Author's notes:

Matemeo3: The protags all have pretty heavy baggage starting off. There will be detailed explanations but the full one would be well off having their entire spin off chapters, especially for Akira.

madmadMADshipper: Cinder is full Fall Maiden and Minato has problems using his personas. Akira would kill you if you tried yanking his ears. Chase you around with a dagger while Minato sobs in the corner.

Guest: Sorry, this is not a ship story. There will maybe be one ship but it's not that.

Postie75: I hope you enjoy the ride.

Combine117: Weiss is still mad about the Yu incident. Akira has problems. As for who was eavesdropping? It'll be revealed somewhere down the line

Mr. Haziq: He does. You could say they love him partly as a stunt poster (Nevermore photo), or someone who just has a really 'interesting' personality. Doesn't help that Yang likes take over his account half of the time.

thesneezingSOAB: Too many missing letters and syllables, seems forced.

For the many readers who have been asking for ships, this will mainly be a ship free fic focused on a bigger picture with maybe only one pairing, but that's more so for helping the plot than actual shipping fuel. I personally don't like throwing many into a story.

Once again, the chap has been betaed by ShinyKyu

As always please share your thoughts in the comments

Chapter 4: The Fool Reversed

Warm, serene light subtly eased its way into the shadowy corners of a quiet room, signaling the breaking of a new dawn as the orange sun gently climbed its way into a radiant, purple sky. In the early hours of morning, uninhabited by a single waking soul, a light sizzling of small cracks and pops could be heard, along with a vision of wispy smoke streaming into the air.

A low voice humming a familiar tone stood alone, sprinkling a pinch of light seasoning onto otherwise well-done steaks, carefully making sure each were properly prepared.

Yu tossed around in his bed before tiredly opening up his eyes, smelling a sweet aroma in the air, of cooked food and fire. As his vision steadily adjusted to his new surroundings, he saw what had caused his him to wake. Before him stood none other than his blue-haired friend, decked out in a lazily-crafted chef's hat and one hand flipping a pile of juicy steaks on a small red grill.

"Awake already?" Minato said, his eyes still focused on the heated grill. He looked as if he was in a world of his own.

"Yeah…" The gray-haired student scratched his head in puzzlement, "Aren't grills prohibited in the dorms?"

"They are." The rule-breaking chef continued his work, seemingly unphased by the question.

"Safety hazard." Akira was next to wake, rubbing his eyes and refusing to get out of bed.

"Don't worry about it. I had a little chat with Ozpin. I'm free to do as I please." Minato gave a cheeky grin. "But it'll be another story if I let anyone else touch this grill," he explained, shrugging at what might happen to anyone that wasn't him.

"Those are some special privileges. You think you can get me those too?" At first Yu had mused what his friend had done to gain such special treatment, and then he chuckled in realization.

"Depends. Ozpin drives a hard bargain. Glynda already looked like she wanted to slit my throat when I proposed the deal." Minato divided the large cuts of meat into smaller, more manageable pieces. He found himself being given a strange look by a certain dark-haired Faunus in the corner. Then came a small knock by the door.

"Minato? Minato, are you awake?" A small girl could be heard in the halls.

"Yo! Ruby told us you'd be hosting a barbecue party today!" Another, more outgoing voice shouted from the other side.

"Ugh…. Can we just get this over with?" Yu unlocked and gently swung open the door, hearing a bratty Weiss complain about being woken up so early in the morning. However, something felt different about her.

"May we come in?" Blake gave a gentle smile, eyeing the room's inhabitants.

"Ren! Ren! I smell barbecue!" Soon, the scent of the food had attracted another pair of students, as Nora roughly slammed open the door to her dorm, dragging her groggy teammate with her into the halls.

"Nora—" It was too late, as the excited ginger had already forced the poor boy out of the dorm, in his underwear.

"Whoa there Ren, I didn't know you were into that." Yang teased, already having the pink-eyed boy blushing and denying her comments in subtle panic.

"Alright, get inside everyone. We don't want the school staff knowing." Minato waved a hand, gesturing for the party of students to take seats in the three-person dorm. Team RWBY quietly adjusted themselves, followed by the first and second halves of team JNPR, all seated on either beds or extra chairs in the room.

"So Minato, what's this party for? Are we celebrating something?" Jaune asked, munching a recently done rib, seemingly clueless.

"I believe it's to congratulate us on finishing our entrance exam, yes?" Pyrrha mused out, "Everyone gathered here did work hard together to fend off that huge flock of Nevermore."

"What about starting our first day at Beacon?" Blake added, seeing the faces of everyone light up at finally being able to attend the school of their dreams. A school that only accepted the best.

"Precisely!" The bluenette clapped, "You're both correct. I'd say we're a pretty tight knit group of people after that experience. Surviving a Grimm horde that'd be hard even for professionals to take down is a great accomplishment in my book."

