Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 or RWBY they are the property of their respective owners, any resemblance to any other Persona 4 or RWBY fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please constructive criticism only.
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Yu had decided to get on the Airship that was taking the first years in order to get back to Beacon. Everything was fine, apparently, everyone just thought he was a first year and he was content to let them believe that. If only to see the look of surprise on their faces when they found out he was a teacher.
"In other news, another person has mysteriously vanished, making them the fifth one in the string of disappearances that began last week, the police have released a statement saying that they have established a task force dedicated to solving this mystery."
"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"
Yu looked over to see a girl dressed in yellow squeezing the air out of a smaller silver eyes girl dressed in red. The girl in red was Ruby Rose if he remembered her profile correctly. He'd taken a read of it after Ozpin talked about her interrupting one of Roman Torchwicks robberies. The girl in yellow was Yang Xiao Long her half-sister through their father Taiyang Xiao Long.
"Please stop…" Ruby gasped out as her sister squeezed the air out of her lungs.
"But I'm so proud of you," Yang said finally releasing her sister.
As he saw her looking at the ground bashfully Yu decided to intervene if only to spare Ruby further embarrassment.
"So you must be Ruby Rose," Yu said getting both girls attention.
"Yeah that's me, how do you know my name?" Ruby asked
"You're the one who helped foil Roman Torchwicks latest robbery right?" Yu asked "They did a bit about you on the morning news. I'm Yu Narukami by the way."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ruby Rose but you already knew that." Ruby babbled "This is my sister Yang."
"Nice to meet ya," Yang said shaking Yu's hand. "So what can we do for you?"
"Well, since Ms Rose here foiled a robbery I wanted to share something with you." Yu said withdrawing a deck of Tarot cards similar in design to the ones Igor used and sitting down "Tell me do you believe in fortune telling?"
"I like to keep an open mind," Yang said sitting down along with Ruby as Yu laid out six cards in a pattern similar to the one Igor had done back at the beginning of his journey.
"Oh I do," Ruby said excitedly "Are you gonna tell our fortunes?"
"I'm not quite good enough to do that but what I want each of you to do is chose one card from this spread." Yu said "Just chose one and I'll tell you what it represents. You can learn a lot about people by knowing what Arcana they represent. Don't over think this, there's no wrong answer."
Ruby was thoughtful for a second before choosing a card at the top of the spread, while Yang confidently picked up the card at the bottom of the spread, knocking one other card out of position as she did so.
"Alright show me what you've got." Yu watched as Ruby showed him the Star Arcana in her hand while Yang had the Sun.
"So what do they mean?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Well, the Star in its upright position as you've chosen it is commonly associated with hope, self-confidence, faith, altruism, luck, generosity, peace and joy." Yu explained, "Usually people under this Arcana usually embody traits in one way or another."
"Well my little sis is certainly lucky and hopeful that's for sure," Yang said, "So what's mine mean?"
"Well, the Sun typically symbolizes happiness, joy, energy, optimism, and accomplishment." Yu stated, "People under this Arcana sometimes find themselves in bad situations but are still pretty optimistic despite that."
"You said upright position before" Ruby pointed out "So what do the reversed positions mean?"
"Well, for the reversed Star Arcana it can mean a lack of faith, despair or otherwise discouragement about something." Yu replied "The reversed Sun Arcana, on the other hand, can mean Temporary depression or a lack of success. It can also mean that you're being too positive about a situation and might need a reality check."
"So what…I need a reality check?" Yang asked slightly offended.
"No, only if you'd chosen the Sun in its reversed position" Yu replied calmly "You chose it upright so you're good."
"Well I think that's enough for today," Yu said picking up the cards and returning them to the deck, along with the ones Ruby and Yang were holding. He then pocketed the deck and began walking away "Until our paths cross again, farewell."
Yu felt a slight satisfaction at getting to say that after Margaret had said it to him so many times, he decided to watch Ruby and Yang from afar as he melted into the crowd..
The news feed was cut off when a hologram of Glynda appeared with her hands behind her back.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon," Glynda said.
"Who's that?" Yu heard Yang ask.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh"
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge, and the training to protect our world." Glynda said before the hologram disappeared.
Ruby walked towards the window transfixed as she put her palms pressed flat on the glass, "Wow! Look, you can see Signal Academy from here! I guess home isn't too far after all."
"Beacons our home now" Yang stated as she walked up to Ruby.
