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 yawned as he looked out of the window of the staff room at the rising morning sun. He didn't have a class with RWBY or JNPR today, he decided to give both a break even though JNPR hadn't been involved with last nights incident. Ozpin had told him that the SDC Doctor responsible for creating the Homunculus from last night would arrive soon as such he'd gotten up and made himself ready. He understood Ozpin would talk to him first and then Yu would wait and escort him to Team RWBY's room so that he could personally speak to Weiss.
"Good morning lad." Professor Port greeted Yu as he drank some coffee and took a seat in the corner reading a book with one free hand. "Ozpin has informed me of this Doctor's visit so I know Team RWBY might be late to class, he informed me that the doctor would speak to him first and then you will escort him to Team RWBY's dorm where he will speak with them in private while everyone else is getting ready to go to class."
Yu couldn't say his time at Beacon hadn't been interesting so far. Last night he'd discovered that several of his more demonic Persona's: Gremory, Sitri, Murmur, Raum amongst others under the Lesser Key of Solomon had been planning to bribe Incubus and Succubus to use their powers to get them into the students dreams in order to mess with them. He'd put a stop to that quickly.
'We weren't gonna hurt 'em.' Raum insisted.
'Indeed, maybe a deal, a few nightmares a trauma or two.' Gremory listed off casually and utterly unapologetically. 'And they'd have been ripe for possession and a bit for a bit of a joy ride nothing harmful.'
Hence why none of the demons were allowed to roam unsupervised by any Persona other than one with holy affiliations, such as Buddha's Saints or Angels.
'It would have worked if Incubus hadn't snitched.' Murmur grumbled Yu could see him crossing his arms huffily in his mind's eye.
'Hey, I'm in the dog house as it is I don't need help getting into more trouble from you assholes.' Incubus defended himself.
"Is your scroll buzzing?" Peter asked curiously.
Yu felt vibrating in his pocket and withdrew his scroll. Indeed, he had received a message. It was from Ozpin. It said that the Doctor had already arrived and he was nearly done speaking with himself and Glynda.
'And they didn't tell us? Why weren't we in that meeting we fought the damn thing!' Gaap complained.
He did think it was strange that Ozpin hadn't invited him to the staff meeting but ultimately he'd get an explanation along with Team RWBY so it was fine.
"Still annoying though," Bael grumbled.
Yu stood up and after rubbing his eyes left the staffroom to head to the elevator which leads to Ozpins office.
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The Hallways were mostly empty still as there were at least ten more minutes before classes started. Some students had already eaten breakfast and were either on their way back to their dorms to spend their free time leisurely and relax before classes or going to their classroom in order not to be late, mostly these students had classes on the other side of the school.
Yu noticed that many students gave him nervous looks. He suppressed the urge to try and be friendly as this was what he needed in order to teach here. He couldn't afford for students to think they could take advantage of them. He'd have liked to be a teacher that could be friendly and approachable but that just wasn't possible in this situation.
On his way, he came across a girl with black carrying a backpack. She had black hair with lighter streaks and mint green eyes. Her hair was done up in a twin tail hairstyle with white bows. She was wearing the Beacon uniform but she was quite short, even more so than Ruby.
The girl didn't say anything but smiled and waved at him as she walked past him. He shrugged and gave her a polite nod as he rounded a corner. Eventually, he came to the lobby where the elevator to Ozpins office lay.
There sitting on a bench was a boy who looked to be around Ruby's age. He had white hair and light blue eyes and a fair complexion. His hair was mostly pushed to left, although he did have a cowlick. The boy was fairly tall with a slender build. His attire consisted of a short-sleeved white dress shirt, the sleeves fastened just above his elbows by navy blue cuffs, each with twin gold buttons. Over his untucked shirt, he wears a light blue vest, with a black handkerchief in his right breast pocket. He also wore a black necktie, navy blue trousers and black dress shoes.
Yu wondered if he was a visitor and so introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm Yu Narukami are you waiting for someone?"
