EDIT (12/30/2022): I am now writing a full-length fic called "We, or Rather I" based on the OC concept presented here! Please check it out if you can!

Original: AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello and welcome to my first published fanfic in years! The last time I published one, I was still writing fanfiction for Grojband, and here I am, bringing you a RWBY fanfic some 8 years later. Now then, I'll just leave you to what I've written.

Enjoy. :)

A girl dressed in a suit with a long tailcoat pulled out her magic wand out of her sleeve. Two Beowolves were sniffing out the allure of negative emotion.

Pastel Pacana, or Paz, was hiding behind a tree, peeking from behind to see the two Beowolves slowly crawling closer towards her presence. One wrong step, she's toast. Sure, she could come out of cover and attack straight on, strategy be damned, but again.

Her neon blue eyes darted across her surroundings.

She was propped up against a young red tree, marked by its relatively short but tall stature. She tried to reach her gloved hands towards the closest branch. Too high to reach.

There were bushes surrounding other trees that she could hide in. Running there would only catch the Beowolves' attention.

She was wearing a top hat. Her Semblance allowed for show magic.

Just then, a plan clicked into place.

Paz took her top hat, waved her wand in a circular motion, and then hovered said hat over her head.

By the time the Beowolves arrived, she was missing. All that was left was a top hat near which they'd sensed her. However, something about the hat was...off.

The Beowolves couldn't place their paw on it, but one of them investigated by sniffing the hat and then flipping it over on its top when—

SHING!

—Playing cards flew out of the hat's bottom to pierce through the Beowolf's body in rapid succession.

The wolf-like Grimm snarled in pain as Paz rematerialized by climbing out of the hat. With another wave of her wand, cards flew towards the girl's free hand while she made herself further known to the two Beowolves with a whip formed from the cards joining each other to create a single file line. She cracked her new weapon towards the side and slowly approached the Beowolves charging towards her.

The first Beowolf swung its arm towards her, but Paz leapt out of the way. After a short roll on landing, she struck back with the makeshift whip a few times in rapid succession.

Every lash cut deep.

Her assailant stumbled back weakly when the other Beowolf's claws thrashed through her whip mid-lash, shattering her weapon into several separate playing cards that fluttered within the air as they dropped to the ground. Paz raised the wand in her gloved right hand, then swung.

The volley of cards floated into the air and darted through that second Beowolf's body, a few piercing through its head. Dark, vaporous residue sputtered out. Finally, the Beowolf dropped to the floor dead and disintegrating as Paz moved on to the remaining Beowolf. The deep gashes dealt hurt plenty, but it refused to give up without a fight.

The Beowolf's problem? That puny human's patience was almost run through.

Paz returned the cards to the various pockets throughout her coat and pants, then pulled out a revolver...but she didn't shoot. Instead, she tapped her high-heeled foot as the Beowolf limped towards her. She reeled the gun back, flipped the lever to "pilebunker", and took aim. When the Beowolf made one last push by pouncing towards her, the blue-haired Paz let it reach her revolver, and pulled the trigger.

Suddenly, a violent explosion not only evaporated the Grimm, but also rocked the area all around her.

Trees were blown back but not completely uprooted, though one came dangerously close to doing just that. A crater had formed where the explosion happened. A "Bang!" flag hung from the smoking pole that remained protruded out of the gun's barrel.

As Paz was about to rest easy, all of a sudden she grunted and her eyes widened. She frantically checked her surroundings once more. There was no trace of the Beowolves, only a smoldering crater her gun had left in the chaos. The most important thing, however, was the fact that there were no further Grimm coming after her.

Finally, she can return to collecting red sap.

She let out a sigh of relief at long last. She let go of the trigger, returning the pole back inside the barrel, and then pocketed the gun back in her pants.

"That was close," she muttered.

Livio Pinto sat down at his workbench, drafting the final blueprints for his first gun.

Today was the start of the first project in his Weapons Crafting and Upkeep class. Professor Mulberry had assigned the task half an hour ago, due within a week. Not to worry, Livio was a blacksmith who had learned well from his uncle back at Vale City and knew how to craft some weapons from scratch.

Well, kind of.

He didn't usually craft firearms; most of the time, his uncle did that job for him. The few guns he did craft either misfired frequently or simply didn't work. Thank the Gods they weren't sold to anyone, though.

The requirements were rather fair; the gun must reload, fire a projectile at a high enough velocity, and work enough for active duty. Revolvers, pistols, rifles, assault rifles, submachine guns, and even full-on gatling guns were fair game as long as Professor Mulberry found it working well. A full 100% grade meant that the weapon could realistically be used for decades and passed down to future generations.

A failing grade meant that it was scrap.

"Now remember," Professor Mulberry said, "There's a reason I disassembled Atlas's standard-issue AR-120 on the first day of class. You should know at least two-thirds of what makes the firing mechanism by now."

Livio understood well. After all, no Weapons Crafting and Upkeep class was complete without his professor taking apart and putting together mass-produced weapons as he asked his students what part he held.

"Now then," he continued. "One more thing I'll remind you is to make extra sure the firing mechanism works. Got that?"