Yu watched an armoured blonde boy making nauseous sounds and saw him run to the nearest restroom. He let out a chuckle when he saw that the boy had gagged and puked over Yang's shoes which caused both her and Ruby to be grossed out.
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When landing on a dock, all of the students exited the bullhead and got out onto a landing dock. Some gaped as they looked over the majestic towers that made up the school. Yu meanwhile, decided to stick back and enjoy the sights. He wasn't in any particular hurry and watched as Ruby began flitting around gleefully looking at other students weapons.
"Oooh, Oh Sis! That kid has a collapsible staff! That girl has a fire sword!"
"Easy there, little sister, they're just weapons," Yang said lightly yanking her sister back next to her by the red hooded cloak she wore.
"Just weapons?" They are the extensions of us! They're a part of us! They're so cool!" Ruby gave her sister a shocked look and was even holding her arms held out in disbelief.
Yang looked over her sister in confusion, her head cocking slightly.
"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"
"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better." Yu watched Ruby unfold and start hugging her large crimson scythe-like it was a teddy bear.
"Ruby, come on. Why don't you try to make some new friends of your own while you're here?" Yang asked her sister rolling her eyes and pulling Ruby's good over her head.
Ruby looked up at her sister in confusion, as she tilted her head to the side. "Why should I need friends when I have you?"
A few other people showed up behind Yang as she started stepping away.
"Weeelll actually my friends are here now. Gotta go catch up, catch ya later, bye!" She exclaimed very quickly before running off with her 'friends' and leaving Ruby behind.
"Wait!" Where are you going? Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we even have dorms?" Ruby asked spinning around dizzily. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"What are you doing?!" a new girls voice demanded as Ruby fell backwards into a large pile of luggage.
The young woman was dressed in a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly coloured thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress, which was a combat skirt. The inside of the bolero was red with the sleeves turning blue as they get closer to her wrists. She was wearing an apple-shaped necklace along with a pair of thin, rectangular earrings along with white, heeled wedge boots that go to mid-calf, also lined with red on the inside. Her long white hair was pulled back in an off-center ponytail, at the base of which is a small tiara that resembles icicles. She also had a pale complexion and ice blue eyes.
"Uhh, sorry," Ruby apologized
"Sorry? Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?" The white-haired girl scolded as Yu recognised her as Weiss Schnee.
"Uhhhhh" Ruby didn't know how to respond as she tried to help by picking up a suitcase.
"Give me that!" the girl demanded snatching the suitcase from Ruby. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry." She ranted as she withdrew a bottle of powdered Dust from her suitcase which Yu noticed had a cork sea instead of a proper airtight seal.
"Uhhhh." The red hooded girl had no idea what to say as the girl angrily ranted at her.
"What are you brain dead? Dust," the girl in white growled as she closed the suitcase. "Fire, water, lightning, energy," She shook the bottle as if to emphasise every word, dust escaping each time.
"I... I know...," The silver eyed girl began but due to the Dust that was tickling her nose she couldn't finish and began trying to hold in a sneeze.
"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in?"
The girl gave one final shake of the bottle, which caused some more of the dust to escape the vial float into Ruby's nose.
"Aaachooo!" The smaller girl sneezed causing a small non-lethal explosion resulting in smoke, lightning, fire and other effects from the ignition of the Dust.
The bottle flew out of Weiss's hand before it landed on the ground before rolling towards a black boot. The intact bottle was picked up by a girl dressed mostly in black, who had kept her attention on a book which she had been reading the whole time. She turned the bottle before looking at the logo on the vial and focused her attention on where it came from.
"I'm really, really sorry." Ruby apologized while poking two pointed fingers together in an ashamed manner.
"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" Weiss questioned as she insulted Ruby.
"Hey I said I was sorry princess" Ruby yelled back at the other girl.
"It's heiress actually." Another voice replied in a calm tone.
The young girl was of pale complexion, similar to Ruby Rose. She had long, wavy, black hair, and her eyes were amber, complemented by light-purple eyeshadow flaring backwards. The eyes were slightly tilted upwards at the ends, giving her a somewhat catlike appearance. She also had a black ribbon tied in the form of a bow. Her outfit consisted of black low-heeled boots and stockings that started off black at her hips but gradually faded to purple nearer her shoes. There were black ribbons on both of her arms, with a black detached sleeve and a silver band on her left arm. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white, sleeveless undershirt that exposes part of her midriff with white shorts that may be connected to her shirt, although it is partly obscured by the vest. Her shorts had a zipper on the front of each leg. She also had a detached scarf-like collar around her neck.
