Ruby Rose couldn't believe her eyes. First, she had stopped a robbery and met a real huntress, and then these really cool guys in helmets showed up with awesome weapons! The men were only a few years older than Yang, maybe they were going to Beacon with her? She'd have to ask Yang about them later.

The huntress had taken her and the men to a police station, to question her about the robbery, but she didn't know why she had demanded the men to come, as far as she knew, they just came to help. Inside one of the many interrogation rooms, the four men who had shown up would speak to each other in low voices about things she didn't know, and quieted down whenever she seemed to be listening. That was...a little suspicious, but maybe they had their reasons.

Though a bit nervous about talking to strangers, she tapped one of them on the shoulder, who had a name on his breast that said "Tibbets", "Excuse me, mister...Tibbets? I like your weapon, what's it chambered in?", pointing to the black rifle that he had toted.

He put on a confused, yet seemingly genuine smirk, "Oh, uhhh...my rifle? That's chambered in 5.56 OFN rounds, miss. It's a fine caliber.", he said as he flipped the rifle around sideways for her to look at.

"Oh, wow! It looks so cool, but it doesn't have much color. Does it turn into anything?", she asked excitedly, thinking she had found a fellow weapons enthusiast to talk to. The thought made her very bubbly.

"...Well, technically it turns into a club if I need it to. Then I beat the enemy with it.", Tibbets had stated sarcastically, though Ruby did not quite catch his tone of voice. The men with him chuckled a bit, and one with a funny accent piped up, "Yeeeep, John here is the finest club swinger since the cavemen. Why, he even plugged a Kraut with one!"

Ruby turned her head to the side in confusion, she had never heard of a Grimm called a "Kraut" before...maybe it was just a rare one!

"Ooh! What's its name?", Ruby further questioned, loving hearing about this fancy weapon.

"Name? Well...officially, it's the M16A1 rifle…", Tibbets grinned with pride, "...But I call it the Lightning Rod. Because it shoots fire.", he continued smirking as he gripped the rifle.

"...That doesn't make sense. If it's a "Lightning Rod", how does it shoot fire?", Ruby questioned, confused. Fire and lightning were two very different things, as shown by the two different types of dust.

Tibbets blaned at the question, he raised his finger, but put it down, confused. Simply dumbfounded at his own logic.

"I...well, shit. That's what I get for making up the name on the spot.", he had stated in defeat. Ruby pouted at the use of a bad word, but she could not do anything about it. She had caught Yang swearing once in a while, to which she had berated her for. But she could let it slide for these guys.

"Now hold on a second…", another man who carried a massive machine gun, "His rifle may be good, but don't count us out. The Pig here can lay down fire support like no other, unlike that rinky dink rifle John's got there!", he bragged.

"Don't go bashing my gun, you fakeass German!", Tibbets snarled in response, "You suck with that thing, anyway, you don't know how to fire in any way that's not full auto!"

Holding his rifle like a kid defending a younger sibling, Tibbets glared at his friend from his chair, clearly extremely defensive of his rifle.

"Fellas, fellas, slow your roll.", the man with the funny accent attempted to salvage the situation, "We're civilized folk, ain't we?"

Bier snapped in his direction, retorting, "Shut your trap, you redneck trash! That M14 of yours has terrible accuracy, it's worse than the Garand, which I'll remind you, is the older version of the M14."

The accented man, who's name turned out to be Mann, according to the name on his clothes, face scrunched up in frustration, "You keep talking like that, I'm tearing you a new one, you goddamn Yankee niggers!"

"Fuck you, you goddamn traitor! My family died fighting you redneck Reb trash in a field in Pennsylvania!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BOTH OF YOU, I AM YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER, AND I ORDER YOU TO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS!", Tibbets roared at the two arguing men, his forehead bulging. The yell made Ruby shrink in her seat a bit, taken aback by the sudden outburst.

Tibbets took a deep breath, and sighed, "First of all, we're in the company of a lady, and I'd appreciate it if we kept our language to a minimum. Secondly, that fight was over a hundred years ago. It's been a long, long time. We're all Amer-We're all the same kin, ain't we?"