"That reminds me, Minato. How did you guys run into that many Nevermore?" Ruby raised her hand, looking from the confused face of Yu to the blank expression that was Akira's. The entire room suddenly focused on the three boys.

"Yeah… about that," Minato pretended to have a hard time remembering. "See, when they launched me, I ended up in a certain mountain-like area of the exam."

"Oh! I know what happens next! You tripped and fell and landed on a Nevermore nest!" Nora beamed, chewing through her third pair of roasted ribs.

"How'd you know?"

"What? Come on, Minato, there's no way that was what happened." Yang scoffed at the idea. It simply seemed too comical, even with the strange antics of the bluenette. Then again, she wasn't so sure of herself being stuck with him for so long.

"Nope. I'm not kidding, and then they chased me around, leading me to you guys."

"Then… what about them?" Weiss asked awkwardly, gesturing to both Yu and Akira, an uncomfortable expression on her face.

"We were fighting our own battles when our leader crash landed with a dead Nevermore." Yu recalled, feeling a watchful eye from the heiress.

"Same story with me." Akira spoke, following the story of Yu.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Yang glared at the Faunus, clearly sending a silent declaration of war between the two, fire in her lilac eyes.

"Yang, no…" Then she felt her younger sister tug at her shirt, and several pairs of eyes shot back and forth between the tall blonde and the raven-haired boy, accompanied by the silent whispers of Jaune and Pyrrha.

"How we about we move onto another topic…." Yu suggested, sweating that the party had barely escaped evolving into an all-out brawl between two of their grumpiest members in the room.

"Y-yeah! Like classes!" Jaune blurted out nervously. He could practically sense the thick tension in the air.

"M-me too! We should all trade schedules to see who we'll be with!" Ruby forced a smile, secretly thanking the blond boy for his extremely quick thinking.

"Nora and I will be attending Professor Port's lecture this morning." Ren opened his scroll to a picture of a detailed class list.

"My team has a similar shedule for the most part." Minato compared the details to his own and so did everyone else. Excited chatter and plans of future seating arrangements were already starting to be formed as the students discussed their future plans at Beacon.

"It seems like we all have very closely aligned schedules," Pyrrah observed, "I'm surprised we all have so much in common despite the number of the underclassmen this year."

"Since we pretty much have almost all of our classes together, how about we all form one big study group?" Minato suggested, "That way, we can always have someone we know to help each other."

"You mean for any subject, right? I'm sure we can all use some help on preparing for midterms." Jaune was the first to be on board.

"That sounds like a good idea, Minato. Like Jaune said, it would better if we can have a variety of people aiding each other in the upcoming months. It will do well to cover each other's weaknesses." The Mistralian champion formulated a strategy to tackle the year ahead in her mind.

"Oh, I get it! It'll be just like how we made it through our first exam!" Ruby's eyes lit up, "I didn't know you could form battle plans for classes too." The new plan reminded her of how everyone made sure to have each other's backs during their fights, with the odd coincidence that most of them would once again be united under one classroom. It made the group of students seem extremely tightly knit.

"Looks like this will be a fun year." Yu smiled to himself, watching the others chat on about random subjects and exchange personal stories before their arrival at Beacon. It had been a long time since he had felt so relaxed around a group of people. It felt nostalgic, even.

A dark hook sprung out from the fog, biting, sinking, and gnawing into its target's Aura like a hunter latching onto its prey, before a sharp jolt of yellow sparked and spread through his form, shocking the surprised body as it was then forcefully tossed into the vulnerable air.

Cardin Winchester winced at being forced to his limit, fear in his eyes and sweat down his back as he saw something suddenly materialize below him. Its face was so demonic that the boy tightly shut his eyes in terror. He felt a sharp dagger aggressively rip and tear through the last remaining bits of his useable Aura.

"Gah!" The poor brunette slammed into the floor back-first, panic still lacing his eyes as several bright lights quickly ate away the horrific darkness around him.

"You can both stop now, Mr. Winchester, Mr. Kurusu." Glynda said with approval, a scroll in her hands showing Cardin's gauge being in the low red, close to zero percent. Meanwhile, the raven-haired Faunus had not been touched even once in his battle. "Students, as you can see, it is vital that you all pay close attention to your Aura gauges when you are in the real world. If you ever find yourselves or any of your teammates in the red, it is best to have someone else take over to avoid any unnecessary casualties." Her words came off sternly and without any sugar-coating to hide the youths from the harsh reality that was being a huntsman or huntress.

"Tch!" Cardin glared daggers at his opponent, mumbling several inaudible curses and plenty of racist remarks under his breath before walking back to the bleachers, leaving the twitching ears and annoyed frown of Akira.

"Now, since today is the first day of class, we still have a little extra time left before your cafeteria break." The blonde instructor turned to the Faunus boy, "Do you wish to stay for another round, Mr. Kurusu?"