"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." The girl in black stated matter-of-factly.
"Finally, some recognition," Weiss said smugly
"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners." The black haired girl finished causing Ruby to giggle and Yu to chuckle.
"Wha…how dare the…the nerve of…" Weiss feeling insulted was unable to form words, eventually, she simply scoffed, took back her Dust from other girls hand before stalking away.
"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby yelled towards the heiress before looking down a bit in defeat and sighing. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day."
"Isn't she the dolt for shaking an improperly sealed dust vial in someone's face like a monkey with a rock?" Loki asked with an audible smirk.
"Sooo what's y…" Ruby looked around stopped when she saw that the girl in black had walked away "Welcome to Beacon"
Ruby promptly fell and law backwards on the ground. A shadow fell over Ruby and she opened her eyes to see a hand extended down at her, belonging to the vomiting boy from on smiling slightly, "You alright? I'm Jaune."
"Ruby" she replied taking his hand, using it to help herself up before snorting when she recognised him "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"
After Ruby had said that the two engaged in conversation, Yu had decided to take pity on them and began leading them to the auditorium where all the students were supposed to gather.
"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune stated motioning his hands to try and emphasise his point.
"Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby chuckled at Jaune's expense.
"Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?" Jaune smirked at his comeback.
"Hey, that explosion was an accident!" Ruby protested
"Well, the name's Jaune Arc!" Jaune thumbed himself "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!"
"Do they?" Ruby asked raising her eyebrow sceptically.
"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that... Never mind." Jaune decided to stop his babbling before he embarrassed himself further.
"This kid is gonna be pure cringe I can already tell." Cu Chulainn commented.
Ruby giggled before a short, awkward silence fell over the two, while Yu trailed behind wondering why they were going this way when the auditorium was the other way.
"So... I got this thing!" unfolded a large red scythe; clearly this was 'Crescent Rose' that she was talking about earlier when she got off the airship.
"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked jumping back in surprise
"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!" Ruby stated
"It's also a gun," Yu spoke up surprising the two.
"Gah!"
"Eep"
"Yu?! Where did you come from?" Ruby asked getting over her shock.
"I've been following both of you wondering why you were going the wrong way," Yu replied casually.
"Wait we've been going the wrong way?" Jaune exclaimed.
"Yup, the auditorium is this way" Yu corrected them and began leading down the right path.
"So what've you got?" Ruby asked resuming the conversation.
"Oh! I, uh..." Jaune unsheathed a blade at his side "I got this sword!"
"Ooooohh!"
"Yeah, and I've got a shield, too!" Jaune took his scabbard, raised his arm and expands the metal into its shield form.
"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked touching the shield
Jaune fumbled with the shield as it retracts off his arm, expands, and retracts again before putting it back in place and finally shrinking it down for good, placing it on his belt. "The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..."
"But... wouldn't it weigh the same?"
"Yeah, it does..." Jaune replied dejectedly.
"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, so I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it." Ruby giggled bashfully
"Wait - you made that?!"
"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?"
"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."
"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby laughed before stopping "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."
"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune said with a sigh.
"So Yu what do you have?" Ruby asked
"I have this" Yu partly unsheathed Totsuka no Tsurugi which gleamed in the sunlight "It's called Totsuka no Tsurugi and back in my village it was said to have wielded by the father of the gods it's been with our people for centuries."
"Really? That sounds so cool" Ruby exclaimed, "So how did you get a hold of it?"
"I passed an important test and I was given possession of it" Yu replied sticking with the story Ozpin had come up with.
"How hard was the test?"
"The examiner's name was Margaret, she was the swords keeper and protector." Yu lied deciding it was easier than telling them about the Reaper. "She used a Grimoire."
"You mean like a book?" Ruby questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't she have a weapon?"
"Because she didn't need one, with a Grimoire alone she beat me half to death," Yu told them seriously.
That part was true. While his friends had taught him the importance of bonds and friendship Margret had taught Yu about humility. It was just before his fight with Izanami after Igor had given him the Orb of Sight. Yu was feeling very cocky at the time as if he couldn't be defeated and so agreed to fight Margret solo. A choice she quickly made him regret.
While he had somehow triumphed, Yu was certain that during the fight Margret had beaten him to death then beaten him back to life with that Grimoire.
"Sheesh, she sounds scary." Jaune gulped nervously.