"Ah, yes. My name is Whitley Schnee I came with the Doctor to visit my sister after I heard what happened." Whitley introduced himself politely extending his hand which Yu took and shook. "They're talking about you in Atlas you know, the young new hotshot due to take over the most prestigious Huntsmen academy in the world. I imagine when I get back I'll be bombarded with 'requests' to know what kind of person you are, most likely so they have some idea as to how to toady up to you."
"I apologise for that," Yu said coming and taking a seat next to Whitley, his more friendly aspects starting to come out. "Schnee, you said, are you related to Weiss?"
"Yes, she's my older sister. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of me. Weiss has prodigious singing talents and the fact that she was made heiress after our eldest sister joined the military meant that father put the limelight on her. I've been kept in the background just in case, to keep me away from any controversy they might cause." Whitley replied with an indifferent tone before changing the subject. "So how is Weiss, how bad were her injuries?"
"Not too bad thankfully, minor neck injuries, even so, the head of our infirmary Margaret has a healing semblance so Weiss was fine," Yu assured him.
"Ah, that's good. Thank Goodness" Whitley stated with a smile. "We may not have always gotten along but she is still my sister."
Whitley was interesting, he was guarded, even more so than Ozpin and Yu was having a difficult time getting a feel for his personality and thus was unsure what to say. Naoki, Marie, Ai they had been difficult to try and talk to but not as difficult as this. Yu couldn't help but feel a sense of thrill, revelling in the challenge of trying to get to know this boy.
However before Yu could say anything else the elevator doors opened and out of it stepped a man wearing a lab coat, black trousers and a pair of black shoes. He had wild greying hair and eyes concealed behind a pair of thick round glasses.
"Ah, you are the new headmaster-to-be Professor Narukami Correct?" The man asked in a rather deep and unsettling voice. "I am Doctor Ferdinand, the creator of the being you fought and defeated last night."
"Well, I'll show you to Weiss's dormitory, her team will be present, is that ok?"
"It's perfectly fine." The doctor chuckled. "As long as they remain silent on this issue, the SDC did plan to announce the existence of these beings as a rival to the Atlesian Knights and Paladins."
Yu stood up as did Whitley and he leads the two down the hallways to the dormitory.
"Sadly this incident has a caused a delay, as such we've had to push the public release back a few months."
'This guy's got real priorities doesn't he?.' Cu Chulainn commented
"Well, it is for the best, better safe than sorry after all." Whitley piped up.
"Indeed, especially considering we are trying to create a new form of security against the White Fang." Doctor Ferdinand agreed. "The White Fang might be gone in Atlas for now but they still remain in the other kingdoms, plus there is no doubt that they'll be back. None of them can let go of their hatred of the Schnee family they don't care about equality they just want war and blood."
Turning a corner Yu could see the girl from before walking out of Team RWBYs dorm with Ruby just behind her talking to her about something. As they got closer Yu thought he heard a thump from behind him but dismissed it in favour of what was going on with RWBY and this girl.
"…and that's where the Combat Class is," Ruby said to the girl who nodded to her.
"Hello Ruby, what's going on?" Yu asked.
"Oh Professor, this girl is a Haven student, but apparently her team pranked her," Ruby said. "They told her she needed to come here early and wearing a Beacon uniform to get a dorm for their team."
"Well that is a lie, I'm afraid the guest dorms for the other school's teams don't open up until just before we break up," Yu explained. "I'm afraid we can't accommodate you, so you'll have to back to Haven, would like me to contact the headmaster for you?"
The girl simply shook her head.
"Well I apologise but I need you to get going now ok?"
The girl simply smiled, nodded her head, then adjusted her backpack and walked off with a wave.
"Bye Mint, see you at the festival!" Ruby called after her.
"Ruby we're here to speak to Weiss about last night," Yu said
"Oh right, er… Weiss do you want us to leave?" Ruby asked her partner.
"No it's fine, now let them in."
"Oh right hehe…sorry, come in." Ruby said quickly stepping aside so all three could enter.
