Two Kinds of Souls

Chapter 2: Monster Man and Little Red

"Talking."

Thinking.

ATTACK!

DISCLAIMER: I have no rights, nor will I ever, to either Soul Eater or RWBY.

To say Stein was annoyed would be an understatement. The unlicensed doctor spared a glance at the silver eyed girl next to him, who nervously rubbing her arm. It had all started out simple enough. The new issue of Surgeon Monthly had just come out, and Stein was looking to buy it. The problem was that it was late at night and most stores had already closed down for business. The doctor had lost all hope until he saw a store open. Happy at his good luck, Stein walked into the store.

That was probably his biggest mistake.

… From Dust Till Dawn, about a half hour earlier…

"Hello," The storekeeper said as he heard the door open, "How may I… help…" The storekeeper trailed off as he saw who it was that had entered the store. To say the man looked terrifying would be an understatement. Not only was he remarkably tall, his hair was a pale silver and there were stitchings going across one side of his face. There were stitchings going along his shirt and the labcoat he was wearing over his clothes.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had the latest issue of Surgeon Monthly?" Stein asked, not at all offended by the storekeepers reaction to his appearance. It happened more often than you would think. To the store keeper's credit, nearly all of his nervousness was lost once he realized Stein was just another customer.

"Of course. It's over there by all the other magazines. If you'd like, you can pay for the magazine up front and I'll let you read in the store." The shop keep said.

"No thank you, I'll be leaving as soon as I get the magazine. Wouldn't want to scare off your other customers." Stein ruefully said. Though it was intended as a joke, the shop keep thought that he had detected a trace of sadness in Stein's voice.

"Come now, most of my customers are huntsmen and huntresses. They don't scare easily." The shop keep said in an effort to lighten the mood.

"True enough. I'll just be grabbing the magazine and leaving. How much is it?" Stein asked as he pulled out his wallet.

"15 Lien please." The sho keep answered. Stein handed over the appropriate amount and left to go collect his magazine. As he neared the magazine rack, he saw a small figure in a red hood reading a weapon's magazine. Stein ignored her and tried to find his magazine.

Great, Stein sarcastically thought to himself when he noticed that the girl was standing in front of the magazine he wanted.

"Excuse me?" Stein said, but the girl didn't seem to react at all. Stein then noticed there were noticeable bulges where her ears should be. He quickly summarized that she was wearing headphones. Stein tapped her shoulder, causing the small girl to jump in surprise.

"Can I help… you…" The girl trailed off as she turned around and found herself looking at quite possibly the scariest thing she had ever seen in her life. That fear quickly turned into surprise and awe when she looked up at his eyes.

His eyes are silver like mine! The girl thought to herself as she looked up at the man. Now that she got a closer look at him, she noticed that he actually looked really young. If she had to guess, he couldn't be more than a couple years her senior.

"You are standing in front of the magazine I desire." Stein stated. Interesting, this girl also has silver eyes. Perhaps she would let me examine them more closely… Stein immediately stopped that train of thought. This was not the time to have one of his madness episodes.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The girl said as she moved to the side. The only other person I know with silver eyes is mom. Say something Ruby! Do not waste this opportunity! The silver eyed girl thought to herself. Normally, Ruby did not like talking to strangers one bit, but the fact Stein also had silver eyes had triggered some form of connection for Ruby.

"Thank you." Stein curtly said as he reached for his reading material.

"So… you from around here?" Ruby asked, visibly struggling to engage in small talk. Curse you social awkwardness!

"No, I am from Atlas." Stein said as he tucked the magazine into one of the pockets of his lab coat and turned around to leave.

"Uh, d-did you always have silver eyes?" Ruby asked before mentally facepalming at the absurdity of her question. Stein turned around and regarded her with a questioning gaze.

"As far as I know, yes." Stein said, slightly curious as to why the girl was asking him questions. Usually people tried to get away from him as quickly as the could.

"Yeah… I kinda figured…" Ruby said, not knowing what else to say.

"If you're done asking questions, then I need to go." Stein said as he turned back towards the door.

"Wait!" Ruby blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Yes?" Stein said as he stopped and looked at Ruby. Really the only reason he had stopped was because the silver eyed girl had intrigued him.

"Can you tell me your name?" Ruby asked as she twiddled her fingers nervously.