"Yeah. But can I pick who this time?" Akira replied in a polite manner, surveying the crowd. Restless conversation and plenty of bets were made and passed around the class on who it was that the student wanted to personally challenge. The most popular theories ranged from the four-time Mistralian champion to the heiress of the Schnee Dust company and finally, the recent regional champion of Altas.

"And who may that be?" Glynda couldn't help but ask. The dark-haired boy had been on a clean and undefeated win streak ever since he took over the stage.

Akira silently raised a hand and pointed at the crowd, his borrows furrowing. "Him."

"Why you—"

"Sure. I wouldn't mind a fight." Yu stood up from his seat, putting a shoulder on Yang, who looked like she was going to challenge the Faunus as well.

"Very well, Mr. Narukami. Please prepare yourself." Yu grabbed his blade and strolled onto the stage, feeling the searing gaze of his opponent burn right into him as Glynda once again dimmed the arena. And as the lights slowly faded, so did the reserved nature of the audience, as many started to cheer for either side. Students of Faunus heritage were more keen to take the dark-haired boy's side, while the humans in the crowd never stopped supporting their own.

"You better win this, Yu!" Yang found herself being the first to ignite the excitement of the class, while many other followed suite with their own versions of encouragement.

"Go, Akira!" A pair of Faunus girls shouted, typing his name on their scrolls and waving them in the air.

"Altas Champion for the win!" Another called out, while a separate horde of people yelled out similar comments.

"So you really are the champion from that place." Akira reloaded his gun.

"I was dragged into it," Yu sighed, "I'm not one for showing off." He unsheathed his katana

"Have some pride for once…." With that, the Faunus's figure faded into the blackness, his presence now unknown to anyone in the room but himself.

Yu closed his eyes, feeling a tranquil peace wash over him as he inhaled a deep breath, calming himself and blocking out all outside noise and distractions. Soon, the constant cheers and chatter of the crowd faded from his mind along with the barren arena before him, leaving him in an endless dark void. Then, it happened.

Without hesitation, he twisted around and swung his blade into the empty air, feeling it harshly collide and scrape against something equally metallic and cold. The boy opened his eyes, only to be met with another pair of astonished silver orbs as their owner forcefully clashed blades with the other. Yu reacted as quickly as could when he heard a clicking sound from his enemy. He flared up his Semblance, allowing a large wave of electricity to hit Akira head on while the Faunus pulled out a pistol and fired at him at point blank range, causing both to be forced back by the damage of each other's attacks.

Akira rapidly fired his pistol at inhuman speeds, sending a horizontal rain of bullets at Yu, who swiftly reacted by blocking each wave of deadly fire with his blade, moving it left, right, center, up, down, and so on. He felt a sick pop come from one of the individuals rounds that exploded, sending a wave of chilly mist rushing into his face as a large pile of icicles threatened to pierce through his body, coming at him at blinding speeds. Instead of being phased like most probably would, he plunged head-on into the wall of ice, turning into a bright bolt of thunder that shot through the crystals and charged straight into a prepared Akira, who blocked a wide downward slash from the other, which sent a sizeable wave of energy across the room.

"Not bad…." The Faunus mumbled, a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I'm just warming up…." Yu charged his blade with his Semblance as well as a stream of red hot Fire Dust, "I noticed my electricity wasn't as effective this time, so I think I might spice things up a little." With that said, his blade started to burn so powerfully bright that it started to obscure his opponent's vision, causing the Faunus boy to smile even more. Akira felt his Aura depleting with each consecutive blow, while Yu got faster and faster with his lightning-quick reflexes. A blocked downward slash here, a dagger to the boy's cheek there. Akira himself had earned a knee to the gut with his enemy's supernatural speed, sending him crashing into the other side of the arena. Yu sped after his flying body, causing the trickster to grab his gun and shoot out a hook that wrapped around the other's form. It was followed by a backflip in the air that reversed the momentum onto his opponent, sending the gray-haired man slamming into a pillar and shattering part of its concrete construction.

Yu jolted up, slashing away at any strings before finding himself alone on the floor again. However, the peace of the battlefield was interrupted by a bright flash in front of his eyes, turning his entire field of vision into a burning white and drowning out his hearing as he felt several presences radiate from his surroundings. Blinded and with no other choice, he began to quickly dispatch anything he suspected of being his opponent to no avail as chips of cool ice and brittle earth flew from his golden blade. His movements became more chaotic as he moved at insane speeds to avoid any oncoming projectiles, but felt something odd about the floor, as well as a general drop in the temperature of the air as he blocked another hail of bullets and elemental attacks headed his way. It was only when he made a misstep in his desperate attempts to regain the upper hand did he realize his mistake. His foot slipped on the textureless floor, causing him to plummet to the ground while he finally got back most of his sight.

