Here I am again. I know, my updates have been REALLY slow. Looking back, it'd be a miracle if I updated each story once a month. I guess that with six active stories that can't be helped, especially if I have a life outside of fanfictions (which I don't, not really), but I still feel like I've been letting you guys down. Which sucks since I've been trying my hardest.
Anyway, here's the next chapter of this story, hope you enjoy. Still commissioned by Ultrahero74
Ozpin's group was suspicious, but strangely enough, Ozpin himself was the least worried of them all.
True, he did not know their kidnapper's motives, but if he hadn't harmed them in any way, then maybe he had other plans in mind. Taking them out of the picture for a while might've been it – but eventually he could've done it simply by killing them and be done with it. No, for some reason Mr Vlakhavlakh wanted them to see that projection. And he seriously doubted it could be a prank – it was far too elaborated. An illusion was out of the question since it was too perfect, and involving too many people, to be an illusion.
Of course, very skilled illusionists could still manage, but again, it didn't make any sense. If Mr Vlakhavlakh was working with Salem, then having them all at his mercy should've resulted in death, not… whatever that was.
Furthermore, they had been in there for over an hour. To maintain such a complex, detailed illusion encompassing all five senses, on so many people, would'vea very hard task. He doubted anyone would be able to ever train enough to succeed.
Except for Salem.
But straight-up moves like that weren't her style. True, wiping out an entire century's true defenders meant Grimm would then go wild and civilization would fall, but eventually she would not have won – and every time humanity hit a new low, they always managed to rise even higher.
She wanted to keep humanity dependant on Ozpin and his warriors. If they were left to fend for themselves, they would eventually become stronger than the Grimm, with or without the Wizard. She wanted to amass enough forces to strike once and for all, not start an endless war neither could really win. Even if that was what it currently looked like from an outside view.
So, eventually, Mr Vlakhavlakh couldn't have really been one of her servants. It not only didn't fit her style nor her goals, but it made no sense at all even if one were to take in consideration Salem had decided to change tactics.
Which probably meant he was acting on his own. As much as he knew he shouldn't underestimate him just because he wasn't with Salem, Ozpin couldn't help but be relieved by that. Mr Vlakhavlakh might've been dangerous, but as long as he wasn't connected to Salem, Ozpin could tolerate it.
The same, unfortunately, could not be said for Ironwood and Goodwitch. Both of them were far too rational to be relieved by that simple knowledge. They likely wanted to get out of there, investigate Mr Vlakhavlakh, fight him, capture him, put him in jail, throw away the key and thenask themselves why he did all of that.
Speaking of said two, they were currently silent. Ozpin could honestly say he didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.
Fortunately, he didn't have to do anything. They weren't causing trouble, and they were keeping their doubts to themselves.
The students were behaving themselves as well, as much as they could at least. They weren't panicking, nor trying to blast their way out, nor panicking andtrying to blast their way out. They looked like they were enjoying the projection so far.
Qrow, on the other hand, looked bored out of his mind. The poor man was so far out of his element and out of his comfort zone, all he could do was take swings from that flask of his. How he still hadn't finished it, Ozpin wasn't sure. Maybe he had several identical flasks hidden in his shirt. Yes, that sounded like Qrow – he was more likely to disguise an alcohol flask than a weapon.
And Mr Vlakhavlakh looked satisfied with the results of his actions, if a bit disappointed no one had noticed him yet.
All normal after-
Ozpin turned back to the last spot he'd swept his eyes on and, true to what he'd thought, Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh was there, arms crossed over his chest and a slightly aloof look on his face.
"Ah. Someone has finally noticed me, I guess," the odd dragon-man-crystal hybrid cheered up slightly as he intercepted Ozpin's gaze with his own. Everyone else was startled by his sudden appearance. "I was beginning to think I hadn't dismissed my invisibility like I thought I did."
"You!" Ironwood and Goodwitch immediately shot up to their feet.
'And here goes their good behaviour,'Ozpin sighed to himself. "James, Glynda, please stand-"
Bang.
He'd spoken too late, or too slowly. Ironwood had already fished out his handcannon and fired a shot at the man, who just tilted his head to the right to dodge it. "So rude. I thought Atlas taught you better manners than that, General Ironwood. Surely shooting someone's head off the second they appear isn't how you greet your hosts, isn't it?"
"Teleport us back home, now," Ironwood commanded sternly, thought he kept his temper in check.
"No."
A purple aura enveloped the man and slammed him against the wall hard enough for spider-web cracks to form in a wide radius around him. Unlike Ironwood, Goodwitch had no second thoughts about fuelling her anger into aggressivity.
"Glynda, let him go, now." Ozpin hated giving orders like that, but sometimes he knew it would be the only way – convincing them to stand down would take too long, and given how Mr Vlakhavlakh had replied to Ironwood, it was likely he would just aggravated them further instead of seeking a calm conversation.
The woman growled in frustration, but did as she was told. Mr Vlakhavlakh slid back down the fall without changing expression, as if that were to be a daily occurrence. "Ah, thank you for that. It is quite difficult to have a civil conversation with someone who slams you into walls or shoots you in the face. Wouldn't want to get angry at each other so early on, would we?"
Ozpin frowned. He really was pushing it. "Mr Vlakhavlakh, I assume you're here to return us to our homes, am I right?"
"Actually no, you're staying here for a while still. Sorry 'bout that, hehe, nothing personal honestly. Business is business, and this is just business." The man dusted himself off and took a few steps towards them, causing both Ironwood, Goodwitch and Qrow to tense. "Whoa, no need for speedy violence. I'm just here to talk. Doesn't seem fair for you to gang up on me when I'm just talking."
"Doesn't seem fair for you to teleport us here against our will and keep us trapped here," Qrow retorted with a scowl.
"Too bad, but the good news are – you won't be trapped in here alone any longer! Which means you'll be getting companions, before I get your hopes up." A set of groans echoed out. Even the students, who despite everything were enjoying the projection, would've really preferred not to be there but back home. "You'll know some of them! But all of them will be somewhat familiar with at least one of you. Are you ready? First one, is a certain… let me see… Winter Schnee."
"Winter?" Weiss repeated, shocked.
"You kidnapped Specialist Schnee?" Ironwood fumed. His patience might've been great, but even he had his limits.
"That I did," Vlakhavlakh nodded with a grin before giant blue crystal appeared in the middle of the cave. Soon, as if hit by an invisible force, it shattered, leaving in its place a very confused Winter Schnee.
"What happ-"
"Moving on, our next guest will be Taiyang Xiao Long." Just like before, a large blue crystal appeared and shattered to reveal a flabbergasted father of two, looking around in shock.
"Wha-"
"Next up is a favourite of mine… no, actually she's at the bottom of the list. Raven Branwen." Vlakhavlakh's bored tone matched her appearance – in her case, the crystal didn't even appear. She just popped into existence in the cave.
"What the-"
"Our third treasured guest will be someone few of you will recognize, Amber Whatshername!" Khor actually knew her name, but he really didn't bother since everyone called her Amber anyway.
This time, the students had no idea who the girl was. She had light brown skin, brown hair and brown eyes. Her outfit as well was mostly brown, with some dull green. She was also a complete stranger to all the students in the room.