The two men calmed down, nodding at their apparent leader's reasoning. Ruby had no idea what the men were going on about, but turned a bit red at being called a lady. That was nice.

Another deep breath, and he continued, "I don't need to remind you what's at stake here, do I?"

His friends agreed, as the conversation died down from the argument.

Ruby watched this all in confusion. She had never heard 'nigger' or 'Yankee' before, but they must be bad words. These men seemingly worked well as a team, but did have their competitions and flaws. Tibbets yelling scared her a bit, it almost reminded her of a parent scolding his children. But nevermind that, those guns were awesome! She likes these men a lot, they're cool. Yang would love to hear about this...maybe not, she'd make a weird comment since they were guys. Yang loved teasing Ruby about boys, she was relentless.

"JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!", cried a mature voice, which Ruby recognized. It was the blonde huntress from earlier, the one who had helped her. She seemed absolutely enraged at the language these men were using.

Tibbets put on a tired smile, and answered, "I'm simply telling off my friends for yelling, ma'am. I apologize for the noise."

For a second, she seemed to be trying to decide whether to be angry or to simply believe him and let it slide. She seemed to be leaning towards anger when someone new walked in.

"I see you had to resort to drastic measures to do so.", said a grey haired newcomer to Tibbets. Turning to Ruby, he said, "Miss Rose, if you will allow me some privacy with these men for a moment, I will speak to you after."

Ruby nodded, not sure what else to say, and left the room. She didn't see the men again for a while.

September 23rd, 1971 (?)

"Vale" Police Precinct, Room 1

Second Lieutenant John C. Tibbets, US Army

Well, fuck me in the ass and call me Gus Hall. This guy was the fucking Wizard of Oz, he saw us skipping down the Yellow Brick Road from a high-tech camera.

How did I know that? Bastard told us himself, looked us straight in the eyes and said he saw us suddenly appear on one of his screens.

He questioned me and my platoon (what remained of it) heavily, and we couldn't bullshit him that well. Apart from Fischer, he was good at keeping quiet. He already figured out a few things about us.

And yes, his name was "Ozpin", which is why I called him the Wizard of Oz. Should have been obvious.

So, this guy knew that One, we weren't from Remnant, because he saw us appear out of thin air in the fucking woods. Two, he knew we were some kind of military. He had seen me rifle through the Huey clearly labeled "United States Army" for ammo, and he had gotten a glimpse at our patches while watching us. Also, because he was sitting across from us. That too.

Clearing my throat, I simply asked him straight up, "Alright. You got us. I'll keep it simple. My name is 2nd LT. John Charlie Tibbets, US Army 101st Airborne Division, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. We're from a planet called Earth, that is not like this place whatsoever. As of a few hours ago, my nation was wiped from the face of the planet in a war, along with it's enemy."

Ozpin simply stared at me quizzically from across the table, gazing at me with ancient, analytical eyes. He seemed to believe me, because he asked, "Your nation and your enemy. Tell me, you're from the 'United States'? And who was your enemy?"

Nodding, I explained further, "That's us. The United States of America, July 4th, 1776 - September 23rd, 1971. Me and my men...we need to understand where we are. Please."

I pleaded slightly with my tone of voice, I needed to know. Really know where we stood.

And my head blanked at the answer. Grimm. Dust. Faunus. Aura. We weren't on Earth at all, were we? This was another world entirely.

The sudden dawn of realization came to all of my men and I when he finished explaining. That meant...this meant...Jesus Christ, Lord Almighty.

As of now, me and my four men were literally the last Americans in existence. We carried the traditions of a dead-, no, dying nation with us. Our history, our culture...we were the only ones left.

I could not cry, not even if I wanted to. It felt like someone had emptied my guts and filled the empty space with air. It was only us now. Me and my platoon, the heirs of the great Union, the Stars and Stripes. God had chosen us to survive, but why? Why us?

Looking down, away from Ozpin, I couldn't find an answer. A new goal came to me in my pain. Preserve America, at all costs. I had sworn an Oath to defend the United States, the Constitution, and our people. This was the best way to do that.

