The next day, after Carolina and Wash's mandatory three hours of sleep, the Reds and Blues began wandering around town. Velvet had already left for Beacon, so the crew chose to sightsee. As they wandered around, they realized that the buildings, the city itself all just looked like Earth before colonization began in earnest. It was as if they had be thrown into the past.

Nothing caught their interest, until Caboose spoke up.

"Piso mojado."

Everyone stopped to stare at Caboose. Did he really just speak spanish?

"What?" asked Carolina.

"Slippery step. The floor is wet."

"Bow chicka-"

"Shut up. What are you talking about?"

"Straight ahead. Yellow tape means slippery floor."

The crew looked ahead, and they noticed a store, with the name Dust Till Dawn inscribed above the awning. A massive hole was covering one window, and yellow police tape created a giant "X" over the opening. Police were looking around in the store, taking photos, and studying three white outlines of human bodies on the ground.

Carolina walked up to the police officers and asked, "Sir, what happened here?"

The officer looked at her and the rest of the Reds and Blues, and decided to talk to them.

"Dust robbery. Roman Torchwick and some of his guys tried robbing this store. A huntress in training stopped him."

"Oh, and the bodies?"

"Huntress incapacitated all of Torchwicks' goons, about three or four of them. Then she ran off to try and nab Roman himself. Since he's not in custody, I guess he escaped."

With that the officer turned away, and went back in the shop. The Reds and Blues took that as their cue to leave. As they walked away, Carolina mused over what they'd learned.

"So a huntress in training is apparently able to deal with three thugs, and then pursue a wanted criminal on her own. It sounds like they're a capable lot."

Grif butted in on her private thoughts. "Yeah, but are we? I mean you and Wash are, and maybe Tucker, but the rest of us? I don't think we'd last a second in that place."

Wash looked sideways at him. "After taking down a defunct military project, fighting hundreds of robots, time-traveling british guys, stopping a civil war, ending said civil war, you worry about COLLEGE!"

"Shh. Mr. Washingtub. You are too loud."

Wash sighed. Grif replied, "Actually a lot of that was Carolina and you. I didn't even go to college. In fact, I think only Simmons, Dr. Grey, Carolina, you, and maybe Doc actually went to college."

"And after doing all of that, you don't think you can go through...college."

"No."

They continued walking, bantering and exchanging jokes and jabs. Once again, Carolina zoned out to think. They needed to ask Velvet what dust was. It was clearly and important thing, if a known criminal was going to rob it. They made their way back to Velvet's house, where they were greeted by Velvet's mother.

"Oh, hello!"

"Good morning ma'am." Wash greeted her for the Reds and Blues.

"Velvet called. She said Headmaster Ozpin was willing to enroll you in his school if you pass the interview."

"Interview?" The Reds and Blues all had bad memories of interviews. Especially the interviews that assigned you to units. Tucker remembered his interview with Captain Flowers, the beginning of his journey.

"She said that Ozpin was expecting you to meet him at Beacon's landing pad at 3:30 pm. You know, you are lucky. The semester begins tomorrow."

"Landing pad?"

"Oh, my bad. Beacon Academy is located on top of a cliff. The only way to get up is with an airship."

That's when they realized. The tower that they had seen that led them to the city of Vale must have been beacon. It was an appropriate name for the school.

The bullhead landed on its designated area. The Reds and Blues were extremely critical of the craft. It was ridiculous to have the two engines on the ends of the wings. It made it structurally weak, and was a far cry compared to the Pelicans they were used to. As they stepped out of the craft, glaring sunlight was immediately negated by their helmets, so they instantly saw their welcoming party. A man in a black suit with a green scarf stood in front. He had messy grey hair and eyes that betrayed no emotion. He reminded the freelancers of the Counselor, and they both vowed to watch themselves around him. A middle aged woman was standing behind him. Tucker was about to comment on her outfit and the riding crop in her hand, but something made him stop.

The man in the black suit strode forward calmly and introduced himself. "Hello. I am Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon. My assistant is Glynda Goodwitch."

Carolina stepped forward, taking command of the Reds and Blues. "I am Carolina, and these are my friends."

Ozpin nodded. "Perhaps we should continue this discussion in my office." Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and strolled toward the school. Carolina shot a look at Wash who shrugged, and walked after him. Something about this man unnerved him. They all followed suit and strode through the school.