Nods of students' heads amounted to a silent agreement. Well, mostly silent anyways.

"Got it," said Livio, who took the time to examine what he had drafted.

As he wasn't confident, he felt like starting off on a safer path, evident by a rifle-like design. Yet, Livio decided he would be a little more daring than he'd originally planned. After all, he wanted to push himself beyond what he was capable of with his best abilities.

According to the blueprints he'd drafted, it would be a semi-auto rifle that reloads from magazines and accepts flare rounds. Additionally, it would accept attachments made for a "universal" rail system to which guns across the Sanus and Anima continents adhered.

Was there anything that severely stuck out? Maybe it was the antiquated aesthetic the rifle would bring to the table, but then, again people would prefer that to the newfangled devices: for example, someone's high-caliber sniper scythe.

Was Livio sure he could pull this off without much incident? Maybe, maybe not. He'll have to see if that'll hold true.

Anything else? No? Good.

Livio nodded, then got up from his seat to head towards the piles of weapons materials hidden in the classroom's storage space. He disappeared within the area but reappeared carrying a basket's worth of wood, steel of varying sizes and shapes, screws, pins, and a few mid-caliber magazines. Just then, another student went in after him.

He sat back down at his desk to begin work on the wood. He took out a marker and carefully sketched out whichever he would soon shape the dark wood block into.

...

After checking one more time to ensure the shape was satisfactory, Livio nodded before he went on to grab a small saw hanging from a rack.

As he brought the saw closer to him, however, he suddenly grunted: Unceremoniously he let go of the saw. Now it was tumbling towards the edge of his desk.

Gasping, Livio quickly reached for the falling saw with his right hand to no avail. Now that it had gone over the edge, it was but a mere split second from hitting the floor.

So he swiped towards the tool a second time, this time with his left hand. Finally, he'd caught it, but it was inches away from metallic banging.
Livio quickly looked at his surroundings. Had the saw hit the floor, it would've brought the class's attention to his mistake. Unacceptable; this humble neon-haired blacksmith here will not have people looking at him as though he were a fool.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," he muttered.

"La-dee-dah, la-dee-dah—la-dee-dah!"

Emi Takaki hung from a tree branch in the Emerald Forest with her legs. She spread her arms out to their sides as she swung upside down like it was nobody else's business, her radical red twintails dangling off the sides of her head. She was supposed to keep an eye on the hotspot of strong Grimm, but instead, she would rather goof off.

Just then, she saw someone strolling across the grassy fields. Fire sword in her hands, controlled blonde hair with a length between the chin and the shoulders, a fancy vest with black pants...

Wait, high-heeled rollerblades on the grass?

Well, the sight was unmistakable; her new friend Ash Koler was right there, paying no mind beyond the music from her earbuds and the trees surrounding her. As circumstance would have it, Ash stopped to rest right by the tree, positively sure she was starting to get tired.

Emi smiled. She knew what had to be done.

So she, the horned bull Faunus, swayed forwards and then towards the back. She let go of the branch and flipped upright, landing right in front of poor Ash with her hands on her hips.

"Hello there."

"AAH!"

A fire sword swung Emi's way. Very narrowly, she leaned back just in time to dodge the sudden attack, only to send herself tumbling toward the ground. She would have hit the grass were it not for Ash's gloved hand grabbing her right hand in the nick of time.

"Woah!" Emi exclaimed, "let's not lose our heads now—"

"What the hell!" shouted Ash. "I could'a gotten expelled right there!"

Emi burst into laughter, Ash left to stare with stunned silence as she helped her up. "C'mon, it's just me, yeah?!"

Eventually, Ash chuckled a bit, letting out a sigh afterward. "Hear, hear," she began, "but if ya tried this in front of some really bad people, there'd kiiinda be really bad things."

"I know. That's why we have Aura, no?"

"Yeah, but even then." Ash pushed off from the tree trunk and started to skate on. "But then again, I'll admit: they won't ever see it comin'. Real element of surprise right there."

"Nope!" Emi threw her hands behind her head as she followed Ash by the trails of her skates. As though she forgot what she was here to do in the first place, she raised an eyebrow. "Hey..." She wondered. "What are we doing here again?"

"Guardin' this area," answered Ash.

"Oh right... Almost forgot!" Emi chuckled to herself, then her mood soured.

"Don't sweat it. Sometimes it gets borin' out here."

"Yup, gotta pass the time, somehow..."

"Eeyep."

Emi fell silent. Her fists tightened while she looked off to the side. Thoughts of her team leader Paz started to run through her head as she started to take deep breaths. Perhaps she was worried about something going wrong in Forever Fall. Perhaps her fears were overblown, meaning she could rest easy knowing that Paz was in no immediate danger at all.

Maybe.

Ash looked at Emi with worry, noticing the souring mood.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Ah—" Emi snapped out of her trance, her awkward chuckle further breaking the silence. "—nothing!"

Ash smiled, but she wasn't entirely convinced. After all, she could tell that Emi was clearly worried about something.

"Well a'ight then."

Emi sighed, but as she looked on, however, there were a couple Grimm sniffing around...

A white-haired man zipped up his vivid purple hoodie.