Ozpin looked at us with sympathy as the huntress who had taken us here just looked at us strangely. Clearing his throat, he continued, "...I understand this is difficult to come to terms with, that you are the last of your kin. But I promise you, I will do what I can to help you adjust to our world...I have an idea."

Waking from my thoughts, I looked up at him, and felt my men do the same.

"You see, I understand you are soldiers. You swore to defend your nation, and that you did that to the very end. Huntsman do something similar, they swear to defend humanity. While I know that soldiers and Huntsman are not exactly interchangeable, there is a bit of an area where the lines blur. I run an academy for training them, and I will accommodate you should you choose to accept my offer."

Mann simply asked, "What are you playing at, mister?"

"What I am trying to say is that I will let you into my school and train there, and in return you must help me with understanding your old world and country. There are always lessons that can be learned from the past.", Ozpin offered with a neutral expression.

So what the hell else was I supposed to do? Not get free rooms or food? We needed that, and we needed to be alive if we were going to save America. We had to cut some deals, it seems.

"One condition."

"And what is that?"

"...I'm going to need to make some flags."

"..."

Later

Airship to Beacon

Jesus H. Christ, this fucking world is a crack dream.

Firstly, we were on a goddamn ship thing...whatever it was called to this school, and it was flying. I mean flying. Now, I've been on a few helicopters and planes, but this was weirdly different to anything like that. I don't know how to describe it, it was just this odd feeling in my stomach. Not nausea though, I didn't suffer from that. Unlike this blonde fuck who was vomiting a lot. Jesus, poor dude's really sick.

I wrinkled my nose at the smell, turning to my fellow Americans and showing them what Ozpin had allowed me to make.

"Check it out, guys.", I said, holding up my newly made flag sporting the words, "LIBERTY OR DEATH, DON'T TREAD ON ME". I was mighty proud of my creation, seeing as I wanted to fly it someday...but that wouldn't be for a while, considering that we'd be dumb to reveal ourselves. But someday, I swore I would fly it proudly.

"...That's what you made? I thought you were gonna make the Stars and Stripes.", Bier raised his eyebrow at this, though chuckling a bit.

"...I was, but that'd be too revealing. With this, I figured I could pass it off as a warning flag if someone gets curious, y'know? Like something you made yourself. I did make the Stars and Stripes, actually, but that's deeper in my bag. I'll show you in private later...Mann, before you ask, I'll make you a Dixie flag if you let me bum some smokes.", I offered, glancing over at the large Southerner.

"...Mmmm, I don't know, I am running low on smokes…", Mann smirked at me with a teasing grin. Ah, this fuckwit. I want my fucking smokes.

"Hey, Lee, I'm offering you a free Rebel flag, dumbass. Take it or leave it.", I sighed, invoking his middle name, named after Robert E. Lee.

Mann put his finger to his chin, stroking the stubble there jokingly, before replying, "Fuck it, you're a Yankee, but you're alright. Here.", he said, throwing me a pack of cigarettes. Finally, my sweet, sweet prize.

Smiling, I reply, "Thank you, my Southern friend. You're alright for a Dixie boy. Now, I got a question for the rest of ya...what the fuck are we gonna be doing for these next few years?"

My question came as a surprise for my men, because it seemed they hadn't considered it before. Continuing, I said quietly, "Honestly. We're the last Americans to exist, you know? So what are we going to do? We can't make it again with, what? Four people?"

I honestly didn't know how I wanted to, quote on quote, "Save America". For all intents and purposes, it was dead. It's not like we could found it here in Remnant.

"...I propose we simply keep the memory alive, as long as we can.", Fischer stated with a neutral tone. Fuck, this guy just showed no emotion, while continuing, "We can't make it again, try as we might. None of us are George Washington, nor Hamilton. We can only record our history, and our end, so someday, someone might be able to found something like America. Pass the knowledge to the next generation."

I nodded, though this hard truth bothered me. Why were we entrusted to this? Us, of all folk? I felt myself being stabbed with a bayonet, and I was here now. Fuck me...all of America, the whole world...only us were left.

Bier suddenly thought of something, I could tell. He had that look, you could see the gears turning in his head. With a curious look, he asked us, "...John, if you're the highest ranking member here...and we're the last Americans...does that make you the President?"

