Turning to the source saw Bartholomew Oobleck pouring a cup of water for her.

"It is good to see you awake, Glynda," the man said in a calm, solemn tone.

"What happened?" she asked, taking the water and sipped it, even if she wanted to gulp it down.

"Vale is secure, but damaged," the Archaeologist said, "Beacon has fallen. The Majority of the students have gone home, though a few remain. The White Fang are crowing about this on the few available channels of communication, calling it a victory for all Faunus. The Atlas Military-"

"Bart," she interrupted, "What about Ozpin?"

Oobleck sighed and pushed the glasses up his nose, "Ozpin is dead. He was found by Doctor Greene, just before he confronted the previous Fall Maiden, the woman who orchestrated all this, Cinder Fall."

Glynda did not break down in tears at the revelation of her old friend's death, but she did hang her head for a few moments, then she turned back to the man beside her.

"What do you mean, Previous Fall Maiden?" she asked, "What happened?"

"Well, to put it simply, I killed her," Syler said as he stepped into the medical tent, "I'm sorry, Professor Goodwitch," his voice was full of honest remorse as he spoke, "I wasn't fast enough to save Ozpin. By the time I arrived, he was already gone."

Glynda looked to her lap, ignoring the itching at the corners of her eyes. She sniffed once, mourning the man that she knew was only mostly dead.

"You said you killed the Fall Maiden. Do we know who the powers transferred to?" She asked about a minute later.

Once more Syler was grinning a very unfriendly grin.

"Oh, I have some idea."