"... Franken Stein." Stein answered, a little suspicious at Ruby's intentions. The crimsonette was slightly surprised that Stein had answered her question. She was half expecting him to walk off.

"Oh, well my name is Ruby Rose!" Ruby said while pointing her thumb at herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ruby Rose." Stein said in a tone that indicated this was the end of the conversation.

"I-it was really nice meeting you to." Ruby said while waving at Stein. The silver eyed boy walked out of the store and started his treck back to his hotel room. Fascinating. I've never met another individual with silver eyes. From the looks of that folded weapon on her back, I'd say she's a huntress in training. Oh, if only I could get her under the examination table, I'd be able to learn the secrets to these accursed eyes of mine. Stein thought to himself as he raised his hand to rub his eyes.

CRASH!

Stein turned around and saw some man crashing out of the window. Out came the girl in the red hood, her weapon now in battle mode. A scythe? Interesting weapon choice, Stein thought to himself as he examined the situation. Really, he had no reason to interfere. From the looks of it, Ruby could handle herself pretty well. She was easily defeating every thug that tried to attack her. Once the grunts had been defeated, the funny looking one in a white coat began what Stein assumed was some sort of monologue.

Upon closer inspection, Stein realized the guy was Roman Torchwick, a notorious criminal. Stein tensed when he saw Torchwick point his cane at Ruby.

"This isn't going to end well." Stein said to himself. Ruby apparently hadn't realized just how dangerous the situation was. The end of Torchwick's cane popped open and turned into a crosshair. Before Ruby could react, Torchwick fired his cane and sent some sort of dust ammunition at Ruby. The silver eyed girl could only close her eyes and tense in preparation before a large boom and cloud of smoke shrouded the whole area.

"Huh?" Ruby said as she opened her eyes. "I wasn't hit?" Ruby said to herself as she looked around. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed Stein standing in front of Ruby, hand outstretched. There was smoke coming from the palm of Stein's outstretched hand. Ruby could have sworn she saw yellow electricity crackling around Stein's hand.

"Franken!?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"I would prefer it if you called me Stein." The silver haired man said as he scanned the area for Torchwick. His eyes found Torchwick climbing up the side of building and jumping on the roof.

"We have to go after him!" Ruby declared as she brandished her scythe.

"Correction: I will go after him. You should stay here." Stein said before sprinting after Torchwick. Ruby momentarily marveled at Stein's speed before looking back towards the shop keep.

"Are you okay here?" Ruby asked. The shop keep nodded in confirmation. Not needing anything else, Ruby ran after Stein and Torchwick. Said criminal was currently facing down Stein.

"I must say, I did not expect to see you here! I thought you were too busy terrorizing the village folk of Atlas!" Torchwick said as he erratically gestured with his cane.

"I didn't think i would be bringing in Vale's notorious criminal today. I guess we both had surprises in store for us." Stein said, not taking his gaze away from Torchwick.

"I suppose so, monster man." Torchwick said with a hearty chuckle.

"Stein! Are you okay!?" Ruby asked as she landed next to the silver eyed man.

"Little Red too? You're persistent, I'll give you that." Torchwick complimented as a Bullhead came into view. Before either teenagers could react, Torchiwck hopped into the aerial vehicle and pulled out a dust crystal. "It's been fun, but my ride is here." Torchiwck said before throwing the crystal at Stein and Ruby. Not done, the notorious criminal fire a round of ammunition at the dust crystal. Recognizing what was about to happen, the silver haired teenager placed himself in front of Ruby as his hands began to crackle with soul menace.

"What the-?" Stein muttered as a purple spell materialised in front of him. Before he could say anything else, the dust crystal exploded, shrouding the roof in fire and pressure. Thanks to the spell, Ruby and Stein were spared any injury. As the smoke cleared, Stein heard high heels tapping against the concrete roof. Once the smoke had completely dissipated, the young doctor found himself staring at a scowling woman with a riding crop.

"Oh shit, we got a huntress!" Torchiwck called out when he recognized Glynda Goodwitch. The pilot, an attractive woman by name of CInder Fall, gave the controls to Roman while she went to confront said huntress.