"More than you can imagine, I'm not sure she knows how to hold back," Yu said.
"Soooo why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asked changing the subject.
"Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'."
"Alright, here we are," Yu said as they arrived outside the auditorium.
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When Yu had finished leading them both to the auditorium Ruby and Yu heard a familiar voice calling to the red coloured girl.
"Ruby over here I saved you a spot" she waved at her sister.
"Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! See you after the ceremony!" Ruby ran off to join her sister.
"Hey, wait!" Jaune let a sigh of defeat as Yu melted away into the crowd "Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"
"How's your first day going, little sister?" She asked while rubbing the back of her head.
Ruby tried her best to look angry, but it probably came off as more cute than threatening. "You mean since you ditched me and you exploded?" She said, flailing her arms,
"Yikes! Meltdown already?"
"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?"
"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked with a broad smile on her face.
"I wish!" Ruby scoffed not noticing Weiss right behind her "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled at me again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"
"You!" Weiss yelled angrily.
"Oh God, it's happening again!" Ruby yelled leaping into her sister's arms out of fright.
'Welp time try out my strict teacher mode.' Yu had chosen a particular Persona for the job, one that would allow him to appear stern but fair in his duties as a teacher.
"You're lucky the Dust didn't ignite and blow us off the cliff!" She yelled putting her hands on her hips
"It was an accident! I swear!" She was interrupted when Weiss shoved what appeared to a pamphlet in her face. "W-what's this?"
"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for- Weiss was cut off as Yu grabbed her arm forced it back by her side.
"Enough," Yu said with a stern tone that caused Weiss to flinch. "The fault for the incident earlier lies with you."
"M-me but she-"
"Was not the one who was waving around an improperly sealed vial of dust, I'd say you were acting like a child but even children know better than to wave around dust like that." Weiss flinched again at the tone of his voice, nevertheless, he pressed on "Cork sealed vials were phased out by Beacons Dust safety regulations twenty years ago and from Vale's ten years ago, you have no excuse for being in violation, And acting like a child, when someone trips over your luggage. Cutting corners will not gain you anything in Beacon, you are an adult now start acting like one."
"I-I-Hpmh" Weiss unable to retort and so stalked away into the crowd.
"Hey, thanks for that," Yang said with a smile as she gave Ruby a noogie. "My sis is socially awkward enough as it is."
"OW- Yang let go." Ruby cried struggling to break her sister's grip.
"It's nothing, you'd think she'd know better than to wave dust around like that," Yu replied with a shrug.
"So where you learn to speak so sternly?" yang asked.
"I spent a lot of time with my Uncle he's a detective and pretty stern guy, not one for nonsense."
"Wow, our uncle's a huntsman but he's not serious at all," Ruby said.
"Yeah and he stinks of booze whenever he visits," Yang commented.
"Yang!"
"What? It's true."
The opening ceremony began with Ozpin, taking the stage and Glynda, by his side.
"I'll… Keep this brief." He said, adjusting his glasses. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." He paused in his speech just for a moment and glanced into the crowd. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy-"
"Better to have energy to waste than to have none at all old man!" A voice suddenly interrupted getting snickers and some surprised looks from the crowd. Glynda meanwhile glared into the crowd trying to find the perpetrator to no avail.
Thinking about it, wasn't that voice familiar?
"Ahem, You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far-"
"WHAT?" The same voice from a few seconds ago yelled loudly.
"Excuse me?" Glynda angrily tried to find the culprit.
"What the hell is he talking about?"
"Be quiet and-"
"I think he's saying that knowing stuff isn't enough." A feminine voice answered the loud male one cutting off Glynda this time. Again the deputy headmistress tried to find them but no avail, but Yu knew both voices and suppressed a smirk.
"Well no shit, I didn't come here to smack the Grimm to death with my textbooks!" The male voice yelled "Boo! Get off the stage old man!"
"And do more than a five-second search for your speeches next time!" The female voice jeered.
This got a round laughs from most of the crowd save a few holdouts.
"You will all gather in the ballroom tonight, initiation will be tomorrow that is all." For his part, Ozpin managed to avoid looking embarrassed save for the small flush which Yu was able to catch as he walked off stage.
"Well, that was a thing," Yang said after she and Ruby got their giggling under control.
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It didn't take long for Yu to find the culprits, all he had to do was follow the clearly inhuman laughing to a room that appeared to be for storage in a corridor off to the side of the auditorium.