The adults, however, were shocked. Winter, Tai and Raven didn't know who she was, though the latter could guess her identity by the others' reaction. Ironwood, Goodwitch, Qrow and Ozpin were just shocked.
"Where-" Cutting herself off, Amber did what she'd been told to do if she felt threatened – she threw off her cloak, grabbed her staff and bashed Vlakhavlakh on the head with it.
Breaking one of his horns.
The man yelped and backed away, rubbing the stump. "Ouch! That might be bone but I still feel it, you know?! Who the hell taught youmanners?"
Amber looked around, still wary, but relaxed when she saw Ozpin and his group. She grew sheepish. "Oh… sorry, I just react badly to being surprised…"
"No kidding…"
"Professor Ozpin, what's going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know as well," Tai nodded, agreeing with the girl. Raven was thinking the same, but didn't voice it.
"General Ironwood, sir! What has caused this? As far as I'm aware, our military does not have any Teleport Semblances – not this powerful." It went without saying who that was.
"And now, for the final guest!" Everyone was a tad annoyed by how Khor had just interrupted their questions, but they shut up – at least one party had to be polite.
Ozpin frowned in anticipation. First Winter, then Tai, then Raven, then Amber. If that kept up, whoever appeared next would be of extreme importance to the ongoing war between Salem and himself. Would it be Salem herself? No, surely Vlakhavlakh wouldn't be as foolish as that. Maybe that man, Ultraman Taro? Again, he just couldn't see their host trying to trap beings so much powerful than himself. Maybe one of Salem's servants?
"Sun Wukong!"
Sun Wu-… what now?
Ozpin almost fell anime-style at the anticlimactic reveal. The Faunus blond appeared, just as confused as everyone else, but smiled and gave a thumbs-up as soon as he saw a certain cat Faunus in disguise. "Blake! Good to see you again! What am I doing here, by the way?"
"I'm sure Ozpin can answer that question real quick," Vlakhavlakh grinned mischievously. "Because honestly, I don't want to be here to deal with the aftermath. Oh, and Raven? Try to use your Semblance, and I'll pop you back here. But the catch is, anyone stepping through one of your portals will be brought back… a sixth smaller. Test it out if you wanna know what thatmeans."
With that said, Khor exploded in a shower of tiny blue crystals.
All the newcomers found themselves speechless and dumbfounded. Which was understandable, since they'd just had their strangest encounter yet.
Ozpin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Goddammit. He knew it, he just knew Vlakhavlakh would find a way to irritate even him. As powerful as their host was, he was even more childish and immature than his students.
…
…
…
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the point still stood.
He turned to face the five new prisoners, who were all looking at him with various degrees of hostility -Raven- and curiosity -everyone else-, expecting him to explain. "Mr Khor Evik Vlalakhavlakh apparently has a Teleport Semblance of some kind. I know not what this place is, or where we are, or who is behind this other than Mr Vlakhavlakh, or why this happened. I'll tell you what we've been told – we're here to watch a projection of a future, our future, and learn from it. We know nothing else."
Raven made a disgusted sound. "And he thinks I'm going to take this sitting down?" She grabbed her weapon and slashed at the air, creating a swirling, bright red portal. "Goodbye."
"Wait, where do you think you're going?!" Yang shook herself from her shock at seeing her 'mother' (appellative still pending) and activated her Semblance as she looked at the woman (already better) who had abandoned her so many years ago.
"Away from here," Raven replied flatly, stepping through the portal and closing it behind her.
"Dammit Raven, at least you could've gotten-" Qrow was interrupted by Raven reappearing exactly where she'd been. "What the-"
"I'm still here?" Raven frowned, shocked. She'd just gotten a glimpse of Vernal as she stepped out of the portal, yet there she was. With her frown turning into a scowl, she slashed the air again and stepped through her gate, deaf to everyone's calls for her to stop.
Her second attempt failed just as miserably as the first.
"Raven, stop, no one can get out of here," Qrow tried to reason with her. Then his eyes fell a bit lower -he blamed his instinct of checking chicks out for that- and he halted, trying to compute what he was seeing.
Raven, following his eyes with no small amount of anger -she knew where he was looking, after all-, found herself just as shocked.
"Did I just lose two sizes?" she accidentally asked out loud, much to hers and everyone else's embarrassment.
With that commotion going on, Ozpin took the chance to speak with Amber separately.
"Amber, are you okay?" He looked her over, having already noticed the lack of injuries.
"I… I'm fine, Professor Ozpin. Just confused." Amber retracted her staff and put it away. "One moment, I'm fighting this hostile trio and I'm trapped, then I have some kind of out-of-body experience and see myself being in a coma in some kind of machine in a dungeon or something, and then I'm here. Do you know what might've happened?"
Ozpin didn't show it, but inwardly, he was in turmoil. "Apparently, Mr Vlakhavlakh's Semblance has some side-effects. We can ask him once he comes back," was what he said. However, he was thinking something else entirely.
Mr Vlakhavlakh had clearly healed Amber. No one else could've done it, and he had already shown not only a very unusual and powerful Semblance, but also an appearance that could not possibly be caused by said Semblance. He was starting to piece together a theory.
The Gods, as much as he hated them and as cruel they were, were also very powerful. He should've known they wouldn't have abandoned the world without keeping an eye on it. They hadn't done anything for millennia, but perhaps they had decided to throw humanity a figural bone by gifting someone else with the power of magic, and introducing them to the war.
Hope blossomed for the first time in years, if not centuries, in the old man's soul. Maybe, even if hecouldn't, maybe Vlakhavlakh could kill Salem once and for all. Or even if killing her turned out to be impossible, maybe together they'd be able to trap her until all Grimm had been taken care of. Without those, her power would be immensely smaller, and easier to deal with.
Maybe, even if the war wouldn't stop, there would soon be no need for him to be constantly alert. And there would be no need to drag children into the war like he'd all too often been forced to do, not because he wanted, but because the younger they were, the more time they had to learn and change the world, no matter how small that change would be.
A small smile opened up on his face before he could stop it. "However, no matter what his answer will be, I think we can trust him. As eccentric as he may be, he's still shown no aggressive behaviour in our regards. We can give him the benefit of the doubt."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cave.
"How-?! His Semblance is Teleport, how did he do that?!" Raven was at loss for words while she stared down at her now significantly smaller chest, while her brother had finally broken out of his shock and was rolling on the floor laughing. 'This isn't possible! It's like he has magic… which is impossible because the only male who has magic is Ozpin, and even he has very little magic. I could probably kill him without breaking a sweat. Salem and the Maidens are the only ones who have magic. Did he find a way to steal it from a Maiden?'
"Well, now I definitely don't wanna try and escape," Yang commented, her 'mother's (appellative stillpending) predicament having lessened her anger in favour of amusement.
'I second that,'Weiss thought, glumly looking down as well. Not like she had anything to lose in that department, but she really didn't want to know if she could go negative.
"Makes you wonder what would happen to guys…" Jaune trailed off as he, and every other male in the room, cringed and closed their legs. "Okay, no, it doesn't really make you wonder…"
"Worried it's not gonna change much?" Yang teased him, making him sputter and turn red in embarrassment.
"Yang, that was mean and just uncalled for," her father reprimanded her, making her silently curse since she had temporarily forgotten he was there too. "Apologize."