"Shit…" That was when he truly realized. He saw Akira standing up above on one of the ceiling fixtures, a mammoth-sized chunk of ice next to him. Yu scrambled to activate his Semblance and block, but it was too late. The dark-haired Faunus cut the strings, allowing the giant iceberg to descend and brutally smash into the desperate body on the floor, sending a deafening thud and miniature quake ripple to throughout the classroom.

A moment passed. There was no movement under the ice.

Another moment passed. Akira frowned.

Everyone watched Yu's Aura gauge drop to the red, continuing to deplete itself each minute as they waited. Glynda opened her mouth to call the match but stopped, astonished by her own eyes.

Little by little, a small crack started to form in the ice, until it eventually became a large blue fissure that reached the edges of the titanic-sized prison, forcing it to crumble and fall. An ear-splitting boom was followed by a great eruption of shattered ice that blew toward the audience, sending countless chunks flying into multiple different directions until the cold icy prison was no more.

Yu Narukami stood in the center of the mess, his eyes burning with an immeasurable amount of rage while his body was surrounded by a glowing yellow aura that radiated outward in flashes of white electricity. His once red aura gauge started to rapidly ascend from a cheery crimson to a brilliant orange, and finally, a fully healthy leafy green. It gave the teen enough energy to spring forward at an impossible speed as he almost teleported in front of Akira's face and forcefully yanked him by the hair, delivering a series of wild slashes that crippled the boy's movements. Four on the arms, twenty to the chest, and thirty on the legs before smacking him square in the face, sending him roughly crashing into the icy floor like a speeding comet, creating a sizeable crater. Yu placed both of his feet on the ceiling, stretching out his sword with electricity coursing through his body, launching himself like a rocket with his blade as the nose, cutting through the air, and stabbing into the Aura shield of his target from above, finally taking the Faunus's Aura into the red.

"Didn't see that one coming, huh?" Yu glared at his downed opponent. There was a minute between the two before the other chuckled.

"Haha… you cheating bastard."

"And what if I did?"

"Then I can do it too, you idiot" Suddenly, and almost without warning, Akira sprung up and fisted the gray-haired student in the face while his gauge miraculously recovered from a drop of red to a fully-colored green. Yu's immediately dropped to half of what it used to be from just a single punch, shocking the entire audience. Meanwhile, Yu returned an equally, if not more powerful, blow in retaliation that sent the Faunus a few feet back, bringing his Aura bar even lower than the Altas heir's. However, their Auras would immediately heal as if by magic, devolving the two's match into an uncoordinated, ugly fist fight that had Akira again going for Yu's face while the taller blocked his fist with one hand and repeated a similar process for the other. They locked both knees, hands, and feet, leaving the two at a complete stand still, each glaring into the other with stubborn rage.

"Give up!" Akira shouted, his eye twitching.

"You give up." Yu softly whispered, refusing to move.

It was then, with no other options left, did the two realize what they had to do. Silently they watched each other, until both raised their heads and rammed into each other in a deadly headbutt that forced and blew the two apart in opposite directions, shattering both of their Auras in the process.

"That's enough, the both of you!" Glynda stepped between the two, waving her wands in the air, which switched on the lights and fixed any damage done to the area.

"I'm sorry I went a little overboard Professor—"

"Students, due to certain malfunctions of the Aura gauge program, I'm afraid further class matchups will be cancelled for today." The blonde ignored the boy, turning to address the astonished crowd, and earned herself a few loud groans and complaints at the sudden news.

"Was there really something up with the program?" Whispers and rumors started to surface from the audience, many unsure of what they had just witnessed, while others tried to come to their own conclusions.

"Dunno man, worked fine for me." Another student shrugged.

"Maybe it really is some kind of bug. There's no way a person's Aura can go up like that." A group of boys sitting at the very corner of the room discussed.

"With that said, the school will work diligently to resolve the issue. For now, you are all to have an early dissmal. Please refrain from making trouble for any other classes in session as you make your way out." Glynda said almost robotically, watching to make sure everyone had exited the room before turning to the two she instructed to stay.

"May I join the after-party too, Professor?" Minato appeared from out of nowhere, walking onto the stage and shocking the instructor.

"Mr. Arisato, how did you—?" She then sighed, feeling a small migraine. "Very well, they are both a part of your team."

"We have to explain our strange Aura recovery right?" Yu asked, knowing Ozpin likely already knew about Minato.

"You all will come with me to the Headmaster's office immediately."

"It's nice to see you are doing well, Mr. Arisato. How's Ms. Rose?" Ozpin sipped from his mug, seated comfortably in a large office chair, while Glynda stood beside him as his assistant, a notebook and pen in her hands.

"Same to you, Professor. It's been a while. She's still adjusting to the school, but she's making friends. I know we're not here to talk about that, though," Minato conversed, seeming as casual as ever.