Inside he found them, a large fox with nine golden tails and a large red skinned muscle-bound creature that could be mistaken for a man wearing blue clothing, with a pair of horns atop his head. It was two of his Personae, Kitsune and Oni respectively, the former was a nine-tailed fox worshipped as Deities and also known for being tricksters who pulled pranks, the latter were known to raid and loot villages….amongst other things. He recalled letting kitsune out to roam, but not Oni.
"Oh I brought him out with me, I wanted his help to pull this prank on the old man." Kitsune explained still chuckling. "I just used a little…trick to throw both our voices."
Ah, that explained it, neither had done any real damage so he saw no harm in it, but this was new…..no one must be allowed to bring Incubus out with them….ever.
"Agreed." All of his personae chorused as one bar Incubus himself who groaned at the unfairness of it.
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Afterwards, Yu avoided the crowds and retired to his room, deciding to stay there for the evening. Falling asleep he found himself in the back of a familiar looking limousine. As per usually happened, his personae all fell silent.
Opposite him was Margaret, but strangely Igor was missing.
"Ah, welcome back to the Velvet Room, I'm afraid my master is….out at the moment." That was odd, Margaret is usually straight in addressing matters as if it was a trivial thing, however she seems to be being careful with her wording.
"I would like to be surprised seeing you here again, however as I said before this room is tightly bound to you, nothing happens here without reason." Something strange was going on here. "Now how can I help you?"
"Is it something I could help with?" Yu couldn't help but ask, Margret was silent, whatever she was keeping silent on Yu's curiosity couldn't keep it away.
"Things are….difficult right now for Master Igor, however, Master Philemon assures me that the current state of affairs is temporary, you need not concern yourself with it," Margret replied mustering calmness and confidence in her tone.
Yu wasn't satisfied with the answer but decided to let it be. If something did happen, then he'd come and stop it. And neither gods nor demons would stop him.
"Philemon mentioned that there was another Wild Card sent to Remnant before me, I was wondering if you knew anything about her," Yu asked getting to another matter he was also curious about.
"I see, well to clarify perhaps the wording was incorrect, a Wild Card was not sent, per-se. not in the way you have been at least." Margret explained, changing her careful stance as they talked about something else. "He blessed a girl here on Remnant with the Wild Card ability, hoping with it she would be able to make a difference. However, her journey was sadly cut short. Very short, she managed to begin to foster only three bonds before she died."
"Only three?" Yu mumbled to himself, that was a very small amount, sure Remnant was dangerous, more so than Earth by an order of magnitude but how did she die so quickly? So many unanswered questions. "Alright, what was her name?"
He wanted to know more about her, he couldn't help but be curious, he'd never known another Wild Card and this was about as close as he was going to get, so getting to know her life and possibly more importantly, what happened to her seemed like a decent idea. "Her name was Gretchen, Gretchen Rainart."
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The next day he'd completed his morning routine and after some self made breakfast and some light reading he had gone to the Beacon cliffs which overlooked the Emerald Forest, he chose to stand at end of the line, not on any of the launch pads, not that any of the students noticed this as they were more focused on Ozpin.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin stated
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Glynda told them looking at her scroll.
"What? Ohhh..."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin said ignoring Ruby's groan. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"Whaaaat?!" Ruby cried out in shock.
"See? I told you-!" An orange haired girl wearing pink said to a young man wearing mostly green.
"After you've partnered up, 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."
"He's not wrong, that forest is dangerous especially to them." Chiron commented.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, um, sir?" A blond haired boy raised his hand hoping to get Ozpin's attention.
"Good! Now, take your positions."
Everyone began striking poses on their respective tile some were serious, others just looked like they wanted to show off.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
"This kid can't be serious right?" Cu Chulainn asked
"No. You will be falling.
"Oh, uh, I see... So, did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?" He asked missing the students being sent flying.
"How is he not noticing this?" Belial wondered with annoyance.
"No. You will be using your own "landing strategy."
At her turn, Yang winked at her younger sister, puts on a pair of aviators, and flies off with a "Woo-hoooooooo!" a second after Ruby joins her.
"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!" Jaune is promptly sent flying into the forest with the rest of the students.
"I get the feeling he enjoyed that." Scathach commented.
Ozpin, for his part, simply takes a sip of his drink
"I sincerely hope I'm not having to deal with another Jason." Chiron sighed as he manifested beside Ozpin as Yu walked over to Glynda's side.