My mind blanked at the possibility. Me, President of the United States? The thought...was so fucking strange...but enticing, all the same. Technically, would that make the government a military junta? I almost liked the thought of a military-controlled America, but quickly buried the thought. I had sworn to defend democracy, and I would to this day.

Mann equally paled at the thought of me as President, which he confirmed by saying, "Fuck no, having him as my CO is enough. No. I'm not having a Yankee officer as a dictator."

"Mann, my ancestors were from California. I'm from California"

"One of your great grandpa's was 7th Cavalry, right?"

"Yeah, Custer's Last Stand. Scalped, why?"

"You said he was a Union man."

"...Fuck, guess I am a Yankee.", I admitted. He had me there, I'd admit. That's what I get for debating with the George Wallace voter. They seemed to never forget the Civil War.

"What's a Yankee?", a small, familiar voice asked, surprising my men and I. It was the little girl from the police station. She had snuck up on me easily, which surprised me, since I thought very well of my perception.

"Oh, it's you, kid. I never caught your name…", I offered with a smile. I liked kids, they were innocent and didn't judge you for things they didn't understand. Unlike some adults my age back home.

"Ruby, Ruby Rose. Now, what's a Yankee?", Ruby asked again, persistent as ever.

"Well, Ruby, a Yankee is what I am. It's what my friends Joe and Steve are as well. Not Lee, though. He's...different.", I attempted to explain while smirking at Mann.

"Damn right, I ain't a Yankee. You guys are a bunch of fag-idiots, I mean, you're a bunch of idiots.", Mann started to retort, before I fixed him a glare not to say too many bad words...then again, I don't think I could go an hour without calling somebody a dumbass or a faggot...either out of fun or anger...maybe even casually...Goddamn, I even swear in my own thoughts.

"...Hmm...I still don't really get it…", Ruby stated, a bit confused. I smiled a bit, this kid didn't know a goddamn thing we were saying, she's very innocent. Ah, to be young...and then I remember it wasn't too long ago that I was that young. Huh. I had grown up way too fast.

"Eh, it'd take too long to explain the whole thing. Just think of it like this. Lee has a funny accent, and we don't.", I dumb it down, smirking as Mann scowls at my explanation.

Ruby nodded, kinda understanding now, "Wow...he does have a funny accent...I like it, though!"

I laughed as Mann just buried his face in his hands from embarrassment, mumbling about "that's just how he talks". I can't help but giggle slightly.

Clearing my throat and taking a deep breath, I say to Ruby, "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself officially. I'm John Tibbets, you can call me John or Charlie, or even just Tibbets, if ya want. Nice to see you again, Ruby. My friends here are Joe Bier, Steve Fischer, and our accented friend George Lee Mann. Just call him Lee, he loves it when people call him that."

Ruby smiled, and waved to my men behind me, to which they smiled and waved back.

"Now, Ruby, I got a question. Why are you hanging around us? I'm sure someone your...age has a lot of friends. We're very boring, I promise you.", I teasingly ask.

"You're not boring, you've got really cool weapons...and my sister Yang wanted me to make new friends...so I wanted to start with you guys! I wanted to show you my weapon the other night, but I never got the chance...but I did get let into Beacon early."

Nodding, I say, "Congratulations, Ruby. I knew I had a good feeling about you.", I lied, but it's not like she wasn't a nice girl. "Now, show us your weapon. I'm interested."

Ruby smiled excitedly, and pulled out a fucking scythe. A red fucking scythe, like the Grim goddamn Reaper. I jumped back from where I was sitting, my eyes going wide at the blade. Horrible memories flooded my brain, the German bayonet going through my back, the fireball consuming my vision.

Breathing heavily, I regain my composure, "Holy mother of God, that thing is...huge.". And it really was. Black and red, it easily dwarfed me and my M16 in it's size. Talk about feeling small.

"It's also a high-impact sniper rifle."

I'm sorry, what? My mind just goes blank. Why, of course, how dumb of you, John! Of course the huge melee weapon is a fucking sniper rifle. What are you, an idiot?