"Sorry Jaune, I was just kidding." Yang then shot him a look that said 'accept my apology or I'll kick your balls in'. He laughed nervously and nodded.
"It- It's no big d-deal, Yang…"
"Children, please calm down." Ozpin cut into everyone's discussion, including Weiss and Winter's little family reunion (which had for some reason included Weiss getting smacked on the head). "I'm afraid no one of us is going to get out of here until we've seen everything Mr Vlakhavlakh wants us to see – namely, everything this projector has to show us. I suggest we sit down and watch."
Yang scowled, immediately thinking back to her mother. "But-"
"Ms Xiao Long, you can talk with Raven later," Ozpin interrupted her, knowing all too well that the Xiao Long family had some choice words in store for Raven. "For now, why don't we sit back and try to enjoy the show? We don't have anything else to do here."
True to his words, the projector lit up as soon as he finished talking. The Professor sat down on the ground with a small smile, feeling slightly smug at being proven correct.
Space.
A vast and infinite space, filled with countless worlds and home to millions of civilizations.
one such world was Remnant.
No one was particularly impressed. Despite not being able to travel through space, they still had telescopes. They could see all the stars and the planets in the universe. Well, not all of them, but the point still stood.
Remnant was home to a prospering civilization who were ruled over by four kingdoms each with their own society and cultures, as well as their own levels of technology and environments. From frozen planes to desert cities Remnant by all means was a beautiful and prosperous world.
But even it had its own darkness.
The creatures of Grimm. Soulless monsters born from darkness and only seek to destroy the life on remnant. like a Plague they ravage the world of Remnant's people, a soulless horde of fangs and claws, and will not stop until the last of mankind and all others like it are utterly destroyed.
"So cheerful," Sun noted with a wince. "I mean, come on, it's not that bad, is it? We're surviving, aren't we?"
"Yes, Mr Wukong, but barely," Goodwitch reminded him. "Humanity only owns five percent of the world. The rest is in the hands of the Grimm."
"That being said, unless tragedy strikes, it's unlikely for the Grimm to ever manage to destroy the Kingdoms," Ozpin added, trying to defuse the tension his vice's words had caused. "Hunters are too strong, and too packed close together in the modern days. They no one have to travel all the way across a continent to fight off Grimm invasions. This forced the Grimm out of the walls and for the most part, out of people's life. Some children do not even know what Grimm are, because of the Hunters' hard work."
But as the darkness grows, so to does the light for mankind is not without its guardians. Hunters and Huntresses, the protectors of the people of Remnant and its kingdoms.
Trained in the huntsman academies across Remnant, and taught on how to use the mysterious power of Aura, these guardians fight valiantly against the creatures of Grimm and drive back the darkness.
"'Mysterious'? Aura is not mysterious at all – it's one of the most studied subjects in the whole world!" Weiss exclaimed, shocked and annoyed that someone had the gall to call Aura 'mysterious'.
"Well, when you think about it, Aura really is mysterious," Jaune pointed out, trying to defend the movie.
"Really? How so?" the heiress asked in the coldest, flattest tone she could muster. Going by the boy's wince, it worked pretty well. "So?"
"W-Well, we can't measure it precisely…"
"We have a measure unit for that, called Oum, whose role is exactly to measure how much Aura can an entity store within itself," Weiss easily rebuffed, knowing all too well that she had more or less twice the grade he had in Dust Studies.
"We can't def-"
"Aura is the manifestation of the soul, an energy that empowers and protects us from harm, and gives us supernatural insight and sixth sense, as well as a magic-like ability known as Semblance, unique to every individual with a few exceptions," Weiss rattled off the short version, not even bothering to go all out and reciting by memory the twenty-eight pages of Aura definition of their textbook.
"W-Well, we don't know why it does that…"
"I fail to see your point in this. Our body protects our soul, so why shouldn't our soul protect our body?" Weiss replied coldly. "Our brain works by sending tiny amounts of electricity through our system, yet why it chooses to do that is unknown – maybe efficiency. The same can be said for aura. Nature's law rewards the most adaptable, so humanity must've adapted to being as efficient as possible, including Aura."
His argument thoroughly crushed, Jaune slumped without a word.
Weiss allowed herself a small smile before being met with the disappointed glares of just about everyone in the room. Only Raven didn't seem to mind it. "What?"
"You could've gone a little easier on him, you know?" Yang berated her.
"I was just correcting a false perception of his."
"No, you were being all high and mighty, or high and know-it-all, and you were rubbing it in his face that you know more than he does." Yang seemed to think about it for a second. "Oh, and you were also a bitch about it."
"Hey!"
"Sorry Weiss but I agree with Yang," Ruby interjected, torn between supporting her partner because she was her partner and friend, and agreeing with the voice of reason. "I mean, I get Jaune's been annoying you but-"
"He's harassing me!"
"Asking you out four times in a month doesn't seem like harassing to me, or the teachers would've done something after you tried to get a restraining order on him," Blake noted with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't-"
"Different wording, same meaning."
"Students, please, you can solve this later," Goodwitch interrupted them, stern but not overly so. They all nodded and turned back to the projection.
However what no one on Remnant realize other than a select few, that there are things out there that are worse than the Grimm.
"Yeah, criminals." Amber commented, glaring at the screen. 'And Salem,' she added in her mind.
"Why would you say that?" Ruby asked, shocked to hear such a response.
"I mean, Grimm might be a worse problem, but I think I hate criminals more. Grimm are mindless, they don't really have a choice in what they do. They're like robots pre-programmed to kill and destroy. Criminals, on the other hand, aren't." Amber could clearly remember three particular criminals she really hated at the moment. "They can choose and they choose to gain at other people's expenses, not caring about the damage they do. They are worse because where the Grimm have no morals to begin with, criminals throw those aside and in a time when humanity should be united, they only think about themselves."
Raven scoffed at the young woman's 'naive' words. "If humanity could actually be united, you'd be right. But there is no point in sticking to your morals when all they do is getting you killed or abused. Criminals are just people who realized this and went against it. The strong lives, the weak dies. This is Nature's Law, and the only law that really matters. Because in the end civilization is doomed to fail since the start."
"Civilization wouldn't be failing, if not for people like you, who destroy everything they touch," Qrow growled at his 'sister' (he honestly felt like spitting at that appellative). She might've had a point saying not everyone was ready to cooperate, but she first of all pillage, stole and killed for her own gain – and far more than she strictly needed. Her tribe of bandit attacked out of bloodlust, not out of need, or they wouldn't see any reason in razing a village to the ground, or leaving it to die at the claws of the Grimm – which had happened way more than once. Raven was turning out to be just as much of a murderer as their adopted parents.
Raven wasn't disturbed by his scathing response. 'Weaklings will do everything they can to hold onto the belief that if they stay together, they'll be strong, but the harsh truth is – you take everything from everyone by force, or someone will take everything from you, sooner or later. It's kill or be killed, and they think that remaining prey will let them live longer. Fools.'
Yang was disgusted. She already knew her mother couldn't really have been a good person, or at least hadn't turned out to be, but she'd been expecting more. That woman hadn't even acknowledged her presence, as if she didn't exist.
She'd obey Ozpin and she'd talk with her after the projector shut off, but deep down she wondered if there was anything to be said, really. If it was better to just ignore her and cut her out of her life as Raven had done with her.
Raven probably wouldn't have cared either way.