I don't like the feeling of that wavelength, Stein warily thought to himself as he felt something volatile on the bullhead. When Cinder stepped into view, the teenager's eyes widened in shock. S-she's triggering my m-madness! Stein thought in alarm. The doctor felt his carefully contained madness stir and thrash at the sight of CInder. Stein was not ready for his sudden spike in madness. The young man fell on all fours as he fought to control the insanity within him.

"Stein! Are you okay!?" Ruby asked in alarm when she saw Stein hit the ground. Concerned, the silver eyed girl reached out to him, but recoiled when she saw Stein raise a hand, signaling for her to stop.

"D-don't." Stein growled out. He could practically feel the madness oozing from Cinder. Against his will, Stein found himself beginning to giggle. I've never dissected a huntress before, and Ruby's silver eyes are so tempting… Stein grit his teeth as he pushed the thought out of his head.

Oh no, Glynda thought to herself while battling Cinder. Glynda had researched Stein when she found out he would be attending Beacon. She had familiarized herself with him and his so called 'madness fits.' If what was said about him was true, and it most likely was, Glynda and anyone else in the immediate area would be in grave danger if Stein succumbed to his madness. The professor hurried to finish her current battle in the hopes of being ready in case Stein attacked her or Ruby.

"Heh… hehehe…" Stein put a shaking hand into his coat pocket. He took out a pack of cigarettes, quickly bringing one to his lips. A small bolt of soul menace was all it took for Stein to light the nicotine stick. The doctor greedily sucked down the cigarette fumes, already feeling calmer because of it. All the while, Glynda and Cinder were seemingly locked in a stalemate. Any attack each threw was immediately countered by the other. Seeing that their fight would not be concluded anytime soon, Glynda allowed the bullhead to escape.

"So… can I have your autograph?" Ruby nervously asked. Now that the madness source was gone, Stein, with some difficulty, managed to get to his feet, puffing on his cigarette all the while.

"You two are coming with me." Glynda sternly said, not impressed by their attempts at being vigilantes. Stein would have raised an objection, but he was too busy trying to maintain his sanity.

… Interrogation room, present…

"So…uh, sorry for dragging you into this." Ruby said while smiling apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. I chose to help you." Stein replied, not mentioning how annoyed he was. Silence engulfed the room once more. Ruby awkwardly tried to find something to say while Stein took a deep drag of his cigarette, enjoying its calming effect.

"Those are bad for you." Ruby pointed out, causing Stein to shrug his shoulders.

"I know."

"Then why do you-?"

"Because without them the alternative would have been far worse." Stein said, thinking back to all the times he had managed to stave off madness fits by smoking a cigarette. Ruby quirked her head in curiosity, but remained silent. Soon after the door opened. A fairly mad Glynda walked into the room, enlarged scroll in hand.

"I don't know what possessed you both to fight a known criminal. You put yourselves and others in grave danger." Glynda sternly said.

"But they started it!" Ruby childishly replied. Stein didn't bother saying anything. This wasn't the first time he'd been grilled out by a huntress.

"If it were up to me, I'd send you both home with a pat on the back," Ruby looked up hopefully, "and a slap on the wrist!" Glynda finished before smacking the table with her riding crop. Ruby recoiled in fright while Stein didn't even flinch.

"And your point is?" Stein finally asked. Glynda glared at the walking time bomb before gesturing to the open door.

"Luckily for you, someone else would like to see you two." Glynda said while a figure emerged from the darkness. Stein immediately knew who he was. Oh great, its Ozpin, Stein thought to himself while looking at the headmaster. Said man had a coffee mug i one hand and a plate of cookies in the other. The man's eyes widened ever so slightly when he looked at Stein and Ruby.

"You… have silver eyes." Ozpin said.

"Uh… um…" Ruby mumbled, not sure how to respond to that.

"I'm well aware." Stein replied, drawing a small chuckle form Ozpin

"Franken Stein. I must say, I'm a little surprised to see you here of all places. If I recall, James was adamant on you staying within Atlas." Ozpin commented, drawing a confused look from Ruby.

"I'm here because I'll be entering your school tomorrow. As to Ironwood, let's say Im very persuasive." Stein replied, a small smile adorning the part of his face that wasn't covered by his enormous glasses.