"Be fair Chiron." Atalanta admonished him appearing next to him. "Jason is kind of a low bar to set."
"Indeed." Heracles rumbled also materialising "No one can be as bad as Jason after all his silver tongue was the only thing the bastard had going for him."
Both the Chaste huntress and the Son of Zeus remained silent when Chiron face-palmed as Jaune lead his partner new partner Pyrrha Nikos into what was a clearly marked Deathstalker's den, why she did not stop him and point this out was beyond him.
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Later on, at the ruins Jaune found himself doing a faceplant into the dirt, limbs splayed out, which served as the perfect landing spot for Weiss who fell onto his back in a seated position.
"My hero," Weiss said mockingly
"My back..." Jaune groaned painfully
Suddenly Pyrrha landed by them, having been tossed by the deathstalker which had been pursuing Jaune and her after they had disturbed it in its lair.
"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang cries sarcastically.
"Not if I can help i-eek" Ruby was about to charge the deathstalker but skidded to a halt as something large and golden impaled the Deathstalker and lifted it up into the air.
The ground shook, with a loud thud, then another and another quicker and quicker. Suddenly the trees were smashed aside. The eight followed the golden appendage to a scorpion which dwarfed the deathstalker by several times, its whole body was golden, like flowing sand, with a pair of large sapphire coloured eyes at the front each with a row of five smaller eyes to the side of them.
"What is that?" Nora asked in awe.
"That's no Grimm." Ren stated backing off but keeping his weapons trained on it.
It opened its mouth let out a loud screech, which forced them all to cover their ears, then it suddenly began inhaling.
"No!" Ruby cried out "Our relics!" she reached out for the relics which quickly flew into the scorpion's mouth and were swallowed It then lower the impaled deathstalker into its sight. Which futility snapped its pincers at it.
"Hmmm...what a pathetic creature, pah is this the quarry hunters of this age die in pursuit of?" The beast rumbled displeasure before flinging the Deathstalker into the air where it collided with the giant nevermore killing both, it then turned its attention those In front of it "Well, recess time is over kids, I swallowed your relics and if you try to go without them you fail. So if you want to pass this test you'll have to fight me for them."
"You can talk?" Jaune stammered. "Are you a Grimm?"
"Don't lump me with those petty beasts!" The scorpion yelled angrily its cool sapphire eyes turning an angry ruby red "I am Scorpio! I was born by Mother Earth herself to slay the greatest hunter of all time! Now chose, run away and live as cowards and failures, or fight and die for your future, now choose!"
"Well, we've come this far, there no way I'm running away now!" Ruby yelled cocked her sniper rifle.
"Yeah, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Jaune agreed drawing his sword and standing next to her.
They were quickly joined by their partners and respective others who all agreed readied to fight.
"Ah, the endless pride of Children of Man I'd almost forgotten, well then I accept your challenge now children FIGHT AND DIE WELL!"
The Scorpion then jumped at them all. The group quickly scattered as Scorpio crashed into their previous position. He quickly recovered from his landing and began turning to see where they all were. Ren and Jaune had their backs to the temple ruins. Blake had taken to a high branch in the treeline while Yang and Nora held their ground off to the side. Ruby, Pyrrha and Weiss were behind Scorpio with their backs facing the cliffs.
Nora charged letting out a battle cry, Magnhild raised, she leapt into the air and brought her hammer down upon the top of Scorpio's head, the impact let out a clang and Nora fell to the ground vibrating as her the ripples from her own attack went back into her.
"Haha, I barely felt a thing, here try this!" Scorpio made to impale Nora with his stinger but she was tackled out of the way at the last second by Ren.
"Nora this isn't a Grimm you have to be careful." Ren admonished her.
"Sorry, Renny."
"You're quick on your feet boy." Scorpio rumbled withdrawing its stinger from the ground.
There was a hissing sound coming from the deep hole, Yang could see the ground melting away in its depths,
"Woah, we don't wanna get stung by that." She commented with a gulp.
Suddenly ice began forming on the stinger, it grew until it enveloped most of it. Weiss smirked until Scorpio crashed his stinger into the ground, shattering the ice and freeing his tail, he then promptly smashed it into her, Pyrrha and Ruby, sending them crashing into the treeline.
Yang bellowed out in anger at the sight of her sister being hurt and charged the giant scorpion, punching him squarely between the eyes, however, just like with Nora, it did nothing. Scorpio responded by batting her away with a claw, sending her crashing backwards through several trees before crashing to a halt out of sight.