"Indeed, as much as I would like to go through with the formalities, I'm afraid I might need to cut straight to the point with this unexpected meeting." Ozpin narrowed his eyes, his tone growing more stern upon addressing the group again, "Now, Mr. Aritsao, could you kindly explain the abnormalities of your teammates? In all my years as the headmaster of this school, I have never heard of such… malfunctions in our systems."

"Quite easily, sir," Minato stepped forward, feeling the searing glare from both Akira and Yu. "They're both magic users, just like me." In that moment, his raven-haired teammate looked like he wanted to slit his throat right then and there.

"Mr. Arisato… is this true?" Glynda tried processing this new information in head. As each minute passed, she felt more and more overwhelmed. Were there more people like them out there? The existence of people powerful enough to counter the current Fall Maiden seemed too good to be true, almost like a blessed dream.

"Yes…." Yu was the first to admit, stretching his hand to a glowing blue card while Minato did the same.

"And what about you, Mr. Kurusu? I don't blame you for being so cautious of your situation." Ozpin subtly pressured the Faunus, already bringing both of his teammates to his side. Truly, there was no escape.

"You're scarier than you look." Akira grumpily held out a similar card to the others.

"Interesting," the older man mused, "Now, can all of you explain how you managed to recover your Aura with these powers?"

Yu smashed his card with a glass-shattering effect, making the two instructors cringe slightly before they both saw a tiny winged creature materialize before their eyes. "This little lady here is Pixie. She has a healing power called Dia that can help someone recover from their injuries."

"They probably channeled her powers without summoning her entirely and used that to boost their Auras." Minato explained, amused at the shocked faces of the two adults.

"So this power can both help a person recover and heal their auras?" Glynda felt her heart tighten. Just how much were these students— no, forgien magic users capable of? She thought back to the numerous life-threatening injuries many of her students in the past had received from being out on missions and risking their lives to hunt down the Grimm. Could some of them have graduated if magic like this was around? Her hands trembled at the possibility. Even the school hospital was filled with countless unconscious teens that didn't deserve such ruthless treatment from the real world.

"If I'm correct, aside from unfathomable powers of destruction, you all are also capable of healing as well? Are there any other fantastical abilities I should be informed of, Team MAY? Any that can produce substances out of thin air, or time-altering spells?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow, speaking half-jokingly, but half-suspecting the three to produce a plate of pasta from nothingness, or reverse the stream of time out of pure boredom just to mess with him.

"Sorry, no such thing Professor. As much as I'd like to find a solution to world hunger and finishing my essays on time, neither can happen with the help of magic, especially the latter." Minato joked back, earning an amused smile from Ozpin and a frown from Glynda.

"Do try to stay on top of your classes, Mr. Arisato. I may not have a job in the end if my students start failing in their first year at Beacon." The headmaster gave a humorous chuckle. "Thank you for your time, boys, you can all return to campus."

With a flick of a hand, all previous hints of magic and tension were erased from the room, leaving what resembled a meeting between three normal students and two instructors. However, just when the three were about to leave, they heard someone speak.

"W-wait!" The boys turned to face a concerned-looking Glynda. Her voice lacked her usual formality and her posture was sloppier than usual.

"Is there a problem, Glynda?" Ozpin said surprised, noticing the woman's odd behaviour.

"No sir… it's just… may I ask them a favor?" The once stern instructor choked on her words, unsure of how to express her ideas in concrete words.

"What kind?" Akira crossed his arms in a frank response.

"It… has to do with the school's injured students" Glynda admitted, a pinch of guilt clinging to her heart, "Can you help them?"

Ozpin stayed silent.

"Sure, is there anything—" Yu was cut off by Akira.

"How? What can we get out of it?" The dark-haired boy seemed unmoved, putting on a blank mask.

"There's also the problem of their miraculous recoveries. A person can't just heal from an Ursa attack overnight. What I think my teammate is trying to say is that we're putting ourselves at risk by helping you." Minato stepped between the two males, seeing the death glares from Yu and the cold indifference from Akira.

"Would it help if we offered a reward in exchange?" Ozpin became just as calculating, his manner of speech shifting from one of a respected headmaster to that a shrewd man. This benefited him in the long run, after all.

"A favor for a favor doesn't sound bad, does it?" Akira wasn't letting the older man take the upper hand. "Using magic to help a whole hospital of people will likely drain us to exhaustion."

"And what kind of favor would you propose, Mr. Kurusu? I assume it has to be worth the risk and work you all have to put in for the task?" The headmaster concluded. Not even the Vale council was this pressuring to deal with. It made him wish he had more kids like Ruby around.

"That, I have to discuss with my team in private. It'd be unfair for me alone to ask for something for myself."

"Agreed," Minato patted both Akira and Yu on the back, "As the leader of Team MAY, I accept this proposal."

"Very well then. It seems we have come to a deal, Team MAY."