And not all of them are from Remnant.
High above the world of Remnant drifting around it in orbit was Remnants fractured moon.
while many have wondered why the moon was broken, it still remained a mystery as to why it was broken at all.
Everyone shrugged. It'd been there for as long as they could remember. Ozpin had been told by Salem, but he too hadn't been around at the time, so his information was second-hand and while reliable, still not certain proof.
They were all used to seeing it broken, they didn't even question it. They couldn't imagine a Remnant with a whole moon.
However as the shattered moon orbited around the world of Remnant, something had suddenly appeared over the shattered moon. With a flash and an echoing sound a vortex suddenly ripped open in reality above the shattered moon. And shooting out it was a glowing read sphere that flew out of the vortex and shot straight down to Remnant.
As the red sphere flew down into Remnants atmosphere it landed Deep within a forest in one of the four major kingdoms of Remnant, Atlas. as it touched down with the snow it remained motionless for a brief moment before it began to dissipate and vanish until in its place, was a young man.
"Damn he's not naked."
"YANG!/MS XIAO LONG!" everyone exclaimed, except for Sun, Amber and Winter, who didn't know her name and just looked weirded out and scandalized, respectively, and Raven, who was doing a good job at pretending to be a statue while inwardly ashamed of her daughter.
"Sorry! Jeez, I was just joking, no need to take it so seriously."
He appeared be twenty two of age and had a lean and muscular build. he had black hair and brown eyes and he wore a blue open shirt with a white one underneath as well as blue jeans. And to top his appearance off he also appeared to have some kind of badge on his left upper arm that resembled a gold and silver shooting star.
"Wait a second, he looks like Prof Higabold!" Yang pointed out, earning groans from the students and confused expressions from the teachers, who quite clearly remembered not having one such colleague.
"She means Professor Higashi, it's just another one of her puns based on the second half of his name," Ren explained wearily. He might've had the patience of a saint, but he too was exasperated by Yang's puns.
Ozpin frowned. Professor Higashi, while an excellent teacher, was quite not an Ultraman. Perhaps it was a coincidence. Almost all Schnee women looked the same, Ruby and Summer were almost identical, and many more people shared similar traits. It was just a coincidence.
This was Taro's Human disguise, Kotaro Higashi.
"Hey, what are the odds? It's so weird!" Nora laughed. And rightfully so, since their professor was indeed called Kotaro Higashi.
However, despite all his skill at teaching, the man didn't show any supernatural ability. That, and they were talking about different universes.
Ozpin, instead, was very very worried. Had he accidentally hired a supernatural, extraterrestrial entity as school staff without even realizing it?!
'Well I've successfully arrived on Remnant. I just hope I manage to find a nearby town soon," he thought to himself.
Now Originally the Ultra in Disguise had planned on landing somewhere near a more populated area, but had quickly changed plans when he realized his travel sphere would possibly not go unnoticed by the locals. So instead he decided to land somewhere else and make his way towards a village or a city and then blend in with Remnants people in the better hopes to keep his real identity a secret.
All of Remnant depended on his help in order to survive the evil that King had warned him about, but he knew they would possibly not be very welcoming to him if they knew what he really was. so it would be in his best interest to keep his origins a secret for now.
"Really? He is going to save the world all by himself?" Weiss's voice was dripping condescension. "That's-"
"Amazing!" Ruby exclaimed, starry-eyed.
"Great!" Jaune added as well.
"Awesome!" Nora joined in.
Weiss fumed silently. 'Stupid. I was gonna say stupid.'
'Still. Probably should've picked a warmer place to arrive at,' he thought as he looked around at the snow covered woods. so far he didn't sense anything around so he ruled out any settlements nearby for now. 'Well I'm not gonna get anywhere freezing out here in the woods so i might as well get moving'.
Not willing to get frostbite Kotaro was already on the move and heading South, hoping to find a settlement soon on his travels and learn more about the world of Remnant while he was at it.
It had been roughly two hours since he started walking. And unfortunately Kotaro had seen no signs of any settlements during those two hours. Regardless though he went onward through the frozen tundra that were these woods undaunted.
"He's got stubbornness down pat, but isn't it a little… foolish… to just wander without any knowledge of where he's going, aside from 'South'?" Blake wondered out loud, stopping herself from saying 'stupid' or 'pointless' lest she angered the fans in the room.
"Well, he doesn't know where he is, so it's not like it'll make much of a difference," Pyrrha shrugged lightly.
"True."
Still, the lack of anything remotely related to even a little village bothered the Ultra. Surely there would have to be at least one settlement or something out here. And yet he couldn't pick up anything with his senses anywhere out here leaving Kotaro to keep moving onward through the Snowy landscape.
'Still, This is rather concerning' he thought, 'at the rate things are going I'll Have to find shelter soon. otherwise I'll end up freezing before i can accomplish anything to save this world'.
"So much for the invincible hero," Raven snorted in derision. "Dying of hypothermia within four hours of arriving on Remnant."
"He's not dead yet," Jaune replied flatly, knowing all too well that if this really was in any way similar to one of the comics he read or anime he watched, then something would soon go Taro's way.
Sighing, Kotaro stopped for a brief moment to use his powers scan the area again. He closed his eyes and his body seemed to shine for a brief moment as his psychic abilities stretched out, searching for any form of life in the area.
And after for a moment of silence... he got something!
"Case and point," Jaune grinned smugly.
"As much as I hope Mr Higashi survives this, it's still unlikely for someone unused to Atlas to live through its frozen tundras," Winter replied, shaking her head.
"I guess we can only watch on and find out," Ironwood added as well.
His eyes shot open as he finally felt the first sign of life since he came on this planet. it was only a single person from what he could tell and it was faint, but it was without a doubt the first sign of life he's found since Arriving on Remnant and it was defiantly very close!
Quickly zeroing in on it he felt the life sign was due west, and with impossible speed he dashed off in that direction.
Like a blur in motion he ran through the trees and snow and in no time flat he came to a sudden halt when he finally arrived at where the life sign was.
However what he saw next made him stop in his tracks.
For there, laying in the snow and letting out smoke was the wreckage of a destroyed ship.
As much as they were still minors, no student even winced at the sight of the airship. True, they felt a bit sad for whoever had been in there, but eventually living in the world of Remnant had de-sensitised them to those sights. Unlike the people who lived in the city and never left it, Hunter trainees and those living outside of the capitals were aware of Remnant's dark side.
It was large and looked like it could easily hold more than an entire battalion's worth of people among other things and it mostly resembled some kind of battleship of sorts. But at this point it was hard to tell what kind of ship it was considering the entire vessel looked like it was savagely ripped apart by some kind of monster and had what was left of it tossed aside to rot in the cold.
'Great, now our great protector doesn't even know what he's supposed to fight against,' Weiss huffed. She kept her thoughts to herself for once, for two reasons. One, because she knew the others were starting to get annoyed at her for that. And two, because she didn't want to agree out loud with the black-haired, red-eyed woman who had been so rude to everyone and acted all high-and-mighty to a level she'd never seen anyone reach.
Raven was really leaving an impression on the whole group…
'What happened here?' Kotaro thought as he stared at the wreck with a serious look. From what he could tell whatever occurred here happened very recently, and he could only wonder what could've caused this kind of damage.