"Well, allow me to welcome you to my school. I expect great things from you, Stein." Ozpin said. Glynda fixed Ozpin with a carefully concealed glare before looking back at the students. "Would either of you care for a cookie?" Ozpin asked while placing the plate in front of them. Ruby needed no further invitation as she began inhaling cookies at an alarming rate.

"If I may ask, where did you learn to do this?" Ozpin asked while bringing up a video clip of Ruby dispatching various thugs. I don't remember seeing a camera anywhere, Stein thought to himself.

"Signal Academy." Ruby answered before shoving another cookie in her mouth.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever created?" Ozpin asked in amusement. Stein sat up, his interest peaked at the mention of Ruby's weapon. The doctor gazed at the red weapon leaning on the wall. A scythe, huh? Interesting, maybe she's let me take a look at it…

"Yeah, well, one teacher in particular." Ruby answered.

"A dusty old Qrow, perhaps?"

"Yeah! That's my uncle. I was complete trash before he took me under his wing, but now I'm all like Wah! Hiyah! Wacha!" Ruby said while striking various comical martial arts poses. Stein, being the master of unarmed combat he is, couldn't help but notice the various flaws and openings in Ruby's form.

"Quite, so I imagine you would like to become a huntress?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah! I've only got two more years left at Signal and then I'm gonna apply to Beacon like my sister!" Ruby said while bouncing in her seat.

"If I may ask, whi is a young girl such as yourself interested in being a huntress?" Ozpin asked.

"I want to help people." Ruby replied, drawing a raised eyebrow from both Stein and Ozpin. "I mean, my parents taught me to always help people, and I thought, why not make a career out of it? I guess I could be a police officer, but being a huntress is so much more exciting and romantic and amazing!" Ruby rambled, growing more and more excited in the process. Ozpin was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"... Do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked.

"Professor Ozpin, you're the headmaster of Beacon." Ruby answered right away.

"Indeed. Tell me, would you like to attend my school?"

"More than anything in the world." Ruby dreamily replied.

"All right, welcome to Beacon." Ozpin said while smiling.

"... wait what?" Ruby asked, unable to process the information.

"From now on you'll be attending Beacon academy instead of Signal. I shall take care of all the paperwork, but I expect you on school ground tomorrow morning like everyone else." Ozpin said.

"Oh thank you so much! I won't let you down I promise!" Ruby all but shrieked.

"I expect great things from you miss Rose. Now, I'm sure you have much packing to do, so you may leave now." Ozpin said, gesturing to the door.

"I have to call my dad!" As Ruby got up, she remembered that she was here with someone else. "So, I guess we'll be going to Beacon together." The crimsonette stated.

"It appears so." Stein replied.

"Do you uh, think we could, you know, be friends?" Ruby tentatively asked,

"You want to be friends?" Stein asked.

"Yes."

"WIth me?"

"I don't see anyone else." Ruby joked. Stein stared at the younger girl for all of a minute, as if he were trying to diagnose her with something. Stein's silence unnerved Ruby, cuasingher to start doubting her offer of friendship. "I-I mean you don't have to if you don't wanna. We just met and all so I get if you d-don't wanna be-" Ruby rambled.

"I accept." Stein said, cutting Ruby off.

"Huh?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"Your offer of friendship. I accept." Stein said. It took Ruby a few seconds to fully process the information before breaking out into a full blown grin.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow!" With that Ruby left in a flurry of rose petals. That's an odd side effect, Stein mused while watching the petals disintegrate.

"She is certainly energetic." Ozpin commented while sipping his coffee.

"And loud." Stein said.

"Franken Stein it's a pleasure to meet you." Ozpin said, doing a small head nod.

"Likewise."

"How did you convince Ironwood to let you leave?"

"I promised I'd be on my best behaviour." Stein said while grinning.

"Very well, don't tell me. As long as you keep that promise then I won't pry for more information." Ozpin said, amused by Stein's antics.

"Is there any reason you're holding me here?"

"I just want to get to know one of my prized students, especially one such as yourself. I dare say the word prodigy doesn't quite do you justice. You'd be a perfect student if it weren't for one thing." Ozpin said, sipping his coffee.

"Somehow I knew the conversation would go there." Stein commented.

"We'll be discussing your madness, yes?"

"Sounds about right."

"Well, this madness of yours poses quite the problem you see. Ironwood has well documented what you're capable of when in one of your fits." Ozpin said.