"Did you really have to ask them for that?" Yu slammed the door to their dorm shut.

"They were asking to abuse our Personas. What were you going to do? Cave in to their demands?" Akira shot back, then felt a tug on his collar.

"What's wrong with you? Do you think you're better than everyone else? Those kids stuck in that hospital helped save hundreds of people just by being out there and putting their lives on the line and you can't even be bothered to help them a little?" Anger boiled inside of Yu's stomach. His teeth clenched and his fists were inches away from punching the bastards in front of him.

"If you think that favor was an easy deal, then you're a moron! Were you even listening in the office?! We're putting our own asses on the line in both risking introducing the entirety of Remnant to magic that could cause wars and draining ourselves dry of our powers if we go through with your idiotic plans!"

"That still doesn't change the fact that you turned a simple favor into some kind of leverage for yourself! We all could have accepted that reward like the Professor offered and not risk so many people's lives for your petty power trip!" What infuriated Yu was not how Akira rejected the favor at first, but what he did with it afterward.

"I want to help those people as much as you! But didn't you see how Ozpin was so willing to deal with us? What about the way he interrogated us for what else we could do?! He's using us as much as we're using him and I'm not letting him take advantage of us!" Akira finally snapped, his eyes wide and hands shaking.

"Guys, guys, calm down." Minato put a hand on each male's shoulder, adding crushing amounts of pressure that caused them both to experience mild pain. "If we keep this up, the entire school will hear us." The bluentte's voice was polite, but he radiated a black aura of death.

"You…? Help people? Some Wild Card you are. I'm sure Igor made a mistake in choosing you. It's the reason you're here right?" Despite the warning from his leader, Yu never stopped. He burned his eyes into the pathetic existence that was the jackass in front of him.

"Igor? Igor?! You mean that long nosed THING that made me suffer for a stupid bet he made with some fuckwit of a god? Why am I here? Speak for yourself, you failure!" Akira yelled back, old emotions and sealed wound beginning to pour into the open.

"What the hell are you even talking about? I risked my life to defend my town and my loved ones!" The gray-haired Wild Card started to tear up, his words becoming more and more jumbled, "I'm no failure! You probably ditched all your friends and never looked back!"

It was Akira's turn to snap, "I went through hell to help my friends! Don't you dare—!"

"And I ended the fucking world because I was a weak ass piece of shit that couldn't save anyone if I tried!" A third voice broke into a screaming match, piercing through the heavy atmosphere of the room.

Minato looked up, his face sunken with grief and his eyes darker than anything the two had ever seen. They were the eyes of someone who had witnessed something even more horrifying than death itself. He gazed up at the other two, with his expression being completely withered and beaten with pure shellshock.

"But I thought Izanami…" Yu murmured to himself, putting a hand to his mouth at the absolutely crippled state of his friend, for he resembled more of an ancient dying man than a young teenager.

"Yaldabaoth…" He could hear the other whisper with an equal amount of horror. Something felt terribly wrong.

"How can you say that…?" Minato stared into space like he was off in his own world, whatever he was seeing in his mind's eye had paled and petrified the boy. "The world ended with Nyx, back in 2009..." His voice was cold and robotic, it was as if he was just a human shell without a soul.

"2016 for me." Akira softened. Even saying the year out loud felt bitter.

"2011…" Yu was next, but how could that be? How could everyone have different dates for when the world ended? And each time by a different god.

All three sat down on the side of a bed.

"Here," Akira placed a blanket on Minato, who looked like he was shivering from an unseen force in the room, "take a deep breath and relax." Despite starting out with a cold and unapproachable attitude, this Akira was softy patting the back of his friend with worried eyes, signaling a drastic shift in his behaviour.

"Have some water." Yu grabbed a bottle but was unsuccessful in getting the attention of the shocked bluenette, "Minato? Minato?" The boy gingerly nudged his friend, only for his body to jump at the sudden contact, and the other watching him like a scared animal.

"S-sorry…" Minato said in a whisper, different from his usual,extroverted tone.

"Are you doing alright?" Akira asked.

"I'm fine…."

"You sure?" Yu felt the boy's words were as inaudible as the squeaks of a mouse.

Minato nodded, "Just tired is all."

"Want to lay down for a bit?" Akira suggested, although the entire trio didn't really seem well.

"No, I'm ok for now. I want to get to the bottom of what's going on…." Every word the bluenette put out felt like a struggle, but he tried to keep himself strong. He had finally found others like him, others that shared his pain.

"What got us in the first place, right? The inconsistencies too." Yu summarized the problem, a problem that lacked answers.

"Assuming all of our stories are true, the world also ended in different points in time…" Akira tried to find a solution to the problem.

"If it ended with me, then you guys shouldn't even be here." Minato said with melancholy.