However that wasn't what was concerning him right now. He was also still picking up that faint life sign he felt earlier within the wreckage, which meant that despite it all someone was still very much alive within the wreckage. And whoever they are definitely needed help.
And so without further delay Kotaro made his way down to investigate in the hopes of Finding the lone survivor of the destroyed vessel. and hopefully find out what happened here too.
"I guess someone must've hidden somewhere and the Grimm didn't find them," Jaune smiled, a bit relieved. Then he frowned slightly. Usually, if something like that were to happen in a comic or an anime, depending on the type, that survivor could be one of three things.
One, the main character's love interest. Two, the main character's soon-to-be best friend. Three, just some guy who was there to give information, and then die.
He had to admit he was kinda rooting for the second. While he appreciated a good romance, Taro just didn't seem like the type to get romantically involved with the first person he stumbled across.
The inside was just as bad, if not worse, than the outside of the ship. everything was a complete mess, machinery was ripped apart and the interior hull as torn and sparking.
But what was truly horrible were the bodies. Everywhere he went he would come across one of the crew members or at the very least what remained of them.
This time the students did wince. A destroyed wreckage they could handle just fine, mangled corpses were a bit harder to look at. They had all seen uncensored disaster footages at one point in their lives, especially during Dr Oobleck's class, but it wasn't a sight anyone enjoyed.
Among the adults, Raven was the only completely unimpressed. As a murderer herself, she'd long since grown used to the sight of bodies. The other adults didn't show their horror as much as the students, but all of them felt their hearts constrict at the sight.
Grimm never left clean kills after all.
Kotaro could only look at them with sorrow, sorrow for all the lives that were lost here. But despite it all he pressed onward continuing his search.
"But what happened here?" he couldn't help but thought.
As he continued to ponder the mystery of how this ship ended up so damaged and its crew lost their lives, he came across what appeared to be the captain's deck. And even here he saw what remained of the crew and its captain. All of them dead, even the captain himself.
he resembled an elderly man dressed in a grey and white captain's suit that was decorated in some medals, and he had grey hair and a thick short beard.
"He appears familiar," Penny said out loud, trying to remember where she'd seen the man.
"Captain Ernesto de la Mafias," Winter nodded, recognizing the man. "He has a bit of a gambling problem, but he is otherwise a good soldier."
"Well, looks like he ain't gonna gamble any more," Qrow commented with a slight wince. At least the man's corpse was still recognizable.
"Actually, he is alive and well. I have seen him not two hours ago, and he is not scheduled to fly any airship for the next week at the very least," Ironwood rebutted, happy to be able to correct the drunkard, who always knew way more than he looked.
"Huh. Good for him."
Ozpin frowned. A man who actually existed in their world. Maybe it really was an alternative universe… he wondered why they'd been flying over the Atlas tundras with no reason like that.
What really got Kotaro's attention and concern however was the three claw marks raked across his chest.
Now understandings that whatever had done this was clearly some kind of monster
Fortunately as he looked around, he came across what appeared to be some kind of communications system of some kind and it also looked like it was mostly be intact and functional.
Making sure the power was still on in the Ship he quickly skimmed through the data info consisting of Captain's logs until he found the most recent entry and pressed play.
"This is Captain Mafias calling Atlas command! come in do you copy?!"
"Please! come in Atlas command!"
"We are under attack! I repeat we are under attack!"
"Grimm horde suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked our ship!"
"There's too many of them! Requesting immediate backup!
"Send backup! i repeat send backup immediately or-"
*BOOM!* *Krrtsh!*
People winced heavily. It was never fun to watch or hear people die. Those poor soldiers must've been terrified, and no one had been there to save them.
Ozpin, meanwhile, was still thinking. A Grimm horde suddenly coming out of nowhere. Grimm were known for being able to sense presences even without seeing them. Had they been on the run from Taro's energy sphere and had encountered the airship? Hordes never attacked for no reason, never. Packs, yes, but hordes just didn't have enough intelligence to stick together. Grimm could coexist, but not work together. Even packs of Beowolves split up when they became too big.
But if Grimm had been moving out of Taro's arrival area, then they might've ended up on the path of the airship – Grimm were notoriously faster than a man's normal walk. The soldiers had reacted by firing at them and panicking, which had in turn led to the Grimm attacking en masse.
It was possible that Taro had, inadvertently, caused that disaster.
The transmission ended with a sudden explosion before cutting out, and now Kotaro finally learned how everything came to be with this ship and its crew. What really concerned him though were these "Grimm" that were mentioned in the transmission, what could these creatures be and why did they suddenly attacked this ship?
"It's really weird thinking of not knowing what the Grimm are," Ruby commented, admittedly a little confused. After all, Grimm were their world's greatest problem. Not knowing of them was like not knowing what fire was.
"Well, he is from a different planet," Amber spoke up. Ruby jumped slightly at being replied to by a girl she'd never seen nor talked to before. "It would make sense. If someone from Remnant were to go to his planet, they would probably look like fools, not knowing even the basics of life."
She had a point, they all knew that. Didn't make it any less weird to see.
Regardless He could only look down at the still form of the dead captain and give his respects to the deceased man and his crew mates.
"I'm sorry, perhaps if i was here earlier i could've helped you" he said with a somber tone.
"I doubt it, he wasn't sensing anything for hours, and a Grimm attack usually takes a while," Qrow commented, shaking his head. "There wasn't anything he could've done. Most of those corpses were mauled – chances are they wouldn't have made it even with medical care.
"Had he arrived hours earlier, perhaps he could've still done something – he never specified how much earlier he meant," Winter retorted, all too happy to be correcting the man.
"Still doubt it. Maybe he can kill any Grimm he fights, but can he kill all the Grimm in a horde before they can kill a handful of people? Sure, he might've come out of it unscathed, but those guys would still have died."
"Unless he's powerful enough to wipe out a Grimm horde in little time," the Specialist reminded him. "Just because you wouldn't be able to, doesn't mean everyone else is the same."
However his mood soon shifted to a more determined one as he remembered why he came to this ship to begin with.
"But i can still save one of you". And like that he was off, moving through the destroyed corridors and hallways of the ship he began to move deeper and deeper Into the wreckage of the now known Atlas ship, using his Ultra powers to sense the only survivor of the ship, until at last he came to where the person, whom ever they were, was.
Whoever They were, they appeared to be behind a large reinforced metal door leading to some kind of bunker room of sorts, that was possibly why they were even alive to begin with, the secured room they were in sheltered them from both the crash and the "Grimm" who attacked the crew.
Wasting no time Kotaro walked up to the door, lifted up his foot and-
"There's no way he's gonna be able to just kick that door in," Weiss huffed, rolling her eyes. "It's an Atlasian reinforced military door, it can withstand the charge of a Megoliath without problems and it's made out of some of the-"
BAM! CRASH!
Weiss's mouth fell open while Ruby, Nora and Jaune cheered.
"I guess that Atlasian reinforced military door isn't all that indestructible," Blake snickered with a small grin, all too pleased to see the look on the heiress's face. While she considered Weiss to be okay in her books, the rest of Atlas was a different story altogether.
"Or maybe he's just that strong," Nora replied with sparkles in her eyes, thinking of how much destruction they could cause together. "After all, Ultraman fight monsters with the power to destroy entire planets, don't they? And he was trained by the most powerful Ultraman of them all, the Ultraemperor or something."