"Yang!" Blake cried out worried about her new partner.
"Ha, anyone else?" Scorpio asked casually batting away Jaune who tried to charge him form the side.
"You're gonna regret that," Ruby yelled with a smirk.
"Oh and I suppose you're going to make me?"
"No, Yang will."
"Huh?" Scorpio looked away from Ruby just in time to see a red flaming comet smash into his face sending him tumbling backwards before skidding to a stop near the edge of the cliff. "AAAGHHH! THAT ACTUALLY HURT!"
His face now visible again everyone could see the spot where Yang had hit had cracks spiderwebbing from it. She'd cracked his armour.
"She cracked his armour, if we can just do that again we can beat him," Jaune said.
"Nora's semblance lets her absorb electricity to become stronger," Ren informed him.
"That's it, I know how we can do this," Jaune stated with a look of realisation on his face. "Ruby, can you get Yang to send him into the air?"
Ruby looked confused for a second but nodded and dashed towards her sister, Crescent Rose extended.
"Sorry, Yang." She whispered as stopped just behind her sister.
Yang looked at her sister, seeing something in her hand, several strands of her hair. Yang's eyes and hair became red once again as she cried out with rage her flaming hair roaring to life with even more vigour than before.
"Yang uppercut!" Ruby yelled at her Berserker sister.
"What are you up to-agh!" Scorpio let out an annoyed growl as shots from Ren and Blake hit near his face forcing him to use his pincers to shield it lest his eyes be hit.
"Weiss, lightning dust hit Nora with everything you've got!" Jaune cried out urgently.
The heiress reluctantly nodded and charged Myrtenaster with Lightning Dust causing the blade to glow yellow, she promptly sent the bolt at Nora who began to tremble and gained a bloodthirsty grin on her face. Yang meanwhile charged at Scorpio who tried to use his tail to stop her, only for her to dodge it, she did a baseball slide under his pincers and gave him a powerful punch to his jaw with all the strength she had left sending the giant beast into the air.
"Pyrrha let's give her a boost," Jaune commanded getting a nod from the Amazon.
She jumped onto his shield and he sent her as high as she could. Nora launched herself into the air by firing grenades from Magnhild. She quickly reached Pyrrha and jumped onto Akouo and jumped off it. She was quickly into the air again and was just above Scorpio whose belly was facing the sky. So with a cry and all of her might, she slammed Magnhild into his belly and brought him crashing back down to Earth.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
Ozpin, Glynda and Yu both looked in the direction of the ruins where a loud crash and a cloud of dust had been kicked up, as the camera's near there had been damaged by the battle.
"Are they going to be ok?" Professor Goodwitch asked. "That 'persona' of yours is not part of the exam and is far more dangerous than the Grimm out in the forest."
"Scorpio's holding back, I'm sure they're probably going to be fine," Yu replied.
"Have faith Glynda," Ozpin said calmly taking a sip from his mug "Besides we need to measure their potential."
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
Everyone coughed as the dust settled. When all was visible again they saw Scorpio lying on his back, large cracks spreading from his underbelly where Nora had struck him. Blood seeping out through the cracks in his exoskeleton.
Scorpio hacked and coughed, blood coming from his mouth as he did so.
"Did...we do it?" Ruby asked panting,
"Ha." Scorpio laughed causing her to flinch. "Not even close, if I wasn't holding back I'd kill you for this, but...I concede and acknowledge your potential." he coughed up the relics he'd swallowed. "Take your reward, however, know this Scorpio will fight you again and next time I won't hold back."
With that vow, the large scorpion, the bane of Orion, faded away in a burst of bluish light.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
"So what's your verdict?" Ozpin asked sipping from his mug again.
"They have potential," Yu said a few seconds after Scorpio returned to the Sea of Souls.
"They are flawed though, deeply" Chiron commented a frown on his face and his arms folded "Xiao Long's temper is an issue that must be addressed as soon as possible, not to mention Belladonna's lone wolf attitude"
"But that can wait," Yu interjected. "We'll see if their bonds will be strong enough, for what lies ahead."
Ozpin said nothing, merely sipping from his mug.
[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]
Emeanwhile a rather luxurious hotel room in Vale, Cinder Fall and her minions Mercury Black and Emerald Sustari were simply relaxing, until a man their boss recognised entered the room uninvited.
"Hello Arthur." Cinder greeted the man holding in her disdain for him.