"What if the world restarted after each time it ended? " Yu suggested. Izanami might have ended humanity but that still doesn't mean she could escape the eventual heat death of the universe.

"Unlikely, humanity only existed due to Nyx's interference with the earth. There's no way that would happen a second time and so on." The bluenette of the group explained, although it only managed to confuse his peers more.

"Nyx? Was that the being you were fighting against? Don't tell me it's basically the two brother gods of our world." A certain sense of dread began to permeate the air, as the being known as Nyx made both the intentions Yaldabaoth and Izanami sound rather mild in comparison.

"Nyx was the origin of all shadows and complex life on our planet," Minato paused feeling cold at even mentioning the star-eater, "You guys mentioned dealing with your own gods right? What were they trying to achieve?"

"The complete enslavement of humanity, because humanity itself prayed to be controlled." Akira narrowed his eyes, "Humans as a whole gave birth to it, too." His last words sounded bitter.

"Izanami wanted to shroud the world in fog because she feared humans would always run from the truth. Her conception was a similar story. A giant shadow born of the collective unconscious." Yu felt the wells of his stomach tighten at merely mentioning the monster that disguised herself as a goddess.

"Nyx was called to the world because humans wished for death…."

"And she gave birth to humanity." It was then that they all realized their futile struggles, and maybe even felt a pinch of guilt. Yaldabaoth and Izanami were at least flawed and defeatable, but to go up against the literal thing that conceived all life on earth was an entirely different story. The two shadow deities paled in comparison to the might that was the death goddess.

"See why I said that idea wouldn't work?"

The three mauled over the problem, coming up with different theories on how their individual timelines could have happened . Time passed, turning the bright blue of the sunny sky to a deep, dark purple littered with hundreds of individual stars. And yet, despite all their efforts, it came up empty and futile.

"Hey, thanks for coming out with me like this." Yu swung open a door to the rooftop, walking into a sea of glowing lights that illuminated the entire campus, from the twinkling yellow embers that dotted the tranquil night to the mysterious emerald orbs that hung silently amidst a tall majestic tower. The boy stepped onto the smooth blacktop, watching the starry sky and the empty area below.

"Yeah..." Akira followed closely behind, his ears twitching and listening in to make sure no one else but the two were around, "It's less cramped."

"So, any ideas yet? I've still got nothing." Yu tried to find words, any words that would make this meeting feel less awkward. It felt like a dark cloud constantly hung around the Faunus that made it impossible to converse with him normally.

Akira shook his head.

"What about where you're from?" He tried again.

"The slums of Mantle."

"No… no, I meant…" he felt his hand shake at the reply.

"Earth?" Akira answered, leaning against a wall.

"Yeah, our world. I was mostly a city kid all my life." Yu gave a nervous chuckle. Although, it was only when he moved to the country did he finally start to live again.

"Tokyo."

"Well… least we have something in common." The gray-haired boy sighed.

"Why don't we skip right to the point," Akira said softly, having finally had enough of the uncomfortable exchange. He lacked his usual indifference.

"Yeah, good idea." Yu took a deep breath, "Look… I'm sorry for going overboard back there. I should have considered the consequences and—"

"Why are you apologizing?" The reply had taken the gray-haired Persona-user by surprise. "You weren't wrong. I was being selfish."

Yu stood still, fumbling words in his mind, trying to process the sudden admission of guilt. "What?"

"Didn't you hear? I was being an asshole." The dark-haired Faunus shook his head with a bitter smile, "I haven't been called out like this for a while."

"Then, what was your life like back then? Did you have to do this a lot?" Curiosity urged him to ask the question that had plagued his mind ever since the other had mentioned his origin on Remnant.

"Remember what that Weiss girl said at the beginning, when we first met? Lying, cheating, and stealing. They truly were the only way to get by." He then pointed to his feline ears, "See these? They made things even worse in that blasted country." Twitching and bobbing up and down, the traits of a feral animal. The symbol of a Faunus. The symbol of being an inhuman creature. Akira yanked at his ears, an annoyed scowl plastered across his face.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Yu's eyes drooped. Compared to the dark-haired boy, he had been born in a place of unimaginable wealth. Him and many of his peers had to do barely anything to get what they wanted, which only fueled his guilt. "Back then, when I said I wanted equal rights for both humans and Faunus? I really meant it."

"Even if that happened, there would still be massive economic divides between the two. Hey, um… listen," Akira felt a lump in his throat, feeling the gaze at the other, "I'm.. .I'm sorry for calling you a coward." He mustered all the willpower he could to not to look away.

"It's alright."

"And for threatening you with a dagger…"

"I understand." Yu felt a hard fist impact his shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Stop being a pushover. One day, those wolves in Altas will bleed you dry if you keep this up." Akira furrowed his brows, hand raised as if to deliver another blow if necessary.