As he entered the dorm Yu raised an eyebrow at the sight of the unstable and hastily made bunk beds.
"Bunk beds, I do recall you wanting to have bunk beds with Winter isn't that correct sister?" Whitley asked which caused Weiss to look over at the boy in shock from her seat on her bed.
"Whitley! What are you doing here?" Weiss demanded shooting him a glare before hiding it or trying too at least.
"I heard what happened and decided to come along, its only natural to worry when one's sibling is harmed isn't it?" Whitley asked with a smile that seemed to make Weiss angrier.
Before it could go any further the Doctor spoke up, closing the door behind him.
"Greetings Ms Schnee I am Doctor Ferdinand Augustus Universalis Sanguinis Trismegistus." The Doctor introduced himself with a bow. "I was hired by your father to create the being that sadly attacked you last night."
"That's a mouthful," Yang commented received an elbow to the side from her sister. Ferdinand for his part merely chuckled.
"Indeed, my grandparents on both sides all wished to contribute to my naming, hence the 'mouthful' just call me Doctor or Ferdinand if you prefer." The Doctor answered good-naturedly. "Might I have your names?"
"I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby introduced herself.
"Yang Xiao Long." Yang greeted cheerfully.
"Blake Belladonna," Blake said formally.
"Belladonna? Very exotic." Whitley commented Yu thought he saw Blake flinch but dismissed it. "Well, I am Whitley Schnee, Weiss's younger brother."
"Wow, I didn't realise you had a brother Weiss, how come you never mentioned it?" Ruby asked her partner.
"Because I had hoped not to have too," Weiss said grumpily.
"Please, allow me to offer my deepest apologies for this situation," Ferdinand said clearing his throat. "I'm afraid the blame lies partially with me."
"You? How?" Weiss asked suspiciously.
"You see while I was working on this project I required an assistant, he was a young man who was a faunus."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Blake asked sharply her eyes narrowed.
"It's actually quite important. At first, when I hired him he was quite useful, he caught onto small mistakes I made in the creation of the 'Mannequin Warriors' as I named them. He helped to smooth out the edges so to speak as well as helping remind me of the small details I tended to forget." Ferdinand explained. "However, after news broke that the White Fang chapter in Atlas had been destroyed he became quite jumpy, I dismissed it as nerves as the project was very close to completion."
"That was probably my doing," Whitley stated brushing down his jacket. "At the time an Assassin from the White Fang broke in and tried to kill me, however I was able to talk him down, luckily it seems they sent an amateur with a family of his own so his conscience forced him to stop and I was able to convince him to turn himself in to General Ironwood where he apparently helped to take down the rest of White Fang in Atlas."
"Oh please." Weiss scoffed in disbelief. "You expect us to believe that you talked a White Fang assassin into turning himself and his fellows in?"
"You can't blame me for trying." Whitley shrugged with a small smile. "Nevertheless the fact that the Assassin helped take down the White Fang in Atlas is a fact."
"Soo, these mannequins." Yang cut in trying to get back to the original subject. "What are they exactly."
"I'm glad you asked." Doctor Ferdinand said taking off his glasses and withdrawing a handkerchief and using it to clean them. "They are genetically engineered life forms that I created at the behest of Mr Schnee. They are designed to be superior to the Atlesian Knights and Paladins in every way and unlike those limited machines they are capable of fighting Huntsman class opponents on somewhat even ground. They are strong, agile, can regenerate. They need not eat, sleep or drink. They only require a certain amount of light a day, it need not even be natural light."
"And what about the assistant?" Blake inquired staring at the doctor.
"He was stopped before he could sabotage any more soldiers but just in case the entire batch was destroyed." Ferdinand replied, "He was taken into custody and is currently being…. 'questioned' by the Atlesian Military."
"Well, at least something good came out of this." Weiss grouched, Yu thought he saw Blake's bow twitch but focused as the doctor was talking again.