Talan Silverstein stretched his arms out and stood up, his high-heeled sneakers surrounded by the tall grass. Green trees of the Emerald Forest and mountains far away were seemingly all that was in his sight, barring the odd Grimm or fellow group member. Emi was still on his mind, as she had elected to go with him.

For Grimm, he didn't have much difficulty dealing with them; a couple of hits from his steel staff, and they were already crippled. A transformation from staff to bow and a short fight later, and they were out of the way.

In fact, this was how he survived Vacuo.

To say he was thankful to be out of there would be putting it lightly. The "Kingdom" — if it can be called that — was only nominally one, when in reality, it was all but a city-state and a Huntsman Academy surrounded by a present-day no man's land. He would have to continually move from place to place with his siblings, with his parents left behind when he was young. Together, they would fight for survival, but one by one, the siblings would be separated from each other, one way or another.

And then, it was just him.

Now, however, was not the time to reflect; a dozen-and-a-half Grimm were creeping toward his friends.

Talan sprung into action, trusty staff in hand, and charged straight to the horde of Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursas of both kinds. He reeled his weapon back, threw it, and watched it burrow into an unsuspecting Beowolf's head. The rest of the Grimm took notice, a few even turning their focus on him.

"Emi! Ash!" Talan shouted.

"We know!" Emi shouted back.

She stood back to run her hands through the brass clasps on her blazer's shoulders, flipping them to the opposite side to start her transformation sequence.

As lights swirled around Emi, Ash and Talan got to work.

Ash glided around the Grimm's various attacks while she rapidly slashed her now-activated fire sword across her animal opponents, reducing them to nothing more than lifeless husks that faded away. She leapt towards an Ursa Major with the instinct to stab it. Unfortunately, it struck her with its clawed paws.

"Ash!" Emi was almost done transforming when she saw Ash slam against a tree, her Aura pulsing. "Well, we'll see how it likes it when I see red!"

Finally, the last of the lights surrounding her dissipated. Thus she stood along the field in a new form. Huge, metallic gauntlets occupied her hands. Now she wore a decorated, bright red-and-white futuristic uniform with a heart on the chest, armor on the sides, shoulders, and elbows, and an asymmetric pleated miniskirt.

Emi lowered her new goggles to her eyes and struck a threatening pose. "By the order of Madame Raging Bull, I'll send you begging for forgiveness!"

"Ugh..." Meanwhile, Ash was just barely recovering from slamming into the tree as she dizzily got up, almost falling back down from her skates. She turned around in time to see Emi delivering an Alpha Beowolf a megaton punch to take it out in a single blow.

"Thanks!" Talan shouted before he moved on to the rest of the remaining Grimm. Ash smiled, then raised her fist forwards. She opened her hand, spawning a sizable wall construct made of flames. She did the same thing with her other hand, then sent both walls accelerating towards the Grimm with a throw of her hands, destroying them in the process.

Now, there were only two Grimm left. Talan moved on to the weakened Beowolf so he could bash it to death with many agile strikes — which he did. As he watched it dissolve into the air, he heard Ash's voice.

"Watch out!"

SLAM!

"Ah!" Suddenly, the Ursa Major's arm knocked Talan tumbling against the ground, his Aura weakly pulsating.

Before the Ursa Major could slash its claws at him, Emi hurriedly struck it to the side with her gigantic gauntlets and watched as the Grimm tumbled across the ground, electricity running across its wrecked, disintegrating body.

Emi and Talan let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," they muttered in unison.

Just then, Emi's and Talan's eyes widened. Both of them covered their mouths. Ash looked back to the two of them, then tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh?"

Dear God, that wasn't supposed to happen?!

I mean, sure, it was just the two of me that were there when I made a mistake, but c'mon, I can't let her — hell, anyone find out. I had to say something as everyone on accident, didn't I? Worse, an Ursa Major freaking hit me to the ground! It's a miracle that the rest of Team PLET didn't spasm all of a sudden! How the hell was I supposed to take that?!

Whatever, I'm sure she took the excuse that Emi and Talan thought the same thing. Nothing too noticeable — so I hope — but at least all of Team PLET wasn't there to say that in front of her.

That would be a nightmare.

Hmmm... So, I managed to get through a month or so without anyone really noticing. Any other mistakes that I made, people hardly picked up on that. Now that I think of it, it's just the first time anyone has ever noticed. Gotta be honest, I'm kind of impressed.

Eh, y'know what they say: Practice makes perfect.

And while Beacon is the first ever time my bodies are together, I've been getting used to having them all in the same area. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe having two of my bodies together for more than a few minutes outside my dorm shouldn't be so bad after all...

And speaking of dorms, having one to myself is great! It does get a little lonely, though. No amount of my bodies acting out stuff with one another is going to cover that.

Well then. Off to the gym, eh?

ENDNOTE: So how was it? I'll have to admit, it's kind of a weird protagonist choice, but I hope that I was able to get out something at least decent with the concept. I've been thinking of writing a full fic for it, so if I do, I hope to get to finish it, as my schedule can be a bit finicky.

If you wanna comment, don't be afraid to do so. Feedback is always welcome!