"No, I'd rather not take that wealth. Other people need it more. I dunno what I would do with that much money anyways." He stopped after he felt the searing glare from the Faunus. Mixed emotions of confusion, anger, and bewilderment all flashed in his eyes.

"You do realize you're the heir, right?" Akira's fist shook.

"Yeah." The gray haired heir replied blankly.

"At best they're going to make you a puppet and at worst they're going to find a way to make you a martyr and point fingers at the Faunus to further their own agendas." Akira waited for a reply, anything that would indicate a hint of sanity or self-preservation in the other's words. Then he saw his face darken.

"Yeah. I've known that for a while. I'm just waiting for that to happen…." Yu paled, his face drained of all color and spirit, leaving a sad, empty husk. His reply was soft and broken. It was the reply of someone who had already admitted defeat long ago.

"You're… insane." Akira took a step back, horrified.

"No," Yu said bitter, looking away "In a way, I see it as a fair punishment."

"Punishment?" The Faunus seemed to calm at the word.

"Despite the failure I was, I was rewarded with a life of complete luxury," Yu felt his eyes start to swell up, " I got everything and anything that I wanted living in that mansion." Hot tears started to stream down his face, "But then I realized how much of a jackass I was when I remembered dooming all my loved ones to that eternal shadow hell. The entire fucking Earth was dead, Akira! I should be in hell burning with the rest of them for what I did!" The heir screamed at the Faunus. "Instead, somehow, for whatever twisted reason, I was reborn into this… world. I know it's coming Akira, and I am waiting for it because there's no other reason I would be here—"

Smack.

Thud.

"Do you think I care?" A yellow flicker and shattering sound was heard as Yu rolled and tumbled to the ground. Shocked eyes witnessed a flash of white from above as the stunned boy rubbed his cheek. A harsh foot stomped on his abdomen, causing him to cringe in pain.

"If you keep spouting that bullshit, then I'll kill you right here, right now!" Akira pressed the tip of his dagger at the other's throat, his face stern. His hand shook.

"Akira, I—!" Before Yu could finish, he saw his assailant toss the dagger into the door, stabbing into its side. Panic started to surface from the Faunus's eyes as he saw someone burst open from the other side of the door.

"What are you doing?!" Pyrrah sped out from the darkness, throwing her metallic gold-and-red lance at Akira, who quickly jumped out of the way, while the girl ran up ramming her shield at full power, forcing the other to block with his bare hands.

"Tch!" Having been pushed to the literal edge of the building, Akira waved his hand in the empty air until it spawned a small azure fire swiftly taking shape into a simple black pistol. Reaching his arm to the side of the shield, he started to fire wild sparks of blazing blue at point blank range at the champion of Mistral, who flinched and retreated a few feet back from the mysterious ammo.

"Pyrrah, stop! It's not what it looks it!" Yu ran in between the too, using his body to block off either side from advancing any further.

"Yu! Can't you see what he was doing?! He was trying to kill you!" The crimson-haired champion pleaded, desperate to prevent a death while her entire body trembled at picturing the aftermath.

Akira clenched his teeth. It hurt badly.

"He was trying to help me!" The heir yelled back, still refusing to move.

"Jaune! What's going on?!" Yang was next to bust open the door, along with a short-haired male wielding a plain sword and shield.

"This is Beacon campus security! Arms up and we won't shoot!" Two fully armed and uniformed man aimed their rifles at the boy.

He felt his heart tighten. It was too familiar.

"Akira, no!" Ruby put her hands to her mouth, horrified, hiding behind Minato and Blake.

"Ugh! I knew he was a criminal!" Weiss pointed her rapier at Akira, "Give it up you, evil Faunus! To think you would actually target a Narukami!"

His heart shattered.

"You know what you dumbfucks?!" He yelled to no one in particular, screaming into the heavens, his arms stretched out wide, his face morphing into a devilish grin, "Maybe I am a fucking criminal! So what if I tried to kill that pathetic piece of shit?! All Altas elites are pigs!"

"N-no we're not! Shut up, shut up, you filthy Faunus!" Wiess stabbed her rapier into the ground, conjuring up a sharp row of jagged ice that shot toward the broken trickster, "Ah!" Suddenly and without warning, the row of ice was blown by an unknown wind as the guilty Faunus swung a hand in the empty air. Chucks of sharp icicles flew at the group and before anyone could do anything else, a blinding flash of white obscured the area, forcing everyone to cover up their eyes while some braced for the ice storm heading their way.

However, nothing happened. There were no panicked screams of being pierced by sharp white crystals, nor any feeling of wind in the air. Not even a subtle breeze as time marched on.

"He's gone!" Weiss stomped into the pavement. Everyone expressed their own versions of terror, anger, or anguish. Their minds were clouded, their spirits broken, and their bodies shaken by the unexpected experience.

And in that moment of anguish and frozen time, no had noticed the pools of warm water or melted ice.