"Ah, Cinder so you have managed to start the process of cleaning up your mess. Honestly losing the Maidens to a drunk, it's such a disgrace really you should be embarrassed."
Emerald clenched her fists but did nothing as Cinder gave her a sideways look which told her to say nothing.
"What do you want Arthur?" Cinder asked with irritation, a scowl on her face.
"To give you some new orders from Her Grace and to introduce someone whom she has decided will aid you, it seems you need all the help you can get." Watt's stated smugly.
A grunt and a complaint cut off any retort Cinder might have had.
"Why the hell...do I have to...lug this thing here?" A man's voice complained.
Cinder watched as a man in a suit and Tie entered the room hauling with him a solid flatscreen television. While true they were technically obsolete due to the existence of HoloTV's which had been invented by Atlas there was still a demand for them, as even though the former kingdom of Mantle had rebranded itself as Atlas their deeds were not so easily forgotten even now eighty years on.
The man set the TV down on the floor took let himself flop down onto the other sofa letting out a sigh.
"It is part of your semblance and I'm not built for manual labour," Watts replied brushing some dust off of his coat.
"Friggen nerd." Cinder couldn't help but like the man, if only a little.
"Nice suit, you steal it from a hobo?" Mercury chuckled to himself.
I don't have time for a dominatrix and her sub." Adachi said in a bored manner turning away from them to rest. "Do your kinky shit elsewhere."
"You sonuva-" "Mercury." he froze at Cinder speaking his name in a rather dangerous tone. "Sit down." Her tone left no room for argument.
"Now, as I was saying, Mr Adachi has a very useful Semblance, if you are polite I'm sure he'll help you, her grace also wanted to be clear, he is 'not' a subordinate, think of him more of an assistant," Arthur said as he sat down on another sofa.
"Oh? What kind of Semblance is it?" Cinder asked intrigued, knowing she wouldn't get any answers out of Adachi right now.
"The very rare kind, the last time its kind was recorded and used was about two hundred years ago?" Arthur shrugged.
Realization light up Cinder's eyes and she smirked. "I see that will definitely come in handy. But he can use it can't he?"
"Of course, it's active even now," Arthur replied nonchalantly before withdrawing a small box from his pocket and handing it to Cinder. "This is from Her Grace, now I take it our insiders have already told you about the death of the King of the Emerald Forest correct?"
"Yes, part of an S-class exam completed by Yu Narukami a new young hotshot who is now poised to become Ozpin's replacement." unseen to them, Adachi opened a single eye before shutting it again, he was now listening closely.
"He possesses a power known as Persona, it is what gave him the power to slay such a powerful Grimm." Watts explained "But that is not all, he has a power known as the Wild Card, something allows him to change Personae, to even more powerful ones. Her Grace is very interested in this power, you are going to use that..." Cinder opened the box within it saw a glove, similar to the one she had used to try and extract the Fall Maiden's power in the first place. "To conduct a little experiment. Do not worry, her grace has promised extra support for your plans just in case you need her to hold your hand a bit longer."
Cinder didn't rise to the bait, as much as she wanted to incinerate Watts she knew that Salem would punish her for it.
"Soo...what's the King of Emerald Forest?" Emerald asked cutting through the silence.
"A very powerful Grimm, named such because it is more powerful than any other in the forest." Cinder explained as she put on the glove which morphed and became one with her skin leaving only Salem's symbol behind. "Killing it means that Yu Narukami is the real deal."
"Indeed, I can't really give you specifics of what Persona actually is, near as I can tell it is similar to a Semblance," Watts said ignoring Adachi's snort.
"If we don't know what this Wild Card power is, how will this." Cinder held up the hand she had put the glove on "Let me harness it?"
"That is why I am here; Her Grace has given me orders to observe Mr Narukami for a while to gather data on this Persona power and the Wild Card ability. From my understanding she wishes to harness it, she attempted to do so on its previous bearer sadly she died before Her Grace could even meet the poor thing, Her Grace was most furious that day." Watts recounted grimacing at the memory of Salem's rage after hearing her target was dead, as he stood up. "At any rate, the data I gather will be used to adjust your glove, now I'm rather tired, thank you for letting me use your bed."
Cinder let out a deep breath as the infuriating man strode out and stole the luxury bed in the hotel room she had paid for out of her own funds.
"So what are going to do now?" Mercury asked.
"We will have to make some adjustments," Cinder replied examining her hand. "But I think this will be a very interesting experience. We can use Narukami for our benefit."