"Ultraman King," Ren corrected her, though he kind of agreed with her – Taro had to be very strong indeed.
-Kicked the door clean off and made a sizable dent in it, which was impressive considering it was 5 feet of solid reinforced metal.
"That shouldn't be possible!" Winter exclaimed, completely shocked by that turn of events.
Qrow glanced at Ironwood, who shrugged, trying not to look too miserable. He appreciated how much the eldest Schnee daughter was invested in her job, but there was such thing as too much. Believing the Atlas military to be the organization with all the answers and all the power in the world was too much. Winter might not have thought exactly that, but she indeed considered the Atlasian military far superior to most organizations or entities in Remnant.
While honestly, that couldn't be farther away from the truth.
Glynda alone could probably wipe the floor with most of his Specialists, and he himself. Damn that broken Semblance of hers.
Not too far away, Goodwitch felt the familiar urge to kill somebody. And as usual, she suppressed it before one of her students could pay the price.
As he made his way in he noticed the room didn't seem to have much in it and looked Rather plain but undamaged compared to the rest of the ship.
Also it seemed that the room was slightly frozen as thin layers of frost could be seen across the walls.
However what was the real eye catcher was what was in the middle of the room.
There was a pod of some kind in the center of the room with some kind of terminal on the side.
Curious, he made his way over to the pod and wiped Off some frost that was on the glass. And as he looked inside, he finally met the lone survivor of the now ruined ship, and it was…
"What? What is it? A strange alien from outer space captured by Atlas and secretly transported back to the headquarters of a secret organization who secretly rules the Kingdom from the shadows?" Nora fired off questions at a rapid pace, causing Ren to discreetly roll his eyes in fondness. "Or maybe it's a person from millennia ago who was encased in ice and remained alive for ages and has now been found and the Atlas military wants to examine them so they can learn more about history and then sell them to a museum for thousands upon thousands of Lien?!"
Ironwood face-palmed. Both hypothesises were absurd. As much as he didn't like the Council of Atlas, they wouldn't do something like that (except for Jacques Schnee, but thank the Brother Gods he wasn't in the Council yet). And if he had to be honest, in Atlas they were more likely to shoot first and ask question later if they were to encounter an alien, just in case it was a new Grimm of some kind.
"Let's watch and see, okay?" Pyrrha smiled kindly, but inwardly she was ever so slightly curious as well.
Jaune and Ruby, meanwhile, were frowning. That was unexpected. Usually people inside hibernation pods didn't give out any kind of vital signs. Also, in comics hibernation pods were usually better left well enough alone. No one really knew what they could contain in their cold insides.
"A Girl?"
Indeed it was a girl. She was young and looked to be roughly 17 or 18 age, she had short, rather curly orange hair with a small ahoge on top that comes down to her chin, and she wears a pink bow on the back of her head. She also has light skin and freckles. She wears a whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.
There was also green lines on the side of her stockings. And She has what appeared to be wearing some kind of small and thin backpack.
"Penny?" everyone spoke out loud.
For those who knew of Penny's secret, they were surprised to see her there, but not too much as of why she was in a pod. For those who didn't, they were surprised as to why she was inside an Atlasian warship.
Raven, Amber and Sun frowned. "Who?"
"Salutations, I am Penny Polendina, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny cheerfully introduced herself to Amber and Sun. When she tried to do the same with Raven, she hiccuped, but otherwise did fine – unfortunately, the dark emo woman refused to even shake her hand.
"Penny, what are you doing there?" Yang asked, a bit suspicious. What was Ruby's friend doing in a military airship?
"I am not sure. I have no memories of this event," Penny replied truthfully, before she thought. 'It must've happened while I was still inactive. Perhaps Atlas's database contains the name of who was in charge of transporting me before my activation.' She tried to connect herself to the network, but there was no signal. Unfortunately. 'Maybe it's Friend Khor's doing. I shall ask him once he comes back.'
"Let's not forget this is an alternative universe, students, it is quite possible that some things will simply not be explained," Ozpin placated them, before shooting Ironwood a look that demanded explanations.
"After the projection," the General mouthed him silently, earning a nod from the Headmaster.
She appeared to be in some kind of deep sleep, possibly hinting that the pod she was in was possibly some form of stasis pod of some kind.
'Still, why is she here to begin with?' he thought, as he couldn't understand why she was in here or even on this ship to begin with.
But he quickly shook his head and put his questions aside for now, 'it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that i get her out of here'. he thought
Kotaro then made his way the terminal on the other side of the pod and began to look it over. And after figuring out how the machine works and which button was which he pressed a few buttons and the pod opened up with an audible hissing sound.
But before he could go and pick up the girl inside, something popped out of the top of the terminal. Curious About what it was Kotaro picked it up. It was small, and appeared to be some kind of handheld device.
Deciding to examine it later Kotaro placed it in his pocket and picked the young ginger haired girl up out of the pod carrying her bridal style. And sure enough he was on the move again with the young girl in his arms, quickly making his way through the corridors and hallways as he backtracked. Until finally he made his way outside of the destroyed Atlas ship and into the snowy field once more.
"I have no memories of this either," Penny noted. "I am sure I have never seen Mr Taro before. Or should I call him Mr Higashi?"
"You can call him either way, Penny," Winter replied absent-mindedly.
As he reached the edge of the woods however he looked back and bowed his head respectfully to those who had died here.
"May you find peace." he said
And after giving his respects, Kotaro went onward into the woods once more with the young girl in his arms in tow.
Several Hours Later
"It's incredible, like in the comics and anime there are also the timeskips and mini-titles to inform where and when the next segment will take pl-" Jaune was promptly shut up by Weiss conjuring an ice crystal and throwing it at his head. "Ow! Weiss, why?"
"You were being annoying," she replied. 'As always,'she added in her mind. "And you were giving us information we already knew."
'I didn't know that,' most of the adults thought.
Hours passed since Kotaro found the young girl and sure enough the coming of night came upon them both. And unfortunately a snow storm as well.
Luckily for the both of them our Hero managed to find a cave nearby and made his way inside it.
"He could've just punched into existence," Yang pointed out. He seemed more than strong enough for that.
"Maybe he didn't want to make too much noise," Blake replied. After all, she had experience being quiet while setting up camp with the White Fang.
And now we find the disguised Ultra and the still unconscious girl currently resting in the cave around a fire that Kotaro made to help keep the both of them warm while the snowstorm raged outisde.
Kotaro himself was currently examining the small device from the ship, which he had learned was called a scroll due to the company brand on it. Also he made sure to look back to his sleeping companion every so often as he fiddled around with the scroll.
Throughout the entire time he's been carrying her she hasn't made a single sign of waking up and he was starting to wonder if she was under some kind of heavy sedation of some kind. Though again, he questioned why that would even be the case to begin with.
He pushed those thoughts aside For now and averted his attention back to the small device in his hands as he finally managed to get it to work as a screen popped out of it and lit up. and a file appeared on the screen, it read...
"Project P.E.N.N.Y.?"
Everyone exchanged looks while Penny began to excrete a water-based by-product of her cooling system, which was meant to replicate sweat.
Ironwood winced and braced himself.
Now more Curious than ever, Kotaro tapped the file causing it to open and reveal a plethora of data and information.