"...I feel so underpowered right now.", I say simply. My men behind me nod as well. We desperately needed upgrades or something, because I was not lasting in a fight against someone like Ruby, and that's putting it nicely.

"Why? You showed me your rifle yesterday, it was just as cool as Crescent Rose!", Ruby comforts me, smiling. I wish she was right.

"Thank you, Ruby. You're a nice kid.", I thank her, patting Ruby on the back. I meant it too, she really was a nice kid. A bit naive, but nice enough.

I saw that the airship had arrived at our destination, and Ruby turned to us and waved, "I'm gonna try to catch up with my sister, see you later John, Joe, Steve, and Lee!", before speeding off at impossible speeds. Today just kept getting weirder and weirder, fuck.

Blinking in surprise, I turned around to my men, and I told them, "Right, your orders are to split off until we find wherever the hell we're supposed to go...Uhh, shit, I'm the only one who has a radio. Fuck it, we'll meet when we all figure out where we go. Dismissed!"

Nodding, my men split off and I follow suit. Feels real weird ordering around a CIA operative...but fuck it, I'm still Lieutenant...and maybe President. Maybe.

Now that I look around, this Beacon place was pretty big. All sorts of colorful folk walking about, going about their business. It was all pretty confusing though. Every single one of these kids had this magic dust shit, they fought these weirdass black animals, and they had magic powers. What did I have? 3 men, a small stockpile of American firepower, and skills. Not enough, but it'd have to do until we got more than a basic explanation from the Wizard of Oz on how the world worked.

Now that I thought about it, I really was out of my league here. I didn't have magic, I wasn't born to be a hero. Oh, a long time ago, I joined the US Army to be a hero, but it really wasn't the same. They taught me how to kill the enemy, and that was that. You point me at an enemy, they're dead. I was no hero, I was a killer. A soldier with no army. And that could be the most dangerous kind of all.

...What the fuck was I thinking about? What am I, a poet? I'm sounding like some fucking writer, with all this shit. Still, it was true. I was no hero, was I? Fuck, I had done some horrible, horrible things to German POWs...No, they deserved it. I saw those mass graves. Fuck the Krauts.

Truthfully, I didn't really know what I was anymore. A hero? No. A monster? Maybe. Something in between? Most likely. I didn't really deserve to be here, did I-

My train of thought was thrown off track, because I felt my legs trip over something, and my face smack the ground. My senses burned from the pain. Fuck me, my face. My nose. My entire head hurt.

Getting up quickly, I looked to see what I had tripped on. Some cart thing, some crates and shit, some...there was an angry girl in a lot of white staring at me. Fuck.

Attempting to fix the crates and put them back on the cart, I say, "I'm sorry, ma'am. Let me help you out.". I put some of the crates back on, but I'm stopped by the girl.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea the damage you could have caused?", she berated me, my anger started to rise.

"Well, you'll have to excuse me, I was only trying to help, fuck!", I respond, frustrated. For fuck's sake, I said sorry and I was trying to fix it. Who was this bitch?

"I think you've done enough.", Snow White finished. Man, fuck this bitch. She strutted away, and I flipped her off as she walked.

...

I managed to find my way (eventually) to the big fucking room we were supposed to go and link up with my men.

I whisper to them, "I fucking hate this place already."

"Who'd you piss off this time?"

"Some bitchy white haired girl. I tried to help her with something and she insulted me. I hope every girl around here ain't as bad as her."

"White hair, pale as fuck, blue eyes?"

"That's her."

"She's standing behind you."

Swiftly turning around, I turn to actually see her giving me a mighty fiery glare. With that classic snobby sneer, too. I give her the middle finger again, after she turns around. What a cunt.

Mann began to slowly, sarcastically clap, saying, "Con-grat-u-lations, Lieutenant. We made our first enemy, in record time, too!"

Glaring at Mann, I just sigh. He had a point, the classes hadn't even started and I had already made one enemy. Granted, it wasn't a "kill or be killed enemy", more like a "fuck you too" enemy. Still, I was already starting on the wrong foot.