Ms. Goodwitch had seen a lot of things in her lifetime, but these teens unnerved her. Their faces were covered, and the way they walked through the school indicated that they had seen a lot. They didn't gawk or stare at certain parts of the school that had astounded others, didn't pause. The fact that their faces were covered by mirror-like visors was even more strange, giving them an aura of lethality that few huntsmen in training had. And their leaders, the teal female and grey male seemed like leaders. Their movements were crisp and precise, with none of the nonchalance the others carried. The others appeared to be talking to each other through their helmets, evidenced by tiny bobs and head movements. Their leaders however, were silent. They walked with a confidence, not arrogant like many other huntsmen in training, but a confidence that said, "I know what I'm capable of, and I can take care of myself." That, their anonymity, and silent professionalism was enough to set alarm bells off in her head. It was a brief walk to the elevators, and Ozpin hit the up button. The elevator rocketed up to his office, and the armored figures stepped out. Ozpin took his seat, while she took her position to his right. An awkward moment of silence passed, before Ozpin spoke.

"So. Who are you?"

The teal armored girl stepped up and introduced herself. "I'm Carolina."

The grey man was next. "I'm Washington, but most people call me Wash. I'm the second in command of this group. Carolina's our leader."

A female in white armor and purple accents jumped up. "Hello! I'm Dr. Grey, I'm the medical specialist!"

That got Glynda's attention. Apparently Ozpin's as well as he asked, "Doctor? Excuse me for asking, but you seem to be too young to be a doctor."

"Oh, that's fine! I am a doctor with a medical degree! I'm used to it, my parents used to say that all the time, but they weren't complaining when I fixed them up! Ha!"

Seeing the lack of comprehension on the adults' faces, Carolina clarified. "Dr. Grey is extremely smart. She is a certified genius, and is the smartest out of all of us. To put it simply, she is an experienced field medic."

To his credit, Ozpin did not look the least perturbed. "I see. I take it she has had experience?"

He did not expect the rest of the group to back away, and Dr. Grey to answer. "Oh yes! I once treated three men whose internal organs had been displaced by torture. It was fun!"

Once again, Glynda was thrown for a loop. A teenager had been asked to perform as a field medic. She was not sure her countenance hadn't betrayed her, and she marveled again at Ozpin's control.

The Reds and Blues were surprised to see Ozpin chuckle slightly and compliment Dr. Grey. "Being a medical officer is a noble profession. Saving the lives of others is what we stand for after all."

There was a gasp from a man in blue armor. This man had a unique helmet that did not look as advanced as the others. "You sound like Washingtub!"

Even Ozpin was taken aback by this. Glynda's mouth dropped open at this odd proclamation.

"Excuse me, but what does your companion mean?"

"We should continue introductions," said a man in teal armor. "I'm Tucker, and that's Caboose. He's...he's dumb."

"Mentally deficient!" chimed Dr. Grey.

"But why did he compare my voice to that of a bathing vessel?"

Glynda wondered that as well.

"Oh, he can't say Washington, so he just says 'Wash'. Or sometimes 'Washingtub'. We just ignore him."

Carolina added, "Actually, he's right. Headmaster Ozpin sounds like Wash."

Wash protested, "I don't speak like that!"

Now that Glynda was listening for it, she realized this Washington sounded a lot like the headmaster.

"That one time. We were in a game of truth or dare. You had to recite some Shakespeare."

The Reds and Blues were flabbergasted. They, for the life of them, could not imagine Carolina playing such a game. Maybe Wash, but Carolina? No.

"W-w-wait. You." Tucker pointed at Carolina. "Played truth or dare. A, y'know, 'fun' game? You. Carolina. Played-"

"Yes. Shut up. We're getting sidetracked."

"I agree," said Ozpin, "as interesting as this conversation is, I'm sure we all have things to do and places to be."

"So we've introduced all of blue team." It was then that Goodwitch realized that the groups appeared to be divided into colors. Four were some variant of red, three were blue but acknowledged the gray as one of them, while two others where purple.

"We actually have two medics, one is Doc over there, the other guy in the purple."

The man named Doc stepped forward shyly.

"Hi. I'm Dufresne. Nobody calls me that, everyone just calls me Doc."

Suddenly, his voice changed, becoming more menacing.

"That's because no one respects you, you incompetent feeble minded fool!"

Turning to Ozpin and Goodwitch, he said, "I am the harbinger of your demise, mwahahahaha! I will destroy you all! Prepare to taste oblivion!"

Dr. Grey merely removed a strange device from her hip, which began to glow a crackling green. The psychopath stared at it for a second, before surrendering.

"You win this time witch-doctor."

Doc's voice went back to normal as he spoke, "And that was O'Malley. I'm kinda schizophrenic."

Ozpin said, "You are truly some of the most interesting people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Continue."

A man in bright red armor stepped up, snapped a salute, and spoke in one of the gruffest voices Glynda had heard.

"I'm leader of the Red team. Name's Sarge."

"Pardon, is that your rank?"

"Nope. Pappy always told me to dress for the job, I just took it one step further."

"Noted."