Scrolling through it all Kotaro kept wondering what exactly he found here until he came across something that truly caught his eye. It was a blueprint for the project, but it was what the image on the blueprints themselves that truly shocked him.
The image of a young girl.
The very same girl he had rescued from the destroyed ship!
"I'm lost, can someone explain that to me?" Jaune spoke up, looking as confused as he sounded.
Unfortunately, those who knew didn't want to share their knowledge, while those who didn't where in the same boat as him.
He quickly looked back to the young girl and couldn't helped but feel rather surprised by this recent development
"She's an android?" he muttered, "But if that's the case then why did they create her to begin with? and more importantly why do i feel life coming from her?"
Penny perked up at that. She'd forgotten that tidbit. Taro had felt life coming from her even before she'd been activated, but that should've been impossible. What did that mean?
Unbeknownst to her, Ironwood and Ruby were thinking the same, as well as Winter. While they all considered the girl a 'real person', they couldn't help but think. Inactive, without her Aura, Penny was just a mass of wires and metal plates. Aura was what made her 'normal'. But if so, then why did Taro feel anything coming from her?
Figuring he find more answers from the info in his hands He kept scrolling through the device until he finally found something that caught his eye.
"Journal Entry of James Ironwood, Atlas military General and Academy Headmaster. Well then Mister Ironwood, let's just see what you know" and with that, a pre recorded message bagan to play and a man that had to be the General appeared on it.
Ironwood is shown to be well dressed and clean, much like What you would expect of a man of his status. He wears a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants share the same color as his overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in gray.
His hair is black, with some silver and gray areas, while his eyebrows are solid black. He has a strip of silver metal above his right eyebrow, though why it was there the Ultra was only left to imagine.
After a brief moment, Ironwood began speaking.
["Journal entry of the development for project P.E.N.N.Y. by General Iroonwood, Headmaster of Atlas Academy and leader of the Atlas Military. I am writing this in correspondence to the development of the project that is under the supervision of both myself and Dr. Polendina"]
["We had been developing project for quite some time now. The end goal is simple, Dr. Polendina had theorized a way to synthetically create an artificial aura and with these theories he believed that we could develop a new spearhead of Atlas technology by creating machines that could feel and live. Intrigued i approved the project and assisted Dr. Polendina however i could."]
"What?! A sentient android given Aura?!" Weiss exclaimed. "That's impossible!"
"Admittedly, that is hard to believe," Pyrrha nodded, trying not to sound offensive. "Aura comes from the soul, and the soul is something no one can physically interact with. Creating one artificially should be impossible."
Penny frowned. All her data said the same – it should've been impossible. However, maybe in that universe something was different. Or maybe it would explain itself over time.
["His research eventually lead to the Development of the very first synthetic android capable of generating aura, and from what he explained to me the android would indeed be a living being in every sense of the word."]
["And under the request of Dr. Polendina, we had named her Penny."]
As if remembering they were talking about said girl, everyone turned to her.
"Ms Polendina probably has no memory of this," Ironwood cut in before anyone could interrogate the poor girl. "After this projection shuts off, I will personally explain whatever needs to be explained." Of course he didn't plan on telling them everything, as that was a military secret and a high-level one at that, but he knew that it was better to sate their curiosity, rather than leave Penny to fend off for herself.
Also, sooner or later she would let something slip, and that could cause even more damage. Better to tell them in a controlled manner, than to just try to ignore the problem.
["However this is non disclosable but the synthetic part of her creation is actually a cover up. As while i won't go into full detail, Dr. Polendina explained to me that he in actually had removed a large portion of his own Aura to give Penny her Aura. So in a way she truly does have a soul."]
Penny smiled. Her father was just too good. And that also made her feel a lot more relieved, since it meant she actually had a soul even before being activated. Then she frowned. If she had a soul, then why wasn't she active already?
["Regardless however Penny was well on her way to completion and the project would be finished. She would be a perfect testament to any and all scientific breakthroughs and would be a one of a kind Wonder, i honestly felt rather happy for my old friends accomplishment.]
[However the Atlas council caught wind of the project and decided to input their own ideas."]
[When they Discovered what we were making they immediately ordered me to have Dr. Polendina to reconstruct Penny into a combat android fit for military forces. I heavily objected the very notion of the idea, but unfortunately my objections fell on death ears and we had no choice but to turn Penny into a combat android that would blend in with the populace and destroy any Grimm incursions that arise."]
"The intentions behind such a change are good – the actual change was wrong," Ozpin affirmed, frowning slightly. "While I before anyone else can understand wanting to defend the people, creating a being whose only purpose in life is to be a tool for fighting the Grimm…"
"Luckily that's not what they meant," Ironwood spoke up, shaking his head. "They did wish for Penny to live her life. However, they could not allow such an opportunity to slip by. What they changed is that we had to add combat skills to her skillset. She is a hundred percent expert in every field we could think of. In every word, she is a superhuman being who would make humanity look obsolete. I did not wish for it to be so because Semblance-based eugenics are already hard enough to stop, without adding in man-made superhumans. Penny was supposed to be just a normal girl. In fact, in the first phases of the project, she was meant to be created as a baby so that she could learn naturally."
The man sighed and sadly shook his head. "However, the Council said it was a terrible idea to waste such an opportunity. They praised Dr Polendina for his good heart, but they insisted that more normal people was not what the world needed. They insisted for us to change the project into a combat android made to fight Grimm and humans alike." He didn't add that the Council had also thought of keeping it a secret from everyone else, so that if push came to shove and another war broke out, Atlas would have an army of superhumans to obliterate everything and everyone. A 'just in case' triumph card. Their secret ace-up-the-sleeve they would only use in extreme cases.
Ironwood suddenly smiled. "However, that does not mean we couldn't find some ways to let her be a normal girl." Penny frowned in confusion. "Such as accidentally losing sight of her for a few hours."
Penny blinked, shocked. Ironwood had actually given the order to let her go explore on her own? She smiled at him, and he gave her a nod.
However, everyone else still wasn't really happy about it.
What.
That particular bit of information is what got a real reaction from Kotaro, as the more he listened to what Ironwood was saying, The more and more his face developed into a utterly furious expression.
["As of Yesterday her reconstruction is complete."]
["As well as the development of her weapon which we've dubbed "Floating Array". It is a very versatile and effective tool capable of both long and close range combat, among other useful features that could assist her at anytime"]
["we estimate that ounce activated she will be on par with a fully trained Huntsman. Add that to her aura and naturally strong body the Atlas Council have high hopes that she will be an invaluable asset in the war ahead.]
"War ahead?"
"Grimm incursions, Ms Rose," Ironwood quickly replied.
["And Now that she's finished all that's left to do is activate her by awakening her aura"]
["We had originally planned on activating her at the location where we constructed her but i was against that and we made plans to move her to Atlas for her activation for security reasons more than anything else."]
["I commissioned a Atlas ship commanded by Captain Mafias to transport her to Atlas. Once he's arrived with her we'll activate her, and the council believes that with her abilities and the research we'll get from her experiences in the field they would somehow learn to construct more like her to fight the Grimm."]
"Quick question, did this 'Mafias' escort her in this world too?" Jaune asked, still trying to wrap his head around the whole 'android' thing. Or was it gynoid?