Fischer shook his head, and told Mann, "Knock it off, Mann. No point in pissing each other off. From my understanding, the Wizard of Oz is going to make a speech, and we'd do well not to draw attention by socking each other."

I agreed with Fischer, and soon enough, I saw Ozpin walk upon stage to deliver what I was thinking to be an energizing, fantastic speech. I was soon proven wrong.

He cleared his throat, and began, "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Well, that was underwhelming.

Smiling, I whispered to Bier, "I feel SO motivated right now.". He smiled, and nodded, because fuck, we were expecting a lot more.

And then we got a horrible announcement. One that I feared so much.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed.", said the blonde teacher that I still didn't know the name of.

Oh fuck...we had to sleep with all these weird fucking kids.

Later...

Ruby and her sister Yang sat among the countless sleeping bags and other students preparing for sleep, as Yang exclaimed, "It's like a big slumber party!"

Ruby didn't look up, replying, "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys though."

"I know I do!"

There were a lot of boys milling about, taking off their shirts, trying to impress various girls, including Yang. She was loving it. Ruby didn't understand why.

There was also Jaune in some very strange pajamas. Nobody tried to question it.

The mood changed once a familiar individual got up and started walking around with no shirt.

A few minutes earlier…

If there was one thing that remained the same, it's that teenagers were still horny fucks. I knew us humans could be fucking weird, but holy shit, I had forgottem.

First of all, all these guys were shedding some clothing and pretending to be cool, strutting around with their chests exposed. Most of them didn't have any muscle tone, either. The things you do when you're young…

None of my guys were doing that though. We had huddled up in a corner, by ourselves. Exposing ourselves so early wasn't in the plan, so we stayed as inconspicuous as possible and kept to ourselves. All these kids were too busy trying to impress each other.

I voiced my thought to my men, saying, "...This is fucking weird, man. I feel like I'm a teen again...I know we ain't much older than them, but God...it's almost embarrassing."

Fischer nodded, and replied, "Well, we're all humans. We act the same, even if this is an entire new place."

I agreed, continuing, "Yeah, good point...still, it feels so weird."

Mann suddenly had a scary grin, slyly saying, "You ain't jealous of the horny teens, are ya? You wish you were attracting women with that fatbody of yours?"

Oh, this prick.

"Mann, I swear to God, I'll cut you when you go to sleep. I ain't like that. And call me fat again, and I'll gut you.", I threaten.

"Prove it.", he smiles.

"Excuse me?"

"$20 says you're a bitch and you won't take off your shirt and walk around. You ain't got no balls."

I stare at him.

Bier smirks as well, adding, "John, $20 more says you ain't a bitch and you'll do it...right?"

Now Bier was doing this too, huh? 40 dollars, huh? That was a lot of money, and I did like money. Fuck it.

"Deal.", I say, throwing my M1 helmet to the side and slipping off my combat harness and uniform. All that remained was the white undershirt I wore under all of it. I peeled that off as well.

I immediately felt so many eyes on me at once. I wouldn't say I was fat, but I didn't have any abs, really. I did have some muscle tone, at the very least, and that was way more than most of these kids had. I also had a couple scars on my body, one from Iran and one from Africa, which was a bit suspicious. But fuck, I want my 40 doillars.

I began to simply walk around the room, and I felt the jealous stares of the boys and the weird looks from the girls. I hated every second of this, I didn't like drawing attention to myself, but a bet is a bet. I saw Ruby with who was presumably with her sister she had talked about. Ruby was red as a tomato and averting her eyes, and the blonde who I assumed was Yang whistled in my direction and purred. FUCK, THIS WAS GETTING WEIRD!

...And then I saw a familiar white haired girl, the bitch from earlier. She was staring at me with a sort of confused anger and...she was really red as well. Yep, this was getting weird, time to vacate.

Glaring at Mann, I saw him sporting an evil smile as I walked up to him.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant. You're not a bitch."

"Give me my fucking money."

AN: Well, shit, I did it. Longass chaper. Time to answer some reviews.

Guest: Poor Goering, he just wanted some orphans.

(Other) Guest: I plan to cover how they got there eventually...I think.

(A third) Guest: That thing with the Gods is a good idea.

See you again soon!