"The whole batch of Mannequin soldiers has been destroyed, per your father's orders this is just in case he managed to sabotage anymore." The doctor stopped cleaning his glasses and examined them, he frowned then continued cleaning them more vigorously.
"Wait, he didn't just cancel the project?" Weiss asked surprised.
"He is quite invested this project, making the soldiers is rather cheap, especially compared to the price we must pay the Atlesian military to use their machines for security. I believe the plan is to market them as superior cheap security and undercut the Atlesian Military and make a tidy profit. Loaning out their Knights is a global source of revenue for the military and Master Jacques intends to compete."
"It's about money. That figures." Weiss snorted shaking her head.
"Speaking of money, this is for you sister," Whitley said holding out a business card.
"Café Lima?" Weiss read out the card. "What is this for?"
"Father as you probably know has cut your allowance down, but I think you underestimate by how much, as such he asked me to give you this, the restaurant is run by an 'acquaintance of his. Show this card you will be given a job as a waitress."
"A waitress!" She screeched causing her team to flinch. "Why would I-"
"To learn the value of a lien." Whitley cut in. "Father has also decided not to give you any more free dust, you must now buy your own dust to fuel your desire of becoming a huntress. You had to know that father would retaliate he hates being defied, look at Winter, for Oum's sake he didn't hesitate to disown her."
There was silence in the room for a moment. Yu saw Ruby flinch before averting her gaze to himself. Then, without warning Weiss leapt at Whitley and tackled him through the door where they both spilt out into the hallway.
Weiss began punching Whitley hitting mostly at his face which he tried to shield using his arms. It continued for a few seconds before Yang snapped out of it and quickly grabbed Weiss pulling her off of her brother.
"Hey chill out Ice Queen!" Weiss seemed to ignore this and kept flailing, trying to get at her brother but was unable to break free from Yang's grip.
Yu got in between her and her brother and yelled with his sternest voice. "Weiss Enough!"
This seemed to do the trick, she looked up, blinked and then looked around confused.
"Wha-whats going on? Let go of me!"
"Not until you calm down Ice Queen."
"Are you ok?" Yu asked helping Whitley to his feet.
"I'm alright, I suppose I did take things a bit far." Whitley acquiesced with one hand on covering his eye.
"Do you want to go to the infirmary, Margaret has a healing semblance."
"No I'm alright, the bruise should heal up quickly, I don't think she hit me that hard," Whitley replied with a shrug. "I should go, I can see where I'm not wanted. Doctor are you finished?"
"Indeed I am," Ferdinand confirmed. "There is nothing further of relevance to discuss."
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you all," Whitley said giving a bow. "I should go."
With that Whitley quickly left, the doctor trailing behind him. Weiss meanwhile still seemed confused and upset.
"Alright, the rest of you keep getting ready for class, \Ms Schnee you'll come with me. Now!" Yu said sternly before looking at the gathered crowd. "What are you all doing here, to class NOW!"
The whole crowd jumped and immediately began scattering. Yang warily released her teammate who followed Yu down the hallway looking rather miserable.
"Before that, might I have a moment of your time, Ms Rose?" The voice made the other three jump.
Standing there in the corner of the room leaning against the wall was a tall, gaunt figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. His hair was black. He had heavy tufted brows a thin hawk-like nose and steady grey eyes.
"I am Sherlock Holmes, a consulting detective, and I was wondering if I might ask a question or two." The tall man requested politely.
"You're a persona aren't you?" Ruby realised after a few seconds.
"Indeed, I am here because I couldn't help but notice a few things," Sherlock stated. "You see from within the Sea of Souls his senses are our senses too and thus here I am."
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Out near the landing pads, Whitley walked up to a young man who was concealed from view behind a pillar.
"So do you have it?" Whitley asked.
"Yup right here." He was shown a recording on a scroll, the video was of Weiss viciously attacking him.
"Excellent, and there no other versions from any other perspectives?"
"No, my team made sure that no one else was able to record it. About our deal-"
"Worry not, I am a man of my word as promised your ill mother's medical expenses, past and future shall be taken care of," Whitley replied idly rubbing his sleeves before taking the scroll. "I assume you've wiped your details and other data save for the recording."