"Yes, he did, but there were no issues with the flight and she safely arrived in Atlas," Ironwood nodded, unknowingly strengthening Ozpin's theory about their world also having a Taro hiding somewhere… in Beacon.
["I had never wanted it to come to this, but unfortunately it would appear i never really Had a say in the matter... oh Penny. I am so sorry...]
[...This has been General Ironwood. signing off."]
Penny frowned. It wasn't his fault, he shouldn't have been the one apologizing.
And with that the screen went dark as the journal entry video ended, and Kotaro placed the scroll back in his pocket and began to think of what he just learned.
Everything made sense now. But if he were to be completely honest he wasn't happy about what he learned one bit. Everything just didn't sit well with him, mainly about Penny herself.
Don't get him wrong, he wasn't bothered by the robot girl one bit. His anger was actually more focused on what this Atlas Council had planned for her. He could understand wanting to create something that would save lives but it was How these Atlas people went about it that truly made his blood boil.
"They only want her to be a Tool for war" he muttered angrily, the sheer thought greatly upset him and for good reason.
For Ultras all life was precious, this very understanding and concept is what gave birth to the space garrison to begin with.
"They understand Life? Or do they just value it?" Pyrrha wondered, knowing those two were very different.
"Probably the second, but you never know," Amber replied idly.
It was also because how even Ultras could be revived from the dead if they should ever fall, they couldn't always be brought back, which made them value life even more.
King Himself was so powerful he could bring the dead back to life just with his sheer energy alone. But he also taught Him that life is a very precious thing that should not be taken for granted, and it was a lesson that he and every other Ultra took to heart with.
So the mere thought of this Girl that was with him, who had a life of her very own, was created with the gift of having a soul despite being a machine was just going to be used as a weapon didn't sit right with him at all.
"But isn't he a machine for world salvation or something like that?" Weiss spoke up, slightly irritated. "Isn't his entire race there just to 'save the universe' or something? Isn't that a bit hypocritical?"
"Well no, they have a choice whether to do that or not, Penny didn't," Ren replied calmly. Nothing fazed that guy.
'Ironwood and Polendina were against the very idea of doing this to her, but they were unfortunately tasked to teach her how to be a weapon when they would activate her. Or a doomsday device even.' he thought bitterly before a determination burned in his eyes 'but like hell if i'm going to let that happen now!"
And With these thoughts in mind, Kotaro made his decision on what his next move would be.
Getting up, he made his way over to Penny and kneeled down next to her, 'if i remember correctly, they said the only way to activate her was to awaken Aura. seems simple enough.' he thought as he place his hands on her, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate.
His plan was simple, if all it took was for her soul to awaken then all he needed to do was focus some of his own energy into her and awaken her dormant spirit.
See? Simple.
Weiss groaned in exasperation at how 'dumb' she thought Taro was. "Seriously? He doesn't even have Aura, doesn't even know what Aura is, and he thinks he can awaken her Aura just like that? Please."
"I bet half a million Lien that he can do it," Jaune countered, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sure he can."
"You know what, I'll take that bet," Weiss replied. Normally she wouldn't willingly send a friend (or whatever Jaune was) into bankruptcy, but she figured that she could use that debt as a way to make Jaune stop his flirting with her.
Everyone else groaned. Whoever lost that bet would be so sorry.
Nothing seemed to happen at first, until Kotaro began to glow and a soft yet powerful light formed around him. And that light triggered a similar reaction from Penny as well.
The robot girl's still form began to glow a neon green light, as the Ultra used his own energy to help awaken Penny's own Aura. this continued for about several more moments before Kotaro finally stopped pumping his own energy into her when he felt her soul begin to flare up.
when he was finished he stood up and took a few steps back and waited for Penny to awaken for the first time in her life.
And after a few brief moments, Penny's eyes opened for the first time.
Weiss's mouth fell open, and her eyes widened in horror. She had just lost half a million Lien. Which was more than what she actually had – her father's money didn't count.
Jaune grinned evilly. He was gonna have so much fun teasing Weiss about how comics and anime landed him half a million Lien. Or not, since like Weiss he too didn't want to rob his friend of all that money.
However, he wouldn't tell her that, not yet. He wanted to enjoy victory for a little while longer.
"And that's what happens when you make bets, Weiss," Winter spoke up sternly. If someone asked her, Weiss fully deserved to lose that money. Bets were for fools, especially those with such high stakes.
Everyone else was just too gobsmacked that Jaune had actually won so much money because of his knowledge of comics and anime.
The robot girl began to get up somewhat robotically as she sat straight. And then closed her eyes and stretched as she gave a soft yawn, as if she had awoken from a long nap.
When she was finished she looked around, looking confused by her surroundings, before her eyes eventually landed on Kotaro and at the sight of him she smiled.
"Oh, Salutations mister. I hope you don't mind but could you please tell me where i am?" she asked in a sweet tone of voice, and had the most innocent look in her green eyes.
"Aww, she's so precious! Cute Little Girl Penny!" Nora cooed, immediately nicknaming the poor girl, much to everyone's chagrin but hers.
"Cute Little Girl Penny…?" Penny thought about it a little before smiling her usual megawatt smile. "I love it! If you've given me a nickname, does that mean we're friends now?"
"Of course, silly!" Nora giggled. "We're basically best friends!"
"Sensational! I've never had a best friend before!"
Ruby chose that moment to speak up. "Hey, what about me?"
"Don't worry Ruby, you're her best friend as well!" exclaimed Nora. "She can have two best friends!"
"Actually…" Weiss trailed off at the looks from both Ruby and Nora. "Nevermind, of course she can."
Kotaro just smiled, happy that he managed to awaken her. before he straightened out as spoked to her, "Oh uh, yes i'll tell you in a little bit, but first let me asked you something. Do you know who you are?" he asked. Wanting to see if she knew who she was or not.
Penny seem to take a moment to think about that as she looked into her personal information stored within her mind, before perking and standing up,
She then gave Kotaro a court bow lifting up the sides of her skirt slightly as she introduced herself.
"Salutations mister! My name is Penny Polendina, what is your name if I may inquire?"
For some reason the Ultra felt more nervous about how he should answer that. Depending upon what he would Say to her now would truly be the defining moment on how the two would interact with each other from now on
And so, steeling his nerves, he then gave her the most compassionate look he could give her. And told her something that the robot girl would forever hold in her memory.
"Hello, My name is Kotaro. Kotaro Higashi. I Am... Your Friend."
"Sensational! I appears to have made a new friend! Perhaps I should find this 'Kotaro Higashi' to be his friend as well!" Penny exclaimed, delighted by having so many friends, which was currently three.
Somewhere else, Khor frowned. 'Three friends… Damn, you know it's bad when the socially inept robogirl has as many friends as you do…'
Back to the group, the projection shut off soon after, leaving everyone to stretch their legs a bit. However, there were two big topics to be addressed. Two Goliaths in the room, so to speak.
"So, James." Of course it was Qrow, ever the blunt, to speak up. "Wanna talk about something? Like… Project Penny?"
That's gonna be fun... or not... depends for who.
And yeah, I don't really like Raven. I mean, she doesn't care about anyone or anything but her tribe - why should I care for her then? I'll try to flesh out her character more, but unless she is directly addressed, it'll be hard.
Until next time,
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh