The Silver Eyed Alchemist

by GravityMassUniverse

If getting reborn after having a somewhat embarrassing if odd death can be considered bad luck. Getting reborn as the dead mom archetype in a world different than the one you know can be considered even worse luck. But at least I have my magic laser eyes and magical science to back me up.

8. Early Days: Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Sup..welcome to chapter six of The Silver Eyed Alchemist. I've been working on and off on this chapter, working and reworking entire sections until they felt right. This and the next chapter will act as a time skip of sorts, probably a year or two passing within each chapter. Then there will be one or two more chapters and their accompanying interludes before we reach the actual Beacon phase. By that point things will be rather different in a number of respects from whatever Canon used to be. Either way, this story will eventually earn its M rating once I have some more confidence with writing more intense scenes. Anyway thanks for staying on...

Disclaimer I don't own any of Roosterteeth property. Please review and follow if you're interested.

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Chapter Six: How Time…

"OWW!"

"Yes!" I celebrated openly as I swept Umber off of her feet and right onto her rear. She had been knocked out of bounds, her aura flashing for the briefest instant as she fell onto the hard floor. I sauntered over to my bunny friend and offered my hand. Umber smiled and took the hand, jumping onto the tip of her toes.

I had finally…finally gotten an actual win over her after nearly a fucking year. More importantly we had both succeeded in getting into Signal Academy combat school. It had been difficult getting myself up to a good enough level but I managed. I still had trouble but I didn't care… I was going to get better and nothing would stop me at least for now.

"The loser finally beat the stinking animal huh?" My friendly grin dropped and I felt a surge of rage before I reined it in not bothering to hide it. Over the last four weeks of school a stupid brown haired fatass had been acting like a complete buzz kill. Every moment he had available was used to insult us with racist, sexist or just plain stupid comments. The funny part was that he was actually weaker than me, and was in fact the only person I defeated on a consistent basis. Everyone was on a more even footing with me or better than me on some level.

But other than that knowing I had managed to beat the top Pole arm fighter made me feel proud and happy. So ignoring that little shit, I took a sit down on the bench, and grabbed a towel wiping off the accumulating sweat from training. I passed a towel to Umber too, and grabbed the small lunch box. We were taking a break after a number of spars over the last hour and a half.

It was thankfully better than the first day where all the students at once had to fight Gilda at the same time. It went just as well as you could imagine and she literally swept the floor with us. With one poor Asian looking girl getting rug burn after sliding on her face.

"So I finally beat you." Umber nodded while taking a sip of water and a brief bite of some carrots… I held out my left hand and she passed me some to munch on, while we watched the last spar of the day.

The fatass vs Taiyang…

Oh I'm going to enjoy this spar very much… Taiyang didn't use any weapon being a master of open handed combat. The other kid took up a practice War hammer with a stupidly smug smirk on his face like usual. I suspected it was just a mask he put on to hide his insecurities. Gilda stood up with a rather serious expression and asked for the two young teenagers to begin.

The two trainees circled around each other though I noticed that Taiyang left what looked like openings in his stance that the other kid took note of. I still didn't know how the other kid…a Win something or other remained so confident after the near continuous train of beat downs.

I waited with a bored expression likely on my face and sighed as the unnamed guy took the first step, lifting his hammer over his head in the same manner one would lift a wood axe. It was mildly insulting to see someone with such poor skill be a student in this school. I hope that at the least he would end up improving and getting rid of that rotten attitude.

Taiyang easily sidestepped the heavily choreographed attack and retaliated with a kick to the kids legs knocking him off balance. The brunette growled and threw his whole weight behind the war hammer. Taiyang took a step forward dodging the attack and in one fluid motion landed a punch right on the kids chin. I flinched as the kid nearly fell out of the ring but narrowly caught himself by stabbing the dull end of the hammer into the floor. Taiyang sauntered almost lazily if I didn't know any better.

"Come on man, can't you do any better?" The kid's expression became livid at the taunt. The kid roared and jumped into the air his hammer overhead in another unrefined strike. Right now he wasn't very impressive to anyone. The Golden child turned on his heels, and grabbed the kid by the scruff of his neck.

"Next time…" The 13-year-old boy flinched at Taiyang's neutral tone. "Do better."

With a resounding thud the match had ended with the indignant kid snarling on rage. What the hell is that kids problem, he was okay before this one sparring day, what happened? Despite the outburst Tai offered his hand anyway with his winning smile. The Win-something curled his hands around the hammer, the wooden shaft splintering under his fists. My body coiled as my instincts screamed at me to just move and the world blurred around me. I twirled my staff and a splintering of breaking wood followed.

The damn kid had tried it smash his weapon into Tai's smiling face. I had acted and managed to block it, but broke his weapon in the process.

Wait that isn't important!

"Tai are you okay?" I leaned up into his face checking for injuries. I found none and leaned back noting the light blush on Taiyang's face. I turned to give the kid a glare but the mortified expression on his face…drained away any anger I had to give him.

"Mister Winchester!" My mother was absolutely livid and stomped over to the paralyzed child. He scampered away with a whimper, startling my mother and stopping her march. My feelings turned to sympathy once I realized something was wrong with him. Gilda pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed under her breath.

"Please come with me, we need to have a little talk you and I." Winchester stood up with an unreadable expression as he turned. I tilted my head the slightest, and he flushed before looking away. I relaxed my stance and was off put by the confused look on Taiyang's and Umber's face.

"Why are you two giving me that face? Did I do something wrong?" The two kids shook their heads with a quiet "tsk" and I wondered what was going on.

Umber's bunny ears twitched as she responded. "You do know the kind of reaction your face gives to guys right?" What exactly is that supposed to mean? I don't oh Goddamnit man!

"Please tell you're joking!" The blank expression on her face told me anything.

This had been a growing problem overall, because apparently being cute made people attracted to you and I just wasn't interested right now. There had even been a few times where I had gotten love notes, which while kind of cute, they didn't do it for me. The click of heels stopped the murmuring and whispers of our fellow classmates as Gilda strutted back into the room.

She clapped her recently manicured hand twice.

"Class dismissed!"

Well okay then…

So it would be Weaponsmithing next.

Yess…

---

"Students! You have your weapon in mind for the semester project yes?!" I nodded absently, gazing longingly at the forge and the numerous tools set around it. I had been waiting impatiently since the class had started. It had taken me months upon months before entering Signal to figure out what my weapon should be. The rest of the time was spent learning how to design and built weapons from mom and our teacher. In hindsight my weapon had already been decided for a while now.

I could work with close range contact if necessary but something with a wider range would be more comfortable for me. So I needed a long sharp spear say about 8 feet long, however it also needed to have a very powerful firearm built in. I needed to take my alchemy into account on what my weapon would be capable of as well. Maybe I can add a grenade launcher of some sort that throws chunks of metal with arrays carved in? Hmm…already writing that down…

I could probably use a coilgun instead of a railgun, though it would be more complicated, but not having chunks of my grenades slough off would be a benefit. I just need to figure out what kind of arrays I wanted to use, but I also had to create some long distance arrays for a variety of effects.

I wonder if I could power my rail gun using one of those lightning arrays? If I can do that it would mean no need for Dust at all. And unlike my gloves they would always work as long as they don't get scraped away and that isn't going to happen. Unless my weapon is destroyed of course…

"So what are you working on kid?" I gave our teacher a smile as she loomed over curiously. This was Bestla, and coincidentally was Borr's wife and the forge master of the school. She was the one who would help us with making our signature weapons. Of course my helicoptering mother was a part of the process as well…

"I'm just drawing…the blueprints…for my weapon. What do you think?" The older women gave an appreciative hum as she viewed the just completed drawing for my ultimate weapon. The drawing was the weapon I believe fit me best.

A high caliber sniper spear(snipear) with a close range third mode halberd assault rifle. The various anti material rifles I've seen before initially inspired the gun mode. But as I thought about it more the image of a more…fictional rifle came to mind.

It's…inspired by the Gauss rifle from the Crysis games and the Widow M98 from the Mass Effect games …mainly because I still have vivid memories of fan fictions involving them and RWBY. Physically it resembles a Crysis 2 Gauss rifle with some bits of a Barrett M82 mixed in with the Mass Effect style internal ammo block of tungsten alloy. It has the frontal section of the M2014, and the rear assembly of an M82 without the cartridge, only a space to insert a Dust compressed Tungsten block. The spearhead is actually a part of the barrel muzzle and had little wings to keep it from getting stuck in an object like say a Grimm's corpse for example. The head is mostly solid except for the last four inches, which are both on little pivots.

But there is one…tiny difference

It doesn't technically have any need of a trigger…it has the grip and trigger of course but my weapon can be fired using a tiny pulse of aura alone. Or…through alchemy…probably. But to be honest that isn't too uncommon among Huntsman weapons really. The main reason for that are the two internal Dust crystals. So it's more like a staff rather than a normal gun if necessary.

As for the spear blade sections normally in their position they would completely block the bullet, but the two blades were on a hinge that would pivot outward allowing the bullet to fly. So I could pierce through a Grimm flesh and wreck their insides with a hypersonic round to the stomach.

To form my spear mode, the two outer sections will close laterally and the stock will telescope outward to a total length of 8 feet. Actually in this mode the rails will extend, increasing the length of the barrel and upping the velocity of the gun. The trigger and grip will also move back with the stock, though the grip will flip leaving only the trigger exposed. I based the spear off Nordic spear designs, only black and white and metallic. Now to return to gun mode, the stock will telescope back in and the sections will pivot to make way for the barrel, reducing the length to 57 inches.

But the most important detail about my weapon is that it has an incredibly powerful rail gun firing a 100-gram tungsten alloy flechette round at 6000 meters per second. Basically a slightly larger and more powerful version of my original prototype. One major difference is the use of Gravity Dust as the initial acceleration stage instead of Wind Dust. That was for several reasons… One, Gravity Dust has greater energy density than Wind and I'm using it in as a solid crystal as well. Second, well…Crush Dust is a lot like Eezo. Third…well that's all I've got. I don't need another reason to make a gun powerful enough to rival Yang's(?) semblance in energy output.

Muzzle energy of almost two mega joules and beating out a WW2 tank is nothing to sneeze at. It's a pretty ridiculous level of firepower for one gun and I love it! It can punch through Grimm armor and burn through aura like a hot knife through butter. Best part is because of Dust and aura bullshit I can actually hit faster and than that as a special attack. Its main limitation is the difficulty in using Dust rounds within the bullet though I have some ideas.

Thus this will serve as a long-range weapon able to keep my distance from an opponent and even damage them from over a mile away. Thank God for Remnant technology or else the round would probably melt with their size. But in case of more intimate combat ranges which are likely with Grimm and rogue bandits I have my halberd mode.

Now to form my halberd, my spear has an attached underbarrel grenade launcher with two axe blades screwed to the barrel. To form the butt of my weapon will telescope inward while the grenade launcher will moved forward on a rail that hinges at the end to form the blade. A lot like a shorter version of Crescent Rose's scythe blades. Actually funny thing is, it's pretty much just my sniper mod, with the grenade launcher moved forward and flipped to form the halberd head. The small coil gun grenade launcher takes up most of the space used for the barrel support, so once formed.

So I'll have a halberd grenade launcher hybrid weapon. But they aren't just any normal grenades, they make use of my transmutation "semblance" basically hunks of aerodynamic steel or iron with long distance arrays engraved onto them as I've mentioned previous. Propelled by a coil gun to high speed, the array grenades are rather fast and incredibly cheap, since I can make them from midair if necessary. Originally a landmine and a distinct long distance array, the main circle is engraved on the back of the gun and then transmitted to the mine. Depending on the array it can be highly explosive, poisonous, or even radiological. They can explode on impact or on my command depending on what I want. The grenades can fire with each swing if necessary.

And that's not all… while in this mode I can switch from the 100-gram flechette slugs too much smaller rounds at a lower speed. This time it would be a 3000 meter per second 4.3 gram bullet being fired at a maximum of 5581 rounds a minute Basically a damn rotary cannon and very hard to dodge for most people(except Huntsman obviously) though the velocity might be too much for even them.

"You know a weapon like this is going to be rather hard to make you know. Your melee weapons are rather simple but you've placed all the complexity in the guns. I can see you made the rails modular to replace when needed but still… This thing will wear down like a motherfucker."

"Hey!" I replied indignantly if with a small smirk on my face. "I'll have you know these superconductive rails will last 10,000 full power shots and it's machine gun mode will have less damage on the rails." Except for the higher fire rate related wear but…

"Of course kiddo." The old woman had a look on face that infuriated me. Goddamn she was reminding me of Ozpin and his damn knowing smirk he's always pulling…

"Now how far have you gotten on the whole 'coil gun' launcher." I felt excitement rush through me as she asked that. There had been some good results in the past few weeks on that front.

"Oh? It's been going great; getting the power electronics for it hasn't been difficult at all… The speed is limited of course to about 250 meters per second at the fastest…"

More of a rocket than a grenade launcher really…

The older women looked rather impressed and I glanced around as she mumbled to herself. The other students were hashing out their own weapons too barring the exception of Taiyang who only wanted some studded gloves. He had no need for a long range option preferring getting up close and personal. He honestly was a rather terrifying opponent and I had never succeeded in beating him even once.

I still needed to get better…

"H-Hello." Umber had walked over with a sweet smile on her face, she had a blueprint in her hand and our teacher gave us a nod before leaving to help out the other students. The cute bunny girl still had the occasional trouble with stuttering for brief moments at a time. It was a rather endearing habit of hers.

"Hi. Do you need any help, or did you just want an excuse to talk to me?" I gave her a gentle and hopefully friendly smile as she grabbed one of her ears out of habit. She didn't answer but sat down next to me and opened up the blueprint so I could see.

Hmm…a trident like Yari with an embedded Dust firing mechanism…much like a sharper and longer version of Amber's staff mixed with Weiss's revolver. It can fire various different rounds of Dust or create an elemental beam if she wants it to. It uses a typical Breeze Dust propellant to propel her elemental bullets though she can launch them as blanks like a Gravity Dust blast. This is actually a really simple…

I gave the girl a smug look and patted her shoulder. She gave me a small pout before turning away. "So you did just want to talk."

"Yeah…so uh…" I waved with my hands for her to continue. "How has everything been? We haven't gotten as much time to…you know hang out."

True…everything has been rather rushed as we all got used to the routine of Combat School. But now that we(barely) have the hang of it, I think we can make some time.

"It's been good…as you can see I have my weapon…well not ready but give it some more time and it should be well on its way to ripping people and Grimm a new asshole." Umber giggled, covering her mouth with her left hand as I wrapped my arms around my chest. I felt my lips twist into discomfort as I felt the general softness of that area.

Right uh… "Also uh…I wouldn't mind if maybe…you, Taiyang and I could hang next, next weekend? I've got some free time if you wouldn't mind."

The young girl gave me a soft smile. "Of course I don't mind and neither will Taiyang." Her fingers lightly grazed against the sheet of her future weapon, almost longingly.

"So what's been going on with you? Made a new friend, or maybe even figured out your semblance?" She shook her head, her brown bangs fluttering with the action.

"Nope, nothing like that…I just spent some time playing a new video game my mom got me. Smash…something or other…" I scooted over to her, lightly tapping my hips against her own. I wanted to know if the game was what I was thinking of.

"What game is it?" She grinned and started to write some additional notes on her blueprint while we talked.

"It's a fighting game that uses characters from Mientendo." I firmly placed my hands against our workbench surprising the girl.

I had heard some rumors about a version of Smash in this world by a company with a similar name. I had unfortunately wasted most of my "allowance" on building all my various tools. So no fun video games for me…

"We should play that when we have the chance…" I gave her a thumbs up and a hearty laugh in response. Hmm…now back to work. I need to get this done and an outside perspective should be rather helpful.

I should add two more bolts here for the rails, a higher quality Shock Dust crystal should have a longer lasting charge though I've been thinking of using the medium quality Energy crystals instead. It's nowhere as dense as what's found in major power plants or on the few warships that exist. Both are rather expensive but since I'm rather loaded I can easily afford the need.

But I've designed my rail gun in mind to take any sort of power Dust necessary. Even the worst quality Lightning powder should work in a pinch, and in the worst case my arrays could act as backup source of energy.

The bell rung meaning classes had ended… Dang…

Umber stood up from her chair with a bounce in her step and gestured for me to come along. Her ears were wiggling the entire time her excitement rather apparent. "Hey see you later right?" A little hint of her more happy go lucky personality showed itself. I felt honored to see a more honest side of her.

"Yep," I gave her a Summer Rose signature smile and lifted myself up to my tippy toes waving excitedly. "See you bun-bun!" Her ears drooped at the embarrassing nickname I had given her, but nodded and lifted her hand up in the air as a goodbye.

A good day today…

---

"Hey, hey listen…" A familiar voice echoed across the empty void of what seemed to be a dream. I did my best to ignore it, preferring the bliss of a dreamless sleep.

"Hey…hey?" the voice changed…

"Why are you ignoring me? Why didn't you help me?"

My eyes became wide open and I felt a whimper release itself from my throat. I felt the air leave me, as a bloody broken hand, the face of a dead man searing itself into my memory. Next to him a a young female rabbit faunus's face was twisted into a snarl of hatred and I felt tears run down my face.

"Why didn't you save my dad?"

"N-No I couldn't I didn't k-know…" My voice showed my fear and I was quivering like the useless person I was. Hundred of other faces showed themselves… Families lost and broken; never to return.

"Why didn't you save us?! Why?! Why?! Why?!" They desperately begged me for an answer I couldn't give them. I didn't know when Mount Glenn w—

"Please shut up…please shut up, just leave me alone." I crawled on my back running away from the terrifying spectres of my nightmares. Another cold-clawed hand met my shoulder. I turned, my body quivering. I came face to faces with an amalgam of dozens of humans who I barely remembered now.

"WHY DID YOU FORGET US!?"

"AHHH!" Heels tapped against the wood floor and I was swept up into a comfortable hug. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt my lips quiver as the concern in Gilda's eyes increased.

I…I…just ignore, just ignore it…just ignore it…it doesn't matter. I snuggled into her neck and she didn't say a single word as I calmed down. But when my shaking became when I felt like shit…when I knew I was a terrible person f-for everything.

She hummed a song, quietly murmuring the lyrics under her breath…

"Time is an illusion that helps things make sense…" My shivers slowly faded as the familiar song left from Gilda's mouth. My eyelids drooped as the gentle song lulled me to sleep.

"You and I will always be back then…"

I-I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough…

---

"ahh…"

Where am—I'm on my bed? Right my nightmare woke me up in the middle of the night. I grabbed at the sheets and with a light high pitched grunt threw them off of me.

Okay, time to…time to wake up…and smell the roses…

Heh, heh… Ok I'm in my room I'm safe, there's nothing wrong…

"Dammit" A curse slipped out and I subconsciously scratched my chest.

Oh, I Ohh...that feels…

"S-Should remember not to do that anymore with how sensitive my well…" But they're mine aren't they? It feels kind of nice anyway…but uh for now I need to put on some actual clothes. I was going to hang out with Taiyang and Umber today at her house. Which I shockingly hadn't done before at all. I needed, well wanted to look…presentable for such a new occasion.

But it wouldn't be easy…with my ongoing growth spurt there had been some issues with finding clothes that fit me. It wasn't necessarily just in the height department, though I was already starting to match some of the more average sized boys in height and mass. About 65.67 kilograms and 167.67 centimeters actually, I had even surpassed my previous life in height and weight now. Maybe I drink too much milk? Buut I kinda doubt it and even if that was why, I wouldn't stop because milk and cookies is the perfect snack.

With a sigh I stood up and glanced in the mirror, scratching the crook of my neck. I was currently wearing a long white shirt that acted as a dress, covering my pair of blue boxers. Because hey, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I need to wear girly things unless it was…for health reasons. I ran my fingers through my messy shoulder length hair and forced a smile.

"Everything is fine…or, or if it isn't, it will be fine." Now Br—Summer relax, and take a seat to cool off. My hands curled inward gripping the beds sheets, and I threw my feet back and forth as I took a deep breathe. I wrapped my arms around my chest and some heat rose in my cheeks at the bounce.

Right…need to put on a bra…support is important for a growing girl. I glanced down to my chest with moderate discomfort. Unfortunately that…area had gotten visibly larger. So…right need to find the right size…ahh here it is!

"36C apparently…" I muttered under my breath as I clumsily put it on, struggling with the clasp. I still hadn't gotten a lot of practice with this and I was having some…issues. Nothing too bad but I had to figure it out regardless of what I wanted. I glanced around for a moment and took a better look of what I looked in the mirror.

I patted my stomach, taking note of the toned muscles underneath. I suspected that in another few months I would have the beginnings of an actual six-pack. I couldn't help myself and flexed checking myself out. I glided down to my hips, moving them side to side out of curiosity mostly…

Going to be honest…and not to be arrogant I'm apparently hot as hell. Or at least cute since I am only 13ish. I would say give me another couple of years and I'll be turning heads (hopefully from girls…don't mind a guy though…)

"Ahem…" I coughed and scanned the room again. I lifted them up to check their weight my curiosity winning out. Again my biology was…interesting and there was no other reason for it.

They were a bit heavy…

CLOTHES! I was looking for clothes!

I opened up the small closest for my clothes, and began to decide on what I felt like wearing for today.

How about this black shirtdress? It's mighty comfortable, and can fit my magnificent figure just fine, just need that little belt too, button it up and I'm done! What about those red high boots? Good for kicking people in the face! Now…my white cloak over the dress…and I'm good to go.

Once I was finished dressing (and admiring myself in the mirror for the second time…) I turned on my heels to open the door to my room, tilting my body forward to look around the corner of the corridor. I tapped my heavy boots and grinned as I heard two distinct knocks on the door to my home. It was a little ritual between Umber, Taiyang and I. Her faunus hearing was absolutely excellent, so I took advantage of it and very once in a while.

"Sup." Taiyang gave me a friendly smile and I wave as I opened the door for Umber and him. The slightly taller teenager had worn a tan hooded jacket with set of baggy brown jeans. Peeking out from behind him was Umber, wearing a dark brownish-red blouse and a red skirt with black leggings.

My grin widened at the flurry of frozen water that lazily drizzled down from the clouded sky. When I had originally been taken in; I had been too distracted to notice the changing climate. But now I could really admire the sheer beauty and majesty of a good snow.

FWOOSH!

As well as the biting cold of a winter wind…

I closed and locked the door behind me, hiding the key within the various inner pockets I had alchemically stitched into my cloak. I walked with a small spring in my step, feeling in a particularly good mood today. It did seem that some bits and pieces of the original Summer's personality had leaked through into my own. That or in my previous life I was so unhappy and dysfunctional that I went the other direction when I came to this world.

"Hey," I perked up and leaned in Umber's direction as she got my attention. I nodded waiting for her response. She sighed and steeled her resolve. "Could you tell me about the importance of polygons in 'alchemy" I snorted when Bun-Bun used air quotes but complied with her request.

"Right, Polygons in alchemy are used to break down and decompose materials within a transmutation circle. The transmuted substance is tossed by the polygon from their vertices into the circulation of the circle. Kind of like like tossing a salad, but if instead you were tossing possibly explosive, poisonous, carcinogenic, or radioactive materials.

"So…not at all like tossing a salad…" Tai replied with a deadpan look and shook his head I shrugged with a "mhmm." and was tempted to grab some of the snow. But…it's cold…so maybe not?

"Then what do the different polygons do?"

I tapped Umber's forehead with a small smile, more than willing to oblige her request. I loved to just explain things to people, if their questions can be answered anyway.

"Yes, the first shape a triangle is used to break down matter to the atomic or even the subatomic level reducing a substance down to its most basic elements. How the elements are separated or broken down depends on how your Array is built." the rabbit faunus followed along easily, having an easier time at it than Taiyang ever did. Which was why he only had a specialized Air array built into his gloves to augment his semblance during a worst-case scenario.

"Keep going to the next one…" I gave my female friend a thumbs up, feeling the urge to skip as the lovely and oddly cozy give of today soaked into my bones.

"Then there is a square which is used to break something down to parts. From as small as a molecule to as large as a boulder…"

Gradually my explanation degraded into a one-way monologue, which was typical of any conversation, started by our resident bunny. I suspected she did it on purpose so she wouldn't have to talk as much, but Taiyang was cutting in more and more to stop that habit. Which I didn't have a problem with, I might love the sound of my own voice but I like learning about the people who…have been so nice to me.

"Hey…is that Winchester?" My spiel stopped as Tai pointed to a hunched figure, their hair barely visible under an impossibly thick dark brown hooded jacket. He rather resembled a tiny grizzly bear with the sheer amount of fluff on that piece of clothing. He looked rather pitiful and I wondered if I could help him in some manner.

"Summer noo! I know you're practicing this empathy for your fellow man (women?) thing but…" At that point I made up my mind. I did have to act the part of Summer Rose right? But…in my own way…

"HEY!" The boy flinched as he heard my call and tried to duck away from us. A slight application of skate, and I crossed the 20 meter distance in .8 seconds. The boy nearly leaped out of his own skin as I skidded just short of his face.

"Go away," the kid tried to push past me but I was too quick and agile for the poor boy. His eyes were almost haunted making me more determined to do something. "Please…just leave I'm not worth the effort…" I sighed and begged for help from my friends with the frightening power of my puppy eyes. It didn't take long for their resistance to crumble…

Hey… if you have the goods why not use em for good? I clasped my hands on his shoulders keeping him from making his escape. My hesitant friends surrounded him and I asked him the all-important question

I gave him a friendly grin. "Wanna hang out?"

His confusion was positively adorable. "H-Huh?"

---

The discomfort on his face was obvious to see for everyone in Umber's living room. He sat apart as far away as possible, while the three of us remained in a small pile of friendship. I pointed my chin to them asking for help, because I didn't think this through at all.

I'm…not a socializer…I'm not particularly good or bad with people, but I do have empathy. I guess it only took my own death, to actually do something for another human being. Which brought me to an important question.

"Uh…this might be a little rude and I apologize if this offends." He lifted up his full eyes at my voice. "But…" I wrung my hands together in anxiety as my cheeks flushed. "What is your name? I never really paid any attention to it."

Winchester gave me the flattest expression I had ever seen, the first genuine reaction since he had arrived. I decided to push my luck further, he was starting to open up. I patted the free space beside me hoping he would take the offer. Surprisingly he did, and the kid wrapped his arms around his stiff legs clearly discomforted.

"It's…Cassin." I tilted my head, wondering if it was related to a bird name of some sort. My memory was near perfect in remembering the plot but I didn't know everything. Not that I could anyway…

"So Cassin…" I waved a Scroll based controller for the game. "You want to play with us? I don't mind, and neither do they right?" I nudged the both of them with impunity. Both of them agreed with my…gentle prompting but Cassin remained hesitant.

"I…why are you being so nice to me?" I felt a pout come on but suppressed it giving him what I hoped was a calm understanding look.

"Because I want to be nice to you? You…don't seem like a bad person, just confused and hurt. It's just the right thing to do, you know?" Please be enough of an explanation…

"O-Okay." My friends were surprised while relief passed through my body as he said yes. I passed him the controller and we got ready to play.

So…my "plan" was going pretty well…

"Hey…don't you dare!" The signature sound of a character getting knocked off screen punctuated Umber's rage filled scream. Taiyang pumped his fists as he was declared the winner of the match. Cassin had a soft smile on his as he watched the rabbit girl pout, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. We had already gone through several matches, though I hadn't won more than once, because while I was familiar with the game I hadn't played in years.

There was some nostalgia as I lost, remembering the few times I had played with my cousins all those years ago…

"How is everyone doing." I grinned as Umber's mother came into the room with some drinks and snacks, the kind rabbit faunus's eyes twinkling with motherly happiness. She set down some sodas and I grabbed one familiar to me in taste and appearance. It was Remnant's equivalent of Sprite, but not just any old Sprite. It was the only one I was ever willing to drink once I had been introduced to it in Mexico once my parents moved to the American side of the border area from Florida.

Mexican Sprite…there was subtle flavor difference that was…just fantastic, plus the Coke is great too! Can't forget their Doritos either…

"I-I Summer you should slow down you might choke." I waved off Cassin's concern and gorged myself even faster.

"Neverrr…" I hissed at him and he paled.

Hmm…maybe my eating habits are why I'm more err...voluptuous than Summer Rose was in life. That or my soul could be having some effect on how puberty is working out. Huh, does it work like that? Because in life I was Mexican and the females on both sides of my family were…rather top heavy you could say.

Doesn't matter though, no matter what body I have I'm still me…I could look like freaking Battleship or a Nomu for all I care. As long as my mind and soul are the same I think I would be okay. With a different body, sure I'll change but that applies to any living thing that forms new neural connections over the course of their lifetime.

Now this time I'm going to be Bowser, err…Bowsette…

…

…

Going to be honest, I'm unsure if I should be impressed or afraid that Bowsette's "fans" managed to get her into Smash somewhere in the vastness of the multiverse.

Gender bent Bowser… I think the universe was now intentionally fucking with me at this point. Thankfully it seems like this is specifically a genderbent character rather than all of them being flipped in this universe. I don't don't think my sanity could take another blow.

"WRAHH! I screamed almost childish as I began my assault.

Double claw!

Headbutt!

Claw swipe to the face bitch!

Fuck you Mario! You little…Italian shitbag!

"What's an Italian?" My ears turned red as I noticed that everyone was actively staring at me. I mumbled some nonsense in Spanish…and they all turned back to the TV like hologram.

We continued to play for a couple of hours until it was past noon. I ended up winning a couple of times as I got the hang of the game again. Cassin grew less shy and more confident and I felt almost…proud of myself for helping him. Getting to know him did start to make me feel guilty for calling him a fatass…but whatever.

But soon enough it was time for him to go…

The kid seemed hesitant to leave and glanced over at me, I placed my hands on my hips curious on what he wanted to say. He shuffled his feet for a solid minute before he rushed over to me in a tackle.

Wha—oh.

The boy had wrapped his arms around me tightly and I mechanically patted his back as I felt little drops tears fall. Cassin is a rather sensitive kid ain't he? But whatever as long as he doesn't do anything untoward we'll get along fine.

"T-Thank you." I nodded sadly, wondering what the hell his parent or guardian was doing to him to make him break down at a simple act of kindness. I…wanted to help him even more.

"You're…welcome to hang out with us if…you want." The other two didn't mind and I could they have even looked forward to it.

"I…okay…" He let go, rubbing his eyes to remove the wetness. He looked cutely bashful as he glanced over. "Do you promise to…even when you go off…to Beacon. At least to talk I mean…"

He…didn't want to become Huntsmen did he? Well sure…

"Very well," I grinned rather cheekily. "As my subject I must take care of your needs."

Kid only looked totally confused at my reply, but he looked happy…

I…would protect him and people like him…

---

"Finally after so long…"

Everyone around me took a step back as I let out a feral sounding cackle. It didn't help that my mother was emitting a similar aura. My beautiful masterpiece had been completed after much work and hardship. A number of issues with occasional explosions had put a damper on my work. But…I figured it out despite the setbacks. We were going through the final process of checking for any potential issues we hadn't noticed. It had taken a triple check with my semblance and a quadruple check with my own two hands and equipment.

It was…perfect…in every way imaginable…

I picked it with near reverence, feeling all the little quirks of the heavy weapon. For months I had labored on this weapon, getting all the necessary materials for it. I felt the deepest crooks and corners of my wondrous machine.

The superconductive copper rails…tested to last 30,000 uses, after some recent material improvements from Atlas. The Earth Dust reinforced steel and titanium; the newly invented carbon five composite shaft hidden within the stock reduced the still immense weight. The Tungsten alloy block compressed by Space Compression Dust and shaped into bullets with each shot. Using an array to shape the bullet depending on my needs.

Honestly an array seemed to work much like an unnecessarily esoteric programming language. It was something frankly incredible…so in this array it's built specifically for the bullet materials of my gun, and based on the written commands on the circle, would shape it based on the mode the gun is in.

That…took a long while to figure out, blew up the prototypes like three times. There have been been some small changes here and there mainly making the internal power core more interchangeable. The power core lay behind the over 40 inch long barrel and is comprised of two crystals of Crush Dust and Shock Dust. If there's one fortunate thing about Dust crystals…is that their energy tends to dissipate pretty easily. Because this thing has enough energy to feed my gun for hundreds (thousands…) of shots…times a 100 for its smaller rounds…more if I feed some aura into it like many do.

"How is it?" I gripped the shaft, my hands finding the best balance on their own. The spearhead gleamed in the light and I knew I had done it…everything was if not perfect close enough for my needs. I gave my mother a thumbs up and with a click the weapon compacted down to its still immense rifle mode. The grip of the gun was comfortable, and I wondered if I would get a chance to test it.

"A real marvel of engineering my student." I beamed feeling positively ecstatic at my success.

"You want to test it out?" I nodded and we walked over to one of the main firing ranges. Everything was empty and quiet at least for now.

But…not for long…

Okay…breath…brace the gun against your shoulder…keep my aura up, and brace myself even more with it. Because this thing has 100 times the recoil of rifles from earth. Not as much as you would expect mainly due to the lack of propellant, and the more linear acceleration of my weapon. I calculated it at about 32000 newtons of recoil compared to the recoil of cre—

Never mind that, I wanna see what it can do. I prepared to fire, the usual boom of explosive Dust and gun power was replaced by an electric hum as it rapidly charged. Now let's…

One, two, three—

BOOOOMMM!

JESUS CHRIST ON A BIKE! That damn recoil would have shattered my shoulder and my spine if I were still a normal human! Which makes sense since I'm firing the equivalent of a handheld 60 something millimeter cannon. The dummy target had basically exploded and melted, and there was a flash of heat still remaining. Okay let's try… A-Anyway Crescent Rose has recoil of 46800 newtons and before anyone asks how that makes any sense, it's Dust shenanigans. Aura users can modify the effect of Dust turning their weapons into makeshift propulsion systems or to up the apparent mass of their bullets, or the potency of a Dust explosion.

In my case I could throw myself back with some 800 plus thousand newtons of force. So I could leap some 100 odd meters in the air with one firing. Not including the massively aura infused super attack I was able to theoretically do. My normal attacks would drop a tenth of a top tier student tanks aura in a single shot, or could even cripple an Atlas Mech (the prototype anyway). But give it time for some more advancement. My aura infused, extra speed and mass attack…well there's a reason I based it on the Crysis Gauss rifle.

One shot…one kill, two to four of you were a Huntsmen…

It would be useful if it wasn't for a fact, that it took a massive quantity of aura and there was a good chance my weapon could explode… but we aren't here for that right now we're moving on to…

Rapid fire mode…

BRRRT! BRRRT! BRRRT!

I could only barely keep myself steady, as the recoil was rather sizable…

In one second…I had expended about 93 bullets...causing further property damage. I sheepishly moved on to the next target, and activated the trigger of my weapon using…aura similar to how Yang activates her gauntlets…

Loaded a single 150 gram chunk of iron aluminum, adding the array and…

The projectile flew outward like a rocket and when it made its mark it exploded in a detonation of freezing air, leaving an ice covered dummy. I fired again, and a conflagration melted that ice rather quick. I fired a third time and a smaller chunk narrowly missed the head, striking the chest instead. The dummy was burned by intense electrical shocks…

"Hehehehe…" I cackled under my breath, but kept my voice as quiet as possible. I didn't want to frighten the other kids more than they already were.

"Now…I think you should test the melee modes…" I nodded to my mother's request as all the kids were expected to use their weapons in class for the next 3 and half years (give or take or couple of months). Until they either quit or went off to whatever work they were looking for. Be it to a Huntsmen academy, the police or even the military in some rarer cases.

So…let's test it… I want to see how much I've improved…

---

I breathe deeply as I faced my combat teacher, the women who had taken care of me for over a year was wielding a simple halberd. No fancy weapon was built into it at all…but I knew she would make use of her semblance in our little fight.

I lifted up my weapon in its spear mode…the black and white spear had some small changes to its paint job. Various "runes" had been added to make some small improvements to my masterpiece. Some were added onto to the tip to add various alchemical effects, others made it easier to aim, and throw.

Not that I was going to throw it, not with this fight…

The arrays started to grow but I suppressed it…not wanting the light to alert my opponent. Apparently alchemy doesn't need to glow at all, making stealthy transmutation rather easier than expected.

No…distractions…

I leaped forward, taking the initiative after plotting out a simple plan. But with a slight twist, her spear blocked my blow with ease. I flinched and barely blocked her retaliatory strike.

Fast…too fast…I knew I didn't stand a chance…but I needed to make an effort. I had the greater reach with our weapons but…

SHINK!

I moved my head to the left, ducking a spear that had popped out from a portal.

Right, shit!

I stepped back as Gilda struck just a little wide. Come on you can do this. I keep weaving and dodging past the slowed down weapon barrage. Every once in a while I would get hit or I would knock them aside with my spear.

Of course Gilda took that opportunity to slash me with her halberd and I felt the extensive level of pain.

S-Shit OWW that hurts! No don't wait…she hasn't moved out of my reach! I growled and the blade sections opened to fire. Her eyes opened wide but she wasn't fast enough to avoid it.

BOOOMM!

My caretaker was thrown back, crashing against the wall. I winced as my shoulder protested, the spear having pressed into it. A glance of the screen told me her aura had dropped by a few percent with the railgun. Let's try something else…

Just as she picked herself…she took a 200-gram thermite bomb to the face losing another couple percent. But despite that there was a wide smirk on her face

I glanced behind me and I paled…realized how screwed I was.

Dozens of swords and other assorted blades hung in the air behind me. With a wider smirk, she gestured her index finger to me. I grimaced and summoned a firestorm to act as a shield.

Gilda slammed into me, throwing me into the air with the dull back end of her halberd. I embedded the butt of my spear into the ceiling, and with a free hand ripped the metal out of the ceiling, bringing it down onto Gilda. I fired an unbraced round, throwing myself over 20 meters into the air.

I felt the smirk pull at my face as I slowed my fall…

It dropped the moment that my combat teacher burst from the rubble, knocking several ton slabs of rock with a roar of rage. I blinked and she was suddenly in my face a—oh God help me.

She grabbed me by the neck and I got a good taste of the dirt as I practically exploded. I squealed as she pressed her heel against my hand, failing to retrieve my weapon. Wait… that's my right hand…with the…

"Gahhh!" I felt my breath leave my lungs as she gave me a kick against my forehead. With a single kick she dropped my aura by ten percent, leaving me flat on my back.

Holy shit…that was amazing.

"You, win…clearly." Mom chuckled and offered her hand. I took it and glanced at the damage I had caused. At my look she looked stern. I stopped her wig a wave of my hand.

"I'll clean it up mom. No need to say anything. I mean really…" She patted my head, and when no one was looking I gave her a big hug. She looked surprised for a moment, and a part of me liked the idea of blowing her up with some explosive alchemy. But that would be a bit of a dick move…wouldn't kill her of course if that wasn't obvious.

"You, probably have realized at least some of your mistakes right?" I nodded meekly, looking down my gloved hands.

I attacked too fast and recklessly…should have spent more time analyzing a weakness. Or maybe started with a spray of bullets…not like I could easily run out, I could just make more of the little ones and I had a belt filled to the brim with the ammo blocks for more.

"You didn't use your semblance…" I slapped my forehead in response…

I was…trying not to use it and it cost me, it would have told me exactly where I would need to hit. I didn't want to become reliant on it, but I wasn't someone like the Invincible Girl, I didn't have that level of skill to back it up yet.

Besides my semblance was…energy efficient, I could it use until my aura dropped to zero and then some. I knew there was still more I could do with my semblance, and it should be part of my toolset. Besides using it actually made me more familiar with how to fight over time. I figured out what I needed to look for…

OWW!

I rubbed my head as Gilda gave me a light smack on the head. She had a small affectionate grin on her face. "You're doing well…but next time don't be so eager. You've learned the use of pole arms well, but this weapon is still new to you." I nodded and reached for my spear. I frowned when I realized I hadn't made use of its halberd mode yet.

"That was…AWESOME!" I only blinked as Taiyang materialized from nowhere like usual. He was surprisingly good at sneaking up on others though I was a league ahead of him, an old "skill" from Before, I tended to blend into the background rather easily. I've gotten better over time as well, which probably works well for a sniper.

My attention focused on my friend's excited face as he jumped up and down. Umber shyly glanced out from behind him, her lips turned up into a smile.

Oh she's so cute…when her bunny ears twitch like that…

"You think?" I tilted my head at the taller guy, my left hand naturally dropping to my hip. He nodded with stars in his eyes and I couldn't help but puff my chest, feeling proud of myself. As well as rising on my tip toes…

He blushed for some reason and I pursed my lip feeling mildly confused. Ehh, whatever let me lower my feet. Umber was rolling her eyes and I quirked a brow.

"What?"

She looked frustrated. "Nothing…"

Okkaay then…

I compacted my weapon into its rifle mode and placed it on a sling on my back. A shroud popped out from somewhere to cover the sharp blade, a small addition to the sniper rifle.

"Yeah…I am pretty great huh?" I gave Tai a thumbs up, and he grinned bumping my shoulder with his.

I was…happy…

But…I felt like I could do better…

I was knocked out of my pensive thoughts when Umber tapped my shoulder with a question in her eye. What does she want? I'm a little busy here…

"Have you thought of a name for your weapon?"

I froze.

What was I going to name this thing…I had been tinkering and experimenting with the intricacies of this battle tool for months. But I had never bothered to come up with a name…

Spear…

Magic runes…

Norse/Viking inspired design…

That theory on Summer Rose…eye thing with Odin…

Oh I've got it!

"I'll think I'll call her…Gungnir."

---

Months passed as I got the hang of using Gungnir…not as difficult to use as something like Harbinger or Crescent Rose but still…though most of the learning curve was in firing the weapon at the right times and right opportunities. We had been doing pretty well and we had managed to make our way through the class, the second semester having ended in August, the exact date eludes me. As for their weapons.

Umber had deemed to name her weapon "Dusting Yari."

Not the most creative name really…

Taiyang does not have an actual weapon other than the gloves, which he doesn't bother to name. Which makes sense; the gloves aren't particularly special after all…

Right now, the three of us along with mom were making our way through a heavily controlled Grimm hunt. Since we were in a forest I was using my halberd mode to not take up too much space. One hand was near the trigger but I kept myself calm knowing it wasn't time yet. If there's one thing I like about the redesign of the trigger is the variable fire mode, down to 600 rpm right now. Much more controllable than a high fire rate machine gun, and somewhat stealthier. I could still switch to that fire rate if I ever needed it.

I kept my eyes wide open, and tapped one foot…a pulse of energy giving me a brief image of the landscape around me. I noticed every little weakness within this 25-meter stretch of forest and skimmed over anything not of importance at that current time.

I had a difficult time picking out Grimm, but I could still barely do it. Anyway I picked up three Ursa Minor at 10 o'clock and seven meters distant. At 3 o'clock ten meters distant four beowolves growled if the twitching of Umber's ears were any indication.

"AWOO!" They know we're here…I relayed my information as rapidly as possible and felt my lips turn up into a sadistic smile as the Grimm stepped onto our trap. Two beowolves howled in agony as they were blown apart while the other two were frozen solid. One Ursa lost a leg while the others narrowly avoided the damage, only burns and scuffs marring their bodies.

"Hah!" Taiyang leaped forward getting a direct hit on the one legged Grimm. There was a sickening crack as he shattered the jaw with a single punch. His body glowed with an orange-red light and he—

BOOM! The Grimm exploded with the super shout, and I smirked as one of the younger bear Grimm came running.

I stepped forward as it lashed out, ducking below the deadly blow. I swung down imbedding my halberd into its chest. I opened fire and blew it apart with three dozen grams of thermite.

It fell to the ground, already dissolving as its body wracked with its death spasms. Multiple more explosions echoed throughout the forest, having implanted multiple mine arrays. I turned my cloak to the same shade and color as the forest for stealth and sneakily hid some mines. Most of them were of the ice freezing variety since it was quieter. Grimm had a strong susceptibility to the cold, which was why Atlas was relatively free of the weaker Grimm. Only the most ancient and powerful could tolerate the cold. So in Atlas Grimm attacks were comprised mainly of Alphas like beowolves and subtypes of polar bear like Ursa replaced our normal variety.

I counted 36 weak booms so about 36 dead Grimm…

Probably…I'll have to ask Umber…

"Yes, they're dead Summer." I nodded, and glanced back and forth wanting to double check. I found a shadow above us and tightened my grip, I lifted up my halberd, glaring at a roughly car sized Nevermore.

It shrieked as it took an ice round from Umber to the face, blinding it with a spike growing through both of its eyes. I shifted Gungnir into spear mode and opened fire. The over two-megajoule bullet snapped it's left wing and it spun around as it collapsed in the direction of Taiyang.

"RAHHH!" Taiyang leveled a roundhouse kick right into that little shit's skull and shouted. The sonic scream pulped the brain like structure of our sneaky Grimm and it fell dead.

Shouldn't forget about air Grimm…

I felt a killing intent and twisted around, piercing through the neck of a beowolf. I watched it die with a lack of empathy as it desperately clawed for a grip. It's screaming loudened as the blades opened up tearing it's head clean off. I relaxed using my spear like a cane for a brief moment. There was a light tapping the ground and I unleashed another pulse.

No Grimm in the vicinity…but I sense two feet firmly planted on the ground. To…my left I think?

"Gilda?" From the shadows of the forest, she appeared with a light raise of the eyebrow. There was an odd emotion I couldn't recognize at this distance dancing in her eyes. "How did we do?" I couldn't help but ask, feeling self-conscious.

She brushed back her hair before replying. "Sufficient, just some more self awareness and please don't relax the moment you're out of combat." I gave her an "ok" symbol with my right hand and placed my grip near the trigger again.

If anyone was curious, my grip in spear mode was in the same area as the trigger, making it easier to fire. Because while I could activate it with my aura, it's a small waste of energy I want to save up. Admittingly I have Jaune level aura and regeneration, possibly due to my whole reincarnation deal but better safe than sorry.

"Right are we done or?" She nodded and gestured back in the direction of home.

After about thirty minutes, as well as killing a few stray Grimm here and there we were back home. I opened up the door to my home and collapsed against the sofa. My friends had gone back to their parents a few minutes back, and I lazily leaned against the sofa. I channel surfed looking for something to watch, though there was nothing particularly good on. I think there was a few series that we'd equivalent to Earth series from the early 90s, including their equivalent of Die Hard.

…maybe I'll watch it later…

I glanced down at Gungnir tracing my thumb against the vast sets of ruins I had engraved onto her. I…

Kinda sleepy…talk later.

As I drifted off, I noticed through my blurry vision that someone was wrapping a warm blanket around my neck.

Thanks…Gilda…

---

"W-Why do we have to be here?" I asked Gilda with my embarrassment at its maximum extent.

"You will be speaking with some old friends of mine and I want you to be at least presentable." I nodded warily and look around.

The first year of Signal had been over for a while and Gilda was preparing my friends and me after some negotiations with their parents for the 25th Vytal Festival taking place in Atlas. Man, Taiyang's parents are…something.

'Oh she's rather cute isn't she? You've bagged the jackpot son!'

I felt a flush rise as the memory came unbidden and I turned my attention back to the other task. So I was currently buying some…ahem undergarments as well as a few unneeded dresses to wear. Also a few more pairs of my more usual clothes, as well as a tuxedo of all things too.

Hey, I can wear whatever the hell I want! Who's going to stop me? A wicked witch of the west?

The small clothing store was rather busy, full of people of all ages, genders or race. If it wasn't it's unlikely that my adoptive parent would allow me to enter this store. While the prejudice at Signal isn't too bad, elsewhere it's more obvious to see why the faunus in the White Fang became violent. It reminded me of the early 60s in some manners, and was rather…disquieting.

I covered my mouth as I muttered quietly reading the label of some shirts. I had apparently only gotten taller since first semester. It was getting pretty expensive to get new clothes but breaking everything down into raw materials for new clothing made it up. That, or giving some of it to a nearby orphanage. On average the number of orphans per capita on Remnant rivaled or surpassed the rate of war torn or poor countries on Earth.

Right…I was on the topic of my growth spurt. At this point in time I was actually the tallest of our little fourso—and I'm not going to finish that sentence. Out of our group I was the tallest, with Taiyang and Cassin being the closest in height at 5'6 and 5'4 respectively. I was five feet and eight and a half inches tall, taller than I was expecting. I really didn't want to be stuck at 5'2 for the rest of my second life. Of course in exchange I had issues with clothing being too tight on my body.

Made me wonder what R—nope.

I gave the new pairs of bras the evil eye, remember the constant waves of aches as I suffered through my growth spurts. I never really had the same problems in my first life, since I never went through a growth spurt. I was…even as a guy no taller than 5'2. It was…a rather touchy subject for me.

"Hmm…up another size…and up another band too?" I shook my head as I read the label. At this point I am fairly sure my soul was having some effect on my body.

Stupid puberty…

"U-Uh hey…Summer." A stuttering Taiyang was not something I expected to see. His eyes glanced around the clothing area with some hesitation. Didn't take me long to realize he was a little embarrassed. His mother, a kind dark haired woman with a nice, almost chubby figure was right behind him. Though there was tenseness I recognized as muscle underneath.

She was wearing a black t-shirt with a pair of blue sweatpants and looked adorable. Reminded me a lot of…hmm like Inko Midoriya from Hero…Academia? You know, like a person made out of sunshine and puppies made manifest. She was also tiny, maybe about five feet at best.

So I was like eight and a half inches taller than the cute parent. I wanted to give her a hug…curse my weakness for cute things. I cut off my thought process as Taiyang gave me an odd look and I coughed politely accepting his mom's greeting.

"Hello." I gave her a light smile and waved before placing some extra bras into the cart. Taiyang's eyes followed their movements for a brief time before blinking and stopping.

"You're picking something out for the Vytal Tournament too?" I nodded as an answer to his mom's question. It was rather early for it, since there was another month to go before the actual Festival began. But getting it done early would save use from any headaches later.

"Yep, I can't say I care much for it though…" Taiyang seemed to agree while his mother clearly didn't, if her headshake was any indication.

She waved her hands in protest. "Oh come on! It's always important to dress up go an occasion! What will the two of you do when you get ma—"

I immediately blanked out whatever she had to say next. Her son turned completely scarlet and started yelling out some random words. Couldn't make it out from all his random babbling. I moved away from them to grab a medium women's plain white shirt.

"Meh." I stuck my tongue as I analyzed the shirt, nothing interesting. A surprisingly normal piece of clothing. Though I heard there was some Schnee clothing line coming out with a line of carbon nanotube impregnated clothing. Heavily more effective than kevlar and with a hard backing plate serves as excellent protection for the more affluent section of the population.

"Need to get me some of that…" I muttered and moved out from the section but not before Gilda pulled me back with an exasperated expression. I groaned and remained despite my misgivings.

I was allowed to move out of the aisle so Taiyang could and I quote "chat me up" whatever the hell that means. I sat my butt on a small bench where he could sit next to me if he wanted to. He did so, and I gave him a friendly smile before turning my attention to the crowd, my semblance lazily scanning the crowd. Mainly to practice, and get around the sensory overload weakness of my semblance. Too much, information at once can slow down my reactions in the worst scenarios.

Couldn't have that…

"So you've been doing rather well." I nodded leaning in his direction the slightest amount. "You look good." I quirked a brow at the abashed complement but took it in stride, not particularly minding.

"You aren't doing half bad yourself Tai." He smiled shyly with a light blush and I couldn't help but celebrate in my head. He was…rather an adorable idiot when he was flustered. He's started to toughen up of course, and I hope to move him away from can—ahem not thinking about that.

"So you going to watch your sister fight in the tournament?" I nodded hoping to convey a "duh" expression. She was family, I wouldn't not watch. "Well yeah it would be kind of rude to not watch my sister fight fight in the biggest tournament in all of Remnant." His eyes widened and I could tell he was mildly chastising himself for his mistake. Poor guy kept sputtering over his words, though he did have his moments of devilish (dorkish) flirtatiousness.

"Tai," He stopped. "Don't do that we're friends remember? There isn't much you can do to annoy me." Tai seemed to calm down and relax and I felt better myself. I really don't want to deal with awkwardness. Taiyang gave me another sweet smile before leaning against the wall the bench was set against.

"How awesome do you think the tournament will be?"

I smirked. "I'm sure it'll be great."

---

Less impressive than I was expecting, it seemed that this year didn't have the best quality in Huntsmen teams with the clear exception of my sisters team and…is is that Ironwood I spy in the distance? No wait don't go?!

And he's gone…

Um anyway if you were talking about about the stadium, it was incredible in every way. It was an excellent late birthday gift no matter the quality of the teams fighting. Besides we were talking the difference between CRDL and RWBY. They weren't terrible, just…average really.

Besides that we were walking through the many little shops set up for the four day long Festival to moved toward a part held by some important folk. It was rather interesting how different it was from Canon, mainly due to being in Atlas rather than Vale. Regardless of the Festival we kept close to our parents, rather not get lost in a freezing cold place like this. We had rented a hotel nearby for the festival itself. We had gone up to shenanigans with my "semblance" since my circles have no need to be bigger than two inches in diameter. Mainly, it was…an interesting opportunity to mess with Mister Schnee.

The guy was turning out to be a real asshole, even more so after Willow Schnee revealed she had been pregnant for three months. There was already an increasing amount of unrest between humans and faunus due to his actions. Though some of it was being counteracted by a new joint project between Atlas and Vale, which I suspected was the work on non-Dust power.

What little I had gleaned was that it wasn't to replace Dust but to supplement it in some manner? Also there have been some advancements in computer technology also coming from an Atlas products project. A Remnant equivalent of Google basically. They had also opened up about a neuromorphic computer they were developing. Whatever they were, they were efficient at the whole simulating neurons thing. There were a few that were wary of the technology, but most didn't care for the implications. Mainly because neural networks were too useful a technology to pass up.

"So how's it feel to be 14?" I paused in my internal conversation as Glynda butted in.

I hummed for a moment as I thought about it. "I don't…feel any different. Maybe a little smarter a little wiser but…meh." She nodded at the response. She had been invited herself along with her team thought that had separated to enjoy the festival for a while. They wouldn't be staying though, since they were making plans on who to send to the Singles.

"Fair enough…" My blonde headed Huntress trainee led me to a stand where they were selling some popcorn. I purchased the over priced confection with the allowance Gilda had gifted me. I took a bite and grinned at the good taste.

I couldn't help but look and around, marveling at the diversity of people just being. At the least nothing seems particularly out of place. I popped another piece of puffed corn as we wandered the full streets around the floating stadium. I couldn't help but look at it with wariness, feeling that the stadium could fall on us at any moment. I mean really that thing must weigh thousands, maybe even millions of tons. It's as big as the larger stadium on Earth, but floating in the air.

"Don't be so paranoid little sister. There is nothing capable of bringing down Amity Arena." I wouldn't be so sure of that big sister. Heck if I knew the composition and used my semblance I could probably bring that floating thing down. But I might be giving myself too much credit and everyone else too little. Despite my abilities I'm no god, and everyone around me is stronger by a suitable amount. Except for Umber and Cassin of course. Umber is shorter and lighter than me while Cassin just isn't very good.

GAHH!

Glynda lightly swatted the back of my head with the back of her hand, giving me a look. "Stop thinking about how you can blow up the stadium on your own. You and I both know you don't have the means or the will to do that. Too much of a softy despite your…lack of people skills." I growled and wrapped my arms around my chest, knowing it was true. I might lack social skills but not empathy,I…don't like hurting people.

"Yeah, yeah little good witch." She narrowed her eyes but walked in step with me anyway. "Now, who was that guy in the militaryish get up." She stiffened, and a noticeable scowl formed on her face.

"That would be James Ironwood, he's a promising third year from Atlas Academy."

Oh this will be great.

"You don't seem to be fond of him." She flushed and I knew victory was within my grasp. She backed away and a teensy pulse of aura let me catch up. "Ohhh big sister what haven't you been telling me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." That one vein on her forehead was twitching.

"What kind of altercation happened between the two of you?" She kept denying me with a flustered disposition. "A powerful rivalry, a failed romance, or did you compete for the heart of a fair maiden or a fine gentleman." At her expression I gave her an easy grin. "Hey, I'm not gonna judge what you're into."

"Gah shut up! Or should I be asking when you plan to tie the knot with Taiyang?" My ears suddenly flushed as she turned the tables and she crossed her arms around her chest with a smug grin.

"You'll pay…" She rolled her eyes and I yelped as she poked me on the butt. My eyes widened when I saw Doctor Polendina happily chatting with a fox faunus. I noticed the light blush on both of their faces. The fox's tail was lightly brushing against the doctor's chest and waist in a rather sweet fashion.

I guess he got himself a girlfriend… Perfect teasing material…but I have better things to ask. I picked up the pace, wanting to catch up with the professor. Hopefully I would get to know his lady friend too, she might have some of her own insights. Goodwitch scrambled to follow after me, not trusting me to be alone apparently. A bit patronizing but better safe than sorry.

Both adults noticed my excited approach and stopped to meet me. The women looked a little suspicious but also some mild interest danced in her rather pretty eyes. Polendina was happy to see, if the rough handshake was my indicator.

"Ah Summer! It is good to see you in person again. How have your studies gone?" I gave him a thumbs up and then turned my attention to his friend. The red haired fox faunus's tail swished back and forth as she analyzed me, just as I analyzed her back. Polendina blinked as he looked between our intense gazes.

He released an "aha." And stepped between us "Oh I haven't introduced you." He pulled the older women closer, and her tail naturally and protectively curled around his waist. "This is Doctor Kaneru Kitsune, a specialist in aerospace and Dust chemistry." The Faunus reluctantly offered her hand and I took it, eager to get to know the scientist.

"Hello. Names Summer Rose." It was easy to give a sense of happy go luckiness with this body. Whether I had simply become a good actor or if this body had a better emotional balancet than my old one, it changed little. It…was nice to talk to people without them thinking you were weird or creepy.

"It's…nice to meet you, Summer was it?" I nodded in response. The Faunus seemed to have something on her mind. She opened her mouth until the doctor gave her an unapproving gaze. She stopped and cleared her throat. "Uh, nevermind then."

Hmm…

"Right," I faced the doctor wanting to have some questions answered. "So Doc what have you been up to?" He adjusted his white coat, and his eyebrows shifted as an indication of excitement.

"Oh so many things young child. In fact walk with me, I can provide you an escort for that little party."

---

Goddamn this place is fancy beyond belief…it's a really good thing that my mom knows fashion when she sees the need. Which made me remember that I never described my outfit.

I had been outfitted a glossy black dress that seemed to accentuate whatever curves I did have, which was a fair amount actually. There was a gradual and glittery shift to white as the dress ended past my knees. Glynda herself wore a beautiful white dress with accents of purple and black that looked pretty good.

The doctor sat us down in a whirlwind hurry and I winced as my aura took the surprising amount of damage.

"Ahem!" He got back into readiness. "I have been accelerating our computational technology. Improving and reducing software bloat, improving the neural network of the CCT to a more useful and safer method. Also made some headway into better robotic technology, including prosthetics. Though I've had some issues with building effective ones."

Hmm…he could try mimicking what's in nature? I know artificial muscles are something that can be made, usually out of strong-coiled fibers or carbon nanotubes for the higher limits. If you want good prosthetics you need to make them compatible with the organics nerves within a human. Maybe try some neural lace technology if you have it. It tends to reduce the immune system rejections of metal and flesh.

"Neural lace?" I blinked at the question and realized I said some of that out loud. Though admittingly I planned to tell them that anyway.

"Basically a mesh of electronics you can inject to interface with the human nervous system. It allows for someone to monitor the individual neurons within the human brain in fact the mesh electronics can have neurons networks grow within the three dimensional mesh."

The two scientists and Glynda were left stunned for at least a few moments. It didn't take long for my senses to be overloaded as the doctor started to speak at a superhuman pace. I answered his questions to the best of my abilities. Mainly how to make mesh electronics based on what little I remember. Eventually we moved on to a different topic mainly on how they improved on the rocket front.

"Quiet well… " Miss Kitsunes tail swished as we switched to her field of expertise. "We've done well on the building of various experimental engines. One 80,000 pound thrust Kerolox engine, a 200,000 pound thrust Hydrolox engine, and a Methalox engine of equal size. They're the most suitable chemical based propulsion systems for a multi use rocket." I nodded knowingly, all the multi use rockets I had ever known made use of those fuels.

"Though…there are some more potent power sources for a much greater payload. You wouldn't know about them would you?"

"A rather loaded question Doctor Kitsune but yes I do and I…really recommend you be careful with that line of research." She quirked a brow, and gestured for me to elaborate. "Because that technological path can lead to weapons of mass destruction." Her tail flattened at my blunt response and Glynda glanced around. Thankfully no one was close enough to hear us even if they were a Faunus.

"Oh…alright then." I closed my eyes and gave her a polite nod. Dust was powerful but no weapon that used Dust compared to the raw firepower of nuclear explosions. Mainly due to the limited dissipation of those magic like rocks. Alchemy has similar restrictions, a reaction can burn out after a certain distance away from the array.

"Oh hey Summer!" I tilted my head to face Taiyang as the little bugger popped out of nowhere on the tail end of the conversation. He must have noticed us come and followed us to talk. A timid Cassin was dressed in a stuffy tux that he obviously didn't like, followed by something. A brief blur was revealed to be Umber who instantly made a beeline for Dr. Kitsune.

Clearly a big fan…

As Taiyang sat next to me I felt excitement for what the final singles round would be like. I hoped it would be good…

---

"Glynda Goodwitch vs. James Ironwood!" The unknown voice announced the match with gusto.

Oh dear…that is going to be an intense fight isn't it? I watched enraptured by the one in a lifetime opportunity to watch the prospective Huntsmen fight. I was as close as possible to the action, and I analyzed every little defect within the arena. I need to know what comes next.

Both students were deathly silent as they walked onto the stage. I could notice my sister's subtle rage, the twitching fingers aching to bury themselves in their opponents eyes. And no I wasn't exaggerating for dramatic effect…which was rather terrifying.

Some sweat dropped from Ironwood's oddly rugged and handsome face, his hand twitching against the obvious shape of his hand cannon.

Both fighters advanced for a couple of steps…

BOOM!

I held back a breath as a shot rang out, but let it out as Glynda dodged it with ease. She raised a brow toward the Atlas student as if saying "Come on now." His eyes flashed with ire and he shot off a volley of even more intense bullets. With a wave of her weapon a shield formed to block them.

To her shock Ironwood rushed her, using the Dust glyph as a jumping off point. His fall sped up, and he used his gun like a club knocking her aside with ease. She scowled and stopped herself by stabbing her crop into the ground.

I could barely keep up as a storm of stone bullets caught Ironwood off guard. He didn't stop however and ducked under them, shooting at his opponent's legs. Both students blurred out of existence practically flash stepping with their speed. Waves of psychic energy and bullets shook the stadium.

"An impressive start…" I nodded in muted agreement as I watched the practically God like fight below.

I didn't have a clue on how Ironwood was lasting so long against my sister. The only guess I had been being an absurd amount of aura, an unseen semblance, or being just that skilled.

Even now he was almost robotically analyzing the situation with a cold stare. He sidestepped a blast of telekinetically thrown firestorm. Almost certainly the work of Thermobaric Dust. Another blast was put out as one of his bullets collided in an ice expansion countering the attack.

Glynda leaped into the air forcefully dragging debris along with her. With a minor application of Earth Dust she threw down an artillery barrage of sharp pillars of rock. He toggled a switch on his gun, and blackish purple orb flew free from his gun. Glynda dropped down like a stone, falling face first into one of her own rocks.

"I won't lose…not to you…" She twisted her hips, and spun like a top. White energy flowed from the bottle, and I gripped the stand as a tornado obscured our view. My reinforced eyes tracked Ironwood as he used the gravity Dust mode to fly through the storm. He shivered and turned around with full force, I heard him curse as his attempted gun clubbing failed. Instead the tornado was engulfed in flames, and I could see nothing.

I glanced curiously toward the aura meters recently added this year. Eyeing Glynda at 76% and Ironwood at 69%. The dust cleared…

Ironwood bashed his skull against my sister, throwing her five meters up. He burst up from the ground, gripping her neck and smashing her face against the concrete. She threw him off with a push up leaping ten meters and taking possession of his body. He resisted every step of the way, and with little fanfare she began her all out assault.

I winced as he met the hard concrete over and over again. Each time he lost more and more of his shield while Glynda only seemed to become stronger.

But just as his aura dropped to 37% he leaped into action. His gun glowed with a blinding flash of light and my sister was thrown back by a burst of superheated plasma. He smirked shooting three more plasma blasts that all made their marks. He rushed over to get in close and with a flash of black light his pistol turned ten times heavier, this time bludgeoning it against her lower stomach.

She lashed out with a vicious semblance enhanced kick. Using her telekinesis to add an extra kick to her attack. The two students met in the middle, a devastating aura shockwave vibrating the energy barrier around the station.

"Both are down to 22%, this final bout will determine the match." An awestruck Umber absently hummed in agreement. Of all the fights this was among the most impressive.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three shots rang out, bullets cracking and shattering against the bubble and against another potent glyph. The future general was breathing heavily as the strain of battle caught up with him. My blonde sister was in no better condition, he chest moving in and out as she caught her breath. Both of their mouths started to move.

"One final…" Glynda started it.

"ATTACK!" Ironwood ended it.

He pressed a switch on his hand cannon and the white and Cyan light of Breeze and Thunder Dust became obvious. He braced himself as Glynda instead prepared a vile of…energy Dust.

Oh golly…that is going to sting.

She waved her focusing crop…

Ironwood overloaded his super pistol…

A flash of burning purple and white light collided in the center; a light breeze blew us back from the explosion. My grip bent and warped the steel underneath my fingers.

"I…" Cassin had nothing to say except for one thing. "Hunters are crazy." I nodded with a smirk as the battle came to a climatic close.

Both students were standing on unsteady feet, and we couldn't tell who had lost yet. Ironwood took a step forward…until he lost his footing as his aura broke. He had collapsed to the ground while my sister won on a small tiny slimmer of her own soul power.

"Glynda Goodwitch has won the match!"

---

"Their both promising students aren't they Ozpin?" The wizard snorted at the Atlas scientist's statement but didn't deny it. To him they were both promising students, the hallmarks of their current generation. They were also much like their parents, discrete and trustworthy(on Glynda's part anyway). Though he knew he could put his trust in Ironwood.

He had watched the match closely observing the aggression and contempt that Glynda held for the Atlesian student. Despite that she clearly held back on any killing intent. Her semblance was incredibly strong and versatile, we her that she as inherent or due to her own skill it didn't matter. She held great promise and he wanted to see if he could let her in on his inner circle in the future.

'Perhaps but I may be thinking too far ahead. There is still time yet, but whatever she decides, I will not deter her.'

He looked down from his vantage point, directing his piercing gaze toward the silver eyes excitedly congratulating her adoptive sibling. The Headmaster grinned at the out of character action. He found Summer a rather antisocial child but she did care deeply for those few she considered family or friend. Her expression was always rather neutral, an odd resting face for the child. She was also rather pessimistic about humanity in some respects based on the statements and mutterings he had overheard over the last two years.

But despite not quite believing in humanities better nature she did think they could change out of pragmatism at the least.

He wondered how such a person could become a protector of humanity…

"Professor Ozpin?" The old man blinked, roughly acknowledging the confused young doctor. Doctor Polendina was not himself part of the inner circle but he was a closely watched man. His technological experiments could serve as potent weapons against Salem and her forces. In the worst case he could at least save humanity if not the planet. The gods were generous enough to have created or placed Remnant in a world full of vast space.

If the world was out of harm's way…

"Ozpin…" He cut off his current train of thought, returning to the present.

"My apologies I was…thinking…"

He smirked as watched down from his tower, feeling a sense of hope for the first time in several decades.

"We do live in…interesting times don't we Doctor?

"O-of course…"

---

In a distant place an ancient being born of darkness watched the world pass by. The witch of the west sat on her throne finding nothing of real note. One of her elders had attempted to pass on a message but was destroyed by a powerful Huntress and a massive quantity of Dust exploding.

At least publicly…there was something off about the story. But she didn't know what. Other than the Grimm being more restless and active than usual there was little she could do other than investigate. She perked up as the loud metallic steps of something approached from behind her. She turned facing a grand dark night easily seven and a half feet tall. It's armor was angular and pointed and it held onto a greatsword half as long as third own body.

"Anything new Berserker?" They shook their head, rattling their armor. Her servant had proven strong and resilient, having succeeded in discretely killing several huntsman out in the wilds. Salem sighed and watched through the eyes of her many Seers.

"Keep searching!" The human straightened at her command and and nodded before taking their immense bulk elsewhere.

Salem could feel the winds shift in her opponent's favor. She would not allow that human to win. So let a new game begin once again…

"Because I won't lose."

---

Author's Note:

I was thinking...only thinking...of perhaps answering non spoilery questions from the reviews or even a PM if anyone who follows me is willing. I was also thinking if anyone knew a good place to get fan art made? Honestly the current picture is a placeholder, as I have a slightly different idea for what my Summer looks like. That or I find a drawing program to make an array. One of those two would be great...