A man in pink armor was next. He spoke with one of the most ridiculous voices Glynda had ever heard. "Hi, I'm Franklin Donut! Most people just call me Donut. Love the outfits, it really suits you."

The man now known as Tucker snorted. "Says the guy in the pink armor."

"It's lightish red!"

"Whatever."

Ozpin once again corralled the conversation back to the topic at hand. A bulky man in orange armor was next.

"I'm Grif. Don't bother me."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Carolina.

Carolina cleared things by saying, "That's Grif. The laziest person we know. He's our driver, and a good one. That's why he's still here."

Ozpin looked back to Grif only to see Sarge threatening the man with a shotgun.

"What are you doing!? Talking back to people and seniors? You should respect the elderly! Just wait till I'm done with my shotgun court martial!"

Surprisingly, Grif looked unfazed with a man waving a large firearm inches from his face.

"Sarge, enough. You can kill Grif later. Simmons, you're up." Wash took over for Ozpin. Everyone looked at him, then at Ozpin, then back to him.

A man in maroon armor walked forward. He attempted to say, "I'm Simmons. I'm the technician for Red team", but was so nervous around Glynda that it came out as incomprehensible gibberish.

"Excuse me, but what did he say?" asked Ozpin.

Grif answered. "I speak retard. He said, 'I'm Simmons. I'm the technician for Red team.' Either that, or he said he likes to eat newborn infants. I hope its the first option."

"Why would he be nervous?" Ozpin was curious as to why this man was so shaken.

Carolina clarified. "He's nervous around girls. It took forever to stop him from running away from us." At 'us', Carolina motioned to herself and Dr. Grey.

"I see. Well, I'm not going to hurt him." Glynda spoke up for the first time. Both Ozpin and Glynda were completely unprepared for what happened next. Each person, except for Dr. Grey, reacted.

Carolina snarled, and got into a combat pose.

Wash also got into a combat pose, but a more defensive one and began to back away.

Simmons ran and hid behind a pillar.

Grif pulled a traffic cone from nowhere and held it in front of him.

Sarge pushed Grif in front of him and removed his shotgun from his back.

Doc yelped and cowered in fear.

Tucker pulled a handle from his leg, which ignited into two steaming blades of energy.

Caboose waved and said "Hello mean dead lady."

Ozpin, Dr. Grey, and Ms. Goodwitch were all confused.

"Was it something I said?" asked Ms. Goodwitch.

"Stand down everyone!" Carolina yelled. She herself slowly relaxed and eased back into her normal stance, although it was obvious she was still tense. Wash did the same. The Reds and Blues however, did not.

"Ms. Carolina, could you explain what is going on?" asked Ozpin.

Carolina looked at Wash, who nodded and said, "She sounds exactly like an old...acquaintance of ours."

"I take it your relationship with her was not very good."

"No. She was Carolina's rival, I was just nervous around her, and she beat up the Reds and Blues."

Grif yelped at this, dropped the cone, and covered his groin.

"She was nicknamed 'Ballbuster' for a reason. She absolutely thrashed them, and Grif was launched several dozen feet in the air, then landed on a pointed roadblock in a very sensitive area."

Grif groaned and backed away, while Sarge chuckled.

"However, she died quite some time ago, and I guess meeting someone who sounded like a person who beat the crap out of them several times would terrify them."

"Surely she couldn't have been that-" Ozpin was cut off by various testimonies proclaiming Tex guilty in every way.

"She punched me in the balls!"

"She took my shotgun!"

"She beat me up!"

"She used Caboose as target practice."

"She shot Church."

That last one sobered everyone up. It was an effect the two full-fledged hunters had seen before. It was a group of warriors remembering their fallen. Whoever this Church was must have been very close to them.

Glynda spoke up. "I can assure you that I am not her. I'm sorry for what happened to you all."

The Reds and Blues didn't appear convinced.

Carolina spoke up. "Guys, its not her. The Tex we know would never apologize."

"She's right." said Sarge.

Wash clarified. "Actually, after your, ahem, collapse, I heard her talking to North. She seemed genuinely sorry for knocking you out."

"It was probably for the better." Carolina nodded. Turning back to Ozpin, she asked, "So are we in?"

Ozpin contemplated for some time before responding. "You clearly have the marks of seasoned veterans. You all seem to have experience, but I'm not sure about your capabilities, as you have not appeared in any of the databases from any combat schools. I can allow you to enter my school's initiation, and if you pass, you will be allowed to enter. All new students go through this initiation."

Carolina nodded. It was reasonable. Looking at Wash, he also seemed to be fine with it. And the Reds and Blues had shown that they would stand by their friends no matter where they went.

"We accept."

"Good. Now, Miss Scarlatina was not very detailed in her explanation about your origins, could you shed a little light upon that?"

That, was bad.