"On the bright side, it's because of my madness that the study of Grimm anatomy has progressed so much in the last few years." Stein said, a lazy smile appearing on his face.

"Be that as it may, you still pose a threat to my students. Glynda tells me you were on the verge of another madness attack earlier."

"I blame the women Glynda was fighting. She was practically dripping with madness. Being in such close proximity to her was detrimental." Stein said, his hands faintly trembling at the memory. Ozpin raised an eyebrow in surprise. Finding someone with that much madness was extremely rare.

"Was she? I'll have to remember that. I don't want to hold you much longer, so just remember this: Though you may be my student, if you ever become a threat to any of your peers, I will not hesitate in putting you down." Ozpin said, a dangerous glimmer in his eye. Stein rarely felt intimidation, yet right now, in this moment, Stein saw Ozpin for who he was: a headmaster and huntsman of the highest calibre. Stein instinctively knew that Ozpin wasn't bluffing or boasting when he said he would put him down. For all his combat prowess, Stein knew Ozpin could end him.

"I don't want to be a threat to anyone." Stein said. The dangerous gleam left Ozpin's eyes, his expression softening.

"I know, Stein. If you promise to keep yourself under control, then I will promise to help you in anyway I can." Ozpin said.

"I can agree to that." Stein said, a small smile on his face.

"Then I do believe that's all I have to ask you. You may leave now."

"See you tomorrow." Stein said, exiting the room without another word. Ozpin watched the door for a few seconds before sighing.

"What do you think of our new student, ?"

"I think he's going to cause problems no matter what he says." Glynda said.

"That may be true, but the same could be said for many of our other students. As long as Stein strives for improvement, then I will be there to help him." Ozpin declared.

"As inspiring and admiral as that sounded, remember that he's not the only student we need to keep an eye on." Glynda said, bringing up an image of three other teenagers on her scroll.

"What kind of a name is Shini Gami?" Ozpin murmured to himself while looking over the students. "While they do look like an eccentric tiro, I don't see what warrants us keeping an eye on them."

"Well, if the fact that the one with black and white hair got into the school without going to combat school isn't enough, look at his semblance." Glynda said. Ozpin opened up the student's application, skimming through information before arriving to his semblance. The headmaster's eyes widened in shock, his grip on his coffee cup nearly breaking the handle.

"This… this can't be right." Ozpin stated.

"I'm afraid it is." Glynda said.

"How were we not aware of this earlier?" Ozpin almost demanded.

"He's been under the radar for most of his life. Add in the fact that he's from Vacuo, and you can imagine how difficult it would be to find him." Glynda said.

"I want you to alert the headmaster of Shade immediately. Eibon needs to be aware of this." Ozpin said, putting down his coffee cup so he could rub his eyes.

"I'll make sure he knows." Glynda said.

"What of the other two students?" Ozpin asked.

"Compared to Shini Gami, theirs is not as shocking. The one with red hair is a master scythe wielder, much like Qrow and Ruby." Glynda said.

"Interesting, his semblance certainly is a unique one." Ozpin murmured while looking through Spirit's application.

"The last one also got into Beacon without attending combat school." Glynda said.

"Forgive me, but plenty of students enter Beacon without having gone to combat school. What makes this Mifune any different?" Ozpin asked.

"When Lionheart heard that Mifune had applied here, he supplied us with a letter of recommendation and a video." Glynda explained.

"That's not like Leonardo to vouch for a student like that." Ozpin said while viewing the video. A combat class? I don't see how this makes young Mifune anymore notable than … he… already is. Ozpin trailed off, the video of Mifune leaving him speechless.

"According to Leonardo that's not the only match they've had. As far as he knows, they've all ended the same." Ozpin gave Glynda her scroll, and proceeded to down the rest of his coffee in one go.

"Well, this year's batch of students certainly won't disappoint." Ozpin said after emptying his caffeine.

A/N: Good day people. I've been seriously neglecting this story and that's not okay. I'm still really hyped to write this story, but I've realized that having more than one project going on at a time is hard. Who knew? I don't know when I'll be able to update next. That said, thank you all for sticking with this story. I appreciate you being patient with my less than admirable updates. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a review or PM me. I'll see you all next update.

Until then.