"Yup."
"Good, here for you and your team." Whitley withdrew four golden Lien cards and handed them over to the other person who's eyes widened, they'd never seen this much Lien in their life.
Whitley took the scroll and continued watching the video before stopping it and turning the scroll of before pocketing it. He then began making his way back to his personal Bullhead where the Doctor was waiting for him.
"Oh, just one more thing." He paused. "I don't have to tell you what will happen should any copies find their way into the public domain do I?"
"N-no of course not, it won't happen I promise."
"Excellent, then our business is concluded, enjoy yourself, Mr Winchester." With that Whitley boarded his bullhead which closed behind him and began to take off.
As soon as he was gone Cardin's teammates gathered around him, looking awe at the Lien cards.
"That's a lot of Lien." Dove breathed looking in Awe at the lien cards.
"So you seriously haven't got a copy of that video?" Sky asked.
"Of course I haven't you idiot" Cardin snapped "I'm not stupid, I ain't gonna cross the SDC or that kid. Besides with all this, we'll be living like kings for a good while. Come on boys we should get to class, but tonight dinners on me, I heard of a fancy new place where the food is great."
"We got port first." Russel groaned before perking up "But I heard Goodwitch is planning something different for Combat Class today, looks you won't be getting to beat the snot outta Arc again."
"Whatever, that was getting boring anyway. I could use a challenge." Cardin said with a smirk as he gave each of his teammates a card before pocketing his own and walking with them towards their first class of the day.
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The private Schnee bullhead was very spacious and extremely luxurious with plenty of space, places to sit, things to eat and drink, things to do during the journey.
Doctor Ferdinand sat at the minibar, having poured himself a drink of wine and sipping at it. Whitley walked in from the cockpit and walked towards his taking a seat next to the man. He poured himself some juice in a wine glass, he hadn't yet acquired the taste for Alcohol and doubted he ever would considering the state it had left his mother.
"The pilot says we should be back at the manor by evening," Whitley informed him.
"Excellent, it wouldn't do to be away for too long." Ferdinand chuckled. "My control over your father is limited as it is. Too much time alone and he might get a hold of himself. So the recording?"
"Right here." Whitley opened the scroll and slid it across the bar to the doctor who caught it and watched the video.
"Yes, this will do nicely," Ferdinand said as he laughed at the video. "It should be enough to crack your fathers will, and so allow me to completely control him, making him my puppet."
"And the SDC will be ours in all but name, and fathers first act will be to name me heir and give me some small measure of control as a test run," Whitley said sipping his juice and looking out of the window. "My first act will be to increase spending on safety equipment and other such things, earning me the adoration of the faunus in Atlas and completely destroying any further arguments the White Fang has with the SDC."
"Any lost capital will easily be made up by renting out my mannequin soldiers and steadily raising the rent as time goes on mostly towards wealthier clients," Ferdinand stated sipping his wine.
"Do you think they suspect?" Whitley inquired.
"Whether they do or not is irrelevant." Ferdinand replied. "Any evidence they have would be circumstantial and all theory with nothing solid. Mr Winchester will not talk, he won't risk his dear mother. Plus we have the weight of the SDC behind us, with your fathers resources, clout and capital as our shield, they on the other hand have nothing but conjecture."
"You know, a part of me legitimately hoped it wouldn't come to this," Whitley said sadly as he glanced at the video from the corner of his eye, breaking the silence and changing the topic. "I really hoped Weiss would reach out to me, I suppose I could have tried harder but still…"
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"Not anymore, Father, Mother, Winter, Weiss. They all made it clear where they stand and that's not with me." Whitley growled tightening his grip on his own wine glass. "I stand alone. So I will forge my own destiny and take what I want."
"A toast, to our profitable future ventures." Ferdinand chuckled holding up his glass to Whitley
"A toast, to taking hold of our destinies." Whitley held up his glass and clinked it against Ferdinand's own.